329: Cross-era mecha

Facing Tian Ming's inquiry, Bai Yan said, “Mr. Lu, you are right. Mechs are larger in size, and their manufacturing technology is simpler than humanoid robots. Our Superpower Users can also solve the material problem for mechs. I have an impolite request for coming here.”

“Speak,” Tian Ming said, feeling a bit confused.

“Mr. Lu, I want you to test drive our experimental machine to see if improvements can be made. If so, we are ready to finalize the design,” Bai Yan stated his idea.

Tian Ming was stunned for a moment, then understood the reason. Test driving an experimental machine? This was no joke; the performance and stability of experimental machines had great uncertainties, and things could go wrong, potentially costing lives.

He possessed illusory skills, so he could naturally be immune to damage caused by mech problems. Since the Beidu Base, mechs had been under development. Now, for this final push, it still depended on Tian Ming.

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, “Alright, you arrange it.”

Tian Ming followed Bai Yan out of the office, out of the Underground City, and arrived at an open space at the ground base. There, a mech stood, gleaming with a cold, hard metallic luster.

Bai Yan said somewhat nervously, “Mr. Lu, this mech is the one our Super Legion is preparing to finalize. We call it the 'Planet Suppressor-class' mech.”

Tian Ming looked up at the mech. It was over thirty meters tall and weighed seventy tons, its entire body covered in a light blue, high-strength crystal that shimmered with an enticing glow. The mech's shape resembled the Transformers from sci-fi movies, but it was much smaller in size, yet possessed its own unique design style.

Tian Ming was secretly surprised. This mech indeed looked very advanced, and its design concept was also very unique. Due to its massive size, the energy system installed inside was a small Thorium-230 nuclear reactor.

Compared to the Lawrence Family's mechs, this mech was larger in size and had higher structural strength. The entire mech was covered in energy weapons—lasers, electromagnetic cannons, and microwave weapons were distributed throughout its body. It was also equipped with a magnetic levitation device, allowing the mech to fly and fight in the air.

The mech's cockpit was located in its head, equipped with Ability Users combat suits and life support systems, allowing Ability Users to fight in optimal condition.

Tian Ming was quite shocked, as this kind of thing could be said to be cross-era technology. How many unknown technologies were still hidden within the Alliance?

Bai Yan seemed to have read Tian Ming's mind and said with a smile, “Mr. Lu looks a bit….”

“With such a powerful weapon, why can the Alliance still only be confined to the base?” Tian Ming voiced his question.

Bai Yan shook his head slightly and said, “Actually, the Alliance has a lot of technological reserves. It's not that having the technology means we can mass-produce such mechs; technology is limited by resources. Let me give you a simple example: gallium nitride. The amount of gallium element used in this mech alone reaches 80 kilograms. This stuff is very difficult to extract. There are also other resources. The Alliance, with the combined strength of the entire Alliance, has only managed to produce this one prototype.”

Bai Yan paused and said, “Mr. Lu, I'm not afraid of you laughing, but we started developing it when the 'Grand Elder' appeared. We can only make this one; we can't make a second. We have the technology, but not the materials and resources.”

Tian Ming smiled indifferently and said, “It's fine. What the Alliance doesn't have, I have. I'll help you test and finalize the design. If there are no problems, I can mass-replicate them.”

After Tian Ming finished speaking, he directly entered the mech. The hatch cover on the head closed, and flexible tentacles extended from inside the mech, directly connecting to Tian Ming's limbs. His entire body was enveloped by a mass of material. The entire cockpit transformed into a 360-degree, seamless display room.

It was indeed cross-era technology. Tian Ming was enveloped by a translucent light screen, which was the mech's control interface. Tian Ming tried moving his fingers, and the mech began to synchronize its movements. He was delighted; this control method was very convenient.

At this moment, the voice of an expert recording the test came from inside the mech: “Mr. Lu, how do you feel?”

Tian Ming nodded and said, “I feel good, the control is very smooth!”

“First test, large maneuver extreme overload. Mr. Lu, the mech will synchronize with your movements and extract your commands by sensing brainwaves. The mech has an autonomous driving system inside that will correct your mech control movements in real-time. You can perform freely and make extreme movements as much as possible within your tolerance range.”

After hearing this, Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, “Understood! Three, share the mech driving manual key points.”

As soon as Tian Ming finished speaking, all the driving knowledge related to the mech appeared in his mind. Three found the mech test data in the intelligent brain database, as well as the data from previous pilot test drives.

During previous pilot tests, due to their physical limitations, they could not fully utilize the mech's performance. The mech could withstand over 30G of overload acceleration, but Superpower Users could only withstand a maximum of 19 Gs. This made the researchers unsure if their mech met the standards, so they dared not finalize the design.

Forcibly entering extreme overload could naturally be achieved through remote control or AI driving. However, the reliability of the mech still needed to be tested by reaching its limits while synchronized with a pilot. This way, data for manned operation could be tested.

Manned combat mechs would not be limited by communication interference, and human combat was much more reliable than AI.

AI is absolutely rational; for victory, it might directly abandon its own low-value targets, or even fight zombies by exchanging lives. This absolute rationality, for the East Sea City Base with only 2 million people, simply couldn't be sustained.

This is also an important reason why manned mechs must be developed as the primary focus. In times of life and death, human decision-makers will not place the safety of the entire race on AI.

Tian Ming familiarized himself with the mech's operation, then said, “Commander, I am ready. The test is about to begin. Please record it.”

“Mr. Lu, begin the test!” an order was transmitted to the cockpit.

Tian Ming took a deep breath and directly used his mind to adjust the action power to the maximum. Since it was to test extreme performance, he would go to the most brutal extent. Tian Ming slightly bent his knees and made a jumping motion.

The entire mech also began to move in sync.

Bang!

The powerful force instantly generated an acceleration of over 20 Gs, and the 70-ton mech went straight into the sky.

“Holy crap, this is exciting.”

Tian Ming roared. His current physical strength, after Xin Xin's return, was already a demigod's body. If an ordinary person experienced this 20-plus G acceleration, their bones would basically shatter, and they would be crushed into a puddle of flesh. But Tian Ming was fine; instead, he found it very stimulating.