314: Bio-armor

Zhao Qifeng's voice remained calm as his fingers expertly pressed a prominent red switch on the console.

"Click—Buzz..."

The alloy wall in front of the console, which had seemed like a single solid piece, suddenly slid open smoothly from the center to both sides, revealing a transparent chamber filled with pale blue condensation mist. Inside the chamber, several palm-sized, bizarre-looking creatures lay dormant on specialized racks.

Their outlines easily brought to mind ancient trilobites, with shells displaying an elegant, streamlined, segmented structure.

But a closer look revealed they were entirely different: their surfaces were not biological keratin, but a dark silver shell with a cold metallic luster. Faint blue glimmers flowed at their joints, as if they were embedded with precise micro-machinery. These creatures remained motionless, seemingly in a state of deep sleep.

"Take a good look," Zhao Qifeng’s voice finally betrayed a hint of uncontrollable fanaticism, like an artist unveiling a lifelong masterpiece.

"This is the direction I have finally evolved toward after years of countless failures and explorations... the prototype of a 'Symbiotic Armament' that transcends existing life forms."

As soon as he finished speaking, he unhesitatingly pressed another green button nearby.

"Whoosh—!"

Several nozzles at the top of the chamber instantly opened, and a large amount of viscous, emerald-green nutrient solution with a high-nutrient scent poured down like a waterfall, drenching Zhao Qifeng and flooding the racks of those strange creatures.

An astonishing scene unfolded. The moment those previously still 'metal trilobites' touched the nutrient solution, it was as if their base-level commands were activated. Their fine appendages scurried at high speed, and they all turned in unison. Like a colony of ants scenting honey, they swiftly crawled along the overflowing nutrient solution toward Zhao Qifeng, who stood in place!

They scrambled to cling to Zhao Qifeng's legs, torso, and arms... The moment they touched his body, the edges of their metal shells 'softened' like living things, extending fine biomass tentacles that latched on firmly. They began to connect and fuse with his clothing, skin, and even deeper tissues. More individuals covered him, starting to piece together and merge with one another.

The process was incredibly fast. In just a few seconds, Zhao Qifeng was completely encased in a layer of writhing, adjusting silver-gray biomass.

The individual 'trilobites' disappeared, replaced by a suit of full-body armor that was rapidly taking shape—its lines sleek yet menacing, possessing both biological beauty and mechanical coldness.

The same faint blue light from before flickered at the armor's joints. The overall suit presented a perfect, continuous form, making it impossible to tell it was composed of multiple independent Units.

"Heh..." Zhao Qifeng's voice came from within the armor, somewhat muffled yet even more excited. He slowly turned around to face the four members of Golden Bone’s team, who were on high alert.

The visor part was composed of crystals with a compound eye structure, refracting a cold light.

"Do you see this? This is the final result of my research—the 'corroding abyss' armor! In the truest sense, it is a bio-weapon where consciousness and armament perfectly coexist, capable of infinite adaptation and evolution!"

His voice resonated with a metallic ring through the armor. "Although it still lacks the final 'Perfect Adapter' calibration... it is more than enough to handle the current situation!"

He raised a hand covered in silver-gray armor, its fingertips sharp, and slowly clenched his fist as if feeling the surging power within.

"This System is a Fusion of the lost life codes I decoded from various ancient ruins, the most cutting-edge modern gene cloning and directional editing technologies, reverse analysis of the energy circuits of the 'God-given armor' on your bodies... and a massive amount of modern engineering and Materials! It is no longer uncontrollable evolution, but a perfect product of 'man-made evolution'—controllable, mass-producible, and directionally enhanced!"

"Now, experience for yourselves this... power that transcends nature and existing technology!"

"Is that so?" Shen Mingyuan's voice was cold beneath his visor, his red eyepiece locking onto the target. "Then let us test the quality of your 'perfect product'!"

Before the words even faded, Lu Jianchuan and Wei Ziqing had already turned into two blurred shadows, striking first! Lu Jianchuan's right fist exploded with silver-white lightning as he aimed straight for the center; Wei Ziqing's poisoned bone sword drew a sharp, cold glint, slashing at his waist! Golden Bone moved sideways like a phantom, the mechanical joints beneath his armor operating silently, clearly preparing to find a weakness or pin him down from behind.

Zhao Qifeng (corroding abyss armor) remained unhurried in the face of the pincer attack. He abruptly raised his left arm, and the silver-gray shell on the outside of his forearm instantly thickened, revealing fine energy patterns.

"Clang—!"

Wei Ziqing's bone sword struck the thickened armguards with a heavy, metallic boom! The blade failed to cut through, leaving only a shallow white mark before being repelled by a counter-shock force.

Simultaneously, Zhao Qifeng's right fist met Lu Jianchuan's lightning-clad punch without any fancy tricks!

"Boom!!!"

The fists collided, and a shockwave exploded! Lu Jianchuan felt a majestic and overbearing force—possessing both biological resilience and mechanical rigidity—surge toward him. He was actually shaken back three steps. The silver-white current on his fist sizzled across the surface of the opponent's armor but failed to cause any significant damage.

In that instant of engagement, the armor at Zhao Qifeng's shoulder blades suddenly split open. Several flexible tentacles with sharp tips that glinted with metallic coldness—resembling giant trilobite tail stings—shot out like lightning. With a whistle that tore through the air, they accurately stabbed toward Golden Bone, who had quietly approached from behind!

Golden Bone reacted extremely quickly, forcefully changing his forward momentum into a side roll, narrowly avoiding the sudden back attack. Several tail stings drove deep into the ground where he had just been, sending stone fragments flying.

Almost while parrying, punching, and repelling Golden Bone, Zhao Qifeng tilted his head to the side at an incredible angle—

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Two high-energy bullets fired from Shen Mingyuan's muzzle grazed past his compound eye visor, hitting the console behind him and exploding into two bursts of sparks.

His other hand had already risen as he tilted his head. The shell on his palm flipped up, "catching" Shen Mingyuan's third consecutive bullet in mid-air and crushing it in his palm, the energy dissipating into points of light.

"You don't understand anything at all!" Zhao Qifeng's voice came through the armor, suppressed with anger and a deeper kind of excitement. "You have no idea why I did all of this!"

Shen Mingyuan responded coldly while moving to maintain his firing angle, "No matter what you think it was for—noble ideals, the future of the race, or a leap in technology—none of it is a reason to trample on life and create countless tragedies!"

Lu Jianchuan steadied himself and shook his numbed right arm, his voice firm as he added, "Exactly! The nobility of a goal cannot mask the evil of the means! To pursue a correct result using the wrong methods will only result in twisted fruit!"

Wei Ziqing lowered his sword tip slightly and adjusted his breathing. Although he didn't speak, his gaze clearly showed his stance.

"What do you understand?!" Zhao Qifeng suddenly roared, the light behind his compound eye visor flickering violently as if he were completely enraged. "Short-sighted fools! You're a bunch of short-sighted fools who only stare at the mud beneath your feet but can't see the cliff ahead!"