210: Chapter 210 Chen Wuwang develops coating, Tie Zhu modifies overnight

The wind carried the smell of burning and acidic mist, sweeping across the rocky ground at the edge of the Medicinal Field.

Chen Wuwang stood on the scorched rocks, the blue light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye still glowing, his vision filled with the remaining spectral traces of acid spray.

He didn't move; the Titanium Alloy Dagger clutched in his right hand was thrust into the ground. The psionic shockwaves had only recently dissipated, and cracks spread across the ground like a spider's web.

At the distant wormhole entrance, dark shadows were still writhing.

Purple Beetles surged out wave after wave. The giant arthropods stood steady on eight long legs, their spiral drill-mouths slowly opening as if waiting for something.

But Chen Wuwang was no longer there.

He turned and left, his pace extremely fast, his cloak fluttering and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Without looking back or giving an oral command, he sent an encrypted instruction back to the main control tower via a psionic pulse—

"All units retreat three hundred yards, seal off the outer corridors, and prohibit close-quarters engagement."

He knew that relying on sword arrays and mecha to fight head-on would not win this battle.

That acid wasn't a temporary byproduct.

It was specifically aimed at their composite armor.

It was a well-prepared countermeasure.

He had to change his tactics.

When he rushed into the Artifact Refining Workshop, the Furnace Area was emitting a low hum.

The outer wall of Furnace No. 3 glowed dark red, and the cooling pipes vibrated slightly, clearly having been overloaded for a long time.

"Tiezhu!" he roared, his voice raspy but highly penetrating.

Chen Tiezhu poked his head out from behind an old-fashioned spray booth, his face smeared with coal ash and a wrench still gripped in his hand.

He looked up and saw Chen Wuwang, frowning: "Why are you here? Hasn't the front line stabilized yet?"

"It won't stabilize." Chen Wuwang strode to the central console and slammed his finger on the start button. "If we keep fighting like this, all the mecha will be scrapped."

He switched his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye to data mode, blue light flowing in his pupils as molecular structures were rapidly projected in the Void Realm.

His fingertips swiped through the air, pulling up records of Zerg biochemical enzyme samples collected in earlier years and connecting to the heavenly secret instruction database stored in the family rise system.

He murmured: "Produce High-Silica Oxygen Crystal... purity 98.7%, with trace amounts of Thunder-Patterned Manganese Iron."

The screen flashed, and another instruction emerged: "Volume 12: Programmable rune plates require an anti-corrosion layer; the 'Dual-Phase Sealing Method' is recommended."

His mind raced.

He cross-referenced geochemical knowledge with the material properties of the Cultivation World, reverse-engineering the reaction paths.

The acid's activity depended on humidity. The key to countering it was to block its penetration chain.

High-silica oxygen-based Materials themselves had strong corrosion resistance.

If a Spirit Rune Seal Layer was added to form a dense barrier, it could theoretically cut off the enzymatic reaction.

"Got it." He suddenly looked up. "Mystic Crystal Corrosion-Resistant Coating—using High-Silica Oxygen Crystal powder as the main ingredient, mixed with Thunder-Patterned Manganese Iron to catalyze crystallization, with micro-isolation rune arrays inscribed on the surface. Three layers stacked, with each layer's thickness controlled within 0.3 micrometers."

After speaking, he immediately used his dagger to scratch the formula's structural diagram onto the stone table.

The lines were precise, and the annotations were clear: temperature range, timing for Spiritual Qi injection, spray pressure values, and curing time.

Chen Tiezhu leaned in and squinted for a long while, his expression changing: "This thing... there's no precedent for it. Nano-scale spraying—our equipment can't reach that level of precision at all."

"It has to reach it." Chen Wuwang stared at him. "Xiao Dao's mecha's right arm servo System has already short-circuited, and over half of the left leg armor has dissolved. Other main mecha are also damaged. If we delay for another two hours, the entire defense line will collapse."

He paused, his voice lowering: "Do you remember the insect swarm seven years ago? We didn't even have decent armor and had to block the mine tunnels with our own bodies. It's different now. We have technology, Materials, and brains. We can't let our brothers fill the gaps with their lives anymore."

Chen Tiezhu was silent for a moment, then suddenly grinned: "Fine. If you say do it, I'll do it."

He turned and walked toward the Furnace Area, shouting as he went: "A Fu! A-Quan! Get up and get to work! No sleep tonight!"

Two young apprentices rushed out of a small corner room, bleary-eyed but startled awake: "Mas... Master? At this time?"

"No time to explain." Chen Tiezhu kicked open the ventilation valve and manually adjusted the spiritual flow frequency. "Connect the backup coolant; I'm going to push the furnace output up by twenty percent."

"But... but it'll explode!" A Fu cried out in alarm.

"If it explodes, I'll pay with my life." Chen Tiezhu didn't look back. "From now on, follow my orders. Anyone who dares to stop will be kicked out of the Artifact Refining Workshop tomorrow."

Chen Wuwang said nothing more.

He stood before the holographic projection, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye projecting the complete formula spectrum, with spraying parameters for every layer clearly marked.

He also attached an emergency correction table—how to salvage it if a certain layer failed.

"You supervise the first base coat," he said to Chen Tiezhu. "I trust your craftsmanship."

Chen Tiezhu nodded, put on protective gloves, and personally operated the spray gun.

The first machine to be modified was the heavy defense mecha "Iron Spine Type III," whose joints had already been corroded with tiny cracks by the acid.

They had to prioritize the core components: shoulder armor, chest armor, knee joints, and sword array launch ports.

The spray gun started. Pale green powder sprayed from the nozzle, uniformly adhering to the metal surface under the guidance of psionic energy.

"Keep the temperature stable!" Chen Tiezhu roared.

"Pressure dropped by zero point five!" A-Quan shouted, staring at the gauge.

"Replenish Spiritual Qi! Fast!" Chen Tiezhu controlled the gun with one hand and adjusted the frequency knob with the other.

Chen Wuwang stood by, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye monitoring the coating thickness in real-time.

The numbers jumped: 0.28 micrometers... 0.29... 0.30—Target reached!

"Stop!" he commanded.

The spraying stopped.

A very faint green light shimmered on the surface, which felt warm and smooth like jade.

"It worked?" A Fu leaned in.

"That's the first layer," Chen Wuwang said coldly. "There are two more. A twelve-minute curing interval in between—we can't be off by a single second."

Time passed bit by bit.

At the start of the Hour of the Tiger, the cold was at its peak.

The Furnace Area was brightly lit.

The three of them took turns, using the "Two-Person Alternating Spray Method"—

One person operating and one person monitoring to ensure that the error for each micrometer did not exceed the standard value.

Chen Tiezhu's hands began to shake.

Continuous high-intensity work had exhausted his physical strength; sweat poured down his forehead, soaking his collar.

But he didn't stop.

Chen Wuwang didn't leave either.

He leaned against the console, his eyes fixed on the progress bar. His left Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flashed blue intermittently, triggering a slight overheating alarm due to prolonged high-frequency calculations.

"Just one last step," he murmured.

The final Spirit Rune Seal Layer was slowly curing.

The energy valve opened, and a low-frequency spiritual flow was injected, activating the micro-rune arrays inside the coating.

The entire mecha stood quietly on the central platform, green light flowing over its surface, rising and falling slightly as if it were breathing.

Finally, the curing process entered the countdown.

Ten, nine, eight...

Chen Wuwang raised his hand and gently pressed it against the mecha's shoulder. It felt icy cold but exceptionally sturdy.

Three, two, one.

"Beep—" With a soft sound, the progress bar reached 100%.

It was finished.

The anti-corrosion coating coverage for the first mecha was successful.

Chen Tiezhu breathed a long sigh of relief, his legs going soft, nearly collapsing.

He braced himself against the edge of the spray booth, panting heavily, yet a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth: "I... I actually did it."

Chen Wuwang didn't smile; he was too exhausted.

His head felt like it had been hit by a hammer, and his temples throbbed.

But he knew this was only the beginning.

Out of the three main mecha, they had only finished the first.

The insect swarm was still raging outside. Time would not wait for anyone.

He looked up at Chen Tiezhu: "Next one, start immediately."

Chen Tiezhu wiped the sweat from his face and nodded: "Whatever you say, I'll do it."

The two of them took their positions again, and the apprentices busied themselves once more.

The furnace hummed, and the spray gun restarted.

The green powder rose again, drifting like mist under the lights.

The mecha stood silently, the green light on its surface yet to dissipate, like a war god about to wake.