346: Chapter 346 Technological Upgrade, Increased Strength

Before the fifth watch, the wind on the Qiming Plain was already blowing hard enough to rattle the sand and stones on the walls.

Outside the Technology Workshop, the solitary spiritual energy lamp remained lit, its glow spreading a greenish halo through the night mist.

The door hinges creaked open as Chen Wuwang stepped inside, the hem of his combat suit damp with dew, leaving two wet trails on the floor.

"You're here?" Chen Tiezhu didn't look back; he was using tweezers to pick up a scorched circuit board, examining it through a magnifying rune lens. "I knew you wouldn't sleep."

"The wine at the victory feast was too strong." Chen Wuwang walked to the main console, his fingertips sliding across the panel. His Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flashed blue, and last night's combat data was immediately projected into the air.

"The Shockwave Hammer's charging delay was 2.7 seconds. When the earth dragon's left tread jammed, the remote command response was slow by three frames."

He pointed to one of the curves and zoomed in. "This isn't an equipment aging issue; it's the energy circuit failing to handle peak output."

Chen Tiezhu slapped the circuit board onto the table with a 'thwack.' "If old wounds aren't healed, the next battle means death. These hands of mine can still weld for another ten years."

"Then let's start now." Chen Wuwang pulled up the mecha structural diagrams. "The power Systems and weapon modules of the main mechas take priority for upgrades. I want them to hit with triple the firepower density before the enemy reaches our borders again."

"What about Materials?" Chen Tiezhu sneered. "High-purity Crystallized Copper inventory is down to thirty percent. If the heat dissipation can't hold up, even the strongest engine is just a self-destruct furnace."

"We won't use new Materials." Chen Wuwang turned toward the scrap area and bent down to pull a broken energy-conducting pipe from a pile of wreckage. "Dismantle and refine usable metals from the damaged mechas recovered from the battlefield. Plus—"

He took a sealed jade box from his robes and opened it. Inside was a pinch of silver-gray crystalline powder, shimmering with a metallic luster under the light.

"Gold-Eating Insect metabolic crystals?" Chen Tiezhu narrowed his eyes. "Keeping those things around actually turned out to be useful."

"Gold-Eating Insects bred from Zerg Egg Cores can chew through Spirit Stone veins."

Chen Wuwang handed the jade box over. "Mix this into the energy-conducting alloy, and the stability increases by twenty-three percent. Here's the test data."

Chen Tiezhu took the box, weighed it in his hand, and grinned. "Not bad, Family Head. That brain of yours really doesn't belong in the Cultivation World."

"Just my old trade as an Earth programmer." Chen Wuwang leaned against the console. "I've also thought of a solution for the energy overload issue—segmented pulse power supply."

"Huh?"

"Don't ask 'huh'." Chen Wuwang raised a hand to interrupt. "Simply put, it means cutting the continuous energy flow into high-frequency short pulses, sending them in like a beat. The circuit load drops while the power output can actually increase."

He picked up a pen and drew three intersecting tracks on the stone table. "Redraw the main energy rails using staggered wiring so the three pulses run at staggered peaks. The heat dissipation pressure is spread out instead of exploding in one spot."

Chen Tiezhu stared at those three lines for a full thirty seconds, then suddenly grabbed his tool bag and headed for the workshop. "There's time. I can have the first prototype finished before dawn."

"I'll go with you," Chen Wuwang followed.

Neither closed their eyes all night.

Just as the morning light pierced through the window cracks, the main workshop area of the Technology Workshop was already a haze of scorching heat.

The furnace hummed, the forge hammer rose and fell, and sparks crackled against the protective shields.

"First set of pulse rails formed!" a craftsman shouted.

"Energy-conducting crystal injection complete!"

"Dual-frequency engine casing cooling in progress!"

Chen Tiezhu wiped the grease from his face and held up an alloy plate shimmering with silver patterns. "Core of the Sky-Rending Shockwave Hammer, install!"

Chen Wuwang stood at the edge of the testing area, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye constantly refreshing the stream of parameters.

"Static charging test, begin," he ordered.

The new Shockwave Hammer was connected to a spiritual energy pylon, and energy was slowly injected. The gauge needles rose steadily without the slightest fluctuation.

"Level one pass." He nodded.

"Simulated vibration loading, level two test."

The hammer body began to vibrate at high frequency, distorting the surrounding air and causing the ground to tremble slightly. Ten seconds later, the System prompted: "Load stable, overheat alarm not triggered."

"Nicely done," Chen Wuwang said softly.

"Level three test—remote-controlled strike on the target array!"

He pressed the button.

The Shockwave Hammer soared into the air, hovering ten meters high, aimed at a target wall made of ten layers of Black Rock Slabs.

Boom—!

A silver-white shockwave exploded forth, piercing straight through the ten-meter-thick rock slabs, the aftershock blowing away the warning flags thirty meters behind it.

As the dust cleared, only a smooth circular passage remained in the center of the target wall.

"Energy efficiency increased by 47%," Chen Wuwang looked at the readings. "Charging time reduced to 1.8 seconds."

Chen Tiezhu walked over panting, holding a record book. "I've recorded both new technologies into the 'Chen Family Mecha: Eastern Wasteland Volume'. I've also applied the fingerprint seal."

"Synchronize the update with the Family database." Chen Wuwang pulled up the permissions interface. "Open basic parameter access to all high-level clan members."

"What's the next step?" Chen Tiezhu asked.

"There is no next step." Chen Wuwang closed the panel. "This night isn't the finish line; it's the starting point. But today, let everyone rest for a few hours first."

"Then why don't you go sleep for a bit?"

"I'm not tired."

Chen Tiezhu glanced at him and didn't try to persuade him further.

The main control room fell silent. There were still sporadic clanging sounds from the distant workshop, like a slow-paced drumbeat.

Chen Wuwang stood by the window, gazing at the brightening eastern horizon. Patrolling shadows moved back and forth on the city walls, and the faint sound of the night watchmen's bells signaling the shift change drifted over.

He looked down at his own fingers, which were still trembling slightly.

It wasn't from exhaustion.

It was from excitement.

He knew the real war hadn't even begun yet.

Those forces that had retreated wouldn't just let things go.

But he didn't plan on waiting either.

"Tiezhu," he suddenly spoke.

"Yeah?"

"Keep a separate encrypted file for the dual-frequency engine blueprints."

"For what?"

"Just in case."

"...Who is it you don't trust?"

"I don't trust in luck." Chen Wuwang withdrew his gaze. "Last night's victory was pieced together through loopholes. Today's technology is the iron plate that patches those holes. But tomorrow—"

He paused, his voice dropping lower.

"Tomorrow, we have to make it so people can't even find a hole."

Chen Tiezhu was silent for a moment before turning back to the terminal. "Encrypted file created. The key is known only to you and me."

"Good."

Outside the window, the first ray of sunlight climbed onto the spire of the Technology Workshop, illuminating the line carved into the wall: 'To be inferior in skill is the road to death'.

Chen Wuwang reached out and touched the words, his fingertip tracing the groove of the last stroke.

It was deep.

He had carved it himself.

Back then, the Chen Family had just crawled out of the ruins, without even a single whole blade to their name.

Now they had mechas, they had engines, they had Shockwave Hammers.

But it wasn't enough.

Far from enough.

He turned back to the console and pulled up the star map interface again.

His finger hovered over the coordinates for the 'Northern Territory Mining Area' for two seconds before slowly moving away.

Now was not the time for expansion.

It was a time for consolidation, for refining, for welding every iron plate shut.

"Family Head?" A duty officer poked his head in. "A message from Chen Xiaodao's side, saying the sword array deduction..."

"Tell him the fifth watch has passed." Chen Wuwang didn't even look up. "Let him sleep."

"Huh? But he said you..."

"I'm the one in charge."

The duty officer pulled his head back, and his footsteps faded away.

Chen Wuwang stared at the screen until the star map automatically closed.

He stood up and stretched his shoulders, his pauldrons making a faint metallic grinding sound.

"I'm going to check the heat dissipation test for the new engine."

"Now?"

"Now."

He walked out of the control room, his silhouette disappearing into the interplay of light and shadow at the end of the corridor.

Deep in the workshop, the furnace was still burning.

The new Shockwave Hammer hung quietly on its rack, its surface still carrying the residual heat from the forge.

A drop of coolant slid from the top and hit the metal floor with a crisp sound—

Ding.