370: Chapter 370 Arya's Visit, Amazed by the Mechs

The firelight from the Artifact Refining Workshop still flickered at the furnace mouth, the air heavy with the scorched scent of red-hot metal, while a charcoal pencil lay rolled against the edge of a blueprint on the floor.

A holographic projection hovered in the center of the console, the silhouette of that mecha rotating quietly; its shoulder-mounted weapon slots and the structural lines of its folding wings were clearly visible under the blue light.

The door wasn't fully closed, and the wind snuck in through the gap, causing a piece of scrap paper in the corner to flip over gently.

Suddenly, the daylight dimmed.

A silver-white figure dived down from high altitude, wings tucking in at the last moment, toes lightly touching the ground and kicking up a small circle of dust.

Aelia landed with extreme stability, her wings slowly retracting into the light patterns on her back. She didn't rush to speak, her gaze immediately and firmly captured by the floating mecha image in the air.

She took two steps forward, her boot heels clicking crisply against the metal floor.

"This isn't Artifact Refining..." she whispered, her hand rising, fingertips almost touching the surface of the projection before abruptly stopping. "This is redefining warfare."

She turned to look at Chen Wuwang standing by the console, her eyes shining with startling intensity.

"What you've created isn't a weapon; it's a subverter of rules."

Chen Wuwang was looking down, checking the control panel, but he raised his head upon hearing her voice.

His face was still stained with a bit of oil, the three old scars on his right cheek glowing slightly red in the play of light and shadow, and his left Mechanical Prosthetic Eye whirred slightly as it scanned her.

"You got here fast." The corner of his mouth quirked up as he tossed the charcoal pencil onto the table. "Heard we won and couldn't sit still?"

"It's not about being unable to sit still." Aelia took a few steps closer, walking a circle around the projection while staring at the power core's location.

"It's shock. I've traveled through seventeen Star Domains and seen the Dragon Clan's bone ships, the Zerg's living fortresses, and the Mechanical Civilizations' quantum carriers—"

"But not a single one can integrate a Cultivator's Divine Sense with a mechanical System so thoroughly."

She suddenly stopped and looked at Chen Wuwang. "This thing... can it really be driven directly by a Nascent Soul Cultivator's Divine Sense?"

"It's not that they 'can,' it's that they 'must.'"

Chen Wuwang walked to the front of the projection and swiped his hand in the air. The image immediately enlarged, revealing the internal structure. "They aren't just piloting a mecha; they are extending their own bodies."

"Look here—the main core provides power, the sub-core specifically handles shields and Divine Sense synchronization, and the neural direct-link interface eliminates all manual redundancy."

He pointed to the folding wings on the back. "The wing surfaces are embedded with spiritual energy conversion arrays, automatically absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi during flight to feed back into the System. A brute like Wang Ergou could charge into a thunderstorm zone and only get stronger as he fights."

Aelia narrowed her eyes. "What about the shell? Ordinary alloys can't withstand the impact of Nascent Soul-level exchanges."

"star-fall iron composite layers." Chen Wuwang's tone was flat, as if describing something perfectly ordinary. "Tempered with pure yang thunder marrow, the hardness is doubled, and it can even channel thunderstorm energy. The next wave of attacks might just be the enemy's own self-inflicted Heavenly Tribulation."

Aelia sucked in a cold breath and smiled. "You're making the mecha learn how to use the enemy's strength against them?"

"What else?" Chen Wuwang shrugged. "We're short on people and resources are tight; we can't afford a war of attrition. We have to make every punch hit with ten times the effect."

He turned to pick up the control pad, tapping lightly. The projection began to simulate operational status: the dual-core engines started, shields deployed, the folding wings on the back slowly unfurled, and virtual rune cannons popped out of the shoulder weapon slots.

"Every unit is customized," he said while operating. "Wang Ergou wanted head-on toughness, so I added sloped armor and a ramming horn."

"Li Dachui likes low-altitude surprise attacks, so his chassis is fitted with a geomagnetic adsorption System; when he runs, he doesn't even leave a shadow."

"Zhao Xiaohua fights while saving people, so she has a built-in medical pod in the chest and floating medical units on her back—like Flying Swords, they're available on call."

Aelia's pupils constricted slightly as she listened. She suddenly asked, "You said... on call? This thing has its own consciousness?"

"AI-assisted." Chen Wuwang nodded. "Basic commands are preset for automatic response during combat. For example, if it detects a teammate is heavily injured, the medical pod deploys automatically; if it senses a high-energy lock-on from the enemy, the shields prioritize that direction."

He paused, then grinned. "I even gave Zhao Xiaohua's mecha a voice reminder—'Please mind your wounds' and 'You have been fighting for two hours, please rest.'"

Aelia stared blankly for two seconds before suddenly bursting into laughter. "That sounds like a nagging housekeeper!"

"She said her mom is just like that." Chen Wuwang laughed too. "Now the whole Artifact Refining Workshop calls that System the 'Sissy AI.'"

Both of them laughed together, the atmosphere relaxing for a moment.

But soon, Aelia stopped laughing. She took half a step back, her hands folded in front of her; her posture remained respectful, but her eyes had changed.

It was no longer pure wonder, but the burning intensity of a merchant seeing a rare treasure.

"No wonder you could gain a firm foothold in the Eastern Wasteland." Her voice dropped, yet every word was clear. "A single mecha like this could change the course of a campaign. Three? Enough to overturn the balance of a Small World."

She looked up, staring directly at Chen Wuwang. "I wonder if the Family Head would consider... letting more allies witness this miracle?"

Chen Wuwang didn't answer immediately.

He leaned against the console, his left hand unconsciously tapping the tabletop twice as he looked at her with a calm gaze.

He knew the weight of those words.

"Witness?" he asked back, his tone neither warm nor cold. "Do you want to look, or do you want to take?"

The corner of Aelia's mouth quirked; she didn't deny it. "If it were the former, I wouldn't have rushed here. If it's the latter... I won't lie to you, I want to take the blueprints back for research."

"And then?" Chen Wuwang raised an eyebrow. "Sell them to others? Or make your own imitations?"

"Neither." Aelia shook her head. "I want to discuss a partnership. You lack Materials, you lack channels, and you lack cross-Star Domain transport capabilities. Whereas I have trade routes, technical teams, and a star map network. We could—"

"Stop." Chen Wuwang raised a hand to interrupt. "It's too early to talk about a partnership."

He pointed at the projection in the air. "This is still just a drawing. The first prototype won't come off the line for seven days. You don't even know if it can move, yet you want to talk about profit sharing?"

Aelia wasn't annoyed; instead, she smiled. "It's precisely because it's the first one that it's the most valuable. The raw data, the design philosophy, the core architecture—these are the true priceless treasures. Once it's mass-produced, it won't be special anymore."

She took half a step forward, her voice dropping low. "I can pay a deposit upfront. star-fall iron, pure yang thunder marrow, high-purity spirit crystals... whatever you want, I can arrange it. I can even... provide a secret dock for you to test interstellar flight performance."

Chen Wuwang stared at her, silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. "Do you know what I fear most?"

Aelia shook her head.

"I'm not afraid of you stealing it," he said slowly. "I'm afraid you won't understand it. This kind of mecha isn't something just anyone with money can handle."

"With the Divine Sense direct link, the slightest mistake results in a brain explosion. With the dual-core parallel System, a single overload scraps the entire setup."

"Without a supporting training System, a stable energy supply, and enough Nascent Soul Cultivators to pilot them—it would just be a pile of scrap metal in your hands."

Aelia's eyes flashed. "So what you need isn't just money; it's an ecosystem."

"Smart." Chen Wuwang nodded. "What I want isn't a buyer, but a co-builder. I know very well what you can bring. But first, you have to prove—you aren't just someone looking to pick the low-hanging fruit."

Aelia lowered her gaze, her fingers gently stroking the patterns on her cuff. After a moment, she looked up. "I can leave behind a technical representative to participate in the entire R&D process. All data shared, progress synchronized. If it fails, we share the losses."

"Not enough." Chen Wuwang shook his head. "I want you to hand over the access keys for a Level 3 or higher merchant fleet. I want to be able to call upon your transport fleet at any time, regardless of purpose or frequency."

Aelia's pupils shrank. "That's my lifeblood! Without that, I won't be able to maintain my position in the Family!"

"Then don't talk." Chen Wuwang turned away, making a move to turn off the projection. "We'll chat again when you can show some real sincerity."

"Wait!" Aelia stepped forward. "I can give you Level 2 keys! Plus two top-tier engineers! Stationed for ten years!"

Chen Wuwang stopped but didn't turn around.

"Level 2..." He slowly turned around, a faint light flashing in his mechanical eye. "Barely enough for an entry fee."

He walked up to her and looked straight into her eyes. "By this time tomorrow, I want to see the key chips and the people. If the people are here, I'll show you the mecha startup. If they aren't—the next time we meet, it'll be on the battlefield."

Aelia took a deep breath and finally nodded. "Deal."

The two looked at each other, neither of them smiling.

Only the crackling of the furnace fire and the hum of the mecha rotating in the projection above remained in the air.

Just then, a series of footsteps came from the distance, approaching until they stopped outside the door.

A voice rang out: "Family Head, the North Valley thunderstorm has come early! The pure yang thunder marrow will land in three hours!"