After storing the Extreme Ice Armor inside the rank-nine storage soul tool gifted to him by Elder Kong, Huo Yuhao sat down with Team Leader Wang once more to discuss how to design custom mechas for other people.
If this kind of mecha could only be used by him alone, then the entire research effort would be meaningless.
After a long discussion, the two agreed that future mecha development should proceed in two directions:
First, creating sentient "mecha lifeforms" powered by artificial intelligence to assist in operation.
Second, designing manual control systems that would allow soul engineers to pilot the mechas directly.
Between the two, the second option was certainly simpler. However, it would drastically raise the operational threshold—making the mechas harder to use and stripping away the core advantage of assisting soul masters in battle.
As for how to develop intelligent mecha life... that was uncharted territory. No precedents, no examples—just feeling their way across the river stone by stone. Both Huo Yuhao and Wang agreed that progress in that direction would likely depend on luck and inspiration.
So Wang decided to focus on striking a balance between manual and spiritual control systems, while continuing to improve the existing mental enhancement soul tools.
Then came the next big problem:
Where would all the forged metal come from?
They couldn't have Huo Yuhao forge every piece by himself for the entire Sun Moon Empire. They needed to train a new generation of forgers with natural talent.
That wasn't actually too difficult—so long as Mingde Hall received state support, they could easily launch large-scale recruitment drives to find young talents with a gift for forging. It would just take time.
Fortunately, the use of forged metal in soul tools was still an untapped field. Demand wasn't high yet, but it would gradually grow with time.
After discussing all this, Huo Yuhao said his goodbyes to Team Leader Wang.
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Mingdu – Sun Moon Imperial Palace – Crown Prince's Quarters
"Your Highness."
A black-skinned, blond-haired old man in military uniform, wearing a general's insignia, bowed slightly before Xu Tianran, who sat in a wheelchair.
Xu Tianran smiled warmly.
"Brother Tianyuan, sit down. No need to be so formal. We're family. And I'm not Emperor yet."
If he'd said this to any of his other royal brothers, it would've been completely insincere. If they dared act informally, they'd disappear before long.
But Xu Tianyuan was different. Xu Tianran genuinely meant what he said.
Who was Xu Tianyuan? A rank-nine soul engineer, the Commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, an elder cousin of Xu Tianran, and a man of enormous prestige and influence.
Xu Tianyuan returned the smile and took a seat beside him.
"What did you call me here for, Brother Tianran?"
Xu Tianran poured a cup of tea and asked casually:
"You went to Mingde Hall to procure that new military-grade soul tool—the powered armor, right? How did it go?"
Xu Tianyuan had gone to acquire a massive batch of newly developed weaponry at Xu Tianran's request.
In truth, the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion had always maintained a neutral stance, serving only the royal family and avoiding political alliances with any specific prince. So why had Xu Tianyuan chosen to support Xu Tianran?
Because Xu Tianyuan had watched Xu Tianran grow up.
He knew better than anyone that Xu Tianran was the only imperial heir truly capable of ruling the Sun Moon Empire. Under his leadership, the Empire could achieve greatness. Compared to him, the other princes were as dim as candlelight beside the sun.
Supporting Xu Tianran wasn't favoritism—it was loyalty to the Empire itself.
After some thought, Xu Tianyuan nodded and said:
"Very well. That powered armor—it's terrifying. From what I can tell, if I equip my soldiers and officers with it, the Imperial Dragon Legion's combat capacity could triple. That's a conservative estimate, Brother Tianran."
Xu Tianran's breathing quickened.
The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion—what kind of force was that? Even Titled Douluo or Hyper Douluo without proper preparation would have no choice but to flee.
And now Xu Tianyuan was saying that powered armor could triple their strength?
For a man who dreamed of conquering the Three Kingdoms of Douluo and unifying the entire continent, this was monumental news.
In an instant, Mingde Hall's value in his mind skyrocketed beyond measure.
"Excellent. Excellent!"
Then Xu Tianyuan seemed to remember something.
"By the way, Brother Tianran—I heard that Mingde Hall developed two versions of that powered armor. One model for soul engineers, and another one... for ordinary people? The soul engineer version is called Light of the Sun, and the other one is Light of the Moon?"
Hearing that, Xu Tianran's breath stopped for several seconds.
Powered armor... for ordinary people?
He nearly gasped aloud.
He knew exactly what that meant.
Light of the Sun and Moon, indeed.
But he forced himself to remain calm in front of Xu Tianyuan.
After all, empowering ordinary people to fight like soul engineers was an extremely sensitive subject within the imperial family and the entire upper echelon of the Empire.
"Oh? And what do you think of that, Brother Tianyuan? Just speak freely."
"Hmm. In my view, it has both pros and cons. On the one hand, arming ordinary people with powered armor and soul tools would drastically increase our military strength.
On the other hand, it's bound to provoke backlash from the noble soul engineering class—especially the old traditionalists. After all, giving the common folk power is like taking cake from the hands of the elite.
But me? I couldn't care less."
Xu Tianyuan spoke with open contempt for those conservative forces.
Xu Tianran nodded repeatedly. With Xu Tianyuan's status and prestige, even the Emperor himself rarely reprimanded him for blunt speech. At most, others envied him.
"Well said, Brother Tianyuan. From my perspective, the supposed 'cons' might not be cons at all. Now that the sealed soul power flasks have been successfully developed, empowering the ordinary people is the tide of history. And those who go against it—those conservative factions clinging to the past—are not people I care for."
(End of Chapter)
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