Chapter 63: The Trial of Humiliation

The aerial combat mech Gale and the G-0 Warlord were now combined into a single entity.

“Combination complete, synchronization at 100%, master,” rang out Christina’s lively voice within the cockpit.

“Excellent!” Luke nodded in satisfaction.

The inspiration for this came from the anti-Hulk armor in “Avengers 2,” which made its debut there. Tony and Banner had designed a whole set of strategies specifically to restrain the Hulk, though their effectiveness was questionable.

Compared to the anti-Hulk armor, the G-0 Warlord was larger and bulkier.

The anti-Hulk armor stood around three meters tall—compared to Tony’s height of a little over 1.8 meters, it was more like an extension of his Iron Man suit.

The G-0 Warlord, on the other hand, was a full six meters tall and just as wide—a true giant, a massive block of a machine.

Gale had originally stood at 1.2 meters, but after being modified and raised, it was now 1.5 meters. Even so, the difference from the anti-Hulk armor was clear. This was a real case of a large mech enveloping a small one.

The benefit of this design was that the combat module and cockpit could be separated. In critical moments, an escape could be made—Gale could revert to its independent pilot mode.

As always, Luke cherished his life above all.

In this perilous, broken world, his first thought at any time was to ensure his own survival, then, and only then, to consider what chaos he might stir up.

One must be alive to make an impact.

Given the limited range of his psychic shield and its immobility once deployed, this modular separation was essential for the G-0 Warlord.

He had stripped Gale of all unnecessary burdens: the first and second-tier sensors, radar, fire-control system, external armor—all of it was handed over to the Warlord.

The weapon mounts once present on Gale were also removed; now, Gale retained only its supersonic propulsion system, lightweight armor, and operating system.

Finally, he installed a new transmission system, pairing it perfectly with the G-0 Warlord.

All previous scrap metal was replaced with titanium alloy.

Gale’s height was increased by 0.3 meters.

This meant that, given Luke’s stature, he could recline in the cockpit rather than sit upright.

Not long ago, Luke had assigned Christina a task—codenamed Project Pacific Rim.

The AI’s programming skills were phenomenal—the code she produced was utterly incomprehensible to Luke.

The results of the project’s first phase were applied to Gale.

Since he frequently piloted the mech in complex combat maneuvers, with plans to use sword techniques more often, the old keyboard-based control system could no longer meet his needs.

Thus, Gale’s controls were replaced by two long dragon-horn joysticks, and under the cockpit, two pedals were designed to wrap around his feet, allowing movement much like riding a bicycle.

This setup enabled full-body articulation.

The inspiration for this control system came from the film “Pacific Rim” and an ancient animated series, “Dragon Warrior.”

Fire control and weapon deployment were all handled by Christina; he only needed to issue commands and focus on maneuvering the mech.

In truth, Luke’s ultimate goal was to have Christina achieve complete brainwave control for him.

According to Christina’s projections, barring unforeseen complications, she could accomplish this within six months.

By then, Luke would truly achieve unity between man and machine.

Just the thought made him a little excited.

“If this modular design proves viable in combat, perhaps I’ll use the same system to control the future Mecha War God—Gaeboga,” Luke mused.

For his own amusement, he’d also altered the Warlord’s exterior until it was unrecognizable.

From the outside, there was no trace of its celestial origin.

The most striking features were on the head and shoulders.

Usually, a robot’s head is just a sensor mount—optional, really. But Luke not only kept the head but shaped it into an inverted triangular human face, a truly unique design.

The mech’s eyes could glow—though it served no practical purpose.

On each shoulder were three massive golden dragon claws, gripping with an air of majesty and dominance.

The color scheme: white, black, gold, and a touch of red at the chest.

Additionally, a huge red cloak was draped over the back—a vision of grandeur.

Luke reclined in the cockpit.

Hands gripping the two long dragon-horn joysticks, feet poised on the transmission pedals, he activated the system and declared, voice full of dramatic flair, “Super transformation! Sword King Dragon!”

Christina played along: “It’s time, little Luke!”

He conjured a 6.5-meter-long mech greatsword, unable to suppress a laugh as he shouted, “Victory is certain! Sword King—Dragon Ascendant Sword!”

In the fish tank behind him, Lotus blinked its little eyes, as if watching a fool.

Now, the G-0 Warlord was fully primed, awaiting tomorrow’s grand event: the Justin Hammer Expo.

“Master, I have a question.” Christina’s voice sounded puzzled. “What are these little slots for?”

In front of Luke, between the two dragon-horn joysticks, was an outwardly protruding platform with six identical small recesses—all empty.

This was Gale’s power core; inside the platform, colorless crystal shards could be stored.

Clearly, when Luke designed these slots, he’d meant them for something special.

“You’re absolutely right, assistant. These empty slots are reserved for something good.”

“Something good?”

Luke chuckled mysteriously. “In the Marvel universe, there’s something called… Infinity Stones.”

“Infinity Stones?”

“That’s right.”

Sipping from his milk carton, Luke admired his month-long masterpiece through the workshop camera, growing ever more satisfied.

Lotus crawled out of the fish tank and up onto his shoulder, asking, “Do you want to be cheap?”

“You’re the one being cheap.” Luke replied, annoyed. “You’re cheap! Hiking up the price of the magic box—that’s low. Already forgotten the pain of your last lesson?”

He shot Lotus a sidelong glance.

Lotus was unfazed, chuckling slyly. “I meant, do you want a sword?”

Luke blinked. “You mean, a sword?”

“Just look at that thing. What kind of lousy sword is that?” Lotus pointed a fleshy tentacle at the G-0 Warlord’s greatsword on the screen, his octopus face full of very human disdain.

“It’s the best I could make,” Luke replied.

He’d spent a great deal of thought on the sword’s appearance—just recreating the Dragon Ascendant Sword’s design had taken him twelve minutes.

“Long ago, those foolish adventurers brought their finest gear to challenge me,” Lotus said, voice sly and malicious. “Heh heh, and all their swords became part of my collection. Want one? I can give you a sword.”

“You have swords? I’ve never seen any. Where are they?”

“Of course they’re in the system. It’s a collection of all our apostles’ resources… ahem, so, do you want one or not?”

Luke pondered and then nodded. “Yes, absolutely.”

Lotus immediately announced, “Beep, system quest issued.”

“Huh—?”

Lotus continued, “Quest issued: The Trial of Cheekiness. Take up your sword and go make some trouble, young man! The more cunning your methods and the greater the glory you bring to the apostles, the higher your total score…”

Luke interrupted, “Why is the measure based on being cheeky?”

“Because the reward is a sword, of course.”

“That actually makes some sense…”

Lotus went on, “This time, your score will determine the quality of your reward. The higher your score, the better the blueprint you’ll receive. The ratings go E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS—corresponding to no reward, white, blue, purple, Valor, Artifact, Legendary, and Epic.”

“An SSS score for Epic? How tough is that?” Luke asked, curious.

“With your current level, I think A is the best you’ll get,” Lotus sniffed.

“That hard? I thought I was cheeky enough.”

“Clearly, you’re not cheeky enough yet!”

“Can I see the rewards first?”

“You can only see the rewards after you get your score.”

“Fine… I’ll take the quest, but don’t mess with me. By the way, why do you always start with a ‘beep’ when you issue a quest?” Luke asked.

“It’s a notification sound. Don’t like it? I can change it to ‘ding’. Do you want ‘beep beep’ or ‘ding ding’?”

Luke considered seriously.

Scratching his head with a grin, he said, “Oh, such a dilemma, so hard to choose…”