Chapter 102: The Battle Dragon Completed

Chapter 102: Battle Dragon Completed

Young Dragon Star

At this moment, Liu Shaoyu and Monkey were completely unaware of everything happening throughout the Federation, or rather, they had no time to care.

“I really thought... it was just a machine.”

“Yeah, it basically is a machine. Just a bit bigger than usual,” Liu Shaoyu explained.

This conversation arose because the military-grade “Natural” Life Staff had just arrived.

Monkey never expected this machine to be unimaginably huge.

“You’ll understand why it’s so big once you see what it does,” Liu Shaoyu hurriedly added, sensing Monkey’s doubts.

Computers, as a technology, had undergone several revolutions—from the earliest vacuum tubes to today’s micro-modules—achieving leaps in hardware quality. Nowadays, electronic devices had shrunk to a microscopic scale.

So, under current technology, a machine of this size implied immense functionality.

The entire military-grade “Natural” Life Staff measured 35 kilometers long, 5 kilometers wide, and 5 kilometers high, with a rectangular black metal exterior.

It was composed of countless small modules that could be embedded based on a planet’s specific conditions for modification and monitoring.

Moreover, these modules could expand from two-dimensional to three-dimensional forms, enabling comprehensive carpet-like coverage of an entire planet.

“The modification will take about a month. I’m heading back to Earth first. In a few hours, Xu Meng will bring the fleet over. The rest is up to you guys.”

Having seen the arrival of the equipment and witnessed his own planet firsthand, Liu Shaoyu prepared to return to Earth.

Because many matters awaited him there, such as the gene ratio for the Battle Dragon mech.

This was the issue Liu Shaoyu cared about most besides Young Dragon Star. After talking with Carter, he gained deeper understanding about this mech, though he hadn’t yet figured out how to utilize the information.

“There’s still so much lacking,” Liu Shaoyu felt a wave of helplessness rise. For example, money was the biggest shortfall now; unlike when he bought this planet, he could no longer generate funds by selling large quantities of ice minerals.

Therefore, future funding would have to wait until the mining company began profiting steadily to sustain continuous replenishment.

***

Regarding this, Liu Shaoyu needed to find someone else to take charge, as he had little concept of financial management. Whatever money came in, he spent it all—making sure he was fed, and so was his family.

At this point, regardless of the reasons, Liu Shaoyu truly needed money— and not just a small amount.

Fundamentally, mining required mining teams. Mining teams needed mining ships. Mining ships required money.

So right now, Liu Shaoyu was short on money and mining ships.

He entrusted Du Yue, with the last bit of capital from their deal, to help secure some mining ships from United Mining.

After Liu Shaoyu completed the handover, Xu Meng went on a mission—not one assigned by others, but a personal task issued by Liu Shaoyu as fleet CEO: to scout several nearby mining sites on the star map.

The results were gratifying. Carter’s star map proved reliable. Guided by the map, Xu Meng found a hidden acceleration channel and jumped to the designated location, which turned out to be an outpost of a mining site. However, this outpost had long been abandoned, ravaged by the passage of time. Among the ruins, another acceleration channel was discovered.

And the mineral deposits lay there.

Such a secretive location would have been impossible to find in the vast cosmos without coordinates from the star map. The star systems connected by fixed channels were often difficult to approach by normal navigation for various reasons.

Therefore, to Liu Shaoyu, these resource deposits were like banks just waiting to be mined.

Because Monkey had to hand over to Xu Meng and the others arriving soon, Liu Shaoyu had to return to Earth alone this time.

The journey from Young Dragon Star to Earth was not long—seven star gates to jump through, plus a short-range jump.

Liu Shaoyu’s urgency to reach Earth stemmed from the fact that the prototype of the Battle Dragon was finally completed.

“This Battle Dragon mech is completely different from any you’ve piloted before. In fact, it can no longer be called a mech,” Wang Weifu said as they walked through the base corridor.

“That’s why we named it Battle Dragon,” he added.

“What makes it so special?” Liu Shaoyu had asked this more than once.

“Because the Battle Dragon is actually you. A magnified version of yourself.”

Wang Weifu suddenly stopped and turned to Liu Shaoyu.

His sudden halt startled Liu Shaoyu. Listening carefully, the statement seemed packed with meaning.

“You mean you built a giant just like me?” Liu Shaoyu asked.

***

“Not exactly. Its essence is still a machine, but biological technology was integrated during construction. The Battle Dragon’s uniqueness lies in this use of biotechnology. It’s like the Sharp Tower Zerg wood bug—it can inhabit an external shell. That shell is the Zerg warship.”

Actually, Liu Shaoyu already had a deeper understanding of the Battle Dragon Wang Weifu mentioned, since after all, it was Carter’s creation.

But... Liu Shaoyu really had no idea what these things would become in Wang Weifu’s hands.

In Carter’s perfect plan, gigantism was not the end, but a transition.

The ultimate perfect body was supposed to be the one Carter himself now possessed. Liu Shaoyu believed that even inside the Battle Dragon, he wouldn’t be able to defeat Carter now, because he had seen firsthand that bigger doesn’t always mean better.

Soon, Liu Shaoyu followed Wang Weifu to the testing ground.

“We’re here. Good luck,” Wang Weifu said.

Liu Shaoyu rolled his eyes. “Why does that sound like a death sentence?”

“Ha ha, theoretically there’s no danger, but since this is the first time, who knows?” Wang Weifu said, then turned away to enter from another passage to reach the control panel.

Rather than reassure Liu Shaoyu, Wang Weifu’s words made him uneasy.

Before arriving, Liu Shaoyu had roughly understood the experimental procedure.

The Battle Dragon’s control mode differed from the usual simulated pilot operation in mechs. It employed neural linkage—connecting the human nervous system directly to the Battle Dragon’s neural units. Upon reaching a synchronization point, the two would become connected.

In this way, the pilot could operate the Battle Dragon directly through consciousness.

Currently, Earth’s technology for mental control was still in its infancy, so the experiment could go awry at any time.

According to theoretical data, the greatest risk was mental source infection, which necessitated special S-gene enhancement to strengthen the mind, ensuring the pilot’s safety during the experiment.

Moreover, this kind of control tested the human body’s endurance.

Everything remained uncertain; the answers would be revealed through Liu Shaoyu’s experiment.

Would everything go as smoothly as imagined? Liu Shaoyu thought, then lifted his leg and stepped through the door.