Chapter 452 - 440: Generational Upgrade
Chapter 452: Chapter 440: Generational Upgrade
Cybertron, Central Control Room.
Allen leaned back in his spacious commander’s chair, a glass of iced soda still in his hand.
A rare day off.
Another long-term research and development project had been successfully completed.
For the past two days, he had done nothing but sit in his chair and gaze at Cybertron’s ever-expanding complex of steel buildings.
Number 18 stood silently in the shadows half a step behind him and to his side.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, and the same black inner armor and light blue jacket.
She was like a breathtaking, breathless sculpture. Only her azure eyes occasionally swept over her surroundings, performing hundreds of threat assessments per second.
"Break’s over." Allen set down his glass, the ice cubes making a crisp clinking sound against the sides.
Number 18 immediately stepped forward, took the glass, and returned to her original position.
"Jarvis," Allen said, his gaze sharpening.
[Commander, I am here.]
"Display the current organizational sequences for all Golems. It’s time to give our entire inventory a complete overhaul."
Over 2.3 billion Low-Level Magic Stones sat in his account—a colossal sum, enough to buy an entire continent.
Money left in an account was just a string of numbers. The true path was to quickly convert it into absolute firepower.
SWOOSH.
Streams of ethereal blue data rapidly intertwined, quickly constructing a dense array of miniature Golem models.
Allen’s gaze swept over them. It was the physical manifestation of his twenty years of hard work.
Six major series, arranged in distinct formations.
At the very front was the colossal and imposing [Guard Series].
The forty-eight-meter-tall "Cyclops" stood like an ancient titan; the twenty-four-meter-tall "Gabriel" had its eight wings spread, looking both holy and deadly.
The eighteen-meter "Freedom Gundam" had sleek lines; then there was the powerful "Peacekeeper PX-0" prototype and the "Peacekeeper PX-2 Flame Demon," which was forged in the fires of lava.
They were Allen’s showpieces, decisive weapons capable of withstanding attacks from and even destroying Second-level Wizards.
Behind them, hidden in the shadows, was the [Reconnaissance Series].
It included the standard "Demon Eye" and the "Spider Slayer Type II," which was equipped with a Shadow Travel module. They were the eyes of Cybertron, penetrating every corner.
In the center, and most numerous, was the [Main Combat Series].
The "Spider Slayer Type I" formed a swarm of steel insects; the six-legged, heavy-firepower "Purgatory" carried Red Lotus missile launchers on its back.
The anti-gravity "Storm Falcon," which controlled the skies, and the "Magic Eye Type II," which provided area-denial fire, formed a three-dimensional strike network.
The mass-produced "Peacekeeper PX-1B" served as the core infantry, arranged in formation. Hovering above them was the enormous "Hive Mothership."
On the flanks was the [Special Operations Series].
It consisted of the densely packed "Jumping Spider" Self-Destructive Golems; the "Shadow Assassin," which excelled at assassination; and, of course, "Android 18" standing behind Allen.
In the rear was the [Battlefield Support Series], which provided tactical assistance.
The "Magic Eye Type V" regional command platform could perform reconnaissance and direct production.
The "Sky Throne" could transport large Golems and perform space-based strikes; the "Hauler" Floating Transport Ship was always ready to reinforce supply lines. As for his personal vehicle, the Odyssey, he hadn’t used it in a long time.
On the outermost perimeter was the silent but crucial [Production Series].
Tens of thousands of Factory Servants, the "Blessing" model; Mining Golems roaring outside; "Burrowing Insects" diving underground to prospect for ore; and the massive heavy-duty shield machine, the "Pioneer."
Allen looked at this vast Steel Legion, but his brow furrowed slightly.
’The scale is sufficient, but the quality is inconsistent.’
He started by pulling up the design schematic for a Spider Slayer Type I.
This Golem was a mature product finalized after the era of the Shadow Demon Spider, and it remained the most numerous combat unit in the legion to this day.
"Jarvis, enlarge the transmission structure of the arthropod chassis."
A section of the hologram magnified, revealing the joint transmission system of the six mechanical spider legs in full detail.
The more he looked, the more he frowned.
This transmission system was a design from his apprentice days. He had been proud of it back then, using algorithmic compensation instead of adaptive bearings to cut the cost from eight hundred to five hundred ninety Magic Stones. He was poor at the time; every Magic Stone had to be split in two to be spent.
’But looking at it now...’
’The joint bushings are made of Level 3 adamantium alloy, with a tolerance of 0.3 millimeters.’
’The Rune etching is still a single-layer planar layout, and the Magic Conductivity path takes three turns before reaching the end-effector module.’
When he built Number 18, the machining precision was 0.003 millimeters.
When designing Gabriel, he had developed a three-layer stacked Rune etching technique.
’It’s two generations behind.’
"Pull up the technical parameters of all active Golems, categorized by model, and cross-reference them with our current top technical standards."
[Command confirmed. Generating technological gap analysis report...]
Finally, a table was projected in front of Allen.
[Spider Slayer: Transmission efficiency is 23% lower than current technical standards. Rune energy consumption redundancy is 31%. Perception module response delay is 47 times that of Number 18.]
[Peacekeeper PX-1B Mass-Production Model: Core computing power is only 42% of the current benchmark. Armor protection level is two generations behind. Joint-blocking tolerance is insufficient.]
[Purgatory: Fire control accuracy can be improved by 40%. Ammunition guidance module can be upgraded to a Red Lotus-II compatible architecture.]
[Storm Falcon: Flight control system has 17 nodes that can be optimized. Maximum flight speed can be increased to 1.6 times the current speed.]
Line after line of red data scrolled down.
Allen watched with a blank expression before leaning back in his chair.
It wasn’t that these Golems had gotten worse; it was that he had gotten better. The pinnacle of his work from forty years ago was now just a crudely made product by today’s standards.
The feeling was strange, like a programmer with ten years of experience in his previous life looking back at the code he wrote in college and wanting to delete and rewrite every single line.
He turned to Number 18. "If you were to face a standard Golem Legion, what would be your chances of victory?"
A blue light flashed in Number 18’s eyes as she instantly completed the simulation.
"One hundred percent."
Her voice was crisp and cold. "I only need to maintain a speed above Mach 5. I can dismantle one hundred PX-1 units into scrap metal within three minutes. Their attacks wouldn’t even be able to touch the hem of my clothes."
"And that’s the problem," Allen said with a snap of his fingers.
If mass-produced cannon fodder can’t even break through the defenses of or lock onto a High-tier Transcendent, they lose their purpose as disposable units.
But now, things were different.
Through the process of creating "Android 18," developing the "Deity Series," and integrating the wisdom of millions of artisans from the Aiselan Kingdom, Allen had accumulated a vast amount of extremely advanced, practical technology that he hadn’t had time to implement across the board.
"Jarvis, create a project file for ’Legion-Wide Upgrade’." Allen sat up straight, the sub-thought processes in his brain beginning to run at full speed.
[File created. Please indicate the upgrade directive.]
"Objective: Conduct a unified technological upgrade of all active Golems to increase overall combat effectiveness by over 30%. Formulate a plan for each of the six major series."
Allen stood up, walked to the center of the holographic projection table, and began rapidly dragging his fingers across the light screen.
"For the Guard Series, Gabriel and Cyclops are already the pinnacle of our latest technology. Just bring the first unit up to the standards of the third. Replace all of Freedom Gundam’s armor with Earth Vein Tempered Steel. Decommission and shelve the PX-0. The PX-2 was designed for special lava environments, so leave it for now."
"The focus is on the low-to-mid-end mass-produced models."
He brought up the schematics for several Golem models developed from the Spider Slayer prototype, and with a swipe of his finger, deleted the entire transmission system.
"First, replace all arthropod joints with the latest high-strength bearings. This technology was downscaled from Number 18’s skeletal system. The cost increase is less than eighty Magic Stones per unit, but the transmission efficiency will completely close the generational gap."
"Second, flash the Control Cores with the new tactical firmware. Professor Karl’s team in the kingdom has overcome the pulse oscillation problem in precision Magic Circuits. We can use their constant-voltage servo technology directly, which will at least double the perception response speed."
"Third, replace all Spider Slayers’ Close-Combat Blades with high-frequency vibrating blades. This technology was scaled down from the PX-2’s Piercing Spear, and it will triple their cutting efficiency."
As the three improvement plans were finalized, the Spider Slayer’s combat effectiveness assessment curve visibly jumped upward.
[Cost per unit modification: Approximately 410 Low-Level Magic Stones. Post-modification comprehensive combat effectiveness increase: Approximately 38%.]
"For the Peacekeeper PX-1B, recall all of them, salvage the cores, and rebuild the frames."
The command was decisive. The PX-1B’s foundation was too old; it was better to scrap them and start over than to patch them up.
’I have the money now anyway. I’ll just increase the budget. The legion’s main combat Golems must be able to both take a hit and dish one out.’
"Using the frame manufacturing process of the PX-2 Flame Demon as a baseline, redesign a ten-meter-class, mass-produced humanoid frame. Use second-generation Earth Vein Tempered Steel for armor, switch the power source to the Second Generation Singularity Engine, and make the weapon systems modular and detachable. Their combat power should be benchmarked directly against a First-level Wizard."
He paused for a moment.
"Name the new model PX-3."
[PX-3 estimated cost per unit: Approximately 120,000 Low-Level Magic Stones. Total cost for 2,500 units: Approximately 300 million Low-Level Magic Stones.]
"Approved."
Next were the Purgatory and the Storm Falcon.
The Purgatory’s modifications were relatively simple: upgrade the fire control system, adapt the ammunition bay for Red Lotus-II missiles, and reinforce the chassis joints.
The Storm Falcon, on the other hand, needed a new flight control core and the installation of a new Aerodynamic Rune Array.
"For the Demon Eye Series, phase out all old models. Standardize them into a cost-reduced version of the Type V ’Observer’. They should have both reconnaissance and command capabilities. No more of those half-baked intermediate models."
"For the Hive Mothership, upgrade the command link and integrate the first version of the Allen Network protocol to enable real-time battlefield data sharing."
"The Jumping Spider Self-Destructive Golems..."
Allen paused.
’These things are cheap, disposable. There’s not much point in upgrading them.’
’But their detonation Rune Array is definitely old. When it was designed, its energy efficiency was only 41%.’
"Re-etch the detonation array and increase the explosive yield by 50%. They’re one-time use items anyway. If they’re going to blow up, they should blow up completely."
Finally, the Production Series.
"Flash the firmware on all Factory Servants and install precision work modules. Replace the drills on the Burrowing Insects and Pioneers with the new alloy to increase tunneling efficiency by 20%. The Haulers—"
He stopped.
"The Haulers don’t need any changes. As long as they can fly and carry things, they’re fine."
Some things don’t need to be fancy.
[Total budget: Approximately 380 million Low-Level Magic Stones. Estimated project duration: Thirteen months. Upon project completion, the legion’s comprehensive combat effectiveness is projected to increase by 72.7%.]
In thirteen months, Allen’s Golem Legion would be completely transformed. The new main combat Golem, the PX-3, would be especially formidable. In terms of firepower and defense alone, a single unit could match a First-level Wizard.
If he deployed all 2,500 units of the entire legion, they could easily steamroll several Second-level Wizard factions.
million. It was an incredible bargain.
In the past, Allen couldn’t have scraped together this much money even if he sold everything he owned, but now, he didn’t even bat an eye.
"Begin production on all fronts. Upgrade the units on Cybertron first, then rotate in the 10 Golem Legions deployed in the Aiselan Kingdom."
BOOM—!
The entirety of Cybertron roared like an awakened ancient beast.
Thirty Earth Vein Magic Furnaces thundered in unison, their power output pushed to the absolute limit.
Immense Magic Power surged into every production workshop.
Thirty automated production lines operated at full speed, with ten thousand Factory Servants moving like tireless worker ants along the assembly lines.
Sparks flew, Runes flashed, and the clang of steel converged into a grand industrial symphony.
Large batches of old models were sent to be melted down and reforged. Countless brand-new components were churned out from the end of the production lines like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Allen stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the spectacular scene.
This was the romance of a Golem Wizard. No martial ethics, only production capacity.
To crush all fancy Witchcraft with absolute numbers and steel.