by <unknown>
The crystal cannons on the chest was in the shape of the head of a roaring tiger, radiating a strong scent of killing.
With the Gold Armor Clan's participation, the framework of the Tiger King Battlesuit had been thoroughly tempered. As a medium crystal suit, its defensive ability had surpassed that of many heavy crystal suits. It could resist short-distance strikes of a demon general for multiple times even without the spiritual shield.
Also, thanks to the state-of-the-art crystal processors provided by Deep Sea University, the computational ability of the Tiger King Battlesuit was amazing, too. It could automatically launch counterattacks before the wearer was able to react.
"Tiger King is invincible among crystal suits of the same level," Zuo Feijing declared confidently.
Yet Li Yao felt that there was something wrong about it.
He thought hard for a moment. Then he finally remembered.
"Professor, the overall outlook of the Tiger King Battlesuit is very similar to the 'Tiger Assassin Battlesuit' refined by Deep Sea University several years ago.
"The plate armor and the style of the bottom half of the body leave me the same impression as did the 'Mystic Turtle Battlesuit', a classic crystal suit of the Gold Armor Clan.
"This new model is like a combination of the two prior models. No wonder they could produce a prototype within several months.
"But, here's the question.
"As I recall, both the Tiger Assassin Battlesuit and the Mystic Turtle Battlesuit require a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, so, both of them are very expensive, aren't they?
"The vertebral column of the Tiger Assassin Battlesuit is made of the spine of a liger-type demon beast, which must be intact without a single crack.
"Such a spine is not readily available.
"The Mystic Turtle Battlesuit is the same. A single Mystic Turtle Battlesuit uses more than 50 shells of turtle-type demon beasts.
"Now that the two models have been merged together, there's no doubt that the combat ability will be extraordinary. But the cost will be enormous, too. Besides, where can they find so many spines of the liger-type demon beasts and shells of the turtle-type demon beasts?
"How will they mass-produce such a crystal suit?"
Yuan Manqiu was confused, too. She shook her head and said, "It is indeed a crucial question. Let's see what Zuo Feijing has to say. Somebody is definitely going to ask."
As it turned out, an impatient journalist raised the question the moment Zuo Feijing finished the introduction of specifications.
Most of the journalists taking part in the press conference had been focusing on crystal suit news. Some of them were crystal suit specialists themselves. It was not hard for them to find out that the Tiger King Battlesuit was a renovation of old models which would cost too many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to meet the military's requirement.
Faced with the sharp question, Zuo Feijing was not the least panicked. He smiled and said, "It is true that the Tiger King Battlesuit has been developed from the Tiger Assassin Battlesuit and the Mystic Turtle Battlesuit, and that a lot of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are mandatory in the manufacturing process. However, of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that the Tiger King Battlesuit needs, 90% can be synthesized!"
"What?!"
Every one of the Project Mystic Skeleton team, including Li Yao, stood up.
The press conference was overwhelmed by whispers, too.
As the Cultivation civilization progressed, more and more Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could be synthesized.
The Building Foundation Pill that all the Cultivators had scrambled for 40,000 years ago could be synthesized into the form of strengthening drug nowadays. One could have as many as one wanted.
However, the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for the refinement of crystal suit were mostly demon cores and demon bones. Their hardness, tenacity and attributes were highly restricted. The development of synthesized materials in this regard had been poor.
Therefore, everybody was shocked that the Refining Department of Deep Sea University could be so strong as to refine a crystal suit with 90% synthesized materials.
"Since the military's announcement of outsourcing the standard crystal suit, many sects have initiated MP crystal suit research projects.
"But most of them had the same misconception. To lower the lost for mass-production, they've been cutting out redundant Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures which are supposed to be indispensable. Therefore, the sturdiness, strength, attack ability, defense ability, cruising ability… have all been significantly undermined!"
Zuo Feijing announced proudly, "That is not the path Deep Sea University is going to take.
"In our opinion, a MP crystal suit, however cheap it may be, should still maintain strong attack ability and defense ability to be the absolute star of the battlefield stressing the demon beasts out the moment they see one.
"Therefore, instead of reducing the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, we've been dedicated to speeding up the research of synthesized substitutes for the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
"In fact, Deep Sea University has been working on the subject for over a hundred years. Infinite resources, sweat and blood have been poured into the garden, so that we can see the blossom of flowers today!
"Take the vertebral column of the Tiger Assassin Battlesuit for example. In the traditional refining procedure, the natural spine of liger-type demon beasts is compulsory. There can't be even a single crack.
"But right now, based on bismuth tungsten alloy and certain special materials, as well as several secret techniques, we've refined an alloy spine whose hardness and tenacity were above 85% of those of the natural ones. It has met the requirements of the MP crystal suit!
"The same goes for the plate armor. The shells of the turtle-type demon beasts have been replaced by alloy materials made possible by our secret techniques.
"In the Tiger King Battlesuit, we've utilized 42 kinds of synthesized materials as replacement of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. If the production volume is 3,000 or more, the average cost will be 390 million.
"It is true that our cost will probably be the highest of all MP crystal suit models. Its price might be twice of that of our competitor's model.
"However, we have every faith in the Tiger King Battlesuit. Three crystal suits of the same level teamed together will still be no match for the Tiger King!"
Hearing this part, Li Yao was finally relieved and wipe the sweat on his forehead.
Deep Sea University was full of believers of elite refining ideology after all. Although it was a MP crystal suit, the total cost was close to 400 million.
In comparison, according to estimation, the cost of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit would be around 100 million, and absolutely no more than 150 million, when the production volume was more than 1,000 pieces.
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had a lot of advantages in regard to cost.
But the actual combat ability of the Tiger King Battlesuit was unknown yet.
While he was pondering, the press conference was in a mess again.
Four giant light beams flowed down on the four directions of the spot, which were playing the shocking scenes of the Tiger King Battlesuit in real battles piloted by Zuo Feijing.
Chapter 290: Total Disregard |
The first scene was Zuo Feijing fighting an Iron Paw Rock Bear in the Tiger King Battlesuit.
The Iron Paw Rock Bear was a high-level demon soldier. It was three meters tall and boasted extraordinary physical strength; its body was covered in rock armor. It was born with a secret Cultivation technique to absorb the minerals from rocks and transform them into metal chemicals which would build up on its paws.
After tens of years of Cultivation, the paws of an adult Iron Paw Rock Bear would be entirely metalized. When it was infuriated, its paws would be sharp enough to tear apart a common battle armor
with a single strike.
But right now, Zuo Feijing was confronting the fierce beast face to face, with absolutely no sign of failure.
His hands and the front paws of the Iron Paw Rock Bear were tangled together, making them look like two solid statues.
But with the hint of the Iron Paw Rock Bear painful expression, one could tell the brutal force contained in Zuo Feijing's hands.
"Crack!"
After ten seconds of silent confrontation, the paws of the Iron Paw Rock Bear were squeezed into a pulp and blood exploded everywhere.
The arms of the Iron Paw Rock Bear were broken, too. The fractured bones were exposed to the air.
The Iron Paw Rock Bear roared like thunder and dashed forward unstoppably with its mouth wide open.
Zuo Feijing did not duck. He squatted and, lowering his shoulder, crashed into the Iron Paw Rock Bear.
"BOOM!"
He didn't seem to exert much strength. Yet, there was a blast spreading from the center of collision with an earthshaking noise.
It was like two high-speed crystal trains had crashed. The rock armor of the bear was entirely shattered. An invisible spiritual wave had pierced through its body and left a giant hole on its back.
After the clash, the Iron Paw Rock Bear was blown back almost a hundred meters. It was lying on the ground, with four limbs stretching out, unable to move anymore. Its chest had collapsed.
With a closer look, one would notice that inside the chest, the bones, flesh, and guts had been transformed into mixed bloody fluid.
In the second scene, Zuo Feijing was faced with a vast crimson spider net.
The spider net had been knitted by a Fire Spitting Spider. Not only was it extremely sticky, it was also light enough to dance in the wind and move up and down like a tentacle.
Once it captured a prey, it would tighten itself. The corrosive venom that it released could impair more than a hundred kinds of alloys. Tough as Cultivators' bodies may be, their skin would immediately be darkened when the spider net touched them as if they had been scorched.
That's how the Fire Spitting Spider got its name.
Wind was blowing in the testing field. A vast spider net was swinging in the air. The gaps among the spider threads were fickle and unpredictable.
Zuo Feijing crouched. Nine clusters of orange steam boomed out from the back of the Tiger King Battlesuit, pushing him into the spider net as if he were a laser.
With fast and skillful small-scale movements, he went through the erratic spider net that was almost one hundred square meters in only three seconds.
There was no trace of corrosion on the crystal suit. The spider net behind him was intact, too. Not a single spider thread was cut off by his sprint.
The crystal suit was a prototype with no weapons or magical equipment. Therefore, the demo only showed its performance in strength, speed, and agility.
The grassroots refiners of the Grand Desolate War Institution had put on a grave face after watching the two real-battle scenes.
As experts of the trade, they could easily tell the excellence of the Tiger King Battlesuit.
Li Yao clutched his hands, his fingernails stabbing into his palm.
The Tiger King Battlesuit was indeed impressive. But the aura of domination around Zuo Feijing when he was in the crystal suit aroused Li Yao's competitiveness more.
This was an opponent ten times stronger than Long Qianyue or Yuan Yeshi who deserved his undivided attention; his soul burned with passion.
Since the Tiger King Battlesuit was still in the experimental period, much of the core data was confidential. After a few scenes of the refining process of the prototype, the press conference came to the last part, which was Q&A session for the journalists.
The journalists who were never afraid of causing trouble soon came up with a malicious question.
"In order to be the provider of the first standard crystal suits of the military, many sects and universities are working on MP crystal suits. Deep Sea University and the Gold Armor Clan are the first to produce a prototype. According to you, who is most likely to be your competitor in the future?"
It was a tricky question. Leaders of both parties hesitated to give an answer because they were too influential and did not want to provoke anyone.
In the end, Zuo Feijing took the crystal microphone and replied in a smile, "The Tiger King Battlesuit is a one-of-a-kind crystal suit. We have never considered any sect or university to be our competitor. When we run differential analysis, we always compare the Tiger King Battlesuit with the higher-level, non-MP crystal suit models.
"However, we noticed the craze of MP crystal suit research in major sects and universities, too, and we've studied a few of their models, some of which were quite impressive.
"For example, the Star Nebula University is working on a MP crystal suit model that boasts unparalleled swiftness. It has traded heavy weapon and plate armor for unlimited speed and agility. If it is successfully refined, it will be a perfect supplement to the Tiger King Battlesuit. Although it does not meet the needs of the main troops, it will do a great job for our scouts.
"Also, the Shadowy Phantom Sword Guild, the Giant Sword Union, and the Flying Swallow Sword Sect, three major sword-training sects of the federation, are cooperating on a MP crystal suit model that has given up the melee combat ability for the exceptional improvement of long-range combat ability, which is more like a walking arsenal of flying swords than a crystal suit. It is a very remarkable and creative design whose potential in the battlefield is unmeasurable if it can be successfully refined.
"We'll focus our attention on those two models for now."
Another journalist raised his hand and asked, "The Grand Desolate War Institution was the first college in the federation to start the research of MP crystal suit, which can be dated back to more than ten years ago. Although they met a critical failure last year, there is no denying that the Grand Desolate War Institution has a rich heritage. Rumors have it that they're going to release a MP crystal suit model with extremely low cost. Do you think their model will be a rival of the Tiger King Battlesuit?"
"Grand Desolate War Institution?"
Zuo Feijing was dazed for a moment. He answered in amusement, "I'm sorry, but we only have limited time and energy. We don't know much about the details of their progress. No comment here."
While the journalists were eager to raise more questions, Supernova Jiang Sheng took over the crystal microphone and said, "Friends of the news industry, the first press conference of the Tiger King Battlesuit will conclude now. We need to focus our attention on the experiments of the next phase. There will be a briefing about the latest progress of the Tiger King Battlesuit every month. So, if you have any questions, please save them until the next meeting. Thank you."
In hustle and bustle, the press conference ended.
Long after the light beam turned black, the members of the Project Mystic Skeleton, including Li Yao, were still dwelling on the gap between them, unable to do anything.
They were shocked, ashamed, and lost.
Shocked at the majesty of the Tiger King Battlesuit; ashamed at the slow progress of the Project Mystic Skeleton; lost at the disregard from Deep Sea University, who didn't even bother to care about them.
"Everyone."
Yuan Manqiu was an exception. She looked like a stern general. The casualness that had been always on her face was replaced by seriousness. Determination was glowing in her eyes. She knocked the desk and said calmly, "We've watched all the videos. Have you noticed the two shortcomings of the Tiger King Battlesuit?"
Two shortcomings?
Everyone else looked at other in amazement.
They were still in awe of the Tiger King Battlesuit, and Yuan Manqiu had already found its two shortcomings?
An expert who was in charge of cost accounting replied, "Director Yuan, the Tiger King Battlesuit has an obvious shortcoming. It is too expensive.
"However, if its final performance is a
s good as what has been shown in the demo, the price is not unacceptable. Should a great war between the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector take place, the military will definitely spare no expense when it comes to equipment."
"That's correct."
Another professor nodded, "As long as it can be mass-manufactured, money won't be a problem. If the only shining point of our Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is the cheap price and it is beaten to the ground by the Tiger King Battlesuit in real battles, there is no way that the military will choose us over them."
Yuan Manqiu sneered. She said, "This is the second shortcoming of the Tiger King Battlesuit.
"We all know that every university and every sect has been working on synthesized substitutes for natural Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Zuo Feijing was not lying when he said that Deep Sea University has poured infinite resources and hard work into the subject.
"When I was in Deep Sea University, I was personally involved in several projects that were related to synthesized materials, too.
"But here's the question. With barely no achievement for over a hundred years, they've already been able to synthesize some forty Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that are critical for crystal suits within half a year? Isn't it too coincidental?"
The other professors were shocked.
"Director Yuan, do you mean that Deep Sea University is lying and there are no synthesized Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures at all?"
"That would be too much."
Yuan Manqiu shook her head. "Such a lie is of little significance. The crystal suit is going to be mass-produced anyway. If Deep Sea University can't provide enough raw materials, it would be a huge scandal. Their title as 'Refiners' Holy Land' would be torn apart without us doing anything.
"According to my estimation, the statement about the synthesized Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures should be true, but the technique must be immature. There might be a lot of unresolved issues which require further experiments. That's why Deep Sea University kept it a secret until today.
