From Sling to Cannon

The fully modular "assembled" floors all had platforms for hovercars extending outward in a uniform design.

The weapon store Su Ren had found was on the eighty-eighth floor of a skyscraper, and the entire floor sold weapons-related goods.

Drones could often be seen entering and leaving the other floors of the building to deliver cargo, but none were seen on this floor.

"Most weapons require purchase authorization. Even if you buy weapons within the city, they'll only be delivered to the storage locker registered under your city-entry tag. Still, this place has a comprehensive selection. Aside from the M-7, you can also buy compatible auxiliary equipment."

After swiping their Personal Terminals downstairs, the two passed through the automatic doors into the mall without being stopped.

There were not many people on the streets wearing combat Protective Suits, but once inside the mall, most customers were dressed in Combat Suits.

The weapon sections and testing areas were clearly marked with holographic projections. Some counters displayed physical products directly, while others offered holographic introductions. The array was dazzling.

Every counter had a varying number of tracked service robots that could answer questions and look up information. There were very few actual employees—apparently even fewer than security guards.

What impressed Su Shijie most upon entering the Firearms section were the Gauss Sniper Rifle priced at seven hundred thousand and the Gauss Anti-materiel Rifle priced at two million.

His father had previously said that even Tier One Transformation Tier weapon operators might use such things, which had left him rather envious.

Unfortunately, while he could grit his teeth and afford the price, even his father lacked the purchase authorization.

If he had no authorization and tried to hunt for one on the black market, setting aside whether he could even find one, the markup would be severe. These were controlled far more strictly than pistols or even assault rifles, and their supply was much scarcer.

He should just stick to his Star Crossbow for now. It was affordable, effective, and offered excellent value...

While Su Shijie's eyes were overwhelmed by the displays and he compared them one by one with the photo records in his mind, Su Ren led him straight to where the M-7 was sold, clearly familiar with the place.

There was no salesperson, nor did they listen to an automated shopping guide. A simple swipe of the Personal Terminal deducted two purchase authorizations and two hundred thousand Credit Points, and the purchase was complete.

They also stocked up on ten magazines and an additional five hundred rounds.

It seemed his father had stockpiled quite a few purchase authorizations.

Su Shijie also used up the special bolt purchase permissions he had obtained from the old hunter, Xu Hao.

Of the fifty Special Bolts, ten were armor-piercing, while the other forty were scatter bolts.

The Star Crossbow's power was already excessive for him at the moment. It could deal lethal damage even to high-level Transformation Tiers; what he lacked was accuracy.

Compared with special bolts such as high-explosive or fragmentation bolts, these scatter bolts had a broader range of applications.

Su Shijie also gritted his teeth and squeezed out another hundred thousand Credit Points to buy an advanced Combat Suit.

Without hindering movement, the suit could withstand a limited amount of fire from an Electromagnetic Assault Rifle in explosive mode, though it could not resist an assault rifle's armor-piercing mode, much less the more powerful M-7.

Its anti-stab performance was also excellent. Combined with his Level 4 Tough Skin, its defensive capabilities should be quite impressive.

The Combat Suit also had plenty of attachment slots, making it convenient for him to hang and carry equipment.

Compared with exoskeletons that cost millions—or even tens of millions—Combat Suits were still relatively affordable and worthwhile.

He also picked up an Alloy Dagger worth ten thousand Credit Points. Though it could not compare with his father's Psionic Alloy, it was more than sufficient for his current needs in terms of value.

When necessary, he could even control it directly with telekinesis, allowing it to deal considerable damage.

Money flowed away like water as they went, and he was outfitted from head to toe with entirely upgraded gear.

Although his father had paid for the M-7 directly, after purchasing the Star Crossbow earlier and replacing his current set of equipment, Su Shijie realized that aside from the funds he had reserved for an Awakening Potion, he was nearly broke.

But the upside was that, even though he still lacked experience, he could now definitely be called the family's second-strongest combatant after his father.

A pay-to-win warrior was terrifying indeed.

"There's one more very important piece of equipment. It doesn't require any purchase authorization, but it's indispensable for you."

Once Su Shijie had changed out everything he wore, Su Ren patted him on the shoulder.

"Uh, I'm out of money, Dad. Buy it for me."

Su Shijie shamelessly started mooching off his father.

"Haha, don't worry. I can still afford this much."

Su Ren laughed heartily. In truth, he could have paid for Su Shijie's Protective Suit and the rest as well, but just as he had considered from the start, he needed to get his son accustomed to not relying on him as quickly as possible.

Because of his son's uniqueness, his own perspective would eventually fail to keep up.

Just like Su Shijie's inspired idea to buy the Star Crossbow after awakening his telekinetic bloodline, there were some things Su Ren had never experienced himself, and thus anything he said would ultimately remain mere theory.

As a pragmatist who had once roamed around outside, Su Ren understood the importance of practice deeply. Saying something a thousand times was not as useful as doing it once. Before trying many things, people would feel nervous and afraid, but after trying them, they would often think, That's it?

Still, this item was indeed crucial right now. It had to be equipped first.

With Su Ren continuing to lead the way through the weapon section, they soon arrived at the drone section.

Suicide Drones, Reconnaissance Drones, Communication Drones, Electronic Jamming Drones, and more—everything was available.

Su Shijie even saw a spherical device with dragonfly-like wings spanning seven or eight meters. Beneath the sphere, an actively deployed missile bay revealed a large number of missile-type weapons.

Missiles could not directly lock onto psionic lifeforms. That was an ironclad rule. But nothing stopped people from controlling them manually!

Looking at such a devastating weapon, Su Shijie felt an extreme sense of violent beauty.

Honestly, compared to technological weapons, he still seemed far too...

Huh?

He could just intercept and blow them up with the Star Crossbow. It didn't seem like such a big deal after all.

"Hummingbird 740—a highly cost-effective combat drone. Even with conventional high-explosive ammunition, it can already carpet-bomb an area. If you switch to nuclear weapons..."

"What the hell? Are nukes that easy to get?"

Su Shijie, who had just been considering using a Star Crossbow for interception, felt his scalp tingle.

"How could they be? Of course they're difficult to obtain. They're still tightly controlled and all under Dawn Goddess's supervision. Any use requires justification. Usually, only the City Lord's Mansion has the authority to deploy low-yield Tactical Nuclear Bombs. Strategic Nuclear Bombs must be approved by the Federation."

Su Ren's words made Su Shijie contribute to global warming once again.

The City Lord's Mansion could deploy weapons on the level of Tactical Nuclear Bombs...

But then again, this world had experienced an apocalyptic war brought about by the Interstellar Raiders. Their acceptance of nuclear weapons was naturally much greater.

At the very least, in the eyes of people in this world, nuclear weapons were merely tools. Fusion Bombs caused no pollution, after all, and were relatively clean.

In his dad's eyes, Tactical Nuclear Bombs were simply oversized high-explosive bombs.

Come to think of it, even Tsar Bomba, the most powerful Strategic Nuclear Bomb from his previous life, had a direct destructive range of fifty-five kilometers against brick and wooden houses. Against reinforced concrete fortifications, its lethal radius would be drastically reduced.

If a Tactical Nuclear Bomb landed in the forest near P-314, then aside from the blast center itself, the Giant Brown Iron Trees would block the shockwave. Its actual area of effect would not be that large.

On top of that, they were monitored by Dawn Goddess. Most people in power were Evolvers whose personal strength was immense, so naturally, they would not want something capable of threatening them to be used recklessly. The approval process would therefore be even more cautious.

The ship-mounted cannons on spacecraft were even more powerful...

Mass-energy Conversion was the mainstream method of energy utilization even among interstellar civilizations. It was simply that the difficulty of controllably harnessing fission, fusion, and Antimatter—and their efficiency of use—increased along the way.

Although the Earth Federation now had high-performance spacecraft powered by imported Antimatter, mainstream spacecraft still primarily relied on fusion energy. Combined with Warp Drives, that was generally sufficient.

Compared with spacecraft power, warp rating was far more important...

But because of his dad's words, Su Shijie stopped dwelling on the idea of intercepting missiles with a Star Crossbow. He could only comfort himself by thinking that no one would use a cannon to kill a mosquito just to target him.

And his dad had said that even versions carrying conventional high-explosive ammunition were not something non-official forces could easily obtain.

Normally, there was no need to consider it.

Otherwise, if he equipped himself with a few of them and directly operated their controllers through telekinesis, wouldn't he be unstoppable?

Just imagining it was beautiful.

While Su Shijie's thoughts ran wild, Su Ren had already bought his things.

Two pairs of Imaging Goggles, one Control Handle, and four small spherical drones shaped like Golden Snitches.

Bee VI Reconnaissance Drones.

In a psionic environment, they had a control range of three kilometers.

Once he got them, Su Shijie knew that the six-hundred-yuan camera he had picked up could be put away for good. The difference between them was simply too great.

He could put the control console in his backpack and use telekinesis to control it while multitasking. As long as he practiced a few more times, it should be fine.

Even at an altitude of one thousand meters, the ultra-high-definition camera could zoom in enough to read the words on a newspaper below, provided there were no obstructions!

"This can only be considered barely adequate. A true mechanist definitely needs a set of reconnaissance equipment with strong anti-interference capabilities, making it easier to centrally manage and control their weapons."

Hearing Su Ren's words, Su Shijie saw that the Bee VI drones' anti-interference capability and concealment were both rated "low." Still, that was better than the "none" rating of the six-hundred-yuan camera he had bought before.

That six-hundred-yuan camera's signal could be detected even by consumer devices like a Personal Terminal. These drones could not.

"Generally, nobody specifically carries electronic jamming equipment, since there usually isn't much need for it. But if someone does carry it, then 'moderate' and 'high' anti-interference are both useless. At minimum, you need 'strong' anti-interference."

While blocking out the sound around them, Su Ren briefly explained the situation to Su Shijie.

"But your own standard 'strong' set will depend on you, and you'll also have to figure out the Gene Formula for advancing to the Transformation Tier yourself..."