Since it could be classified by the system as a special project, it might not be particularly powerful, but it should at least have some unique value.
Come to think of it, why couldn't special projects be chosen manually? This kind of gacha really messed with one's mentality.
I would set it aside for now and study it slowly after returning.
"Rose, delete all records and data concerning today's experiment." Ai Yue refocused on the experiment before him and immediately issued an order to Prometheus. "Destroy the results as well. Make sure no one except me can obtain any specific information about today's experiment."
"Understood. Processing." Prometheus spoke calmly. "Do you need me to temporarily go offline?"
To Prometheus, Ai Yue's orders took top priority. Although she could sense that he was concealing a huge secret, she had no intention of investigating it.
"Go offline for now. I'll call you if I need you." Ai Yue nodded. "I can handle the rest myself."
Only after Prometheus's remote unit on Ai Yue had completely disconnected from the mainframe did Ai Yue raise his hand and detach the horn-shaped energy collector from the top of the device.
The main component of this thing was actually nothing mysterious. It was the core used in the Honkai Energy Absorber. Of course, Ai Yue had improved it. The core he was using now could contain an energy density two hundred times that of a standard core.
Otherwise, there would have been no way to fuse the energy contained within the Honkai Energy Crystal.
For safety's sake, Ai Yue put on another Limited Gauntlet to prevent his flesh from coming into direct contact with the core. Only then did he remove the absorption core from the energy extraction device.
At that moment, the absorption core had formed a few irregular crystals on its surface after absorbing too much energy. However, unlike the Honkai Energy Crystal's original pale-purple color, these crystals were white, like salt.
The system's prompt was also rather interesting.
Unedited Honkai Energy Crystal (Precious): Usable value: 100%. When invested in research related to "energy," it can additionally increase research progress by 50% and provide one Optimization Point.
It was only Precious. What a pity.
Seeing the grade of this energy sample, Ai Yue could not help but purse his lips. Precious-grade materials only provided one more Optimization Point than Rare-grade materials, but Optimization Points were not particularly useful for the scientific research projects provided by the system. They could generally only be used to improve existing human technology.
It would have been nice if it were a "Worldly" grade material. That would directly unlock the corresponding research project and save him a lot of trouble.
Perhaps because he had encountered too many "Worldly" grade materials recently, Ai Yue had actually begun to look down on Precious-grade materials.
But in reality, under normal circumstances, the materials he used most often were still the "Common" and "Rare" grades. In the past, Precious-grade materials had also been things that became rarer with every one used.
One had to know that Ai Yue had built the original Honkai Energy Absorber in Twilight Street by piling together countless Common-grade materials. It seemed that having too many good days really did corrupt a person's will.
So what should he do with this thing?
Ai Yue's gaze fell on the words "unedited."
Editing energy? It did sound like a truly challenging project.
Chapter Nineteen: A Laboratory Should Be Built in a Place Filled with Experimental Materials
The system was still busy advancing the research project "Artificial Synthesis of Honkai Energy Crystals." As a major project that could solve the energy problem, Ai Yue obviously could not let it make way for a project concerning "energy editing."
However, there was certainly no problem with conducting some basic tests first.
Ai Yue first removed the Limited Gauntlet and directly picked up the crystal with his bare hand, testing whether it possessed the corrosive nature of ordinary Honkai Energy.
It was only because they now had Honkai Sickness Serum. Otherwise, for an ordinary person to come into contact with Honkai Energy of this concentration, the best possible outcome would be dropping dead on the spot.
However, the white Honkai Energy was not corrosive. Even when Ai Yue deliberately cut a wound in his hand to make it easier for the energy to corrode his body, the white Honkai Energy Crystals produced no effect whatsoever.
Although this method was not particularly rigorous, it at least proved that Honkai Energy's corrosive nature came from those mysterious Will Fragments.
However, Ai Yue still felt that something was off. If the mystery could be unraveled so easily, there was no reason Dr. Mei and the others would not have thought of this method.
Had he overlooked something?
As Ai Yue pondered, he sealed away the harmless version of the Honkai Energy Crystal in his hand, intending to use it later.
Since the dangerous experiment had been completed, there was no need for him to remain here. It was time to return to the Moth to Fire headquarters.
At the airport of the Spiral Workshop, Hua was still standing guard by the aircraft's hatch. There seemed to be no change at all since Ai Yue had left. Only when she saw him appear did the girl take two steps forward. "Doctor Ai Yue, are you leaving?"
"Mm." Ai Yue nodded. "It's time to go back. I still have other things to do."
"I understand." Hua opened the hatch and gestured for Ai Yue to board first.
The two sat inside the cabin, and for a while, neither of them spoke.
After spending this much time together, Ai Yue had gained a deeper understanding of Hua's personality. It was hard to imagine that a girl in the prime of her youth could be so taciturn and passive.
If no one spoke to Hua, she could sit quietly for an entire day. Her gloomy personality even made Prometheus worry that she might develop antisocial tendencies. Thus, whenever she had free time, the AI girl would take the initiative to invite Hua to play games online.
Although entertainment in this era had nearly stagnated or even died under the succession of disasters, the works left behind from the past had not disappeared because of it.
Speaking of which, this had indeed come up when he chatted with Eden earlier. Apparently, some media outlet had conducted a survey. After the "Australian Wildfires Incident (the public explanation for the Seventh Honkai outbreak)," people had almost entirely stopped participating in entertainment activities. As a result, the atmosphere of society as a whole had gradually begun sliding toward the abyss of despair.
If they wanted people to pull themselves together, blindly concealing the truth might not be the best approach.
But Ai Yue could also understand why the United Nations concealed the truth. After all, a Herrscher was not merely a natural disaster. If ordinary people learned that such a terrifying existence was hostile toward humanity, it might accelerate the collapse of civilization.
They had to think of something.
Ai Yue scratched his head, and a smile suddenly tugged at the corner of his lips. What if they simply debuted the Fused Warriors as idols? Packaging the warriors as invincible heroes might at least inspire ordinary people.
However, Elysia was probably the only person who would agree to such a plan.
While he was thinking, Ai Yue suddenly noticed Hua's gaze. She had been glancing at him from time to time, looking as though she wanted to speak but kept stopping herself. It was rather conspicuous.
"What is it?" After waiting for a long time without hearing her speak, Ai Yue took the initiative. "Hua, I've told you many times. You don't need to be so reserved."
"Sorry, I just..." Hua lowered her head awkwardly, then raised it again to look at Ai Yue. "Doctor Ai Yue, I heard that Director Vill-V is in charge of building your new laboratory, right?"
Ai Yue nodded. "Yes. Why?"
"Sorry, I wasn't eavesdropping on purpose, but at the banquet that day, I heard Director Vill-V's drunken ramblings." Hua continued asking, "You chose to build the new base in Australia?"
Recalling what Vill-V had said that night—"That Ai Yue actually dumped me in that place full of Honkai Beasts to work. I'm going to charge him extra"—Ai Yue became increasingly certain of his guess.
If there was anywhere in the world that matched Vill-V's description, only Australia remained.
Australia, burned into a wasteland by the Seventh Herrscher, was still the territory of the Honkai Beasts. Even though the Moth to Fire and various nations had stationed troops along the continent's perimeter, they could only blockade Australia and prevent the Honkai Beasts from gathering and rioting.
Building a laboratory in such a place was far too risky no matter how one looked at it.
"Are you afraid?" Ai Yue looked at Hua, essentially acknowledging her question. "Afraid of returning to that land and facing your past?"
"...I can't deny that I'm a little afraid to go back." Hua was silent for a moment before finally speaking frankly. "But compared to that, I want even less for you to encounter danger, Doctor."
"Don't worry. I believe you can protect me." Ai Yue smiled. "Of course, choosing that location wasn't because of you."
He turned to look out the window. "Australia belongs to humanity. How can we let a bunch of beasts occupy it forever?"
Hua looked at Ai Yue in surprise. This seemed to be the first time she had heard such "sharp" words from him.
In the girl's impression, Ai Yue had always been a gentle scholar. Although he liked charging onto the front lines himself, at the end of the day, he was still a scholar.
Yet the aura that had radiated from his eyes in that instant gave Hua a strange illusion.
It was as though the person before her was not a scholar, but an emperor who regarded Earth as his possession.
"I'll do my best to ensure your safety, Doctor Ai Yue." Hua recovered from that illusion and continued the subject. "But my current strength isn't enough to shoulder this responsibility, so I'd like to apply for the Fused Warrior surgery."
Ai Yue turned his gaze back to Hua. "That Mobius has been telling you unnecessary things again, hasn't she?"
"Yes... No, I don't think those were unnecessary words. Doctor Mobius made a lot of sense." Hua hurriedly explained. "After all, it isn't possible to establish a foothold in a place like Australia without sufficient strength. If you don't intend to increase your manpower, Doctor Ai Yue, then I must..."
"Stay away from Mobius in the future. You're too easy to deceive." Ai Yue interrupted her, then sighed. "Forget it. Although it isn't completely finished yet, I should tell you now."
"I already have a way for you to possess great power without undergoing surgery."
Chapter Twenty: No Transform... Oh, This Kind of Transformation
In the training grounds, Hua emerged from the changing room with her arms folded, somewhat embarrassed.
She was wearing a one-piece bodysuit resembling a competition swimsuit that covered all four limbs as well.
This bodysuit was an underlayer meant to be worn with external armor. Its purpose was to keep a warrior's body from directly contacting the armor, preventing discomfort or malfunctions caused by factors such as temperature and humidity from injuring the wearer.
Wearing it by itself now made her feel rather strange...
"Changed?" Ai Yue naturally noticed the girl's change in mood, but did not react specially. He simply opened the case he had brought. "Then put these on."
"What are these?"
Hua knelt down and accepted the objects from Ai Yue. She glanced over them and found that they were mostly ring-shaped metal devices.
"You'll know soon enough." Ai Yue put on an air of mystery. When he saw her holding the metal devices with a bewildered expression, he simply helped her put one on her wrist. "This one goes here."
In the end, Ai Yue took five metal rings from the case. One pair went around her wrists and another around her ankles, while the last went around her neck. Then came the two larger pieces: a forehead guard and a belt for her waist.
Hua had initially wanted to put them on herself, but Ai Yue did not give her the chance. She could only stand stiffly in place like a puppet waiting to be decorated.
"That should do it." Ai Yue reached both hands around the girl's slender waist and fastened the belt behind her. Only then did he step back and nod with satisfaction. "Come on, Hua. Say something."
"Huh?" Hua instinctively raised her head. "Say what?"
She could feel the metal ring around her neck vibrate faintly as she spoke.
"Voiceprint locked. Identity confirmed. Owner: Hua. Initialization in progress."
The electronic female voice suddenly came from the belt. Hua could not help lowering her head to look at it, then turned her gaze toward Ai Yue. "Doctor Ai Yue, what exactly is this?"
"Just a special set of armor." Ai Yue motioned for her to remain standing and not move. "Wait a moment. It's still recording your data."
The next second, the belt spoke again. "Initialization complete. Please confirm activation command."
Hua looked at Ai Yue questioningly, clearly asking what this "activation command" was supposed to be.
"It is just a command used to activate the armor system. It only works when spoken by someone whose voiceprint has been locked," Ai Yue explained. "As for the words, you can choose anything you like. Transform, arm, combine, or even evolve."
Hua thought about it and decided to follow Ai Yue's suggestion. "Then 'transform.'"
"Confirm 'Then transform' as the activation command?"
"...Transform."
"Confirm 'transform' as the activation command?"
"Confirm."
"Confirmation successful." After the belt spoke, its tone suddenly became more lively. At the same time, it played an impassioned melody. "Primordial Armor, activation authorized!"
The next second, all the metal devices worn by Hua began radiating a faint golden light. Then she felt something cold and viscous surge across her skin from the metal rings. Like living creatures, they gradually wrapped around her entire body.
The strange sensation she had never experienced before made Hua feel a little creeped out. However, her discipline as a soldier made her firmly remember Ai Yue's earlier instructions and remain standing without moving. She merely closed her eyes to keep the strange substance from flowing into them.
Fortunately, the bizarre sensation soon faded. In its place came a firm, resilient texture. Even through the bodysuit, Hua could feel a special substance covering her skin and perfectly wrapping around her.
She finally tentatively opened her eyes, only to find a faint blue layer covering her vision. Every object she saw had been labeled with pale-blue text.
For example, Doctor Ai Yue in front of her was labeled "Most Important. Do Not Harm," while the case beside him was labeled "Container for Armor Storage System. Destruction Not Recommended."
What was this...
Hua reached up to touch her face, but could only feel her fingers touching some cold, hard shell. She lowered her head and discovered that her hands, arms, and even her entire body were covered by a set of blue armor.
"How does it feel?" Seeing Hua's movements, Ai Yue knew that she was familiarizing herself with the armor. "Does it feel stuffy?"
"Not at all." Hua shook her head, then could not help lowering it to look at her legs. "And... this armor looks really cool."
"Rose and I designed the appearance together. She said it took your preferences into account." Ai Yue smiled. "If you want to see the whole thing, you can use 'Observer Mode.'"
"Observer Mode?" Hua repeated instinctively. Then she heard the electronic female voice by her ear. "Command confirmed. Activating 'Observer Mode.'"
The next second, Hua felt her head grow lighter, as though something had detached from the armor and floated upward. Her field of vision then changed. The view from her human perspective suddenly shrank into a corner, while a new perspective circling around her occupied most of her vision.
From this angle, Hua could clearly see every detail of the armor covering her. Its main color was blue, with black as an accent, giving the streamlined armor a cold and severe air. Its design was also simple and refined, creating a clean, sharp impression, like a drawn short sword—keen and dangerous.
Hua suddenly remembered playing a mecha game with Prometheus a few days earlier. Prometheus had asked her to choose a design she liked, and she had picked a mecha with a very similar color scheme and appearance.
Could this be what she meant by taking her preferences into account?
"How does it feel?" Ai Yue watched the two small cameras flying around Hua and smiled. "This is a battlefield function. It can prevent enemies from launching sneak attacks from blind spots."
"It's very well designed, but a little... dizzy." Hua blinked and tried to suppress the dizziness. "Perhaps I need more time to get used to it."
"Suddenly changing your perspective on the world would make anyone uncomfortable, but you can overcome it with enough practice." Ai Yue did not think much of it. "The armor has many other special functions. You can try them slowly later. For today, let's test its combat data."
"Okay." Hua then turned off Observer Mode and looked at the various devices in the training grounds. "Then I'll..."
"Hey, what can you learn by testing it on a pile of dead objects?" Ai Yue waved his hand and looked toward the training grounds' entrance. "I found you a sparring partner. They should be here by now."
A sparring partner?
Hua had just opened her mouth when she saw someone walk in. "Doctor Ai Yue, I'm here. What is the mission... What is this?"
Before you continue