Neural Reverberations

This statement sounded like a suicide note.

Many people present frowned. At this moment, Xingtian had become a bomb that could explode at any moment in their eyes.

"All my judgments and actions are based on the neural impulse signals of the first pilot, Yan Fei. The signals originate from the neural resonance processing area in the 'Lianshan' system," Yu Xiao said the second half of his sentence.

Yuan Zhen narrowed his eyes and put away his relaxed smile.

Yuan Zhen's reaction confirmed Yu Xiao's guess – Omega was indeed developing soul-like technology.

As Xingtian's mecha soul, Yu Xiao had inherited all the memories from Xingtian's data storage when he first transmigrated into the mecha. It was then that Yu Xiao discovered something unusual about this first-generation mecha.

All first-generation mechas were piloted by two people!

Single-pilot technology was only implemented on a very small number of mechas after the third generation was released. Before that, only some exceptionally powerful pilots would control a mecha alone under special circumstances!

But ever since Yu Xiao transmigrated, Xingtian's cockpit had only one control seat!

However, both in Xingtian's memory and in official public records, Xingtian's first pilots were always two: Chen Weimin and Yan Fei.

In Xingtian's last battle before its retirement, pilot Yan Fei died tragically, and only Chen Weimin managed to pilot the mecha back to base alive.

After that, Xingtian was sent to the war factory for repairs and officially retired.

Yu Xiao had reason to suspect that Omega had conducted undisclosed experiments and modifications on Xingtian's mecha during that last repair.

Coupled with the fact that he had encountered the Scorpion mecha, which only required one pilot, in the Silent Graveyard earlier, and the damaged mecha soul found in Scorpion's system core, Yu Xiao was almost certain that the mecha soul technology Omega was researching was inextricably linked to human consciousness!

Therefore, Yu Xiao took a gamble, using the deceased pilot Yan Fei as a smokescreen to induce Yuan Zhen to think of Xingtian as a mecha soul!

Although this sounded even less reliable than "system evolution," at least Omega had research in mecha souls, which was somewhat within the scope of human understanding.

As long as it remained within what humans could accept, Xingtian's threat level in everyone's eyes would not be too high.

"...Your statement requires verification." Yuan Zhen realized that this was something that couldn't be verified at the moment. Moreover, research on mecha souls was a secret of Omega and couldn't be discussed in front of so many people.

As for the others present, apart from the chief technical officer of the war factory who looked serious, most of the rest showed confusion and surprise.

"I don't understand the technical aspects, but I think I can say a few words about Xingtian," General Chen said slowly, rising from his seat and breaking the awkward situation. "As one of Xingtian's first pilots, many people believe I could pilot the mecha back to base alone because my mental strength was above average."

"But that's not the case. After my partner, my best friend Yan Fei, died, I could still feel his presence in the neural synchronization until I drove Xingtian back to base and got out of the cockpit. Only then did this feeling gradually disappear."

"It is also for this reason that I no longer pilot mechas and am unwilling to see Xingtian go to war again."

General Chen's tone was as calm as a windless lake, as if these events had happened centuries ago.

"But things didn't go as I wished. By chance, Xingtian became a mecha that didn't need a pilot," General Chen continued. "I don't know the reason for this, but it protected everyone during the most critical moment of Black Sky, and it played a crucial role in the joint operation in the Silent Graveyard. I believe this is undeniable."

"No matter how everyone views Xingtian, at least in my eyes, it is my comrade, a fearless warrior, and an indispensable member of Black Sky."

After saying this, General Chen nodded slightly at Xingtian and then sat back in his chair.

"I agree with General Chen's statement," Vitaly was the first to speak. He was one of the few commanders who personally piloted mechas into battle. "I was right behind Xingtian when it charged at the behemoth, and I could feel its death-defying spirit, as brave as us Shalis people!"

"I agree too," the commander of Canghai Longyin followed closely. "Judging from its performance in joint operations, Xingtian truly deserves General Chen's evaluation, and I trust General Chen's judgment."

"Although I don't quite believe what you're saying, I don't mind having a powerful ally," the commander of Golden Gate said, glancing warily at Xingtian, and raised his hand.

"The pilots in our legion have a very high evaluation of Xingtian. That alone is enough," the commander of Golden Forest raised his hand above his head.

"I agree..." Most commanders also raised their hands to express their stance.

Under General Chen's leadership, the attitude of the entire conference hall towards Xingtian reversed.

"It seems the commanders have made their decision," Yuan Zhen shrugged with a smile, giving up on further questioning Xingtian. "Since everyone says so, let's postpone the confirmation of Xingtian's identity for now and focus on resolving Xingtian's positioning within the alliance."

"My suggestion is to assign Xingtian to the special operations unit of the Unified Command, directly under the headquarters," the Deputy Secretary-General said first. "Xingtian's power is evident to all. Assigning it to the Unified Command will make it easier for headquarters to dispatch support according to the situation and maximize its strength."

"Mr. Deputy Secretary-General, according to the alliance's division, we legions are all under your management. As the command agency, you should entrust all combat matters to us," the commander of Golden Gate said with his arms crossed, in a half-joking tone. "In any case, Xingtian is a mecha, and mechas naturally fall under the management of the Mobile Armor Legion."

"Then, according to General Bruno's intention, who should manage Xingtian among so many legions?" the Deputy Secretary-General asked back, leaning forward.

"Whoever needs it the most," Bruno's tone gradually became firmer.

"It seems General Bruno is voluntarily giving up managing Xingtian. After all, the Golden Gate Legion's combat power is the strongest in the alliance," the Deputy Secretary-General was not to be outdone.

"Then how do we determine that? By which legion is the most miserable?" the commander of Golden Forest said with a look of amusement. "If we're talking about misery, then the defeated United Front is definitely the most miserable, and the one that needs Xingtian the most."

As they bickered back and forth, Xingtian, sitting at the end of the long table, finally spoke.

"Everyone, I am not a weapon, nor am I an object. I think I have the right to speak on this matter."

As soon as the words fell, everyone fell silent tacitly, their gazes shifting to the focus of their discussion.

"I want to continue staying with Black Sky."