Although Li Wei had received no quest reward after his "first round" against the Iron Warrior, the battle had given him an idea.
Why did he have to fight in a humanoid Mecha?
Granted, for most people, a humanoid Mecha better suited the way humans moved. But the human body was not actually the best choice for close combat. After all, humans ruled the world not by wrestling wild beasts, but by using their hands to create all kinds of tools. In a contest of bodies alone, humans could not outrun four-legged animals, outswim aquatic creatures, or fly without wings, could they? From that perspective, basing a Mecha on humans made sense, but Li Wei considered its combat efficiency distinctly lacking. Moreover, he had discovered that transforming a Warplane into a humanoid Mecha required more parts and complicated transformations because the two forms were so different. In certain respects, it really was not a good choice.
Was there a way for a Warplane to fight at close quarters without becoming humanoid? Li Wei could hardly expect every enemy to behave like the villains in magical girl anime, waiting until his transformation was complete before fighting him fair and square.
Fortunately, he soon found something he could use as a reference.
A Dragon.
Li Wei remembered scenes from movies he had watched where humans built mechanical versions of monsters, then piloted those mechanical monsters into battle against the originals. Of course, since the villains had built these mechanical monsters, they ultimately lost to the protagonists' friendship, bonds, or some other nonsense.
Conversely, that meant the protagonists could not defeat those mechanical monsters without something as absurd as friendship or bonds-indirect proof of just how powerful the machines were.
As for now... looking at the twisted, mutated monster opposite him, Li Wei