Wang Shui Teaches You to Pilot Mobile Armor

His speed in mastering alchemy far exceeded Wang Shui's expectations.

The two skills in his personal information, [Alchemy Basics (Beginner)] and [Delicate Thinking (Beginner)], gave Wang Shui a little confidence.

Physically exhausted, Wang Shui had gone straight to bed after returning from the bookstore last night. Starting today, he needed to reorganize his schedule. He planned to familiarize himself with the mobile armor's capabilities and prepare other things first, then set aside time at night to read and practice alchemy.

Only today did Wang Shui finally look the way an awakened should:

Tough black trousers and a long-sleeved T-shirt, a close-fitting equipment harness with leather buckles and no metal decorations, a tactical belt with multiple attachment points worn separately from his trousers, and a lightweight multifunctional outdoor jacket, with a fairly heavy gray-white shoulder cloak over everything.

The whole outfit was sturdy, soft, and dirt-resistant, with simple, fitted lines and no unnecessary protrusions or metal components. Paired with the black extraordinary tactical boots he had specifically extorted, it made Wang Shui look considerably sharper.

The complete hunting outfit actually included a black multifunctional coat, but Wang Shui thought that look was too flashy and left it off.

But to conceal his almost skintight upper-body outfit, as well as his small frame, Wang Shui chose a gray, white, and black shoulder cloak. It had a weathered, lived-in feel, along with a roomy hood.

The clothing was cheap. Even three complete sets cost less than one pair of boots. After all, those boots could withstand the full explosive output of an 8-point physique stat, came with a cleaning array to prevent foot odor and external stains, and were compatible with various miniature mobile armors. They cost a whopping 8,500 Dream Points, and that was the insider price Wang Shui had begged for.

Of course, the most expensive things were still the inconspicuous black leather gloves on Wang Shui's hands-the gold equipment [Hermit's Hand]. Wang Shui had not sought a professional appraisal. He no longer intended to sell them. After all, even if he immediately came into a large sum of money, he had few ways to arm himself. He was unfamiliar with combat, and he was only tier 0, level 2, a complete blank slate.

Wang Shui's physique stat had not even reached 2 points. There was absolutely no way he would take his little body into close combat with anyone. Clothing and equipment were nowhere near as practical as mobile armor.

Having tidied himself up, Wang Shui went to the shop entrance. That was right: he intended to practice piloting his armor in this little alley.

Naturally, the shabby repair shop behind him had no room for practice. A professional training ground would cost a considerable sum, and going outside the city would waste too much time. He had little choice.

Of course, Wang Shui's shabby shop was not the only business in the alley. The environment was awful, but there were quite a few shops. Wang Shui often tested customers' equipment here after repairing it, so surely the neighbors were long used to it-at any rate, Wang Shui had convinced himself.

Then, time to begin. Wang Shui took out the activated mobile armor. Once activated, it could fold into card form:

[Item card · "Daylight · Bharal" mobile armor (white)]

"Activate item card."

The familiar sensation of floating returned. Energy constructed the outline of mobile armor around Wang Shui's body, and as the sensation of gravity returned, the outline solidified into close-fitting armor.

Unlike the previous [Black Sword], the [Bharal] mobile armor looked somewhat heavier, though it was not particularly bulky overall. Its special-alloy and composite shell combined strength with toughness. Its weight did indeed exceed what an ordinary human could bear, and even with the rigid structure sharing the load, moving freely was still somewhat difficult with Wang Shui's stats.

The [Bharal] was milky white overall, with a faint golden tint. Brown protective plates patterned like the surface of ram horns covered both forearms, with similar reinforcing material on the gauntlets. This was an assault model with good defensive capabilities, but its default configuration included no weapons whatsoever, supposedly for environmental reasons.

Once armored, Wang Shui did not rush to move. First, he felt along his belt and pushed a pale blue, translucent crystal coin through a concealed channel into the [Energy Module]'s port.

[Tier-three energy coin connected,

Energy Module self-check complete. Power supply status: good. Standby mode automatically switched from "silent" to "standard".]

The armor operating system's electronic voice sounded, and Wang Shui issued his next command verbally:

"Full-unit self-check. Full-power warm-up."

[Received. Self-check initiated. Full-power warm-up initiated.]

Wang Shui stood obediently in place as large amounts of data appeared before him in pop-up windows, then rapidly disappeared a few seconds later, replaced by other windows. Reading this information quickly to keep track of the mobile armor's condition was a fundamental skill every pilot had to master.

Naturally, Wang Shui had no trouble. He was not a pilot and had received no professional training, but he was a repairman. He recognized every parameter and indicator. Wang Shui understood the condition of mobile armor better than most professional fighters; he simply did not know how to fight yet.

[Self-check complete. All modules operating normally.]

As the operating system completed its self-check, Wang Shui suddenly felt his body lighten. He moved his hands and feet. Now it was much easier. Of course, he was not as agile as he was without armor, but being able to dance while wearing something weighing over a tonne was naturally thanks to the bionic power supplied by the [Muscle Enhancement Module].

"Energy Shield Module fully open. Maximum power."

[Received. Energy Shield Module switching from "low passive" to "high passive". Coverage expanded.]

A pale blue membrane emerged from the mobile armor's surface, raising an "eggshell" that felt deeply familiar to Wang Shui. In its "low passive" state, the [Energy Shield Module] also provided excellent protection against projectiles and energy attacks, but its protection against sudden high-intensity attacks was much worse. After all, increasing defensive performance took time too.

Keeping the "eggshell" raised was certainly safe, but it also consumed far more energy.

There was nothing wrong with the energy shield, so next came:

"Combat Control Module, enter 'red alert' mode."

Beep-

A faint, brief electronic alarm sounded and vanished. A brighter blue framework enclosed Wang Shui's field of view, and red dots began appearing on the 360-degree panoramic radar map. The combat control system had already begun rapidly analyzing the dangers in the environment.

Numerous symbols and numbers appeared on the visual display over the surrounding buildings and terrain, representing data such as distances, elevation differences, predicted protective capability, energy reaction intensity, and the probability of concealed enemies.

[Received. Combat Control Module has entered "red alert" mode. Real-time battlefield calculations in progress.]

The fire-control system had a slightly higher priority than voice announcements, so this time the module activated first, with the spoken status report following a little later.

"Super-Mobility Module, enable full output."

[Received. "Super-mobility" full output enabled. "Overload protection gel" filled. Warning: Energy Module reports "Daylight Engine" output has reached 80% of rated capacity. Load report synchronized.]

A faint hum enveloped Wang Shui. Gold-painted panels behind the mobile armor's shoulders lit up, spraying ribbonlike streams of pale blue energy radiance outward.

Wang Shui could very clearly feel that his body was several times lighter, even lighter and nimbler than if he were running naked.

Still, just fully activating the basic modules had brought the load to 80%? Tsk, this engine really was nothing special.

There was no need to worry about that sort of warning. Wang Shui bounced lightly in place to get a feel for it, then swiftly shifted into a running stance. The milky-white figure vanished from the spot in an instant, trailing pale blue light. A faint afterimage indicated the direction Wang Shui had dashed.

A little over a second later, Wang Shui appeared at the other end of the hundred-meter alley. The speed was not particularly high, but that included accelerating to maximum speed and then coming to a stop. This mobility was the basic effect of the [Super-Mobility Module].

The two overloads placed little strain on Wang Shui, and all the mobile armor's modules maintained normal operating readings. The [Energy Module] reported that the energy coin still had 99% remaining, with no signs of additional drain.

Taken together, the information showed that this suit of mobile armor had no problems.

After another super-mobility maneuver from complete stillness to full motion and back to a stop, Wang Shui returned to the shop entrance. The [Combat Control Module]'s collision-avoidance function meant he did not have to divert much attention to controlling where he stopped. Whatever else might be said about fifth-generation mobile armor, its fire-control system completely outclassed all the old antiques that came before it.

Once the basic inspection was complete, a system report summary popped up:

[Daylight · Bharal (mobile armor · white)]

[Tier: 2]

[Technology generation: fifth-generation DAF standard mobile armor]

[Energy types: tier-three and tier-five compressed energy]

[Compatible modules: energy, muscle enhancement, energy shield, combat control, super-mobility, life support, weapons]

[Vacant module ports: 3]

[Defensive performance: >>>] (expandable table)

[Unit durability: 50000 (100%)]

[Description: Mass-produced standard mobile armor developed and sold by the War Behemoth corporation, equipped with the classic "Daylight Engine" and fifth-generation combat control system. The "Bharal" model has a sturdy structure and extremely high impact resistance. Its Super-Mobility Module enhances straight-line dashes, making it an excellent assault model. In addition, the corresponding small- and medium-sized unit shells are also nonrestricted supplies with outstanding performance.]

Cool. A new machine really was a blast to pilot.

Of course, "knowing how to pilot" at this level was certainly not enough. Wang Shui still needed to learn and master professional knowledge such as "tactical maneuvers," "offensive and defensive stances," "short-range maneuvering and long-distance assaults," "weapon use," "special module use," and "coordinated combat."

"Weapon use" alone was a long, difficult course that spanned students' entire time at a tactical academy.

Wang Shui had no weapons on hand. Fortunately, the miniature mobile armor did not change his size much. Even wearing the armor, Wang Shui was under 1.9 meters tall, so he could use conventional weapons directly while armored.

As for weapons, they were easy enough to obtain if he was not picky about special effects, particularly melee weapons. There was plenty of good equipment discarded from battlefields.

After all, weapons were much sturdier than people.

While running through various maneuvers following video tutorials, Wang Shui did not forget to use [Hermit's Hand]'s effect to see through and inspect the mobile armor's interior. The beauty of those brand-new mechanical structures in operation was truly intoxicating.

Happy times always passed in a flash. After playing-practicing-for the whole morning, Wang Shui ended his practice at the alert for the 70% energy threshold he had set, and the mobile armor turned into light and disappeared.

With his mind relaxed, Wang Shui suddenly felt a little empty, but he had not earned a rest yet. When both mind and body were weakened (anemia), it was the perfect time for some physical labor!

Back in the shop, Wang Shui dumped a box of rubberlike nutritional food into his mouth and dragged out the mechanical exoskeleton he had used to move things yesterday. Putting it on as he walked, he entered the little courtyard through the back door on the shop's ground floor.

The shabby repair shop did not have much space. The partitioned-off courtyard behind it, measuring some thirty square meters, had high walls and a large rain canopy. Heavy machinery covered in ash and grime filled the courtyard, along with a sizable furnace.

This was the little shop's workshop, normally used for metal heat treatment. Sometimes Wang Shui also made parts by hand when they were hard to buy or particularly expensive, or performed additive repairs on the junk customers brought him.

Chewing the extremely tough nutritional food, Wang Shui started preheating the furnace. Then he controlled two mechanical tentacles to rummage through the shop's metal scrap pile, looking for some sturdy, durable scrap.

Then he spotted a familiar iron box.