True Apocalypse Game

(Author’s Note: I forgot in the last Chapter that all Minstrels are women. This has been corrected. My apologies.)

~

Unlike the Super Giant War Armor Oglala Mad Horse he had encountered before, the Steel Glory was not a bizarre centaur but a standard Humanoid Battle Armor.

Its frame was more streamlined and it appeared more agile. Beyond the violent aesthetic of industrial mechanopunk, it possessed a certain light, artistic quality.

This was likely because the Steel Glory was a later model than the Oglala Mad Horse, with a more mature and refined manufacturing process.

Viewed from the seabed, the Steel Glory looked every bit a steel giant towering into the clouds, like a valiant Knight from the myths of old.

But this Knight had been dead for far too long. Its body was overgrown with marine life swaying in the currents, adding a touch of tragic beauty to the scene.

Most of the Steel Glory’s weapons were internal. The only exposed armaments appeared to be two Energy Concentration Cannons on its chest and a longsword hanging from its waist.

This longsword was clearly an Energy Weapon as well, capable of earth-shattering power.

Unlike the Oglala Mad Horse, which had been covered in wounds, the Steel Glory’s surface showed few signs of damage. Even blast marks were barely visible.

There were only some small slash marks on its body, along with a few cracks on its chest.

After observing the exterior for a while, Shen Feng swam inside through one of the cracks in the Steel Glory’s chest.

Inside was the control pod for the chest-mounted nuclear fusion engine.

The entire pod was flooded with seawater, however, and its various components had clearly failed.

A huge puncture wound ran straight through the engine control pod, from front to back, likely torn by the limb of a World Beast.

The strike had severed numerous cables, including a main energy transmission line. This must have caused a catastrophic power failure throughout most of the Super Giant War Armor.

Of course, the killing blow had likely been to the cockpit in the head.

Having obtained the data from Fortress-3 Laboratory, Shen Feng was already extremely familiar with this Super Giant War Armor. In fact, most of the data from Fortress-3 had been used to construct the Steel Glory.

After studying the pod for a moment, he pulled two cables from his Submersible and plugged them into the Steel Glory’s nuclear fusion engine control pod. He then pressed a few buttons on the console.

The next instant, the lights inside the control pod flared to life, flooding the space with brilliant light.

A mechanical hum followed. Now that the control pod had power, the drainage system kicked in, rapidly expelling the seawater.

The water level receded below Shen Feng’s feet, and the pod became much drier. The original two cracks had been sealed by an inner protective layer.

With another hum, the surrounding instruments and screens flickered to life.

These systems had been designed to be waterproof from the start. With power restored, they resumed their normal functions.

The Energy Control Pod served as the Super Giant War Armor’s secondary control center, capable of managing simple functions but not complex maneuvers.

After all, controlling the entire Super Giant War Armor in combat still required a primary control center piloted by a human.

Shen Feng tapped the screen a few times, and a status report for the entire Steel Glory appeared.

The primary control center in the head was completely offline, indicating critical damage.

The leg transmission systems were also offline, but most of the arms and torso could still establish a normal connection.

It seemed the Steel Glory retained at least thirty percent of its functionality.

This suggested it had been critically damaged late in the war, at a time when humanity no longer had the resources to retrieve or repair such a Super Giant War Armor.

Otherwise, it would have undoubtedly been repaired and sent back into the fight.

As Shen Feng continued his inspection, he discovered something else that was exhilarating.

The Steel Glory’s nuclear fusion engine was still running at minimum output!

Starting and stopping a reactor is an incredibly complex process. Super Giant War Armors often had a fail-safe that kept the reactor running at low power even after sustaining critical damage, which was beneficial for subsequent repairs.

The power system was still intact. If the lower body’s transmission systems could be repaired and a new neural control center installed, this Super Giant War Armor could be made fully operational again!

A look of delight spread across Shen Feng’s face. If nothing else, just the opportunity to further understand the construction of a Super Giant War Armor was worth the trip!

Although the Steel Glory’s primary control center in the head was destroyed, the Energy Control Pod in its chest stored a massive amount of backup data. This included the entire War Armor’s structural blueprints, as well as records of all its previous battles.

Shen Feng became completely engrossed in the data. He dove right in, continuously feeding it into his Silicon-Based Brain to analyze, compare, and get a full picture of the Super Giant War Armor.

At the same time, his Silicon-Based Brain began emitting thought-waves, starting to merge with the Steel Glory’s remaining control systems.

With the vast amount of data, assistance from Jingwei, and his own top-level control authority over Super Giant War Armors, it didn’t take Shen Feng long at all to gain complete control over the Steel Glory’s remaining functions.

If he wished, he could now make the Steel Glory move its head, an action that would undoubtedly have a tremendous impact on the Holy Corpse Market above.

For the people living there, it would be utterly cataclysmic.

Having done all this, Shen Feng resisted the urge to test his new control and piloted the Submersible toward the surface.

’I wonder how Witch Tower and the others are doing. Will they be surprised when I suddenly show up?’

As Shen Feng thought this, the Submersible was now only a few dozen meters from the surface.

Due to its aging wiring, this Submersible was on its last legs; it was a small miracle it had made it this far.

Sail Warships were much more reliable by comparison.

Just as Shen Feng had that thought, the Submersible broke the surface. It emerged in a small harbor surrounded by what seemed to be many boats. Not far off was a large vessel—clearly the Hope-class Wind Sail Battleship. What a coincidence.

’This must be the dock for the Holy Corpse Market. There are quite a few people around. It’s pretty lively.’

Shen Feng opened the Submersible’s hatch, stood up, and took a deep breath of fresh air. He stretched, a pleasant smile on his face as he looked around.

It was only then that he realized dozens of small boats, draped in iron netting, had surrounded the Hope-class Wind Sail Battleship. They were relentlessly firing Crossbow Arrows at the ship, while the sharp crack of gunfire and cannons periodically erupted from the Sail Warship, firing back at the small boats.

’Are they... in the middle of a battle?’