Chapter 440 - 428: Steel Knight
"Model two, complete."
However, these two Mecha, when faced with the thirty-meter-tall "King of Heart-eaters," still seemed somewhat frail. After all, that was a monster that had crossed the threshold of a Second-level Wizard.
Those thirty-meter-tall Kings of Heart-eaters—each one was a walking catastrophe.
Their thick scales could withstand a direct hit from a "Titan’s Roar," and their massive bodies could crush the defensive line of half a legion with a single charge.
The Zaku couldn’t stop them. The Unicorn could harass and fight back, but it couldn’t score a direct kill.
To kill those monsters, violence of an equal scale was needed.
The problem was—if a machine was built to that size, the sensor data, joint articulation calculations, and battlefield awareness information generated during combat... for a single pilot, the control latency would skyrocket to over 0.5 seconds.
The auxiliary calibration function of the Spiritual Driving Cabin was designed with reference to the Cluster Link Skill. Even the brain of a Level 5 Spirit Mage couldn’t process such a massive stream of information.
Mortals are not Wizards. They don’t have Spiritual Power to enhance their own brainpower.
Unless—
You make multiple brains work together.
"Neural bridge."
An image from a movie in his past life surfaced in his mind—two souls connected, sharing memories, perceptions, and pain.
In his past life, that was science fiction.
But in this world, the existence of Spirit Cores and Magic Power made it a possibility.
"Jarvis, based on the Spirit Core resonance feedback technology of the Spiritual Driving Cabin, simulate whether the synchronization and interconnection of Spiritual Pressure Signals can be achieved when two or three humans with similar Spirit Cores simultaneously connect to the same Spiritual Energy Conduction System."
Jarvis’s processing power spun up to full speed.
[Modeling...]
[Preliminary conclusion: Feasible.]
[When two humans with a Spirit Core frequency difference of less than 8% connect to the same spiritual energy resonance matrix simultaneously, their Spiritual Pressure Signals will produce a ’resonance effect.’ In this resonant state, both parties can semi-share perceptual information through their Spiritual Pressure Signals, forming something similar to—]
Jarvis paused for a miniscule instant, as if searching for the most suitable analogy.
[Similar to "delayed telepathy." One pilot is responsible for weapons and attack decisions, while the other is responsible for movement and defensive decisions. The two pilots’ Spiritual Pressure Signals are synchronized through the resonance matrix, allowing the central processing system to simultaneously receive two coordinated sets of control commands, compressing the control latency to less than 60% of that of a single pilot.]
[Key limitation: The higher the Spirit Core frequency match, the higher the synchronization rate, and the smoother the control. Partner combinations with a frequency difference exceeding 10% will produce severe interference, potentially leading to control chaos or even Spirit Core resonance backlash.]
[Addendum: A three-person combination can further distribute the information processing load, but the difficulty of synchronizing three Spirit Core frequencies increases exponentially. The ratio of viable partnerships drops from 1 in 500 for duos to approximately 1 in 50,000 for trios.]
"That’s enough."
"The third model—Codename: Gale Red."
In the projection, the silhouette of a giant Mecha began to take shape.
Forty-five meters.
More than twice the height of the "Zaku" and the "Unicorn."
Three arms—two conventional main arms plus one auxiliary arm on its back—gave it a bizarre and extremely menacing silhouette.
Each fist was the size of a house, with hydraulic impact hammers embedded in the knuckles.
Pure close-quarters combat, pure violent aesthetics.
"Dual-pilot cooperative control." Allen’s gaze was fervent. "Pilot one controls the upper body and the attacks of the three arms. Pilot two controls the machine’s movement and posture. Through the neural bridge synchronization, the two become one."
His finger drew a circle at the junction of the three arms.
"Once it closes the distance, the rotating combination strikes from these three arms will beat the King of Heart-eaters to a pulp."
[Gale Red close-combat heavy-hitter Mecha design draft generated. Estimated melee power output... 80% of a Cyclops.]
"The fourth model—Codename: Eureka Striker."
The silhouette was even larger. Forty-eight meters. Its overall lines were more balanced than Gale Red’s. It wasn’t specialized to the extreme in close combat, but instead struck a middle ground between offense and defense.
Its right arm was mounted with a large-caliber Plasma Cannon, while its left arm was a battle blade shaped like a giant chainsaw—the chainsaw teeth were made from a high-frequency oscillating Secret Silver Alloy, and when activated, it would emit a screech that set one’s teeth on edge.
"This one will be designed for three pilots."
Allen said in a low voice, "Pilot one controls movement and overall tactical decisions. Pilot two controls the fire-support weapons. Pilot three controls the close-combat weapons and defensive systems. The Spirit Core frequencies of all three must be highly compatible, and the training period will be at least six months."
[’Eureka Striker’ balanced-type Mecha design draft generated. Under three-person cooperative control, its estimated comprehensive combat power can face a single King of Heart-eaters head-on.]
"The last one."
Allen’s voice grew quiet.
In the center of the holographic projection, the wireframe of the final machine rotated to face him.
This machine was one he had already thought of from the moment he decided to start the "Steel Knight" project.
"The fifth model—Codename: Dangerous Wanderer."
Seventy-nine meters, even taller than the tallest of Allen’s Golems, the Cyclops.
In the projection, a machine so massive it nearly scraped the ceiling of the holographic space in the hangar slowly took form.
Its lines were archaic and heavy, yet held a hidden edge. Its overall structure was symmetrical and solemn, like a war totem forged from steel.
On its chest, the outline of a large cooling fan designed specifically for it was clearly visible.
In the palm of each hand was an enhanced "Titan’s Roar" Alchemy Heavy Cannon.
Its right arm had a retractable Chainsaw Sword blade embedded within it. The elbow of its left arm integrated a rocket propulsion unit, which could provide extra thrust at the moment of a punch to enhance its strike speed and destructive power.
"The core selling point of this machine isn’t its weapons, nor its armor."
"It’s suppression through sheer size and power output."
He expanded the detailed structural diagram of the cockpit area.
"Dual-pilot mind-sync piloting. Unlike the task-divided synergy of ’Gale Red,’ the two pilots of ’Dangerous Wanderer’ don’t control different parts of the machine separately. They control every single part of the machine together."
"Two brains, one body."
"Like the left and right brain."
This demanded a higher level of compatibility from the pilots, and they had to be at least Level 3 Spirit Mages.
[Modeling complete. In ’Dangerous Wanderer’s’ full-sync neural bridge mode, when the dual Spirit Cores achieve perfect resonance... estimated control latency can be compressed to 0.1 seconds.]
[This value is already approaching the level of a Wizard’s Spiritual Power control over a Golem of the same level.]
[But the conditions for full Spirit Core synchronization are extremely harsh: the two pilots must possess nearly identical Spirit Core frequencies, deep mutual trust, long-term joint training, and... ’soul compatibility.’]
[The theoretical ratio of partners who can satisfy these conditions is no more than one in one hundred thousand.]
Allen stared at the projection of the seventy-nine-meter-tall Steel Giant, his gaze profound.
"The kingdom only needs to find that one-in-a-hundred-thousand pair and put them inside this machine. When Dangerous Wanderer is piloted in full-sync mode, it will be Aiselan’s ultimate trump card."
"Facing a King of Heart-eaters—"
"It can overwhelm it directly."
[Dangerous Wanderer ultimate-type dual-sync Mecha design draft generated.]
[Full-sync mode estimated comprehensive combat power rating: Can contend with two Kings of Heart-eaters head-on.]
The projections of the five Mecha lined up in sequence on the main control room’s holographic platform.
"Zaku," eighteen meters, single eye and round shield, solid as a rock.
"Unicorn," twenty meters, three-form backpack, sharp as a spear.
"Gale Red," forty-five meters, three arms and giant fists, violent as thunder.
"Eureka Striker," forty-eight meters, cannon and saw both ready, balanced as an iron wall.
"Dangerous Wanderer," seventy-nine meters, dual-sync, the ultimate trump card.
The faint blue glow reflected on Allen’s face. He watched quietly for a long time.
These were not weapons he had built for himself.
They weren’t like his "Freedom Gundam," a decisive weapon driven by a Wizard’s Spiritual Power, representing the pinnacle of Extraordinary Power.
Every part, every circuit, and every system of these five machines was intentionally designed to be understood, manufactured, piloted, and improved by mortals.
"The design drafts are all complete. Run a few more optimization passes."
"Then, we enter the engineering phase."