530: Chapter 174: Strange Target 530: Chapter 174: Strange Target Underground area.

This generation’s rock layer was no longer sedimentary.

It was the interior of the mountains, a zone devoid of fossils.

It was also the underground armory of the Secluded Crane Knight Order.

White Hermit led Protector Zhi to a storage rack.

A mechanical arm that had received a command took down a small box.

“Considering the nature of the mission, we have not prepared a small reactor for you, only the highest standard nuclear batteries and capacitors,” said White Hermit.

“This should be sufficient for most situations.”

In most cases, the output of nuclear batteries, which could deliver a stable supply of electricity, was not much different from that of a small reactor.

While a small reactor did possess a much higher power output than nuclear batteries, not all prosthetic bodies were capable of handling such output.

And the few that could “consume” that energy might not necessarily have a matching cooling system.

Trying to forcefully harness the power of a reactor would only lead to the prosthetic body overheating and self-destructing.

In most cases, nuclear batteries combined with high-end capacitors could do what a reactor could do.

As for “duration”…

Relative to “a single battle,” there was no difference between “a few years” and “decades, even a century.”

Protector Zhi nodded, “Acceptable.

A body equipped with a reactor would be too cumbersome and too conspicuous.

On a planet with not-so-low gravity like this one, such a body would hardly be capable of sneaking.”

In Protector Zhi’s view, his martial arts were far superior to the average level of Earth Heroes.

Therefore, it was acceptable for him to slightly lower the “upper limit” of operation.

Oh, wait.

The majority of Jianghu folks didn’t even have nuclear batteries.

Anyway, to win in this kind of “restricted condition combat” might also be a unique pleasure.

“I must remind you that this nuclear battery has a lifespan of about five years.

After that, it will no longer be suitable as the main power source for a Martial Artist; it can only be put into auxiliary devices,” White Hermit cautioned.

Protector Zhi nodded, “That’s reasonable – I imagine I won’t need five years to complete my task.”

Protector Zhi had received a mission from Iron Heart Dharma King to “investigate the disappearance of King Aqini’s trusted squad three years ago.”

Of course, Protector Zhi’s inner strength was much lower than King Aqini’s trusted attendants.

But he had no intention of competing with them in inner strength.

To Protector Zhi, the concept of “combat strategy” was about playing to one’s strengths and compensating for weaknesses.

He planned to crush his opponents with his own advantages.

In this era, “individual power” was the easiest type of strength to obtain.

Therefore, for the common rebels, the most economical strategy was to collectively create a powerful individual and then utilize this individual for mobility warfare, destroying the enemy in movement.

On the other hand, “assembling large-scale troops” was a very uneconomical strategy.

Expanding troop size was essentially trading off mobility to gain an advantage in direct combat, but on this level, “technology” slightly favored the Tyrant.

This was a crucial component of Martial Ancestor’s martial arts philosophy.

Protector Zhi’s advantage was speed.

If he sealed off all his inputs, he could kill those close to King Aqini before they attemped to hack in.

Therefore, the complete annihilation of a squad of heroes was not enough to provoke his fear.

“And then there’s this equipment.” White Hermit dragged out a rectangular, well-defined case from the box: “The Sword Box for the Sonicon Blade.”

“Due to the limitations of energy supply, we haven’t prepared high-energy particle constraint weapons for you.

Their energy consumption is a bit too high,” said White Hermit.

Protector Zhi pondered for a moment, “Does that mean this prosthetic body is also not equipped with a Gang Qi weapon system?”

White Hermit shook his head, “It does have one.

Your shoulders, back, flanks, and forearms all sport multiple magnetic field generators, which can form a neat magnetic field enveloping your upper body.

Although the magnetism is not strong, it can control metal particles to a certain extent, forming a small Faraday Cage or discontinuous reflective surface.”

“However, this can only provide limited defense against electromagnetic pulses and laser weapons.

It’s just a precaution.

Lacking sufficient computational resources, you won’t be able to perform particularly precise operations.”

Protector Zhi was slightly disappointed.

Some Martial Artists, through high-precision infrared vision, could find hidden cooling ports on the enemy’s body, and with the help of airflow and magnetic fields, they could introduce a small clump of nanometal particles into the cooling port, inflicting damage from within.

Of course, this required quite a lot of local computational resources.

Remote computers struggled to keep up with the rapidly changing battlefield.

Protector Zhi also liked this kind of operation.

In his view, challenging a Martial Artist’s operational skills was fun and could significantly improve his own techniques.

“Additionally, we have provided a small amount of accessories.

You have plenty of mounting interfaces on your body, allowing you to do many things,” explained White Hermit.

Looking at the remaining firearms in the box, Protector Zhi nodded.

“Next is the vehicle.

We will transport you and these equipment to a peripheral base about fifty kilometers away.

There you’ll find an all-terrain vehicle.

Though incapable of flight or deep-sea diving, for most…”

White Hermit suddenly stopped speaking.

Because he suddenly felt as if someone had knocked on his head—a special “alert tone”.

This meant that “the call was possibly more important than his own life”.

White Hermit connected the communication, and with a couple of downward palm press gestures toward Protector Zhi, he signaled the urgency of “important matters”.

[Deer K?

What’s happened?]

The Scientific Knight known as “Deer K” said, [This…

this…

we’ve been infiltrated…

this…]

White Hermit’s heart sank, [Be clear, who has infiltrated us?

Where are they?

What’s their purpose?]

[I…

I don’t know…

this…

it’s over…

How could…

how could this happen?]

[If you keep hemming and hawing, you know what will happen to you, Deer K.

I divulged this special line to you, not so you could interrupt me while I’m meeting with Protector Zhi…]

White Hermit paused.

[By the way, isn’t Protector Wan with you?

It’s not a time for factional differences now, let him take over some work.]

[Protector Wan has already been on it.] Deer K’s voice was dreamlike: [That enemy has very high inner strength, and we’re still unable to trace them back.

As for their objective…

their objective…]

White Hermit was growing irritated, [No matter how preposterous his goal is, just tell me directly!

I need to know your assessment now!]

[That enemy…

seems to want to…

make contact with the “Igni Seal”…]

Upon hearing this, White Hermit felt as if someone had poured a cup of refrigerant into his brain.