Chapter 29: The Experimental Mecha

"Hey! Why aren't the mechs jumping anymore?" the middle-aged commander grinned as he spoke.

Harong was eager to see the mechs leap, but that wasn't something within their control.

"If they're not jumping, they're not jumping! What a pity there are only four!" If there were one more, Harong would have risked everything to ask for a loan.

Once he became familiar with walking, Lin Shu began to accelerate gradually.

"This mech is decent. Its starting speed surpasses a warhorse, but the jolting is nowhere near as comfortable as riding."

After running for a while, Lin Shu understood the mech's maximum speed: at full sprint, it could rival a thousand-mile horse. However, after nearly tipping over, he slowed down.

The mech's stable speed hovered around forty kilometers per hour, though it wasn't suited to long-distance travel. At a cruising speed of twenty kilometers per hour, one could even nap and rest in the cockpit.

Boom—dust billowed ahead as the spider, previously trailing, effortlessly overtook the humanoid mech. "Chief, your big guy isn't all that impressive."

His sisters finally sped up, and Moon Goddess increased the air pressure, quickly surpassing the accelerating humanoid mech as well.

Unable to resist, Shaoshao bounded after her sisters, taking a few leaps.

Lin Shu chuckled and no longer tried to accelerate; he had no desire to compete with four-legged runners.

[Commander, the spider mech's top speed reaches eighty kilometers per hour, with a comfortable cruising speed at thirty. Tracks and wheels can be added, but doing so would weaken the weapon systems.]

Firepower, speed, and defense—the three difficult choices. Lin Shu wanted all three, but it was impossible; even Earth's tanks and armored vehicles had to be divided into various functional types.

The current first-generation mechs were balanced in firepower, speed, and defense—a prototype for initial validation.

Upon reaching the woods beside the riverbank, the four mechs halted.

The mech had two legs but four arms.

The lower left arm wielded a shield two and a half meters long, protecting the chest's power system and the pilot's safety.

The lower right arm held a similarly sized double-edged sword, with a blade two meters long.

Swinging the hefty sword, weighing over a thousand catties, felled trees within a four-meter radius.

Watching the chief chop down trees, Jingni also joined in. The spider mech's upper four limbs were three meters long, each with two-section blades. Though not as powerful as the humanoid mech, they were far more agile and swift.

Tree after tree fell, chopped into segments.

"If this were used in battle, it wouldn't take long to cut down ten thousand men!" Harong's eyes grew hotter; how he longed to possess a mech, even if he couldn't be a general.

After splintering a fallen tree, Shaoshao paused, feeling a pang of sympathy for the trees.

"The speed at which the blade moves wouldn't harm even a first-rate fighter, but I doubt a martial master could break through the steel armor of a mech!" Moon Goddess, after a while of chopping, began to assess the mech's overall strength.

After ten minutes of swinging the control lever, Lin Shu's hand grew sore, prompting him to stop.

After the great sword, it was time to examine the machine gun and cannon.

[Commander, the pneumatic machine gun is a six-barrel rotary gun, caliber twelve millimeters, rate of fire sixty rounds per minute, lethal range three hundred meters, can penetrate single-layer iron armor at two hundred meters, its muzzle power equivalent to a bull-drawn ballista.]

The humanoid mech's four arms—its upper two, thinner and shorter—were the six-barrel pneumatic machine guns.

With a hiss, a thick plume of steam shot from the mech's rear, connecting the pressure line to the gun's chamber.

Bang bang bang—the air exploded with sharp cracks as the rounds spun out, shaking the whole mech.

Subsonic bullets left no visible beams; the blurred trajectories eluded even Jingni and Moon Goddess.

Almost instantly, thumb-sized holes appeared in the trunks a hundred meters ahead.

"This is the pneumatic machine gun!" Jingni clenched her small fists; their empire had grown stronger by another measure.

Having witnessed its power, Moon Goddess drew a preliminary conclusion: I doubt I could withstand it for long. Once the machine gun opened fire, only those with immense internal energy could face it unafraid! Yet the muzzle swayed constantly, making aiming difficult.

Shaoshao didn't dwell on it, but understood more deeply: this was why the Yin-Yang School had to submit, why the proud Moon Goddess willingly pledged allegiance!

That troublesome uncle—just what kind of power did he possess? Fortunately, he wasn't truly wicked! Thinking of how she hadn't lost herself, Shaoshao felt relieved.

"I want to try as well, to test the cannon's strength." Acting on impulse, Jingni toggled the cannon's switch.

With a spray of steam, the giant spider let out a loud, resounding blast—though, thankfully, not a foul one.

After connecting the pressure line, the tightly sealed tiger's maw of the spider opened wide, revealing, upon close inspection, a pitch-black cannon muzzle amidst the steel teeth.

[Cannon caliber fifty millimeters, fires once every three seconds, effective range one thousand meters, at one hundred meters its power equals eight bull ballistas.]

At that moment, the four mech pilots again heard the voice of Heartshadow in their minds.

The eight-bull ballista was the era's strongest siege weapon, meant for direct assaults on city walls and gates. Even the legendary grandmaster of the martial world would not wish to face a barrage from multiple eight-bull ballistas.

The greater the power, the more Jingni adored it. Now that she'd recovered her innate strength, let alone the realm of grandmaster.

Moon Goddess and Shaoshao fell silent, eager to learn just how mighty the cannon truly was.

Boom—like a thunderclap, the supersonic steel shell erupted from the muzzle, scraping a faint red beam, quickly dissipated by the air's heat.

Crack—a thunderous crash as a half-meter thick tree two hundred meters away toppled toward the cannon.

The splintered trunk testified to the cannon's might.

Boom—boom—boom—Jingni fired over a dozen rounds before stopping. With repeated shots, the cannon became harder to control, eventually hitting even the treetops. But Jingni paid no mind, her flushed cheeks reminiscent of last night with her husband and all that transpired in that time.

Moon Goddess, unfazed, ceased her wild thoughts and began to test the cannon herself.

As for the spider's fully rotatable rear machine gun, even Shaoshao had no time to examine it.

Soon, the woods within several hundred meters were devastated; even those not felled were battered by bullets and shells.

Through these tests, Heartshadow gathered the most authentic experimental data on the mechs' operation and performance.

[Commander, compared to humanoid mechs, beast-type mechs are better suited for all-terrain and multi-target operations. However, humanoid mechs are more effective against fortresses and passes than spider mechs.]

Lin Shu nodded, his mind already made up: humanoid mechs would serve as banners, deployed in small numbers for assault, while spider mechs would be equipped as the mainstay elite force.

Superalloy was needed, as was synthesized liquid carbon, so the number of mechs would inevitably be limited. Yet steam vehicles crafted with spaceship technology could be mass-produced, and with carriage techniques, charcoal-burning cars weren't much worse than internal combustion engines.

"Too bad there are so few who can use them!" Lin Shu shook his head and smiled, not intending to manufacture automobiles, for it was pointless to teach barbarians to drive—at least not within a few years!

With so few capable people, Lin Shu had to turn his gaze southward.

The realm of the Seven Kingdoms was filled with talent! Even an old farmer possessed several skills, and a nimble youth could be trained for a few months to barely manage.