Lin Xia stood beside the mecha's enormous foot, his figure appearing especially small in comparison.
He slightly raised his head, his gaze like the most precise probe, scanning inch by inch across the crimson armor surface of the mecha, checking whether the flow of soul power in every detail was smooth.
Hearing Si Long's voice, he slowly turned his head. His face carried the fatigue of prolonged, intense concentration, yet deep within those dark golden eyes burned an inextinguishable flame of excitement belonging to a creator.
"Mm, Eldest Senior Brother, the main structure is basically complete."
Lin Xia's voice was calm, though a trace of pride could not be hidden.
"Thanks to the 'materials' I brought back this time being tough enough."
Lin Xia patted the cold ankle armor of the mecha beside him, producing a dull metallic echo.
Si Long was still immersed in the aftershock of overwhelming shock. He carefully circled the steel colossus, each step taken with extreme caution, as if afraid of waking a slumbering beast.
He looked up at the massive, oppressive figure, feeling the terrifying aura emanating from the dragon bones and Solar Essence. A thought slipped out uncontrollably, his voice filled with disbelief and probing curiosity.
"Good heavens this big thing if it could move. what level of Soul Master could it fight? A Soul Emperor? A Soul Saint?"
He licked his slightly dry lips and cautiously voiced the even more outrageous thought in his mind.
"It couldn't possibly go head-on against a Soul Douluo, right?"
Hearing this, Lin Xia's lips curved into a confident smile, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"In theory, with its material strength and the preliminary soul tool weapon systems currently installed, it should be able to withstand the full-force attacks of an ordinary Soul Douluo for a period of time. If the energy core and propulsion issues are solved, and it operates at full power."
Lin Xia paused, a stronger light flashing in his eyes.
"Smashing a Soul Douluo wouldn't be a fantasy."
"S-smash a Soul Douluo?"
Si Long sucked in a sharp breath, feeling as if his heart had been gripped tightly once again.
A Soul Douluo!
That was a powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the continent!
This iron creation made by his junior brother actually had such potential?
The way he looked at Lin Xia now was no longer just that of a gifted junior brother, it was as if he were looking at a walking miracle-maker.
This shock far surpassed the time he had learned that Lin Xia had become a Soul Grandmaster at the age of seven, it was even more intense, more direct!
However, the blazing light in Lin Xia's eyes was soon covered by a layer of gloom.
He walked to the back of the mecha, where an extremely complex interface slot had been reserved. This was the most critical part of the entire mecha and also its most fatal weakness, the energy core chamber.
"However."
Lin Xia's voice lowered, carrying the heaviness of near success turning into failure, along with barely concealed frustration.
"Right now, it's just an empty shell. The most crucial energy core, and the 'soul power resonance matrix' needed to establish a stable and efficient connection with my own soul power are both stuck."
Lin Xia raised his hand, a strand of pure soul power condensing at his fingertips as he carefully reached toward the interface slot.
Inside the slot, countless fine soul tool circuits shimmered faintly like a spiderweb.
However, just as Lin Xia's soul power was about to be injected.
Buzz!
Deep within the slot, a palm-sized silver-white dragon bone fragment, refined repeatedly as the core base, suddenly lit up with a blinding white light!
A violent, arrogant, and destructive energy originating from an ancient god-level dragon, like a beast awakened from slumber, erupted violently!
The berserk dragon might surged outward instantly, not only tearing Lin Xia's injected strand of soul power to pieces, but also forming an invisible shockwave that slammed heavily into his chest!
"Ugh!"
Lin Xia groaned, his body staggering back uncontrollably for two steps, his face turning slightly pale.
He forcefully suppressed the surging blood in his chest, his expression becoming extremely grave.
"No."
Lin Xia shook his slightly numb arm, his tone carrying a hint of frustration.
"The power contained within the dragon bone is at too high a level, too violent. My soul power simply cannot form an effective guidance or restraint. If I try to forcefully activate it, the first thing to be torn apart by the backlash would be myself."
His gaze shifted toward another object on the workbench, a fist-sized crimson-gold crystal restrained by a special force field, radiating terrifying heat and dazzling light—the Sun Essence.
"The Sun Essence does contain vast, almost endless solar flame energy, and its quality is more than sufficient,"
Lin Xia pointed at the glowing mass that resembled a miniature sun, his brows tightly furrowed.
"But its energy nature is far too extreme and scorching, far harder to tame than the dragon bone's power. The current soul tool circuit materials and conversion structures simply cannot withstand the terrifying heat it releases in an instant. If I force it in, there's only one result—"
Lin Xia made an exploding gesture.
"Boom! We all go down together."
Si Long looked at Lin Xia's frustrated expression, then at the energy interface that seemed ready to devour anything placed within it. The shock in his heart was instantly replaced by deep concern.
He stepped forward anxiously, subconsciously wiping his hands on his oil-stained apron, as if that could somehow wipe away the problem before them.
"Little Junior Brother! What can I do? What materials do you need? Just say the word! Even if I have to search all of Gengxin City or tear apart the Association's warehouses, I'll get them for you!"
Lin Xia rubbed his temples tiredly. The light in his eyes flickered before ultimately fading into deep helplessness.
He slowly shook his head, his voice carrying an almost powerless fatigue.
"Senior Brother, it's not that simple. This isn't something ordinary materials can solve. It requires a core carrier that can meet several nearly impossible conditions at once."
"It must have terrifying capacity, extraordinary stability and resilience. It must be able to withstand both the violent impact of the dragon bone's energy and the extreme scorching of the Sun Essence at the same time. It also needs perfect affinity and plasticity with soul power, capable of forming a deep resonance with my soul power, as if it were an extension of my own limbs, something like that…"
Lin Xia let out a long breath, as if trying to expel all the frustration in his chest, then shook his head.
"Let alone the Blacksmith Association's warehouse, even if I searched through all the legends of the Douluo Continent, I wouldn't know where to find such a thing. Perhaps, it simply doesn't exist."
Looking at the crimson mecha before him—created with countless effort and divine-level materials, yet now reduced to an unactivated steel shell, like a lifeless tomb, an overwhelming sense of frustration surged like a cold tide, nearly drowning Lin Xia.
Could it be that the treasures obtained from the Dragon Graveyard, and his blueprint that surpassed the era, would ultimately be rendered useless because of something as small as a "battery"?
Si Long looked at the deep disappointment in Lin Xia's eyes and heard the helplessness in his words. He opened his mouth, only to realize he couldn't offer a single word of comfort.
The same overwhelming regret lodged in his throat like a sharp bone.
Such a world-shocking divine creation—only to become a lifeless metal sculpture?
That was even harder to accept than if it had never been created at all!
He looked toward the mecha's cold, massive head, as if he could see the silent "gaze" within it, filled with unwillingness.
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