Inside the Gundam hangar.
The current [Boxer] mech, having undergone several rounds of modifications by Luca, barely resembled its original form.
Even its overall height had increased from the original 39.6 feet to nearly 46 feet.
It could be said that aside from the panoramic cockpit, which Luca found convenient to use, even the most critical internal frame had been completely replaced.
The mech was now slimmer and more proportionate. No longer resembling a Ninja Turtle, it looked about 70-80% like a slightly smaller version of the "Gundam Astraea."
This was the inevitable result of incorporating a massive amount of Gundam 00 technology into this new GN Drive-powered core unit.
In fact, if not for retaining the conceptual power inherited from the [Boxer]—which allowed it to inherit item properties—it would have been significantly cheaper to scrap the existing mech and build a brand-new one from scratch.
Fortunately, Luca's System seemed to accept the "Ship of Theseus" theory. Even though almost none of the original parts remained, the crucial conceptual power was preserved.
And since Luca had experienced the 'Devil May Cry' world after the 'Conan' world, this mech also integrated quite a bit of 'Demon Technology' internally.
For example, the interchangeable right arm, which was distinctly different in design from the left, and the flashy helmet on the head that vaguely mimicked a 'cowboy hat' style.
Of course, Luca rushing to the hangar wasn't to test or upgrade this new Gundam he was already intimately familiar with.
Upon entering, he didn't even bother deploying the standard pilot boarding platform.
Taking three steps in two, Luca nimbly leaped up to the cockpit hatch.
Once the hatch opened, he tossed the Aurantius Haro inside with a backhand throw. Then, with a flip, he jumped down from the mech's chest—nearly thirty feet up—and landed steadily on the ground.
"Haro, activate the Boxer Gundam! Release Hextech particles for diffusion and stand by. No other actions needed!"
Receiving Luca's order, Haro cursed and bounced into its 'main' pilot seat. Its eyes flashed red, and brilliant blue lights immediately lit up across the entire Gundam.
Of course, since the docking clamps hadn't disengaged, the mech itself didn't move.
But the 'Hex Solar Furnace' on its back flared brightly, continuously emitting bands of pale blue 'Hextech Particle' light.
In an instant, the entire hangar was filled with these dazzling blue particles.
And this was exactly Luca's goal.
"Nice. Now it's time to test the hypothesis..."
Taking out the [Quincy Cross] again, Luca extended his left arm, letting the silver-white metal pendant hang down and sway slightly.
Then, he quickly cleared his mind, focused his spirit on his left hand, and visualized the shape of a bow.
The next moment.
Hum~
With a nearly imperceptible sound.
The palm-sized pale blue shortbow appeared once again.
But this was only the beginning.
With the appearance of this 'Hextech Spirit Shortbow,' the drifting pale blue particles in the surroundings seemed to receive a signal. They immediately surged toward Luca's left hand like a flood.
In the blink of an eye, the palm-sized spirit bow expanded to the length of his forearm.
And the condensation and expansion didn't stop there.
3 feet... 6 feet... 10 feet...
Finally, the blue spirit longbow swelled to nearly 13 feet in length. Luca had to hold his arm out straight just to keep the bow from digging into the ground before the crazy growth finally halted.
But in reality, this wasn't even the limit of the spirit longbow.
Countless Hextech particles around him continued to converge on the bow, but any excess particles that merged into the bow body would immediately break down and scatter again.
A stream of pale blue Hextech particles flowed in a ring around Luca, centered on the spirit longbow, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Luca knew this was because his control had reached its limit. He couldn't condense any more particles to maintain a stable bow shape.
Okay, calling it "stable" was a bit of shameless self-praise on Luca's part.
Right now, the entire body of the spirit longbow looked like dancing blue flames. Both ends were sputtering sparks like a giant firework, barely maintaining the shape of a longbow.
"Hiss~ Awesome!"
Looking at the giant "pulsating torch" in his hand, a look of joy involuntarily appeared on Luca's face.
Even as a 'magic idiot,' he could clearly feel the immense power contained within this 'Hextech Spirit Longbow.'
"I didn't expect this item, which I had no expectations for, to give me such a huge surprise~"
However, after glancing around, Luca ultimately sighed and gave up.
If this weren't his own critical hangar, he really would have wanted to fire a full-power shot to test the spirit bow's might.
Pity, pity. I'll have to take the solar furnace to the Pink Dragon testing ground later and have Mitsuki help me test the power~
After calming down, Luca tried to relinquish control over the excess particles. He found that if he wanted to maintain a relatively stable structure, he could only control the spirit bow to a length of a little over three feet.
However, if he could train his control or enhance his mental power to increase his telekinetic influence, the spirit bow itself seemed to have no upper limit on power.
Training control takes too much time and effort. Since the limitless spirit bow can only be condensed in high concentrations of Hextech particles anyway, maybe I can add a psychic amplification device to the Boxer Gundam?
That idea should work. The Yuri Tech Tree has plenty of reference technology in that area!
But opening the cockpit hatch to shoot arrows with my bare body seems a bit weird, right? No, I need to improve that...
While calculating technical upgrades in his mind, Luca didn't forget to order Haro to shut down the mech's solar furnace engine.
Losing the boost from the infinite Hextech particles, the blue spirit bow on his left hand returned to its palm-sized form.
Looking at the 'toy bow' in his hand, it looked identical to before to the naked eye.
But Luca still issued a command.
"Haro, rescan the shortbow in my hand and compare it with the previous data!"
Whir~
This time, the Boxer Gundam's sensors fired the scanning beam.
Since the core data was stored inside the Aurantius Haro, the system immediately provided the answer Luca expected.
"Bow length increased by 0.1% compared to the laboratory test. Energy concentration increased by 0.15%. Bow arm thickness..."
I knew it!
A gleam flashed in Luca's eyes, and he blurted out the conclusion he had anticipated.
"The Hex Solar Furnace is... constantly improving my constitution!"