Chapter 83

It was as if a door to the world had been opened.

In the deep darkness, the distant memories that had slumbered for thousands of years were awakened by the dazzling, bright lights.

Row after row of neatly arranged bronze machines stood silently, like fierce and terrifying beasts, stretching endlessly. The deep, restrained luster of the bronze, ancient and desolate like that era, brought the scent of blood and fire right to the face!

Tang Tian moved forward in a daze, his mind blank from the shock of the scene before him. He moved forward instinctively, his gaze greedily and intensely sweeping over the bronze machines.

The bronze machines were bizarre and varied, some shaped like wild beasts, some like humans, but most shapes Tang Tian could not describe. However, each bronze machine exuded an indescribable aura of solemnity and death. The deep bronze color added a touch of solemnity to this faint sense of killing intent.

"These bases are just for rest and recuperation during training, the armory is very small," Bing said casually.

Very small...

This is considered very small...

Tang Tian didn't know how to describe his feelings. He couldn't imagine how powerful the Southern Cross Corps was back then.

Bing looked around, somewhat nostalgic, "I remember this base was designed and supervised by Luosi. This guy had the most extreme requirements, and it's thanks to him that this place has been preserved so well. Here, you can see the standard equipment of the corps back then. The stuff for those even more extreme guys isn't here."

"More extreme guys?" Tang Tian asked curiously.

"Yes, experts usually have a dedicated mechanical engineer custom-make equipment for them, tailored to their needs. Regular soldiers don't get such treatment," Bing explained.

"Can these machines still be used now?" Tang Tian couldn't help but ask.

"They should still work," Bing wasn't sure, "Pick one and try it out."

"Alright!" Tang Tian was very excited. He had been eager to try, and his gaze immediately fell on a bronze machine.

It was a typical human-shaped machine, looking like a larger suit of armor, about two meters tall. The first impression it gave was ferocity, with a tiger head that was both majestic and solemn. Every joint had spikes! Especially its finger joints, Tang Tian imagined the spikes easily piercing through the opponent's defenses when he hit them, the powerful force would crush everything in its path. The tips of its fingers had sharp tiger claws that could lock and cause significant damage. The knees and elbows were even more deadly; a single hit would definitely render the opponent unable to fight.

"This one!" Tang Tian said without hesitation.

Bing glanced at it and nodded, "Your choice is good. It's called the 'Saber-Toothed Tiger,' a typical close-combat mechanical armor, very suitable for your fighting style."

"Saber-Toothed Tiger..." Tang Tian immediately liked the name.

"These types of combat machines are called mechanical armors," Bing added, then pointed to the Saber-Toothed Tiger, "Its features are flexibility and emphasis on attack. Whether it's fist techniques, palm techniques, finger techniques, joint techniques, or leg techniques, they are all significantly enhanced. The enhancement ranges from 20% to 25%, depending on the individual's skill level."

Tang Tian was greatly impressed. A 20% enhancement in martial arts was a very frightening number. It was extremely difficult to increase the power of any martial art by 20%.

"However, it's not without weaknesses," Bing continued, "The Saber-Toothed Tiger is heavy on offense and light on defense. Its weight makes its defense not very good. Also, it enhances the instantaneous burst of true energy, so it's good for short-distance sprints, but not for long-distance runs."

As he spoke, Bing opened the chest plate of the mechanical armor. Inside was empty, and the inner walls were covered with many complex red lines, which stood out against the deep bronze background.

"Does it look like human blood vessels?" Bing asked as he operated it.

"A bit," Tang Tian nodded.

"Place the starstone here," Bing pointed to a recess in the inner wall, "Although the back plate is designed to be the thickest and can withstand strong attacks, it's best not to use it as a shield. In actual combat, if the attack is too strong, the recess might be damaged, well, then this thing would become a bronze can."

Bing spoke as if reciting a list, clearly very familiar with it.

"Alright, go in and try it out."

Hearing Bing's words, Tang Tian immediately couldn't wait to climb in.

"Take a few steps and try it out," Bing stood with his arms crossed, habitually patting his pocket before suddenly realizing he was already a soul general. He felt a bit regretful; if he had a cigarette right now, it would be perfect...

Tang Tian, incredibly excited, took a step forward, but didn't control his strength well, and with a clang, he fell to the ground.

Bing tilted his head back, unable to bear the sight, "Oh, oh, oh, young man, pay attention to controlling your strength, it amplifies your strength."

Before he finished speaking, bang, the Saber-Toothed Tiger on the ground bounced up, slamming into the ceiling and creating a shallow human-shaped dent. After a moment, it fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"Young man, play around with it yourself for a while, I'll go check out other places. Don't worry, this thing is very durable."

Bing said this and then disappeared.

Tang Tian had never encountered such a fun thing before. At first, it was hard to control, and he often fell and lost control. But soon, his animal-like reflexes took over.

Clang, clang, clang!

Tang Tian, wearing the Saber-Toothed Tiger, ran wildly in the armory, occasionally knocking over other mechanical armors, but he didn't care. He felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration, as if he had endless strength. Experiencing the mechanical armor firsthand was an incredibly fresh feeling. Tang Tian was in awe of the people of the Southern Cross Corps; whoever created this mechanical armor was truly amazing! Despite its heavy appearance, it required very little force to operate, making it very flexible.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger came to an abrupt stop, fluid and smooth. Tang Tian took a deep breath and punched out, his entire body's true energy surging forth!

Avalanche!

Bang!

The air where his fist hit completely shattered and vanished, and the surrounding air rapidly collapsed toward his fist, creating a deafening explosion.

So powerful!

Tang Tian was stunned by the punch.

He knew exactly the power of the Avalanche, and he never expected that wearing the Saber-Toothed Tiger would make the Avalanche so powerful. Normally, the Avalanche could shatter the air, but it couldn't annihilate it. The perfect Avalanche, with a 20% power increase, underwent a qualitative change.

Tang Tian's blood was immediately ignited, and he began to wildly perform various martial arts techniques.

The various martial arts became abnormally fierce, with their power greatly increased.

Tang Tian felt like a raging battle machine, invincible!

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Bing stared at the badge before him.

This was a large badge, and each base of the corps had one. Inside was the mark of the corps, the symbol of the Southern Cross Corps. But few people knew that the badge had more to it. No, to be precise, only four people in the entire corps knew.

Bing extended his palm and placed it on the badge.

The badge suddenly glowed with a faint light, the bronze cross mark lighting up like stars.

"Commander, don't lie to me..." Bing muttered to himself.

A bronze glow suddenly entered his body. The badge on the wall quickly dimmed.

Bing's body trembled, and a bronze Southern Cross mark appeared on his forehead. His originally translucent body became more solid.

The blank face began to form eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows.

After a moment, all the changes stopped.

Bing opened his eyes, and the badge in front of him suddenly turned into a mirror. Seeing the person in the mirror, Bing was stunned, then burst into a furious roar: "Commander! You bastard! Did you even play poker when making the badges..."

In the mirror, the eyes could move, the mouth could move, the nose could move, and the eyebrows could move, but they looked as if they were painted on...

A blank, white face with painted-on features, a living poker face...

Bing roared at the badge for a long time, then finally stopped, staring at the badge and muttering, "You bastards, having a great time playing poker in hell, leaving me alone in the human world. Is it because I never played poker with you..."

Tears blurred his vision.

Bing wiped away his tears, looked at the badge, and mumbled, "Poker soaked in water, it does look a bit ugly, really damaging my iron-blooded instructor image."

He calmed himself and slowly said, "Commander, besides training new recruits, I can't do anything else. But I think, since you kicked me back, you must be full of regret! You must be regretting such a failure! You must be regretting being annihilated! Right, you must be regretting it!"

"Commander, you didn't come. Aixin, you, who never lost at poker and was so devious, didn't come. Luosi, you, the strongest mechanical engineer, didn't come." Bing looked at his palm, "You kicked me, the most useless one, back. Why, Commander!"

"Besides training, I can't do anything else." Bing sat down, leaning against the wall with the badge, talking to himself, "You guys, who were so capable, are all lazy. Clearly regretting it, but leaving me alone, how awkward you must feel. But, Tang Tian is pretty good, well, a good seed, just a bit outdated for our era. That's a problem..."

He sat there, rambling on, as if talking to a friend.

The light from above cast a long shadow of the bronze badge on the wall, falling beside Bing, like the comrades of old.