Chapter 118: Chapter 97 Stage 3: Full Power, Human Limitation Unlock!_1

How strong must a mecha pilot be to possess a 1st Rank mecha?

Clearly, this was something Yano had prepared in advance.

Perhaps his being two days late was because he was crafting and reinforcing a new mecha, intending to use this method to test Jiang Chen’s potential—

As the hope of Planet Blue Star, Jiang Chen also indirectly represented the potential of civilization.

Jiang Chen could guess his thoughts but still readily agreed.

Yano wanted to know his strength…

And he was just as keen to find out Yano’s standards.

When Yano saw Jiang Chen agree, he said with a smile,

“You’ve just crossed the abyss and probably haven’t crafted a [Supercharged Mecha], so your strength hasn’t reached its limit.”

“Let’s set the battle for two days from now.”

“I’ll first unlock some permissions for you, allow you to boost your strength a bit, and then we’ll have our contest just before you leave.”

“Two days later?”

Jiang Chen quickly calculated how much his attributes could grow in two days and then asked,

“How strong approximately is your 1st Rank supercharged mecha?”

“The strength is about 3rd Rank level, I suppose,” Yano replied.

“My mecha pilot rank is much higher than yours, and even if I use a 1st Rank mecha, I’ll still get many additional trait boosts…”

“However, that wouldn’t count as a fair contest.”

“Thus, I will adjust the power of the mecha and maintain the attributes at the level of my own 1st Rank.”

“3rd Rank?”

Jiang Chen was very surprised.

Not because it was too high, but because it was too low.

One must know that the attributes of a supercharged mecha are almost ten times that of an ordinary mecha.

A 1st Rank supercharged mecha has a basic strength of 2nd Rank.

This means that Yano’s mecha pilot talent could enhance the mecha’s strength by about ten times.

Jiang Chen’s thoughts raced.

“Yano, as the beacon of hope and able to spread the flames of civilization, raised my expectations of him…”

“It makes sense, indeed.”

“The basic trials come with a Supercharge Module, combined with a tenfold boost, allowing him to easily clear the Hell difficulty level on his own and steadily obtain the second Supercharge Module…”

“He could then farm the Hell difficulty level for some time and gather half a set of supercharged mecha parts, which combined with a tenfold boost, would have a strength close to 3rd Rank.”

“Clearing the abyss difficulty level would naturally not be a problem.”

Following this logic…

The hope of Planet Blue Star’s civilization should have been Li Xiao.

Jiang Chen had talked with him and knew the public’s speculations were not unfounded; his mecha pilot talent really could provide a strength boost of about ten times.

If nothing went wrong, clearing the abyss difficulty level would be no problem for him.

In contrast, it was Jiang Chen.

He seemed more like a monster that appeared out of nowhere.

3rd Rank strength? Tenfold boost?

“There’s no need to wait two days, just give me a moment.”

Jiang Chen clenched his right fist, rapidly descended into the abyss, and began the abyss challenge directly!

After a short while, he returned, touched the Abyss Rune once more, and hastily headed for the next abyss.

In just one hour.

Jiang Chen had cleared five abysses, including the [Eternal Frost Magic Realm] and [Endless Demons Realm], gathering four pure attribute-enhancing Supercharge Modules.

Only then did he stop and stand back on the beach.

“All right, we can start now.”

The 8th Rank mecha pilots fell into silence.

Speed-running five abysses in one hour, why does it feel even easier than a trip to the supermarket?

Even Yano was taken aback for a moment.

It’s normal for the beacon of hope with a supercharged mecha to speed-run the abyss difficulty levels without surprise…

But how many days had it been since Jiang Chen had cleared the abyss?

He hadn’t even finished crafting his mecha, yet treated the abyss difficulty like a simple grind!

It seems the hope of Planet Blue Star has exceptional potential.

Thinking about the likelihood of him possibly becoming a future teammate,

Yano couldn’t help but smile, eager to start,

“Then let’s begin!”

The base on the ecological planet could withstand millions of degrees of temperature and naturally possessed extreme strength.

Not to mention 3rd Rank strength, even more powerful attacks were unable to destroy it.

As for the damage to the interior venue, just arrange some repair robots; it would only take a bit of time.

Therefore, the battle took place directly on the sea surface of Star Base.

One by one, the 8th Rank mecha pilots also put on their mechas and watched the battle from a distance.

At this moment, Jiang Chen stood above the sea surface, clenched his right fist, and touched the Abyss Rune.

Fight alongside me, Yun.

Steam mecha, unite!

As if answering his call, the abyss atmosphere surged out from the palm, turning into a multitude of gears, intricately fitting together and rotating rapidly.

Pieces of brass metal materialized from the air and slammed onto the surface of the gears.

In an instant, a four-meter-tall golden-red mecha appeared on the sea surface, violently ejecting a burst of steam.

The voice of the mecha soul resonated in Jiang Chen’s heart.

[I, Yun, am willing to serve my lord!]

“Steam mecha, huh?”

Yano could sense Jiang Chen’s surging life energy and knew he was a physique-type mecha pilot, but he wasn’t surprised to see him wearing a mecha.

He had seen too many styles of fighting in the endless abyss.

Now, he raised his right hand, lightly touched his chest, and a large amount of liquid metal flowed from it, rapidly solidifying on his body to form sharp armor.

A three-meter-tall silver-white mecha appeared in the air, looking considerably smaller than the steam mecha.

But that was just in size.

Its right hand liquefied again, transforming into a circular energy cannon that lit up.

“So, let’s get started,” he said.

At the fall of his words, the energy cannon swiftly activated, shooting five consecutive energy blasts.

The energy blasts traveled incredibly fast, covering over half the distance in a breath, and were about to reach the steam mecha.

At this moment, the steam mecha dipped slightly, stepping onto the sea surface.

Jiang Chen’s thoughts raced—

“The base attribute of a 3rd Rank ordinary mecha is approximately between 15,000 and 30,000, fluctuating up and down depending on the mecha’s focus.”

“Even if a 1st Rank supercharged mecha has 3rd Rank strength, there’s a limit to the number of modules it can carry…”

“With a total of eight modules, fitting a Weapons Module means sacrificing one attribute module as a price.”

“To support the weapon’s power, at least another energy module must be added; otherwise, the weapon’s effect cannot be maximized.”

“That means, at best, only six attribute modules.”

“Six attribute modules, distributed in strength, agility, defense, armor value…”

“The mecha’s basic attributes, at least 15,000, no more than 18,000.”

In an instant, Jiang Chen had already analyzed the strength of the hostile mecha.

His steam mecha, after being equipped with a full set of supercharge modules, had base attributes of: strength 3,000, agility 3,100, defense 2,300, enigmatism 100.

Even after initiating Stage 2 and gaining the enhancement from mecha soul fusion.

The attributes had only become strength 9,300, agility 8,100, defense 8,300, enigmatism 3,200.

There was still quite a distance from 3rd Rank strength.

Naturally, it couldn’t contend with the opponent.

Since that was the case…

The steam mecha standing on the sea surface made clicking noises as copious amounts of steam burst forth, nearly blotting out the view.

Only the central star core remained dazzlingly bright.

The silver-white mecha’s released energy bullets seemed to have a slight tracking feature, curving around to smash into the inside.

As they fell into the steam and struck the target—

For an instant, the star core in the center of the steam moved.

It appeared to form a light beam, punching directly through the mist and charging straight at the silver-white mecha!

The steam mecha’s outer metal shell had fallen off in large parts, exposing many gears wildly spinning, emitting creaking noises of overload.

Meanwhile, its exhaust pipes spouted large volumes of steam, glowing red-hot from the high temperatures.

But its speed had risen more than a notch!

As for those energy bullets, they were blocked and absorbed by the pieces of armor that had fallen off the steam mecha.

Stage 2: Full Power!

[Energy Overload] combined with [Limitation Unlock] were both initiated.

At this moment, the attributes of the steam mecha underwent another drastic change.

Strength and agility respectively reached 13,300 and 12,100.

Merely at Stage 2, the attributes successfully broke ten thousand!

Coupled with Jiang Chen’s bio-organic force field propulsion speed, as well as the sea surface being considered solid ground for running—the bio-organic force field…

The straight-line running speed gained an extra boost, quickly closing in on the silver-white mecha!

Since the silver-white mecha had weapons equipped for long-range, naturally, it did not want to be attacked up close.

The mecha’s surface rapidly liquefied, transforming into several plasma ejectors to provide thrust, trying to distance itself from the steam mecha.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Chen actually smiled.

Equipping a flight module meant reducing one attribute module.

Its speed might improve, but the agility and strength values would decrease because of it!

The actual gain was far less than imagined.

On the contrary, as for himself…

Flames flowed out from his body, climbing along the gears to the steam mecha’s exhaust pipes.

The ability to mold power that he had practiced hard for a time was now put to use.

[Flame Control], as an output power, might be falling behind the times, but it could serve as flame jet propulsion, offering a bit of extra thrust.

To further elevate the speed of the steam mecha!

Most importantly, this speed came at zero cost.

Unlike the silver-white mecha, to equip a flight module required sacrificing an attribute module.

The distance between the two mechas decreased instead of increasing.

Yano, controlling the silver-white mecha, kept firing energy bullets at the rapidly approaching steam mecha.

They were either deflected off-course by the flame blasts or narrowly avoided the attacks.

Of every ten shots, only one could hit the target, shattering many gears.

Seeing this scene, Yano was surprised.

He had initially thought Jiang Chen was a physique type mecha pilot, to whom the mecha was just an amplification tool.

Who would have thought an amplification tool could exert such a degree of power?

However…

The steam mecha was self-disintegrating while also enduring attacks; it couldn’t last long.

When it finally charged in front of the silver-white mecha and swung a punch—

It was caught directly by the silver-white mecha’s raised hand, followed by a face-full of energy blasts.

It crumbled into countless parts, breaking apart on the spot!

As the pilot, Jiang Chen was finally exposed to the outside world.

Yano saw this scene and a slight smile crept over his face.

“The real battle is finally about to begin.”

“…No, it’s already over.”

[Talent Trigger: Undying Barehand.]

[Mecha Absorbed: Supercharged Steam·Yun·Model One.]

[Attributes:]

[Strength 12,600→24,600]

[Agility 9,900→22,300]

[Defense 12,900→22,100]

[Enigmatism 6,300→6,700]

[Special: Threefold Life Force cap, recover 119.17 Life Force per second (doubled under sunlight), 32.79 Stamina.]

[0th Rank Ability: Roots Core, the rest omitted.]

[1st Rank Ability: Blood Demon Transformation*57, Bio-organic Force Field*3, Thorns Overgrowth*57, Crystal of Divine Punishment*3, Flame Control*15, High-Energy Perception*3.]

[2nd Rank Ability: Touch of Extreme Cold*36, Energy Overload*7, Limitation Unlock.]

The Yun with a full set of Supercharge Modules had force agility attributes that already surpassed three thousand.

Among 2nd Rank mechas, it belonged to the top echelon.

After a fourfold absorption, the attribute growth it provided surpassed twelve thousand!

Then, there were seven times Energy Overload, offering an additional 14,000 in force agility attributes.

After Limitation Unlock, lowering defense and increasing self-harm effects could double the Energy Overload effect.

It became 28,000 in force agility attributes.

Added together with the base attributes.

Strength 52,600, agility 50,300.

Stage 3: Full power.

At this moment, Jiang Chen’s muscles swelled like inflating balloons, and his bones also received temporary strengthening from the infusion of Life Force Energy.

In just a brief instant, his stature almost doubled, reaching over three meters in height, his neck becoming as thick as his head, and his arms and legs, like water barrels, bulging with rock-like muscles.

He almost had the feeling of that muscle Mutant back during the initial basic trials.

But he was more symmetrical than that Mutant, more aesthetically pleasing, causing a soul-stirring effect on the onlooker.

Not a failed mutation, but an overload enhancement that lifted the limitations of the human body!

With his left hand gripping the silver-white mecha’s head, Jiang Chen lifted his right hand and, with a cheerful smile, drove a punch down.

Bang!!!

The sea surface seemed to have been struck by a bomb, suddenly splashing up countless sprays of water and forming a massive wave rolling toward the coast.

The silver-white mecha shattered into countless droplets of liquid metal.

Yano fell from it, looking at the muscular human form in front of him and momentarily lost his voice.

This guy…

Are you sure he’s not an abyss monster?