This heavily modified Unit-01-shaped BETA was itself a miniature industrial mother machine—a G-element manufacturing machine Kain had created by combining the functions of various BETA types into one body.
Of course, when it came to producing G-elements, it definitely could not compare with a BETA Hive. A Hive used vast numbers of cheap BETA to conduct large-scale mining, refining, and production. Its output was naturally far greater than his.
He would also find a way to replicate this machine, analyze its technology, convert its biological technology into mechanical technology, reduce its cost, and replace more of its functions with machinery.
And if he could accumulate G-elements to a certain degree—if he had a surplus—then things would become interesting.
The next time he entered his superhuman state and connected to a brain-class, he would need to prepare a few things and see whether he could download the brain-class's data.
He had not expected to download much data during this connection.
To put it simply, the data format stored inside the brain-class was different from the data format of his own brain. It needed to be converted. And that state of his was not truly the all-powerful superhuman state seen in movies, so converting the data format was difficult.
As a result, he could only rely on looking, memorizing, and forcibly committing the contents to memory. That would not amount to much.
So he planned to take some BETA material back with him and see whether the Archmagos Biologis could create a corresponding biological hard drive based on that material.
Wait. What about an STC-style universal hard drive from humanity's Golden Age of Technology?
A hard drive like that could be connected to the database of any species, read and store its contents, then convert and translate them into material humans could understand.
Maybe it would work!
He had obtained two such hard drives on that Mechanicus planet. One had been left with the Astartes, while the other had been taken to A2's side.
As for the hard drive he had used to download data on Lacus's side, that had been a hard drive made with A2's side's technology. The extracted information had been loaded into it and brought over by him.
Returning to the BETA problem, downloading data—especially the data for the "factory"—would be ideal if he could get it.
That way, he could also manufacture "factories." Would that not be like rushing straight into interstellar development while playing StarCraft?
However, simply mass-producing troops like that, with pure quantity and no quality, would be far too weak in Warhammer.
Because these BETA were miners. They had no weapon modules.
So ideally, he would also need to obtain the BETA's weapon modules.
As for those weapon modules, who knew whether the superior-brain-class inside Earth's Level 6 Original Hive had them?
If it did not, then that would be another matter.
Otherwise, the brain-class in the Level 9 Mars Hive should probably have them, right?
Hm?
His brow lifted. The machine's system issued a warning. He had been locked onto.
That system was the original Knight mech system.
After all, this machine had been rebuilt using a Knight mech as its framework and skeleton, with BETA serving as its flesh.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—!
Explosions erupted behind him. The other side had launched a missile attack.
But before the missiles could hit, they were blocked by the electrical barrier emitted from the cooling exhaust ports on the back of his machine.
Those feather-like wings were actually heat sinks. They dissipated the heat generated by firing lasers, and he also used that heat to enable the machine to float.
So the more frequently he used the lasers, the more heat they generated. By controlling the amount released through the exhaust devices, he could produce different levels of thrust and allow the machine to fly.
However, it was not fast. It could not compare to a Tactical Surface Fighter. Its maximum thrust was probably not even a quarter of a TSF's.
After all, the system was primarily for heat dissipation, not a jet engine.
As for why there was no jet engine setting or dedicated flight system, that was because he had not found a flight module and had therefore designed this system himself.
And when metallic powder was added and sprayed out through the heat vents, it would discharge against the heat sinks, producing a metallic mist filled with dense, crackling electric arcs. That formed an electrical barrier, creating a protective cloud behind the machine.
At the same time, it had a certain degree of signal-interference effect.
This function was based on a combination of the chaff and flares released by aircraft after being locked onto by missiles, and the heat-dissipation configuration he had seen in Heavy Laser-class BETA.
Thus, the missile attack secretly launched at his back was detonated by the electrical mist barrier.
And while his speed could not catch up with that Tactical Surface Fighter, once his lasers locked onto the opponent, they could not dodge.
It was this group again, was it?
When he had been manufacturing the Unit-01 BETA, these people had interfered and nearly ruined everything.
As for why the Absolute Territory had suddenly been released, allowing these people to come down, it was naturally because the D99's effect had ended.
As for the construction of Unit-01, it had essentially been completed. Only assembly remained.
Assembly was much simpler. It did not require the superhuman state. Even in his normal state, he could use neural sensing to remotely command the BETA "factory" and make it combine the parts.
And the reason the brain-class had not interfered or counterattacked after he left his superhuman state was, of course, because he had already destroyed the other party's thought program.
It was equivalent to deleting the AI inside a computer. He no longer needed the AI to help with intelligent operations. The software functions inside were still present and operating normally. They simply had to be controlled manually.
In particular, the software operation for assembling the machine was much easier to learn.
Lock. ×2
The beams shot out, and the two targets turned into two balls of fire.
"Sister, I'm scared. I'm scared~"
"Inia!"
Inside the SU-37 cockpit, Cryska immediately left her own pilot seat and moved forward, wrapping her arms around her terrified younger sister, who was clutching her own head with both hands.
Clearly, two more units on their side had been destroyed, further stimulating Inia and deepening her confusion and fear.
And it was precisely because Inia was in this state that their side had not followed the higher-ups' order to launch a surprise attack on that Tactical Surface Fighter-class BETA.
Otherwise, their current fate would have been exactly the same as those two units.
But after this happened again and again, only their unit remained. Surely it would not be spared either.
Suddenly, the cockpit began ejecting. Apparently, Inia had accidentally triggered it while seemingly trapped in a chaotic state. Cryska desperately wanted to shut it off, but Inia's condition was far too bad. She was clinging tightly to Cryska, trembling all over.
Forget it. They were going to die anyway. It no longer mattered.
Before they died, she would hold Inia tightly and die together with her.
"Is... is that a child?"
The members of Bao-Feng Squad saw the two figures exposed inside the cockpit and could not help freezing in shock. One of them was far too small. She was clearly a little girl.
"They actually sent a child that young onto the battlefield? What were they thinking?"
Cui Yifei's anger surged upward.
True, because humanity's population had drastically declined, the recruitment age had been lowered again and again in order to increase their forces. But was even that little girl considered a conscription target?
Look at her current state. She seemed to have been frightened to the point of breaking down and was being held tightly by the other person, who was comforting her. They looked like sisters.
Biting her lip, Cui Yifei prepared herself, because that Tactical Surface Fighter-class BETA was likely about to attack them. Bao-Feng Squad definitely could not stand by and do nothing.
Moreover, Bao-Feng Squad would probably be listed as an attack target as well.
However, the other side did not attack the unit with its cockpit exposed. Instead, it made a motion as if raising its head to look at the sky.
The sky?
They looked up as well. Something was breaking through the atmosphere.
The next second, a massive beam of light shot into the sky, only for the result to be—
"It was twisted and scattered?"
Just as she said, the Tactical Surface Fighter-class BETA's beam had failed to destroy that point of light.
"That is a G-bomb. If you do not want to die, come to my side immediately."
Huh? Who was speaking?
No, this was not coming through the comm channel. It was sound picked up by the Tactical Surface Fighters' external acoustic sensors.
It sounded as if someone were speaking through a giant loudspeaker.
The source of the voice was—that Tactical Surface Fighter-class BETA?
And that voice sounded very familiar. Was it not the same guy who had previously said he was going to self-destruct?
He was still alive!
As for what he had said—
A G-bomb?
Every face went pale.
(End of Chapter)
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