391: Chapter 388 Is this noble?

Lu Jianchuan raised his left hand, the silver-white biomass armor spreading from the wristband, covering his entire body in an instant—the streamlined silver skeleton glinted coldly under the light.

Wei Ziqing raised his hand and pressed it against his waist. A beam of light lit up at the center of his platinum belt, and plain white armor surged out from the belt. Black streamlined stripes extended at the joints, and the gold trim flashed slightly. The Venomous Scabbard behind his waist slowly took shape.

Shen Mingyuan pressed the armband, and the matte black armor silently covered him. The red eyepieces lit up with a faint glow, and his entire being almost blended into the shadows of the basement.

Finally, it was Ye Ouyang.

He took a deep breath and pressed his finger against the center of the black-and-white interwoven belt—that circular golden gemstone.

Warm golden fluid surged from the core of the belt.

It wasn't like mechanical assembly, but like living liquid metal, spreading and wrapping upward along his waist and abdomen. Gold flowed across his chest, over his shoulders, and down both arms, solidifying into a flowing warm golden base on his body. White and ice-blue energy patterns emerged and intertwined on the golden surface, like a vascular network of precision circuits, pulsing slightly with his heartbeat.

The change in his hands was the most obvious—the armor on his forearms and hands extended into long, sharp golden claws; the blades were as thin as a cicada's wing, their edges glinting with a forest-cold light.

Finally, there was the face. A completely integrated streamlined eyepiece came down from his forehead, fluorescent pink, standing out exceptionally among the room full of metallic-colored armor.

The transformation was complete.

Gold Weaver. A warm golden texture, an armor woven from flesh and blood.

Ye Ouyang looked down at his hands, the pair of golden claws shining slightly under the light. He clenched his fists and looked up at Li Jianguo opposite him.

The four of them stood side by side.

The silver-white of the silver skeleton, the plain white of the Hero Shadow, the matte black of the shadow, and the warm gold of the Gold Weaver—the four colors of armor each emitted their own light in the dim basement.

Shen Mingyuan spoke, his voice coming from behind the shadow's mask, carrying a hint of electronic synthesis.

"Hmph, still the same 'necessary evil' as always," he said. "You're as pathetic as your Zhao Qifeng, who has already been caught."

Li Jianguo's gaze swept over the four of them, finally stopping on Shen Mingyuan's face. Behind the dark red eyepieces, his expression was unreadable, but his voice turned cold.

"What? Pathetic?"

He took a step forward, the armor making a slight metallic friction sound.

"You still don't understand, after all. When technology isn't advanced enough, some things can only be done this way." His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight. "I only sacrificed a portion of people to create that set of armor on him."

He raised his hand and pointed at Lin Yuan.

"And from now on, he can continuously help others and save even more people. As long as this chain continues, the number of people he eventually saves will sooner or later exceed the number of people sacrificed to manufacture this armor."

He lowered his hand and looked at Shen Mingyuan.

"From a long-term perspective, this is the choice that's truly good for this country. This is true justice."

"Enough!"

Lin Yuan's voice exploded from that set of red armor, carrying uncontrollable trembling and fury.

"Then what about the personnel who were sacrificed here before? Are they just data?!"

Li Jianguo looked at him, his expression unreadable behind the dark red eyepieces.

Then he raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.

Snap.

Lin Yuan's body suddenly stiffened.

"What—" He looked down at his hands, which were rising uncontrollably, fingers spreading and then clenching, clenching and then spreading. "What's going on?!"

Li Jianguo's voice was calm, as if stating a fact he had known for a long time.

"The armor you're wearing was made by me. Unless the opponent possesses strength that completely crushes you, it's impossible for you to break free from my control." He paused. "This is what my father taught me."

Father. His way of addressing Zhao Qifeng was 'father'.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yuan's body suddenly turned and threw a punch toward Shen Mingyuan beside him!

Shen Mingyuan reacted extremely quickly, leaning his body back, but the punch came too suddenly and still grazed his breastplate—leaving three shallow scratches on the matte black armor.

Lu Jianchuan was even faster.

The silver-white figure had already rushed in front of Lin Yuan the moment Shen Mingyuan was attacked, crossing his arms to forcefully block the second punch. With a flick of his wrist, he grabbed Lin Yuan's arm, exerted force with his waist, and threw Lin Yuan out with an over-the-shoulder throw!

Boom!

Lin Yuan smashed into the basement wall, the concrete surface cracking in several places. He propped himself up on the ground, trying to climb up, but his body was still twitching uncontrollably—it was the armor and his will in conflict.

"Damn it—" His voice squeezed out from between his teeth.

Li Jianguo didn't look at him. He stood there, looking at the four people who had already transformed, his voice still steady, like giving a lecture in a classroom.

"Don't you know about war?"

He took a step forward, his dark silver armor glinting coldly under the light.

"If our country falls behind other countries, then other countries will launch wars against us," he said. "To those high up in the hierarchy, war is nothing more than data. How many casualties, how much property loss—it's all just numbers on a report."

Shen Mingyuan stared at him, saying nothing.

"And everything my father and I have done is simply to prevent war," Li Jianguo continued. "To make those numbers smaller. This is the best way, and also an unavoidable way."

He paused.

"Otherwise, once war breaks out, those numbers will be much higher than the data from my human experiments. How many families will be broken then? Have you calculated it?"

Lu Jianchuan's fists clenched, but he didn't move.

Li Jianguo looked at them, the gaze behind the dark red eyepieces seemingly carrying a hint of mockery.

"As for those at the top? They don't care. As long as they aren't personally participating in the war, to them, it's just casualty data."

He raised his hand, fingers spread, toward the empty basement, as if grasping for something invisible.

"True peace does not exist. So-called peace is merely the result of mutual deterrence—if you attack me, you must pay a price you cannot afford, so you don't attack me. All peace is built upon deterrence."

He lowered his hand, his voice deepening.

"Humans themselves cannot achieve peace. Even something as simple as different skin colors can cause so much trouble. Therefore, for humanity, only deterrence is the best form of peace."

He looked at the four people in front of him.

"And once our country falls behind, this deterrence will disappear. When peace shatters then, you know exactly how many people will die."

He paused.

"My father and I did this because we love this country. We don't want it to be destroyed."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.

"This is our love for this country."