42: Chapter 42 Heavenly Soldiers and Iron Pillars, Carbon-9 Enhancement

Longke Academy Testing Ground!

Jiang Chen was training a burgeoning formation of Intelligent Mechas.

This formation!

It consisted of ten Descendants of the Dragon, each worth over a hundred million.

And the one leading the formation was the very one that had previously defeated the Soul of God.

After repairs and the replacement of damaged parts, it looked brand new.

Moreover!

With the empirical data from defeating the Soul of God, it appeared much more seasoned.

Of course!

More importantly...

It had been given a more domineering name.

Descendant of the Dragon · Celestial Soldier Tie Zhu!

"Tie Zhu!"

"Formation A!"

Jiang Chen shouted.

Tie Zhu immediately took the lead and ran into the testing ground; the other mechas promptly adjusted their positions in real-time based on system commands and spatial positioning, forming a dynamic A-shaped battle formation throughout the process.

At first, there was a discrepancy of about a decimeter.

They trained repeatedly like this.

A few days later!

They were able to maintain formation alignment, response coordination, and other aspects at a near-perfect state of 99.99%.

"As expected of the Descendant of the Dragon; these training results are truly excellent!"

Jiang Chen sat below the testing ground, watching the Descendants of the Dragon move back and forth through binoculars while checking the data displayed on his computer.

An alarm would sound if any mecha made an error greater than one centimeter!

But now...

Such errors no longer occurred!

"Everything is ready; all that's missing is the Carbon-9."

Just as this thought occurred to Jiang Chen...

Xia Zhongxun and Academician Wang Jiamin approached Jiang Chen with beaming smiles, leading a group of people!

"Jiang Chen! I have good news for you."

"Carbon-9 has been synthesized!"

With that said!

They turned around and had several researchers bring forward a container of liquefied Carbon-9 molecular material.

This was the first batch of experimental material—not much, but enough to try on one mecha first.

Seeing the liquid material, Jiang Chen's face lit up with excitement; speak of Carbon-9, and Carbon-9 appears.

He immediately waved and called Tie Zhu over.

"Tie Zhu?"

Both Xia Zhongxun and Academician Wang Jiamin were stunned.

Isn't this the Descendant of the Dragon? Why give it such a rustic name?

"Aren't we working on the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals project? I figured that as we get more mechas in the future, we'll need names that are easier to distinguish!"

It would be too boring if they were all just called Descendant of the Dragon 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Jiang Chen planned to give them better-sounding names.

After all!

These were the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals of the future!

"Descendant of the Dragon · Celestial Soldier Tie Zhu. Hahaha, that's not a bad name either. Have it your way!"

Xia Zhongxun laughed heartily!

Young people really do have a lot of creative ideas; even the name for the Intelligent Mecha, Descendant of the Dragon, was given by Jiang Chen.

At the time, that name had impressed everyone.

"Come! Let's apply this batch of experimental material to Tie Zhu first."

Jiang Chen had professional researchers apply the Carbon-9 molecular material onto Tie Zhu.

Coating, application, reinforcement, softening, special chemical treatment, thin-film... after a total of nineteen processes, Tie Zhu finally had a new skin!

The original Carbon-6 was bronze-colored.

The current Carbon-9 was gold!

Coated in it, it looked like a God of War clad in golden armor, ready for battle.

"Not bad, not bad at all. Truly majestic!"

"Someone, prepare for an impact test!"

Excited, Jiang Chen quickly had Tie Zhu return to the testing ground.

This impact test involved shutting down Tie Zhu's offensive systems and having the other nine Descendants of the Dragon launch their most powerful attacks against it!

"I'm really looking forward to seeing its defensive power!"

Both Xia Zhongxun and Academician Wang Jiamin looked expectant.

Last time, to defeat the Soul of God's Carbon-7, Tie Zhu had spent a full fifteen minutes using various combat models and even a battle of wits; it was a hard-won victory.

The problem lay in the mecha's material; the opponent's material was one level higher.

But now!

Not only was the problem solved, but it had also been upgraded by a level.

Therefore, the current Celestial Soldier Tie Zhu would most likely be able to insta-kill the Soul of God!

"Forward!"

"Attack!"

"Fearless!"

On the testing ground, the engines of the nine Descendants of the Dragon roared as they charged toward Tie Zhu with various combat models and force.

Bang, bang, bang!

Boom.

Every impact was converted into experimental data and appeared on the computer screen.

Hundreds of data points were displayed, recorded, and analyzed on the computer every second.

In just ten seconds...

The computer indicated that three mechas had suffered recoil damage, and their combat effectiveness had dropped!

After thirty seconds...

Five mechas began losing parts.

Jiang Chen hurriedly stopped the impact test: "Stop, stop, stop! That's enough."

If they continued, Jiang Chen worried these mechas would be completely ruined.

The tens of thousands of experimental data points collected in just those thirty seconds were enough to prove Tie Zhu's abnormal defensive capabilities.

"So this is Carbon-9; it's an absolute crushing defeat for Carbon-6!"

Academician Wang Jiamin was incredibly excited.

Although he had long known that Carbon-9 represented the ceiling of human molecular materials, he still couldn't help but exclaim how amazing it was after seeing mechas with such high attack levels unable to do anything to a non-attacking Tie Zhu!

"If Tie Zhu were to strike back, I'm afraid the other mechas would lose their combat effectiveness instantly!"

Xia Zhongxun also lamented that the Carbon-9 material was simply too strong.

To Tie Zhu, the attacks from the other mechas were like those of ragdolls.

But on the flip side!

If Tie Zhu were to attack, the other mechas wouldn't be able to withstand it at all.

This!

This wasn't even a fight on the same level!

It was a one-sided slaughter!

"Old Xia! Announce the Carbon-9!"

"We've put up with those bastards for too long!"

"And!"

"Once Carbon-9 is out, I hope we directly blacklist all smart tech companies from the United States. Don't give them any leeway!"

Academician Wang Jiamin finally felt vindicated.

Lately, because the Carbon-9 Molecule had been delayed, the entire Longke Academy had been under immense pressure from public opinion.

Some people were even maliciously stirring up trouble, demanding Old Xia's resignation.

"Don't worry, Kyoto has long been prepared to announce the blacklisting of all smart tech companies from the United States."

Xia Zhongxun was much calmer.

His application to the state for the blacklist wasn't entirely out of a personal grudge; it was because Carbon-9 not only played a huge role in mechas but was also an absolutely scarce high-end material for aircraft carriers, Starlink, future Aerospace Carriers, Xuan Nu Fighter Jets, and more!

Forget the United States; even other countries trying to curry favor with Dragon Country might not be supplied for the next three years!

"Go and announce it!"

Under Xia Zhongxun's orders...

...the official account of Longke Academy posted an understated Weibo: [Carbon-9, the true goal of our country's chemical material research, has now had its first batch synthesized!]

Attached below was a short experimental video of Tie Zhu standing still while being attacked by multiple mechas.

Although it was only thirteen seconds long and key information was censored,

the situation was extremely intense; one could vaguely see a mecha suffering no damage to its materials despite heavy attacks from other mechas.

This scene instantly captured the attention of netizens worldwide.