Chapter 1814 - 466: Wings and Thorns

Chapter 1814: Chapter 466: Wings and Thorns

With the departure of Blue Star and Mo Tong, the lights in New Star Valley dimmed momentarily.

The passing of these two leaders, who once spearheaded the rise of the Downspirit Clan in the land of New Hope, plunged the tribe into grief.

But the wheels of civilization will not halt for the demise of any individual.

The heavy responsibility of leading the tribe fell on the shoulders of the third generation, personally nurtured by Blue Star and Mo Tong.

The core of the leadership is a pair of partners.

In charge of war affairs is Lie Zhua, Blue Star’s most outstanding student, a radical in the new generation of the Downspirit Clan who has shown extraordinary talent in both military and architectural domains.

Next is Huixin, responsible for the new technology research department, Mo Tong’s most proud disciple, a new generation scholar who surpassed in the field of energy theory and application.

One focuses externally, the other internally, continuing the collaborative model of the previous generation.

They both realized that the prosperity and peace of New Star Valley, amidst the myriad races in the dark forest, would inevitably attract the gaze of unknown predators like a bonfire in the night.

Crisis has never been far away, and enhancing war power is always the top priority for race survival and development.

The historical lessons of Star Valley always caution this generation.

Under the powerful drive of Lie Zhua, a "Sword" project led by Huixin, gathering Weapon Masters and Energy Scholars, officially launched.

Their goal was clear: to create more efficient personal weapons and long-range strike systems.

Based on the initial version’s energy transmitter’s poor stability and the significant defect of requiring dual operation, Huixin’s team started from the most fundamental energy confinement structure.

They moved beyond merely extracting Rage Energy from the Fire Brilliance Crystal, attempting to combine more energy traits to create precise energy circuits to constrain energy release.

This process took several years, they consulted numerous records left by the Dream Weaving Civilization and failed countless times.

Ultimately, using a new mineral "Soft Silver" with excellent energy buffering traits as the core medium, they successfully designed a palm-sized stable Energy Core.

This core can safely store a large amount of energy, then instantly release it through the "Activation Rune" engraved on the Energy-guiding Crystal Stone.

Soon after the technology’s birth, the first truly meaningful single-soldier energy weapon was born: the Crystal Energy Gun.

It has a metal stock and metal barrel, warriors can carry it independently, the energy beam fired has considerable recoil, but its stability and range accuracy far exceed that of the first-generation products.

More importantly, it achieved the "magazine" approach for energy, the pre-charged energy core can be quickly replaced for continuous fire output.

Next is the upgrade of the long-range strike system.

The success of personal weapons brought strong confidence; Lie Zhua then set his sights farther afield.

How to attack enemies beyond sight?

How to destroy solid defenses and conduct large-scale strikes?

According to records from the Dream Weaving Civilization, they envisioned a weapon capable of flight, carrying immense energy, and detonating at a specified location.

This concept was very bold.

Huixin’s team once again faced the challenges head-on.

They faced three core difficulties: propulsion, navigation, detonation.

In terms of propulsion, they borrowed the principle of energy rail suspension, applying it in reverse and reinforcing it.

On the designed projectile’s tail, they etched a "propulsion rune array" capable of generating directional intense energy jets.

By adjusting the input energy’s intensity, strong thrust can be generated.

Navigation was the most difficult part.

They could not achieve precise guidance, but Mo Tong proposed a simple method: parabolic trajectory.

Through calculations and numerous test firings, she mapped out the flight trajectory of the projectile under the same thrust at different weights.

In the future, as long as the target distance is determined, the required thrust and flight time can be calculated.

For detonation, they installed a small "stable energy core" in the head of the projectile, modifying the activation circuit to a sensitive impact sensing rune.

It can instantly detonate upon impacting hard objects.

When the primitively named "Siege Hammer" missile, dragging an unstable energy flame, staggered towards the scheduled target field several kilometers away, and a small mushroom cloud rose amidst a loud explosion, the entire test field fell into dead silence, then erupted in deafening frenzied cheers.

The birth of this rough and limited-range "Siege Hammer" meant that New Star Valley’s power projection range now surpassed visible distance, and the form of war would be completely rewritten.

Tu Hu stood on a distant hill, silently watching the dust rising in the distance, taking a hearty swig from his bottle.

Then he looked at the trace left in the sky after the "missile" pierced the horizon, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The flame of civilization, in the hands of the new generation, burned more fiercely.

...

On this day, in the newly completed command hall, voices of intense arguing were almost enough to overturn the roof.

"External armament is the future." Lie Zhua slammed a fist onto the metal table covered in design drawings, his voice resolute:

"According to records from the Dream Weaving Civilization, a powerful exoskeleton armor can give our most ordinary warrior the strength comparable to giant beasts, traverse any terrain, bear heavier firepower; this is the most direct and fastest way to enhance combat power... Huixin, your biological modification has too high a risk, too long a cycle, we cannot afford to wait."

Upon hearing this, Huixin showed no signs of backing down, pointing at the anatomical map of the body on the table, her tone steadfast:

"To completely pin hope on external creations is inherently fragile; the body is the source of strength. By exploring the essence of life, optimizing our genes, guiding energy to directly enhance cells, bones, nerve reactions... this is the correct path to a higher level of life. It is truly the Downspirit Clan’s own power... Lie Zhua, no matter how strong your exoskeleton, there will come a day when it is destroyed or runs out of energy."