The exoskeleton made of ultra-light metal material fits on Shi Ji's left leg.
Two days ago, Zhan Chen started to build this equipment and had already measured all his physical data in detail.
The exoskeleton extends from the knee joint to the ankle, and fits seamlessly. Hydraulic transmission replaces damaged ligaments, and the sensors in the pure black high-strength protective gear are lit with red lights, indicating that they are ready.
Zhan Chen adjusted the equipment, held Yu Tang's legs, and asked him to move gently with the help of the exoskeleton: "Do you feel anything strange?"
…
In his sea of consciousness, Yu Tang urgently discussed with the system: "Is nervousness considered an abnormal feeling?"
The system was also a little nervous, flashing a small red light, and carefully analyzing it with the host: "Shi Ji was born in the special forces. They often help each other put on equipment and are used to this level of physical contact. This should also be a trap..."
Yu Tang collected his thoughts and shook his head calmly in front of the trap.
He originally planned to study wearable devices himself, but Zhan Chen has been working in the laboratory for many years, so he is undoubtedly more skilled in assembly operations and more precise in debugging.
Before this crucial battle, in order to prevent accidents, any and all possible hidden dangers should be avoided.
…and the exoskeleton is indeed a little cool.
Yu Tang lowered his head and watched Zhan Chen check every detail with the same rigorous attitude as assembling a mecha, and then fastened the last buckle for him.
Yu Tang asked the system: "Is it really impossible to communicate with other employees?"
"This is the bureau's rule... No communication outside of role."
The system said: "If it is really a secret visit by the supervisory department, and they themselves are ooc, not only will their experience points be deducted, but they will also be temporarily suspended from their duties to distribute flyers."
Yu Tang was mentally prepared: "I understand."
He still couldn't remember who Zhan Shilin was. Since he couldn't even remember this matter, he had no way of knowing whether the "Zhan Shilin" that Zhan Chen and Zhuang Yu mentioned was the same person.
But it is undeniable that ever since he met Zhan Chen, fragments of memory have been flowing back into his sea of consciousness intermittently.
They are all completely shattered fragments scattered in the electronic storm.
Yu Tang also collected quite a few of them himself, and piled them in the eye of the storm, but no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't put them together again.
The system is also aware of this matter. It knows the host's ability to do things, and quietly puts forward a reasonable guess: "Maybe it's not the fragments that are the problem..."
Yu Tang: “…”
The system changed its words categorically: "It must be that the fragments are too broken."
Yu Tang also felt the same way. He put down the jigsaw puzzle training in his hand, lowered his head, and watched Zhan Chen's steady and smooth movements.
…
What was pieced together this time was another memory.
He blended into the bright sunlight and quietly entered the room along the hollow pattern on the curtains.
That person is not here.
There were a few soft pillows on the sofa. He couldn't help but bury himself in the pillows and play with them for a while, then went to the kitchen to find some cookies as if he knew his way there.
The man was not very good at hiding cookies. He always hid them on the second floor of the closet and never remembered to close the closet door.
Today’s cookies are chocolate hazelnut, sprinkled with crushed hazelnuts, and have a slightly sweet cream filling.
He liked the taste, so he bought a few more pieces and wanted to go back to the study to get some milk, when he saw a book spread out on the table.
He remembered the last time he came, he saw that person sitting at the table, flipping through a book under the lamp.
He thought it was cool and wanted to learn it, so he jumped on the bookshelf a few times following the sunlight, landed on the desk, and stirred up a gust of wind.
… “Books” are much more fragile than he thought.
He looked at the pages of the book that were torn by a small breeze. He was a little flustered for the first time. The book was also uncooperative. The harder he tried to repair it, the longer the tear became.
He was so anxious that he was circling around the book, but before he could think of a solution, the door was gently pushed open.
The figure who came in was a little surprised when he saw the mess on the desk, but soon turned into a helpless smile: "Okay... It doesn't matter, don't fix it anymore, I won't be able to fix it if you fix it again."
He never interacted with anyone, threw away the book that was about to fall apart, and quickly hid in the light and shadow.
He leaned out a little from the top of the bookshelf and looked down quietly.
The man sat at the table, took out the tools from the drawer, pieced together the torn pages, straightened out the spine that was about to fall apart, carefully cut off the wrinkled parts, ironed the wax, and made a new cover with beautiful hard paper.
In that person's hands, a book no longer looked like it had been torn apart, and it was even more beautifully finished than before.
The weather was getting a little hot. The man sat in the sun, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and turned on the small fan: "Do you like reading?"
He was faster than the wind and hid behind the bookshelf in a flash.
A smile filled that person's eyes, and he slowly and methodically placed the bubble gums he had just bought on the table one by one.
“… The mission has reached a critical stage, so I’m a bit busy.”
The man didn't look for him and continued to talk: "When we get back to the department, I'll make you a robot that can turn pages by itself..."
He didn't listen carefully to the rest of the words.
His attention was completely drawn to those colorful bubble gums. He quietly moved to the edge of the table and moved the candies to the edge of the table little by little.
The man lowered his head to read a book, as if he didn't notice him at all.
He seized the opportunity, created a gust of wind and blew away all the bubble gum. Following the airflow from the fan, he took advantage of the man's shoulder and quickly merged into the bright and clear sunlight.
…
Yu Tang's sea of consciousness fluctuated, and those images turned back into small fragments.
The system asked in a low voice: "Host, host, have you thought of anything new?"
Yu Tang nodded, took a piece of bubble gum and peeled off the candy wrapper.
It wasn't just the memories in this fragment, he also remembered something else.
For example... humans cannot do everything they promise.
The man agreed and made him a robot that could turn pages of books when he returned to the department.
But it was not until he came to this book to carry out the mission that he finally saw in Zhan Chen's dormitory what a real book-turning robot should look like.
Before this, he always thought it would be a huge mecha.
Using a mechanical finger with a diameter of ten centimeters that could spit fire and emit lasers, he pinched the book and successfully turned a page in an hour.
He had seen these robots before. They looked similar, with the shortest one being two stories tall.
He didn't remember what he was doing, he just remembered that he walked around those big iron lumps, banging on them repeatedly for several months, waiting for a familiar response to come out of them.
He would come once a day and knock for a full eight hours each time, then go out to find himself something to eat.
The cookies outside were not tasty. When he went back to that room, there were no more cookies on the second layer of the closet, and no one would arrange the pillows and pile them on the sofa into a small fortress that could be crawled into.
He patiently knocked on the robots until the cold and hard outer shells of the robots rusted and peeled off in the unprotected wind and rain. Finally, one day, they collapsed with a loud bang, leaving only broken and scattered parts on the ground.
Those hard iron shells are indeed a little cold.
…
Zhan Chen finished debugging, stood up, and stepped back: "Give it a try."
Yu Tang understood what he meant. He did not pick up the crutches placed beside him and tried to stand up slowly.
When the hydraulic system is first activated, a slight mechanical sound is emitted.
At first, there were some indescribable slight weirdness, but after getting used to it, the steady support force of the machine silently supplemented it through the joints, replacing the function that the ligaments had lost for more than half a year.
Shi Ji's data began to fluctuate.
The fighting instinct that remained in his body was far sharper than that of an ordinary person.
With the support of this exoskeleton, he could even clearly feel that the stability and explosive power lost in his leg had been temporarily compensated, and it was even close to its peak state before the injury.
"This is the limit of what the machine can make up for." Zhan Chen said, "When your legs are healed, I will make you a new exoskeleton."
Shi Ji raised his head.
Zhan Chen did not plan to go on stage. He had his own observation position and would go back after installing and debugging the exoskeleton.
This place is very close to the audience seats, and the general content of many discussions, sarcasm, and innuendos can be heard clearly.
The ridicule was not just directed at Shi Ji alone. The soul of the mecha was the operator. The battle was ever-changing and there would be countless accidents at any time. With the current AI level, it was not even as good as the adaptability and judgment of a first-year student.
It is incredible to say that an autonomous mecha can pass this assessment battle as long as it is equipped with a wingman.
Zhan Chen could hear the sarcasm, but his eyes behind the lenses remained calm.
Shi Ji leaned slightly towards Zhan Chen.
He no longer relied on crutches, but stood firmly with the support of the exoskeleton. In his usually warm eyes, sparks of fire that were strong enough to burn the field silently ignited.
Shi Ji put on his protective gear and jumped onto the wingman.
His movements were light and silent. Almost at the same time as he entered the cabin, the shield was buckled. After all the procedural checks were completed, a prompt tone indicating that the mecha was successfully paired sounded on the wingman's operating panel.
This was impossible in the past.
Shi Ji's program does not allow him to pair up with any mecha other than Sheng Yi. Even if he just tries, he will face a cold threat of strangulation level.
But this time, not even the slightest resistance was exerted on him.
Shi Ji opened the control panel and looked at the thrust limit mode which was always set to the lowest level.
He closed his eyes to the sound of his heartbeat.
"Just do it."
Yu Tang had returned to his sea of consciousness. He bit the straw of his iced Coke, his eyes still fixed on the computer screen.
Yu Tang was typing away on the keyboard, distracted by the cheering words written by the system: "Dolphin, charge, charge, the bad guys are stunned, Xiao Shiji takes first place, and the opponent loses his temper..."
Yu Tang couldn't bear it any longer and briefly raised his head from the data in his head: "Can I change the copywriter?"
The system was very satisfied with this creation. It hung a big red banner in the sea of consciousness and shook the maracas lively.
Shi Ji couldn't help but raised the corner of his mouth slightly.
Without wasting any more time, he chose to cancel the restriction mode, put on his goggles, and pushed down the joystick.
The computer in front of Yu Tang was connected to four entire light screens. He collected his thoughts and spread out an airtight net, tightly blocking all the instructions issued by the anti-OOC program.
The silver-gray mecha lit up with dazzling red taillights.
The silver blade with a cold glow opened and cut through the tense and almost stagnant air. The Dolphin followed Shi Ji's wingman and entered the designated combat area.