Game: Civilization Paradise

At that, Qian Luobing produced a metal access card and a key strip, handing them to Jiang Huai.

"It's all on you now. Extract all the data."

"No problem."

Jiang Huai walked over to the control console and started to work.

An access authorization prompt immediately popped up.

"Identity verification required. Please enter passkey."

Jiang Huai inserted the metal access card into the console's reader, then keyed in a long, complex passkey.

"Verification successful. Lock disengaged."

A green prompt box appeared.

"Nice! The card and passkey those guys gave us are real. This makes things much easier!"

Jiang Huai picked up a data drive, plugged it into a port, and began downloading the files from the central control console.

Qian Luobing watched the data windows popping up on the screen and coolly asked Jiang Huai,

"How long will it take?"

"I need an hour and a half. The amount of data stored here is massive. We don't have enough time for me to pick out the important files, so I'll have to copy everything," Jiang Huai replied excitedly.

"Alright."

Qian Luobing said nothing more.

...

Meanwhile, Long Ming successfully entered Residential Area A. He avoided a few wandering Blood Breath Beasts and cautiously made his way to the very back.

Before him was a dead end, with a metal wall blocking his path. To the right of the corridor was a room—the one Rein had lived in.

The entrance to the secret vault was somewhere in the metal wall before him.

Following the hints on his map, Long Ming ran his hand over the smooth metal wall. He soon felt a hidden panel and pressed it firmly.

CLICK!

A panel slid out from the wall, revealing a key lock.

This lock required a physical key and a corresponding numeric passkey.

Long Ming immediately inserted the key and entered the code.

BEEP BEEP~

Passkey correct.

CLICK!

With a crisp sound, the entire metal wall slowly split open.

Looking at the now-open vault, Long Ming felt a surge of excitement. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The moment he entered, he froze.

Row after row of sophisticated research equipment filled his vision.

Long Ming glanced at the machinery as he walked deeper inside, soon spotting a series of bio-vats filled with red, bubbling liquid.

A puzzled look appeared on his face. 'This secret vault is nothing like I imagined.'

'I thought this would be a place for storing special weapons, but it looks more like an advanced research lab.'

He felt a pang of uncertainty, but he pressed onward.

He soon reached the depths of the vault, where he saw a massive control console.

The console's screen was still lit, displaying various analytical data.

Behind the console was a circular metal platform, and on it sat a set of special mechanical gear.

Long Ming's heart skipped a beat. He rushed to the base of the metal platform to get a closer look.

On the metal platform sat a suit of humanoid mecha armor that looked as if its internal organs had been scooped out.

The mecha was only two meters tall and forged from a special black metal. Its surface was etched with sharp, blade-like patterns, giving it an incredibly cool and formidable appearance.

The suit was currently open, revealing circular mechanical neurons embedded at each joint. A slender mechanical spike protruded from the nape area.

Long Ming's eye twitched as he saw the mechanical spike at the nape, and he drew in a sharp, cold breath.

'If I just lie down in this, won't that spike stab right into the back of my neck? Isn't that a death sentence?'

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He quickly suppressed his rising excitement.

'This gear is amazing, but you have to be alive to use it.'

'No wonder Rein specifically warned me this equipment was unorthodox.'

Long Ming took a few deep breaths and looked around, his eyes landing on a metal weapons rack to the right of the platform.

He walked over to the rack. On it rested a large-caliber, savage-looking firearm. The weapon looked like a beast, a crude embodiment of heavy industry and the aesthetics of war. Its pitch-black alloy frame was covered in milling marks and heat-dissipating grooves. The barrel was thick, and the stock was engraved with a serrated, non-slip pattern.

The ammunition for it was a 50mm caliber, cylindrical shell.

Long Ming picked one up and was dumbfounded. He couldn't help but wonder, 'Are we sure this isn't a cannon shell?'

Next to the firearm, he noticed a 1.2-meter-long blade. It was forged from a dark red metal, its surface covered in a network of fine cracks, and it emanated a faint, cold glint. It was shaped like a Tang-style saber.

Long Ming raised his wristband and scanned them.

BZZZ~

DCW-01 God-Burst Rifle

Durability: 100/100

50MM Explosive Shell: 1/1

Dark Blade

Durability: 100/100

Long Ming felt his blood race as he looked at the two weapons. They were clearly meant to be a set with the mecha armor.

However, the mecha suit still gave Long Ming pause.

After a few seconds of thought, he walked to the control console to see if he could find any relevant data.

SWISH!

A massive amount of research data instantly appeared on the screen.

Long Ming scrolled through it, growing more shocked with every line he read.

He finally understood why the Pomide Clan Leader and his people hadn't used this equipment after obtaining it, instead sealing it away in this vault.

They hadn't acquired the equipment from the Dark Geiss Empire through any official means—they had stolen it.

And the reason they had sealed it away was to try and crack the mecha's systems, hoping to reverse-engineer the Dark Geiss Empire's technology.

Unfortunately for them, the royal city was breached by the Blood Breath Beasts before they could succeed.

Reading this, Long Ming continued scrolling down through their research files.

The further he read, the more his heart pounded with fear. He couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

'The Dark Geiss Empire is fucking incredible.' The mecha this empire developed was fundamentally different from the exoskeletons used by Rein and his men.

This type of mecha used components and cores from Blood Breath Beasts, crafted with a special mechanical process that could unleash the beast's Power. The control method was also different; it abandoned traditional piloting modes in favor of a direct neural link.

The neural connection method was deceptively simple: the metal spike pierced the operator's nape, and with the assistance of various built-in mechanical neurons, the entire mecha became an extension of the user's own body, allowing for perfect control.

However, not just anyone could pilot this kind of mecha.

Long Ming saw a warning written in bright red text on the research document.

"Warning 1: User must be treated with a Type-I Genetic Potion."

"Warning 2: Individuals with insufficient mental and physical fortitude are strictly prohibited from using this mecha. Use of this equipment will result in mental and physical shock and contamination. Minor side effects include coma and blood corruption. Severe cases will result in a complete mental breakdown, reducing the user to a walking corpse."

...

Reading these warnings, Long Ming's brow furrowed deeply. His rational mind screamed at him that this mecha was incredibly dangerous.

But the thought of giving up on this suit of armor was unbearable.

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