Star Odyssey

Lu Yin smiled at Director Zhi’s apology. "Of course not. I would actually like to ask Aurora Enterprises to help me mass produce this universal armor. We can negotiate the price without any issues, as long as you are agreeable to producing it."

Before Director Zhi could even speak, Biao Zi threw the blueprints into the director’s arms. "Not only are there still people studying and improving universal armor, but you also want to mass produce it, Alliance Leader Lu? Do you realize that there’s no reason to make this? Universal armor is only necessary to let ordinary humans go into outer space for things like mining, so it’s unrealistic to expect people to fight with this. It’s impossible for Limiteers to use this armor to cross realms to fight against Explorers.

"And even if it was possible, how many people would bother paying for this? It’s pointless to bother making this. A normal universal armor only costs around ten star crystals while each set of this armor would cost more than a thousand times that. This is far outside most people’s means."

Lu Yin replied, "What if I said that I wanted to use even better quality materials and incorporate some additional functions? Then how much would it cost?"

Biao Zi ran some rough mental calculations, but then he rolled his eyes. "That would depend entirely on what you wanted to add in, but we can approximate it at a tenfold increase."

"So are you saying that it would cost as much as a single star essence to make one of these armors?" Lu Yin asked.

Director Zhi grew curious. "Alliance Leader Lu, do you really want to make this?"

Lu Yin nodded. "It’s difficult for anyone weaker than an Explorer to contribute on a higher level battlefield, but this sort of armor could give Limiteers the strength to challenge Explorers. Regardless of the cost, it would be worth it for this sort of utility."

"Impossible." Biao Zi instantly shot Lu Yin down. "Limiteers challenging Explorers? Not even an armor that can improve their strength in every single aspect would be enough to give a Limiteer that edge unless they were already an incredible genius. Forget adapting to such speed—they’d find it impossible to even run away, let alone fight."

"Mr. Biao!" Director Zhi shouted in frustration. It was not a big deal to disagree with someone like Lu Yin once or twice, but almost anyone would become upset after being shot down multiple times in a row.

However, Lu Yin was unconcerned as the chief engineer’s comments were quite accurate. Under normal circumstances, Limiteers would never be able to challenge Explorers, not even with this new style of universal armor. The gap between the realms was too large. But things might be different if the microarray technology was combined with the smoke from Smoke-Eater Peaks.

In such a fight, half of the battle depended on the cultivator’s skills while the other half depended on their equipment. Both needed to be at a sufficiently high level for a Limiteer to challenge an Explorer.

This was no different from wanting to use items to lift an average cultivator into a genius Realmbreaker who could challenge Explorers. Lu Yin had been one of those geniuses when he had been a Limiteer, so he could understand this gap in strength.

A short while later, Lu Yin told Director Zhi and the other senior executives of Aurora Enterprises his thoughts, and he also asked them to find a way to integrate Smoke-Eater Peaks’ smoke into the armor design.

Director Zhi was stunned. "Alliance Leader Lu, can you really get Smoke-Eater Peaks’ strange smoke in batches? That’s truly impressive."

Smoke-Eater Peaks had sold their smoke to outsiders for some time now, as it could indeed be used as a life-saving measure at a critical moment. However, Lu Yin was actually able to purchase their smoke in entire batches, which was what left Director Zhi so impressed.

Lu Yin then pulled out tens of millions of star essence and handed it all to Director Zhi. "This is a down payment. I would like to have your company develop this new universal armor as soon as possible. I want it mass produced, and the final price won’t change that."

Director Zhi took the money. "Don't worry, Alliance Leader Lu, I agree to your terms on behalf of Aurora Enterprises."

Aurora Enterprises was a company, and as long as there was money to be made, they would study anything Lu Yin wanted. Even if Lu Yin wanted them to design lunchboxes, they would agree if there was profit to be made.

It was not that Lu Yin had not considered leaving this research to Ban Jiu, but rather, the man could not compare to Aurora Enterprises’ abilities. No matter what, Ban Jiu was just a single man from the Outerverse, while it was impossible to know what sort of geniuses Aurora Enterprises had under their employ.

Additionally, they had access to many technologies from ancient times.

However, the most important thing was that Lu Yin was extremely short on time.

***

Wan Gong casually turned on the lights as he collapsed onto his bed in exhaustion. He was in a sealed room with no windows, no view to the outside, and no access to the network through a gadget. He was in isolation, the same as many other people.

Everyone who was researching microarray technology for Aurora Enterprises was treated like this.

Wan Gong heard a soft voice from outside his door, and he said, "Come in."

Two women entered. One was young and beautiful with a shy smile on her face, while the other was quite the opposite. She wore revealing clothes that showed off her voluptuous body, and she was already blinking bedroom eyes at Wan Gong.

Wan Gong gulped.

Wan Gong could enjoy anything he wanted in this place, pleasures that had always been out of his reach before. As long as he was willing to request it, Aurora Enterprises was willing to fulfill it. The only stipulation was that Wan Gong could not have any contact with the outside world whatsoever.

An hour later, the two women left. Wan Gong was more exhausted than ever, but he was in an excellent mood.

Someone else knocked on his door, this time to deliver a massive meal. Wan Gong was quite hungry, so he proceeded to eat on his own.

"It looks like you’re having a good day," a bland voice commented from behind Wan Gong.

The man’s expression drastically changed, and he found a familiar face when he turned his head. His food dropped out of his mouth, and he shot to his feet. "Lu- Alliance Leader Lu?"

Lu Yin observed the massive meal that Wan Gong had been working on. "Every ingredient in that meal is quite rare. Do you realize that one meal is worth a full year of an Explorer’s income?"

Wan Gong quickly cleaned his mouth and bitterly answered, "Alliance Leader Lu, I’d rather not enjoy any of these luxuries and be able to go back. I’ve been cut off from the outside world ever since I started working on the microarray technology. Even just a short while ago, I was still able to at least occasionally get in touch with Overseer San Liang, but after some of the recent breakthroughs, I’m no longer able to make any calls at all. I’m done living like this. I haven’t even seen my son in ages. Alliance Leader Lu, can you help me get out of here?"

Lu Yin stared at the man. "How’s the microarray technology research going?"

"We’ve already finished."

Lu Yin's eyes instantly went wide. "Success?"

Wan Gong nodded. "While we were successful in developing the technology, we haven’t been able to find anything that’s sturdy enough to handle the technology. If the metal is hard enough to endure, then it isn’t able to accept the energy. If the metal isn’t hard enough, then it just breaks. Any harder, and it’ll disrupt the energy release process. We need to find something that can endure the pressure of the energy, handle its sudden release, and also not impede that release. It’s too difficult to find something like that.

"Alliance Leader Lu, could you let me look at that template that you showed me before again?"

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from novelbuddy.com.

Lu Yin took out the Void Rip sourcebox array.

Wan Gong quickly grabbed it and started carefully touching it and examining it. After a long time, he shook his head. "I haven’t been able to find this kind of material anywhere, and this isn’t something I’ve ever seen before. Honestly, after we finished developing the technology, Aurora Enterprises’ full focus has been on searching for various materials. Every day I test more and more materials, but we still haven’t been able to find anything suitable.”

"Try this." Lu Yin took out a piece of bark and tossed it over to Wan Gong. It was bark from the Mother Tree.

After examining it, Wan Gong’s eyes lit up. "Is this the right material? It feels like it…"

He touched the Void Rip sourcebox array again, his eyes flickering. He glanced up at Lu Yin in surprise. "These two are very similar."

"Go try it out," Lu Yin suggested.

Wan Gong raced away to test the bark.

Until he left or was dismissed from the team, Wan Gong was considered the leader of the microarray technology research, so no one could question his actions within the research center.

Also, as long as the Second Nightking kept him hidden, not even other experts with power levels of over a million would be able to find Lu Yin.

After half a day, Wan Gong carefully held out a microarray that had been produced with the bark Lu Yin had provided. "Alliance Leader Lu, which combat technique would you like to be stored in here?"

Lu Yin asked, "How powerful of a battle technique can this thing hold?"

"Since we’re still in the research phase, the sourcebox array that Realm Array Master Yuan has set up can only handle the strength of an Explorer," Wan Gong explained.

Realm Array Master Yuan was most likely the top powerhouse hiding in Aurora Fortress.

Lu Yin did not care about some expert with a power level of over a million, as the Second Nightking could easily deal with such people. However, Master Yuan’s identity as a Realm Array Master was a different matter entirely. It would be difficult for people to uncover what such a person might have set up within Aurora Fortress.

Lu Yin had actually almost forgotten that a Realm Array Master was in Aurora Fortress.

Lu Yin raised his hand and casually waved it. The First Sword of the Thirteen Swords appeared and shot into the microarray, instantly disappearing.

Wan Gong sucked in a deep breath, turned away from Lu Yin, and released the stored attack.

The two men then saw sword qi sweep through the air.

"Success! It's a success!" Wan Gong was ecstatic and immediately got carried away with his excitement. "Finally, success!"

He turned to look at Lu Yin with growing excitement. "Alliance Leader, we've succeeded! We've succeeded!"

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face, and his eyes lit up more than ever before. Had they really finally succeeded?

He could already imagine tens of thousands of soldiers wearing the newly designed universal armor while being protected by white smoke and unleashing attacks from microarrays. How could anyone imagine a scene of tens of thousands of soldiers releasing attacks from microarrays that could compare to the strength of an Enlighter?

This was something that not even the Perennial World could fathom. Despite their countless powerhouses, it was impossible for the Perennial World to gather tens of thousands of Enlighters at a single time.

What a spectacular scene that would be.

Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Possibly millions?

It was no longer impossible for humans to fight against the Aeternals! What was humanity’s greatest strength? Their intelligence, and from that intelligence, their creativity.

Microarray technology, newly designed universal armor, the white smoke. On top of all of that, other things could be added as well, such as… poison.

The more Lu Yin thought about the future, the more excited he became. He felt as though he had just ushered in a new era.

Attacks could be stored in the microarrays, but what else?

In the past, Truesight had been the only means to create something out of nothing. Now, with microarray technology, such an ability could be spread out amongst even ordinary people. This was something that could absolutely revolutionize things for all of humanity!

After using a hand to hold down the excited Wan Gong, Lu Yin stared at the man. "You’ve just ushered in a new era."

Wan Gong's pupils fluctuated. "Ushered in an era?"

A smile returned to Lu Yin’s face. "Work hard, and humanity’s future will continue to improve. This entire universe will eventually belong to us humans. Human creativity is able to create anything and can overcome even the most powerful enemies."

Wan Gong nodded heavily, but then he suddenly remembered something. He dropped down to one knee. "Alliance Leader Lu, thank you! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to usher in a new era."

Lu Yin helped Wan Gong stand back up.

Next, it was time for his confrontation with Director Zhi.

Microarray technology could not be left with just Aurora Enterprises, as it needed to be spread throughout all of humanity. Lu Yin intended to popularize this technology in order to truly establish a new era. It would be an era that bore his name.

However, despite the technology being successfully developed, there were still quite a number of problems to resolve. For starters, the material.

Lu Yin did not have much of the Mother Tree’s bark, and while each microarray did not require a great deal of it, he only had enough to produce a few hundred microarrays.

This meant that he needed to find some way to get more of the Mother Tree’s bark.

Also, the microarrays were only able to store up to four attacks. What could they do with the microarray after the attacks were released? This was something Lu Yin had not even considered before.

Lu Yin brought this up with Wan Gong, who replied, "We can remove the traces of the previous sourcebox array and ask Realm Array Master Jie Yuan to set up another sourcebox array. Unless the material itself is somehow damaged, it can continue to be reused."

Lu Yin asked a few more questions about the microarray technology before finally asking, "Were you able to find out anything about a relationship between Aurora Enterprises and the Cosmic Sect?"