Silong stood behind Lin Xia. This towering man, who could swing a massive hammer weighing thousands of jin without changing expression, clearly swallowed hard at this moment. His heavy breathing was especially distinct in the silent workshop.
His gaze was locked firmly onto the mecha, and a blazing fire burned in his eyes, the excitement and anxiety of a craftsman standing on the verge of seeing his lifelong pursuit become reality.
Lin Xia was equally overwhelmed with emotion. The lines on the blueprint had become the steel giant before his eyes, and the shock of it far exceeded his imagination.
He took a deep breath. The cold air, carrying the distinct scent of metal and machine oil, filled his lungs and suppressed the slight trembling of his fingertips. Without the slightest hesitation, he lightly tapped the edge of the platform with his toes. His body seemed weightless as he leaped gracefully into the air, landing precisely on an inconspicuous square platform above the mecha's chest armor.
That was the entrance to the cockpit.
As he infused soul power into the identification array at the edge of the hatch, a faint hiss of pressurized air sounded.
Hiss—
The heavy alloy hatch opened upward and inward like the petals of a flower, revealing the precise and compact control space inside.
A soft blue light illuminated the interior, revealing a seat and control console covered in runes and operating interfaces.
Lin Xia flashed inside, and the hatch silently closed behind him, cutting him off from the outside world.
Inside the cockpit, countless tiny indicator lights lit up like stars, their gentle glow illuminating his young yet focused face.
He skillfully sat in the ergonomically designed pilot's seat. His soul power and spiritual power spread out like a web, instantly attempting to connect with the neural linkage nodes reserved within the mecha. A cold metallic sensation traveled back through his spiritual power, carrying the stillness of a sleeping giant.
"Let's begin."
Lin Xia murmured softly, speaking both to himself and to Silong, who was holding his breath outside.
With a thought, the seemingly ordinary storage soul tool on his finger flashed with a faint light.
In an instant, an indescribably vast and pure fluctuation spread out, as though it contained the very origin of the stars in the universe. Even through the mecha's heavy shell and cockpit walls, Silong outside suddenly felt his heart tighten, as though an invisible tide had washed over him.
The Tears of the Star Core, about the size of a pigeon egg, appeared in Lin Xia's palm.
Its entire body was a deep, dark blue, and within it seemed to be an entire rotating galaxy. Countless starlights sparkled eternally inside, radiating energy ripples that made one's heart tremble.
This was the mecha's heart.
It was the only thing capable of driving this steel beast.
With a solemn expression, Lin Xia gently pushed the Tears of the Star Core into the entrance of the energy furnace directly in front of the pilot's seat, located at the very core of the mecha's chest cavity.
There was a groove meticulously constructed from Void Sinking Gold and Star Pattern Mithril, and countless energy-conducting lines as fine as hair extended from its edges toward every part of the mecha's body.
Buzz—!
The instant the Tears of the Star Core embedded itself into the furnace core, the entire enormous body of the mecha suddenly trembled!
It was not a violent shake but a pulse that seemed to come from the deepest parts of the earth itself.
A visible blue radiance, like a flowing river of liquid stars, instantly burst from the furnace core and surged along the pre-laid energy channels.
Wherever the light passed, the countless dormant soul tool arrays within the mecha lit up one by one, like sleeping nerves awakening, emitting deep, powerful hums.
Brilliant blue starlight burst forth from the gaps in the crimson armor, illuminating the entire workshop as though it had become the depths of a sea of stars.
"It worked! The energy is connected!"
Outside, Silong's blood boiled with excitement. His fists clenched tightly, his nails nearly digging into his palms.
The first step and also the most crucial step had succeeded!
The Tears of the Star Core were a perfect match!
But this was only the beginning.
The core energy source merely provided power. To make this steel body move as naturally as an extension of one's own limbs and unleash the terrifying might envisioned in its design, they still needed to activate and control the entire network of soul tool arrays, constructing a neural control system that would deeply link the mecha to its pilot's consciousness.
Lin Xia did not pause.
He closed his eyes, and his powerful spiritual power descended like the most precise probe into the mecha's core control center, a complex three-dimensional array plate located above the energy furnace and forged from the purest Mystic Gold.
This array plate was the mecha's brain.
He had already practiced inscribing this core control array countless times through simulations and simplified models.
Now, with the support of the vast stellar power from the Tears of the Star Core and the supreme control over energy and matter granted by the Phoenix Divine Flame, Lin Xia's spiritual power transformed into the sharpest carving blade.
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...
Under the guidance of Lin Xia's spiritual power, one silver line after another, finer than a strand of hair and containing profound laws of space and soul linkage, rapidly lit up, connected, and solidified upon the Mystic Gold array plate.
Each inscription precisely guided the stellar power overflowing from the Tears of the Star Core in the furnace below, taming it, restraining it, and weaving it into streams of commands that would drive and control every joint, every piece of armor, and every weapon of the mecha.
Time seemed to lose all meaning inside the cockpit.
Lin Xia's entire mind was immersed in this incomparably precise "carving."
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but his movements remained terrifyingly steady, without the slightest tremor.
Ten minutes!
In only ten minutes, when the final stroke, a rune formed from stellar power symbolizing Consciousness Synchronization, perfectly lit up at the center of the array plate and completely merged with Lin Xia's spiritual power.
Boom!!!
A spiritual and energy storm, over a hundred times more powerful than before, erupted with the mecha at its center!
Inside the cockpit, Lin Xia suddenly opened his eyes!
Reflected in his pupils were the enormous "eyes" outside the observation window, now blazing to life with pure stellar energy like burning blue flames!
The mecha had awakened!
Whoosh—!
No longer was it merely an internal hum.
The mecha's massive metallic head suddenly lifted!
The movement was swift and precise, producing a sharp tearing sound through the air!
Within the deep observation windows, two substantial beams of azure light shot forth like sharp swords, piercing through the air of the workshop!
Next came the arms!
The thick alloy arms emitted deep and powerful hydraulic sounds. The five fingers opened and then clenched into fists, the friction of the metal joints producing an ear-piercing creak, as though they were feeling the power of new life.
Then came the legs!
One enormous foot lifted from the platform, and with a resounding clang, its heavy alloy sole landed firmly upon the workshop's specially crafted ultra-hard alloy floor.
The entire ground trembled slightly, leaving behind a clear footprint!
Finally, the waist!
The gigantic body shifted from its completely upright posture and leaned slightly forward in a stance filled with power and coordination, like a ferocious beast about to pounce.
Between the gaps in its armor, brilliant blue starlight flickered like breathing itself, producing a deep and continuous energy resonance.
Hummm—Hummm—
From lifting its head, to stepping onto the ground, to adjusting its stance.
Every movement flowed smoothly and seamlessly.
There was not the slightest awkwardness, nor even the tiniest delay!
It was no longer a cold construct of metal.
It had become a living metal giant, one that possessed immense power and astonishing coordination!
"It... it moved! It really moved!!"
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