My Items Have an Upgrade Panel

Chapter 159: Exoskeleton

Translator: End less Fantasy Translation     Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After a brief visit, Han Shu was somewhat stunned.

Even before his arrival, the old chief specifically told him that if he wanted to maximize the advantages of the Blue Front Army, he should go to Jinling and find Tang Rui from Crimson Corporation.

He followed the old chief’s instructions perfectly, found Tang Rui, and transferred all the funds without even inquiring.

Originally, he just thought of achieving a higher ratio of battle damage, to make the most of their equipment advantage.

This way, even if they lost, they could still display their prowess.

But now, Tang Rui had come up with this.

Seemingly, there could be other ideas as well, like capturing Jinling first and defending it for a month.

In the afternoon, two tactical teams from the Eastern Divine Sword Special Forces, consisting of 24 men, arrived at Tang Rui’s location.

The first thing they did after arriving was to take off their clothes and measure their physical data.

My, oh my.

Twenty-four burly men all lined up in a row.

The Red Lotus-controlled robots used scanning devices to perform full-body scans on them.

After the scans were completed, Tang Rui didn’t ask them to put their clothes back on. Instead, he had them enter an enhancement chamber one by one for physical therapy.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that they were all special forces with individual combat abilities at the peak of human capability; their bodies were far from healthy.

In fact, one could say that they were all carrying hidden injuries.

Due to the high-intensity training they had undergone, their bodies were riddled with injuries.

In order to allow them to fully utilize their combat capabilities, Tang Rui decided to first condition their bodies.

In the laboratory, in front of Tang Rui, was a model of an exoskeleton that he was continuously modifying.

“Red Lotus, calculate how long the power generation of a mechanical dog can support the activity of the exoskeleton?”

Halfway through the design, Tang Rui asked Red Lotus.

“Master, a fully-fueled mechanical dog can provide 5 hours of activity time for the exoskeleton.”

Five hours.

Nope. It was simply too brief.

Tang Rui shook his head and began modifying the exoskeleton again, removing some functions.

In his design, the exoskeleton was merely an upgraded version of bulletproof clothing and tactical equipment. It could withstand the projectile of a sniper rifle at best and provide some auxiliary power to the soldiers.

This exoskeleton wouldn’t turn its wearer into a mecha.

Wearing it didn’t turn you into a giant humanoid robot.

For that kind of thing, remote control seemed like the best way to handle it, as putting a person inside would only weaken the combat capabilities.

But the exoskeleton was different.

It was an upgraded version of the current equipment of an individual combatant.

Tang Rui integrated an automatic optical system, a targeting assistance system, a ballistic calculation system, a remote guidance system, an anti-jamming communication system, a battlefield comprehensive map, an information command chain, and individual soldier-assisted intelligence into this exoskeleton.

Not least of all, individual soldier-assisted intelligence, in particular, could help soldiers calculate battlefield data, anticipate enemy movements in advance, and provide alerts for dangerous situations, amongst a range of other functions.

However, an exoskeleton of this type had one fatal flaw.

And that was its battery life.

Even a supercharged battery after modification could only allow the exoskeleton to operate for 2 hours.

There was no way around it.

All the system functions were too power-hungry, with the power-assisted system being the biggest offender.

This, Tang Rui’s solution wasn’t to continue improving the battery’s performance but to provide soldiers with a power source.

And this power source was the mechanical dog.

The mechanical dog used an internal combustion engine to generate power, and as long as there was fuel, it could continue to generate power.

Through a wireless power transmission system, soldiers didn’t have to worry about power consumption up to a range of fifty meters.

“Red Lotus, re-calculate how long the exoskeleton can operate after removing its power-assist system and how long it can operate with the mechanical dog as a power source.”

Tang Rui began his modification, finally removing the power-assist system because it was too power-hungry.

“Master, after removing the auxiliary systems, the exoskeleton can operate for 48 hours and standby for over 120 hours in non-combat mode. If a mechanical dog is used as an auxiliary power source, it can fully charge the exoskeleton within 15 minutes, allowing it to operate until the mechanical dog’s fuel is depleted.”

Wow!

After removing the power-assist system, there would also be no need for the mechanical dog. This was really inconvenient.

“Alright, let’s make five of these and test them out first,” Tang Rui decided. He wanted to see how the soldiers would respond to the features he had come up with, even though they sounded great. After all, if people didn’t need them, it would be nothing but embarrassing.

The next day, two special operations teams each selected five people to wear two types of exoskeleton and began live-fire exercises.

Tang Rui and Han Shu watched the situation of the two teams on a large screen.

“Tang, how much does this exoskeleton cost?” Han Shu, watching the special forces team members sprinting through the forest, asked thoughtfully.

“Without the power-assist system, it costs about 1.2 million,” Tang Rui replied after some thought. This was the unit’s cost price and did not include any research and development expenses. It would be considered a loss in normal military sales.

“It’s too expensive; it seems it can only be equipped on the special forces.”

Han Shu realized that his previous thoughts were not feasible.

Just as they were talking, the two teams encountered each other in the woods.

Dup dup dup dup dup…

Except for the power-assist system, both types of exoskeleton had the same configuration.

So, at the moment of their encounter, both teams locked onto each other simultaneously and opened fire, hitting each other.

Colorful paintballs splattered in the forest.

The bullets spared no one in the vicinity.

But the problem was, even if they were hit by bullets, the system did not provide any alerts.

Tang Rui and Han Shu in the room were both stunned to see this.

“Cease fire, everyone! Come back,” Tang Rui said into the microphone.

Both sides were using rifles, and the bullets couldn’t penetrate the exoskeleton.

Even if they stood there and shot at each other, neither side would be harmed, especially since they were using training paintballs.

The exoskeleton’s intelligent system naturally wouldn’t judge their injuries or deaths.

Soon, both teams of ten returned.

“First, tell us your thoughts. What are the drawbacks of this exoskeleton, and what needs to be added?” Tang Rui asked the ten soldiers.

“Consultant Tang, this is one hell of an exoskeleton. It doesn’t affect our mobility, and the material is lightweight, so wearing it doesn’t consume extra energy. If there is a drawback, it’s that our hearing is impaired. After we put on the helmet, we can’t hear external sounds.”

Hearing issues?

Tang Rui furrowed his brow. It was an aspect that never crossed his mind.

During the design phase, he used his pilot’s helmet as a model and simply changed the internal configuration. After all, flying fighter jets didn’t require hearing external sounds.

But as for an exoskeleton… if soldiers couldn’t hear the outside world, it would be a real problem.

“Okay, I understand. Is there anything else? Please, speak up; 1 will make improvements to the exoskeleton,” Tang Rui spoke again.

“Consultant Tang, could you design a detachable hatch so that we don’t have to take off the entire suit when we need to use the bathroom?”

“Uh… Alright, I’ll make that modification,” Tang Rui said with a twitch of his mouth. This was something he hadn’t thought about either..