Chapter Forty-Three: Mecha Equipment

At that moment, Le Han suddenly exclaimed, “Nangong… look outside, quickly!” Nangong Yuchen’s gaze shifted from within the City of Technology to behind him, and at once, his whole body shook.

He saw that the entire City of Technology was enveloped in a massive spherical energy barrier, its radius stretching over a kilometer, and they were right inside it. The translucent, immense dome surrounding them flickered with shifting blue light, and through its shimmer, the bustling, prosperous streets outside could be faintly glimpsed.

“Is this place sealed off from the outside world?” Nangong Yuchen and Le Han exchanged glances, both seeing the shock mirrored in each other’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Le Tian seemed unbothered, as if he was used to all this. He was on the phone. “Is that you, Brother Han?”

…

After hanging up soon after, he called out to the two who were still stunned, “Don’t just stand there gaping. Let’s get inside—there are even more surprises waiting for you!”

With that, he led the way forward. When the three of them reached the main entrance to the City of Technology, they were suddenly stopped by several soldiers in green uniforms.

“City card!” the soldiers demanded sternly.

“My friend is inside; he’ll be here right away!” Le Tian answered with a smile.

Nangong Yuchen and Le Han, following behind, exchanged puzzled looks. City card? What was that?

Le Tian turned and whispered to them, “A city card is your pass into the City of Technology. Without it, we can’t go in at all.”

The two nodded, half understanding, feeling the strictness of the place.

After a few minutes, a middle-aged man wearing glasses appeared. He walked out directly and spoke to the guards at the entrance, “They’re all my friends—my guests. Let them in.”

The soldiers’ eyes swept over the man, pausing at the blue crystal pinned to his chest. Hanging from the crystal was a small, shining red star.

The soldiers quickly nodded in salute, then opened the entrance, allowing the three of them to pass through.

Once inside, Le Tian walked up and greeted the man warmly, “Thank you, Brother Han!”

“It’s nothing,” the bespectacled man replied. He pulled a golden card from his pocket and handed it to Le Tian. “You’ll need a city card to enter the Mech Building as well. Take this for now, just return it to me when you’re done. I have something urgent to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

After a few brief instructions, the man departed in haste.

Once he was out of sight, Nangong Yuchen asked, “Uncle, what was the crystal your friend wore on his chest?”

He had noticed that the soldiers only let them in after seeing the crystal.

“That medal is awarded to those who have officially become mech warriors. The details are a bit complicated. Once you become a mech warrior yourself, you’ll understand,” Le Tian replied, not dwelling on the matter. He led them to the entrance of the first building.

“Mech Store.”

Looking at the four dazzling red characters inscribed above the first floor, Le Tian took out the city card, passed the security check at the door, and finally brought the two into the lobby.

Inside, the hall was bustling with people—staff and visitors coming and going endlessly. Nangong Yuchen’s gaze swept the crowd and finally settled on a row of small shopfronts further inside.

The first to catch his eye was a shop bearing the sign “Neural Reflexes!” in bold characters.

When he saw the rows of various firearms displayed behind the glass cases inside, he was utterly stunned.

The leftmost row consisted of black rifles of various series, none longer than eighty centimeters, none shorter than fifty. Unlike ordinary guns, these weapons glimmered with faint blue energy and had no magazines at all!

“B—M4A1—Type 28—Energy Rifle! ¥150,000”

“A—AK68—Type 35—Energy Rifle! ¥185,000”

“B—G5SE—Type 21—Energy Rifle! ¥120,000”

“A—SK81—Type 36—Energy Rifle! ¥190,000”

…

“Wow! Nangong, have you ever seen guns like these?” Le Han’s jaw trembled with excitement. This was his first time here, his first time seeing mech firearms up close, and his delight was unconcealed.

Nangong Yuchen did not answer, caught up in his own excitement—the sight before him utterly overturned everything he knew about weapons.

Le Tian, strolling ahead, was almost at the store entrance when he realized his son had vanished. Glancing back, he found Nangong Yuchen and Le Han frozen in place, mouths agape in stupefied wonder.

He felt embarrassed at that moment. Glancing around to make sure no passersby were watching, he hurried over and gave Le Han a slap on the back of the head, face flushed. “Look at you two—such country bumpkins! If you want to gawk, do it inside, not clogging up the entrance!”

The two scratched their heads awkwardly and quickly caught up, following him into the first shop.

“Welcome! Are you looking to purchase mech equipment?” A pretty young salesgirl approached, her face warm with hospitality.

“We’re just browsing for now,” Le Tian replied, hastily straightening his tie and waving her off, trying to project the air of a regular, important customer.

But before he could finish, Le Han’s voice rang out even more dramatically.

“Wow! Nangong, look at the top row—the size of that sniper rifle! Do you think we’ll be able to carry it someday?” His eyes sparkled as he stared at a gigantic sniper rifle over a meter long, displayed all by itself.

He asked if they’d be able to carry it someday because, as a neural reflex physique practitioner, he’d soon be eligible to wield such energy weapons—Nangong Yuchen, with his exceptional talent in all three areas, even more so.

Those who cultivate neural reflexes and break through to the first rank are precisely the users of these energy guns!

“Who knows…” Nangong Yuchen was startled by the sudden shout, then speechless as he scanned the dazzling array of guns, his gaze coming to rest on the enormous sniper rifle Le Han had pointed out.

Once his eyes were on it, he could not look away.

The sniper rifle was divided into three sections—together measuring a full meter and a half. The foremost section was the longest, a black barrel making up half the weapon’s length. It was more like a cannon, given that the muzzle was as wide as a bowl.

The middle section was the shortest but very broad, with a curved groove over ten centimeters long—clearly designed to fit snugly on the shoulder.

As for the final section, it was inlaid with a thirty-centimeter diameter blue energy orb. Though the orb seemed somewhat dim, the intermittent surges of energy emanating from it sent chills through the heart.

Ten centimeters up from the orb was a long, backward-pulling trigger—so large the entire hand could grip it and pull.

The sniper rifle’s series name: “S—HkNB11—Type 97—S—Bombardment Sniper! ¥450,000”

“Bombardment Sniper?” Only now did Nangong Yuchen understand why Le Han had shouted. Even he was thinking—one shot from that thing could probably blow up an entire building…