A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 848 - 592: Preparation Time

Under Duanmu Huai’s inquiry, he finally understood the whole story.

In simple terms, Ann was envious of the mechas on Minerva, wanted to build one herself, but apparently, Duanmu Huai seemed quite dismissive of those mechas. Therefore, Ann decided to take matters into her own hands. She found Lumiaire, asked her to hack into the mechas’ database to obtain the data, and then, after acquiring these data, combined her own ideas to create a mecha blueprint, which she then sent to Maria on the flagship, hoping she could help build it.

In simple terms, it was like Ann was using the Tribunal’s resources for her own private project... well, that’s no problem.

However...

"I really didn’t expect that you actually built it for her?"

Duanmu Huai looked astonished at Maria, who nodded in response.

"I am quite interested in Miss Ann’s idea, and..."

"And?"

"I think this type of mecha could serve as a superior substitute for some Titans."

"Uh........."

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai was suddenly at a loss for words.

It’s not that Duanmu Huai didn’t respect mechas, strictly speaking, the Tribunal also possessed mechas.

Those were the Titan series.

Of course, this does not refer to the Emperor-class Titan that Duanmu Huai used at Herman, which basically counts as the backbone of a Steel Fortress level.

Apart from the Emperor-class Titan, the Imperial technology also possessed scouting Titans and combat Titans, the size and form of these Titans are quite similar to those of Gundams, with two legs and an iron body. The only difference is their head and arms — the heads of Imperial Titans are not located as in mechas, but in front of the chest. Thus, allowing them to install another weapon where the head would normally be.

Yes, more is beautiful, bigger is better, and naturally, the more weapons, the better.

Similarly, the arms of these Titans are not of the humanoid form, but modified into large weapons like Siege Hammers or Fire God Cannons.

However, Titans and mechas have different roles; these Titans mainly handle ground combat, possessing the capabilities of a mobile fortress, troop carrier, and firepower suppression. They can also use their legs to overcome obstacles that tanks cannot. Of course, although their agility and speed can’t compare to mechas, they greatly excel in defense compared to those mechas that just fly around. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

The only real advantage mechas have over Titans is that the Titans lack aerial and cosmic combat capabilities, being purely ground units...

Leaving aside main combat units like Raider Level, Warlord Level, and Punishment Level Titans, those used for scouting like War Dog Level and Jackal Level could indeed be replaced by mechas. After all, the ability to fly is indeed an advantage for scouting.

Currently, under Duanmu Huai, the Tribunal’s ground forces are primarily composed of Night Guard-led Star Warrior squadrons, followed by Fearless Mechs — of course, during the Imperial Era, manufacturing Fearless was a very challenging task. A single Fearless Mech was powerful, but the sacrifices required were substantial. Only those warriors who fought for the Emperor and suffered fatal injuries, unable to return to the battlefield on their own, would be entombed inside the Fearless Mech, merging with it, fighting to the death for the Empire with their remaining life.

For this reason, most Fearless Mechs are seen as a very important core of a warband — after all, expendable goods are hard to come by.

But Duanmu Huai’s Night Guard naturally don’t need to worry about this issue, they don’t need to embed their bodies inside Fearless Mechs as they did during the Imperial Era, instead, directly attaching their souls to the mechas.

Yes, Mecha Soul Delight!

By the way, even soul attachment has its limits, and Fearless Mech represents that boundary; otherwise, Duanmu Huai would have had them all attach to Titans.

Imagine an entire army of Titans branded red... no, cursed... no, a Titan army of the Night Guard, who wouldn’t be scared?

Because of this, the main force under Duanmu Huai currently consists only of Star Warriors and Fearless Mechs, no other Titan classes have been built since the Emperor-class — the reason is simple, Titan-class is much larger than Fearless Mechs, surpassing the limit of soul attachment, and can only be operated by humans.

But Duanmu Huai would not let his Night Guard engage in such tasks; isn’t that a waste? This is not like PLANT or something, where you can just find a few teenagers to pilot them.

The Tribunal is not that easy to negotiate with.

So Duanmu Huai had essentially given up on the Titan series, but he never expected Maria to think of it — indeed, after some thought, some mechas could indeed serve as superior substitutes for scouting Titans.

However... the style doesn’t quite match.

"Anyway, let’s go have a look."

Duanmu Huai sighed and decided to take a look first.

But speaking of which, Ann could even design mechas? Although he always knew she was a genius, her typically simple demeanor... made Duanmu Huai forget that she indeed was a scholar.

Soon, under Maria’s lead, a group arrived at the hangar, where Duanmu Huai then saw the mecha Ann had designed.

At first glance, how should I put it... it’s truly beautiful.

The entire body is pure white, with a pair of steel wings on the back, the head somewhat similar to a Gundam, but the limbs looked more like ornate carvings with hollowed-out patterns. In a word, it gave the impression of a kind of artwork meant to make an impression rather than a cold, iron machine. Lacking that robust mechanical aesthetic, it felt more like a craft.

"Can this thing actually work?"

Duanmu Huai eyed the mecha from top to bottom, full of question marks. After all, the charm of a mecha lies in its heavy, cold, man-made industrial beauty — like when you see a steam-puffing locomotive or a thundering steel tank, bringing that hefty, rugged shock.

However, this one looks too delicate, resembling a fragile ice sculpture more than anything.

Beautiful, indeed, but beyond that, Duanmu Huai had his doubts.

"Hmph, you just don’t understand, Mr. Knight."

What surprised Duanmu Huai was that Ann didn’t seem pleased; instead, she proudly lifted her head.

"These are not just ordinary patterns, these are Magic Circles! I spent a long time integrating Amplification Magic with Defensive Magic Circles without causing any conflicts between them. Impressive, right?"

Upon hearing Ann proudly present her approach, Duanmu Huai finally understood her Mecha design philosophy—although Ann indeed lacked extensive knowledge about Mecha science, similar Metal Golems existed in Manaria, so she simply decided to pursue that direction and replaced the entire process with magic. What Duanmu Huai saw, those hollowed patterns on the outer shell of the Mecha, were all Magic Circles.

Generally speaking, integrating so many Magic Circles without causing any conflicts would be nearly impossible, but... being Manaria’s number one magic prodigy, Ann had managed it.

But...

"You say these are all engraved on the Magic Circles, but what if someone damages your Mecha body severely? Wouldn’t the Magic Circles be ruined?"

"Of course, it’s not that simple. I used Character Mode. Even if the opponent breaks the Mecha body, it will only affect some of the Magic Circles’ effects; the other Magic Circles can still reconfigure through the magical characters!"

"Well, it looks like you’ve thought this through thoroughly, but is your cockpit still designed for two people?"

Duanmu Huai silently observed the cockpit at the chest of the Mecha, still designed for two, one above the other.

"Of course, my plan is to pilot it together with Greiya."

"Greiya sits on top, right?"

"Hehehe, you caught me..."

"One can guess what you’re up to just by thinking about it."

Ann had always had a particular fondness for Greiya’s tail. With Greiya sitting on top and her below, she could touch Greiya’s plump tail whenever she wanted. Moreover, given Greiya’s disposition, the thought of Ann being able to see her skirt’s undersides whenever she looked up would probably make her restless.

Indeed, Duanmu Huai believed that these reasons were the primary motivation behind Ann’s design of the cockpit.

"Well, we’ll see how it goes when the time comes."

Naturally, Ann’s Mecha was not able to integrate into the Tribunal’s systems, but it didn’t matter as it was not a mass-produced model. Whether they would actually proceed with a plan to replace the Scouting Titans with mass-produced Mechas depended on their performance in the future.

"By the way, what’s the name of this Mecha?"

"Ah, I haven’t thought of one yet..."

"How about I help you name it?"

"I appreciate the thought, but I’d rather discuss it with Greiya!"

Even Ann declined Duanmu Huai’s naming skills.

"By the way, Mr. Knight, would you like one too?"

"Me? I..."

Hearing Ann’s question, Duanmu Huai thought for a moment, but just then, he felt someone tug at his hand. Looking down, he saw Ogis silently staring at him.

"I’ll pass, since I already have my own Puppet."

Although he didn’t think Ogis would be upset about this, Duanmu Huai was too lazy to ponder too much on it since he hadn’t been interested in Mechas originally.

After a brief rest, Duanmu Huai once again sought out Aikute to inquire about the current situation, specifically about the Exelion Warship.

"So, you mean to say that they haven’t fled back into the Solar System and are staying active in the border regions?"

"Yes," Aikute nodded.

"This warship has been operating within the border regions, often encountering Cosmic Monsters. Honestly, I’m puzzled as to why they don’t just return..."

"They probably don’t want the Cosmic Monsters to follow them back to Earth, I guess."

So far, only a few stragglers had been active within the Solar System, and most were quelled upon appearance, posing no significant threat. Thus, Earth in this Galaxy remained relatively safe.

"It’s incredible how long they’ve managed to hold out."

"I believe they must be reaching their limit,"

"Hmm..."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment.

"Then, let’s go and talk to them."