9:10 PM, inside the eastern gate of the town's outer wall at the Military Weapon Store.
The Military Weapon Store is a round seven-story fortified tower, with seven circular structures stacked from bottom to top, resembling a fortress, matching the height of the tall outer walls of the town.
At the top of the tower, there are four faintly glowing sensor probes extended outward.
According to Ma Dafu, these four probes all utilize the latest information flow imaging equipment, with high imaging precision and a good detection capability even against Ruined Beasts with optical invisibility abilities.
Additionally, on the seemingly sleek tower surface, each level has a varying number of hidden retractable electromagnetic turrets. These turrets have two functions: high-power strike (one shot every ten seconds) and low-power rapid fire (ten shots per second).
"Ruined Beasts below Level Five, whether they are agile, heavy armor, flying, or ground types, can all be smashed to pieces. Even if a large number of Ruined Beasts rush and surround it, the chrome-titanium alloy armor can withstand at least two heavy strikes at the same spot from a Level Five Ruined Beast."
These were Ma Dafu's original words when introducing this heavily guarded building.
Ren Zhong pretended to nod with great interest, but his mind had already wandered into the inside of the store.
Ren Zhong took off his shirt and changed into tight shorts resembling swim trunks, lying on a metal-framed bed.
Ma Dafu and Zheng Tian were watching with great interest nearby.
The excitement on Zheng Tian's baby-faced features was palpable.
Normally, as a half-professional Scavenger Captain without citizen status, not to mention talking to the Mayor, it was hard to even see the Mayor from afar.
Unexpectedly, after picking up Ren Zhong, the Pu Cha officer, she actually got acquainted with the Mayor, managing to get herself some recognition.
Zheng Tian believed that as long as she accumulated a bit more, her dream of escaping the lowest stratum of rural people would become much easier to realize.
A long-haired woman in a military green uniform was busy nearby, her face full of impatience, sticking one patch capacitor after another onto Ren Zhong, much like the scene during an EKG test.
But the quantity, density, and coverage of these capacitors on the body were much greater.
The other end of the capacitors had thin wires connected to the bottom of a rectangular cabinet resembling a refrigerator.
Above the cabinet was an LCD display screen.
Ren Zhong observed both the testing equipment and the operator.
Seeing the displeasure on her face, he felt a bit embarrassed but said nothing.
After attaching a total of 108 capacitors, the uniformed woman was about to turn on the device.
Ma Dafu intervened, "Manager Ju, explain to Mr. Ren in detail about this brain-machine synchronization rate initial value. Mr. Ren, Ju Qingmeng is from Chongyi County and graduated from Chongyi Vocational High School, specializing in munitions management, very skilled. Her presence here in Starfire Town is a blessing for the town's residents."
While saying this, Ma Dafu discreetly winked at the uniformed woman.
Ju Qingmeng seemed to understand Ma Dafu's intention, feeling slightly enlightened.
The old fat man wanted her to demonstrate her professional competence in front of this Ren Zhong.
No wonder she was urgently summoned back by old Ma Dafu despite getting off work; it seemed this Ren Zhong was someone significant.
For someone wanting to return to Chongyi County, this was indeed a gift.
Her attitude changed dramatically.
"I wonder if Mr. Ren has had any detailed understanding of Mechanical Warriors before?"
Ren Zhong, although unsure what transpired, pondered and honestly replied, "No."
Apparently, he was pretending not to understand to test her, Ju Qingmeng smiled charmingly, appearing highly attractive.
Only then did Ren Zhong notice her fair and delicate skin, slender brows, sharp eyes, pointed face, and high nose, boasting an exceedingly attractive appearance.
He hadn't thought her pretty when she had a straight face, but once she smiled, her facial features came alive beautifully.
In terms of looks, Ju Qingmeng was not much different from Chen Hanyu, both of whom Ren Zhong considered the best appearances he'd seen since his resurrection, slightly higher than baby-faced Zheng Tian's appearance.
Ju Qingmeng: "Then I'll assume Mr. Ren truly knows nothing and explain thoroughly? Don't find me naggy."
Ren Zhong: "Alright, sorry to trouble you."
"The so-called brain-machine synchronization rate, to summarize simply, refers to the ability of the neural network to carry external bioelectric signals. However, this is too summarized, and many without professional study do not understand. For a Mechanical Warrior, the importance of synchronization rate even exceeds physical fitness, as it concerns the sensory rate of human nerves for feedback from exoskeleton devices, the information transfer volume of neural networks per unit time, and the speed, scale, and quality of cooperative commands issued by the brain. Mr. Ren, did you understand?"
"Understood, please continue."
"In order for a Mechanical Warrior to achieve combat effectiveness, the exoskeleton mecha must be trained to become like a part of the body, controlling the exoskeleton armor using brainwave signals, just like controlling a body, with the assistance of a microcurrent path."
Ren Zhong asked, "Why can't traditional control methods be used, like driving a vehicle?"
Ju Qingmeng shook her head, "Naturally, that wouldn't work. A complete exoskeleton armor contains at least dozens, and at most hundreds of different-sized and functional joints. In actual combat, perhaps it's just a simple overall movement, but every joint will have varying degrees and orientations of decoupling actions. If you equip each critical joint with a joystick like vehicle driving, how many joysticks would that require? How would you adjust the omnidirectional movements of each joint? No matter how fast and skilled one's hands, it's impossible to execute rapid maneuvers and trigger weapons simultaneously."
Ren Zhong asked again, "Why can't programs be prearranged to set up combinations? For example, control the exoskeleton armor to move slowly or sprint quickly by pulling the joystick with different amplitudes, or clenched fists trigger a clenching action in the armor, raise arms with force transmission internally, sensors in the armor react, and control armor accordingly to match the intentions? Isn't it possible to consolidate countless small changes into various modes to simplify operation processes?"
Ju Qingmeng: "We are facing not clumsy armored vehicles, but Ruined Beasts of varying sizes, speeds, and even basic combat intelligence. If all detailed movements of the exoskeleton armor were merged, your moves would become fixed and formulaic, lacking adaptability, offering nearly no chance against Ruined Beasts of the same level."
"Also, according to what you said, using fine force sensors to control armor is theoretically possible. However, no matter how good chips and sensors we use, the delay in cooperative response is intolerably high. The only way to reduce delay is by accessing from the nervous level, so when you think of punching, your hand punches, and your exoskeleton armor also punches almost simultaneously. Do you understand?"
Ren Zhong nodded, "Understood, thank you very much!"
"Alright, let's start testing now, to see if Mr. Ren has talent. Please lie down and relax as much as possible."
Ju Qingmeng flipped the switch, and the next moment, Ren Zhong felt a tingling array of microcurrents throughout his body, somewhat similar to when his Wrist watch was in effect, but working simultaneously all over his body.
This tingling sensation lasted for almost five minutes.
The numbers finally appeared on the cabinet display.
Facing away from the cabinet, Ren Zhong couldn't see the numbers and was already feeling nervous, "How much?"
"10%, not bad, just enough to meet the standard."
Ju Qingmeng said with a smile.
Ren Zhong breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's just a bit unfortunate."
Ju Qingmeng sighed again.
"Mr. Ren is twenty-three this year, right? With an untrained initial value of only 10%, it basically means you're unlikely to become a Third Level Mechanical Warrior."
Ren Zhong's face turned slightly dark, "Is that so?"
"Mr. Ren, you don't need to lose heart. The initial value is not a fixed value; it can fluctuate to some extent according to your physical condition. Other people often strengthen exercises for ten to half a month before testing the initial value, adjusting the state, trying to achieve the best result the first time they test."
"Mr. Ren, you seem a bit pale, and your mental state doesn't look very well. Perhaps after taking a good rest and coming back on another day, the value might rise a bit. As long as you surpass 12%, achieving a Fourth Level Mechanical Warrior is still hopeful."
Ren Zhong felt hope ignite in his heart again, "Is that so?"
"Mr. Ren, let me tell you a joke. Last year, someone made an appointment for the test, but on the test day, they got an upset stomach that flared up just when testing started. Most pathways in his spinal nerves transmitted immune response information inside his body, resulting in only a 5% synch rate, wasting 5 Contribution Points' testing fee. After recovering a few days later, the retest result was 13%, which is quite decent in Starfire Town. What a guy!"
Standing aside, Zheng Tian lightly coughs, "Manager Ju is talking about Wen Lei, a member of my team."
Upon hearing this, Ren Zhong's mind raced.
Isn't this simple-minded Wen Lei just from diarrhea, causing a drop from 13% to 5%?
I, just yanked back a leg from the Ghost Gate as a late-stage cancer patient with heavy cancer cell spread, facing off Abnormal Cell Eater against cancer cells, perhaps the neuro-blocker effects haven't worn off, my body's negative debuffs are definitely maxed out.
What should my true value actually be?
Just then, Ju Qingmeng suddenly exclaimed, "How strange, it's increased by 1%, now it's 11%! Is it possible it might rise further if we wait a bit longer?"
Ren Zhong quickly said: "Thank you, Manager Ju, but it's getting late. Please remove the equipment first. This feeling is too tingling; I can't take it. Also, it's late. We need to hurry, can Manager Ju show me a list of products in the store? I want to buy some items."