#645Chapter 645: Flesh and Blood Pain, Mechanical AscensionAI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 645: The Pain of Flesh and Blood, The Ascension of Machines
[You have left the "Metal Slug" instance.]
[The Game Expert begins settlement—]
[Through settlement, you obtained the "Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd" template armament—the "Silver Surfboard".]
Just as Cheng Tian officially returned to Heaven's Chosen Space, the Root of Mars mothership, which blotted out the sky, also returned to Heaven's Chosen Space, directly hovering above the central plaza of Heaven's Chosen Space, completely overshadowing everything.
Because this object was too massive, the players below could barely see the mothership's full extent, and many even thought Heaven's Chosen Space was under some kind of external attack.
This unusual sight truly startled all the players. Just from the sheer scale of the scene, the appearance of this thing was far more exaggerated than the black and white Twin Towers. However, with the Twin Towers as a reference, many people immediately realized that this might be an impact on Heaven's Chosen Space brought about by a certain player's mission.
But why were there no spatial notifications?
Just as they were feeling puzzled, the sky-obscuring Root of Mars mothership, under the rules of the space, concealed its form, allowing light to return to the area below.
At the same time, some sensitive players who happened to be in the mission release center found a series of additional trial missions in the list of available missions, all uniformly titled "Blazing Sun Legion Recruitment Trials," but with varying content.
Concurrently, information regarding the Blazing Sun Legion, such as member privileges, responsibilities, and rules, was also revealed through these missions.
Yes, Cheng Tian's Blazing Sun Legion also had a threshold.
Those who could join without any trials, simply with Cheng Tian's nod, were limited to the players who had driven the Cosmic Coffin with Cheng Tian, charging into outer space. Or rather, their courageous act of daring to face death head-on was already equivalent to completing a faction trial.
As for all others who had a desire to join, every single one of them needed to diligently complete the trial missions.
This was actually a rule set by Cheng Tian after communicating with the space.
There is a term called "sunk cost," which in layman's terms means that once a certain amount has been invested, whether emotionally or financially, it easily creates a sense of attachment that is difficult to let go of, leading to deeper binding. These trial missions are one of the sunk costs for players joining.
It is already obvious which identical item, one obtained for free from someone else and one bought with one's own money, is easier to abandon.
And the relevant information about these mission lists quickly spread within the player community.
Currently, there are indeed quite a few player guilds in Heaven's Chosen Space, but those are all privately organized. The only things that can truly influence the main mission configuration are team contracts.
Admittedly, there were indeed a few very powerful players who managed to obtain 40-man raid contracts from the "World of Warcraft" instance. Under the unity of these contracts, they formed very solid community groups. However, ultimately, they were still player guilds and far from being called a "faction."
But now, this Blazing Sun Legion, which appeared without warning, had the name of player Aoko prominently displayed as its Legion Commander, which indeed caught many people's eyes... and it even seemed to be the kind that had received spatial recognition and could issue recruitment missions.
This led many people to speculate about the rank and strength of this fellow who so casually chose a fruit-themed ID, and what qualified her to become the leader of an independent faction acknowledged by the space.
As for some who had previously interacted with Cheng Tian, either as teammates or enemies, their minds were already churning.
For example, the Luo Meiling and Eva duo, the Dwarf and Elf duo, and the group of dual-faction players who chose to stay on Earth and abandon the main quest in the last main instance, and so on.
Since Cheng Tian did not reveal his ID number, this group of people could not send harassment messages to Cheng Tian. Only Luo Meiling and Eva had exchanged ID numbers with Cheng Tian, and their inquiry messages naturally arrived as expected.
Cheng Tian glanced at them and simply ignored them, after all, he wasn't really familiar with these two girls.
Moreover, even though the time spent in this instance was very short, only about a day and a half including the final lingering time, it severely drained Cheng Tian's energy.
This was using mental power to control a city capable of cosmic navigation. Even with the large-scale Feng Shui Engine providing power, the consumption for Cheng Tian was greater than imagined.
However, with the addition of the Root of Mars, acting as "First Officer + Helmsman," Cheng Tian could now afford to slack off.
Incidentally, due to the existence of the large-scale Feng Shui Engine, the Root of Mars no longer needed to sit on a toilet when taking over control.
This resulted in Cheng Tian being completely worn out after all the effort, the kind that couldn't straighten up no matter how much he was pulled.
"Hehehe ~ Hehehehe ~"
But Cheng Tian's silly, happy state had apparently lasted for some time, because the heavily damaged Jupiter King had already appeared in his collection archive area.
Compared to its intact state, the Jupiter King before him had less than one-tenth of its overall combat power. Cheng Tian's faction also had no pilot units capable of repairing and maintaining it, so normally, he could only spend money to have the space help with repairs.
However, Cheng Tian's Void Garage has a self-repair function. As long as this thing is left inside for a long enough time, the damaged parts will heal themselves.
Having piloted Getter Robo 2 once, Cheng Tian clearly had greater ambitions regarding mechs, and this Jupiter King was one of the shortcuts to realizing his ambitions.
"By the way, why haven't you restored your body? Don't you like it?"
Cheng Tian turned his head and asked Utan, who had uncharacteristically chosen to take a break and relax, pausing his research project.
"I've grown accustomed to this body where both feet are as agile as my hands. It doesn't really matter if I don't revert to human form, and besides... I have a better option."
This was Utan's reply.
As a native NPC of the Metal Slug world, Utan's corresponding Bronze Side Quest completion area should have been the Metal Slug world, and the 24-hour stay was already enough for Utan to change himself back.
With its current level of genetic technology, it would be effortless to reverse-engineer the antidote for the original beastification using the Modern Army's data.
But perhaps because it had followed Cheng Tian for so long and experienced so much, making it realize that the human body has its limits, Utan himself (the ape) actually preferred the path of mechanical ascension.
Moreover, witnessing Aoko's powerful puppetry technology in the "FATE" world, which could be integrated into mechanical ascension, further solidified Utan's choice, and its provisional body was already basically formed—
A special body that could switch between a flesh-and-blood beast and a metallic humanoid at any time.
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