Chapter 289 The 096 armor
William once again gathered his energy, forcefully suppressing the cosmic truth-laden power, and punched the wall.
"2307 pounds!" Wes looked at the data on the iPad. This time the force was significantly greater than before, but the system indicated it could only kill a brown bear – the standard strength of a newbie Soulmancer.
Zoey, not very familiar with the system, glanced at it, saw it was normal, and then tossed the iPad back to Wes.
"It seems the system really had a problem." Wes quickly came to terms with it. Any system could malfunction, and the bizarre readings earlier clearly indicated a system error.
"Let's go, I'll test your psychic power next." Wes swiped on the iPad, saving William's data.
"Psychic power?" William was somewhat puzzled. How could such an intangible thing be tested?
"Yeah, our Dr. Lopez recently developed a device that can accurately measure the psychic strength of a Soulmancer," Wes said with a smile. "The system for testing strength and lethality was also developed by Dr. Lopez's team."
"Oh, really? Dr. Lopez must be quite talented." William was genuinely impressed. He could understand testing strength, but testing lethality and psychic power seemed a bit much.
He wondered what the so-called psychic power test would be like.
William could hide his physical strength, but how about psychic power?
Wes led them into another room.
This room looked more like a scene from a sci-fi movie, with various bizarre instruments, and even some metallic armors and modern weapons.
William walked up to a black metallic armor, touched it, feeling the cold metal, which seemed quite impressive.
"This is the 096 armor, developed by Dr. Lopez's team. Theoretically, a newbie Soulmancer wearing it could take on a mid-level Soulmancer."
"Why 'theoretically'?" William asked.
Wes explained, "In terms of defense, armor 096 can basically ignore attacks from a mid-level Soulmancer. However, a newbie Soulmancer wearing it probably can't keep up with the opponent's speed. Plus, mid-level Soulmancers can generally fly, so although it's a strong defense, it's difficult to kill a mid-level Soulmancer if they decide to flee."
As he was explaining, a nearly bald middle-aged man approached, sounding a bit annoyed, "What do you mean 'difficult to kill'? Just wearing this 096 armor, I could pick any guy with just level one psychic power from the base, and they could kill a mid-level Soulmancer."
Wes was momentarily speechless and stood there awkwardly smiling.
The middle-aged man sized up William and said, "Young man, would you like to try it out? Wearing this armor, you can have a thrilling fight with a mid-level Soulmancer."
William's eyebrows raised, intrigued by the idea.
Seeing William's interest, the middle-aged man continued, "Let me tell you, this armor has astonishing defensive capabilities, and I've equipped it with the latest alloy combat blades, infrared thermal imaging guided missiles, and a high-energy sniper rifle that can analyze target systems. Even someone inexperienced with firearms can snipe a mid-level Soulmancer."
"Is it complicated to operate?" William was genuinely fascinated.
From the initial reverence for deities, to the exploration of mysticism in the Middle Ages, and now the modern attitude of both respecting and challenging science and supernatural phenomena, humanity's spiritual journey has always been arduous and twisting. Today, although traditional deities are no longer the center of people's lives, there exist Soulmancers with powers far beyond ordinary people.
Yet, those ordinary professors still ponder how to counter these supernatural forces.
Such a creative mind.
"It's even simpler to operate. Just wear the armor, and you can control it entirely with psychic power... By the way, young man, have you tested your psychic power yet?" The more the middle-aged man spoke, the more excited he became, his eyes eagerly fixed on William.
Wes finally couldn't hold back and said, "Dr. Lopez, please, the 096 armor has just been successfully developed. Everything else aside, for the psychic power control part, unless we find someone with exceptional psychic power, controlling it for combat can easily lead to accidents."
Dr. Lopez, with a stern face, said, "That issue was resolved yesterday. Now, even someone with just level one psychic power can easily control it. Deputy Director Wenzel, arrange for someone to try it later."
"Alright, Dr. Lopez, just wait here, let me first test their psychic power, then I'll arrange for someone to try it." Wes seemed somewhat helpless in the face of this stubborn professor.
Dr. Lopez was genuinely talented. Many of the 13th Bureau's high-tech equipment were designed by him, particularly targeting Soulmancers.
However, it could be said that once these weapons of the 13th Bureau became public, they would inevitably cause an international uproar.
These weapons were too overpowered, but they also had several drawbacks.
Dr. Lopez nodded and said to Wes, "You take them in, and I'll monitor their test data."
After Dr. Lopez left, Wes said to William and Walker, "This armor does have amazing defensive capabilities, but wearing it out on missions would draw too much public attention. Plus, the weapons on the armor are excessively destructive and could easily harm innocents. Our principle in the 13th Bureau is to try to resolve conflicts between Soulmancers peacefully."
Hmm, right, with Zoey, that powerhouse, intervening, conflicts can indeed be resolved more "peacefully."
From what Wes said, it wasn't hard to discern that the 096 armor was genuinely powerful, but it seemed to be designed specifically for mid-level Soulmancers or those below that level.
Nowadays, there aren't too many intermediate Soulmancers in the world. Even if there are, Zoey can use her absolute strength to overpower opponents and bring them back to the 13th Bureau without anyone noticing. That would certainly be much more effective than putting on such a bulky suit and getting into a fight.
Moreover, from Dr. Lopez's words, it's not hard to infer that this armor was clearly designed for combat and lethal purposes. Wearing such a thing in a fight means no holding back,it's a fight to the death with no room for maneuver. So, at present, even if this armor is perfectly made, it has no practical application.
Unless… wearing it could directly overpower a high-level Soulmancer, establishing an absolute dominance in terms of combat strength.
"The armor has already been tested many times before. Everything else is fine, but even with a beginner Soulmancer controlling it using psychic power, they can only sustain combat for about ten minutes. If it's just an average newbie Soulmancer, managing one minute would already be quite impressive," Wes sighed and said, "I hope Dr. Lopez's research makes some new breakthroughs this time, otherwise he's just tinkering with this armor day after day."
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