"Here are twelve V-type four-stroke water-cooled 12-cylinder diesel engines, each with a power of 1000 horsepower. Any one of these engines can match the power you've absorbed from several cars before. Though they are a bit old, they are still fully functional, dismantled from decommissioned Type 96 tanks. Let's see if you can absorb them," Engineer Li instructed the soldiers to pry open the last twelve large wooden crates and, tapping the old yet spotless engines, he introduced them.
"Oh!" Pei Yan's eyes lit up upon hearing this! He responded excitedly and strode forward to place his hand on the engine. The blue light appeared, yet this time the absorption process was notably slower than before. As the engines slowly transformed into iron flow and entered his body, a constant stream of black-gray iron flowed down his back, resembling detoxification.
Curious, Elder Lin led the crowd closer, squatting to inspect the items solidified on the ground from the iron flow. These iron flows quickly solidified into various metallic objects once they left Pei Yan's body and reached the ground. Xiaoyu picked up one piece and gently pinched it between her fingers, turning the iron block into powdery residue.
"These seem like iron slags, they have already lost most of their metallic properties," Engineer Li squatted and picked up a piece, fiddling with it. Despite this, he and his assistant still collected the metallic waste to take back to the lab for further research.
Another long wait ensued; more people flocked to the outside of the warehouse. Many special forces soldiers who had finished training crowded at the glass windows, pointing at and discussing the fully mechanized Pei Yan inside.
Eight engines, after Pei Yan absorbed the eighth engine, when he reached out for the ninth one, the blue light ceased its glow, and everything went calm.
"Is this your limit already?" Engineer Li stepped forward and inquired.
Pei Yan looked regretfully at the remaining four engines and shook his head: "It's my current limit. Subconsciously, I feel I can still absorb, but right now, I just can't."
"You've absorbed so much, but you don't seem much different! Why don't we try it out?" Xiaoyu came over and pinched Pei Yan's mechanical arm with some force, seeing still a dent, she expressed her disappointment.
"Alright! Let's try!" Even Pei Yan was puzzled by his current condition. He immediately agreed upon hearing Xiaoyu's suggestion, summoning a helmet to cover his head. However, just as the helmet enveloped him and he raised his arms to prepare for battle, Pei Yan paused and instinctively lowered his arms.
The already attacking Xiaoyu retracted her punched fist and asked bewildered, "What happened?"
Pei Yan waved a hand without speaking, looking at the screen inside his visor displaying a line of small text stating, "Body has reached upgrade standard, choose to upgrade? Yes/No."
Without hesitation, he chose yes in his consciousness. Instantly, numerous faint blue lights emerged from Pei Yan's body, radiating outward through gaps in his mechanical form, gradually forming a dazzling blue glow that enveloped him entirely.
Gu Shenghui and Liu Xuan, who had been observing from a corner, changed their expressions as they hurriedly approached to surround Pei Yan, ready to assist if anything went wrong.
Pei Yan's mouth, covered by the helmet, uttered a muffled yet heart-wrenching cry of pain. He thought that being a mechanical body would exempt him from pain, but the truth this time told him he was wrong! Every part of his body, stretching and tearing, sent waves of unbearable agony.
"You must hold on! This time, I absolutely can't pass out! My body is my own! I definitely won't hand it over to anyone else!"
With this resolve, Pei Yan, naturally optimistic, displayed a stubbornness in his character for the first time, allowing the pain like a tide to surge over his mind wave after wave, letting his roar of agony resound loudly, yet refusing to give up, forcing his exhausted eyes to stay wide open, focusing on every change in his body!
Whether human or monster, it's his choice, and he's committed to carrying and taking responsibility for it!
"Bang!" First, the right arm exploded, countless iron fragments splattering. Hu Wenjun dashed forward to shield the defenseless Engineer Li, spreading out his hands to create a fiery red energy wall before them. But despite the danger, Engineer Li ignored Hu Wenjun's reprimands, pushing up his glasses, eagerly peering through the gaps to watch Pei Yan during his evolution process.
The others acted similarly, deploying their abilities to dodge the flying iron debris. Elder Lin, Gu Shenghui, and Liu Xuan were more relaxed compared to the others. They simply stood still, without action, as the iron debris aimed at them either changed direction automatically mid-flight or disintegrated into flying ash upon nearing their bodies, dissipating in the breeze.
Elder Lin focused intently on Pei Yan's exploding right arm, his heart racing. But Pei Yan didn't leave this elder worried for long. In the instant after the mechanical arm exploded, countless iron flows surged from Pei Yan's body, forming a new mechanical arm from scratch.
"Xiaogu, what does his current state resemble?" After the second mechanical arm exploded, Elder Lin turned and asked Xiaogu solemnly.
"Like a python shedding skin."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xuan casually pinched a speeding iron piece beside him, examining it thoroughly in his palm, and whether in contemplation or mockery, he remarked, "For a first 'shedding,' such dramatic events, this python might just become a dragon."
As they spoke, Pei Yan had completed the transformation of his limbs, proceeding to the crucial metamorphosis at the center of his body. Elder Lin and Gu Shenghui quickly stepped forward, approaching Pei Yan who was shrouded in blue light, hands on the ground, knees down.
"Don't, come, closer! I, can, handle it!" Six words came out one by one from within the helmet!
No sooner were the words spoken than Pei Yan's torso began to liquefy, continuously leaking iron flows downward. As the iron flows drained away, new iron flows emerged from Pei Yan's heart area, replacing the lost parts.
The process lasted for nearly twenty minutes. Meanwhile, the warehouse's perimeter was already packed with nearly a hundred people jostling around. Everyone's gaze was fixed on Pei Yan, half-kneeling on the ground from all directions.
Half an hour later, the iron flows emerging from the shoulder blades rejuvenated the material of Pei Yan's helmet. Rising slowly from the iron slag ruins, Pei Yan emerged anew.
The fully black body now had a steelier silhouette, the visor area of the helmet post-modification became more compact with each step crushing the iron slag underfoot into powder.
"I told you! We will have an Armor Warrior among us sooner or later!" A soldier outside the window couldn't help but cheer!
"Nonsense, definitely Iron Man!"
"Rubbish, didn't you see he's fully mechanized? What's it got to do with Iron Man? If anything, he's Cyborg, or RoboCop!"
Once one person started, the outside instantly erupted in lively discussion. Inside the warehouse, Liu Xuan shook his head helplessly, turned around, and fingered the crowd outside silently one by one, instantly calming the previously bustling group. Everyone stood upright, refusing to leave, silently observing the subsequent events in the warehouse.
"Xiaopei, how do you feel?" Elder Lin approached Pei Yan and asked with concern.
"I feel strength continuously emerging from my body! And I'm just thirsty! Really thirsty!" Pei Yan tapped the helmet's release mechanism and shook his sweat-drenched hair vigorously, looking at his newly changed body as he licked his parched lips delightedly.