Chapter 31: The Devil’s Gift, Section 7

A massive workshop entirely made of steel. When Black Hair entered, the first thing he saw was a bloody humanoid figure.
Oh, what kind of humanoid was this? Over eight meters tall, with no armor or protective shell on its surface. From Black Hair’s perspective, all he could see were those blood-red, still writhing muscle tissues. Judging by its appearance, it resembled a human with its skin stripped off. The rustling sound of the muscles moving was clearly audible in the silent room, sending chills down every person who entered.
“This…” Black Hair frowned but didn’t continue. In just a moment, he had taken in the entire workshop with the corner of his eye. Of course, he also noticed the pile of pitch-black metal parts in the corner.
That was the shell of the Killing Emperor…
Noticing Black Hair’s expression, the young man who had been following him stepped forward quickly and came to his side. Pushing up his thick glasses with his right hand, wasn’t it Cobra?
“Leader Black Hair, what you’re seeing now is the Killing Emperor. We’ve initially completed its skeletal and joint structure. Lord Core personally filled it with biological tissue. It’s currently in the integration phase. It will take another thirty minutes for the biological tissue to coordinate properly with the mechanical parts.”
“Once the integration is complete, the biological tissue will no longer reject the mechanical components. Their strength will exceed that of any steel wire made from alloy. Moreover, they possess the unique regenerative and proliferative abilities of the Wandering Clan. With such traits, their strength will be more than fifteen times that of ordinary mechanical structures. They won’t fear external impacts either. No matter how harsh the environment, even if damaged by enemies, they can recover on their own within thirty seconds. Of course, this comes at the cost of energy consumption.”
“You mean… this biological tissue will act as muscles, replacing the original mechanical power?” Hearing Cobra’s explanation, Black Hair’s gaze fell on the giant figure before him. Indeed, through the writhing muscle tissues, he could see faint glimmers of cold light—probably the mechanical components inside the Killing Emperor.

“Yes, Lord Leader. Through our research, we found that the biological tissues of the Wandering Tribe have advantages over traditional mechanical structures in many aspects. For example, they are resistant to corrosion, can withstand high temperatures, have strong impact resistance, and even possess self-repair capabilities. If used in mecha’s power systems, they would be far more efficient than conventional mechanical power. Of course, they also require more energy. Overall, if such tissues are used, the Killing Emperor would need more than three times the usual amount of energy for daily combat.”
“Can its core handle that?” Black Hair immediately noticed the focus of the conversation and asked calmly.
“That’s exactly the problem,” the young man said with a wry smile, pushing up his thick glasses. “Despite our best efforts, after this modification, the Killing Emperor’s original engine core still can’t keep up with the energy consumption of biological tissues. So in daily combat, it can only operate at 75% of its designed capacity. Once exceeded, the mech will experience uncontrollable spasms—sort of like a human’s nervous reaction. Simply put… seizures?”
“Seizures?” Black Hair burst into laughter.
What a joke. In this era of mechanical and magical civilizations, would a mecha, as the most advanced weapon, actually have seizures? If anyone heard about this, wouldn’t they laugh themselves dead?
But even if it meant laughing themselves dead, Black Hair had no choice but to accept it. After all, his Killing Emperor was unique. While other mechs still used pure magical or mechanical systems, the Killing Emperor had already adopted a hybrid system. And when hybrid systems became widespread, it switched to biological tissues as its core. Although it always retained its superiority, the cost…
“Is there no other solution? I remember the modification included adaptability. Judging from Blood Moon and Sunset, the Killing Emperor should now have corresponding enhancement components, right? Couldn’t we install a power core in those components?”
“That’s true. That’s what we thought at first,” the young man said with a forced smile, showing a hint of embarrassment. “But we overlooked one thing: what if those components get damaged?”

“Components are different from the main body. So it’s impossible to use the biological tissues of the Wandering Clan. Once damaged in battle, they have to be replaced. But there will definitely be a gap during the replacement process. It might not matter in normal times, but in intense battles, this gap is equivalent to a lack of energy for the Killing Emperor,” Glasses explained slowly. “And, Black-Haired Leader, do you still remember the hormones I mentioned before?”
“Of course. What about them?” Black-Haired was puzzled.
“The energy shortage mentioned above doesn’t even include the use of hormones. From our experiments, we found that when hormones are used, the biological tissues of the Wandering Clan can generate ten times more power than usual. But it also increases energy consumption by twenty times… I’m afraid even if a power core is installed in the enhanced components, it won’t be able to keep up with such terrifying energy consumption.”
Ten times more power… twenty times more energy consumption?
Listening to Glasses’ slow explanation, Black-Haired fell silent.
He wasn’t an ignorant person when it came to mechs. On the contrary, his knowledge of mechs could probably be considered expert-level. But the more he understood, the more he realized the terrifying reality behind the young man’s description.
With nuclear-based tissues, the Killing Emperor’s performance would already have seen a huge leap. If its power suddenly increased by ten times, the most likely outcome would be that the Killing Emperor would become synonymous with invincibility! No ship’s armor could possibly withstand even ten seconds against a Killing Emperor with ten times more power! Even the massive ships of the Moore Clan wouldn’t stand a chance. Black-Haired could even imagine those sturdy Stone Essence armors crumbling in front of the Killing Emperor.
But as the price for gaining such power, the twenty times higher energy consumption was something Black-Haired couldn’t afford. It was like being given a sweet treat only to be beaten mercilessly afterward. It was extremely uncomfortable and unacceptable.
“What if, I mean what if, I activate the hormones while having the components installed? What kind of reaction would the Killing Emperor have?” Hesitantly, Black-Haired finally asked the question on his mind.
“Ten minutes of invincibility. Then a day of weakness. Even if energy is replenished promptly, it won’t change that,” the young man replied firmly. He added, “If activated without the components, the Killing Emperor can still hold out for ten minutes, but there won’t be any weakness afterward.”

“Because it will decompose and collapse. At the same time, due to extreme hunger, these biological tissues will devour everything around them—mecha skeletons, weapons, armor, light circuits, and even… the pilot himself.”
“Even the pilot… will be eaten?” Hearing the last words, Black Hair was stunned.
To be honest, Black Hair had thought about the side effects of the Wandering Cell, but he never imagined they would be so extreme. The hungry biological tissues would consume everything around them, leaving not even the pilot untouched. What kind of terrifying mecha was this? Which pilot would dare to sit in such a mecha?
“Yes, Leader Black Hair. That’s the truth. I even consulted Lord Core of the Wandering Ones, but he couldn’t do anything either. According to him, it’s the fate of the Wandering race—they spend their entire lives trying to fill their stomachs but can never be satisfied. That’s why every cell has this trait. Once hunger exceeds a certain limit, the cells rebel and devour everything.” The young man took off his thick glasses, revealing a delicate face, though it was covered with a bitter smile.
“What a terrifying trait, Leader. I never imagined there could be such horrible creatures in this world. Although they’ve helped me greatly, thinking about what this mecha will look like once completed really gives me chills. Perhaps what the Wandering race gave to the Killing Emperor is a gift from the devil.”
Watching the young man sigh beside him, Black Hair had to admit his description was spot-on.
Indeed, no one could bear the sight of powerful biological tissues going out of control and devouring everything. But could he really refuse?
With shock resistance, corrosion resistance, toxin resistance, self-regeneration capabilities, and immense strength—all dozens of times better than traditional mechas—such biological tissues were the ultimate material any mecha designer could dream of. Other than the Wandering Cells, Black Hair couldn’t think of anything better. Moreover, with the Octopus Crew Hormone, it could even grant the pilot ten minutes of invincibility—nothing could stop it.
For such a powerful mecha, even if a price had to be paid, it seemed reasonable, right?
A gift from the devil. Heh, he really had no way of refusing.

“Alright. Snake. I understand what you mean. I accept this modification plan. But I hope that after it’s completed, you won’t stop researching the energy core. Strive to find a way to supply sufficient energy as soon as possible. Just let me know if you need any resources.” After pondering for a moment, Black Hair finally made a decision. At the same time, he raised his head and took another close look at the giant figure in the workshop. By then, the fusion process had already ended. The muscle tissue on the mech’s surface stopped moving. The bloody color quickly faded, replaced by deep darkness, as thick as ink, making the entire mech appear even more ferocious. Invisible to him, Black Hair thought he saw the devil’s sinister smile.