Vol 14: Chapter 3-2.
Gando paused for a moment in confusion then ran over to Zheng with a laughter. He didn’t show any abnormality, just a regular sunny boy.
Zheng handed him a cigarette without any words. Gando took the cigarette and lit it without any hesitation. Then he returned the lighter to Zheng. He inhaled deeply and said with a surprise. “This is great cigarette. You got it from God? Haha. I will exchange a few packs after the next movie but it isn’t convenient to smoke in the cockpit.”
Zheng laughed. “Gando, you are actually pretty similar to me. Of all the people here, you are the only one that I can sense an strong desire to live. Stronger than anything.”
Gando paused. When he saw Zheng’s expression, he sat down next to Zheng quietly.
Zheng took another smoke. “Every time I revive a person, I can see his life, death, experiences, and his heart. Get it? I know what happened to you and know your obsession on staying alive. So you hate us right? For dying because of us in the previous movie.”
Gando didn’t say anything. After some time, he muttered a yes lightly. Zheng stared at him smoking the cigarette with his head down, a totally different person from before.
Zheng patted his shoulder. “This is our similarity. The desire to live. You are the only one I encountered since entering this realm with the same intense desire. When I saw your inner world, I could almost hear your cries of ‘live on, no matter what happens.’ It’s good, for real. If you can keep this will under any situation, you will probably become a top force in the team. You will be able to survive any situation. But…”
Zheng expressed a killing intent and said in a cold tone. “We are also different in that you can do anything in order to live, even if that means backstabbing your comrades. If you actually do it, I won’t let you off. I swear. You won’t surpass me in a short amount of time. Don’t let me know that you will do something harmful to the team. I won’t remind you a second time.”
He took out a piece of gold bar from the bag and gripped it with force. The gold bar was deformed with print of his palm.
Zheng put the gold bar back into the bag and said as he slowly walked toward his room. “Welcome to team China. This is a team where you can feel at ease. We won’t pull the trigger at your back.”
This conversation was kept hidden by the two of them. During training the next day, Gando was that same sunny boy. Zheng continued acting his role as the leader. He led the training and gave advices to everyone. Time gradually passed by. Several days later, Xuan appeared again with a pair of dark circles under his eyes and a bag of strangely shaped items in his hands.
Everyone stopped their training, even Gando who was running in front of Kampa’s electric shock stick. Xuan walked toward the bear robot.
He stood in front of the bear eyes and said calmly. “Come out. Cooperate the modification with me.”
“Eh?” Gando quickly came out of the cockpit. That afro showed how much he endured during the training.
Xuan had everyone help strip off the bear fur then opened up an area on the back waist.
Gando said with worry. “You sure? Are you familiar with robots? Don’t act like you do if you don’t. This is a tier C weapon.” He grumbled for a few minutes. Xuan’s expression never changed but Kampa couldn’t take him anymore and dragged Gando away. He found a rope to tie Gando up on a tree. Thus, the noise pollution was eliminated.
Everyone watched as Xuan installed stuff on the robot. The modification took several hours. After they put the fur back on, the bear robot did not look the same anymore. It couldn’t be said whether the change was good or bad, just that it looked more like a robot.
Two round packages were added to its back on left and right, just like a camel’s humps. In the front and back were two metallic plates carved with symbols.
Seeing that Xuan was finished, Kampa went to untie Gando. He quickly ran back to the robot and stared at the bear, seemingly short circuited.
Xuan massaged his temples and said. “Get in to give it a try. I made three modifications. Based on data from experiments, the robot’s mobility and power should have a huge increase.”
Gando hurriedly climbed in from the robot’s back.
Xuan continued. “The first modification is swapping the battery to a qi converted electricity power supply system. Of course, since you don’t have qi, you will need Zheng to charge it. Based on the calculated conversion rate and Zheng’s current quantity of qi, 10% will allow you to move for seventeen hours. The robot can store 130% of his qi in electricity. Which means one charge should allow you to use it through a movie unless it was a special situation.” Xuan waved at Zheng then pointed at the metallic plate on the robot’s back.
Zheng walked over without delay. He placed a hand on the plate and channeled 20% of his qi. The bear robot began moving.
Xuan continued. “The second modification is enhancement to your mobility. See that big red button? Press it after we are fifty meters away.”
Everyone followed Xuan away then he yelled. “Ok, press it!”
Gando took a deep breath inside the cockpit then pressed the button. The humps on the robot’s back opened up. Two blue electric jets spurted out with a loud vibrating noise. The electric jets were only twenty centimeters in length but the robot was already charging ahead at a surprisingly fast speed. It was two to three times faster than Zheng using the movement technique. In just a blink of an eye, Gando was only two hundred meters from a steel wall.
“Jump!” Xuan yelled.
Gando was totally shocked. He subconsciously controlled the robot to jump and it jumped almost ten meters high with the assistance of the electric jets. He continued charging forward and was over a thousand meters away from everyone by now.
Xuan said to Lan. “Tell him to press the red button again.”
Lan nodded. She connected with Gando over soul link and repeated the words. He pressed the button with panic. The electric jets disappeared and the round packaged sealed back.
Xuan said through the soul link. “This is the second modification. It change the direction of the electric jet to some degree for increased mobility. However, this state consumes energy rapidly so use it with care. You also don’t have the reaction speed and skills to utilize it. Let’s try the third modification, electrical attack.”