Chapter 420: Side Projects

Words : 1288 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 420: Side Projects 30840000001 Sheep 30840000002 Sheep 30840000003 Sheep Finally, at the 30,840,000,004th sheep, Sid informed one little system that it was fine to get back to work. But what to do when the host didn’t seem to be functional? It seems to be the same as last time, as the readings were again all over the place, with an elevated pulse, heartbeat, and definitely a higher temperature. "Host!" Called D-29, which shocked Luca into almost falling off the bed as he forgot about, well, everything else. "!!!" "D-29! Did you by any chance see, hear, or record anything earlier?" A valid question, because he should have remembered them! "Oh! No, Host! Sid was adamant that everyone must count sheep dutifully when he says so; he said it was a matter of life and reboot. So, only after the 30,840,000,004th sheep did I activate my regular processes." "Sid told you to count sheep?" "Yes, Host! Even D-64 has been counting!" Luca could not believe how embarrassing this could get, but at least Sid was able to save him from having to change his identity and live far away. "I see, well, thank you for dutifully counting sheep. But you were looking for me, is something wrong?" "It’s the scheduled synthesis, Host. It’s finally done. You said to alert you when it’s over." Synthesis? Oh! Luca, who was living in a haze, suddenly remembered what he had been doing lately and clambered out of bed. Thankfully, the healing pill had already done its job, or dressing up would’ve been a pain in the— Gaaaaah! Luca internally screamed as he could no longer think or look at that place the same way, not after what had happened earlier. But he could not continue like this, or even sitting would be too much for his heart. So the flustered tomato slapped himself with both hands, which almost shocked D-29 into thinking about alerting emergency services, if not for how Luca suddenly said they’d start working now. Truly, the Host seems to be encountering difficulties lately, and as a loyal system that could not assist in the matter, maybe it would be wise to look for more material. And so while Luca only meant to return to his honest life, one little system was thinking of ways to do further research (damage). Thankfully, both instances of crashing to oblivion were mitigated by what looked like a successful experiment. In the past few days, Luca had been thinking of ways to improve their arsenal in preparation for the expo, and while he couldn’t exactly replace all the mechas of their house by himself, there was something he could try while the other mechanics were in the process of catching up. Weapons. And one of the pieces he’d been working on seems to have finally borne fruit. This was the fifth iteration of the part, and Luca was just hoping for the best. He started with this, thinking it was going to be the easiest, given the partial blueprint they’ve been able to reconstruct from Lady Leah Azren’s wings. But who would’ve thought he’d find so many things he wanted to change? It was a set of wings for a light mecha, in particular for Sid. And Luca had encountered a few issues and unexpected design problems that he didn’t think existed. But according to D-29 (and definitely Sid), who begged to scrap design number three, it was imperative they try again. So they did. Anyway, he still didn’t feel like those earlier versions were what he was aiming for. For one, he didn’t like how the connection between the wing and the mecha body was considered a weak spot. It was an obvious target, and Luca didn’t like how there was a probability of Xavier getting immobilized when facing an opponent who knew how to disassemble a mecha, just because his wings could be targeted. But if only Luca knew, disassemblers would likely be the least of his problems, as there weren’t as many people who were as crazy as he was. So Luca thought of improving that by using purified regenerative material that they got from fighting the dungeon boss, then coating it with Nanite ore. This was actually a massive failure, as the ore treated the regenerative material as an enemy until Luca decided to temper it with his spiritual energy so that they’d be of the same frequency. But then it ended up looking like a giant kite. And what was more dangerous than the connector? Well, exposed wings that were so big he could just glide with them. Then he chanced upon the Ghostvine resin and decided to try to camouflage the entire thing. And that worked better than expected! And surprisingly, even D-29 liked this idea, although it’s possible that someone liked it because it would ensure that any aesthetic disasters could be hidden. It was their last hope. But the mechanic didn’t have to know that. What he had to know, though, was how to make use of this giant part as a weapon, which was what got him interested in the design in the first place. Not that they even looked remotely similar after everything he scrapped. However, what really got him thinking was when the survey from the mecha pilots was returned, and he learned that changes in part weight, build, or span could usually affect calibration fidelity superficially because the pilot wasn’t accustomed to the changes. That was like throwing years of instinctive piloting just because a significant part was changed. And in his mind, Xavier didn’t have time to get used to such an integral part of his mecha changing. He was already busy, and if he had to practice more because of this, then wouldn’t that be counterproductive...? It was a thought from someone who was clearly looking for ways to free up his husband’s schedule, in good faith, he swears, but it was enough motivation to redo everything. So Luca considered it again, and that was how he ended up with this fifth iteration. He was going to use corrosive feather blades that varied in "feather" sizes, allowing him to maintain the integrity of the structure when the weaponized blades were released. After all, the goal for this wasn’t to damage the enemy but to start corrosion with the help of Tortie’s corrosive sludge. This one should be good, right? It was. Finally. And so were attempts one, two, and four, which would likely shock the Mylor couple once they saw these insane rejects. Thankfully, the rest of the weapons were much easier to make; there was a heavy mecha shield for Jax that was made from a combination of the S-grade arachnid corpse and the A-grade crystal core of a death worm. Then he planned to make a lance for Kyle, but more than that, Luca was actually planning a companion mecha for the adjutant who usually piloted with his brother. And that was surprisingly more difficult than building advanced and basic biomechas for their guild members. But only because those biomechas had a blueprint he could follow, and after making D-29, Luca felt like it would be something he could repeat, provided they had CP. Then what about the companion mecha? Would his brother prefer an insect or a four-legged beast? But wasn’t he more interested in the death worm? Luca was deep in thought, and while a certain brother would likely enjoy the most creative design, a certain adjutant was feeling chills in the middle of training while thinking about the frequency of this and how he probably ought to see a physician. Oh, if only that would solve his problem.

Chapter 420: Side Projects

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