Hercules strode up to the alloy lock and casually tossed the imposing restraint tens of meters away.

"Not bad on the strength!" the Bearded Commander boomed with laughter. "Heh heh, the Federation's little chick soldiers definitely don't have this much power."

Once a person donned Hercules-I, they possessed physical strength exceeding twenty tons—that was Billrokes' explanation.

The alloy lock was retrieved, and dozens of metal pillars, some tall and some short, rose from the ground, instantly making the testing ground terrain incredibly complex. Hercules-I slightly bent its frame and began sprinting around the pillars. In the blink of an eye, it whipped up a gale within the testing area, as the monitoring instruments on the sidelines continuously registered its running speed: fifty kilometers per hour, eighty kilometers per hour, one hundred kilometers per hour... ultimately, Hercules-I reached an astonishing top speed of two hundred kilometers per hour!

Moreover, it was exceptionally agile while moving. It tore around the pillars in arcs but never once collided with any of them. Regardless of the complexity of the route, its internal calculation chips enabled it to make the fastest and most precise reactions.

The metal pillars slowly retracted back into the ground, and the furiously running Hercules-I returned to the center of the testing arena. A solid steel plate target, three feet thick, slowly ascended a hundred meters in front of it. Hercules-I raised its right arm. The armor plating on its right arm shifted, revealing the muzzle of an energy cannon, as thick as a fist. After a brief charge, a beam of white light shot from the muzzle, punching clean through the homogenous steel plate.

"Magnificent!" Gu Xichen clapped and cheered incessantly, while the Bearded Commander and the others followed suit with continuous applause.

Billrokes provided the firepower specifications for Hercules-I. Its internal energy supply could sustain one hundred consecutive shots from the main cannon in its right arm. Besides this main weapon, Hercules-I could externally mount up to a hundred different types of weaponry. When carrying a full load of weapons, its top speed would drop to one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, but the carried arsenal would equal the firepower of an enhanced platoon.

As Billrokes elaborated, three modular weapon crates rose from the earth. Hercules-I walked over and effortlessly slung the crates onto its back. Following a few low mechanical whirs, two 15mm multi-barreled machine guns were mounted on Hercules-I’s arms, one on the left and one on the right. An 80mm mortar tube extended from behind its head, and two 120mm large-caliber anti-armor missiles protruded from its shoulders.

Armed to the teeth—that was the only feeling Hercules-I conveyed! And this was only a fraction of the weapon configurations it could choose from.

A dull series of gunshots rang out, spewing two long tongues of flame. The firing rate of 12,000 rounds per minute lasted a full three minutes, bathing the steel target in 36,000 rounds of 'Zhenjin' armor-piercing shells, turning it into something resembling a honeycomb. Boom, boom, boom—three muffled thuds indicated the mortar firing three high-explosive shells in succession. The ten-by-ten-meter steel target disintegrated into fragments amidst the loud explosions.

"Enough!" Gu Xichen shouted. He dared not let the two large-caliber anti-armor missiles continue firing.

Those things were monstrous implements designed for sinking warships; the testing ground's energy shield couldn't guarantee it could withstand them.

Hiss, hiss—the ventral armor plating on Hercules-I's front slowly parted, and a thin, withered middle-aged man leaped out.

"Alexander?" Gu Xichen called out in surprise, "You, the fellow who can barely walk steadily!"

Alexander, the former mechanical expert of the Gu Group, let out a few chuckles. He staggered a few steps forward before finally flopping onto his rear end, unable to move further. Gasping for air, Alexander gestured with his hands and dryly laughed, "Boss, you have to give me a raise! I want a hand-built Rolls-Royce luxury RV! And at least two months of paid vacation! Look at this little darling of ours; wearing this, I alone can wipe out a mechanized infantry battalion of the Federation!"

Thunderous applause erupted, everyone present clapping furiously. Even someone like Peng Hua, the little Siren, couldn't help but cheer. It was too astonishing; this Hercules-I was simply... a single-soldier war fortress! If the frail and weak Alexander could possess such combat power in this armor, what could a person with psychic abilities achieve? Or a powerful Innate Warrior?

"Incredible! Raise, bonus, paid vacation—you get it all!" As soon as the energy shield dissipated, Gu Xichen rushed into the testing ground and hugged Alexander tightly.

"You all did beautifully! But... what's the cost? The production cost of one Hercules-I?"

Billrokes walked up to Hercules-I and affectionately stroked its arm. He smiled, "We invested 27.3 billion in R&D for this. But the manufacturing cost isn't high. After using the alloy formula you brought to replace several previously rare metals, the production cost for one Hercules-I is a negligible 4.9 million!"

Alexander gasped and chuckled, "The previous experimental frames required extremely expensive, high-purity rare metals for all the decentralized engine systems and energy transfer systems, pushing the production cost to hundreds of millions. But the alloy formula you brought back allows us to achieve performance close to, or even exceeding, that of rare metals using common materials like ordinary steel. Thus, the manufacturing cost plummeted! The 4.9 million includes energy consumption and labor costs during production!"

"A perfect creation!"

Gu Xichen sincerely praised Billrokes, Alexander, and the other research staff. He exchanged a look with the Bearded Commander.

The Bearded Commander nodded. He chuckled, "I should send out invitations to my old friends... Hmm, General Jess of the Federation Military Armament Administration and I are on good terms. Back in the day, he approved the paperwork for several of our mercenary group's heavy patrol boats."

Twenty-four hours later, the testing ground on the base surface glittered with stars.

The Chairman of the Federation Military Poison Wolf, along with more than a dozen Generals, several dozen Lieutenant Generals, and over a hundred Major Generals, converged upon the Copenhagen Base One of the Harder Defense Company. The Bearded Commander had utilized all his connections to stir up buzz within the military leadership about the Harder Company inventing something incredible, yet he refused to disclose what this marvel was, leaving everyone who heard the whispers utterly perplexed. Out of sheer curiosity, Poison Wolf, the Chairman who had been under immense pressure recently, traveled here himself.

Poison Wolf, his face grim, stood beside Gu Xichen, intently watching Hercules-I, which was draped in a sheet of red silk inside the testing ground.

"Is this the new gadget you mentioned?" Poison Wolf coldly regarded Gu Xichen. "I hope it proves my trip worthwhile. I've been busy and frustrated lately. Do you realize how much trouble you caused me on Easter Island? You nearly cornered the entire Earth Federation defense market by yourself!"

"I spat out a considerable portion of it!" Gu Xichen looked at Poison Wolf with an air of wounded innocence. "I understand the principle of making money together!"

"It's good that you spat it out, otherwise..." Poison Wolf let out a cold, ambiguous laugh. He pointed at Hercules-I and sneered, "Shall we begin?"

Gu Xichen didn't issue the command to start the test. He smiled faintly and asked Poison Wolf in a low voice, "Before we begin the demonstration, may I ask how much budget the military has left this year?"

Poison Wolf paused, narrowed his eyes, and coldly replied, "A comprehensive war budget for the full-scale war against the Roman people... Fully supported by the Federation's treasury!"

Nodding with satisfaction, Gu Xichen gently waved his hand.

The red silk was whipped upward by a powerful gust of air, revealing the magnificent Hercules-I to the assembled crowd. Without preamble, Hercules-I repeated the standard testing procedure it had performed twenty-four hours earlier. The more than one hundred Generals present erupted into cheers!

Gu Xichen stood next to Poison Wolf and whispered in a voice only the Chairman could hear, "Imagine the scene if every Federation soldier were equipped with a Hercules-I single-soldier armor?"

Poison Wolf’s gaze drifted, and he watched Hercules-I, the muzzle of its machine cannon still faintly smoking, a smile gradually spreading across his face.

Gu Xichen smiled, looking at Poison Wolf with absolute certainty.

On the Heaven Star battlefield, soldier casualties were mounting, but the damage inflicted on the Roman warriors was disproportionate. If previously one Roman warrior could cost the Federation twenty soldiers' lives, with Hercules-I, perhaps one Roman warrior could only kill two or three Federation soldiers before being neutralized—that was the exchange ratio in a one-on-one engagement. If a special forces unit equipped with Hercules-I could be formed, perhaps the Romans would be suppressed by an equally sized Earth army on the front lines for the first time.

Unlike heavy combat vehicles that were powerful but cumbersome, the single-soldier armor was agile and versatile, allowing equipped soldiers to fight in terrain inaccessible to heavy vehicles. Terrain-unrestricted single-soldier armor with the defensive capability of a heavy combat vehicle was undoubtedly the preferred choice on the battlefield.

"Marshal, I can state with certainty that Hercules-I's defensive capabilities comprehensively surpass the Roman energy armor! Because it utilizes the alloy formula I brought back from Heaven Star!"

Gu Xichen stood with his hands behind his back, smiling confidently. "General Vaghri's alloy formula submitted to the military hasn't actually produced combat effectiveness yet, has it?"

After contemplating for a moment, Poison Wolf frowned. "What is the unit price for a single-soldier armor? Are there discounts for large procurements?"

Clapping his hands suddenly, Gu Xichen roared with laughter, "Hey, we are all respectable people; talking about money is too vulgar, isn't it?"

He affectionately nudged Poison Wolf's arm with his shoulder and smiled, "Let's talk about feelings, about camaraderie!"

Poison Wolf shuddered internally.