Chapter 267: Change of Fate

Theory. In the end, it was all theory. Just like batteries, for example. In theory, a battery which required charging once every 10 days would really have to be charged once every three days.

The other laboratory members nodded as well. The Wind God's output levels had reached a sublime balance, and additional components could no longer be attached. In order to facilitate displacement, is shields were thin. Unless they wanted to take a leaf out of the Wargod No. 1's book and completely do away with shields?

Ye Zisu smiled encouragingly. "I know this is a huge challenge. But none of us are satisfied and ready to give up. I'm thinking that we can add on a few interesting design changes without any additional components that might affect the energy setup..."

Click. A schema and initial workplan draft appeared on the projector screen.

Everyone was stunned. Would this work?

"Of course, this is still riddled with problems. I don't think the details will end up as I envision, and the arrangement of the mech might undergo an endless number of revisions. This is why I need the help of each and every one of you."

Ye Zisu begged in a pleading tone.

"This design, it's ingenious, maybe- it might just... Even if I have to work through the night tonight, I want to come up with the first experimental module..."

"Old Man Chang, tomorrow is your wife's birthday isn't it? You were supposed to be on leave. How about calling it quits for today..." Ye Zisu shook her head with an exasperated smile.

"We've been married so long, there's no way she won't understand. It'll be fine. I'll call her up, she'll scold me for a while, and we'll be fine. I'll just promise to get her a promotional poster autographed by Lin Huiyin as a present." The old researcher had surged up with feverish excitement. It was possible... He still had years in him left. It was possible that, under the leadership of this woman, he would finally achieve the glory of creating a S rank mecha.

Without even pausing to celebrate, the entire research cell promptly threw themselves into the research for the Wind God 2.0.

Ye Zisu was also immersed in her work. The image of Wang Zheng using the Wind God to fend off 100 enemies was still deeply imprinted in her mind. One day, he would emerge in the arena, and on that day, he would definitely have a mech worthy of being his battle companion.

She would make the Wind God mech... a real god.

After a week, the results of OMG's Wind God v2.43 were out after countless minor revisions. It was now in the third iteration of the fourth major revision. It was finally returning positive feedback.

The Wind God v2.43's recharge through the magnetic source emissions was now able to produce a stable excess shield on the mech. The protective shield was no longer an advantage limited to Skeleton, although the strength and duration of the shield would depend on the mech pilot's abilities.

This was a classic case of standards speaking for themselves. Mech design was not Ye Zisu's vocation, but a hobby from her childhood. Her imagination had been allowed to run unfettered when she was young, and she had learned much from the experienced maintenance master, Luomu. It enabled her to look at the mech from a different angle.

Following the experimental model's data release, the entire mech production industry was again shaken. In such a short period of time, the Wind God mech had actually made enormous progress. All the time that OMG had kept their heads down and labored was now paying off.

But regrettably, there was nothing but silence from the military. The Chronos family's influence had begun to assert itself. It was only a single mech model. The impact on the military seemed to be minimal and thus they sided with the Chronos family. After all, the Chronos family was heavily involved in many facets of the Federation and held huge influence. It was unwise to offend them.

Chronos' move was despotic, aimed at removing this threat to their most profitable industry.

Chronos had been thoroughly cruel with this move. Within OMG, the effect was already being felt, and senior members had begun to hand in their resignations.

Ye Bingwen had foreseen this. Entering this industry meant encountering such setbacks. Those that left were not worth keeping around anyway. Besides, the core driver was the research team led by Ye Zisu. As long as this core remained firm, a little pressure in other divisions would mean nothing in the long run.

The best defense against pressure was offense. Ye Zisu directly approached Solon with the newest data on their latest mech.

Solon would definitely render full cooperation. Besides Skeleton as a good reason, this mech had the best chance of becoming popular in other major regions. CT was definitely better in the entertainment sector. Whether this mech would enjoy popular success was not guaranteed, but CT was definitely a good place to set it up for success. As the Solar System regional president, it would be another feather in his cap.

The shield was undoubtedly more stable than before, and it attracted countless pilots. This mech attracted those who wished to never stop and relentlessly plunge on.

But in actuality, there was nothing too special about it.

The Chronos family's influence was so deep-rooted that market penetration had virtually stopped, despite the initial recognition that OMG received. Even the huge conglomerates had been warned off. The mech was clearly promising, but purchase negotiations were lukewarm and noncommittal. It was slowly becoming one of those critically-acclaimed products that saw no real world reception.

No one would dare to risk offending the Chronos family over one mech.

In actuality, this was a double-edged sword to the Chronos family. Their overly hardline approach had strained the relations in the industry. They had broken the rules of the game, but retaliation needed an opportunity to surface. No one would step up to be the first to challenge the Chronos family.

Yet, this deadlock was very quickly broken. An Aslan shuttle arrived on Earth without much ceremony, but the entire Earth was surprised at the people who walked out of it. It was the Aslan military's FS mecha research evaluators!

Only a mech that had perked the interest of the Aslan military could activate such an evaluation team. In other words, they could be interested in buying the mech!

When the reporters received the news, they swarmed to the scene. Everyone felt that there might soon be something the prideful Earthlings could indulge in.

"Excuse me, are you here on Earth for holiday?"

The reporters' first question was asked jokingly, but it was indeed the fear of thousands. It would have been embarrassing to realise they had only been imagining things.

The evaluation team leader shook their head slightly, with the air of elegance that one expected from those of Aslan. "We're here about OMG's Wind God mech..."

WOW!

Everyone present exploded in a cheers. Everybody knew of the fabled FS evaluation team because they were the advance foreign mecha purchasers of the Aslan army. Once they were dispatched, it meant the Aslan military would buy.

"Is Aslan really interested in a mech that hasn't been fully refined?"

Clearly, the reporter had a different opinion.

"We'll decide how refined it is after the evaluation."

The FS team left promptly, leaving a stunned crowd behind...

"Damn, I just sold OMG stock yesterday..."

The reporters that dabbled in stocks were howling in frustration. They had followed the Chronos' family's lead, and... well, tears would not help now.

The news shook the Solar System military as well. The higher leadership held back to back conferences, and at last, the Federation's legislative assembly joined in as well... the Federation assembly leader sternly dressed down a few of the senior leadership who had been sent by the Chronos family.

Regardless of the result, the mech's development alone had indicated that it was worth supporting, and now it had blown up into this.

No matter how formidable the Chronos family was, their domain did not extend outside. Once OMG broke into the foreign market, the Chronos family would be powerless to stop them. Especially when Aslan was involved, one wrong step could lead to an external dispute.

Most crucially, just as the Solar System was scrambling to increase its military reputation, Aslan's willingness to buy Earth's mech was a huge point of pride, and it had political implications.

The assembly's point was clear. Full cooperation would be provided from now on to open the doors for OMG.

That very night, a few of the OMG applications that had previously been blocked were all awarded permits and approved. Ye Bingwen had even received praise from his shareholders.

Once this deal with Aslan was complete, the Chronos family would be forever powerless to sully the reputation of OMG's Wind God.

The next day, the public relations department of OMG was too busy to go home. All kinds of requests for interviews and statements flooded in one after another. All kinds of project requests that had been ignored for the longest time despite numerous attempts to connect now began knocking on the door looking to work together.

Although they were so busy that their dark eye circles grew and their eyes became swollen, the entire PR department was gripped with feverish enthusiasm. Due to the Chronos family's interference, OMG's PR department had entered a slump and hit walls wherever they went. A few enterprising staff members had jumped ship, scorning that only fools and wastrels would remain.

Who was stupid now? Who was useless?

"The Solar System's Star newspaper wants to interview the Wind God's architect? At this time, it might have to wait until next Wednesday. Yes, Aslan Times has made a prior appointment with us, you see... Yes, we're fully packed, the earliest would be next Wednesday."

What drove the media craziest was the architect of Wind God mecha. OMG's next leader, Ye Zisu, the beauty who was only in her second year at university. In the higher tiers of the mecha design world, where the old and stodgy dominated, she floated in like a fresh breeze, attracting the attention of every media outlet.

The Wind God's prior success was already earth-shattering. This time it stood out proudly again as a completed product, and everybody was anxiously waiting on the Aslan FS evaluators' final decision.

Two days later, the FS team pronounced it Result S-, which classified it as an S-rank mecha.

This news took the Milky Way by storm

Everybody knew that the Aslan standards were fairly high. The same S-rank from Earth meant nothing much, but Aslan's was held as quality throughout the Milky Way.

Perhaps only 20-odd mecha had ever received the S-rank rating from Aslan, and the Solar System models had at best achieved A-ranks.

Although S- was a lower tier within the S-rank classification, it brought unspeakable glory as Ye Zisu's first mech model.

FS's evaluation was: Capabilities, superb. It requires expert control, and training difficulty is considerable. Suitable for specialized warfare.

Once this evaluation was announced, it meant that OMG's client base would no longer be confined to Earth's boundaries.

Ye Zisu was about to shake the universe!