Chapter 14: Demonic Demonstration

"And this is the new Astral Crystal Exosuit, MKII! Also known as the Astral Light Exosuit!"

Justin Han was proudly demonstrating his latest product, which was the stripped down Astral Crystal Suit, but with increased speed and mobility. The new variant of the Astral Exosuit was speeding across the stage at incredible speeds, performing maneuvers that would otherwise be impossible with the original variant.

"Even though we removed some of the armor, the added agility means that the pilot will be far more able to evade, which means you don't need the extra protection to begin with!"

Justin grinned and gestured for the pilot to stop. The wearer brought his Astral Light Exosuit to a stop, hovering over the stage. Plasma jets flared brightly, bluish-white flames pouring from the exhaust jets.

"Even so, the current amount armor is no slouch. The Astral Light Exosuit is still practically immune to light arms fire!"

Turning around, he gestured for a group of soldiers to run onto their stage. Dropping to their knees, they took aim and fired with their 9mm sidearm and laser pistols, but the light projectiles were deflected by the crystalline armor.

"It's also resistant to more conventional carbine fire."

A new squad of soldiers came onto the stage, firing 5.56 rounds from the standard carbine, which were turned away by the projectile. However, when I magnified the vision with my glasses – which contained a few extra functions in addition to a suite of sensor arrays – I could see dents and marks from where the bullets had struck the armor.

A single soldier took aim with a solar pulse laser carbine this time, unleashing a high intensity laser beam that scorched the armor. The crystalline surface was blackened by the heat and I could see some exposed circuitry. The pilot veered off course from the impact, instinctively clutching at the part where he had been shot, but he otherwise remained hovering in position.

"As you can see, the Astral Light Suit can also survive one or two laser beams from carbine-scale weaponry. Obviously, I do not recommend that you try and weather an onslaught of laser carbines with it, though."

Several of the soldiers in the audience laughed. I watched, impressed. For all of his arrogance, Justin Han certainly knew his stuff. He was the world's leading figure on exosuits, after all. He might have broken the heart of many women, but his Mech Marine program had certainly saved the lives of many soldiers.

As much as I resented him for his arrogance and insults, I couldn't deny his talent and genius. He was a powerful rival.

"The Astral Light Exosuit is designed more for stealthy missions, or missions that favor speed over armor and attrition," Justin continued. "It still possesses the same amount of firepower as the standard Astral Crystal Suit."

He nodded at the pilot, who raised an arm and fired a brilliant burst of ruby from an arm-mounted laser cannon. One of the targets at the back of the stage vanished in a colossal conflagration.

Justin snapped his fingers, and a few minutes later, a tank rolled up onto the massive stage. The turret traversed and the tank opened fire, but the Astral Light Exosuit dodged the cannon fire, allowing the 120mm projectile soared through the air before being destroyed by a ballistic anti-missile round, but the intent was clear.

The evasive capabilities of the Astral Light Exosuit were not to be underestimated.

The pilot then snapped open a pair of missile pods, which rose from the shoulders of his exosuit. Missiles streaked from the pod, arcing through the air before slamming into the rapidly reversing tank and detonating. An inferno erupted, consuming the hull of the halting tank.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the future of our military."

Justin performed a bow with a flourish, drawing applause from the audience. Say what you might like about him, but he certainly knew how to put on a show.

Military staff and engineers hurried onto the stage, extinguishing the fires on the tank and towing it off. The pilot landed and began to stride gracefully into the backstage, where the technicians of Han Industries would begin to help him strip off his armor. Compared to the bulky Astral Crystal Suit, the Astral Light Suit looked sleek, and would most likely present a more palatable option as the poster exosuit for the military than its predecessor.

The big shots in the military were already whispering excitedly to each other, no doubt considering a bulk purchase. Justin Han had a point. The reduction of armor was more than offset by the exosuit's ability to evade incoming fire. Not to mention, it was cheaper too.

"That bastard is going to make a killing again," William grumbled. I nodded, but with more sportsmanship. As much as I resented Justin Han, I saw this as an opportunity to learn from him instead of futilely looking for ways to undermine him.

After all, this wasn't some CEO story where all the villains and antagonists suddenly drop IQ whenever it came to provoking or insulting the protagonist.

I was being sarcastic, by the way. Sometimes it felt like I was living in a CEO story. And not the good kind.

Justin and his crew got off the stage, and once the engineers prepped everything for the next preparation, the next company came to demonstrate their own products. And then the next. And the next. Needless to say, it was going to be a long day. I recalled Susan Song saying that her father also had a product, and the Song company produced a sonic blaster, which sounded cool on paper, but wasn't very practical.

He was better off developing a sonar system, if you asked me. Judging from the lackluster response from the military, it appeared that the generals and politicians agreed with my responses.

As an aside, Susan was present along with her father. She didn't do much except watch from the audience, sullen and silent. Her thoughts were still elsewhere and I caught sight of her gaze wandering over to Justin now and then. Funnily enough, Justin had a new girl with him right now, the two of them flirting and paying no attention to the other demonstrations.

Not that I blamed them. Aside from Justin's new Astral Light Exosuit, none of the other products so far were impressive. They did nothing new and were not an improvement over existing military armaments or equipment. Justin's Astral Series of exosuits outshone everything else.

And now the time slowly trickled down to my turn. As William said, ours was the very last product for demonstration, and we had to scramble out of our seats when the military staff showed up to advise us to go to the backstage and get ready.

"This is it," I told William. He nodded, looking just as tense as I felt. We both stared at the energy shield generator for a few moments until the sergeant came in.

"You can begin anytime you're ready."

"Thank you, Sergeant." I snapped off a salute. Having served in the military for two years (mandatory service back in my original country), I had an appreciation for the men in uniform. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button and had my energy shield generator get wheeled by the automatic trolley into the stage.

There was a clamor as everyone stared at the strange contraption that I had constructed wondering what it was. I plastered a smile over my face as I turned to greet the audience, bowing politely.

"As you all know, my product is a last minute addition. Consequently, most of you probably don't know what this does."

There was a murmur of agreement and I could see the audience shift impatiently, waiting for me to tell them. My smile grew wider.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to the first working prototype of my energy shield generator."

With a flick of my hand, I switched on the shield generator. A shimmering barrier materialized, covering me in a translucent dome of bluish-white energy.

Everyone gasped, with many soldiers leaning out of their seats to get a closer look. Justin Han's jaw dropped, and Lily Ling looked impressed. The bigwigs and corporate leaders in the audience began whispering excitedly to each other, trying to make sense of what they were witnessing.

"Is that…really a force field?"

At the question, I snapped my fingers. William, who was outside the shield, nodded. He was hastily speaking to a few soldiers, making requests for them. Within a minute, three full squads of soldiers ran onto the stage bearing mid and heavy weapons.

Laser carbines, conventional rifles with 5.56mm rounds, even heavy weapons such as missile launchers, grenades, general purpose machine guns and a plasma gun. The soldiers took aim and unleashed a hell storm of fire upon my shimmering energy shield.

The projectiles impacted with tremendous force, sending ripples across the shimmering dome, but the energy shield held. My barrier withstood the fierce onslaught of heavy firepower, repelling bullets, lasers and explosives with equal impunity. Standing inside, I watched the miniature display of fireworks and pyrotechnics, all the while grinning.

After emptying their magazines, the soldiers fell back. A tank rumbled forward and unleashed its 120mm cannon. Twice.

Boom!

A tremendous explosion shook the stage, but my shield generator continued to hold, the sturdy barrier rippling furiously but refusing to disappear. I couldn't help but instinctive duck down from the fire, but I was heartened to see that my masterpiece had held up well under the assault.

As the tank pulled back, its treads grinding against the reinforced material of the stage, I could almost hear the silence that now hung over the audience.

Adjusting my glasses and scratching my cheek in slight embarrassment, I straightened myself and confronted them with a smug smirk.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" I said, gesturing to the glowing energy shield. "So what do you think?"