Initial Combat Power of the Fire Moth

The Key of Evolution—this was a pseudo-Divine Key created by Otto, imitating the concept of the [Blank Key].

Why "pseudo"?

Because the Soulium used to manufacture this Divine Key was materialized by Shu based on the experimental model Otto laid out.

As for a Soulium production line independent of Shu, Otto was still stuck on the mass production of nanoscale chips.

If it were just a few such chips, Otto could probably whip them up with his bare hands using nanoscale craftsmanship, but Soulium required mass production…

And after that, there were still a series of technical hurdles to overcome, such as the Honkai energy supply system, the Honkai energy conduction system, Honkai energy circuit etching, and so on.

Even if Otto split himself into five, he wouldn't have been able to accomplish all this in just two months…

Not to mention Otto had been working on other projects during these two months.

The Key of Evolution took the form of a high-tech female battlesuit. Shu couldn't wear it because Shu didn't need it.

Using the [Hope] required to activate the Authority of Evolution was less efficient than Shu simply using his own [Wish].

So far, Otto had set two rated power outputs for the Key of Evolution.

The first rated power output unlocks a small part of the wearer's gene lock, less than %, which is enough for the wearer's body to quickly adapt to external stimuli without overreacting.

The question of who would be the first test subject nearly caused an argument; everyone wanted to be the first guinea pig.

What followed was Kiana arguing with Mei, bickering with Bronya, and debating logically with Fu Hua, giving off the air of debating a crowd of scholars single-handedly [idiom referencing a skilled debater].

Who are you? You're not the paramecium I know!

Whoever you are, get off my partner's body!!

Anyway, Kiana's main point was—My body is the strongest, I can handle any danger, you all just step back.

Next came the mutual digs between Theresa and Himeko.

"The shorty Principal probably can't even fit into the armor, right?"

"Himeko, you're still injured, aren't you?"

"An adult's body isn't as fragile as a child's."

"An adult's body has long been hollowed out by alcohol!"

Why didn't Shu join this discussion?

"First, we exclude Shu. Who will be the first test subject?" That was Otto's first sentence.

What surprised Shu was that Otto actually approved Kallen's request to be the first test subject in the end.

Adult, physically strong… fully buffed.

The second before Kallen put on the Key of Evolution and activated it, Otto said something to Shu.

"You should know what I'll do if something goes wrong with Kallen..."

Shu, sweating profusely, increased the output of [Hope], even though the requested amount was already overflowing.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Kallen's experiment was a great success. Kiana suffered the third crushing defeat in arm wrestling in her life…

The first time was being overpowered by her stinky dad [Siegfried], the second was against Shu, and the third was against Kallen wearing the Key of Evolution.

The table they used for the match was instantly shattered by Kallen. It was over before anyone could even react.

After lowering the activation value again, the first rated power output of the Key of Evolution was finally declared successful.

Anyone in good health wearing the Key of Evolution and moving around in a space with thin Honkai energy for 48 hours could gain considerable Honkai resistance.

Extending the time to seven days could enhance a person's physical fitness to near human limits, with good Honkai resistance as a bonus.

Those three male university students were successful examples. Then, brimming with confidence, the three were flipped over by Kiana with one hand.

Besides these university students, Otto had also recruited about twenty-some young adults into the combat division. Each of them had already completed the preliminary enhancement via the Key of Evolution.

Adding to this was Otto's greatest invention of the past two months—the first-generation Flame-Chaser universal combat armor.

Piloting Titan mechs was too difficult, but these individual combat armors were different.

Basically, any normal person could learn how to operate them, let alone these individuals whose physical functions had been greatly enhanced.

These twenty-plus people were assigned to Fu Hua, Himeko, Natasha, Theresa, and Kallen, forming five squads.

Driven by some fervent emotion and promises Otto made (who knows what), these five squads had all successfully passed various assessments set by Otto and received special designations from him.

Then Shu, with a stiff face, signed each person's armor, carving their names and serial numbers.

Otto, you're taking out a loan on my goodwill!

"Captain Shu! Will we have a chance to go on missions with you in the future?" After carving the three characters "Lu Renjia" [generic name, like John Doe], the bespectacled male university student retrieved his armor, cradling it like a treasure, and asked Shu.

"Hmm… There will always come a day when I need your help," Shu said, keeping his expression neutral.

"Yay! Alright!" Lu Renjia excitedly ran off holding his armor to meet his two friends.

Next up were the five Titan mechs!

"Himeko, what are you doing joining the crowd?" Seeing Himeko standing next to a Titan mech painted fiery red, Shu's hand holding the carving tool trembled slightly.

"What, can't I?" Himeko leaned against the fiery red Titan mech. "I was hoping you could engrave the designation [Crimson Knight] for me."

That's not funny…

"How about I engrave [Blood Rose] for you instead..." Shu suggested.

"Whatever you like," Himeko pointed to the four mechs behind her, uniformly painted white. "But they've thought long and hard about their callsigns."

Shu fell silent. Otto had told him he was just here to sign their names, he hadn't mentioned signing these kinds of names…

How was this different from asking him to design fancy artistic lettering for everyone's callsign?

Just sign casually?

He couldn't even bear to look at it himself! This represented the face of the Fire Moth!

Shu was glad he had some foundation in drawing and calligraphy… Otherwise, what would the people of the Fire Moth think if they saw [Kevin] had terrible handwriting?

Wait… Kevin is Western, he wouldn't write Chinese…

After painstakingly completing the "signatures" for these five mechs, Shu thought he was finally done. Everyone had received his "signature," he could finally do something else.

Then Kiana arrived with Bronya and Mei.

"Captain Shu!" Kiana even used his title. "Come sign for your team members! I want the coolest signature ever!!"

"Bronya wants a HOMU..."

"I… I don't have any special requests… Just something simple is fine…"

Shu: "…"