Chapter 351 — Crossing the Divide

"With the aid of a special mechanical soul-core fruit, the greatest use of this research is this: to perfectly materialize the phantoms of ancient creatures, and then, through the mechanical system, to resurrect those phantoms in the modern age as Mechanical Phantom Beasts."

"Though the resurrected beasts will lose the greater part of their power, they will still retain a portion of it. As you can all see, these three Mechanical Phantom Beasts, revived in the form of mechanical life, have each preserved one super-tier racial skill."

"Researching the Mechanical Phantom Beasts directly will make archaeological exploration of the Totem Era far more convenient."

Shi Yan's words trailed off with a chuckle, and at this moment the Legendary Mechanist from Kamikaze was already staring with his eyes bulging, an expression of disbelief on his face. "Impossible!"

At the same time, another voice cried out with him: Gao Xuan, seated with the Imperial Capital University delegation, his mouth hanging open, gawking at it all. "Impossible!"

How could the phantoms of ancient creatures become mechanical life? On the strength of that mechanical fruit just now, on the strength of this one machine?

How could it be!

In that instant, every mechanist in the hall was staring wide-eyed, truly unable to believe the sight before them; but to make them believe, Shi Jin chose to continue the experiment.

He looked toward the audience seats, toward Legend Xiao Shuang, toward the direction of Brigadier Xiao Qin. At this moment Legend Xiao Shuang, that prodigy mechanist, was also staring with her beautiful eyes, an expression of utter disbelief on her face, because her mechanical codex had likewise detected, genuinely and truly, the life fluctuations of these Mechanical Phantom Beasts.

What Shi Jin said was true. These Mechanical Phantom Beasts were true living beings!

"If you wish to verify it, it's simple." Shi Yan smiled. "Is there any member of the audience willing to contract these three Mechanical Phantom Beasts and give it a try?"

Shi Ying's words rang through the audience seats like a thunderclap out of a clear sky.

In the direction of the Ancient Capital University, Hao Ling was the first to come dashing down, having waited for this very moment; the old man was beside himself with excitement. "I still have one contract slot open."

Ancient Capital University, College of Mechanics, Hao Ling!

Everyone knew this old man; though he was not counted among the top-tier mechanist masters in the field of mechanics, to serve as a department dean at one of the Nine Great Academies was already to be a man of no small ability.

At this moment Hao Ling came down in a fever of excitement, walked onto the field, and then, at a nod from Shi Ying, with immense excitement began to contract the Mechanical Quetzalcoatlus, one of the three Mechanical Phantom Beasts!

A purple contract halo surfaced; in the silence of the whole hall, the Mechanical Quetzalcoatlus blinked its limpid eyes like a fledgling and, without the slightest resistance, accepted the old man's contract before it!

The next moment came a sight every beastmaster knew, knew all too well: the Quetzalcoatlus that had just been a phantom was now, directly in the form of a pet beast's life, contracted by Hao Ling and drawn into his beast space!

Purple motes of light drifted apart; the Quetzalcoatlus vanished from the site, and was at once summoned forth again by Hao Ling. With a cry of "Whoo~~~" it flew into the high sky, both wings blooming with cyan dragon-shaped radiance, and directly unleashed the super-tier skill lost for tens of millions of years, the Wings of the Wind God!

"As you have all seen, this is the skill lost for tens of millions of years, the Wings of the Wind God."

"By this method, lost skills can also be made to reappear."

Shi Ying's voice echoed through the whole hall.

"I don't believe it!"

At this moment Gao Xuan could no longer sit still in his seat; eyes wide, he tried to rise, and was at once pressed down by the old president of Imperial Capital University beside him, who was equally shaken.

"Xiao Xuan, what are you trying to do?"

"I want... I want to bang my head against the wall, just to check I'm not dreaming."

Gao Xuan's heart was pounding wildly, tears welling in his eyes, as he watched the scene before him with utter disbelief.

What... kind of turn was this?

In that instant, the whole hall erupted. Everyone stared in disbelief at Hao Ling and the Wind God Pterosaur that had just appeared, then turned their eyes to the Tyrannosaurus hatchling and the Mosasaur hatchling.

How could this be possible?

How could a creature from the ancient past be revived?! Was this a miracle?

No, this was a divine act!!!

The crowd stared at the machinery on the field, at the people and beasts upon it, utterly unable to comprehend.

Across the nation, mechanics, archaeologists, and beast tamers watching the live broadcast had their eyes pressed to their screens, clutching them close as they observed in astonishment.

"This... this can't be possible..." Even Elder Liu, a legendary figure of the Fourth Bureau, spoke in disbelief, unable to fathom such a phenomenon.

"How on earth did they do it?" said the legendary mechanic Lady Mei Xiuying, her voice shaken.

"I... I don't understand." A mechanic from the Seven Isles felt as though the world had suddenly become utterly foreign.

"......" Dr. Ai Qi of Shenfeng could not even find the words to appraise what stood before him; his voice caught in his throat.

"This is what I wished to present: the Ancient Phantom Beast Revival System. Through fossils, it can restore ancient creatures to the modern age in the form of mechanical life."

"At present, the mechanical field has two great systems: intelligent life and bio-modification. I believe mechanical phantom beasts can stand as a third pillar alongside them, for they possess the merits of both. The Mechanical Soulheart Fruit contains an intelligence chip, allowing them to improve their intelligence without limit, just like intelligent life. At the same time, their bodies inherit the might of ancient creatures, and thanks to the special nature of phantom bodies, mechanical modification carries far less risk than with living creatures. Indeed, even during the phantom stage before revival, modification can already begin without endangering the creature's safety."

"On this point, we have conducted rigorous experiments."

With that, Shi Jin summoned one after another mechanically modified phantom beast from within the ruins space. If the three revived a moment ago had retained the complete appearance of ancient creatures, then those he summoned now preserved their ancient forms while being fully armed with machinery!!!

"ROAR!!!"

Beneath the dumbstruck gazes of all present, an armored mechanical Pterosaur, a mechanical Stegosaurus wielding a mechanical greatsword, and a mechanical Ankylosaurus bearing a mechanical shield and cannon appeared one after another before the crowd.

Once again their worldview was shattered, leaving their mouths hanging open.

And it was not over. Shi Li said, "Beyond archaeology, this device can also mass-produce ancient mechanical phantom beasts from high-grade fossils rich in energy, creating new breeds of mechanical pets with extraordinary potential and power. As you just saw, all of them can be contracted."

"That said, this will continuously drain the fossil's energy. Alternatively, one may bestow the power of an entire fossil upon a single phantom beast; in that case, the strength it inherits will be even greater."

With that, Shi Jin summoned yet another mechanical Tyrannosaurus. This one was clad in hardened armor, bearing the Tyrant Sword and Tyrant Shield, standing several meters tall and radiating supreme dominance!!!

BOOM!