Chapter 580 — Advance, Unfold
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
The cornerstone of Cecil Magitech Industry was the magic web, and so the magic web had to be laid first.
Prefabricated magic-web module arrays were unloaded from the first two trucks — large metal panels measuring over two meters on a side, already fitted with dense arrays of magic-web units. These module arrays were connected to prefabricated latches at the edges of the multi-purpose war chariot chassis and coupled to the chariots' own power spines; ultimately, with these chariots as nodes, a vast continuous magic web took shape inside the defensive barrier. As more and more module arrays were hooked into place, the multi-purpose chariots began to take on a new role — becoming arcane obelisks.
"Chariot One external power has reached threshold — crystal online!" "Chariot Two external power has reached threshold — crystal online!" "Chariot Three..."
Amid the loud reports of the mechanical sergeants, the crystals mounted atop the chariots stationed throughout the forward base lit up one after another, and abundant magic, activated by the energy field of the magic web, unfurled swiftly, blanketing the entire open ground in an instant.
Gao Yang picked up a magitech terminal, saw that the rune on its side representing charge had lit up, and gave a slight nod.
These light "multi-purpose war chariots" were a new creation designed after the "Warhammer Type I" main battle chariot had been finalized; they contained no great technical sophistication, yet they had been designed specifically for this mission — and in the foreseeable future they would surely prove highly useful as well.
The wasteland's edge was a harsh environment, where all manner of uncontrollable factors would constantly threaten the safety of the personnel ahead, and how to counter those threats was a problem Gao Yang had to consider. The Warhammer Type I was immensely powerful and highly survivable; it could handle most of the wasteland's challenges on its own, but it could not solve the problem of the entire construction team surviving in the wasteland. To solve that problem, the designers of the Machinery Workshop and the Magitech Research Institute had built this light multi-purpose war chariot upon the Warhammer Type I's frame.
Gao Yang named it — the Steel Ambassador.
From its inception, the "Steel Ambassador" was positioned as a powerful support platform rather than an aggressor. So that teams far from stable rear lines, deep in the wasteland — or at the front — could establish themselves swiftly, the Steel Ambassador was fitted internally with a larger magic-web array and a higher-capacity power spine, and atop the chariot was fixed an arcane crystal — the core component of a magic-web obelisk. Combined with the specially designed "turret" of the Steel Ambassador, that crystal formed a complete arcane obelisk.
On the front lines far from rear supply, the Steel Ambassador's arcane obelisk could provide a position with critically important energy coverage, ensuring that position facilities could begin operating as soon as possible; at the same time, its powerful power spine enabled it to support a stronger shield system, with two modes to switch between — when its own survival took priority, the "Standing Fast" mode, which offered formidable defense though its projection range covered only the chariot itself; and when allies needed protection, activating the paired metamagic runes brought it into "Peacebringer" mode, in which its shield projection range could extend to tens of meters around it. The shield's protective strength dropped sharply, but it could cover a vast area, displaying formidable battlefield support capability.