Chapter 103: Bio-Armor

As Ye Bai and Mo Li made their way to the academy, it was just as expected: though the campus was relatively quiet, most of the men they passed had their gazes fixed firmly on Mo Li. If she hadn't been wearing the same outfit as the day before, the reaction might have been even more intense.

The passing male students were generally gentlemanly, casting only a fleeting glance at a beauty rarely seen on campus. They dared not linger, fearing that such a phenomenal beauty might be associated with the "Flower Club." If they were to cause any offense, they might find themselves trapped in a nightmare from which they would never recover.

By the time Ye Bai and Mo Li stepped into the Technology Building, Yao Ling and Cao Xiaoseng had just followed the main crowd up to the third floor.

"It seems we're a bit late," Ye Bai noted, explaining to Mo Li as he saw that the first floor was occupied only by busy researchers, with not a single student in sight.

Mo Li did not linger on the first floor. She had already learned about all the mutated beast corpses displayed there through her studies in the library. Her purpose today was to see the "bio-armor" mentioned in the books.

She headed straight for the third floor, skipping the second. She guessed that everyone else must be up there, as the second floor was off-limits to students outside of exam periods. Whether it was the Arya combat suits or the resources and research data stored in the warehouses on that level, any theft would surely cause a massive scandal.

"We're going straight to the third floor; they should all be there. I just wonder which model of bio-armor is on display."

Ye Bai followed behind Mo Li. She was still wearing the yellow-and-white spotted dress with a cinched waist from yesterday. Even though her graceful figure was concealed by the fabric, her willow-thin waist swayed with every step.

Ye Bai dared not look too closely, instead shifting his gaze to the surrounding mutated beast specimens to distract himself. A woman who carried such allure in her very bones, whether intentional or not, possessed a powerful magnetism in every gesture.

"Bio-armor? Is that the gear the soldiers were wearing behind King Tianmu in the holographic projection the other day?"

Ye Bai had spent the past few days browsing various books in the library and had specifically looked up the bio-armor worn by the soldiers in that video.

The sky had always been a realm difficult for humans to reach. Not only did powerful aerial mutated beasts refuse to let anyone encroach upon their territory, but flight itself was a great challenge for humanity.

King Tianmu and the other two monarchs had long since escaped the shackles of gravity, capable of walking or flying through the sky at will. Master-tier experts could make initial forays into the sky, but they could not move or fly as freely as the monarchs.

To help Master-tier star core warriors adapt to the skies, the three major cities, the four great academies, and various family institutions had poured vast resources into overcoming this challenge. After about a year, the first generation of bio-armor was finally born.

"Yes. But if they're only showing the first generation today, it won't be very interesting. Only the third generation and beyond can truly be called bio-armor."

Mo Li had read that the first generation was merely an auxiliary suit. It could only be used by Master-tier experts and lacked autonomous flight capabilities. The warrior still had to exert the effort to fly, while the suit merely controlled the direction and speed.

The two turned the final corner and, after a few steps, reached the bio-armor laboratory on the third floor.

Yao Ling and Cao Xiaoseng were trailing behind. Just as Yao Ling was about to tell Cao Xiaoseng that the armor on display was only the first generation, her smile turned to astonishment. She suddenly saw a woman with flowing dark hair reaching her waist, dressed in a yellow-and-white spotted dress, walking up from the stairwell.

If it had been anyone else, Yao Ling might not have been so surprised—after all, she was a woman herself, and Mo Li's charm wasn't enough to make her feel overshadowed.

As the woman walked up, Ye Bai followed close behind. Yao Ling hadn't seen Ye Bai since the public lecture and had assumed he wouldn't come today. She never expected him to be walking with the alluring woman she had been so keen to avoid a few days ago, even if she was dressed quite conservatively today.

"Ye Bai."

Yao Ling called out to him, her expression darkening. She had thought Ye Bai was someone who pursued strength and had little interest in beauty.

"Ling'er." Ye Bai’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He said to Mo Li, "Mo Li, this is a member of my group. Shall we go over and get to know each other?"

Mo Li glanced at Yao Ling. The smile on Yao Ling's face was still directed at Ye Bai, but perhaps due to a woman's intuition, she sensed a hint of hostility.

"I..." Before Mo Li could decline, Ye Bai walked over and pulled Yao Ling and Cao Xiaoseng over to introduce them.

"This is Yao Ling, the little princess of the Yao family, and our group's own princess. And this is Cao Xiaoseng. Don't let his look of being half-asleep fool you; he’s the fiercest one in battle."

Yao Ling looked at Mo Li’s face—the kind that could drive any man to madness—and gave a polite, nodding smile. As for Cao Xiaoseng, he was more direct. Or rather, aside from Yao Ling and Ye Bai, he was direct with everyone, to the point of ignoring the beauty in front of him.

Cao Xiaoseng’s indifference made Mo Li feel a bit awkward, but out of courtesy, she introduced herself.

Once the introductions were over, Mo Li turned her attention to the display cases holding a dozen first- and second-generation bio-suits.

The anticipation she had felt turned to disappointment. Both generations were designed for Master-tier star core warriors, who alone possessed enough stored elemental power to interface with the auxiliary suit. To onlookers, they looked like winged humans. The second generation, in particular, was considered the "trashiest" of the five generations.

The second generation was a bridge between models. The research institute had tried to scale down the technology for Growth-tier or even Foundation-tier warriors. However, once it was released, it proved to be a bottomless pit for Growth-tier warriors, devouring all their elemental power. For Master-tier warriors, it was too fragile, shattering under the pressure of their power bursts. It was a "chicken rib"—tasteless to keep, but a necessary transition for future designs.

"Teacher, why are these different from what we saw at the opening ceremony? The soldiers in that video must have been wearing bio-armor, too. Can you show us those?"

A girl of some beauty standing near the researcher asked with bright eyes, and the other students echoed her request.

The researcher looked at the future hopes of the academy, stroked his sparse goat-like beard, and chuckled. "It’s not that I don't want to show you the third, fourth, or fifth generations. But each one of those suits can double the combat effectiveness of a Growth-tier warrior or higher. The academy simply doesn't have them."

The students looked dejected. Most of them had come today with the same purpose as Mo Li, hoping to see the advanced armor that had been so impressive in the ceremony.

However, the teacher's next words brightened everyone's mood, including Mo Li and Yao Ling, whose faces lit up with hope.

"However, your class is lucky. Half a month ago, one of your seniors from the fourth year brought his third-generation suit in for repairs. We can use this opportunity to talk about it."

The teacher spoke slowly, making the students so eager they could barely contain themselves.

The teacher walked to a metal-covered wall and pressed his right hand against it. A blue indentation appeared, and after scanning his hand, a beam of blue light scanned his entire body. Once cleared, the metal wall slowly retracted, revealing the third-generation bio-armor.

The suit was dark gray, covering the body from head to toe, resembling a full-body protective garment, save for an arm-wide tear in the center of the chest.

The teacher pressed a button on the console, and the entire suit began to shrink until it was only the size of a girl's fist—a gray orb.

Everyone stared at the teacher, wondering what he had done.

The teacher walked toward the orb and said, "This is what the armor looks like when first produced. All bio-armor connects to a smart brain to achieve semi-automation, allowing for more precise strikes in combat."

With that, he placed the orb onto the smart device on his wrist. The armor melted like liquid, converging around the device until it resembled a gray watch.

"Because this isn't my personal suit, I can't demonstrate all its functions. We can only fuse with others' suits if the owner lowers their access permissions for our testing. Originally, bio-armor wasn't designed to fuse with smart brains, but with human genes. However, the genetic chains of those who awaken elemental power seem to become more resilient, preventing the armor from bonding with them."

The teacher’s voice dropped, and Ye Bai could sense the regret in his tone. To a scientist, the inability to achieve perfection was a sign of disrespect to the craft.

The teacher sighed slightly and continued, "To get the armor into combat as quickly as possible, we old men had to compromise and settle for the smart brain interface."

He finished by manipulating the smart device, and the bio-armor began to cover his body, shifting and changing as it did so.