Chapter 137: Conceptualizing Biological Armaments

In Wu You’s vision, what if a special armor could be crafted to fit over the bodies of martial arts masters? This armor would not only conform perfectly to the wearer’s form but also minimally impede their movements, if at all. Its defense capabilities would be formidable, even amplifying the user’s strength. It could self-repair after sustaining damage, and the armor itself could serve as a means of attack. Moreover, each person donning such armor could sense the positions of others wearing it, effectively functioning as a “radar” for the abominations. Since these armors are alchemical organisms, they would instinctively repel the presence of abominations nearby. The very thought was thrilling.

The last attempt at breeding griffons had yielded some results, stirring mixed feelings. On the one hand, more than half of the female griffons had successfully conceived, a fact the mothers themselves could sense. On the other hand, the growth of the offspring within the mothers was slow, painfully slow. Typically, for a griffon to reach delivery, the offspring needed to develop inside the mother for at least a year and a half. Although alchemical energy could accelerate this process, Wu You thought, if that’s the case, why bother with pregnancy at all? Why not create them directly? At least this was true for griffons. Additionally, the strength of individual griffons varied within their groups; stronger griffons seemed to have longer gestation periods and lower conception rates. Since the population was limited, Wu You couldn’t draw definitive conclusions, but his intuition strongly suggested this. And he trusted his instincts deeply now.

In any case, the idea of increasing numbers by breeding alchemical organisms was feasible, but it would be a lengthy process. Griffons, after all, were creatures with limited potential; more advanced species might be even less efficient. In the Eastern Realm, with its large population base and various factions nurturing talent, there were quite a few individuals who could be deemed masters of martial arts. If a sizable group of such masters were equipped with stable logistics for training, and if these individuals were bestowed with demonic powers and clad in the proposed biological armors—perhaps even equipped with some modern weaponry—their power amplification could well surprise Wu You.

The key was to create a species that could mass-produce these biological armors. If each armor required individual alchemy to craft, it would be too taxing and inefficient. Wu You had previously created organisms with the ability to split and multiply rapidly—for example, the biological moss used in the compartments of the Drunken Immortal Tower, the luminous dandelions, and even some of the earliest medicinal herbs. These organisms shared two traits: rapid growth with the ability to split and regenerate, and very limited intelligence, essentially functioning only under direct command. Simply put, no matter how much they divided, they were still considered a single organism.

If these organisms were used solely for combat, it would be impractical—they would be mere targets. However, using them as biological armor was different. They didn’t require high intelligence because the wearer essentially acted as their brain, and all they needed to do was respond swiftly to the wearer’s commands, possibly even linking to the wearer’s nervous system. Should this concept succeed, Wu You would have a special legion capable of mass production not only in the Eastern Realm but also on Earth. Earth’s greatest advantage was knowledge and skill.

What limited the development of modern science most? Was it theoretical knowledge? New technology? Observation platforms? Even an educated person could list many factors. But Wu You believed two factors stood paramount: the constraints of materials and the physical limits of the human body. If there existed a material of exceptional strength and toughness, capable of conducting electrical and biological signals, interfacing with various devices, amplifying power—or even generating it—and possessing self-balancing and self-repairing abilities, and if a human or humanoid possessed a strong physique and extremely sensitive reflexes, able to withstand intense motion and overload, then combining these two could make the creation of bio-mecha a real possibility.

What would that be? If done well, it could be something like the Evangelion units from the New Century series, and mass-producible! The mere thought excited Wu You. If such large biological weapons could be equipped with modern weapon platforms, their combat strength would hardly fall below silver rank. Of course, the system might classify their materials at a lower grade, but combining low-grade with high-grade was itself a gain. Although these ideas had yet to be realized, they deepened Wu You’s understanding of the alchemy system. Perhaps the system wasn’t originally intended for such uses, but its potential was boundless. Wu You felt his imagination expanding, stirring up all kinds of strange and wonderful ideas to explore in the future.

For now, the plan was to try creating the simplest biological armor first, at least to establish a correct direction. If it proved feasible, he might gather a team of scientists to assist in the research—and if necessary, alchemize them directly. From then on, he could pursue both the mystical and the scientific with confidence, no longer fearing confrontation with the abominations.

Admittedly, Wu You had fallen into an extended bout of daydreaming. Difficulty wasn’t frightening, but lack of creativity was deadly. The hardest part was always the beginning.

This time, it wasn’t just about creating a powerful alchemical creature to serve as armor. Many considerations were involved, and the combat ability of the alchemical organism was actually secondary. Wu You needed to carefully plan the appropriate organism and the infusion of mental energy during the alchemy process.

First, strength was a major factor, so the metallic element had to be considered. The seven-colored coral worms previously created showed a preliminary control over metal, but their abilities and potential were limited. They could serve as a breakthrough direction. Wu You jotted this down.

Second, materials needed to have strong connectivity, good growth and extensibility, and the capacity for effective, continuous splitting and proliferation—plants fit this profile best. Other options could be set aside for now.

Yet another major challenge confronted Wu You. When he had created the Everlasting Tree Spirit and the Bloodsucking Parasite Vine, attempts to fuse flora and fauna through alchemy had failed many times. Even with the system now at level four, success was not guaranteed. Yet the potential of alchemical fusion of plants and animals was immense and tempting—not just for this project.

Damn it, this absolutely had to be solved! Wu You wrote down a heavy note and underlined it multiple times.

Alright, assuming he could solve or find an alternative, he moved on to the next issue: command transmission. For biological armor and potentially large bio-mechas in the future, the user couldn’t rely solely on shouting commands—that was absurd, prone to chaos, and could cause fatal delays in battle.

He imagined a user shouting, “Pegasus Meteor Fist!” The biological armor would then access the stored biological memory, arrange the amplification paths and levels of power, and coordinate energy distribution throughout the body, all before the user delivered the strike.

Uh... well... Wu You wasn’t quite sure what to say to that.