Chapter 86: The Red Uniform, Terrifying Indeed

That night, after returning home from the office, He Kui and Shi He sat together watching TV.

"With recent advancements in mineral radar technology, our mineral exploration speed within PLANT has significantly improved. It's expected that the industrial resource shortage will soon be resolved, further strengthening our military capabilities for self-defense."

"That's your contribution, isn't it?" Shi He, nestled in He Kui's arms like a kitten, remarked proudly.

"Not really."

In truth, it was likely due to the Klein faction's influence pushing for this, otherwise, new radar installations wouldn't have progressed so swiftly.

The Klein faction had its own motivations for doing so.

Typically, a change in leadership wouldn't occur during wartime, but PLANT was different. With its so-called fairest electoral system, even during war, a change in leadership was expected. Decision-making needed to be resolved ahead of time.

The Klein faction was eager to push mineral radar advancements for political achievements. The elections were simple, with representatives rotating; each city representative had one chance every twelve years and couldn't serve again.

However, this didn't render support ratings useless, as the Klein faction still held numerous seats in the Supreme Council.

If support ratings were high, Klein's colleagues could still take the lead, keeping the council under Klein's influence.

But currently, Councilor Sara's support rating was the highest among the mayors, and even if Siegel Klein ran for election, he might not surpass Councilor Sara.

If Councilor Sara took office, his overlapping roles as Defense Commissioner and Chairman would essentially equate to a dictatorship.

For He Kui, however, this power center was still quite distant.

As someone in the middle tier within PLANT, he had to be cautious of being used by those above and exploited by those below, making things more exhausting than before.

He needed to be sensitive to these situations but couldn't change the overall picture.

"I heard that under Chairman Klein's proposal, our salaries might be increased," Shi He yawned.

"Given the currency instability, they're just using AI to adjust our salaries according to inflation," He Kui replied.

It was undoubtedly a tactic from the Klein faction, but to what extent it would attract support and its effectiveness was anyone's guess.

Currently, He Kui didn't rely on his fixed salary but rather on bonuses and various side jobs for income.

Otherwise, waiting for his salary each month might mean that by the time the war ended, he wouldn't have earned enough to reach S-rank.

For He Kui, a salary increase wouldn't be as beneficial as an increase in the recycling price of [Mechanical Enthusiast].

"Let's not talk about this, Shi He."

Having spent a fortune on oysters for several days, He Kui captured Shi He's lips in a passionate challenge.

"Mm."

The gentle spring breeze enveloped them in silence.

The next day, He Kui woke up, still unconvinced, with a hint of blue under his eyes.

Despite holding back for so long, he had gone five rounds last night.

If it weren't for his Coordinator physique, he wouldn't have been able to get out of bed. How could it still be ineffective?

"What's wrong?" 

Shi He, like a water snake, moved sinuously in He Kui's embrace, speaking lazily.

"Do we have a day off today?"

"Mm, the materials won't arrive until tomorrow."

Before she could finish, He Kui turned again, pinning Shi He beneath him.

Could it be unrelated to the number of times?

As the sun reached its zenith, He Kui sighed in exasperation, holding Shi He.

"He Kui, you're amazing!"

A woman's intuition allowed Shi He to keenly sense the source of He Kui's struggle.

Still nestled against him, Shi He climbed up and said.

"Mm."

[Shi He Hanifus Affection Level: 144]

[Experience Bonus: 7]

[Micro Component Processing A-Rank: (39080/100000)]

[Academic: Unipolar Wave Shielding System (9534/30000)]

[Unlock Academic: Hydraulic Mineral Purification (5424/10000)]

After a night, the affection level increased by 2, but the skill didn't seem to improve. It was better not to try again.

With his radar manufacturing capabilities enhanced recently, and having bought some radars from the Waste Merchant, it was best to complete the upgrade of those small radar devices before heading to Earth.

Suppressing his fatigue, He Kui got out of bed.

"Where are you going~?"

Shi He, her eyes bright, grabbed He Kui's wrist and asked.

"I'm going to upgrade the radars. You can sleep a bit more."

"Then I'll go make breakfast~"

Seeing Shi He, who seemed entirely unaffected, made sweat bead on He Kui's forehead.

The red uniform, terrifying indeed.

Two days passed, and the Zaku assault equipment and three beam-resistant shields He Kui needed were gradually delivered to the secret factory.

The remaining shield needed to be modified from the existing beam-resistant shield.

However, there was an issue; this shield had undergone multiple tests and, paired with the battle on the L4 asteroid, even though it had been repaired, the metal's fatigue couldn't be restored to normal levels.

"This shield is our weak point. Be careful not to use it often," He Kui remarked, attaching a vulcan cannon to the newly added structure on the shield's back.

"Let's place it on the left hand; it's not our dominant hand, so we can discard it if necessary," Shi He suggested, and He Kui agreed.

Since this was a personal project conducted under the guise of experimentation, the modifications were done discreetly.

The underground area was solely occupied by He Kui and Shi He.

Fortunately, Shi He was now A-Rank, so even with just the two of them, efficiency wasn't low.

"He Kui, since we're the Blue Devil, should we paint a devil motif on the shoulder armor to terrify the Naturals?" Shi He excitedly proposed in front of the pure white external shoulder armor.

"Sure."

He Kui had given up resisting in this regard.

Even without decals, the blue paint on the unit, combined with the white external armor, was already conspicuous enough to be recognized as a special machine.

"Then I'll draw a sketch once I'm done!"

Nodding, He Kui continued operating the crane before him.

He installed the armor equipped with cooling modules.

The two worked tirelessly into the night, and when the final four shields were mounted on the deep blue and white unit, He Kui smiled with satisfaction.

The unit before them reflected the design on He Kui's blueprint, exuding a commanding presence.

The two shoulder shields could defend the unit's sides, although they could only be raised to fire and couldn't move to the front.

However, the two arm shields could handle frontal defense.

The back housed a thruster larger than those on standard Kins or Zakus.

This ensured its capability for high-speed movement.

Looking at this shield-laden machine, He Kui felt a profound sense of security.

"It looks great!"

In front of the unit, Shi He was even more excited than He Kui.

She had always loved deep blue, and now her face was adorned with a blissful smile.

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