Star Iron: I, who forged my own armor by hand, ascended to the cycle of reincarnation.

Jepard and Hilva were stunned for a moment, but they didn't say anything; it was indeed the best solution at the moment.

"You couldn't resist putting on the belt already? Now you know how to use it, right?"

Jepard nodded slightly, his eyes revealing an undisguised fighting spirit—an effect that Dust Calamity had not anticipated.

Everyone quickly regained their composure, and as they passed the large roundabout and arrived at the gate of the restricted area, their emotions began to rise.

Jepard held the [Preservation] crystal in his left hand and placed his right hand on the door, then turned around and looked at everyone with an extremely serious expression.

"Ladies and gentlemen, once the gate is opened, countless monsters will charge in. A fierce battle is about to begin. Please prepare for the fight."

P.S.: Starting tomorrow, I'll be updating three times a week. Please add this to your bookshelf, urge me to update, and send me some free gifts! I need to make a living.

Chapter 52 Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight

"Are you guys ready?"

As he spoke, Jepard scanned the crowd one by one.

The older sister with the guitar, Danheng with the spear, March 7 with the bow and arrow, Xing with the baseball bat, Hill with the scythe, Bronya with the musket, and...

Dust and tribulations faced bare-handed?

Jepard froze. "Mr. Dustfall, where is your weapon?"

"Weapons? What weapons do I need? My goal is to gather detailed data on that armor; the actual combat application is up to you."

"I'm just a clerical worker doing scientific research; I'm not good at fighting."

The train crew, Bronya, and Seele exchanged glances, tacitly remaining silent.

Dust Tribulation has already done a lot, so it's time for them to rest. Besides, collecting combat data is indeed a very important task.

Hilva and Jepard didn't understand that Dustfall wanted to slack off, and instead nodded with serious expressions.

"Combat data is indeed very important. Try to stay behind us, and I will do my best to protect you."

"Oh? Really? Thank you in advance then. I hope I won't have to be the one protecting me."

Jepard instantly understood the implication and nodded with a smile.

Jepard's hand, which had been resting on the door, did something unexpected. The door hummed and slowly opened, accompanied by the sound of heavy objects scraping against the floor.

As soon as there was any movement at the gate, everyone heard a different sound.

Those chaotic, inhuman footsteps, dense and numerous, came from afar, drawing ever closer.

"They're here!" Jepard said solemnly, leading the group back. He instinctively tugged at Hilva, pulling her behind him.

"Get ready, the monster is charging!"

"Brother," Hiluva paused slightly, a warm feeling welling up inside her, and a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Little Jie Jie, don't look down on your older sister!"

Woohoo~ duang~ sizzle sizzle~

Hiluva plucked the guitar strings sharply, and countless purple electric currents, like lightning snakes, surged in through the open door crack.

The sound of electric current flowing through the air, along with the guitar's own music, echoed incongruously like a symphony.

A plume of black smoke and a burnt smell drifted in through the widening crack in the door, along with the gradually fading footsteps.

"Huh? This guitar can generate electricity? It generates electricity through cracks?" March 7th blinked, looking at Shiluwa who was now fully immersed in the game with a surprised expression.

She's just a clerk? It seems like every clerk is better at fighting than her.

"March, prepare to cast shields on everyone. Star, we'll stand in front with Jepard to ensure the safety of March, Sylva, and Dustfall."

"No problem, today I'll show these guys what the Galaxy Baseball Man is all about!"

Dan Heng's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this, but the current situation was clearly not one for lecturing. If Xing was willing to speak, then let her speak.

Anyway, the one who's embarrassed isn't her, but the person who hears the self-introduction.

On March 7th, someone snapped their fingers, and a thin, white-blue membrane appeared out of thin air around everyone.

Soon, the gate opened completely, and a torrent of densely packed red and blue monsters rushed towards them.

After observing the situation briefly, Dust Tribulation adjusted his glasses. "Jepard, you can transform now."

“I understand.” After clearly seeing the location, Jepard slowly inserted the foundation stone in his hand into the notch in the middle of the transformation device.

Intense amber-colored energy formed a semi-circular protective shield, with energy flowing within it.

Everyone was protected within the shield, which completely blocked the path, preventing the monsters' frenzied attacks from penetrating it even slightly.

Dust Calamity's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "Hmm? Can this kind of protective shield be maintained indefinitely?"

"No, the shield will keep shrinking in a little while."

"Then let's transform!"

Jepard took a deep breath and slammed his right hand down on the foundation stone that had been slammed in.

"In the name of preservation! Unite!"

Without any sound effects, the energy flowing on the shield paused for a moment, then suddenly expanded outwards, with countless amber-colored energies rising from the ground and continuously merging into Jepard's body.

Like the cracking sound of shattering glass, the protective shield exploded, crushing all the monsters in front of it into dust.

Even if they escaped the initial blast, they would be blown to pieces by the final explosion.

The monsters, which had previously swarmed like ants, were now reduced by more than half.

"Huh? It's already over? The battle's ending just from a transformation?"

March 7th's voice was soft, and her eyes were filled with confusion. Xing was the same, scratching her head and looking at the baseball bat in her hand.

To be honest, she hasn't even fought many monsters yet.

Jepard curiously checked his own condition, naturally having witnessed what had just happened.

"Is this... the armor called Protection? I feel as if I've merged with the entire planet, and there seems to be inexhaustible power within me."

"And it looks beautiful too, with many amber-colored crystals on it. Are these all genomic minerals?"

Seeing that Jepard had completed his transformation, Dust instantly perked up.

The design of this armor was actually based on the appearance of the Kureha armor from Armor 3, and it was definitely not done out of laziness.

Dust Tribulation glanced at the rift monsters gathering from afar and immediately sensed...

"Danheng, please stop the rift monsters that are still appearing. I need to do some checking."

Dust Tribulation walked over to Jepard, looked him over, and asked, "Are you feeling unwell? For example, are you experiencing chest tightness, fatigue, or getting tired very quickly?"

"I didn't experience chest tightness or fatigue, but as for stamina, I felt much faster than in a normal fight; it felt like just a few minutes."

Dust Tribulation nodded silently upon receiving this answer.

"Then that's it. This means your body isn't yet adapted to this armor; to put it bluntly, you're too weak."

"While this armor grants you immense power, it also puts a greater strain on your physique. Remember to practice more in the future to improve your physical abilities."

"Okay, I don't want to waste my time, I'll go help them."

Watching Jepard rush forward impatiently, each move a killing blow, easily turning a group of monsters to dust in a single strike, Dustfall suddenly remembered something.

That is, if Jepard continues to use the armor for high-intensity combat when he is exhausted, will he repeat the situation he was in before?

The moment the thought crossed Dust Tribulation's mind, he felt it was highly likely. When he looked at Jepard again, he noticed that Jepard's speed had noticeably slowed down.

"The Silvermane Iron Guard's garrison commander is even more weak than I expected? Is he about to wet his pants?"

Jepard's face began to flush beneath the armor, and he was panting heavily, a fact already evident from his outward movements within the armor.

Hilva, who had been keeping a close eye on her younger brother the whole time, quickly noticed something was wrong and immediately looked at Dust Calamity.

"Dust Calamity, what's wrong with Xiao Jie Jie? He looks like he's about to collapse from exhaustion."

"Exhausted?" Upon hearing this, Chen Jie couldn't help but laugh.

"He was too weak, and since it was his first time using the armor, he hadn't adapted to it, which resulted in this."

Chapter 53 Echoes

"This is normal; I experienced the same thing the first time I used the armor."

Ahead, after smashing the invading monster with a single punch, Jepard, beneath his armor, panted heavily.

"This armor is indeed very strong, but it's so tiring and drains my energy quickly."

Seeing that Jepard's movements had clearly slowed down, Chen Jie pondered for a moment and said, "Could you use one or two skills? Do you know how to use skills?"

"Skills?" Jepard was stunned for a moment before he remembered that he had just been immersed in the thrill of taking down enemies with one punch, but he was already tired before he could even use a single skill. How could this be allowed?

"It can be opened."

Straightening his back, Jepard clenched his right fist and slammed it hard against the foundation stone at his waist. Instantly, the foundation stone released a large amount of energy, forming a halo.

"Layer upon layer of towering mountains!"

Jepard crouched down, slamming his right fist squarely into the ground. Countless amber-colored minerals erupted from the earth, layer upon layer of tiny, pointed stones sprouting like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

The earth began to tremble, and all the tiny spikes rapidly broke through the ground, countless amber-colored thorns soaring upwards and continuously extending into many thorny branches.

Therefore, the rift monsters were strung together like candied hawthorns, or they were impaled by the extending branches and hung high in the air with the spikes rising into the air.

Jepard's body began to sway, his armor suddenly disintegrated, and he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, clearly exhausted.

"Is the burden of wearing armor really that heavy? We didn't see this when the dust tribulation was lifted."

Faced with March 7's question, Chen Jie almost thought she was about to cleverly guess something, but then Dan Heng stepped forward instead.

"Perhaps it's as Chen Jie said, too ethereal, but most likely it's because it's the first time using it, and being unaccustomed to it is normal."

"Too illusory? Uh, men probably don't like hearing that word, Danheng, is it inappropriate for us to say it like that?"

Xing, carrying a baseball bat, walked forward curiously, looking at Jepard, whose face was red and neck thick with anger.

"Isn't this possible?"

Xing wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Jepard's face seemed to turn even redder after she finished speaking.