Chapter Fifty-One: Radically Modified Power Exoskeleton Armor

The four of them discussed their battle plan a while longer before the Valkyrie and Tom hurried off to assemble J Squad, leaving the master and disciple alone in the weapons repair room, staring at each other.

“Teacher, why do you insist on taking such a risk?” Zhou Shu asked Carter.

Carter rubbed his hands together, his face alight with excitement. “Why call it a risk? I’m practically beside myself with anticipation!”

“I’ve been studying them ever since they landed on Earth. But it turns out, it’s not ‘them’—it’s ‘it.’ All this time, I’ve only ever seen fragments of the foot soldier grunts. I’ve never so much as glimpsed the ultimate Omega brain, not even the Alphas that turn you into what you are—the neural relay nodes.” As he spoke, he activated a holographic display, revealing a model he’d constructed. “All the grunt models are built from actual data, but the rest are theoretical, based on Rita’s descriptions. The ‘brain’ is theory on top of theory—we have no idea what it really looks like. Now, with a chance to see the real thing, do you even have to ask why I’m going?”

Zhou Shu understood—this was the scientist’s peculiar kind of…romance.

Let’s call it that for now.

During their lessons, Carter would sometimes talk about other things, even grumble a little, but he never spoke about what he actually did for the Whitehall. Still, Zhou Shu guessed that, as the former chief analyst of Whitehall and an expert in particle physics and advanced microbiology, Carter had been analyzing alien intelligence from the moment humanity first encountered the Mimics.

As the aliens ravaged Europe and more and more countries fell, the pressure on their analysts must have grown overwhelming. That, Zhou Shu suspected, was why Carter had been so elated to meet Rita, and why he had helped her at any cost, even sacrificing his prestigious job to become a “crazy” mechanic. Now, with humanity fielding three unprecedented “super soldiers” and preparing to strike at the alien nest itself, of course he wanted to be part of it.

Beyond what Zhou Shu had guessed, Carter was even more excited by the two-pronged divergence in their assault plan. To him, it meant only one thing: the aliens were panicking. They were afraid. They didn’t want all three super soldiers united. No matter—if the “brain” wanted to divide them, they’d block off its retreat from both directions.

The Valkyrie’s squad might be bigger and look stronger, but fighters have their way, and scientists have theirs. With careful handling, the two of them could fight with the force of ten. Maybe not before, but now that Zhou Shu had mastered the essence of his exoskeleton technology, Dr. Carter was overjoyed.

He looked over the two power-armored exoskeletons and the room full of parts, weapons, and explosives. “Zhou, I’m going to teach you my last—no, what do you call it? Right, my trump card, the ace up my sleeve. You’re about to see the exoskeleton’s berserk mode in action!”

The very mention of the exoskeleton made Zhou Shu’s spirits soar.

“Teacher, what should I do?”

“Just like we discussed: strip off the leg armor to reduce weight, keep only the metal skeleton, and fit it all with lightweight hard polyethylene plates. Cover the joints with polyethylene fiber fabric to maximize the protected area. We’re running an extreme mission, so forget redundant protection—single-hit defense will do. We’ll need more ammo, more weapons, more batteries—do what you think is best. I’ll unlock the suit’s auxiliary system and turn it into a true engine of destruction…”

With Carter’s instructions in mind, Zhou Shu set to work, swiftly dismantling the suit. Gone were the days when he’d hesitate to take apart a battlesuit—after studying under Carter, he could do it in his sleep.

He stripped the alloy leg armor and tossed it aside with a clang, then began fitting the suit with polyethylene plates. These weren’t even combat-grade—just training armor. Good enough for drills, but against aliens, they’d fail in a single hit. If struck again at a breached spot, serious injury or death was certain.

Only the legs had ready-made polyethylene armor; the rest had to be cut and reshaped. The resulting suit…well, it was practical. Let’s just say, if it looked rough before, now it was downright ramshackle.

Once the armor was done, Zhou Shu moved on to the ammo system. He removed the pop-out magazines and welded racks to the legs, stacking loaded mags for hundreds of extra rounds. Swapping mags was a matter of hitting a button to jettison the empty, swinging the arm down, and slotting in a fresh one—quick and efficient.

For maximum firepower, he also stripped the three-round grenade launcher from his left arm and swapped in another machine gun. This way, he could alternate fire without even a second’s pause to reload.

But that wasn’t enough—nothing short of overkill would satisfy his craving for firepower. So he started modifying the mechanical support platform: the two smart-controlled, foldable weapons on the back. He added a third, making it a 20mm sniper cannon, a micro missile pod, and a 12.7mm heavy machine gun. He also reconfigured the layout: one facing forward, two rearward. After all, the unseen dangers behind were greater than those ahead.

But he could mount detectors on the back, letting the smart system identify and fire on enemies behind him.

Of course, the helmet display would have to show both front and rear views. In the chaos of battle, tracking threats on both sides demanded incredible focus, but Zhou Shu’s mental faculties were more than up to the challenge.

With so much equipment, power consumption would skyrocket. Given the story's constraints, the suit’s energy supply was already limited, so Zhou Shu modified the battery compartment to hold multiple cells at once.

While Zhou Shu handled the hardware, Carter worked on the software, hacking the suit’s auxiliary systems. The exoskeleton’s support suite was sophisticated—those foldable weapon platforms on the back were all under its control. The system was driven by the warrior’s brainwaves, but to prevent users from turning into “team-killers,” and to avoid the exoskeleton injuring its wearer or burning out prematurely, layer upon layer of safety limits had been imposed—human self-restraint built into the machine.

Carter’s task was to remove those limits and push the suit’s performance to its max. Of course, this meant the firepower and defense would peak, but the suit’s lifespan would plummet. But who cared? They were about to face the final boss—after that, peace would reign. It was worth it.

When Zhou Shu finished his own suit, he helped Carter with his. Both suits were modified smoothly, and Zhou Shu even had time to repaint them, so they didn’t look quite so much like jury-rigged scrap.

During this time, Carter explained the system hack and how to switch modes: if ordinary mode couldn’t handle the situation, activate berserk.

They worked until nightfall, grabbed a quick meal, and then the Valkyrie brought her team over. She’d used her authority to “borrow” two transport helicopters, and Carter had leveraged his position to haul out a trove of bombs and weapons, letting the Valkyrie’s squad reconfigure their loadouts for the mission.

As for the bombs, they were for their landing. Acting independently, with no outside fire support, they would have to provide their own. Once the helicopters reached their target, they’d open the hatches and toss down a wave of bombs to clear the area before landing.

They exchanged a mutual “Victory!” and, under cover of darkness, lifted off from the airfield, crossing the English Channel toward their target.