Chapter 131: Skeleton mech (2/2)
It was truly lightweight. If this shell could be made into a shield, it would definitely reduce the burden on the mech’s engines significantly, besides minimizing the reaction time of the arm that wielded the shield. However, his only concern was that the shell was strong enough to be a shield, as Hei Zi claimed.
”This is the mech’s mechanical arm. You see these 5 fingers? They’re all made from the femur of a scented salamander. Besides being tough, the scented salamander’s femur has a natural rough surface, good for anti-slipping. The scented salamander’s femur is also easier to work on.” Hei Zi spoke knowledgeably.
If a mech’s parts were all made of skeleton, like Hei Zi’s mech, an average engine would be enough for an outstanding speed performance. After all, speed is a critical weapon for victory! With a proper engine, a full-skeleton mech would be able to fly everywhere at warp speed. The thought was enough to make Ye Chong nervous.
”How many of these can you make in a day?” Ye Chong asked carefully.
”How many can I make in a day?” Hei Zi shook his head and said, ”You should be asking, how many days do I need to make one! Every time someone sent over their skeletons, they’re always different, and before any work could begin, Master would have to examine them carefully and devise some reasonable way of approach. This usually takes days! It we come across an unfamiliar skeleton, it will take even longer! The next step is the crude processing of the skeletons. After that, we soak the skeletons in a special liquid, like a hardening liquid that makes the bones stronger. Master calls it the strengthening chemical.
”These strengthening chemicals were prepared by Aunt Guan. She’s the best chemist around here. Soaking time depends on the skeletons, usually it takes 7 to 21 days.
”Next is the fine processing. Fine processing is the most complicated part of the craft. It’s almost entirely done by hand. Any mistakes, and it’s over, all previous efforts gone down the drain. That’s why Master usually asks for at least two sets of skeletons. He’ll make two products, just to be safe.
”You see these mech parts on the floor, they’re all done by Master. Every time he passed one set of goods to his clients, there will be another set left here with us. These parts here were accumulated since Master began working here. Sigh, we nearly lost them due to the incident last time, but fortunately for Master, they were all returned to us by the sanctuary!
”Making a normal part usually takes at least half a month. If we’re talking about something like a mech’s main body, that’ll take even longer. I remember the longest Master had ever worked on a part was close to 3 months!”
”That long?” Ye Chong was surprised. In this technologically advanced society, where efficiency was worshipped, a normal mech could be manufactured in less than 10 minutes. If a single part would take half a month, one can only imagine the amount of time required to churn out the entire mech. However, Ye Chong quickly felt secretly relieved, since this meant that it was impossible to have a massive production of full-skeleton mechs. This was good news to Ye Chong. If these skeleton-only mechs could be manufactured in bulk, then the first to equip themselves with these skeleton mechs would be the Orbits’ Mentalist Sanctuary. Since he had just raised havoc, it was only reasonable that they had begun searching for him. The stronger the Sanctuary was, the riskier it was for him! Ye Chong realized this!
”Full-skeleton mechs, how do they perform?” Ye Chong asked Hei Zi, thinking that since he owned a full-skeleton mech himself, he should be familiar with their pros and cons.
Hei Zi pondered for a moment before replying, ”It’s hard to say. Usually full-skeleton mechs are much lighter than mechs made of metal, and can fly longer! However, while the strength of the skeletons were greatly improved with the strengthening chemical, it was still slightly worse off compared to the mature workmanship with metals. So, skeleton mechs were usually not suitable for brute force combat, but more for fluid combat styles.
”Of course, that’s what it usually is like. A skeleton mech’s performance depends on the types of skeletons it’s made of. As for the skeletons, they’re usually quite different from one another. Some top quality skeletons can even be stronger than high-strength metals. However, these skeletons are usually much harder to process! Moreover, they’re quite rare!
”But there’s one important thing you should know. The price for a skeleton mech is on a whole different level than for average mechs. Besides, resupply and servicing would be very inconvenient. If any of the skeleton parts were damaged, it’s virtually impossible to repair it, the only way is to get a new one! So, unless you’re a skeleton carver yourself, it’ll be foolish to use a skeleton mech for usual business!”
Ye Chong could not help but nod in agreement - the man had a point! The advantages and disadvantages were clear, but Ye Chong could not afford to be choosy then - if he was offered a Blackbird right then, Ye Chong would probably accept it without hesitation, much less a skeleton mech that he had never even heard of!
Mu spoke in timely fashion, ”Scanning is complete, there is a total of 372 parts. There are 3 recommendations for you. Ye, would you like to hear the details?”