“Alright, that settles it. The highest management authority for this berth is now officially transferred to you.”
Having finished the registration, Elena clapped her hands in satisfaction, her gaze lingering once more on the machine in the berth.
—Stunning. Truly stunning.
Those sharp, angular curves, and the faintly visible, power-laden magitech circuits beneath the armor. The deep black paint scheme paired with oppressive purple accents…
Placing it in this hangar was like a single red flower amid a sea of green—eye-catching to the extreme, the undisputed visual star. Just mentioning it outside would bring great face.
“So, if I want to retrieve the machine in the future…” Ye Xu was about to ask about the retrieval process when Elena waved her hand.
“School training machines require approval to release the rack restrictions and leave the berth. But yours is a privately owned dedicated unit. Since the berth is rented, during the lease period, the highest authority lies with you.”
As she spoke, a subordinate hurried out from deeper in the hangar and handed a document to Elena. She glanced at it, then passed it to Ye Xu.
Ye Xu took it and examined it closely. It detailed the berth usage and maintenance precautions, along with a “foolproof” multifunctional rack operation guide.
As the highest authority holder for the berth, owning a privately dedicated machine, Ye Xu only needed to follow the instructions: enter the cockpit, then control the magitech core to emit a specific magic signal sequence, and the rack would automatically release the locks.
Already accustomed to all sorts of complex and precise equipment, Ye Xu found this student-oriented simple operation somewhat novel for the first time.
Of course, his machine was rather special. He didn’t actually need to enter the cockpit and go through such trouble.
He merely shifted his thoughts slightly.
The next moment, the magitech core contracted with Ye Xu inside Nightfall emitted a low magical hum.
The machine, which had just entered standby, restarted, beginning to draw in the ambient magic from the surroundings.
As a unique magical signal sequence was emitted, the brackets securing the machine slowly released their restrictions. When Ye Xu shifted his thoughts again, the rack re-secured after about three minutes.
“Wow~ Is this the legendary autonomous module of the Radiant Sun Type-14?”
“I’ve heard about it, but I never imagined it could be this intelligent!”
Developed based on the “Night Guard-type Magitech Knight,” the Radiant Sun Type-14 possessed a unique function unmatched by any previous model, including the Radiant Sun Type-13: the ability to form an exclusive contract with its owner.
This contract mechanism was entirely different from those of past machines.
The security mechanism of older Magitech Knights merely involved setting a special magical lock within the magitech core.
The pilot needed to input a password composed of specific magic signals to unlock it and provide power to start the machine.
In other words, if the password was stolen in advance, one could steal another’s Magitech Knight.
But the Radiant Sun Type-14, with its unique subordination contract, was different.
As the most critical component of a Magitech Knight, the magitech core not only provided core power to the frame but was also the part with the highest integration, encompassing all basic logic and core systems.
The fundamental principle of piloting a Magitech Knight was linking the pilot’s soul to the magitech core, allowing the steel body to temporarily replace the frail flesh.
The magitech core would directly draw magic from the pilot’s body, bypassing the inefficient output bottleneck caused by the human body’s weakness, supplying energy from the core itself.
Compared to any previous model, the Radiant Sun Type-14’s magitech core featured two unprecedented new functions:
First, a unique power system. In addition to using the pilot as the primary power source, the core could actively draw magic from the surrounding environment as auxiliary power.
This was the fundamental reason the Radiant Sun Type-14 achieved a terrifying comprehensive performance increase of over 20% compared to previous models.
Second, the “autonomous module” that formed the essence of the Radiant Sun Type-14’s subordination contract.
This module allowed the machine to absorb ambient magic for a low-power 35% startup without a pilot and remotely understand and execute the owner’s commands.
The world even speculated that every Magitech Knight built on the Radiant Sun Type-14 blueprint possessed a soul in the truest sense.
Otherwise, many phenomena could not be explained.
Among all things in the world, many could store and conduct magic. But those capable of actively drawing or even creating magic from the outside.
They could be plants and trees, birds and beasts, humans or any intelligent race—but never soulless steel constructs.
Of course, despite the myriad doubts, no one could confirm this conjecture.
Because all Radiant Sun Type-14 magitech cores were directly supplied by the empire.
Production was fixed, with monthly quotas nearly constant.
As the most integrated and technologically core component, even if one possessed the complete design blueprints for the Radiant Sun Type-14, without that crucial core, successful replication was impossible.
This differed greatly from all previous models.
In the past, Magitech Knights could operate even if the core was damaged—simply swapping in an intact core from another machine, at most suffering slight power decline due to core aging.
In other words, a Magitech Knight’s performance was essentially determined by the frame structure, materials, and adopted design blueprint.
Only the Radiant Sun Type-14’s magitech core was an exception. Without that unique core, even building the machine exactly to specifications yielded no visible major improvements or special functions over previous generations. Only embedding that core made it a true Radiant Sun Type-14.
For this reason, professionals in the industry gave the Radiant Sun Type-14’s core a special name: the “Machine Soul Core.”
Such unique properties even gave rise to numerous rumors…
“It’s said that every machine built on the Radiant Sun Type-14 blueprint,”
“Their cores, upon leaving the factory, have all been personally blessed by the ‘Night Princess.’”
“That’s why they possess so many miraculous functions.”
Elena gently caressed Nightfall’s armor, her eyes tender as if gazing at a lover.
Especially when mentioning the “Night Princess,” her eyes blazed with the fervent reverence of a believer.
But soon, Elena seemed to recall something, her expression turning extremely downcast and sorrowful.
“However, recently there’s news circulating in the empire that the Night Princess has disappeared.”
“No one knows if something unfortunate happened to her or what.”
“It’s said that the current Type-14 magitech cores in the empire are only the stockpiles left from when the Night Princess was still around. From now on, the monthly supply will only decrease.”
“Aaah, my Night Princess, my Emperor’s Daughter Majesty, please be safe!”
“Ahem, ahem!”
Because she was too immersed, Elena failed to notice Ye Xu’s momentary stiffening behind her…
As well as the embarrassment that nearly made him dig through the floor with his toes.
Because Ye Xu realized that those rumors… were very likely true.
After all, the Radiant Sun Type-14 was not merely similar to the “Night Guard-type” she had designed for the rebel army back then—it was fundamentally the empire’s research institute taking the blueprints and data she had provided, swapping to empire-specific materials, localizing it with their techniques, and ultimately copying it.
The biggest difference from the original was merely a change in paint scheme and overall design style, with the name shifting from “Night Guard” to “Radiant Sun Type-14.”
Regarding this matter, one had to mention the reason she designed these Magitech Knights back then.
At that time, she had accidentally heard an ancient rumor about “Magitech Knights birthing souls,” sparking her curiosity. After much effort, she actually obtained an antique among antiques.
—A “Radiant Sun Type-7” machine born five thousand years ago.
Its performance aside—any training machine in the academy today could easily crush it.
But when Ye Xu piloted it, he unexpectedly discovered some extremely miraculous phenomena…