Tang Wulin shook his head before pointing into the distance. 

Only then did everyone recall that there was a metal ball that had been rolled into the drill ground. However, it was situated quite far away, and wasn't even inside the protective barrier, so they had automatically thought that it had nothing to do with what Tang Wulin wanted to show them.

With the protective barrier in the way, it was rather difficult to see the metal ball, but now that the shot had been fired, the protective barrier was withdrawn, and everyone finally caught a clear glimpse of the alloy ball.

The disdainful looks on the faces all of the imperial Soul Masters instantly stiffened, and they looked as if they had seen a ghost.

A huge hole with a diameter of over two meters had been blasted into the metal ball. Strangely enough, the wall that was not far behind the metal ball remained completely unscathed. It was as if the core of the metal had spontaneously melted on its own.

Dai Yueyan was quite stunned to see this, but he still didn't really understand.

"What is this meant to show me?" he asked.

"You don't get it?" Tang Wulin asked in a calm manner.

"I'm afraid not."

"Alright, there should be mecha pilots among your entourage, right? How about we get one of them to release their mecha and repeat that experiment?" Tang Wulin suggested.

Dai Yueyan waved a hand, and a middle-aged mecha pilot standing beside him immediately raised an arm. A halo of light erupted from the bracelet on his wrist, and a beam of light surged forth before materializing a black mecha out of thin air.

"Do you need me to participate in the experiment?" the mecha pilot asked.

Not only was Dai Yueyan completely perplexed, none of them had understood what exactly Tang Wulin was trying to show them.

Tang Wulin replied, "No need, just place something that you think is quite solid and hard in your mecha's pilot room, then activate its automatic defense system to release its protective barrier."

The mecha pilot was slightly hesitant. "Will this experiment damage my mecha?"

To any high-grade mecha pilot, their mechas were like their second lives, so they definitely didn't want their mecha to be harmed in any way.

Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "It won't. If any damage is caused, I'll repay you by twofold."

Having received that promise from Tang Wulin, the mecha pilot didn't say anything further. He rose up into the pilot room of his black mecha and placed a chunk of uncommon metal in there, then activated its automatic defense system.

Once a mecha reached the black caliber, some simple functions could be completed remotely, such as protective barrier activation or opening and closing of the pilot room.

A slightly warped transparent protective barrier was released by the black mecha, and a content look appeared on the mecha pilot's face. Every high-grade mecha pilot made sure to painstakingly fine-tune their own mecha, so he was very confident in his black mecha's defensive prowess. With its defenses fully activated, he was confident that it would be able to withstand even an attack from a Titled Douluo.

Tang Wulin made another hand signal toward the black mecha in the distance, and on this occasion, it didn't need to make any further adjustments before firing off another shot.

On this occasion, the beam of blue light was clearly weaker, and the buzzing sound also wasn't as loud as before.

The targeted back mecha merely shuddered slightly before falling still again, and its protective barrier was still in place.

The black mecha in the distance then put down its gun again, and the mecha pilot from the Star Luo Empire turned to Tang Wulin with a skeptical look. "That's it?"

Tang Wulin made an inviting hand gesture. "Open your pilot room and have a look."

The mecha pilot strode over to his mecha in a perplexed manner, then remotely deactivated the protective barrier before opening the pilot room.

In the instant that the pilot room was opened, a plume of acrid smoke wafted out from within. At this point, the piece of uncommon metal that had been left on the pilot seat had already disappeared, and even the seat itself had been melted away.

Tang Wulin said in a slightly apologetic manner, "My apologies, our control wasn't up to scratch, and we damaged your pilot seat as well; our Tang Sect will repay you for twice the cost of the seat."

Everyone had failed to see the point of the first experiment, but now, the meaning was clear as day, and horrified looks appeared on all of their faces.

All of the items used in the first experiment had been provided by the Tang Sect, so no matter what the effect had been, they could always raise suspicions or be skeptical. However, it was different on this occasion.

The mecha belonged to the Star Luo Empire, and its pilot was definitely someone who was trustworthy as well. They had witnessed the entire process during which he had fully activated the defense system of his mecha, so how had the inside of the mecha become like this?

The most astonished one among them was naturally the mecha pilot himself. Just a minute ago, he had asked Tang Wulin whether his cooperation was required in the experiment; what would've happened to him had he been sitting in the pilot room? He would've most likely vanished along with that piece of metal and that chair.

This was no longer just incredible; it was like a magic trick! Just what was that giant gun?

Tang Wulin turned toward Dai Yueyan, but didn't say anything, and merely appraised Dai Yueyan's astonished expression in silence.

"This is what you wanted to show me?"

Dai Yueyan's breathing was slightly labored. Even though he was constantly telling himself to calm down, he simply couldn't do so. The scenes he had just witnessed were far too incredible! It had gone beyond the realm of his imagination.

This was definitely beyond the capabilities of any soul weapon that he knew of, and there were many implications behind this experiment. In the face of that giant gun, the black mecha's defenses were rendered completely null. No matter how powerful the mecha itself was, it would be useless if the mecha pilot were killed.

"What weapon is that?" Dai Yueyan asked in a slightly strained voice.

Tang Wulin replied, "This is one of the federation's newest weapons, and it's a federal secret. I'm sure that if we hadn't brought one here to show you, you'd be discovering its existence on a battlefield. This is a heavy ion laser gun, it doesn't possess much more offensive power than a normal super soul cannon, but its main advantage lies in its penetrative ability. It can pass through virtually all defenses, regardless of whether they're physical or energy-based, and the wielder can detonate the laser at any point to inflict as much damage as possible.

"Hence, it doesn't even need to damage the surface of an object to destroy everything within it. On top of that, it's effective against both mechas and battle armor. The federal military is already being equipped with this type of weapon, and its only one of the newest weapons of the federation that we know of. What do you think would happen if this type of weapon appeared in a large-scale mecha battle, Your Highness?"

What would happen? This was an answer that everyone present could easily provide; the Star Luo Empire's mecha legion would be crushed without being able to offer any resistance. The protective barriers that they took so much pride in would be rendered completely ineffective, and the mecha pilots would be reduced to dust. After that, their mechas would be captured by the federal military to be used against them.

The faces of all of the mecha pilots present had turned deathly pale at the thought of this notion, and the Soul Masters weren't looking much better, either. Battle armor could enhance Soul Masters to a tremendous extent, but that didn't mean that battle armor was more powerful than mechas.

Mechas weren't all that inferior to battle armor when it came to power, but in comparison, battle armor was more compact and had greater synergy with a Soul Master. At the same time, a battle armor master could still use a mecha if they wanted to, which was why battle armor had always been ranked above mechas.

However, who was to say that a weapon that would be so effective against mechas would be ineffective against battle armor? No one present was willing to volunteer themselves as an experimental guinea pig.

Waves of shock were surging through Dai Yueyan's heart. He had dared to try and establish a position of power over Tang Wulin as he was confident in the power of the Star Luo Empire. Of course, they still wanted to receive the assistance of the Tang Sect, but they didn't want to give up too much for that assistance. In particular, they didn't want to be overly restricted by the Tang Sect as part of their agreement. Hence, Dai Yuyan had come more so to test Tang Wulin than anything else. However, the test had yielded completely unexpected and downright terrifying results.

Heavy ion laser gun!

This was the first time he had ever heard of such a name, and there was no information in the Star Luo Empire that indicated the existence of such a weapon.

Dai Yueyan's previously unwavering confidence in his own empire was beginning to sway, and he was at a loss for what to do.

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