Chapter 28: Exoskeleton Infantry Armor

Bang—

The muzzle of the 4a1 spat bullets, taking down an enemy who had crept close. Zhu Lan’s face darkened; he didn’t need to look to know he could not hold out much longer.

Qin Shi moved forward to suppress the enemy. At first, Zhu Lan heard gunfire, but gradually, the shots slowed and faded. He had no idea what was happening ahead until the enemy’s head appeared, and Zhu Lan understood—Qin Shi might already be...

This was not the time for grief. The only one left who could still fight was himself. Zhu Lan knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

Zhai Bang had completely slipped into shock. According to Wang Sheng, if no emergency measures were taken within an hour, the consequences would be dire...

Wang Sheng had been injected with medication, but that only eased his condition. If there were time, Qin Shi could have handled Wang Sheng’s situation entirely.

But now, there was no time for Qin Shi to act. Wang Sheng, though still holding on, was essentially a ruined man, unable even to lift his gun. The massive blood loss had sapped all his strength.

Zhu Lan had only been shot in the foot; he still had some fight left, but he was just an ordinary man, utterly no match for the approaching enemy.

“Is fate toying with me? Did I really take the wrong path?” Zhu Lan changed his magazine, questioning himself.

All of this could have been avoided; it was all the result of his own choices.

Regret now? Too late!

Regret? Or not?

Perhaps both. He lifted his gaze to the gray sky. The sun was slowly setting, and darkness began to fall. The silence around him became so deep it was unnerving.

“Wang Sheng, do you think I made a mistake?”

“Wang Sheng?” Zhu Lan called, but there was no reply. Alarmed, he turned and saw Wang Sheng slumped against a stone, unconscious.

He struggled over and checked Wang Sheng’s breathing; he was still alive. Zhu Lan sighed in relief.

Then, feeling something, he looked down at his foot.

The bleeding had stopped, but the wound was inflamed. Zhu Lan frowned—he’d endured much worse pain before, so this was nothing.

Tap, tap, tap—

Footsteps approached. Zhu Lan grew tense, thinking, “Is this the end?”

He was not a soldier and knew his own limits. From a distance, he could suppress the enemy with heavy fire as long as he didn’t face a marksman or sniper. The environment here was harsh, with the wind favoring shots from above and hindering those from below.

But now the enemy was close, and his advantage was gone. On equal footing, he was no match.

Space twisted; several grenades fell.

Zhu Lan grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin without hesitation, and threw it.

Boom, boom, boom, boom—

Explosions echoed, and the footsteps halted.

Zhu Lan’s expression grew grim. He manipulated his tablet, closed his eyes.

Space slowly twisted, expanding from a palm-sized distortion.

His pale face grew even paler. The sun had completely set, and the interplay of moonlight and fading sunlight made him appear almost bloodless.

Sweat poured down as Zhu Lan reached a critical moment.

A blurred figure materialized before him, steel armor gradually shifting from ethereal to solid.

In the distance, footsteps sounded again, accompanied by voices in a foreign tongue.

Bang—

The armor hit the ground with a tremendous crash. Zhu Lan opened his eyes and smiled at Mark I before him.

In the silent mountains, footsteps carried far. Zhu Lan hadn’t fired for a long time; the enemy assumed he was out of bullets and no longer hid, rushing toward him.

Hearing the footsteps draw closer, Zhu Lan sneered, “Good, now it’s game time!”

He stepped forward, opened Mark I, fumbled, then climbed inside, enveloping himself completely.

Mark I was modeled after the exoskeleton Tony Stark built when trapped in the Middle East—the original Mark I.

Unlike the film, where Tony wore the suit, Zhu Lan now slipped his entire body inside, as the later models allowed.

Due to limited materials, Mark I was extremely simple, easy for anyone to operate.

Though Zhu Lan’s English was poor, he could manage the basic controls.

He quickly got Mark I running.

Without a sophisticated AI, the system was simple, yet still had a computer interface.

Zhu Lan checked Mark I’s weaponry—prepared as he was, he was still stunned.

There was only one weapon: the flamethrower from the film. No missile launcher was visible; he wasn’t sure if it was missing or if he simply didn’t know how to operate it.

“Surround him, take him alive!”

Several men rushed in, guns raised. Suddenly, a powerful beam flashed; a whistling noise followed, and two men were thrown aside before they could react.

Zhu Lan flexed his limbs. The controls were idiot-proof, and he quickly grasped them—he’d played enough single-player games to find these mechanics straightforward.

Bang, bang—

Two bodies hit the ground. By the beam from Mark I, Zhu Lan saw their lifeless faces, disbelief written across them. He sneered.

Though Tony Stark crafted Mark I from rudimentary materials, the limb systems used steam principles—essentially hydraulic mechanisms.

At full force, Mark I could punch through stone; how could the human body withstand such power?

Later Mark models strengthened the armor but lost raw force, as hydraulic systems couldn’t be miniaturized enough for those suits. If installed, the suit would be enormous, like the villain from the first Iron Man film, to house the hydraulics and unleash immense power.

In later models, Tony chose speed over strength, only adding hydraulics for the Hulkbuster in Avengers 2.

Zhu Lan quickly switched off the spotlight; the sun still lingered at the horizon, and the beam would make him a target.

Mark I was powerful but not invincible—if shot at the joints, it would still fail. Zhu Lan needed stealth.

He grabbed his tablet, connected it inside Mark I, and began reading files.

He quickly switched screens.

Space twisted, and a strange rifle appeared in Zhu Lan’s hands. He gripped it firmly.

It was a meter-long rifle; anyone familiar would recognize it as the standard infantry weapon from “Starship Troopers.”

Click—

He chambered a round, sneering.

He stepped forward.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—

The enemy below was no fool; noticing the silence, they knew the two men were likely dead.

Seeing a tall figure emerge, they fired without hesitation.

Bullets pinged off Mark I’s hull, bouncing away.

The suit’s material was no ordinary steel, but forged from missile casings—military-grade, the latest from Stark Industries. This steel, used for missile shells, could withstand not only bullets but probably shells as well.

“What the hell?”

It was not fully dark, and the shooters saw clearly—their rounds couldn’t penetrate, and the ricochets were unmistakable.

Zhu Lan sneered, raising his rifle.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—

He wielded the machine gun from “Starship Troopers,” with a three-hundred-round magazine—a true heavy machine gun.

And its caliber was not mere millimeters, but fifteen millimeters.

In the film, the rifles seemed ineffective, but these machine guns were special, portable, and terrifyingly powerful. Future technology had reduced steel’s weight, making the guns lighter without sacrificing force—in fact, increasing it.

The deadly barrage shattered small rocks, and even larger stones were punctured, riddled with holes.

As Zhu Lan fired, Pumanfan knew things had gone awry and quickly took cover.

What happened next left Pumanfan utterly stunned.

The hail of bullets came fast and left just as quickly, three hundred rounds spraying the mountain’s base, barely touching much. Two unlucky souls were hit, one literally torn in half.

Pumanfan and his team were paralyzed with fear.

Even the most seasoned soldiers would blanch in the face of such a war machine.

Zhu Lan expected resistance, but there was only silence—deep, unbroken silence.

He ignored them, changing magazines.

“Damn it!”

Pumanfan recovered, assessing the situation—what could they do?

“Captain, we can’t fight. The enemy has exoskeleton armor. We don’t have armor-piercing gear!”

They weren’t fools; now, they understood they faced the rumored exoskeleton suit.

Exoskeleton armor was considered the future’s most important infantry equipment, not only enhancing speed and strength but also offering formidable defense. Advanced models could even be used in space, doubling as spacesuits.

As early as 2004, America had built a simple exoskeleton, though it fell short of expectations. Research ramped up worldwide, and rumors claimed the US had a test unit equipped with exoskeleton armor, with impressive results.

So, facing exoskeleton armor, they knew the mission had failed. Lacking specialized armor-piercing weapons, their assault rifles and semi-autos were useless against this mysterious figure, especially with that fearsome gun.

Zhu Lan had just finished reloading when Pumanfan and his men retreated. Searching, Zhu Lan found no trace of them and, wary of a trap, waited a long time before slowly advancing. At last, he found Qin Shi, unconscious among the stones, his fate unknown.