Chapter 63: A Genuine Powerhouse, Crafted by Hand

Following Luka's question, this time Haro did not answer with a voice.

Instead, its pair of beady eyes simply blinked continuously.

Immediately afterward, streams of data flashed rapidly across the computer screen in front of Luka, instantly switching to a new interface.

Displayed upon it were various items respectively:

E-Carbon armor, Haro robots, Haro maintenance auxiliary mechs, and Gundam pilot spacesuits, among a series of other items.

However, upon seeing this, Luka felt a dark shadow cast over his eyes.

"Aren't these just the same things from before?"

Yet as soon as this thought arose, he immediately reacted, realizing he had just asked an idiotic question.

Although Haro possessed a very advanced autonomous AI, in essence, it was still just a maintenance robot.

If it wanted to fabricate anything, it certainly still required the relevant data.

Therefore, he turned his head and asked the Haro beside him.

"Haro, if you are given the data for a certain item, can you help me manufacture it?"

Hearing Luka's question, the little fellow rolled backward, its eyes casting upward toward the ceiling.

Due to its physical structure, however, Luka could not tell at all whether this was expressing pride or giving him a contemptuous "eye-roll."

The next moment, however, the orange Haro suddenly leaped forward, carrying the connected data cable along with its body, and crashed headfirst into Luka's arm once more.

"Stupid Luka! Stupid Luka!"

"Mm... understood... it's looking down on me..." Luka thought to himself.

Yet despite the little thing's fierce and aggressive momentum as before, it happened to crash squarely into the mechanical arm on Luka's right hand.

Luka himself didn't react at all, but the orange Haro was bounced away with a sharp "thud," nearly colliding with the computer screen behind it.

Fortunately, since the data cable remained connected to the computer, the little gadget didn't fly very far. Much like a tennis ball secured to the ground by a rubber band, it snapped right back.

This time, without waiting for Luka to prompt it, Haro landed back on the table and began chanting once more.

"Auxiliary mech! Auxiliary mech!"

Hearing this, Luka instantly understood Haro's intent.

Amused, he reached out and pinched the two small, stubby arms protruding from its spherical body.

"Haha, is it because your own body is hard to operate with, right?"

Indeed, although Haro's main body possessed two mechanical arms, their decorative and cute attributes far outweighed their practicality due to their structural limitations.

However, seeing that the little gadget was about to get angry again, Luka decisively pressed it down flat against the desktop, preventing it from moving an inch, before he could resume harmonious communication with it.

Although conversing with the orange Haro was somewhat laborious after that, Luka finally managed to figure out from its words what conditions were roughly required if he wanted Haro to help him develop and manufacture items.

Summed up, there were three main points.

First of all, Haro needed at least one complete, dedicated maintenance mech.

After all, while Haro itself could connect to computers, many devices still required manual operation, and Haro's pair of stubby little arms clearly couldn't handle excessively complex tasks.

Furthermore, this set of Haro-dedicated maintenance mechs could not only network remotely for "Haro-less operation," but it also came equipped with small tools like electric welders, wrenches, and screws.

With it, Haro could completely replace a seasoned mechanical engineer.

Even if it came to industrial production and scaling up manufacturing, such a maintenance mech paired with Haro could already be considered a well-coordinated mechanical engineering team.

Well, the kind that was proficient in programming, at that.

Secondly, manufacturing data and a clear target direction were required.

Although Haro possessed a certain degree of independent manufacturing capability, it was essentially a small intelligent robot designed to assist with research, development, and maintenance.

If Haro's internal database already possessed the complete and relevant data for the item to be manufactured, then that went without saying.

Or, during scientific research and development, if Haro was merely assisting actual researchers, there would certainly be no problem.

However, if one wanted Haro to act as the primary force—especially with Luka, this fraudulent phony, unable to offer any real help—relying on incomplete item data, or simply "black technology items" beyond Haro's capacity to recognize, for analysis and deduction in order to derive an effective manufacturing plan, then Haro would need to rely on its existing theoretical knowledge and greater AI computing power to analyze and synthesize them.

In other words, Haro actually possessed a certain degree of "creativity."

Yet this so-called "creativity" was actually more like a rational path derived through AI computation and analysis.

And speaking of computing power, that brought us to the final condition for Haro to manufacture items.

That was the server providing the computing power.

As an intelligent auxiliary robot, the internal computing power of Haro's own hardware was naturally more than enough for tasks like maintenance, operation, and interaction.

After all, thanks to his cheat, the small computing power module inside the orange Haro already belonged to the realm of black technology.

However, when it came to work involving "research and development," "creation," and "deduction," Haro's own computing power fell far short.

In the original Gundam 00 universe, tasks involving these aspects usually required Haro to connect to larger external servers for temporary upgrades, or rely on ultra-large quantum computation systems like "VEDA," or receive support from the spaceship's own core processor.

Just how high its development efficiency could be depended entirely on how much computing power support Luka could provide for Haro.

Otherwise, if Luka wanted Haro to piece together a movable humanoid mech utilizing the technologies usable in the Gundam 00 world based merely on its existing data reserves, it might directly cause the little gadget to crash and freeze for several months.

Yet, having finally figured all this out, Luka was already extremely satisfied with the Haro before him.

It was estimated that for quite a long time in the future, Haro's development and manufacturing capabilities would serve as the "teacher" and "proxy test-taker" for Luka, the counterfeit inventor.

"Moreover, looking at it this way, perhaps there's no need to go to Jupiter. Relying on Haro's calculations and deductions, isn't there a possibility of successfully developing a GN Drive Tau after all?"

Of course, the premise to all of this was that existing technology could indeed manufacture a "GN Drive Tau."

However, Luka did not immediately begin testing Haro's manufacturing capabilities right then and there.

Instead, he calmed his mindset and re-examined the few items Haro had mentioned earlier that it could manufacture right away.

The maintenance mech had already been mentioned and needed no further elaboration.

The fact that Haro could manufacture even more Haros was also something that brought Luka considerable delight.

Though it remained unclear how much capability these "replica Haros" would retain without the blessing of the cheat, they would surely be more than adequate to serve as experimental assistants.

Additionally, the complete set of Gundam pilot gear was actually a rather high-tech product, including a helmet, a form-fitting spacesuit, a zero-gravity jetpack, and a handheld pneumatic pistol.

Yet these items were not considered critical technologies for Luka at present—or rather, for Orange Industry.

It was estimated that they wouldn't truly find practical use until Orange Industry's commercial partnerships eventually reached the aerospace sector.

"If there's a channel to pitch a PowerPoint presentation or something to the space agency, selling the concept isn't entirely out of the question~"

As for the very last item, it was the "E-Carbon armor"—which Luka had previously dismissed due to the lack of "GN particles"—that once again made his eyes light up.

Indeed, a complete "E-Carbon armor" required the function of "GN particles" to achieve a terrifying defense that was virtually immune to kinetic attacks.

Yet in reality, even without "GN particles," the various performance metrics of a material like "E-Carbon" still far surpassed the vast majority of existing alloys.

Density, toughness, hardness, high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, energy conductivity, and even manufacturing cost—if considered comprehensively, this material completely crushed the existing materials sector.

In the original Gundam 00 universe, the reason the three major earthly powers were able to mass-produce humanoid mechs was fundamentally due to the emergence of materials like "E-Carbon."

Moreover, because "E-Carbon" had already achieved widespread popularization in the Gundam 00 universe, the data regarding all its aspects was detailed to an infuriating degree.

In essence, this substance was somewhat similar to carbon fiber.

However, the outstanding performance of carbon fiber was produced by the micrometer-scale arrangement and interweaving of carbon nanotubes combined with fixed composite materials.

As for "E-Carbon," it was fundamentally an independent material manufactured by using chemical deposition and electromagnetic confinement to convert carbon isotopes, causing them to autonomously arrange into carbon nanotubes with a specific lattice structure, which were then laid out according to a specific, complex sequence.

This manufacturing process also brought one distinct advantage.

Although all were referred to as "E-Carbon," they were actually a collective term for a broad category of materials.

As long as it was combined with specific composite materials, or if the arrangement density of the carbon nanotubes was reduced, a vast batch of "E-Carbon" variants with differing strength and performance metrics could be obtained.

Provided that Orange Industry could fully digest the industrial production of "E-Carbon," Luka could even rely on "technical castration" to roll out products like "E-Carbon 1 through 16," or an "E-Carbon Standard Edition," "E-Carbon Youth Edition," and "E-Carbon Pro Max."

Capitalizing on performance far superior to market materials, he could "continually iterate products" and repeatedly harvest leeks.

This single material alone would be enough to elevate Orange Industry into a commercial titan.
"It seems that at least Orange Industry already has a guaranteed foundational industry for the future—no, setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary for it would be entirely feasible."

With these thoughts cleared up, a heavy stone finally dropped from Luka's heart.

Yet, with his excitement still far from subsiding, he had no intention of resting just yet.

Instead, he pulled the newly "born" orange Haro over and began crafting the "maintenance auxiliary mech" for it.

Well... of course, daydreams were wonderful, and the future was bright.

However... Luka at present could not yet afford anything as extravagant as "E-Carbon," and even the other components had to be cobbled together from whatever readily available materials he could scavenge.

3D printing, structural welding, programming...

With Haro, the true mechanic, acting as commander and handling the precision work, and Luka, a clumsy dabbler who only knew how to tinker with toy robots, serving as his "thigh's" "spare hands"—

Next,

Luka, fabricating items with his own hands for the very first time in a true sense, spent three consecutive days and nights without stepping foot out of the laboratory.

In the end, he actually managed to "independently" fabricate a decent, respectable "Haro-dedicated maintenance auxiliary mech."

Looking at the creation before him that he had built from scratch with his own hands, an irrepressible wave of...

Joy and a sense of accomplishment welled up in Luka's heart!

"Perhaps, being a genuine researcher and mechanic isn't bad after all?!"

Unawares, a smile had already crept up onto the corners of his mouth~