Chapter 779: Striking the Rift
"What is this thing?"
"Looks like powered armor from a movie?"
"Really? With this, zombies probably can't even bite through it!"
"..."
The manufacturing of the powered armor was not deliberately concealed by the base's leadership, and many people saw it during transportation.
Their first reaction upon seeing the powered armor was disbelief, after all, the number was too large, being transported out of the factories truck by truck!
If they really could make the legendary powered armor, the numbers should be scarce, right? How could they manufacture so much... But now it's the apocalypse, and all manufacturing is based on practicality, there couldn't be any decorative pieces!
While the survivors were discussing enthusiastically, the City Hall announced that powered armor had been developed and would be on sale in a week; those interested could pre-order.
Mass production of powered armor requires a lot of cost, and if it's only for military use, the cost would be a bottomless pit, so they plan to sell some powered armors to share some of the costs, which is good both for the military and other survivors.
Once the powered armor was officially announced, it instantly caused a city-wide sensation.
For most people, becoming an ability user is a difficult thing because the price of superpower crystal cores is too high, and even after fusing them, success isn't guaranteed. Even with miraculous luck, future ascensions would require more crystal cores... It seems like a bottomless pit, and ordinary people can hardly afford it.
But now, this powered armor claims to allow ordinary people to possess strength comparable to an ability user, and allow ability users to rival awakeners—they also just found out that there are awakeners above ability users—so they are very curious about the price of this powered armor. If the price of one powered armor is cheaper than cultivating an ability user, then this powered armor might really have potential!
Soon, the price of the powered armor was finally to be announced.
They were divided into two series, the T series and the A series, with multiple sub-models in each series whose prices did not differ much, and could even be customized according to demand. The focus was still on the prices of the T series and A series.
First announced was the price of the T series powered armor, which unsurprisingly was exorbitantly expensive. Even though the T series was showcased to prove its real strength and was worth every penny, the steep price still instinctively deterred buyers. Some people, after glancing at the price, realized that if they couldn't afford it now, they never would in their lifetime. Not only the price of the powered armor itself, but they couldn't even handle the daily consumption of the T system powered armor...
"I knew it, this stuff isn't meant for ordinary people. We simply can't afford it..."
Just as everyone was disappointed, the price of the A series was announced, and surprisingly, it was affordable! At least much cheaper than cultivating an ability user!
Although after a demonstration everyone knew the A series had a significant strength gap compared to the T series, the price was just too friendly!
Compared to the T series, the cost-performance ratio was overwhelming!
After all, the combat power of the A series is comparable to that of an ability user, enough for self-protection in the apocalypse.
As a result, a large number of orders poured in, with most people ordering the A series, but a small number also ordered the T series.
Though the T series is expensive, some ability users can afford it. These ability users figured they had no hope of ascending to Level 4, at least not in the short term, and their current strength was hard to enhance, plus they had saved some crystal cores... The T series seemed tailored for them.
So orders for both the A series and T series were overwhelming! The factories couldn't keep up with demand.
Outfitting all tens of thousands of people at the Changhe Base with powered armor in a short time is clearly impossible, but outfitting frequent travelers is feasible.
Changhe Base has tens of thousands of people; naturally, not everyone goes out scrounging for resources or hunting zombies, perhaps only a tenth of the population goes out frequently, and two-tenths occasionally. After all, there are jobs to develop within the base, and those afraid of danger can find suitable jobs inside the base.
The initial goal of Changhe Base is to try and arm the military and these one-tenth to two-tenths of the population within three months. If all these people could wear powered armor, the overall strength of Changhe Base would get a qualitative boost.
More importantly, they enhance external power, not personal power, so they don't have to worry about strengthening the zombies. This is what Wang Tao values most.
Three months may still be somewhat long, but it's not a big problem; the factory is now expanding and producing at the same time. As production lines increase, and manufacturing becomes proficient, the speed of manufacturing will be faster and faster. Not to say everyone will own powered armor, but at least each family can have one of their own powered armors!
And now that they have the technology to extract crystal core energy, they will definitely research more than just powered armor, including crystal energy cars and crystal-powered weapons. When all electronic devices are incapacitated in the future, crystal energy technology can seamlessly step in!
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