Chapter 104: Rules, Restrictions on Technological Weapons (1)

The entire human race was thrown into turmoil by the commencement of the "Peak Genius Battle." Countless factions and prodigies throughout the universe were shaken by this grand event.

Sanctuaries like the Black Dragon Mountain, the Ice Sea Divine Kingdom, and the Qianwu Secret Realm—each renowned for nurturing vast numbers of geniuses—sent all their stellar-level prodigies to register, hoping to secure more spots. Even if they couldn’t obtain a place in the overall cosmic rankings, they still wished their talents to shine within their respective universal nations.

Forces as aloof as Manka Star and the Ancestral Mother Planet, standing apart in the 1008 Universal Nations of the human race, were unwilling to miss this splendid occasion if they had suitable geniuses. Wild prodigies also cast their eyes upon this feast—some seeking worthy opponents, others aspiring to make a name for themselves or to join major factions.

One by one, those confident in their abilities eagerly signed up.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen meticulously studied the detailed rules of this edition of the Genius Battle.

"Everyone uses the same body model—the levels of primal power and telekinesis are fixed at Stellar Rank Nine. Although appearances can be customized, body sizes must remain within the normal human range, and genetics are standardized at a single copy. In other words, everyone’s physical conditions are identical."

"Battle suits are limited to second-tier only. As for weapons, there are no restrictions on primal or telekinetic weapons—even 'Transcendent Divine Weapons' are permitted."

"However, restrictions on 'technological weapons' are very strict..."

Jiang Chen’s gaze lingered on a particular clause:

The use of any 'finished technological weapon' is prohibited.

Participants may use materials and components provided by the Virtual Universe Company to personally craft technological weapons within the virtual universe before the battle officially begins. If successfully made, these weapons may be used during the competition but are limited to a maximum of three.

The choice of materials and parts is rigorously constrained. Basic materials cannot exceed grade B9, and semi-finished parts must not surpass the technological content of conventional B-grade equipment.

The total real-world cost of all materials and parts used must not exceed 10 billion Qianwu Currency.

...

These detailed and comprehensive rules impose severe limits on 'technological weapons' but do not ban them outright.

Reading this made Jiang Chen breathe a little easier.

Though the 'Legion Path' was no longer viable, the route of crafting a powerful mech or battleship-type technological weapon for the competition remained open.

The requirement that the weapons be 'handcrafted' was undoubtedly meant to restrict participants’ use of technology.

Only those truly skilled in technology could utilize the materials provided by the Virtual Universe to create suitable equipment.

The other restrictions were not fatal for Jiang Chen.

The only troublesome part was the cap on the total cost of materials and parts—no more than 10 billion Qianwu Currency in reality.

This clause dashed Jiang Chen’s plan to sweep the competition with a 'super battleship.'

Without this limit, Jiang Chen was confident he could use B-grade materials, stacking quantity to forge a super battleship capable of instantly annihilating Domain Lords.

But with this cap, simply piling up weapons lost its meaning; every piece of material had to be carefully calculated.

Ten billion Qianwu Currency was not a trivial sum; it was enough to build a formidable war machine.

Yet truly aiming for outstanding results in the Genius Battle with this relied heavily on Jiang Chen’s mastery of cost control.

"The first round will take place on a planet made entirely of B9-grade materials. Perhaps I could consider mining materials on-site and handcrafting a mechanical legion?"

A somewhat fanciful idea suddenly crossed Jiang Chen’s mind.

But the deeper he thought, the more feasible the plan seemed.

"Allowed to bring three self-made technological equipments, I can build a formidable mech as a 'baseline' to guarantee advancement from the sub-region. The other two slots can be used to craft functional machines to mine materials and produce the mechanical legion on-site. Hmm... The SCV base model is decent; with some upgrades and modifications, it’ll be ready for use. I’ll also add a production line capable of mass transforming and processing B9-grade materials. If my plan succeeds, this sub-region’s situation will be quite interesting..."

Jiang Chen grew increasingly excited.

This Genius Battle was a perfect experimental opportunity for his envisioned 'Mechanical Legion' system.

According to the original accounts, billions of stellar-level geniuses would clash and contend on a single planet.

Among them were many extremely powerful super geniuses—countless stellar-level talents capable of fighting at cosmic-level strength.

This scale was ideal for testing the mechanical legion’s performance in real combat.

Whether this path was viable or not, the preliminary round would reveal some clues.

Jiang Chen immediately decided to register as a clone.

—His main body, having reached cosmic-level, was naturally ineligible to register.

After both clones signed up under different identities, Jiang Chen glanced at the number of registered participants: 42.7 billion.

That was just the first day of registration for the Genius Battle!

After registering, Jiang Chen’s main body temporarily paused studying in the system library, focusing with his two clones on researching the three types of 'technological equipment' allowed in this edition, carefully considering how to customize their details.

Occasionally, he would spend money in the Virtual Universe to materialize batches of parts and materials for various experiments.

—

One month later.

On April 16th, an email from the Virtual Universe Company appeared in Jiang Chen’s inbox.

Registration had closed, and within the Qianwu Universal Nation alone, over 800 billion stellar-level participants had signed up.

Even if most were just joining for the spectacle, the sheer number was staggering.

With such a vast pool, naturally, some extremely extraordinary geniuses would emerge.

Jiang Chen remembered 'Rong Jun,' a prodigy who had performed spectacularly in the cosmic finals, was from the Qianwu Universal Nation’s competition zone.

At least for now, Rong Jun was a far stronger opponent than Luo Feng.

"I hope to meet Rong Jun in the first preliminary round so I can test whether, without invoking any laws, I can defeat an opponent of that caliber using only technological weapons," Jiang Chen thought.

The laws studied in the system library’s fourth tier were already profoundly complex.

Just overwhelming Rong Jun with law mastery would guarantee Jiang Chen’s victory.

However, for Jiang Chen, fighting ordinary geniuses held no meaning.

His primary concern was whether the path he had chosen could succeed.

Soon, Jiang Chen suppressed his chaotic thoughts, and one clone entered the Virtual Universe.

After acquiring the "Soul of the Demon" talent, Jiang Chen’s three clones had long since assumed different identities.

Besides 'Eso,' the other two clones included an interstellar wanderer named 'Uchiha Shisui,' a warrior skilled in flame and spatial laws who wielded a short-blade katana.

That name was a playful nod to Jiang Chen’s previous life, filled with fond memories.

The other clone specialized in technology and mechanical weaponry, favoring exoskeleton mechs—the genius scientist 'Jiang Chen' himself, using his main body’s identity.

As for the original black Mongolian clone, Jiang Chen had long discarded it.

These two clones were created from Jiang Chen’s own genetic clones, modified to have the same appearance and fabricated backstories.

Of course, in the universe, no one really cared about one’s origin before official citizenship registration.

Even the five great powers only cared whether their internal geniuses were pure humans.

No one else paid attention.

—

The Genius Battle registration deadline also marked the start of the 'technological weapon' preparation phase.

The process was strictly regulated: crafting had to be done within the Virtual Universe, at designated locations, under system monitoring to ensure every step was performed personally by the participant, without external aid.

As long as the equipment was completed before the official battle, it could be used during the competition.

Furthermore, to give tech-savvy geniuses enough room to unleash their potential, they could remake new tech equipment after each round, adjusting or replacing gear according to the competition’s needs.

For most, handcrafting mechanical units was still difficult.

But with psychic telekinesis assistance, the process sped up considerably.

Material after material was swiftly processed by Jiang Chen’s hands, then assembled according to the blueprints.

—

A slender humanoid mech over two meters tall, roughly resembling an ordinary human in appearance, was completed quickly.

Yet Jiang Chen did not stop there; he continued crafting new equipment.

—

Before the first preliminary round officially began, in the Virtual Universe’s Genius Battle preparation zone, Jiang Chen, Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God gathered once more.

"The first preliminary round is divided into 100 regions, each with over 8.2 billion people, but only 1,001 advance. The elimination here is merciless," Hong sighed.

"I’m in the 72nd world region. How about you?" he asked.

"I’m in the 88th. That number’s auspicious," Thunder God smiled.

Luo Feng wore a confident grin. "I’m in the first world region. That’s a good omen. I’m destined to be first, hahaha!"

Jiang Chen, communicating with his clone, glanced at the registration results and smiled: "I’m in the 99th world region."

This was the region where the clone using the main body’s identity was placed.

The other clone, 'Uchiha Shisui,' was assigned to the 52nd world region.

Those on Earth knew of Jiang Chen’s multiple clones.

However, after a warning from the Phantom Spirit King, Jiang Chen concealed the fact that each clone had a distinct identity and soul signature from Luo Feng and the others.

'Uchiha Shisui' was completely independent in the universe.

Jiang Chen originally planned for the other clone to compete independently with a separate identity, fully separated from the main body.

But considering he would interact with Luo Feng and the others inside the Virtual Universe Company, he simply used the main body’s identity without altering his soul signature.

"Attention all! Attention all!" a clear voice echoed over the continent. "The preliminary round will begin shortly. In a few minutes, everyone will be collectively teleported to their designated 'world regions.' Please check your equipment immediately! Once the preliminary round starts, no requests or exchanges of equipment will be permitted!"

"Right, better check if I forgot anything," Thunder God quickly reminded as he inspected the gear in his spatial ring.

Luo Feng, Hong, and Jiang Chen also began their inspections.

Jiang Chen lowered his head to check his primal power battle suit and mentally accessed his spatial ring.

Inside the ring’s space, a two-meter-tall humanoid mech adorned with gold and red stripes stood at the center.

To the right was another special mech several tens of meters tall, equipped with dozens of mechanical arms. These arms didn’t hold weapons but drills, probes, hydraulic claws, and other functional modules.

This was a resource-extraction robot modified from the 'SCV' model, possessing basic processing ability and excellent transport capacity.

On the other side was a massive truck-like vehicle. When unfolded, it revealed a highly complex production, processing, and assembly module capable of mass-producing mechanical parts and equipment.

"With this 'Iron Man' mech, at least I can guarantee passing the preliminaries. Whether I can claim first place depends on how well my 'base truck' and 'SCV' cooperate to produce a mechanical legion from materials in the preliminary region in a short time," Jiang Chen thought with quiet anticipation.

"Collective teleportation countdown: 60, 59, 58..."

The clear voice resounded over the continent.

The four exchanged glances.

"Good luck, everyone," Luo Feng smiled.

"Let’s all pass the preliminaries," Hong said.

"Keep it up," Thunder God added.

"Let’s survive the preliminaries and finals together and join the Virtual Universe Company as core geniuses," Jiang Chen and the others encouraged each other.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Teleport!"

The universal cosmic language echoed across the continent of over 8 billion people, and in an instant, everyone vanished.

(End of chapter)