Core armaments — Activity-core equipment, abbreviated to core armaments.

Fortified Plant Armor — Mechanical Vine metal-seed parasitic reinforcement, abbreviated to plant armor.

One type was crafted from jin beast Activity cores — diverse in form, diverse in application, covering both weapons and defensive equipment. The other used the Mechanical Vine's metal seeds as a parasitic layer under guided control, increasing armor structural integrity and unlocking the growth capability of the tendrils — a unique category with unusual properties.

And the Mechanical Vine was capable of active movement.

Which meant that as Shen Cong developed more complete mastery over it, the applications would expand well beyond what he'd managed so far. This visit to Fuchuan Mountain had produced real results. For now, though, he kept the plant armor transplant to the Hell Mech Armor only — the newly combined system could be called the Hell Plant Armor — a personal defense upgrade.

He wasn't transplanting it to Great Vajra Totem yet.

In a serious situation, he could discard the Hell Plant Armor. He couldn't discard Great Vajra.

Once the Hell Plant Armor was thoroughly field-tested and he'd fully developed the Mechanical Vine's properties, the transplant to Great Vajra's outer armor layer could follow.

The cutting that had been murmuring pointlessly in its pot for months had finally earned its keep — it was now the source of the plant armor seeds, and would continue living in Great Vajra Totem's greenhouse.

"Come on, Little Four. Stop with the carnage. Leave the Mechanical Vine alive. I may need to come back for more seeds." He pulled the Four-Legged Dragon away, climbed into Great Vajra Totem, and headed back.

By the time Shen Cong returned to Chuzhou City, the battlefield had been cleared. Without him holding the rear with the Cannon Bow, the Command had dealt with the remaining rat-beast and rat knight concentrations through combined fire — the result was the same, achieved at somewhat higher ammunition cost but minimal personnel casualties.

Approximately seventy percent of the Eastern Theater Command's stockpiled ammunition was now expended.

"Major General Hu — we've excavated a large…