NOVEL NEXT Chapter 767: The New Exo-Knights
Though that Exo-Knight model seemed to be a bust, we took the catalogue with us anyway just in case there might be some good ones in there.
But I'm going to be honest… Just looking through their catalogue, it looks like most of their modifications were pretty bad.
Like the Victory class Exo-Knight, there were quite a number of their modifications where they basically tried to cram whatever they could inside one Exo-Knight to make them look attractive as an option on paper… But if you were to think about using them practically, it would look especially ridiculous.
Most of them basically fell short because there were just better alternatives that you could buy at the same price and the really good ones were just really expensive too.
So in the end, what they're making actually doesn't really appeal to the common people looking to buy an Exo-Knight.
Their models feel like it would be more appealing to people who are eccentric in their own way… Or that you are really rich and have too much money to spend.
Anyway, the salesman himself seemed quite knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Exo-Knights so it was weird that they would be making such inferior products.
But I guess either the company or the people in charge of deciding on the modifications were clueless about Exo-Knights… Or that they were also a bunch of enthusiastic people that never realised the problem with their own products because they never thought about using it themselves.
Still… A good thing was that he recognised Ries's knowledge in the subject of Exo-Knights and told me that they would be happy to do a custom modification just for us as long as the price is right.
That was definitely something we wanted so I told him we would definitely keep that in mind and contact him if we came to a decision on that.
Ries was already excitedly drawing up possible modifications on her personal terminal while we headed towards the area where they would be announcing the new generation of Exo-Knights.
There was still about half an hour before the official time that they would reveal the Exo-Knights but we would have to head there early if we wanted to get a good spot.
And even though we were early, there was already a whole crowd of people standing in the hall that was supposed to showcase the release of the Exo-Knights.
We ended up needing to squeeze into the crowd and we barely got a position that at least had a view of the stage where we could see the presentation. There was some kind of opaque screen covering the stage which I assumed had the Exo-Knights behind them.
Probably once it was time for the reveal, the screens will become transparent and showcase the Exo-Knights.
"With this many people… It might be difficult to meet with the other girls…" I muttered, looking around at the crowd.
Ries looked up at me, "Ehehehe~ Doesn't this means that it's a date between you and me, Boss?"
I grinned at her," If Ries wants it to be a date~ Sure~"
Without waiting for her response, I went ahead to start patting her head while hugging her towards me.
My catgirl lover started purring and making satisfied noises into my bosoms, her tail swishing behind her noticeably.
So cute~
As I was still engrossed in patting my cute cat, the lights around us suddenly dimmed.
I almost thought that someone had shut off the power to steal the new Exo-Knights somehow by shutting off the lights.
But then several spotlights shone all around the exhibition hall that illuminated the Exo-Knights that were standing in the hall and a voice could be heard coming from hidden speakers.
"Everyone! Welcome to our annual Exo-Knight exhibition! I hope that everyone is enjoying a great time while you're here?"
There were some cheers and judging by the way the cheers sounded, it sounds a little artificial like they just broadcasted the cheers over the speakers instead.
Did they really have to do that? So lame…
The voice continued, "We all know what everyone is here for! The next generation of Exo-Knights! Are you all ready?!"
Another deafening cheer went up and this time it sounded more organic.
Eh? It hasn't even been half an hour though? Did they move the presentation to an earlier time?
I guess it's good for us who were early I guess?
Then again… The place was already filled to the brim and I guess any latecomers would find it difficult to squeeze in here as well…
I know for a fact that to even get into this place required a special ticket so the fact that this many people were here meant that they really forked over the same amount of Credits just to be the first to see the Exo-Knight unveiling.
If this didn't prove that it was a pretty big deal, I don't know what else would.
Another spotlight illuminated the giant stage and the voice continued, "Now, without further ado, we shall proceed with the unveiling of the next generation of Exo-Knights! Are you ready?!"
Now the cheers came from all around us instead of just through the speakers. I guess they really wanted to rile up the crowd and get everyone more excited for the unveiling.
"Then here we are! May I present to you the next generation of Exo-Knights presented by Crusaders Inc.!!"
As I had thought earlier, the screen became transparent, showing three different Exo-Knights that were kept inside a transparent box on the stage.
I saw a multitude of drones hovering over said box and most of them seemed to be camera drones and sure enough, I noticed one of the guys beside me was controlling one of the drones with his personal terminal and live streaming it.
Since it was a little difficult to look over the heads of the people in front of me, I ended up just using that guy's personal terminal to look at what had just been unveiled instead.
There were three Exo-Knights inside the box, all of them with vastly different designs.
The first one on the left looked like some kind of regal black knight where it had a small head that housed the scanning and camera systems with a crown on its head.
The torso was triangular in shape which should house the pilot and it tapered out at the bottom where the legs were attached to both sides.
The arms were attached to the sides of its shoulders and it was carrying a pretty big cannon on its left arm while holding some kind of rifle in its right hand. Not only that, it also has shoulder mounted rocket launchers and cannons too.
The middle one was a bit weirder as it looked like it was made out of triangles and it was also floating off the ground and none of the parts were attached to each other.
The head was basically just a triangle shaped head floating above a large triangle torso and it had four 'arms' that were just floating triangles beside the torso.
Surrounding it like a sort of halo were several other smaller triangles as well, each of them floating without any usage of thrusters.
The last one on the right could only be described as a behemoth as the weapons that it wielded dwarfed the Exo-Knight's head and torso.
The mech itself was rectangular in design and it had four legs that I assume acted as stabilisers that could be deployed when it fires its main cannons.
On both of its arms seemed to be rocket launchers while heavy cannons and an even bigger rocket pod were mounted on its shoulders.
From the looks of it, it should be functioning like some kind of artillery platform that can be used on the ground.
The announcer allowed all of us to take in the sight of all three Exo-Knights first before continuing, "Honoured guests and Exo-Knights enthusiasts! With the introduction of Stallium as a new power source, we at Crusaders Inc. have revolutionised the capabilities of Exo-Knights! They are able to fly faster, hit harder, carry more payloads and also react faster than ever before! This is where a pilot's skill will shine as you would feel no difference as if you were the Exo-Knight itself! The frames have also been improved and a wide variety of designs are available to--"
A sudden metallic groan loud enough to shake the building interrupted him, prompting all of us to look around in a panic.
Was there an earthquake?
Wait… We're on a station in space, there's definitely no earthquakes here.
I tried to look for the source of the metallic groan, only for one of the walls to suddenly blow open to show a mechanical fist punching through it.
Screams erupted and I turned to see the hand retract to reveal an Exo-Knight behind it.
It then pulled apart the wall and we got to see several of the Exo-Knights that had previously been used as display pieces had come to life and were currently marching their way towards us.
What the fuck?!