Chapter 315 — The Next Step
Time passed. Another week went by.
The Spartans had grown used to the intensity of the training by now, and their bodies kept adapting further with every session. Still, none of them were close to awakening Haki. Naruto, on the other hand, could use Armament Haki normally and with confidence — coating his hands to throw a harder punch, or hardening his whole body to take a hit.
He stood in front of the training ground with Johnson, who held an MA40 Assault Rifle in his hands.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?!" Johnson called out.
Naruto, stretching in front of him, flashed a grin and a thumbs-up. "It's good, I can take it."
Johnson's grip tightened slightly around the rifle at that. He told himself he'd fire off a few rounds first, just to be sure.
He settled into position, aimed at Naruto with a steady hand, finger resting on the grip.
"Ready?" Johnson asked.
"Ready!" Naruto answered.
Off to the side, the rest of the Spartans sat on the ground in their training suits, watching. Kelly frowned slightly. "Is this a good idea?"
"I think so," Fred said. "Naruto's stronger than us anyway, and now that he can control Armament Haki, it's supposed to let him harden his body and defend against stuff like this, he'll probably be fine."
"I guess so," Kelly said.
The other Spartans, along with Chief, stayed silent and simply watched. They were on a break from Gaius's training themselves.
Johnson fired.
Naruto crossed his arms in front of him, Haki coating his entire body just in time to take the hit.
The bullet struck his arm and made a sharp, metallic ding.
That got the other Spartans' attention immediately, Naruto wasn't wearing armor, nothing but his regular clothes. The round had torn a hole clean through the fabric, but the skin underneath was still clear. No injury.
Seeing that, Johnson's confidence grew, and he kept shooting.
The rifle kept firing, each round striking Naruto with the same sharp ding, one after another, the spent, dented bullets dropping to the ground at his feet. Eventually Johnson stopped, realizing the gun simply wasn't doing anything to him.
Naruto grinned. "Armament Haki is really good."
Then he turned and drove a Haki-coated punch straight into the ground.
The earth shook. A crater spread outward from the point of impact, cracks radiating across the packed dirt, clear proof of exactly how much power had gone into that single punch. The Spartans walked over to him, looking over the crater, then down at the small pile of dented bullets still scattered nearby.
"Armament Haki is really strong," Kelly said.
The others murmured in agreement.
Chief, still in his training suit, stepped closer. "Let me touch it."
Naruto agreed, holding out his arm and coating it in Haki again.
Since Haki wasn't visible, there was nothing to actually see. But when Chief reached out and touched it, he could feel the hardness clearly, even with nothing there to look at. One by one, the others came over to try it themselves after watching him do it.
Johnson joined them too, rifle reloaded and slung over one shoulder. After touching it, he shook his head slightly. "This Armament Haki thing is really something. You can't even see it."
"Yeah," Naruto said. "And right now I can only cover my body with it. Not like Gaius, who can cover his whole armor. That's why my clothes still got torn up by the gun."
Meanwhile, Tony and Halsey had also made significant progress.
Over the past weeks, the two had continued studying the captured Covenant vessel, reverse-engineering its technology at an incredible pace. However, they hadn't spent all their time researching Covenant technology.
They were preparing for war.
Under Tony's direction, JARVIS had overseen the construction of a highly specialized fabrication complex designed specifically for spacecraft production. The project had taken weeks to complete, with countless nanites and Iron Legion units working around the clock.
The result was a colossal industrial complex.
At its center stood a fabrication dome that stretched for several kilometers. The structure was so massive that entire frigates could be assembled within it. Compared to the dome, even large UNSC vessels seemed small.
Surrounding it were ten enormous storage chambers, each capable of holding vast quantities of refined metals, components, and other materials needed for large-scale shipbuilding.
Nearby stood a dedicated computational facility built solely for processing and calculations. Rows upon rows of advanced systems filled the structure, all focused on a single purpose: computation. Its processing capability surpassed anything humanity had ever created.
Powering the entire complex was an arc reactor far larger than any Tony had built before. The immense amount of energy required to operate the fabrication systems, manufacturing arrays, and computational networks demanded nothing less.
This facility was the result of weeks of cooperation between Tony and Halsey. Reverse-engineering Covenant technology was important, but understanding the enemy alone would not win the war.
They needed ships.
At the moment, Tony and Halsey stood inside the computational facility alongside JARVIS and Cortana, watching countless streams of data flow across the displays.
Cortana stared at the information for several moments before speaking.
"I never thought humanity would build something like this."
Knowing what the facility was capable of, even she couldn't help but feel amazed.
Meanwhile, Tony and Halsey had also made significant progress.
Over the past week, the two had continued studying the captured Covenant vessel, reverse-engineering its technology at an incredible pace. However, they hadn't spent all their time researching Covenant technology.
They were preparing for war.
Under Tony's direction, JARVIS had overseen the construction of a highly specialized fabrication complex designed specifically for spacecraft production. The project had taken weeks to complete, with countless nanites and Iron Legion units working around the clock.
The result was a colossal industrial complex.
At its center stood a fabrication dome that stretched for several kilometers. The structure was so massive that entire frigates could be assembled within it. Compared to the dome, even large UNSC vessels seemed small.
Surrounding it were ten enormous storage chambers, each capable of holding vast quantities of refined metals, components, and other materials needed for large-scale shipbuilding.
Nearby stood a dedicated computational facility built solely for processing and calculations. Rows upon rows of advanced systems filled the structure, all focused on a single purpose: computation. Its processing capability surpassed anything humanity had ever created.
Powering the entire complex was an arc reactor far larger than any Tony had built before. The immense amount of energy required to operate the fabrication systems, manufacturing arrays, and computational networks demanded nothing less.
This facility was the result of weeks of cooperation between Tony and Halsey. Reverse-engineering Covenant technology was important, but understanding the enemy alone would not win the war.
They needed ships.
At the moment, Tony and Halsey stood inside the computational facility alongside JARVIS and Cortana, watching countless streams of data flow across the displays.
Cortana stared at the information for several moments before speaking.
"I never thought humanity would build something like this."
Knowing what the facility was capable of, even she couldn't help but feel amazed.
Tony smirked.
"Of course. Of course. It was built by Tony Stark. JARVIS, download the blueprint to the fabricator."
"Downloading, sir," JARVIS replied. "The Paris-class Heavy Frigate blueprint has been uploaded successfully."
Tony folded his arms. "And the materials?"
"They're ready," Cortana answered.
Tony nodded.
"Then start it."
"Yes, sir. Initiating fabrication sequence in three... two... one..."
A deep hum echoed throughout the entire complex.
Power surged through the facility.
The energy consumption was so immense that anyone standing nearby could feel the air itself becoming charged. Tiny arcs of static danced across metallic surfaces as electricity flowed through systems on a scale humanity had never attempted before.
Across the colossal fabrication dome, countless luminous patterns began to glow. Lines of light spread across its surface like a living circuit, growing brighter and brighter as the machinery within awakened.
For a moment, the entire structure seemed to shine.
Then JARVIS spoke once more.
"Fabrication sequence has begun, sir."
A brief pause followed as trillions of calculations were completed.
"Estimated completion time: one hour and ten minutes."
Even Cortana fell silent at that.
A Paris-class Heavy Frigate—one of humanity's warships—would be built in barely more than an hour.
They waited.
For most of that time, there was little to see from the outside. The fabrication dome remained sealed, its systems working beyond human sight.
The real activity was taking place within the ten massive storage chambers surrounding the dome.
Inside them, mountains of refined metals, composites, and other industrial materials appeared to melt away. In reality, they were not melting at all. The matter itself was being broken down at the molecular level and converted into streams of raw building material.
Those streams flowed continuously toward the fabrication dome.
Within the dome, the material was reconstructed according to the blueprint stored within the system. Every plate, circuit, conduit, weapon mount, reactor component, and section of hull was assembled with absolute precision.
There were no manufacturing defects.
No misplaced components.
No human error.
Every piece was placed exactly where it was supposed to be.
The entire process was controlled by the facility's computational core, which continuously monitored trillions of variables while comparing the growing vessel against the original blueprint.
As long as sufficient materials were available, the system could construct the ship exactly as designed.
Eventually, the countdown reached zero.
"Fabrication complete, sir," JARVIS announced.
A low rumble spread throughout the facility.
The massive dome slowly began to open.
Everyone watched as a frigate emerged from within.
Under normal circumstances, it would have looked like a standard Paris-class Heavy Frigate. However, this vessel had been heavily modified by Tony, Halsey, JARVIS, and Cortana.
Its silhouette remained familiar, but numerous changes had been made beneath the hull.
Two large arc reactors served as the ship's primary power source, providing far more energy than a conventional UNSC frigate could ever generate. Its weapons systems had been redesigned as well, incorporating technology and concepts reverse-engineered from Covenant equipment.
Most importantly, the ship now possessed energy shielding.
Not the weak experimental systems humanity had struggled to develop in the past, but true defensive shields comparable to those of the Covenant vessels encountered at Cascade.
As a result, portions of the frigate's exterior had changed. Certain sections of the hull looked sleeker and more advanced, reflecting the influence of Covenant technology while still retaining the unmistakable appearance of a UNSC warship.
The improvements didn't stop there.
Its weapons delivered significantly greater firepower than a standard frigate, while its shields provided a level of protection previously unheard of for a human vessel.
Against the Covenant, ordinary UNSC frigates often found themselves hopelessly outmatched, destroyed after only a few hits from plasma weapons.
This ship was different.
It could fight back.
It could survive.
And this was merely the baseline model—the standard frigate they had chosen as their starting point.
Stronger designs would come later.
Much stronger.
~~~
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