Chapter 1578 Counterattack Against Diamondz -Part 23
A mental invasion.
That was what Ming had been worried about when he felt that Jin had gone too strong physically too fast and his mental capabilities as well as his inexperience would lead to people taking advantage of him.
That was why he had made the Cardinals protect his grandson when such a situation occurred. The only problem with that was that Jin had to pass the trials that were passed to him by the Cardinals or else they would not deem him worthy. Surely, Ming had promised them to protect him but to what extent was based on his performance in the situation that he had been thrown into.
From never ending waves of monsters that caused mental fatigue on an extreme scale to causing him to survive when he was helpless in a situation. They might just be illusions and simulations that were done within his subconscious mind but that was more than enough to test and hone his mental fortitude.
While Kraft also did a number on him citing the same worries as Ming, the little boy had been improving his mental constitution leaps and bounds, surviving what was thrown at him multiple times. (and since Ming also did requested Kraft to take care of Jin...at his own pace, it was insurance in case Jin had failed the cardinal's test. After all, the cardinal tests were exams while Kraft's method of reinforcing constitution...was based on proactiveness from the Devil Fox himself.)
Never did Ming had thought in his life that Jin's subconscious would be trapped in a virtual simulation where his body was thrown to another otherworldly plane as a piece of ornament or junk. Yet, the Cardinals fulfilled Ming's request and will always do so since Jin had officially cleared their painstaking trials with the exception of Suzaku and the last Cardinal who had yet to reveal himself. But even though Suzaku denied that Jin had not cleared her trial, he did however force her to revise her stance and thoughts.
She was not as heartbroken as she appeared to be, just that for the sake of the trial, her emotions were amplified to the extent that she was unable to control it. It was one of the reasons why she had decided to lend Jin her powers.
However, right now what the Cardinals did not expect was that Jin had allowed them to manifest into the System Rider as if they were part of his repotorie of monsters. It might seem like a downgrade of status to the Cardinals but make no mistake, these cardinals had never seen battle for the longest time ever since they were defeated by Ming and had been requested to take care of Jin.
That was why when Genbu, the least likely candidate for a match against weapons made out of destruction and ferocity, he was particularly delighted knowing that it was finally time for him to shine.
"You made the right decision, my boy. Woooohooo!!!!!" Genbu was could not control his emotions despite him being the oldest among the Cardinals as he saw himself starting to integrate into the System Rider even though the back shell was the first thing that came out. Based on the nature of the Living Armour, the System Rider was not entirely controlled by Jin so how Genbu looks and feels determined the image of the System Rider.
Even though the back shell was the centre piece of his image, the living armour fused and split as rocks and thick black scales emerged out of the Jin in such a way that it felt the Living Armour had lived more than ten centuries. Orcohi, who had been sleeping inside Genbu, also came out and play as splitting shadows of snakes were imbued onto the rocky armour that Jin possesed.
If the gorilla Mechanoid was the definition of the 'strongest shield', Genbu is now here to take that title away to make sure there was the strongest shield can never be pierced even by the greatest spear. With the completion of Genbu's armour, Jin looked like a mechanised version of the teenage mutant shinobi turtles.
While the Mechanoids had heard of transient power armour where nanobots and advanced nanotech would surround the entire body to provide a suit capable of enhancing an individual, they had never seen or heard something so flashy like Jin's. This all the more solidify to the Daimon Assault Police Commander that Jin was part of the Dyke's Pikes given how Jin had given him instructions on how to win this nigh impossible battle.
But there were other entities that were more surprised than the Mechanoids and they were none other than the remaining Cardinals themselves. Seeing how their old man had the opportunity to step into battle, the oddly quiet Cardinals started to fill Jin's head with noises especially Byakko who had been itching for such a high tension fight. While Suzaku was technically not a battle fanatic like Byakko, she too yearned to come out to play and showed those Tri-Rexes the meaning of power.
Yet those were Cardinals who had revealed themselves as there was still one left that were behind the scenes aroused by the ruckus of the other three Cardinals. It was definitely not interested in any of those trials that the other Cardinals created or protecting Jin as Ming had requested. So long as the time comes and he fulfilled Ming's requested with the least amount of effort, he would had call it quits.
However, as Byakko and the others were making such a scene, that final Cardinal could not help but take a peek and got mildly interested as he peeked quietly behind everything else
"Hahahah! Too bad to you suckers! Because of the great Genbu, Jin is able to recalll such a precious item from the physical realm and into this virtual space. Even though that boy had been awfully rude to us at times, he at least have the courtesy to allow me who had granted him the skill to emerge from that cage of solitude." Genbu rumbled until Jin interrupted.
"Too long, didn't hear. Just take it that he was happy that I chose him first but in fact, I just felt that his powers were appropriate at this current juncture." Jin replied.
"This rascal...let me show you that I am not just all about hiding behind a shell." Genbu said as he never felt excitement in his bones for a long time.