Clean Knife was shocked. He was somewhat upset over Sanniang’s death, but when he saw Xia Fei’s stony eyes, he gave up on the thought he had.
That was the look of a killer. As a killer himself, Clean Knife was more than certain what that look meant. He was also curious; it had barely been over two months, so how had Xia Fei become even more cold and ruthless?
“Stay there,” Xia Fei said, and he could not be even clearer; if Clean Knife did not obediently do as he said, his life was as good as forfeit.
Clean Knife did not enjoy being threatened by anyone, but the wound which was becoming more and more painful over time meant that he had no choice but to listen to Xia Fei. He nodded lightly, pulling out some medicinal drugs from his spatial ring to treat himself. At the same time, he stored his silver butterfly knife away, indicating that he had no intention of putting up a fight.
Xia Fei quickly opened the robot Pod’s outer shell, his two hands moving swiftly. All sorts of tools were being used as he rapidly repaired its damaged body structure.
“Is it serious?” Phantom asked out of concern.
“Quite, especially its power source.”
Xia Fei pulled out a power source control valve from a nearby mutilated warbot, preparing to use it temporarily in place of Pod’s damaged components.
However, who would have thought that the warbot was actually still alive? It grabbed Xia Fei’s leg with one hand as it repeated ceaselessly: “Robots must protect humans, which is why robots must kill humans. Robots must protect humans, which is why robots must kill humans…”
It repeated this line over and over again as Phantom glared at it viciously. “That’s the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever heard. How could killing the human race be considered protecting it? I think the AI systems of these robots aren’t all that great, not even able to process this most basic logic.”
Xia Fei did not make any comments of his own. He freed himself from the robot’s grip and quickly returned to Pod’s side, continuing with his repairs.
…..
Time passed, and the robot Pod slowly recovered its motor functions and was even repeating nonsense.
“Master, what are your orders? Master, do you need Pod to make you a cup of coffee? Master, do you need Pod to tuck you in?”
Phantom could not help but laugh. “Seems that these are the words it will often say. You know; this little robot is actually quite cute, with a voice that sounds just like a child. It’d be great if I were still alive… I really wonder what a cup of coffee made by a robot tastes like?”
“I can describe it to you after I try one myself.” Xia Fei smiled. He connected the final connection tube to the appropriate valve with his finger and the robot Pod sat itself up on the ground.
The years of knowledge Xia Fei had accumulated with regards to robots had finally been put to good use.
He had managed to repair this little robot through the spare parts that he found in the last minute here.
…
“Master, you’re finally back to pick up Pod.”
The robot hugged Xia Fei’s neck like a child. Though there were no tears, its voice gave the sense that it had really been crying.
Xia Fei was speechless. “I’m not your master.”
“Master, you can’t abandon Pod!” Unexpectedly, its crying noise only became louder.
“Forget it; perhaps its systems are messed up. Just agree to the robot,” Phantom advised.
Xia Fei nodded and tried to give a command. “Pod, can you tell me where we are?”
Pod immediately nodded. “Master, this is codename Mining Center 15421, tasked with the production of high-grade energy crystals, with the maximum daily output at 1.75 cubic meters—”
“What is this energy crystal?” Xia Fei asked.
Pod dashed out of the room as it reiterated, “Energy crystal. Master needs energy crystals; Pod will now go and retrieve it.”
Xia Fei and Phantom were laughing. The little robot was really precocious, so attentive toward orders from humans, even more professional than a first-rate human servant. At the very least, its loyalty was not in doubt, given how hard it tried to protect humans before. If a human had been in its shoes then, would they have been able to protect someone at all cost?
Xia Fei turned to look at Clean Knife. He noticed that all that remained where he had been seated was just a pool of blood, while having no idea where the person had gone.
Xia Fei frowned, but did not say a word.
Phantom was a little annoyed as he huffed. “If we knew it, it would be better to have just killed him. Just what exactly did you want to ask him that you ended up letting him escape again?”
Xia Fei answered, “I wanna know how he knew that I had been to Heritage Planet, and what he knows about that place. Don’t you find this strange as well? How is it that he’s able to know what I’ve been through, yet I know next to nothing about him.”
Phantom nodded. “That’s indeed very strange. Could he really have some special ability, able to tell if someone has been to Heritage Planet or otherwise? If that is true, he will really be rather useful. You can rely on his ability to uncover those who have visited Heritage Planet and kill them, obtaining the pass you require to visit the planet yet again.”
“Though Heritage Planet is a place that is extremely dangerous, it has plenty of benefit to your cultivation. It is just that this Clean Knife person is even more crafty than a fox, so you need to treat him seriously.”
Xia Fei clenched his two fists. “Don’t worry. This won’t ever happen again.”
After some time, Pod returned to Xia Fei’s side with a purple rock in hand, showing it to him.
Xia Fei took it in hand and could not help but be shocked.
“It’s a Purple Heart of Spirit. This place is actually a place where they mined Purple Hearts of Spirit!”
The ore in his hand was heart shaped, bigger and clearer in color than the previous Purple Heart of Spirit Xia Fei had in his possession.
“That is an energy crystal. Does master still want more?” Pod asked.
“There are more?”
“Yes. A lot more in the warehouse.” Pod nodded.
“Bring me there, quick.”
…
“Xia Fei, you’re rich! You’re insanely rich! I reckon even all the Purple Spirits of Heart in the entire alliance aren’t as many as what’s in this warehouse,” Phantom gushed in excitement.
Hundreds of metal storage boxes were all filled with these purple crystals, and the huge quantity could be counted in the metric tons.
Purple Hearts of Spirit were hardly stored in the alliance, and most were smuggled in from insectoid territory. Xia Fei was unclear as to the value of so many Purple Hearts of Spirit, but he was certain that it would be an astronomical sum.
There were also plenty of mining robots in the corner of the warehouse, and all of them looked well-built, though it was evident that these robots had not been in use for a very long time. All of them were just sitting quietly in a corner, like statues.
“Master, in the time when you’re not around, the mining center continued operation until all the veins were mined. There are now a total of 473 storage boxes of energy crystals, and each and every box contains minerals which weigh a full ton.”
Xia Fei was ecstatic. He opened every box and examined their content, and sure enough, there were plenty of these ores, but there was a big problem. How was he going to transport them out?
