Every Ultimate Knowledge involved the territory of the gods. The prerequisite to learning them was an extremely high Intelligence.
Han Xiao did not choose the Energy Branch [Mechanical Life Tinder] just to activate [King’s Mentor]. It was also because this Ultimate Knowledge had a very wide application range.
Compared to the Virtual Technology Ultimate Knowledge, [Mechanical Life Tinder] was more useful for him now.
As the complex knowledge flew into his mind, images flashed before Han Xiao’s eyes.
On the desolate black earth, a man planted a mass of metal. As time passed, mechanical cities rose from the ground, and metal spread out on the surface extremely quickly and replaced the black soil. Countless blue, well-dressed beings kneeled on the ground. Their minds entered mechanical bodies through pipes one after another, leaving their physical bodies behind.
In a rift under the ground, countless scrap parts scattered around in the darkness. One day, a golden streak of lightning landed from outside the sky right onto the waste mechanical parts, and a golden energy wave expanded. The scrap mechanical parts were united into one by an invisible force, forming a rough mechanical life…”
“These are the origins of mechanical lives…” All kinds of images flashed past as Han Xiao’s understanding deepened.
Machines were initially just tools, tools that countless races learned to use and build as their civilizations grew. There were countless races in Galaxy, but mechanical lives born from nature were almost non-existent. Most of them were artificially built.
Some races built mechanical soldiers for war, which led to mechanical lives. Some left their weak body behind and became mechanical lives to get through a disaster. Some races lacked the ability to move themselves so they created mechanical lives as slaves.
Beyond Grade A Mechanics were the peak of creating mechanical lives.
As the knowledge learning was complete, Han Xiao took a deep breath and slowed down his mind.
He looked at the new abilities on the interface. [Ultimate Knowledge Possessor] was the talent rewarded when learning the first Ultimate Knowledge, and [Mechanical Life Creator] was the talent given by [Mechanical Life Tinder].
Han Xiao then looked at the new ability, [Tinder Awakening]. This was the most important one.
With a thought in his mind, the hovering guards behind him trembled and flew in front of him. They assembled with cracking sounds into a human-shaped mechanical soldier.
It had silver alloy armor and a streamlined body, and cannon barrels were embedded in its palms, knees, shoulders, and head. Psionic blue light emitted from within the armor’s gaps. It had a very heavy futuristic vibe.
This was one of the elite mechanical soldiers that Han Xiao could build. Its name was Hovering Fissionist. It could both act as his hovering guard and assemble into a mechanical soldier. It was an orange, high-level machine.
This Hovering Fissionist was controlled by the combat artificial intelligence, Sparta. It stood still before Han Xiao.
“Let’s see its effects…”
Buzz!
Han Xiao raised his palm, clenched his fist, and used [King’s Mentor].
A mass of blue and gold Mechanical Force appeared in his palm and made cracking sounds like a thunder cloud. The next moment, this mass of Mechanical Force dashed onto the Hovering Fissionist, turning into electric sparks on its mechanical surface. Then, they entered through the gaps between the Hovering Fissionist’s armor and fused into its energy furnace.
Han Xiao did not stop there. Another mass of Mechanical Force appeared in his palm and entered the Hovering Fissionist. It was [Machinery Fusion].
After that, Han Xiao activated [Tinder Awakening]. Gold light shot out from his eyes, a bright gold sphere of Mechanical Force appeared on his hand, it was blinding.
Although [Tinder Awakening] did not have a cooldown, it could only be used on targets already enhanced by [King’s Mentor] and [Machinery Fusion], and these two abilities had cooldowns.
These three abilities in addition to [Emperor’s Gift] were the complete set of abilities to create a mechanical life.
Han Xiao extended his hand forward, bright gold Mechanical Force flowed into the Hovering Fissionist.
His health, stamina, and energy immediately decreased a huge chunk.
Having lost half his health and energy instantly, he felt extremely weak.
This ability is really tiring to use… Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. Ever since I became a Beyond Grade A Super, this should be the most health I’ve ever lost in a single instance…
He exhaled and let his body slowly recover, staring at the Hovering Fissionist before him.
Ding!
Suddenly, the light from the energy of the Hovering Fissionist became much brighter!
The next second, the mechanical parts on it moved on their own. The armor plates on its surface opened and closed like scales.
Clank!
Han Xiao could feel that the Hovering Fissionist was going through a change on the microscopic level.
Countless nano-grade silica-based neural fibers grew extremely quickly in its body. The parts on its body gradually turned into an organic ‘whole’. The electrical sparks of a mind ignited in its chip, forming special thinking organs and fundamental logic. Energy flowed through its entire body and fueled this change.
Bang!
It was as if something in the Hovering Fissionist had awoken and ignited the tinder of life.
Hum…
This lasted quite a while before the light emitted from the Hovering Fissionist returned to normal.
Han Xiao sized it up and said, “Sparta, give me the inspection report.”
“… Inspection complete. A new consciousness has been born in this unit. It’s very young and is trying to communicate with me. I temporarily closed its network port. What should I do now? Please give the order, master.”
Sparta appeared in the quantum network and spoke with a serious and formal tone, completely different from how lively Phillip was.
“Hmm… Build a data firewall around its consciousness first, and check its fundamental logic to see if an order to never betray me is fixed. Open its network port and filter some information for it to download.”
Han Xiao gave the order and slapped Hovering Fissionist to deal some damage, triggering the combat information.
Hovering Fissionist’s attributes appeared on the interface—there was no longer the equipment introduction but the attributes of a character.
The race was shown to be [Mechanical Life] and its level was as high as Lv185. It could level up like normal creatures. Its armor value became its health, and its various parameters became its other attributes. Its weapons and parts became many talents and abilities that had growth potential.
It has become a living unit.
“Sparta, let it control its own body.”
Sparta responded and temporarily stopped controlling the Hovering Fissionist.
Hum!
Hovering Fissionist shivered. Its tensed body seemed to have relaxed. It then stretched his head around as if it was adapting to the vision provided by its senses. It raised its palm and touched its face.
It felt completely different.
When the combat artificial intelligence controlled all the mechanical soldiers at once, although their movements were not stiff, they did not make any unnecessary movements and were objects that only followed orders. When control was given back to the Hovering Fissionist, its movement felt immediately lively. It had become a living being that could think, doubt, and move on its own will.
Phillip and Sparta were artificial intelligence; their nature was different compared to mechanical lives. Mechanical lives’ individual consciousness was equivalent to their ‘freedom’ and ‘soul’; they had emotions and feelings.
However, that consciousness was born from the circuits in their chips, so they did not have the general ‘soul’. Hence, they were immune to normal psychic and mind attacks. To the mechanical lives, only the Virtual Mechanics’ attacks were considered ‘mind attacks’, as they could hack into the consciousness of mechanical lives and rewrite their fundamental logic.
Han Xiao had preset the ordering logic of Hovering Fissionist to be one level lower than his artificial intelligence, so orders from his artificial intelligence were like military orders that could not be disobeyed.
Hovering Fissionist looked around. It turned to look at Han Xiao and said in a wondering tone, “Mas… ter?”
It used the Universal Language.
Han Xiao nodded. He then walked around it once and sized it up from head to toe.
Hovering Fissionist stood still, but its head turned 360 degrees to keep looking at Han Xiao. It was filled with the ignorance and doubts of a newborn baby.
Why does it feel a little creepy? Han Xiao asked, “Is there anything you want to ask?”
“Want? To? Ask?” Hovering Fissionist said word by word as if its consciousness circuits were quickly working. After some thinking, it then asked, “Who… am I? Where… am I? What should I do?”
Okay, the ultimate three questions… Han Xiao thought it was funny. He then shook his head and said, “Sparta, open its network port and send it data.”
The next moment, Hovering Fissionist’s movements stopped. An enormous stream of data relating to the universe, life, and combat entered its consciousness and was quickly digested. It skipped the ignorant stage of a newborn instantly.
It stayed silent for a while before suddenly getting down on one knee and changing the way it spoke.
“Your Excellency Black Star, my creator.”
Its voice system simulated a respectful tone.
Han Xiao raised his brows, thought for a moment, and asked, “Now, do you know who you are?”
“My name is Psionic Prime.” It gave itself a name.
Psionic Prime? Why don’t you call yourself Optimus Prime? Han Xiao complained in his mind.
“You’re the first mechanical life I’ve created. Show me your strength.”
Ka ka ka!
Psionic Prime moved and tested weapons one after another. It disassembled into singular hovering guards and flew around like butterflies before assembling again. Its combat style was extremely swift and flashy—mechanical lives had a very high application level to their own bodies. They could acquire abilities on their own and fix them on their character information interfaces.
Han Xiao’s Mechanical Force bonus was effective on it as well. Psionic Prime was stronger than it was before Tinder Awakening.
“Come back.”
After some testing, Han Xiao gave an order, and Psionic Prime automatically disassembled into hovering guards and floated around him obediently.
“Not bad.” Han Xiao was satisfied and started planning in his head.
He could only create mechanical lives with self-growth potential using the set of abilities including [Tinder Awakening], [King’s Mentor], and others, so its efficiency was limited, only creating elite and mini-boss units over time.
As for the majority of mechanical soldiers, Han Xiao was not planning to turn them into mechanical lives. One reason for this was the efficiency limit; he had to turn the high-level machinery first. Another reason was that the casualties of those mechanical soldiers were too high, so its long-term effect would be inferior compared to high-level machinery.
“After turning into mechanical lives, their growth potential is increased tremendously, and they are even able to grow into mechanical civilizations. Manison has some mechanical civilizations under his command…”
Han Xiao pondered. He could imitate this and let his mechanical lives develop into civilizations.
If he had a mechanical civilization under his command, they would automatically operate, reproduce, and create offspring, which meant that they would provide him with a continuous source of soldiers. The only problem was that this was extremely time-consuming.
However, his life span and the time between version updates were both very long, so this was not a huge problem.
“Or can I take someone else’s mechanical civilization?” Han Xiao got rid of this thought as soon as it came up. He thought it was better not to create enemies everywhere.
Steady and firm, that was the Great Mechanic Han’s personality.
Having learned an Ultimate Knowledge, Han Xiao was content and had a smile on his face. He walked out of the workshop and saw a few people immediately. Hila and the Black Star Guards were all waiting at his door.
“What are you guys doing here?” Han Xiao looked around and then fixed his eyes on Hadavy. This guy stood at the front of everyone else and had a mysterious smile on his face.
Hadavy took out a deck of Wayne Cards and showed Han Xiao the top card. “Look, your card has been updated again.”
Han Xiao looked at it. This was the Strong Card with his image on it.
“Black Star—Han Xiao.”
It was finally updated to become a Beyond Grade A, as well as the ‘Crimson Dynasty Ally’ trait. Its description also included his fight with Heber and Psyker, and its card effects were greatly increased.
“Isn’t that just a matter of time? Did you guys come all the way just to show me this?”
Han Xiao was speechless. With his position, how could the Wayne Card company not update his card?
Hadavy chuckled and skillfully moved his fingers to fan the cards. Han Xiao looked through it and raised his brows. These cards were Hila, Feidin, and the others. They were now marked as ‘Black Star Guards’. Like the Bloodshed Land’s Vanguard Officials, they had their own cards.
One of the reasons he had formed the Black Star Guards was to make Hila and the others famous. Now, this goal was achieved. The Black Star Guards name became their identity, and they were now famous, so they came to share this piece of good news with Han Xiao.
“That’s not bad, congratulations on becoming known in the universe.” Han Xiao smiled and casually rubbed Feidin’s shoulders, which led to Chen Xing rolling her eyes.
This time, Aurora spoke with her crispy voice. “Uncle, one more thing, there’s someone special here to see you.”
“Who? Someone from the dynasty?”
“No, that guy calls himself the ruler of Sodrian. His name is Troy.”
Sodrian’s ruler?
Sodrian was the novice planet of the Constellation Corridor players in Version 1.0. Due to its ruler being involved in sensitive political matters, the ruler was treated as a traitor. The ruler then escaped with his fleet and hid from everyone, still not captured till today.
What is this guy doing here? Han Xiao was curious.
…
Troy was the only one in the conference room, and he seemed to have a lot on his mind.
He was a tall humanoid. His yellow hair was tied into a foreign-style braid. His eyes were sharp, and his nose was a pair of small holes in the middle of his eyes. He was not considered to be ugly looking, just quite old. He had two hands and two legs but no tail. He had a pair of large wings behind his back with yellow feathers on them.
“Will Black Star help me?” Troy’s eyes flashed.
He escaped with his fleet and had been chased by the Star System civilization till now. The situation was not looking very bright. If this continued, he would be captured by the Star System civilization sooner or later. Due to the political secrets that he was involved in, Troy knew that if he was captured, his fate would be worse than death.
Just as he was being extremely anxious about his future, he received the news about the Black Star Army building a subdivision and recruiting manpower on a large scale on Planet Gilman. Suddenly, he saw some hope and felt that Black Star Army might be able to help him.
He just had to join the Black Star Army and follow the army’s fleet to borrow the Crimson Dynasty’s stargate, leave the Central Galaxy, and take refuge in the Shattered Star Ring. That way, he would be safe.
Troy initially wanted to hide his identity while joining the army and secretly smuggle his way out of the Central Galaxy. However, he thought about it and felt that the risk of being discovered by a Beyond Grade A was too high, and he would very likely be discovered. By then, he would lose even this opportunity. Therefore, he felt that it was better to request to see Black Star, explain the situation, and sincerely make his proposal to convince Black Star to help them.
In his eyes, the only way he could rise again was to leave the Central Galaxy and return in the future to take revenge on his political enemies.
When he thought of how his political enemies had destroyed what he had been working on for so many years, Troy’s expression became more furious and full of hatred.
He was now a traitor and would never be able to return to his civilization. The only thing he could do was flee. If he ever got the chance, he would destroy his political enemy’s everything without hesitation and take revenge on the civilization that kept hunting him down.
Swoosh.
The sound of the door opening broke Troy’s train of thought. He hastily stood up and looked at Han Xiao with admiration.
“Your Excellency Black Star,” Troy hastily greeted respectfully and introduced himself, deliberately acting trepidatious.
“I’ve heard about you. You’re now a rebel. What do you want from me?” Han Xiao asked.
“Well…” Troy took a deep breath and used the sincere tone that he had practiced a hundred times to explain the situation in words he had prepared long beforehand.
Basically, he was saying that he was framed by his political enemy and misunderstood by his civilization. In order to protect himself, he could only resist and escape, which forced him to become a rebel. He wanted to join the Black Star Army and work for the army, in exchange for an opportunity to take refuge in the Shattered Star Ring.
“I see…” Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and sized Troy up.
Suddenly, he seemed to have recalled something, and the look on his face became strange.
