The Legendary Mechanic, page 618
Of course, the method of propagation for mechanical life was not through ‘pa pa pa’ but asexual reproduction. Two or more of the mechanical lives would extract their own tinder gene code and transfer to the reproducing mechanical life, or they could insert it within the assembly line to ‘hatch’ a newborn. After a long period of energy supply, the newborn’s tinder would be strengthened into a complete mechanical life.
The mechanical life created in this manner of reproduction was equivalent to sharing the life energy of the first generation of machines. Its purity and basic attributes would of course be far inferior compared to the first generation. The parent mechanical life would also enter a period of weakness due to huge consumption of their life tinder.
But the advantage was that births could be mass-produced, so Han Xiao did not need to work laboriously anymore. The production efficiency would skyrocket, and even the weakest mechanical life borne through this would still be stronger than most mechanical soldiers. The original intention of developing a machinery civilization was just to form a large-scale arsenal.
Manison had a machinery civilization that had developed for many years as his barracks, and the soldiers were endless.
With these hundred thousand first-generation mechanical lives, as long as they are allowed to develop for several years, I will then have a new army of mechanical lives, Han Xiao secretly thought.
All the mechanical lives raised their heads up to gaze at the virtual screen and started to discuss among themselves.
“I won’t let you down.” Psionic Prime retracted his gaze, simulating a solemn tone.
“Good. You can recommend another person with an outstanding ability, and I will give him a spot as an Apostle Weapon.” Han Xiao smiled.
His new talents gave him a total of +3 to all Mechanic skill levels, which meant that the quota for [Apostle Life Creation] had now increased by three. Letting Psionic Prime pick a soldier would help him to consolidate his leadership position.
Because Han Xiao would not continuously monitor the development of his machinery civilization, he needed the first generations to manage everything well. Thus, the stronger the position of his spokesperson, the smoother the development of the machinery civilization.
Hearing this, Psionic Prime raised his spear and turned back. “Heaven-Suppressing Banner, step out.”
Han Xiao looked at where the spear was pointing and saw a towering mechanical life enveloped in heavy outer armor within the crowd. It was as though he was clad in full plate mail, with all sorts of weapons hung around him. He had six arms, and on his back was a giant alloy battle shield, held by magnetic force. From afar, it looked like a huge banner.
“He’s the strongest and bravest warrior in our clan, having defeated hundreds of others and taken their weapons. At the same time, he also knows how to command the army. I urge the Lord to grant him the qualification of an Apostle,” Psionic Prime said.
Han Xiao sized Heaven-Suppressing Banner up. This guy’s gear was actually loot taken from his opponents and installed on himself.
These mechanical lives had a high growth rate, and the blessing of [Machinery Fusion] allowed them to self-transform their hardware structure without limits.
“You indeed have the qualifications to be my Apostle. Make good use of this power.” Raising his palm, a golden beam of Mechanical Force appeared in his palm like a bolt of lightning.
Flicking his hand, his Mechanical Force shot into the body of Heaven-Suppressing Banner, transforming his body and creating a brand-new Apostle.
Han Xiao did not continue to observe the transformation process but turned to Psionic Prime. “I shall hand the right to command the mechanical lives over to you. Serve me well.”
…
After the transformation a few years ago as a result of the Evolution Cube, the Black Spirit Race had become far more intelligent and even possessed visual senses now. They gradually got used to living on the ground, no longer living in nests underground. With their efficient command over the mind network, they had built a stone city.
The largest stone city currently belonged to the Germinal Tribe, and in the center of the city, a stone statue, carved in the likeness of Black Star, stood tall. At this moment, this status held a metal statue, which was the Evolutionary Totem.
Evolutionary energy continuously radiated from the totem. For species with evolutionary space, the effect of the totems was excellent, and this had resulted in the evolution of the Black Spirit Race to be accelerated by hundreds of times. The proportion of the carapace on their body had shrunk once again, and their original bestial and insect-like characteristics were reduced a lot. Some of the Black Spirit Race had already begun to stand upright rather than crawl.
The liberated forelimbs also gradually played the role of a palm and began to learn how to use tools.
Up till now, Han Xiao had not forced the civilization process of the Black Spirit Race but focused more on improving the quality of the Black Spirit Race itself. From his viewpoint, as long as the species itself became perfect, it would be more effective to help them develop.
The racial characteristics of the Black Spirit Race lay in its mind communication network, which improved communication efficiency and knowledge penetration rate. Their Race Specialty was related to the mind, and the totem would subtly enhance the mental and spiritual strength of the entire race.
The Black Spirit Race was also very prolific. After more than ten years of reproduction, several generations of newborns had been born, and the population had grown a lot.
At this moment, in the center of the Germinal Tribe, a large group of children played around an adult, who happened to be the leader of the Germinal Tribe.
The leader of the Germinal Tribe was wearing a coarse animal skin robe and holding a simple scepter made out of Prophecy Stones. His dress was very different from the other tribesmen, who were not wearing clothes.
Countless years before they were transformed by the Evolution Cube, the Black Spirit Race had produced a very small number of variants, which could build a mind communication network on their own instead of utilizing the Prophecy Stones. These variants were known as ‘Sages’.
The current leader of the Germinal Tribe was one of the strongest variants, with his mental network able to accommodate most individuals. At the same time, he was also the spokesperson of their ‘Black Star God’, so he was hailed as the Great Sage.
“Great Sage, why do we worship the Black Star God?” The group of toddlers crowded around the Germinal Tribe leader, chattering away in his mental network.
Lifting his scepter, the Germinal Tribe leader spoke in equal seriousness and fanaticism. “The Black Star God has brought us the gospel for evolution, as well as the fire of our civilization. He is the omnipresent greatness.”
“I don’t believe you. I feel that you are stronger than him, Great Sage!” One of the toddlers laughed.
“Humph, you know nothing about power.” The Germinal Tribe leader pointed at a battleship suspended in the sky with his scepter. “Do you see that? That’s called a spaceship. It’s what brought us here from our ancestral land. Just relying on our powers, we would not even have reached here in ten thousand years, but Black Star God brought us here in an instant. That is the power of a God.”
“Ancestral land? This place is not our ancestral land?”
“Sigh, our ancestral land was long taken by others. If the Black Star God had not led us away, maybe…”
The Germinal Tribe leader sighed again and shook his head.
At this moment, hundreds of black specks appeared in the clear blue sky. They floated down slowly toward the Germinal Tribe and caused a commotion within the tribe. Many of the tribe members gathered in the square, watching the descending spaceships.
The hatches opened, and Psionic Prime flew out and landed in front of the leader of the Germinal Tribe. The Black Spirit Race scattered, but they were not nervous at all.
In their eyes, this sort of metal creature was the servant of their Black Star God.
“I’m the Chief Apostle under Lord Black Star. My lord has commanded me to take you away from this planet.”
The Germinal Tribe leader stood up, speaking jerkily with vocal cords that had yet to fully develop.
“Where is the Black Star God taking us?”
“Your new home.”
…
With a lot of investments from the financial groups, the Black Star Army had sufficient funds to purchase engineering equipment as well as to prepare to build troops. The process was smooth.
After a month of preparations, the construction team of the army finally departed officially under the universe’s interested eyes, full of manpower and resources to develop the Flickering World.
Lagi, Reynold, Sylvia, and Herlous were directly involved, and Han Xiao was only responsible for remote supervision since he wanted to go to the dynasty to avoid any danger. He had left the blueprint for the construction of the site with them, so he did not need to be present.
On the day that the construction team set off, Han Xiao arrived at the stargate leading to the Central Galaxy with only a few Black Star Guards and Aurora with him.
This was to avoid danger but also to visit the various Beyond Grade A allies of the dynasty. After all, they would be working together for many years, so it was necessary to build relationships.
At the same time, he also prepared to visit those future famous characters of the dynasty that he recalled.
The version update would take several decades, and the dynasty would experience a change in power. His cooperation with the dynasty would last a long time, so he needed to have wider vision. For the sake of his future, it was necessary to build good relations with the powerful people of the future in advance, granting him a louder voice within the dynasty.
Sweeping his eyes over Feidin and the rest, Han Xiao turned his head to look at Aurora in the pilot’s seat and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Aurora swiped her finger on the control screen, and the spaceship slowly moved into the stargate.
At the same moment, Ames and Hila arrived at the stargate at the edge of the Shattered Star Ring.
Turning back, Hila had a complicated expression.
She had a hunch that it would be a long time before she returned.
The Beyond Grade A realm…
A slim hand rested on her shoulder, and turning back, Hila saw Ames standing there with a light smile.
“Let’s go.”
“Sigh… I got it.”
Hila recollected her thoughts and also directed the spaceship to enter the stargate.
[1] Probably named so because you need to donate a liver to get enough money to buy everything
Chapter 930. The Prototype Plan of Three Great Calamities |
In the Flickering World, the Purple River Star System was one of the seven Star Systems that belonged to the Black Star Army. It was located at the edge of the Garu Star Cluster and was one of the important gateways into the Star Cluster. At this time, from the stargate of the Purple River Star System slowly sailed a huge Black Star Army fleet. This was the construction force led by Herlous.
There was a large number of Black Star Army spaceships awaiting Herlous’ arrival next to the stargate station. This was originally the first exploration fleet. Now that the exploration had been completed, the same fleet was transformed into construction personnel, awaiting instructions from the higher ups.
In the meeting room of the flagship, Herlous was having a discussion with the senior officers such as Sylvia and Lagi to go through the construction plans. “Purple River, Long Day, Ponzale, Orlando, Fenrir, Sigma, and Ednea—these seven Star Systems belong to our Black Star Army, and we have to first set the infrastructure foundation before carefully sculpting and slowly transforming the Star System.” Herlous had a serious expression on.
While he usually behaved in a lazy manner, he still acted properly and seriously when faced with Han Xiao’s tasks.
Sylvia nodded. “We should first establish the stargate transportation network within the seven galaxies to form a whole and facilitate fleet transportation. Through our exploration, the network has already taken shape, which is convenient for us. After this, we should install the army’s own warning and space monitoring devices, and we’ll lay a large scale quantum network base station to place the seven Star Systems under the management of the artificial intelligence system.”
The Black Star Army had to establish its own infrastructure to take over the seven Star Systems and make it into a seamless whole, strong as an iron board.
“According to the plans left by the Army Commander, we need to focus on the two Star System gateways, Ponzale and Purple River. We must firmly control the entry and exit stargates for the main traffic routes. These stargate stations were originally made by the dynasty, and now that the station is under our control, we have to spare some troops for the stations. “In terms of planetary terraforming, the priority should go to the army bases and resource mining bases. The galactic cities and transit stations will only come in handy when the Star Field is opened, so we can put those off until a later date.
“The blueprint also states that the Sigma Star System will be the logistics base of the army within the Flickering World. There will also be a need to focus on the transformation and the construction of a large number of barracks, military factories, and airports there…”
The construction scope for seven Star Systems was a monumental task. Han Xiao only provided a blueprint, and the specific action plans would need to be developed by those responsible for each star system. While everyone was discussing, Lagi maintained his usual style, not caring about anything and serving as a mascot.
A plan was quickly formulated, and under the command of Herlous, the construction troops began to proceed in an orderly manner. The stargate passage was set up, various devices were laid, and they took the facilities that had been left over during the exploration to be reused, saving a lot of resources.
At the same time, Bloodshed Land, Klent, and the rest of the dynasty’s allies also started to construct their territories. The entire Flickering World entered a period of rapid development.
Rural development was a long-term project. It would take a lot of time to raise the region to the standard of the currently explored universe. The seven Star Systems that Han Xiao had chosen were all important areas in his past life. Han Xiao had drawn out the renovation plans according to his memory, and it was expected to take decades to completely construct everything on the blueprint. It was estimated that the next phase of exploration for the Crimson Dynasty would not be held back for so long. As long as at least two Star Systems were complete in each Star Field, the second phase of exploration would then proceed.
While the construction team was in full swing, the mechanical lives and Black Spirit Race also arrived at their new, separate home planets.
The Sigma Star System was a central area of the Garu Star Cluster, rich in resources. It bordered the other two Star Systems, Ednea and Orlando, occupying a vast area.
Planet Apostle was one of the resource rich planets within this Star System, which was named by Han Xiao. The whole planet was gray, with rich mineral veins and metal resources. Although it was not a habitable planet in the conventional sense, it was very suitable to host mechanical lives.
Dozens of spaceships landed slowly on this gray wasteland. The Psionic Prime disembarked from the spaceship with the hundred thousand mechanical lives and glanced around. The undulating wasteland extended to the end of the horizon, and there was no greenery in sight, only endless gray rocks and flying sand. “This will be our homeland in the future.”
The Psionic Prime held his spear and directed everyone to begin building the city immediately.
If it was a normal civilization, eighty percent of them would collapse from the mental burden of establishing a civilization on this desolate planet. However, to the mechanical lifeforms, this emotion did not exist, and their mentality leaned toward a colonialist mindset.
With the engineering equipment provided, coupled with their natural talents, the speed of the mechanical lives in building cities was incredibly fast.
If one overlooked the planet, they would quickly see a metal area appearing on the surface and spreading out to form a city of machines.
First of all, a large number of assembly lines were built. With sufficient resources, the mechanical lives were assembled. A portion of the existing life forms consumed their energy to synthesize their own tinder gene codes, incubating the second generation of mechanical lives.
Having a large quantity of soldiers was the specialty of a Mechanical Race.
At the same time, they built specialized equipment that allowed them to excavate the underground veins and resources, smash apart stones, and gather all these raw materials into the warehouse.
Without any enemies, the construction efficiency was frightening, and under the command of the Apostles and the Psionic Prime, the mechanical lives’ civilization slowly unfolded.
On the other side, the Black Spirit Race also arrived at their new home, Planet New Black Spirit.
This planet was different from the Planet Apostle. It was a habitable planet with vast vegetation and verdant forests. There were many indigenous beasts with mild temperaments.
The migratory fleet landed on a fertile plain, and the Black Spirit Race rushed down from the spaceship. Their newly evolved green eyes curiously took in the scenes.
“This is our new homeland?”
“It seems even more beautiful.”
One of the spaceships fired a traction beam, lowering the Black Star statue onto the plain. They were unable to move the entire city, but landmarks could still be transported.
To the Black Spirit Race, the statue of Black Star was just like their landmark, and its function was similar to a ‘civilization monument’. This monument gave their race hope. They could do without the city but not without the statue.
