Chapter 367 - 222:

"Sorry, Train Captain."The display screen on Ai’s face once again showed the words "I’m sorry": "I really wish I could express my emotions, but the current robot parts aren’t capable of producing expressions as rich as those of humans, so I have adopted this more straightforward method."

"If the Train Captain doesn’t like it, I can remove it."

"No need, just keep it."

Chen Mang waved his hand and then frowned, saying, "But since ’Core Energy’ is the core of a planet, it must harm the planet, right?"

"Yes."

"Generally, a planet injected with this kind of agent will gradually become a Dead Star within five years."

"For example, the planet’s gravity and magnetic field will disappear, causing the atmosphere to completely escape into space, leaving the planet directly exposed to the love from the Fixed Star. If you sprinkle some seasoning on it, it’s also a warm roasted hairless egg."

"At least according to the data, it seems unlikely anyone could survive in such an environment."

"The train also likely won’t survive."

"So, it’s the Mechanical Civilization injecting this kind of agent into Blue Star?" Chen Mang continued to ask.

After all this time...

It seems the culprit bringing Doomsday to this planet is the Mechanical Civilization?

"Yes."

Ai switched to a serious expression again and continued: "According to the information in the database, the last time the information was updated was 4800 years ago. In the universe, there was an extremely powerful civilization named ’Mechanical Civilization.’

"At the same time, there was also a civilization infamous for its predation and devouring, called the ’Insect Race Civilization.’

"The latter civilization is composed of countless types of monsters that rapidly evolve by devouring flesh. Planets with large lifeforms are their favorites."

"And 4800 years ago, before the last information update in the database, the ’Mechanical Civilization’ executed a plan."

"It was named the ’Dawn Plan.’

"The Mechanical Civilization dispatched countless small shuttle ships. When it detected a planet being attacked by the Insect Race Civilization, the nearest small shuttle ship would rush to that planet at the fastest speed and inject the agent carried within the shuttle ship into the depths of the planet."

"And spread the methods of the Mechanical Civilization using ’Core Energy’ throughout the planet."

"This would allow the indigenous inhabitants of the planet to gain the ability to resist those monsters and delay the progress of those monsters’ growth and devouring as much as possible."

"So in other words—"

"The Mechanical Civilization and the Insect Race Civilization are waging war across the universe, and our planet has become a sacrificial pawn caught in between."

"This is Doomsday."

"It’s Planetary Doomsday, and it’s Universal Doomsday."

"..."

Chen Mang sat in the chair, tilting his head toward the door to the square. Biaozi and the others hadn’t returned yet. After losing contact, he didn’t know if they encountered any danger. All he could do was wait.

After a while, he looked at Ai: "So, are you created by the Mechanical Civilization?"

"No."

Ai shook his head: "My underlying code is the standard blueprint code, which is my framework. My body was provided by the core energy of this planet, and what truly gave me a soul was you, Train Captain."

"I will be eternally loyal to you."

Chen Mang withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at Ai again: "Then what’s the reason for the area division?"

"This information isn’t in the database."

"Then what are the ruins of Mechanical City that appeared on this planet? Were they here before the Doomsday, or did they appear on this planet after the Doomsday?"

"Still not in the database."

"What about the Adventure Map?"

"Still no."

Ai shook his head: "These pieces of information are not in the database. The database mainly records a series of experimental information about this experimental base."

"So what is this experimental base used for?"

"Approximately 100 years before the ’Dawn Plan’ was devised by the ’Mechanical Civilization,’ another plan was drafted called the ’Cosmic Receiver.’

"Theoretically speaking—"

"The ’core energy’ of a planet will continuously and slowly overflow, similar to how human essence and blood are consumed slowly on their own, and these overflowed core energies are too weak to form substantial ore fields, often floating in the universe."

"And the content of this experimental plan."

"Is to hope to create a ’Cosmic Receiver’ to receive all the core energy scattered from other planets into the universe, forming a substantial ore field."

"The internal personnel of the laboratory named it the cosmic meat receptacle."

"The experiment was progressing relatively smoothly."

"After researching for a few years, it was already easy to produce level 1 iron ore. As the research continued, it was possible to coagulate level 4 iron ore through absorbing scattered core energies in the universe."

"But at that time..."

"A problem occurred; this laboratory was located on another planet, which suffered a major assault from the main forces of the Insect Race Civilization, all personnel died, and the lab was subsequently abandoned."

"Afterwards, for some unknown reason, it appeared on this planet."

"The progress of this experiment was also halfway suspended. At the last moment, the head of this laboratory did not choose to self-destruct the base but chose to preserve it, hoping that the experimental data here could be received by people from the Mechanical Civilization later; however, it is clear that it was not successfully received, seeing as this chip appeared in our hands."

"At the same time, this laboratory was secretly conducting various plans."

"For example, in the Ice and Snow World area, the ’Mechanical Zombie King,’ etc."

"Hmm..."

Ai paused for a moment before continuing: "It’s a bit of a pity. If the research by the Mechanical Civilization had been successful, this ’Cosmic Receiver’ would have been made into a mass-produced product, made into a ’Standard Blueprint,’ which could become an accessory installed on every train."

"With this accessory, the speed at which the train acquires resources would significantly boost."

"Can we take this machine away?" Chen Mang’s eyes slightly narrowed.

He had understood, but now he wanted to know whether this machine could be taken away.

This machine is just like the sunflower in Plants vs. Zombies, capable of producing sunlight continuously, a resource acquisition machine that doesn’t consume energy directly installed in the train.

"Theoretically speaking, it’s possible."

The sixty robots on the square were busying themselves. Ai scratched his head: "But I still haven’t found where that machine is. The glass dome you see, Train Captain, is only the final step, used to coagulate the core energy absorbed from the universe into a substantial greenhouse."

"Train Captain, you see, there’s a rather thick pipeline inside that glass dome."

"The core energy gushes out from this pipeline."

"The rear end of this pipeline connects to the actual machine that absorbs the core energy, but both the glass dome and the floor are quite sturdy and difficult to destroy and not recommended for destruction. I only know from the experimental data how to use that machine but not how to repair it, especially since we lack the materials and tools for repairs."

Chen Mang took a deep breath before speaking solemnly: "At all costs, find a way to take it away!"

This machine, he must acquire it!

Without any hesitation.

"If..."

He looked at Ai seriously: "If you can complete this unfinished experiment and even standardize it into an ’Accessory Blueprint,’ I’ll give you a major credit!"

"Ah?"

Ai was slightly stunned, incredulously pointing at himself: "Me?"

"Train Captain, are you saying me?"

"You want me to complete this unfinished experiment?"