302: Chapter 302 The Loss of the Statue of Liberty

While the Association dispatched people to conduct a thorough investigation, Zhang Huaiyuan and his party also returned to the Sea of Time region.

At this moment, on Time Island, the 129,001st floor of the Virtual Tower.

This was the area for core disciples of the Virtual Tower to rest and conduct experiments.

The 129,000 floors below were filled with the precious knowledge and scientific research results of outstanding Scholars accumulated by the Association over countless years.

The 500 floors above contained the intellectual treasures left by the top Scholars, including Kraft.

"It truly deserves its reputation as the pinnacle of biotechnology."

Inside a fully equipped high-level laboratory, Zhang Huaiyuan stared at a crimson severed limb on the lab bench, his expression filled with joy.

"So genes can be arranged like this, a ten-thousand-fold instantaneous explosive power..."

"Self-healing ability..."

"Perhaps I could also consider adding a multi-limb structure, just like Teacher Kraft and Second Senior Brother... but for aesthetic reasons, I could design them to be hair-like, so as not to disrupt the overall harmony..."

"..."

"This way, the theoretical body structure for the Statue of Liberty will be perfect."

Zhang Huaiyuan dragged the experimental equipment, carefully adjusting the model parameters.

"Body strength increased by 0.13%..."

"Self-healing ability increased by 7.2%..."

"..."

Lines of data were continuously fed back in real-time onto a nearby virtual screen.

—This was also why he hadn't chosen to use the more convenient advanced abilities of a "Mechanical Armament Master" this time, opting instead for physical equipment construction.

Simply put, the Traveler Association's equipment was just too advanced and easy to use.

Every single modification showed real-time data changes.

"This is about right, but I still need to ask the owner's opinion..."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at his design plan with satisfaction and lightly brushed his right wrist.

"Statue of Liberty, what do you think of this plan?"

"Excellency, your vision and design are as admirable as ever."

The light screen on his wrist lit up, and the joyful voice of the Statue of Liberty rang out.

"As long as you like it."

Zhang Huaiyuan chuckled as he saved the data to the Statue of Liberty's server, saying warmly:

"I'll leave the facial features and external body design for you to adjust yourself."

"Leave it to me, Excellency. Thank you for doing all this for me."

The light screen on his wrist flickered, but her voice suddenly dropped slightly in tone.

"Mhm, go ahead. I'm going to see Second Senior Brother in a bit. Once the material fees he promised me arrive, I'll start manufacturing the body."

"Very well, Excellency."

The light screen subsequently dimmed.

Zhang Huaiyuan didn't pay it much mind, assuming the Statue of Liberty was just too happy. He opened his communicator to send a message to Second Senior Brother, then began pondering his next plans.

First was the issue of safety.

Previously, after joining the Association, although he hadn't become slack, his sense of crisis had lessened significantly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have exposed so many trump cards and talents in a public competition.

This assassination attempt could be said to have sounded an alarm for him.

If not for his good luck in obtaining the Seraphim Scroll gifted by someone else, he probably wouldn't have lasted until Teacher Kraft arrived to save the day.

"Relying on others isn't a long-term solution after all... but wanting to gain the ability to withstand that level of attack in a short time isn't realistic either, unless..."

A few thoughts flashed through Zhang Huaiyuan's mind.

When he participated in the Truth Chess Game assessment, the intelligent lifeform inside had said that if he could capture ten pieces from the Lord of Truth, he could obtain a supreme inheritance.

Supreme Divine Art: Three Lives.

Eternal Path-Seeking Method: Myth.

And the Truth Realm Core Zero.

Although he wasn't clear on the specific abilities of these inheritances, he had a vague premonition that any one of them would be enough to make him advance by leaps and bounds.

"However, with my current level, capturing even two pieces is my limit. Well... I'll take it slow. Since Teacher Kraft agreed to let me participate in high-level research projects, my knowledge should improve significantly."

"In addition, the mass production plan for the mechanical legion can be put back on track. Conveniently, the Intellectual Brain said Kols and the others have started venturing into the Xuanjian Great World; I can arrange for them all to come over."

Zhang Huaiyuan pondered quietly.

Those 3S-rank God Chosen powerhouses from the Initial World were all exceptionally talented individuals. Even before heading to the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, they had obtained God Candidate qualifications.

Now that his status was extraordinary, he could consider bringing them over for better cultivation.

After all, he knew the backgrounds and personalities of these people very well; they were suitable followers.

"I'll take it slow..."

Zhang Huaiyuan sighed softly, cleared his mind, and threw himself into his research.

...

Meanwhile, within the core data world of the Statue of Liberty.

An image of a crying, dejected face composed of various special symbols flickered constantly.

"I'm so useless..."

"For the sake of a selfish request of mine, His Excellency didn't hesitate to expose his trump cards, defeating so many geniuses to become number one."

"And yet, when His Excellency was assassinated, I could only watch helplessly..."

"My only use is to handle some chores for His Excellency... the kind of things even the most primitive artificial idiots could do..."

"So useless..."

"So useless..."

"The price His Excellency is paying to create a body for me is enough to replace me with an intelligence a thousand times more powerful..."

"What is the point of my existence..."

Her current version of the 'Miracle' algorithm was still based on the version from compulsory education textbooks. In the Initial World or within Level 3 or lower civilizations like the Xuanjian Sect, it was naturally considered powerful, but after coming to the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, it was completely insufficient.

Especially since she had been almost invincible back in the Initial World, easily arranging everything for Zhang Huaiyuan and providing powerful assistance.

This massive disparity made her question the value of her own existence.

Countless data streams collided and intertwined in a disorderly fashion. With the Statue of Liberty's capabilities, she actually began to run at an overload despite having no external burden.

“Zzt... Zzt...”

But at that moment, amidst the disorderly data operations, the flickering indicator lights seemed to form a resonance with some unknown entity.

"Hmm?"

Even in her dejected state, the Statue of Liberty naturally noticed the changes occurring in her data core immediately.

"This... seems to be cross-temporal information transmission... This is!"

All the indicator lights suddenly lit up at once, and all her attention focused on the transmitted information:

"Do you want... to have enough power to help Excellency Zhang Huaiyuan?"

...