Apocalyptic Mechanist

Mr. Jiang, I'm back. The two mechs' parts are too big. Should I have A Ling smuggle them in through the Black Market channels?

This was a message from Xi Guang.

Jiang Xiao smiled slightly and typed back:

Just bring them in directly. They wouldn't dare stop you.

Okay.

Jiang Xiao turned and left the rooftop.

Next, he needed to speed things up. He had to find a suitable location for the Apocalyptic Mech Core first. In its data-ized state, the Starport wouldn't notice anything.

Then, he had to find a way to infiltrate the Star Rail Defense Ship!

But before that, it would be best to upgrade his Spirit Energy to Tier 2 Elite. Everything needed to be done cautiously.

If before, Jiang Xiao had only had a 30% chance of successfully infiltrating the Star Rail Defense Ship, then now, with his extensive knowledge of Geometric Code and the assistance of the Apocalyptic Mech Core's AI, Jiang Xiao had an 80% chance of infiltrating it without anyone noticing!

Infiltrating the Star Rail Defense Ship alone wouldn't be enough.

Without any unusual circumstances, the Star Rail Defense Ship descending to the planet's surface would definitely attract vigilance and attacks!

The largest defense ship was always stationed on the outskirts of the star system where Prison Star was located. If anything unusual happened, it would immediately return to reinforce.

Therefore, the legality of the Star Rail Defense Ship's descent had to be ensured.

The Zerg attacking Sin City was a good opportunity. The progress of the Sin City Council was unclear, so he had to be prepared.

Regarding how to attract a large number of Zerg to attack Sin City, the three biological profiles in the Apocalyptic Mech Core's database all pointed to a special signal band based on deep space transmission technology.

Jiang Xiao could completely extract the technology for generating this single band from the deep space transmission technology on his own.

The Apocalyptic Mech Core could transmit deep space signals, but its range was insufficient. Therefore, a conventional, large-scale Signal Amplifier would be needed.

However, this would require moving the Starfire Camp to Sin City.

The defensive capabilities of the Wicked Soul Tower would need to be further enhanced.

There was a lot to do, so he'd take it one step at a time.

Jiang Xiao suddenly thought that the skirmishes between the Black Mech Gang and the Sin City Council seemed to be escalating these days.

"I wonder when they'll go to full-scale war. If I could take advantage of the chaos to bring Xi Guang and slaughter all the high-ranking members of the Viper Gang, breaking through to Tier 2 Elite Spirit Energy shouldn't be difficult."

He just had to wait for the Black Mech Gang to draw away most of the Sin City Council's forces, then seize the opportunity to deal with the core major gangs of the Council faction, weakening the Sin City Council's top-tier combat power as quickly as possible.

I gain experience, and the alien high-tier combat power is weakened.

A win-win!

Otherwise, if the Sin City Council were to panic and attack the Wicked Soul Tower with all their might, Jiang Xiao worried he wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Who knew if the Chairman of Sin City was as crazy as Kliffen.

"Speaking of which, the Black Mech Gang should be coming to contact me these days, right?"

Jiang Xiao fell into thought.

An hour passed.

The door of the Mechanical Workshop opened, and a petite figure entered.

She took off her hood, revealing a head of lustrous, silver-white long hair that cascaded down. The girl's delicate face was expressionless, but her gem-like red eyes held a barely perceptible ripple.

"Mr. Jiang, I'm back."

Jiang Xiao, descending from the second floor, greeted her with a bright smile. "I've missed you so much, Little Guang. If you're tired, go rest at the Wicked Soul Tower. Xi Ling has a room with a nice environment saved for you."

"I can stay here."

Xi Guang tilted her head, looking at the approaching Jiang Xiao, her tone calm.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiao didn't rush to examine the mechs. He found a clean spot, initiated conversation, and then smiled as he listened to Xi Guang recount her experiences over the past eleven days.

Chapter 54: Central Control AI

A moment later, in the Mechanical Workshop.

After their casual chat, Xi Guang seemed to be in a good mood. She glanced at the time, knowing Jiang Xiao was very busy lately, and pointed to the second floor.

"I'm going to meditate. Call me if you need me."

"Okay."

Jiang Xiao smiled and patted Xi Guang's small head, watching her trot upstairs. He then left the workshop to inspect the types of mechs Xi Guang had brought back.

The entire Yuanjin Black Market had now completely become Jiang Xiao's workspace. Everywhere were various metals and mechanical parts, sorted by function into boxes, piled up like mountains.

Among them, discarded metals were the most abundant, forming several small mountains ten to twenty meters high.

The two mechs Xi Guang brought back had already been carried to an open space.

Jiang Xiao walked closer, circling them and examining them carefully.

The appearance of both mechs was very complete, showing little sign of damage.

However, upon closer inspection, one would find a slender handprint on the lower edge of the outer armor of each mech, deeply embedded into the armor!

This was Xi Guang's masterpiece.

The moment her Particle Destruction hit the Mechanical Soldier, it directly severed its power circuit, causing it to seize up instantly!

Jiang Xiao wasn't surprised; the Origin Data could do it faster.

After all, these were just Primary Civilization Mechanical Soldiers, incapable of mounting Spirit Energy resistance devices. Spirit Energy suppression technology was an Intermediate Civilization technique.

Regardless, when facing combat-oriented Espers, unless victory was achieved through sheer numbers, Mechanical Soldiers of the same tier would struggle to confront them head-on.

Jiang Xiao looked at the System Retrieval information.

Two Mechanical Soldiers.

The first was slender, about three meters tall, its primary weapons being four high-temperature cutting blade arms resembling mantis blades. Combined with materials in the blades that could block Source Energy, it was enough to breach the defenses of a Tier 2 Regular Martial Artist in a single strike!

Its main long-range weapon was a laser device in its chest, capable of heavily damaging a slightly weaker Tier 2 Elite at full power.

Coupled with its incredibly tough armor and highly efficient combat methods, its actual combat power was roughly at the upper-middle level of Tier 2 Elites, equivalent to a Viper Race powerhouse with 85-90 points.

The other Mechanical Soldier looked significantly bulkier, resembling a giant ape, standing over five meters tall. Its armor thickness and craftsmanship were even more refined than the first.

What surprised Jiang Xiao was that it carried numerous medium and long-range weapons!

Two laser Floating Cannons embedded in its rear shoulders (not Source Energy Equipment), a shoulder-mounted triple-barreled electromagnetic cannon, and a palm-mounted plasma cannon!

Its overall strength wasn't weak even among Tier 2 Peaks. According to the information, its raw strength alone was even greater than Gulab's.

Of course, its most powerful weapon was undoubtedly the plasma cannon!

With terrifying temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees and material destruction capabilities, even the Source Energy Aura of a Tier 2 Peak could only offer meager defense. A direct hit would very likely result in severe damage.

A weaponized plasma cannon's offensive efficiency was far beyond that of crudely modified Batteries.

The Battery pack that had killed Gulab back then had enough energy to fire this plasma cannon twenty to thirty times.

Jiang Xiao casually tossed both Mechanical Soldiers into the Research Slots!

Now that he possessed the Mechanical Core, Jiang Xiao had no worries about materials. He merely needed to throw the salvaged Mechanical Soldier wreckage, useless equipment, and Alien corpses into the Mechanical Core's furnace, and they would be converted into raw materials for manufacturing machines.

Resource utilization close to one hundred percent!

Did they understand the resource-stripping capabilities of a Zerg swarm!

Furthermore, the Mechanical Core's inorganic matter consumption was a function that only an Intermediate Hive could evolve – it was a Zerg Hub capable of threatening Intermediate Civilizations.

The might of the Apocalyptic Mech Core was undeniable.

[Research Slot (2/2) -
1. Blade Mantis Type K2 Mech Soldier, Current Research Progress: 0.0% (Estimated 7 days required)
2. Raging Ape Type Area Annihilation Mech Soldier, Current Research Progress: 0.0% (Estimated 19 days required)]

"Not bad, a bit faster than I expected."

Closing the panel, Jiang Xiao returned to the Mechanical Workshop.

As he pondered where to place the Apocalyptic Mech Core, he suddenly noticed the entrance to a underground passage in a corner on the first floor, his eyes lighting up.

Arriving on the second floor, before Jiang Xiao could speak, Xi Guang opened her eyes and looked over.

"Need any help?"

Jiang Xiao was slightly taken aback, then said seriously, "I need to excavate an underground space about forty meters long and wide, and ten meters high."

According to the information, the Mechanical Core's base was twenty meters long and nine meters high, with a pyramid-like shape.

Upon hearing this, Xi Guang pondered for a moment.

"One day."

"One day? Isn't that too tight?" Jiang Xiao frowned.

"No, strictly speaking, I only need two hours to break down rock of the same volume into gravel-sized particles. The rest of the time is needed to transport the sand and soil out."

Xi Guang explained, her tone seeming somewhat eager.

Xi Guang inexplicably wanted Jiang Xiao to witness her power at its peak.

Jiang Xiao then felt at ease. "Alright, I'll ask Chief Li to arrange personnel for transporting the soil. The specific excavation site will be beneath the Black Market. The foundation of the Wicked Soul Tower is very deep, so we won't have to worry about collapse for at least several months."

"Mm, okay."

With Xi Guang's side settled, the rest of the matter became much simpler.

When Jiang Xiao requested personnel to help build the underground space, the Spark Warriors, idle in the Wicked Soul Tower, signed up as if they had been injected with stimulants.

In less than a moment, over a hundred people were assembled.

With everything ready, the underground space construction immediately began.

Jiang Xiao had no intention of hiding his actions, openly starting the excavation.

Of course, to put on a show for the Starport, he deliberately had the Spark Gang pile industrial equipment from the Black Mech Gang's shops in front of the Mechanical Workshop.

He was pretending to be building his own mechanical factory.