A corner of the underground passage.
After confirming the location, Xiguang pressed her palm against the wall. Her smooth, silvery-white hair fluttered slightly, and a faint glow appeared in her red eyes.
As the Particle Destruction ability seeped in, the solid soil and rock layers instantly crumbled layer by layer like weathered stone, breaking into evenly distributed piles of gravel. In moments, several hundred square meters of land began to sink.
The Spark Warriors, who had been waiting for some time, immediately used various tools to transport the soil and dump it outside the black market.
In just over five hours, the underground space had already begun to take shape.
It was a square space more than thirty meters long and wide, with the upper wall supported by load-bearing pillars from the Wicked Soul Tower that Xiguang had deliberately preserved.
Jiang Xiao scanned it with Origin Data and said in satisfaction, "Not bad. It's very stable. Make a few more adjustments to the length and width, and it'll be finished."
After another half hour, the underground space finally met the requirements. It had been completed a little faster than Xiguang had expected.
She had not expected the Spark Warriors to be so enthusiastic. Even a Tier 2 Regular Martial Artist had taken the initiative to help.
Having spent one-third of her psychic energy, Xiguang looked around, then calmly turned toward Jiang Xiao.
Her crimson eyes seemed to contain some kind of emotion.
"Good, good, good. As expected of Xiao Guang—amazing."
With a beaming smile, Jiang Xiao rubbed Xiguang's head. Although he had no proof, he felt that Xiguang probably wanted some praise.
She really is still a child.
After checking once and confirming that there were no problems, Jiang Xiao sent away the Spark Warriors who were still nearby.
He took out the Apocalyptic Mech Core and pulled the puzzled Xiguang to the edge.
The next moment.
A phantom mechanical pyramid composed of countless strange data streams gradually emerged, and its form quickly solidified.
It changed from illusion into reality.
Jiang Xiao and the bewildered Xiguang looked at the enormous object before them. The former was extremely excited.
The Mechanical Core looked incredibly cool. Its exterior resembled flowing black-and-silver liquid metal, shimmering with specks of light, while faint blue circuits resembling data streams flowed through it.
It was an integrated mechanical structure, without the slightest trace of assembly.
It did not resemble industrial equipment so much as a computing core.
Before Jiang Xiao could examine it carefully, the data circuits on the surface of the Calamity Hub suddenly lit up. A holographic projection resembling a pupil appeared at the top of the Hub.
It gently contracted and looked toward Jiang Xiao.
#Apocalyptic Mech Core—Central Control AI loading complete. Standing by#
The system panel displayed a prompt at the same time as the mechanical voice.
Confirmation complete—Apocalyptic Mech Core activated Constructing Data Network Origin Data flow coverage detected. By default, the Data Network will be constructed from Origin Data. Datafication complete
As the system prompts appeared, the faint blue data eye atop the Hub suddenly transformed into a blurry Pure White Eye.
It was a platinum-white vertical pupil seemingly shrouded in a faint mosaic.
It radiated far greater liveliness and pressure than before.
#Confirmation complete. Origin Data replacement complete. Core permissions confirmed# #Performing self-inspection. Self-inspection complete#
"Greetings, esteemed commander. The Central Control AI is at your service."
Jiang Xiao nodded in satisfaction, then said to Xiguang, whose expression rarely showed such astonishment, "Not bad, right? Come on, let's feed it something and see if it works."
The mountains of weapon parts and piles of scrap metal in the black market had been prepared precisely for this purpose.
Chapter 55: The Black Mech Gang Comes Calling
A few minutes later.
Jiang Xiao and Xiguang each returned carrying several tons of scrap metal and mechanical soldier wreckage. Under Xiguang's curious gaze, he walked over to the Calamity Hub.
"Come on, open wide."
Ripples spread across the surface of the Apocalyptic Mech Core, and an intake that radiated a dim purple glow emerged.
"Huh?" Xiguang tilted her head.
"What is it?"
Xiguang paused, then said uncertainly, "The fluctuations inside it are very similar to my ability."
The fluctuations of the Universal Devouring Furnace were similar to Particle Destruction?
Particle disintegration?
Jiang Xiao quickly understood. His astonishment grew even stronger. The technology contained in the Mechanical Core became more outrageous the more he looked at it. The Starfield Zerg were truly unfathomable.
A sophisticated Industrial Hub?
Who was that? He did not know them. They had merely provided his precious Calamity Hub with a fusion template—what technology could they possibly have?
Jiang Xiao threw all the materials he had carried inside into the furnace. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he immediately went out. When he returned, he was holding a massive black object.
Gulab's charred corpse. He had kept the thing in a cold storage room somewhere in the Wicked Soul Tower all this time.
He had not expected it to actually come in handy.
Xiguang blinked in confusion nearby, silently watching Jiang Xiao work.
Jiang Xiao casually tossed Gulab's corpse into the furnace, then closed the furnace's intake.
#Smelting is about to begin. Some of the resources produced after smelting will be used as operating energy for the Mechanical Core#
The Central Control AI's slightly cold mechanical voice echoed through the space.
"Good."
Jiang Xiao nodded slightly.
After receiving authorization, the data circuits flowing across the surface of the Calamity Hub lit up. A nearly imperceptible hum echoed out, and then it fell silent once more.
#Estimated time required: three minutes#
After the Central Control AI finished speaking, Jiang Xiao was startled.
Three minutes? That fast?
Not long afterward, a brand-new interface appeared before Jiang Xiao.
Apocalyptic Mech Core Basic Universal Resource: 11.9 units Primary Universal Resource: 0.7 units Hub Expansion: Resources can be consumed to increase the number of core devices and raise equipment output for expansion. (Requires Primary and Intermediate Universal Resources.) Producible Mechanical Units: None Detailed Information: ...
Jiang Xiao finished reading it roughly and fell into thought.
The Mechanical Core could consume large amounts of Primary and Intermediate Resources to increase the output of core devices or manufacture new core devices.
It seemed that the upgrade mentioned by the system referred to increasing production scale.
It was not the simple consumption of resources to raise the Technical Level of the Mechanical Core, as he had previously understood.
To upgrade the Apocalyptic Mech Core technologically, he still had to conduct research and study on his own, manually upgrading the Mechanical Core.
This was similar to the Zerg. The reason a Hive could upgrade technologically by devouring resources was likewise because of the countless years of accumulation by the Starfield Zerg's Research Hive.
If a Hive were stripped of its memories and stored technical information, it would not be able to rapidly increase its technological strength through resources alone.
However, aside from conducting research, there should be another way to upgrade quickly.
Acquire a higher-level Hive and Industrial Equipment, then use the Research Slot to analyze them through the progress bar!
As Jiang Xiao thought, he stared at the Apocalyptic Mech Core before him. A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind, and his eyes lit up.
He opened the Mechanical Core's Database interface and immediately input all the technical data he remembered about the Floating Laser Module.
Although the technical analysis of the Floating Laser Module only contained the technology for a laser attack module and not the floating technology, modifying it into a laser gun would be more than enough to deal with the criminals of Sin Capital.
With that thought, Jiang Xiao mobilized more Origin Data to speed up the transmission of the memorized information.
The Mechanical Core also used Origin Data. Although it occupied a certain amount of Origin Data, lowering his mana cap somewhat, it brought many benefits as well.
The most convenient was that Origin Data allowed memories and information to be transmitted between them.
Before long.
The producible Mechanical Units section of the Apocalyptic Mech Core changed.
Producible Mechanical Units (currently available production lines: 0/5): 1. Individual Medium-Power Laser Unit—Consumes 0.1 Primary Resource and 0.3 Basic Resources (estimated time: 10 minutes) 2. Insufficient data... Tip: Batch production can reduce the time consumed per unit
It really worked!
Jiang Xiao was overjoyed. The Calamity Hub could produce not only complete mechanical soldiers but also single-module equipment and components!
If that was the case, then as long as he mastered the smelting parameters, could he directly produce various alloys with extremely high purity?
Combined with the furnace that could devour all things, did that mean the Apocalyptic Mech Core could turn stone into alloys?
What about gold?
The process by which gold came into existence was no simple matter.
After Jiang Xiao asked, the Central Control AI replied in a stiff, matter-of-fact tone, "Creating one unit of gold requires 1.5 units of Basic Materials. The energy consumption for creating each unit is 350 units of Basic Materials."
Before you continue