491. Everyone Had Fallen Asleep

After eating the insect meat, night finally fell.

Lu Ban went outside and saw that the robot vacuum cleaner was still diligently cleaning, cleaning up the ground covered by wind and sand. On the exterior wall of the building, spider-like robots were also carefully maintaining the wall, so that it would not show any signs of weathering.

The streetlights appear to be broken, and the spare bulbs are probably also damaged. With no one repairing them, the road is completely dark.

In the darkness, Lu Ban saw the stars shining brightly over the wasteland, the dense array of stars resembling the Milky Way on Earth. He tried hard to discern some constellations, but to no avail; this was a completely unfamiliar starry sky.

At that moment, he saw the robots emerge from Building A3.

They seem to have a dedicated maintenance area and are heading this way.

Curious, Lu Ban followed.

These robots entered the back gate of the Ecological Park, one after another.

Lu Ban, disguised as a robot, also walked through that door.

This is a spacious room. The robots stand next to a pillar that looks like a charging station, and then lose their dynamism, becoming completely artificial.

"It even has wireless charging, that's pretty high-tech."

Lu Ban examined the charging station and discovered that it was a wireless fast charger, and the power supply probably relied entirely on solar energy.

There are many robots here.

They stood there like soldiers guarding the frontier.

However, some robots were missing arms, some were missing legs, and some were even missing their heads. These were probably destroyed by sandstorms while they were working outdoors.

More numerous, making up the majority of the room, are robots that are intact, but whose charging stations are no longer lit.

Lu Ban used [True Sight] to check and found that these robots were simply out of power. If they could be recharged, they could probably still move around.

It seems that this Future City was originally connected to a nearby power plant, and most of the electricity still relies on external supply, with solar power only lasting for a period of time.

Moreover, the solar panels on these buildings may have been damaged due to years of exposure to wind and sand, and not every panel is functioning properly.

Presumably, after some time, all the robots here will eventually run out of energy and stop operating.

Everyone is asleep.

A voice suddenly rang out from behind Lu Ban, making him turn around.

The Robot Girl Lin is standing next to a robot that can never be turned on again, looking at it.

"He used to be the best chef in the noodle shop. His beef noodles were very popular and even later models could not surpass them. In the three years in Future City, he made a total of 490,997 bowls of noodles. The last customer to eat his noodles was a boy living in room A6-401. He always asked for extra spice, saying that the noodles tasted exactly the same as those from his hometown."

Lin took a few steps toward Lu Ban, then looked at another robot beside her.

"This is a musician who used to work in music education for children. He was later sold here to continue performing. Every day at nine o'clock, he plays the piano in the square of the commercial street. Many residents gather around him. They say that playing music can soothe the soul. I am a robot, I have no heart, so I don't know what that feeling is like, but I think they must be very happy when they hear the music."

"This is the doctor from Future City. During his tenure, the incidence of illness in Future City decreased."

"This is the gardener; he trims all the vegetation in Future City every morning at five o'clock sharp."

"This is the maintenance guy. Every robot that breaks down gets sent to him. During that period, the failure rate of Future City's robots was..."

She introduced these robots to Lu Ban, explaining not only their origins and models, but also what they had done.

It was as if they weren't cold robots, but vibrant, living beings.

Lu Ban wasn't sure if the expression on Lin's face as she talked about these things could be called nostalgia.

Lu Ban suddenly remembered what Feng Yu had mentioned before: in some alien realms, humans abandoned their flesh and blood and chose to ascend with machines. If this place was not a wasteland but another alien realm, Lu Ban would probably suspect that it had been polluted, causing the entire city's inhabitants to turn into robots.

"Although they are currently in a deep sleep due to low battery, once things return to normal, this place will be just like before."

Lin said with considerable certainty.

"You've arrived, and the others will surely be back soon."

She looked at Lu Ban and smiled.

"."

Lu Ban didn't know whether she should tell the robot that the person she was waiting for had been gone for hundreds of years, the world had been destroyed, and there was no going back to the past.

In the days when civilization was extinguished and humanity was gone, these robots worked day after day, year after year, according to their original programming, until their power ran out.

"Every year at the end of the year, all the robots gather together and light a huge bonfire in the commercial street to celebrate with the residents. It is the happiest day of the year. According to my time, the end of the year will be in two days, and we can light the bonfire together again."

Lin continued.

"Um."

Lu Ban nodded.

"Actually, I lied to you before. You are not the 6,666th person to visit here. To be precise, you are the 6,630th person. But since no one else has come for a long time, I judged that Future City and Ecological Park were no longer popular. Therefore, as a rare guest, I took the liberty of lying to you."

Lin bowed her head apologetically to Lu Ban.

"It's alright, you did a great job. It's not your fault that no one comes here."

Lu Ban replied.

"I tried sending messages to the service provider, but I haven't received a response. Due to the settings, I can't leave here. I would like to ask you, guest, whether the service provider of Future City has stopped providing services, or what caused the communication failure?"

The Robot Girl tilted her head and asked again.

Her voice was clear, like the stream flowing in the Ecological Park.

"Maybe, but we haven't had any contact with them."

Lu Ban said in a deep voice, then paused and asked.

"If, and I mean if, I told you that the world has been destroyed, and everyone you ever knew is dead, that they haven't been around for hundreds of years, what would you think?"

Hearing Lu Ban's words, Lin tilted her head, looking somewhat confused.

"Sorry, this situation is not covered in my troubleshooting manual. It may require an firmware upgrade, but unfortunately, I cannot contact the service provider to do so."

As she spoke, Lin smiled again.

"Besides, didn't you come with a companion, sir?"

Lu Ban remained silent.

"Guests, a special performance is about to begin. If you are interested, please go to the Ecological Park to watch it."

Lin invited her again.