The Damaged Tower X The Unintelligent Body

Step into this colossal bronze Giant Tower that has been silent for hundreds of years.

A strange smell, a mixture of metallic rust, stale engine oil, and damp moss, wafted over.

Although damaged, the tower clearly doesn't seem to be well-ventilated.

Its external structure is very well preserved, maintaining a certain degree of airtightness inside.

But once inside...

What lay before me was not the orderly mechanical palace I had imagined, but a mechanical graveyard utterly torn apart by time and violence.

It's completely different from the Bronze Tower next to the Giant Beast Kingdom.

The Bronze Tower was still functioning, and although it was damaged inside, it still possessed a mechanical beauty.

Even the broken operation of such machinery can have a unique charm.

But now, the scene here is completely different.

The once-roaring, precision assembly line is now just a silhouette of ruins.

The massive, verdigris-covered metal bases resembled the skeleton of a colossal beast, scattered throughout the site.

The gears, bearings, and transmission chains that should have meshed tightly are now scattered on the cold bronze floor like limbs torn off by a tremendous force.

The thick pipes were pulled down from their broken joints, like withered vines, their interiors hollow, revealing rusty metal wire mesh.

Some complex robotic arms were twisted and deformed, and the broken sections at the joints gleamed with a cold, hard light in the dim light, as if frozen in the moment of their death struggle.

Everywhere you look, there are only the "corpses" of parts.

Gears of varying sizes were either deeply embedded in the wall or rolled into corners, their teeth broken.

Some glass-like objects shattered into countless sparkling fragments, mixed in with thick dust.

The metal plate, covered with etched circuits, was violently torn and bent, revealing the etched patterns inside that had long since lost their luster.

Countless tiny screws, washers, and springs of unknown purpose, like metallic gravel, covered the ground, making a soft, hollow sound with every step.

More importantly, they could see with their own eyes the various traces on the wreckage.

The marks of these battles are like hideous scars, extremely conspicuous and undisguised.

The inner wall of the bronze is covered with deep cleaving marks and huge pits.

The rolled-up metal edges indicate that the force used at the time was extremely powerful.

In some places, there are still charred marks, which are obviously the imprints left by some kind of energy impact.

Several supporting structures were severely deformed and teetering on the brink of collapse, as if they would completely crumble at any moment and bury this ruin forever.

Beyond these traces, what remains here is the burial of time.

In the damp corner, thick moss, like a dark green velvet blanket, covered the cold metal base and scattered parts.

Some tenacious ferns peeked out their slender branches and leaves from the metal cracks and accumulated dust, stretching out their sickly green in the faint light that leaked through the hole in the top of the tower.

Thick vines of climbing plants meandered up the twisted metal frame.

Their roots penetrated deep into the rusted cracks, as if trying to completely crush and digest this steel remnant.

Water droplets slid slowly down the cold bronze wall, dripping with a clear, distinct sound in the silence, nourishing the strange and tenacious greenery that had sprung up on the mechanical ruins.

Kevin and the others simply watched in silence.

A post-apocalyptic style is perfectly presented here.

This feeling of civilization crumbling and the past being gone resonated deeply with them, who are also part of a civilization and on the path of technological advancement.

These mechanical constructs are capable of empathy.

Tuck's mechanical body floated around, swirling around, with eye-like points of light flashing incessantly.

He was looking back at the construction of his former home.

Even the emotionless Machine Lifeform couldn't help but feel sorrow when faced with such a sight of their home.

In this situation, Kevin and his friends were unable to offer any words of comfort.

The scene here completely foreshadows a certain situation.

The home of the Machine Lifeform may have met with misfortune.

"Don't be too pessimistic. These are just the remains of Automated Puppet and various devices. I haven't seen any remains of Machine Lifeform yet."

Bellolight said after searching the surroundings.

This is quite a rare and good thing.

Tuck, unusually, did not answer.

It simply drifted away quietly.

The group exchanged glances and followed in silence.

They continued into the interior of the Machine Lifeform's home, where the external Bronze Tower was merely a reconnaissance structure.

As they continued deeper into the area, they encountered more and more remains, covered in vegetation, lying in various places where people had been killed and buried.

But without exception, all of these remains belonged to those Automated Puppet.

Not a single Machine Lifeform was found.

After such scenes began to unfold one after another, Tuck seemed to regain a lot of confidence.

Just then...

"Call out!"

A red laser beam shot straight in from a distance at an extremely high speed.

In the blink of an eye, a bolt of lightning struck down.

Kiy, he moved very quickly.

The lightning bolt collided with the red laser and exploded instantly.

Another laser beam.

This time, everyone dodged it, while Qi transformed into a streak of blue lightning, disappearing from his spot in the blink of an eye and heading towards the direction from which the red laser had come.

Soon, a flash of lightning streaked across the distance.

But clearly, despite the flashes of lightning, Qi did not quickly defeat his opponent.

Tuck, thinking it might be one of his own kind, sped up and floated over.

Kevin and the others immediately sped up.

They arrived at the battle site in no time.

Kiy was still grappling with his opponent. It was clear that Qi wasn't stupid; once he realized that the attacker was likely a member of Tuck's race, he was simply stalling for time.

Extreme speed makes it easy and simple for Qi to pull against his opponent.

The instant Tuck arrived.

Immediately begin communicating with the other party via text message.

All the people could hear was a faint creaking sound in the air.

It's like the fluctuation of Electric Current.

Qi was about to stop when he saw this, but the moment he lowered his hand, a red light shot out.

He vanished instantly, transforming into a bolt of lightning, and kicked the mechanical body.

He kicked the slender mechanical creature, covered in numerous Octopus -like tentacles, away.

The sloshing sound of Electric Current in the air became more noticeable.

It seemed like Tuck was shouting urgently.

However, it had no effect.

The Octopus -like mechanical body, which had been kicked away, didn't stop at all. Its three mechanical claws hooked onto the ground, abruptly halting its movement.

He then half-raised himself in the air, and a barrage of red laser beams targeted everyone present.

The vigilant crowd quickly made the situation easier.

Kevin raised his hand.

A crystal plate covered in scales appeared in front of Tuck, providing him with precise defense against the incoming red light.

Clearly, Tuck has no intention of hiding, nor is it certain that he will be able to evade it.

"What's going on? Is he not listening to you? Or is he an enemy?"

"I don't know, he refused to communicate with me and showed no intention of responding at all."

Upon hearing this, Kevin nodded.

"Strange."

"Clear."

Qi made an OK sign, his hair standing straight up with electric sparks that emitted a blue hue.

A thunderous roar resounded.

In the blink of an eye, it appeared around the mechanical body, and a large amount of electricity surged into the mechanical body.

With such a massive influx of electricity, the mechanical body was instantly paralyzed and collapsed to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably, with electric currents still pulsating within its surface.

Bellolight followed closely behind.

With a simple gesture, he took control of the mechanical body and began disassembling it.

Just like taking apart building blocks, he easily and simply dismantled all of the opponent's Octopus -like mechanical structures and tossed them aside.

Then he grasped some ancient mechanical parts scattered on the ground around him.

These parts formed a temporary restraint device that was embedded in the other person's body, locking them in place.

They captured the other party alive with ease.

Even so.

A hole popped out from the side of the Machine Lifeform, and another steel needle shot out.

"Still want to struggle?"

Bellolight raised her hand, effectively blocking the opponent from all sides.

Now the Machine Lifeform could only struggle and sway slightly, unable to change any of the facts.

Finally, it quieted down.

"Tuck?"

Tuck simply floated in front of the Machine Lifeform; the crackling sound of Electric Current in the surrounding air once again indicated the other party's desire to communicate.

However, the squeaking sound continued without any response.

"He's gone mad?"

Gon couldn't help but ask.

Just like those before, because there were no Storage Crystal to store their consciousness, they went insane after being worn down, just like Machine Lifeform.

However, Tuck said...

"No, even if it's constantly worn down and driven mad, it will still respond to the exchange of information; it's just that the information it exchanges might be a haphazard patchwork of ideas."

I understand.

Similar to human ramblings.

Even a mute person who has gone mad will still make sounds like "ee-ee-ah-ah".

But now, Tuck's kinsman has absolutely no awareness of communication, as if he can't open his mouth to make any sound.

This is no longer a question of whether or not someone can speak.

"Is it possible that it no longer contains the inheritance core of Machine Lifeform? Or is it something like Automated Doll?"

Morel pushed up his sunglasses and asked.

This looks very similar, doesn't it?

However, Tuck still gave a negative answer.

Clearly, they have their own identification process.

It's like how humans view their own kind versus how they view Monkey.

To humans, mechanical objects come in all shapes and sizes, constructed entirely according to their own preferences and haphazardly.

It is difficult to distinguish them by their appearance.

"How about we open it up and take a look?"

Bellolight, who was squatting nearby, couldn't help but turn to Tuck and ask.

He'd wanted to demolish it for a long time.

After a moment of silence, Tuck gave a definite answer.

"Let me!"

Bellolight started working on it right away.

For him, disassembling a mechanical object was incredibly easy; it was like returning to his old profession.

He removed the original restrictive structure and skillfully dismantled the various original body structures.

Even though he had little knowledge of this kind of mechanical structure, under the control of his Nen ability, he could tell at a glance how to dismantle it.

After taking it all apart.

Bellolight scratched her head.

"Huh? There's nothing here?"

Everything that was taken apart was in parts.

Everyone turned to look at Tuck, which meant that the consciousness within this body was very likely indeed randomly parasitizing some part of the body.

However, Tuck just floated around in front of the pile of parts.

He seemed quite impatient.

"No, no conscious entity? Why is there no conscious entity? Calculate—"

An impatient voice came through, followed by a pause as if something had caught in its throat.

It took Tuck quite a while to seem to come back to his senses.

"Why is there no conscious entity?"

That's right, it's an Alchemy Lifeform, but after being disassembled, there is no consciousness within it.

Kevin searched through the pile of parts, then squinted at one of them, looking inside a groove.

You can see some fine powder from the crystals scattered here.

"The Storage Crystal is gone, and it's worn into powder—how can it move without Storage Crystal?"

It's important to understand that even Automated Puppet need to inherit crystals to function, which are essentially the core processing Chip of these Machine Lifeform.

"We don't have enough information, let's go further in."

Tuck could only say this helplessly in the end.

There was really no other way but to extract useful information from this pile of parts.

The group had no choice but to continue deeper inside.

Soon, a city appeared before them.

This is a tower-shaped city built entirely of mechanical components, with numerous Bronze Tower densely packed together.

These Bronze Tower vary in size, but their overall structure is almost identical.

It looks like a cluster of Tower Forest.

But for most people, it remains an extremely novel sight, with architectural styles and aesthetics completely different from those of humans.

This completely unusual style also attracted them.

However, just as they got close, several more beams of red light shot over.

"There might be a lot of enemies here, be careful."

The group immediately dispersed and rushed forward.

Kevin had already scanned the area with his Nen ability and found no combat power at the Lord Level.

They were all Knight Rank, and their strength was limited.

The main attackers were Qi and Bellolight.

They weren't there to kill these Machine Lifeform, since their condition was clearly abnormal and they were Tuck's people.

Therefore, whenever they had the resources, everyone tried their best to capture the enemy alive.

Kevin walked through the city filled with Bronze Tower.

The red light that occasionally shone through was blocked by the Scale Crystal floating around.

Strolling leisurely.

"There are many signs of battle here. Hundreds of years ago, a very fierce battle must have taken place here—but why can't we see any wreckage?"

Kevin was also able to roughly distinguish the differences between the remains of Automated Puppet and Machine Lifeform.

Many of the Bronze Tower in the city were destroyed or collapsed, or riddled with large holes and dents from the attacks.

The entire city was like that; it's unimaginable how much turmoil it was in at the time.

But the surrounding area was littered with the remains of Automated Doll.

"Did they retreat—or were they collected by someone else?"

Arrived at the center.

What Kevin saw was a huge pile of wreckage and craters.

The area within a few hundred meters was practically destroyed, filled with craters, ruins, and depressions.

"It seems this is the most intense part."

Kevin observed, then suddenly squatted down and dug something out of the soil from a pile of weeds.

"This isn't metal—it clashes with the city."