With Guns and Cannons, One Feels Like Doing Anything

Time flew by, and both Xiao Mu and Na'er turned nine years old.

Under Xiao Mu's influence, Xu Xiaoyan also began to treat cultivation as something as routine as eating and sleeping, though she remained lazy and had yet to reach the second ring.

Xiao Mu had also made his initial foray into sub-professions.

However, Xu Xiaoyan was timid by nature and had not undergone any soul master training, a flaw she still could not overcome.

Now, she didn't even dare to touch Na'er.

This made Na'er feel as though she were already invincible.

At this moment, the three of them were in Xiao Mu's laboratory.

Xiao Mu sat before the workbench, tapping away at code. Lines of characters jumped across the screen, the blue light reflecting off his expressionless face.

He was writing an artificial intelligence butler and had been at it for the entire afternoon.

Na'er stood behind him, tilting her head to look at the screen, though she couldn't understand a thing. She reached out and poked Xiao Mu's back.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

"Coding."

"I know that, but what are you writing?"

"Making a lab butler to make experiments easier, since you're useless for anything else," Xiao Mu said without turning his head.

These words were like a match, instantly igniting something.

Na'er put her hands on her hips, lifted her chin, and spoke with a defiant edge:

"Who says that? Who says I'm useless!"

"They always say I'm a ditz, but I'm actually not at all. Most of the time, I'm incredibly sharp."

Xiao Mu's fingers paused above the keyboard for half a second before falling again. He turned his head, glanced at Na'er, and after a moment of silence, asked, "Then what can you do?"

"I can—" Na'er got stuck halfway through. She rolled her eyes twice before saying righteously, "I can cheer you on!"

"..."

"Brother, what's with that look? I can also help you fetch things."

"I have robotic arms."

"I can—" Na'er bit her lip and suddenly leaned in, "I can help you write your inspection reports."

"Can you even understand them? You're not even a Level 3 Mecha Technician yet." Xiao Mu was speechless; that was the profession Na'er had chosen.

Reaching Level 6 allowed one to repair battle armor; it was a profession that required long-term accumulation to see results.

In the corner, Xu Xiaoyan sat cross-legged on a chair, holding a copy of Basic Theory of Mecha Mechanics. She looked toward the two of them, swung her legs, and suddenly spoke in a lazy voice:

"Na'er, stop struggling. Those of us who are useless should just find a comfortable position and lie flat."

Na'er turned to glare at her, her cheeks puffed out: "Your sub-profession is only Level 2, too. We're two of a kind."

"Exactly," Xu Xiaoyan pointed at herself, "That's why I'm lying perfectly flat. Once I pass the exam for a stable job in the future and secure an iron rice bowl, I can finally relax."

"You're just lazy."

"What's wrong with being lazy?" Xu Xiaoyan leaned back against the chair, "Living is exhausting, that's why we're called humans."

Xiao Mu ignored them both, his fingers returning to the keyboard. His program was almost finished.

Suddenly, the room flickered as the power consumption of the server room spiked.

The shadows of the three flickered against the wall. Xiao Mu's fingers hovered over the keyboard, while Na'er and Xu Xiaoyan turned simultaneously to look at the center of the room.

A mechanical voice surged from all directions, as if coming from the ceiling.

"System startup complete. Zero is online."

The voice paused as the system program searched, loaded, and confirmed, then another sound rang out:

"Three life forms detected. Two underage females, one underage male."

Hearing this, Xiao Mu leaned back against his chair and let out a long breath. It was a success, even if it wasn't quite intelligent enough.

"Zero, pour me a glass of water."

A faint sound of mechanical operation came from the corner, followed by the sliding of rollers.

It reached toward a water pitcher nearby, and water flowed into the glass on the table. The robotic arm carried the cup back, steadily handing it to Xiao Mu's side.

"Sir, your water."

Xiao Mu took it, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.

After all, the code was full of bugs, but since it could execute, he wouldn't change it. Fixing it would be a nightmare.

Na'er leaned in, her eyes wide: "Can it get me some?"

"Madam, what would you like?"

"Juice!"

"There is no juice in the laboratory. Only purified water."

"That water works too!"

The mechanical arm turned toward Na'er and retrieved a new cup.

It filled the cup and handed it over. Na'er held it with both hands, feeling that it was incredibly magical.

In the corner, Xu Xiaoyan covered her face with her book, equally curious. It was truly convenient being at Xiao Mu's place; although she had her brother to order around at home, he wasn't always there. "Can you get a book for me? Just the one on my legs, it's too tiring to hold up."

The mechanical arm slid over, its metal fingers gripping the spine of the book, lifting it gently until it was directly above Xu Xiaoyan's face.

After taking it, Xu Xiaoyan complained, "Xiao Mu, this still isn't smart enough."

"I know, I'm adjusting it slowly. It's not like it was made directly using a spirit soul." Xiao Mu felt helpless, knowing that artificial intelligence in this era was basically all made using spirit souls.

"Let's go, it's about time for you to head back too."

The three of them walked out of the laboratory, and Xiao Mu gave a final command: "Zero, turn off the lights."

"Expand your own knowledge."

The lights in the laboratory went out, plunging the room into darkness, but streams of data were already spreading across the network to every corner of the Federation.

What was even more terrifying was that the Federation's base stations were built using Xiao Mu's technology.

There were no other buildings around Xiao Mu's house, only a large expanse of open ground. A black car was parked on the clearing, its body lines cold and rigid, like a beast.

Xu Xiaoyu leaned against the car door with his hands in his pockets, his blue hair swaying slightly in the wind. He now looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, appearing more mature, but his expression remained as cold and arrogant as ever.

He saw Xu Xiaoyan come out and straightened up, but his gaze darkened the moment it landed on Xiao Mu.

"Xiaoyan, weren't you going to find Na'er to play? Why is Xiao Mu here too?"

"He was just watching from the side," Xu Xiaoyan said, speechless at how strictly her brother controlled her. "We barely said a few words."

Xu Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow, still looking at Xiao Mu with a guarded expression. This guy looked shifty-eyed; he clearly wasn't a good person.

"Get in the car, we're going home."

Xu Xiaoyan climbed in, then poked her head out to look at Na'er: "Are you coming to my house to play tomorrow?"

"Play? School starts tomorrow. You didn't advance a grade, but Xiao Mu and Na'er did. You won't be able to see them tomorrow."

"Ah, the break ended so quickly."

"That's right."

Xu Xiaoyu didn't look at Xiao Mu again, walked around the front of the car, and sat in the driver's seat. The vehicle started up and vanished directly at the end of their vision.

"He was in such a rush to leave," Xiao Mu said, speechless.

Na'er tugged on Xiao Mu's hand, pouting, "That guy is really annoying. Brother, why does he always glare at you?"

"Maybe he has pinkeye."

"Really?"

"Who knows."

To this day, Xiao Mu couldn't understand why Xu Xiaoyu thought he was interested in "starting at three years" (jail time). He took Na'er's hand and walked back, and Na'er asked again, "Brother, where are we going to school tomorrow? Will we still be able to see Xiaoyan?"

"Is there a second intermediate spirit master academy to choose from in East Sea City?" Xiao Mu asked in return.

"Is there only one intermediate spirit master academy in East Sea City?"

"That's right, there is only one East Sea Academy."

In truth, he didn't really want to meet the protagonist group; he was focused on working hard to build up the Federation's military industry.

Although he would occasionally stare blankly at the map of the Federation—after all, with guns and cannons at his side, he wanted to do something earth-shattering, and he also really wanted to flip through other people's family genealogies.

Could the core of strength be power?

He should recall more of Lord Niu's life story later.

Immediately, he stopped overthinking it.

He still needed to get familiar with Tang Wulin; if there was an opportunity, he had to get some of Tang Wulin's blood, as it could extend his lifespan.

Most importantly, he wanted to know exactly how many changes had occurred in this world that he didn't know about.

Whether Gu Yue would arrive.