Harvest

Pandorum World, Colony 2, Planet Tanis.

This was Tang Tian's future planet-city, filled with steel structures. It had originally been the Earth Government's last hope, but it had now been occupied and transformed by aliens into the starting point of their rise. According to A.I. calculations, Planet Tanis had a total area of 320,000,000 square kilometers, slightly smaller than Earth's total area. Land accounted for 63 percent of the total, while oceans accounted for 37 percent.

The planet had now been designed as a new high-tech world. More than three thousand steel structures had been built, all skyscrapers in the style of I, Robot's USR headquarters. In Tang Tian's plans, this planet would become the site of the Iron Empire, a silicon-based life planet dedicated to developing robots and all kinds of advanced technology.

After Tang Tian returned three months later, Tang Xing was first brought to Colony 2 to participate in the rapid construction of the colony. Using the large stockpile of Type 94-style construction robots from I, Robot, over a year of construction had erased all traces of the primitive planet and filled it with the science-fiction atmosphere of I, Robot. On the land beside Planet Tanis's Huo Dongge Strait—the place where the protagonist of Pandorum had ended up—more than three thousand steel buildings formed the initial outline of the Iron Empire. Though their construction speed could not compare to that of mechanical octopuses, the tireless work of NS-5 robots and countless construction robots had already turned the area into a high-tech city. Colony 2 differed from Colony 1, which focused mainly on biotechnology. Of course, the steel city built on this planet currently used only one ten-thousandth of its potential. Once they acquired mechanical octopus technology, the pace would become even faster.

"Hehehehe... hehehehe... ahahahaha!" As Stephen Chow's classic three-stage laugh rang out, Tang Tian's lewd and sinister laughter echoed continuously through the conference room atop the 895-meter-tall central tower of the Iron Empire's core city on the land by Huo Dongge Strait. The top floor bore the symbol of a steel fist.

"Boss, you've been back for so long. Other than giving me resources and telling me to build, build, build, when are you going to tell me exactly how much you gained?" Tang Xing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke helplessly as he watched Tang Tian, who had been grinning for over a year. That shameless fellow had given him resources as soon as he returned and told him to use I, Robot's stockpiled construction robots to establish the empire's foundation, but he had never said just how many benefits he had obtained.

Tang Tian calmly activated his wrist computer, and the holographic projector displayed a dazzling array of resources. "First, there's A.I. VIKI, Sonny, the complete production technology and assembly lines for the NS series. Next are the resources I obtained while disguised as an alien: roughly 15 billion tons of commonly used metals such as steel, copper, and zinc, as well as 5 billion tons of rare metals. There are about 1.2 billion tons of nuclear weapon materials, including nuclear waste. Five expired super nuclear bombs with yields of fifty megatons each. Aside from construction and energy use, I also obtained large quantities of chemical weapons, such as VX agent, Soman agent, and other corrosive toxins. Biological toxins include desert rattlesnake venom, Black Widow venom, and mixed viral weapons such as Black Death and Anthrax. Radioactive poisons include polonium-210, plutonium-239..."

"Hehehehe... hehehehe... ahahahaha!" The two scoundrels burst into wild laughter, and the temperature around them inexplicably dropped. Once Tang Xing had laughed enough, he said seriously, "Boss, the NS-5s should be modified too. The civilian models are garbage, and they're far too weak for conquering other worlds."

"Of course. First, the NS-5s will be increased to two meters in height. The modified versions' frames and shells will be made from alloys. Ordinary NS-5s will be made of steel, elite NS-5s from tungsten steel alloy, and special-grade units from gold-titanium alloy. At the same time, we'll combine them with the power technology from the incomplete powered exoskeleton armor at the Hydra Base in the real world, improving the NS-5s' speed and attack strength. Their shells will be black and marked with the steel fist symbol. Their core batteries will be nuclear fusion batteries, capable of operating for two years under normal conditions and six months in combat. The civilian versions will retain their original materials." Tang Tian proudly lit a cigar, adjusted his suit collar, and spoke excitedly.

"Although they won't be slaughter machines like Terminators, they'll move quickly, and their design will conform to aerodynamic principles. These modified NS-5s can also use heavy weapons, such as Gatling guns, large-caliber firearms, anti-materiel rifles, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, coagulating **, and so on. Though these modified NS-5s won't match Terminators in certain respects, they'll be sufficient for our needs in the early stages." Tang Xing also offered his suggestion. At the same time, he snapped his fingers, signaling an NS-5 to pour a glass of red wine for him and Tang Tian. He slowly savored it.

"Not bad. I had the same idea. The modified NS-5s are for combat, while the civilian versions are meant to serve us. However, these robots will all possess knowledge of engineering construction, military skills, military combat techniques, and more. That will also increase their strength." Tang Tian expressed his agreement and picked up the red wine poured by the robot.

"By the way, how is production of the modified NS-5s going?" Tang Tian asked calmly after finishing his glass of red wine.

"The modified NS-5s have already begun assembly in more than three thousand fully automated steel factories. With the abundant resources you provided from the previous world, along with the ample weapons from the Planet of the Apes colony, production can reach ten thousand modified units and twenty thousand civilian units per day," Tang Xing answered without hesitation.

"Very good. The modified NS-5s, equipped with heavy weapons, can help me conquer other worlds more quickly, while the civilian models can speed up the construction of our Iron Empire. Also, we should popularize the Emotional Equation among civilian NS-5s. It would be best if they were like Sonny. Have our cloned Dr. Lanning speed things up." Tang Tian spoke with satisfaction. He felt pleased at controlling such a vast number of robots, while the development of silicon-based life consciousness was also underway.

"Boss, what are your plans for the next world we travel to?" Tang Xing asked after thinking for a moment.

"First, send Dr. William to the Left 4 Dead world to develop and collect all types of infected from that zombie world. Of course, those modified NS-5s and some enhanced clones will assist Dr. William in developing even more powerful weapons. After that, we can choose either Terminator or The Matrix. The Iron Empire needs those technological resources to be established." Tang Tian considered it before answering.

"Not bad. Dr. William doesn't have anything particularly outstanding in the game. At most, he's a second-rate biological scientist. Sending him to that zombie-infected world to research new biochemical weapons is a good idea. As for those two mechanical worlds, there's no need to say more. We will rise because of them." Tang Xing spoke fervently.

"Fine. Once the number of modified NS-5s reaches two hundred thousand, we can take William to the Left 4 Dead world. After all, that world has several billion zombies. There's no need to worry about weapons or enhanced clone troops; we have more than enough." Tang Tian touched his nose and spoke calmly.

"Of course. I'll make the preparations. You should also prepare for our next journey into a mechanical world," Tang Xing said with certainty.

The world Tang Tian would temporarily travel to this time was the game world of Left 4 Dead. The story described a highly lethal and rapidly contagious rabies virus outbreak in a modern city in the United States. The infected not only became horrifying in appearance, but also descended into madness, immediately attacking any uninfected person they saw. With thousands of bloodthirsty infected filling the city, the four protagonists were among the few lucky people immune to the disease. Working together, the survivors carved a bloody path through the sea of zombies to reach safety. These zombies were not "living dead" that had crawled out of graveyards. They were neither slow nor stiff; they were fast-moving, cruel, murderous, enraged... extremely enraged zombies.

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