Looking at the gorilla before him, Cheng Yu asked with interest,
"So, what's your name?"
Gu was very obedient now. There was no way not to be, with those half-humanoid monsters it had seen displaying such terrifying power pointing their six arms at it. It simply hadn't expected their master to be a human.
No, that couldn't be right. Impossible. There had never been a human who could command so many monsters, not even among summoners.
"I'm asking you a question. You can talk, can't you?"
Cheng Yu frowned.
Gu immediately performed a human gesture of respect and said,
"My esteemed lord, my name is Gu."
Cheng Yu chuckled, but inside, he was thinking,
(Holy shit, this guy's got talent. Listen to that! It really knows how to talk.)
(So being called an esteemed lord feels this good.) (๑･∀･๑)
"Your system would like to offer a friendly reminder: the truly esteemed lord isn't far away. And the Big Shot can read minds, though even your subconscious thoughts wouldn't escape the Big Shot anyway." (¬д¬.)
(Uh, I got carried away. I'm sure the Big Shot will forgive me.) (oﾟωﾟo)
"Ahem. Gu, was it? Go on, give me a reason to let you live," Cheng Yu teased.
Gu started putting its limited brainpower to work. Suddenly, inspiration struck.
"My lord, neither you nor your subordinates look familiar. I imagine you aren't from the Monster Forest."
Cheng Yu remained silent, so Gu continued,
"That means you must be unfamiliar with the Monster Forest. I believe I could serve as a suitable source of information."
Cheng Yu narrowed his eyes and said softly,
"Very good. You get to live. Now, tell me everything you know about the Monster Forest, in detail."
Gu swallowed.
"Th-then let me start by explaining the Monster Forest's factions and its ruler."
"There are dozens of lords, great and small, in the Monster Forest, but only one ruler of the forest: the Beast Lord, who has reached the legendary realm."
Cheng Yu's eyelid twitched at that, and he asked,
"You're saying the ruler of the Monster Forest is legendary?"
Gu froze for a moment, but nodded anyway.
Inside, Cheng Yu could only exclaim in disbelief.
(The Big Shot said the strongest local combatant wouldn't exceed one-star silver. How did someone legendary turn up? Why is my luck so rotten?) ┭┮﹏┭┮
The system chimed in,
"Uh, sorry. I forgot to tell you that their idea of legendary isn't the same as ours. Even the peak of their legendary realm is only four-star bronze. That's on me." ^_^|||
Cheng Yu's mouth twitched. Damn it, why hadn't it said that sooner? Now he'd made a fool of himself. Sure enough, he felt that Gu was giving him a strange look.
But Gu wasn't actually thinking that. It was wondering why the human before it had stopped talking after asking a single question, and whether it should continue.
Cheng Yu suddenly thought of a way to salvage the situation. He might even be able to bluff a little.
He chuckled.
"Sorry. It's been a long time since I heard the word 'legendary.' Hearing you say it just reminded me that ignorance really is bliss."
At first, Gu had thought the human was frightened by the Beast Lord. But judging by the latter half of his words, why did he seem to look down on the Beast Lord?
Gu could only continue,
"The Beast Lord is the ruler of the Monster Forest, as well as its guardian. Unless the forest faces a threat to its very survival, the Beast Lord generally doesn't interfere in its affairs."
"As a result, the lords of the forest are constantly attacking one another."
Cheng Yu rubbed his chin and thought that a hands-off ruler was perfect. Next, he could take some time to build up his strength. He hadn't forgotten the eight or nine hundred thousand tons of steel at that bear-shaped lord's home. He also needed to keep climbing the tech tree.
Looking at the Research Institute before him, Cheng Yu said inwardly, Upgrade to level 2 technology.
"Upgrading to level 2 technology requires one million energy. Confirm upgrade?"
Cheng Yu checked his remaining energy. Yes, he still had over four million. Those monster corpses really did contain a lot of energy.
"Confirm."
After a while, seeing no apparent change in the Research Institute, Cheng Yu asked tentatively,
"Is it not done yet?"
"Upgrade successful. Facility unlocked: 0-3 Model Factory. Special unit unlocked: Wisdom."
Cheng Yu said inwardly,
(Same as always. Give me the rundown.) →_→
The system replied,
"There's not much to say about the 0-3 Model Factory. It's the factory for Purger 0-3 models. Congratulations, you're halfway to collecting all the Purger Series' planetary warfare designations."
Cheng Yu was taken aback. (Planetary warfare?)
"Yes, planetary warfare. Models 01 through 06 of every unit series belong to the planetary warfare lineup. Model 07 is intended for star-system-level battlefields, model 08 for super-large star-system-level battlefields, and model 09 for cosmic-level battlefields."
"Once you reach star-system-level battlefields, the series complement one another. You can't achieve your military objectives using a single series alone."
Cheng Yu clicked his tongue, then asked, (How many series are there in total?)
The system replied, "At present, there are twenty-eight series, including the special series."
"Holy shit!" Cheng Yu exclaimed. It truly was a super-advanced Machine Civilization worthy of even the Big Shot's praise.
Then he asked,
(I saw that we unlocked a special unit.)
"That's right. Wisdom, one of the special series. Remember the researchers the Research Institute needs? Those are Wisdom units. Also, our legion isn't very large right now, but do you think you could command a truly massive war? You'll need Wisdom units to command those too. They are the true soul of the legion."
"As for the other special series, do you remember one of the Steel Main City's functions? It serves as a core component of your Titan flagship. The Titan Series consists of the legion's fortress-class units. Rather than assigning them perfunctory numbers, they were divided according to battlefield type into Commander Class, Overlord Class, Sovereign Class, and Emperor Class."
"Then there's the most exceptional unit series of all, the Supremacy Series. Its purpose is exactly what its name suggests: to dictate the course of battle. They are the legion's spearhead, and its only units capable of fighting across universes. They are model 10 of each series, but the materials needed to construct them are exceedingly rare. According to the records, even at the legion's height, there were only seven: Purger 10, Destroyer 10, Defender 10, Infiltrator 10, Guardian 10, and Assault Unit 10."
The system paused briefly, as though some piece of information had stunned even it.
"And the ultimate weapon capable of annihilating an entire plane with a single ship: the God-Class Titan!"
(Holy shit, annihilating a plane with a single ship? System, does 'plane' mean what I think it means?) ∑(っ°Д°;)っ
"Yes, it means exactly what you think. In technological terminology, it's called a universe."
(No wonder this ultimate weapon dares to call itself God-Class. What else can I say? Badass.) (￣^￣)ゞ
(Does our shop sell one?) ๑乛◡乛๑
"It definitely does. Let me look..."
"Found it. It's not unlocked yet. Epic Weapon: God-Class Titan Flagship. It's not expensive, just a little over two hundred million." („ಡωಡ„)
(Uh, all right. I'll see myself out.)
(Let's manufacture a Wisdom unit first. Let me see what's so special about this special series.)
Before long, a humanoid robot emerged from the Research Institute. Its only departure from human appearance was its head: an oval, transparent sphere filled with glowing circuitry. It approached Cheng Yu and said,
"Greetings, Commander. I am Wisdom Unit Z-01."
Cheng Yu paused.
"Why is there a Z in your name?"
The Wisdom unit bowed and said,
"According to my database, I am a Z-Series Wisdom Unit responsible for commanding warfare, not a K-Series Wisdom Unit responsible for scientific research."
Cheng Yu understood.
"Oh, perfect timing. I happen to have a war for you to command, though you'll have to wait a little longer. Also, your name is too long. I'll call you Conductor."
Conductor bowed. "It would be my honor, Commander."
Then Cheng Yu gave the order to deploy the 0-3 Model Factory. The difference between it and the previous two models was that its columns had a few extra spheres and additional patterns on them.
Cheng Yu said inwardly, (View building interface.)
RXT Destroyer Command Interface Building: 0-3 Model Factory Function: Factory for all model 0-3 weapons in the legion Production: Purger Series model 0-3 (1 ton of steel, 10 energy units / 1 day) Not yet unlocked: Guardian Series, Defender Series, Raider Series, Assault Series, Destroyer Series, Infiltrator Series...
Looking at the steel and energy required for model 0-3, Cheng Yu suddenly felt poor. Still, he said,
"Produce one Purger model 0-3."
"Holy crap!"
Cheng Yu marveled at the scorpion-shaped steel monster before him.
Its body was six meters long and two meters wide, with two three-meter tails and a pair of one-and-a-half-meter pincers. Cheng Yu summoned a Purger 0-1 to test its power. The result was that Purger 0-3 effortlessly snipped Purger 0-1 in half at the waist.
Cheng Yu said inwardly,
(System.)
"Here. As you can see, Purger 0-3 is a large weapon classified as a city-breaking weapon. Those huge pincers are obviously for close combat. Its two tails can fire a penetrating beam cannon and an explosive beam cannon respectively, at one energy unit per shot."
Cheng Yu said inwardly,
(Didn't you say before that 0-3 and 0-4 both support 0-2?)
"I was getting to that. Don't interrupt." (╬￣皿￣)
(Oh, go on.)
"The Purger 0-3 series has another function. It can connect to our energy resource network and establish an energy replenishment network within a fifty-meter radius. That means it doesn't need its own energy reserves, and it can also supply energy to the 02 series."
(Ohh, so that's how it works.)
Understanding dawned on Cheng Yu, and he said excitedly,
(Doesn't that mean the 02 series will have unlimited firepower from now on?)
"In theory, yes."
The system poured cold water on his excitement.
(In theory?)
"Is your energy unlimited? Besides, prolonged firing will damage the weapons themselves." (;¬д¬)
(Minor details. No big deal.) 乁( ˙ ω˙乁)
Once most of the steel over there had been mined, he could take his first step toward steamrolling the world, Cheng Yu thought.
He then took the map obtained from the main city's scan, summoned Gu, and had it mark the locations of every lord it knew.
Looking at the map covered in lords' names, Cheng Yu remarked that this was now his strategy guide to the Monster Forest.
Before you continue