I, Robot

Ever since dreaming of master craftsman Ovosbak, Kraft had been delving into Gnome Engineering, as seen in his dreams. Setting aside the parts requiring magical materials for later, the mechanical squirrel, a basic entry-level item, filled Kraft with joy.

Bolts, copper ingots, malachite.

Under the magical influence of Engineering, these simple materials transformed into a mechanical squirrel that could follow him around flexibly. It didn't even require an external power source, practically forcing the law of conservation of energy to its knees.

However, his dreams had always been unscientific, so such a situation didn't bring Kraft much happiness. The key was that this mechanical squirrel could be replicated!

Although mechanical squirrels made by Alice would be governed by the law of conservation of energy again and wouldn't actively follow their owner, adding a battery pack or a winding mechanism for power wouldn't be difficult. The little squirrel would still be agile. If a voice-activated or light-sensing system were added, selling it as a high-end toy wouldn't be difficult at all.

While it couldn't enhance his combat power, it could increase his income. This would give Kraft more money to research other inventions, as scientific research was quite expensive. Naturally, having another way to get rich would make Kraft happy, especially since there were several other designs for mechanical pets later on. Once Kraft mastered the technology within them, he could even design more styles himself.

He wondered if his dreams had evolved, or if Kraft's luck had truly been good lately. As he began to study Engineering, he had several more dreams about characters related to Engineering from that world called Azeroth. Among them, some weren't master craftsmen, but ordinary apprentice engineers.

But Kraft was even more satisfied with this, as these apprentices guided him through the fundamentals of Engineering in detail, significantly speeding up his learning progress.

Additionally, Kraft had also dreamt of characters following the Goblin Engineering path. Without the biased influence of the gnomes, Kraft gained a more comprehensive understanding of Goblin Engineering. Apart from their rather backward weapon technology, there were many things in Goblin Engineering that were worth Kraft learning.

For example, that goblin defibrillator…

Originally, Kraft thought that the help Engineering brought him, besides the high-level items he wasn't sure he could create, would likely be the mass production of small mechanical pets to help him raise funds. But he soon discovered that the truly amazing aspect of this dream wasn't any high-level Engineering creation, but the magical fundamental setting that allowed him to shape copper ingots into bronze pipes with his bare hands.

Kraft didn't know the specific principle, but when he saw a gnome apprentice shaping copper ingots into bronze pipes with his hands in his dream, he could replicate this method in the real world. And it wasn't just bronze pipes; other metals worked too. He could also shape gunpowder from stones, polish gems into lenses without any tools, and so on…

Kraft mastered these unscientific methods after just a few dreams.

"You call this science?"

Placing the steel pipe he had just shaped by hand aside, Kraft looked at his still fair and tender hands and suddenly doubted the definition of the word "science."

"Big brother is awesome—!!!"

Quinn, who had watched Kraft's entire operation from the side, shouted until his voice cracked.

"Teach me! Big brother, teach me!"

The goofy-looking dog, Er Gouzi, nuzzled up to Kraft's face, incessantly pestering him.

"Don't even think about it, your dog paws can't learn it!"

Kraft snapped back to reality and pushed Quinn's silly face away.

Quinn silently lowered his head, looked at his dog paws, then nudged his head forward again, his tail wagging furiously behind him.

"Then, big brother, can you make me a human hand!"

"Sure…" Kraft rolled his eyes, then gave Quinn a sinister smile, "But first, I have to chop off your dog paws."

"RUA!"

Quinn leaped backward violently, tucked his tail, and quickly darted under the table.

"Chop off my paws? No thanks, I don't want it, I don't want it!"

"Stupid dog…"

Bear, who was warming herself on top of the computer case, yawned and cursed contemptuously.

After mastering the core technique of shaping materials by hand, Kraft's progress in Engineering began to accelerate wildly. Soon, he reached the stage where some special materials were required.

Mithril.

Kraft had seen this name frequently in dreams from other fantasy worlds, and it even existed on Earth, unfortunately only in various fantasy works.

Kraft specifically looked up the settings for Mithril on Earth: it had the ductility of bronze, the smoothness of glass, the hardness of iron, yet was as light as a feather, possessed the luster of silver, and never tarnished.

Then there were some supplementary settings, such as magical affinity.

In the few fantasy worlds Kraft had dreamt of, Mithril's properties were largely similar to these settings. Although Kraft found it a bit strange, he didn't dwell on it too much.

There were too many strange things in his dreams; if he had to investigate every single one, how would he live his life?

Excluding the fantasy settings related to magic, Mithril's inherent properties were not complicated: hardness, lightness, and high ductility. Although Earth lacked such a natural mineral, creating a similar alloy as a substitute wouldn't be difficult. Moreover, in Kraft's dreams, there were alloy recipes with even more unscientific properties.

After repeatedly observing how the craftsmen in his dreams used Mithril, Kraft could confirm that most Engineering creations did not require Mithril's magical affinity, or even if they lacked it, it only reduced performance and didn't prevent usage.

This made things easier. Kraft spent some time creating alloys that were close to Mithril's properties, based on what he knew. Then, looking at the Engineering blueprints, he decided to use the Gnome Rocket Boots for testing to see which alloy's effect was closest to Azeroth's Mithril.

Coincidentally, he had a few pairs of Power-Enhancing Shoes left from before, but it wasn't enough. Kraft called the shoe store under Martin's name and had them send over a dozen more pairs.

The technology on the continent of Azeroth, which allowed the creation of equipment using only hammers, wrenches, and hands without the aid of large machinery, was too overpowered. Kraft finished shaping over a dozen pairs of Gnome Rocket Boots in less than two days.

However… he needed to carefully consider the test subjects…

Kraft looked at the row of rocket boots before him and fell into thought.

These things weren't only found in Gnome Engineering; even the Goblin branch had similar designs. And both branches had the rare warning.

The gnomes were more subtle, warning that: "The energy system and drive system are not always operational."

The goblins, on the other hand, were very direct: "They may explode suddenly, so please use with caution."

This wasn't a dream anymore; an explosion in a dream only meant waking up. But if he were to be blown up here, Kraft, with his mortal body, might end up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Although there were many prosthetic limb technologies in his dreams…

But who would use a bootleg version when they had the original! Even if the bootleg was better than the original, the original was always more satisfying to use!

Even that stupid dog Quinn understood this, so Kraft certainly wouldn't actively seek death.

After much consideration, Kraft called for Alice.

"Huh? Huh?!"

Upon hearing Kraft's cold and heartless demand, Alice burst into tears on the spot.

"No, Brother! I'm scared!"

Alice clung tightly to Kraft's leg, refusing to let go.

"What are you, a robot, afraid of?!"

Kraft kicked the leg being held, but couldn't shake her off. He could only patiently try to reason with Alice.

"If you just turn off your pain receptors, you won't feel anything even if you explode. I can just replace the damaged parts with new ones, can't I?"

"But what if my brain gets blown up?"

Alice still looked teary-eyed.

"The power of these shoes isn't that extreme..." Seeing Alice's pitiful expression, Kraft's heart softened a little. He stroked her head and gently comforted her, "Besides, I can back up your memories to a computer. Even if the chips inside get damaged, your memories can be restored."

"But... but... if I'm restored like that, will I still really be me?"

"..."

Kraft was stunned. Although he occasionally had the illusion that Alice was a normal human and had developed some feelings for her, deep down and rationally, he had never truly regarded her as a living being.

No matter how human-like she acted, in Kraft's perception, it was more akin to programmed logical behavior rather than genuine self-awareness or a soul.

"If you don't like it, then forget it."

Kraft pursed his lips and helped Alice up from the floor.

"Are you angry, Brother? Actually, I was just a little scared. I can overcome it."

As Alice spoke, she reached for the rocket boots on the table, only to have Kraft slap her hand away.

"I'm not angry. I just have something I haven't figured out. If it's about the experiment, I can just build another remote-controlled robot. It'll just take more time."

Kraft rubbed his stomach, changing the subject.

"I'm a bit hungry. Can you make me some snacks?"

"Leave it to me."

Hearing that she wouldn't have to participate in the experiment, Alice immediately brightened up. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing a brilliant smile, and headed towards the kitchen next to the workshop.

"Well done, Kraft."

Bear jumped from a nearby computer case into Kraft's arms, nuzzling his chest and giving him a look of approval.

Quinn tilted his head: ???

Kraft scratched Bear's chin, remaining silent.

He had seen many sci-fi works related to robots – novels, TV shows, movies, and games. The discussions about robots had never stopped, and one particular viewpoint was quite popular.

When a robot develops self-awareness, can it be considered a life form?

Kraft used to just find this viewpoint amusing. But now...

"Now I really have an extra little sister..."

Kraft scratched his head, sighing helplessly, but a faint smile appeared on his face.