After the Reincarnation Temple appeared, humanity had escaped the brink of extinction, gradually regained its footing, and gone on to establish settlements. Even so, humans were still far, far weaker than those monsters.
Of a population that had once numbered nearly ten billion, fewer than one in ten had survived the monsters' onslaught.
Fighting monsters required people, and entering the Reincarnation Temple required people.
Both were extremely dangerous.
Even though the population had recovered somewhat after the settlements were established, the shortage of people remained a problem that troubled many powerful figures.
These robots, however, could solve a large part of that problem.
Whether human or monster, their internal structures were the same.
Over ninety percent were bottom-rung soldiers, and the higher the rank, the fewer there were. Only one or two stood at the peak.
The greatest threat humanity faced was not the C-rank and B-rank monsters, but the cannon fodder at the very bottom.
The strong had other strong fighters to deal with them, and generally found it very hard to kill one another, but the losses among the soldiers at the bottom were severe.
Once robots could be mass-produced, the losses among human soldiers would fall considerably.
"You should know this isn't something I can decide on my own. I need to inspect the goods before I can give you a definite answer."
Blood Ghost Emperor's expression grew serious. He knew what this meant for humanity.
"All right. Give me a phone number, and I'll contact you after I leave the Reincarnation Temple."
After mailing Blood Ghost Emperor two robots, Xu Long ended the video call.
Xu Long and the Red Queen had given careful consideration to revealing the robots.
The war base plan, with the Red Queen at its core, required enormous resources. If Xu Long relied solely on exchanging for them from the Main God, he couldn't complete the second step in a short time even if he worked himself to death.
But if they had the resources of the entire Earth at their disposal, the speed could increase thousands or tens of thousands of times over.
With technology that utterly surpassed this world's, the Red Queen had no reason to fear any measures taken against her.
Everything else was trivial; the intelligent program was what mattered most.
Without the Red Queen's instructions, these robots were just heaps of scrap metal.
As for capturing the Red Queen?
Oh, fuck off!
The Red Queen's core remained inside Xu Long's storage space, protected by the Main God. No one could forcibly open the storage space.
The Red Queen was like a ghost. People knew she existed, but even if they turned the world upside down, they could never find her.
Most importantly, no one knew about the relationship between Xu Long and the Red Queen.
Even if she were wanted by the whole world, Xu Long wouldn't be implicated.
Leaving everything concerning the robots to the Red Queen, Xu Long opened Xuanming Emperor's message and then started a video call.
His conversation with Xuanming Emperor was easy and pleasant, a simple, straightforward cash transaction.
He sold the eight manuals and the Eight Trigram Staff of the Fifth Brother for two thousand points apiece, the Heavenly Sound Guqin for fifteen hundred, and the Type 54 pistol with unlimited ammunition for nine hundred.
With Xuanming Emperor's power, he naturally had no use for these things himself, but they could be used to train low-rank reincarnators.
The pistol with unlimited ammunition and the Heavenly Sound Guqin in particular were practically invincible at E-rank.
Besides those, he naturally got a share of the robot deal as well.
They were both Chinese, after all, so any benefits had to be shared among their own people.
With a simple resale, Xu Long had made 20,400 points. He sighed inwardly. Comparisons really could drive a person mad.
At the same E-rank stage, others lived in fear and narrowly escaped death, while Xu Long had already turned the world upside down.
"Exchange for 40 points each in strength, sinew and bone, constitution, and agility, and 44 points in spirit!"
Xu Long didn't hold back a single one of his twenty-odd thousand points, using them all to raise his basic attributes.
Name: Xu Long Nickname: Long Aotian Race: Huaxia human Bloodline: T-Virus Enhanced Bloodline Strength: 115 (increases attack power, explosive power, carrying capacity, etc.) Sinew and bone: 115 (increases physical defense, bone strength, etc.) Constitution: 115 (increases cellular activity, stamina recovery, endurance, etc.) Agility: 115 (increases movement speed, reflexes, dynamic vision, attack speed, etc.) Spirit: 124 (increases danger perception, mental strength, mental defense, etc.) Skills: E-Rank Telekinesis, E-Rank Internal Force, Eight Trigram Staff of the Fifth Brother, Nine Swords of Dugu, Nine Yang Divine Skill, One Yang Finger, Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, Thousand-Hand Divine Fist, Buddha's Palm, Tai Chi Chuan, Heartless Sword
Although Xu Long had only just advanced from E-rank to D-rank, his overall strength far surpassed that of the vast majority of D-rank reincarnators.
When advancing in rank, the more attributes one had brought to their limit, the harder the assessment would be.
Take Xu Long's assessment mission, for example: killing the strongest person in the world of Kung Fu Hustle. It was practically hell difficulty.
Survival was hard enough already, so how could they go courting death?
As a result, more than ninety percent of reincarnators took assessments based on a single attribute.
They chose one direction and then poured attribute points into it for all they were worth. Their choices of skills and bloodlines would also lean in that direction.
Or, after getting a skill or bloodline through sheer luck, they would pile on attribute points according to its tendencies.
There wasn't another person in the world who raised all their attributes and took the assessment like Xu Long.
After making sure he had taken care of everything, Xu Long left the Reincarnation Temple.
Today was the deadline to report to school. If he still didn't show up in person, a teacher from the school would come to his home for a visit.
People were the most precious resource in this world, and detailed records had to be kept on every individual.
Nor was there any situation in this world where authority outweighed strength. The threat of extinction constantly hung overhead, and strength equaled authority.
The old system had long since been overthrown, and the concept of nations no longer existed.
Powerful reincarnators ruled the various settlements. The stronger they were, the greater their authority.
Take the Divine Heavenly Emperor of the Huaxia District in the First District. He was the heavens over China; his word was law, and no one dared defy him.
Xu Long lived in a remote part of the outskirts of Minghu City, a full two kilometers from the nearest bus stop.
Fortunately, Xu Long wasn't in a hurry and strolled along at a leisurely pace.
Thinking back on what he had experienced, it all felt like a lifetime ago.
Who could have imagined that a month ago, Xu Long had still been nothing more than a senior in high school?
He had been utterly ordinary, the sort of person you couldn't pick out of a crowd.
A month later, he had become a D-rank reincarnator and mastered telekinesis, internal force, and nine powerful martial arts.
If they knew I was Long Aotian, they'd probably piss themselves in fright.
The thought crossed Xu Long's mind, but that was all it was.
Knowing the plot was his greatest advantage, while concealing his identity ensured that he could farm points in peace.
Once others learned that he was Long Aotian, countless troubles would come knocking.
"Ah, life. It's truly lonely as snow!"
Xu Long muttered, then caught sight of a shop sign beside him and couldn't help stopping in his tracks.