"It appears to be low-level intelligence... no, it could also be a machine without intelligence, only possessing basic logical commands. Furthermore, its technological level is low, not exceeding the upper limit of a galactic-level civilization..."
Han Xiao watched the robot pass by. With his experience, he could tell the robot's technological level at a glance, and he couldn't help but think about it.
He slightly raised his hand, aimed it at the back of the transport robot, and released a magnetic force from his palm.
Buzz!
The robot suddenly flew backward out of control, then clung to the hand of the Dominion's clone with a clang, unable to move. Only its limbs, suspended in mid-air, could still flutter, like a turtle being lifted up by its shell.
Several tiny blue arcs of electricity, like small snakes, slithered along the arm of the Dominion's clone, quickly reaching the robot's surface and entering its body through the gaps in the armor. They immediately read the robot's current status: only basic functions were still operating with difficulty, and most parts were severely worn, almost beyond repair.
At the same time, an item description popped up on the panel, which Han Xiao glanced at.
[[Type 7-5 Machine - Transport Model]: A common bionic robot in the Arthur Civilization, a low-intelligence transport model, possessing strong bio-mechanical tendons and engineering mechanical components, equipped with magnetic adsorption devices and simple self-defense weapons, commonly used for ground transportation.]
[Note: This machine was manufactured in the No. 5 workshop of Meige Group in Planet Kree, product number TOV-2144G87M -- "For good machines, choose MAG!"]
"A regular transport robot?"
Out of curiosity, Han Xiao used his Mechanical Force to intrude into the unprotected motherboard chip, quickly copying the logic code and memory logs.
The basic coding used by the other party was unrelated to the Explored Universe, but it was no problem for Han Xiao. He easily analyzed it step by step and soon figured it out.
Lines of deciphered code unfolded in Han Xiao's Quantum Network Vision. He quickly scanned them and found that the underlying logic was the transport robot's code format, which should have low intelligence. However, due to long-term neglect and lack of maintenance, the data had become corrupted, resulting in a decrease in intelligence. Nevertheless, it could barely maintain the operation of the core logic and always execute a long-term command.
The order was to bury a special machine, but naturally, the database of low-intelligence transport robots did not provide details about the machine's function or why it needed to be buried.
All Han Xiao gleaned from the data of this transport robot was its appearance and location. It looked like two four-sided pyramids connected at their apex, resembling a horizontal hourglass, and was located at the bottom of this metal tower.
The memory logs were fragmented, with a large number of missing records due to the malfunction, including timestamps. He could only distinguish the time by the height of the metal tower in different memories of the transport robot. In the earliest memory file, the metal tower was only about a quarter of its current height, at which time the robot was already alone.
The transport robot's memories are mostly about "building" this metal tower; other memories are about scavenging for spare parts in the warehouse of an abandoned factory, replacing severely worn parts of itself, and charging itself.
"This scene looks familiar..."
Han Xiao touched his chin, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen a similar scene in an old movie in his previous life.
Aside from these items, the robot had nothing else of value. Han Xiao deactivated the magnetic device, and the robot immediately fell back to the ground, the metal fragments on its back falling to the side and cascading down the metal tower.
The transport robot stood still for two seconds, then ignored Han Xiao and left on its own, turning and walking down the mountain as if it were going to find a new "building material," as if nothing had happened.
Han Xiao watched it disappear before turning to look at the panel.
At this moment, the [Shadow of the Past] quest was already marked as complete. Han Xiao immediately settled the score, receiving a small amount of experience and a character card of Tirsus's, whose ability was called "Mind Purification." The effect was to remove negative status effects from oneself, and it could be used up to three times, which was quite useful.
At the same time, a new task popped up.
[You have triggered the quest [The Mystery of Extinction]!]
[Mission Summary: You have agreed to Tirsus's request and traveled to his home Planet Kree, but something seems to have happened here.]
[Task requirement: Find out the reason for the extinction of the Arthur Civilization]
[Reward: 50e EXP, 1 Awakening Point]
"This civilization went extinct?"
Han Xiao was taken aback.
His immediate thought was that the demise of civilization was most likely related to the unknown mechanical device suppressed beneath the metal tower.
However, Han Xiao thought for a moment and ignored it. With a flash, he transformed into a streak of light and disappeared, quickly stopping at the entrance of an abandoned factory, which was the main base in the transport robot's memory.
This place looks like a large machinery factory, but it's now covered in vegetation, and the surrounding dilapidated buildings are all hidden by the dense forest.
Han Xiao glanced at it, then waved his hand, creating a hurricane that swept away the vegetation and dust from the factory gate, revealing a sign written in unfamiliar language.
"This is probably the factory of that Meige Group, the place where those robots are made..."
Han Xiao couldn't understand the writing system of this civilization, and he secretly made guesses.
He strode inside and saw rows of abandoned production lines neatly arranged, with unfinished transport robots hanging above them, as if they had suddenly stopped working due to a power outage.
Han Xiao inspected the factory and found that all the energy equipment was destroyed. The damage looked like it had been subjected to a high-amplitude electromagnetic pulse. The only one that was still working was a charging station, but the underground wires had been dug out and connected to a crudely made small generator that was intermittently working.
He originally wanted to see if the factory mainframe had a more detailed database, preferably a star map of this civilization's territory, but the factory mainframe's chip components were also destroyed and rendered unusable, unable to power on, and all data was lost, so nothing could be found.
"It appears that all the equipment in this factory simultaneously suffered a shock capable of destroying electronic and energy devices, rendering them unusable in an instant."
Han Xiao's heart stirred, and he summoned his mechanical troops to search the entire planet. They quickly discovered the ruins of cities covered by vegetation, and all the energy and electrical appliances were in the same condition.
Moreover, this planet not only lacks intelligent life, but also has no wild animals or insects; all life except plants has become extinct.
In addition, in some urban residences, there were still bowls and plates on the tables and clumps of rotting clothes scattered on the ground. All these signs indicate that life on the entire planet seems to have disappeared at the same time.
"What happened? Everyone's gone overnight. It seems that the transport robot is the only survivor..."
Han Xiao's curiosity grew even stronger.
He turned back to the metal tower, his entire body enveloped in a repulsive field, and burrowed into the bottom of the tower. He strode forward, smoothly pushing aside the pile of metal scrap in front of him, clearing a path.
Before long, he arrived at the central area, where he found it to be a pile of building ruins, crushed by a mountain of garbage, with various experimental instruments scattered around, suggesting it had once been a research base.
The Dominion's clone shot out scanning beams from its eyes and immediately saw a large space underground. It seemed to have been an underground base before, but its structure had been crushed by the enormous weight above and filled with metal scrap.
After comparing the scanning beams for a while, the target was finally locked. The hourglass-shaped unknown device was buried in the pile of garbage and was difficult to distinguish.
Han Xiao released his Mechanical Force, and the unknown device was pulled up slowly, drawn into his hand. Then he followed the path he had come from, leaving the metal tower and returning to the outside world.
Mechanical Force seeped into the unknown device. Han Xiao sensed its internal structure and found that he couldn't understand the technology. Moreover, many of the components had been damaged and destroyed during the long period of burial.
Han Xiao glanced at the item description as he went.
[[Psionic Energy Wave Emitter - prototype (damaged)]: Function unknown]
"Psionic Energy Wave?"
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, his mind immediately filled with thoughts.
He had a hunch that this concept of "Psionic Energy Wave" was probably not the same as the "Psionic Energy Wave" or "Psionic Energy impact" that Explored Universe. He didn't know the situation yet, but he could guess how the Arthur Civilization had been wiped out. Research involving Psionic Energy had always been extremely dangerous, and many civilizations had perished because of it.
After pondering for a few seconds, Han Xiao used [Bold Explorer] on this thing. When he used it on the Beyond Divine Remnant Power last time, the message said the target was invalid and the casting was unsuccessful, so it had not entered the seven-day cooldown period yet.
Buzz!
Han Xiao's vision suddenly changed, and he found himself in a research institute.
The Psionic Energy Wave Emitter was suspended in mid-air, encased in a transparent container with pipes connected to it. Below, a large number of instruments were in operation, and countless researchers in uniform were busily adjusting the parameters.
An officer who seemed to be in charge waved his hand, turned around and said something, and the other researchers pushed the lever to start the switch. Streams of energy flowed into the Psionic Energy Wave Emitter through the pipeline.
Before long, the space on both sides of the horizontal hourglass-shaped device began to vibrate faintly, and the air distorted, as if invisible ripples were spreading, but they were confined to a small area.
Many researchers present were delighted to see this.
However, the next moment, something unexpected happened!
Suddenly, the ripples on both sides of the device broke free of their restraints, and a pale blue ring-shaped shockwave burst out, passing through the inner wall of the container and sweeping across the entire area. All the instruments exploded with electrical sparks, the energy devices instantly malfunctioned, and the entire room went dark immediately.
The researchers swept by the shockwave were annihilated in the blink of an eye, turning into ashes without a sound, leaving only their empty clothes lying on the ground.
At this moment, Han Xiao's perspective suddenly widened, bringing him to the outer space overlooking the entire planet. He gained a macroscopic view and immediately saw a blue shockwave suddenly explode on the surface of Planet Kree, sweeping across the entire planet at high speed. Cities that were brightly lit went dark in an instant, and countless people turned into dust without even knowing it.
No one survived on the entire planet!
However, this was not the end. Han Xiao clearly saw that the pale blue shockwave that had destroyed all electronic, energy equipment, and living organisms was still going strong, spreading far out into the universe from the center of Planet Kree, and soon disappeared from sight. He didn't know how far it would fly before it ended.
After witnessing this scene, Han Xiao's perspective suddenly returned to normal, and the skill effect ended.
"It really is because of this thing. I thought Tirsus was lying to me, but it turns out his civilization is really not very advanced. They even managed to destroy themselves by researching Psionic Energy. But saying their technology is bad doesn't seem right either. This Psionic Energy Wave Emitter they created is probably some kind of black technology..."
Han Xiao fiddled with the device in his hand in surprise.
He had just watched the video and had a vague idea of how the device worked.
Primal Psionic Energy can assimilate, devour, absorb, and transform various forms of energy. Once it explodes, it expands endlessly, consuming anything in its path.
However, the Psionic Energy Wave Emitter created by the Arthur Civilization can destroy specific forms of energy without consuming matter, and absorb a portion of it to maintain its own diffusion. A normal Primal Psionic Energy explosion is a solid energy cluster, while this "Psionic Energy Wave" is just a ripple.
However, Han Xiao also had some questions. He didn't quite understand why other substances remained undamaged while life forms were annihilated. In short, there were still many unknowns about this technology.
"This seems to have significant research value; it might even become one of my key combat techniques."
Han Xiao was in a good mood. He hadn't originally planned to go on this trip, but he hadn't expected to have such an unexpected gain.
He had a mechanic's intuition that he secretly felt this Psionic Energy Wave technology was probably more powerful than he had anticipated.
The panel also showed that the [Mystery of Extinction] was completed. The normal way would be to search for clues everywhere, but he had the [Bold Explorer] skill, so he completed the task directly.
The experience reward was negligible, and one awakening point was better than nothing, but it was very easy and required almost no effort. The biggest gain was this unique Psionic Energy Wave technology.
Just as Han Xiao, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"A stranger has been spotted approaching the mission objective. Authorization to use a stun gun to subdue them!"
Han Xiao turned his head and saw that the dilapidated transport robot had returned to the foot of the mountain at some point. It raised its mechanical arm towards him, and two guns popped out from its wrist. Without saying a word, it pulled the trigger at Han Xiao.
Click click click...
Han Xiao already knew that the two rusty guns were beyond repair and couldn't fire West Capital. But the transport robot seemed oblivious, continuing to pull the trigger in vain, emitting one empty shot after another.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and took a step to the left. The muzzle of the transport robot's gun immediately followed. He took another step to the right, and the muzzle turned back, always pointing at him.
Watching the robot clumsily pull the trigger, Han Xiao actually found it kind of cute.
"Fine, I won't tear you apart."
Seeing that it posed no threat, Han Xiao ignored it, raised his hand to summon more exploratory mechanical warriors, waved them away, and sent them to search other planets throughout the universe to see if the Arthur Civilization had any survivors.
He wanted to find out the history of this civilization and the records of Tirsus's deeds, since there were still many unanswered questions. However, he could leave such things to the mechanical soldiers; after all, he was a mechanic and didn't need to do such troublesome things himself.
After doing all this, Han Xiao turned his attention back to the transport robot and couldn't help but smile when he saw it still relentlessly pulling the trigger.
"Speaking of which, this little thing must have had some incredible luck to survive the Psionic Energy Wave. It might be the sole survivor of the entire Arthur Civilization. Since I promised Tirsus I'd look after his homeland, I can't just ignore you..."
Han Xiao thought for a moment, then suddenly released a Mechanical Force that landed on the transport robot. The robot froze in place, its appearance and structure rapidly changing, gradually transforming into a humanoid shape, with rust falling off.
At the same time, streams of mechanical particles surged from Han Xiao's hand and landed on the opponent, rapidly strengthening the material of the machine.
Before long, this change stopped. The transport robot had undergone a complete transformation, now clad in silver armor, with a streamlined shape, slender and elongated body, and faintly glowing energy circuits on its surface. It was as if it had jumped from a chibi style to a hardcore realistic style.
That's about right.
Han Xiao nodded and withdrew his Mechanical Force.
He has given this transport robot life, turning it into a mechanical life form. At the same time, he has significantly improved its body, added many new functions, and stored a complete set of knowledge about the technology tree of a star system civilization in its database.
However, he did not rewrite the other party's core logic; he merely improved the other party's intelligence on the original basis, deliberately avoiding imprinting his own mark on the other party.
With his current level of ability, the first generation of mechanical lifeforms he personally modified has extremely high performance enhancements, far exceeding those of the past.
Han Xiao didn't intend to take the robot away. He only did it because he owed Tirsus a favor. As for whether the robot could grow a new civilization on the ruins of Planet Kree after receiving his gift, that was not his concern.
Looking up at the towering metal tower, Han Xiao felt a mix of emotions. After learning the situation, the metal tower seemed to have taken on a special significance.
In his eyes, this metal tower, which resembled a spectacular building, seemed to have become a tombstone for civilization.
"Technological progress can also be disastrous..."
Han Xiao sighed slightly, glanced at the transport robot one last time, then switched to the Sovereign's Armor and teleported away with the Psionic Energy Wave Emitter.
The transport robot seemed oblivious, standing there blankly for a long time before finally snapping out of its daze, looking down at its drastically changed body with obvious confusion.
The motherboard's current seemed to spark a flame of thought, and it murmured to itself:
What... am I?