Each Ultimate Knowledge involves a realm akin to "gods," and the prerequisite for learning it is extremely high intellectual ability.
Han Xiao chose the [Mechanical Life Spark] from the energy branch not only to activate [King's Army], but also because this Ultimate Knowledge has a wider range of applications.
Compared to the Ultimate Knowledge virtual technology that he specializes in, which is relevant to civil war, [Mechanical Life Spark] is more useful to him at the moment.
As a vast amount of knowledge flooded into his mind, images flashed before Han Xiao's eyes.
On the desolate, black earth, a figure planted a mass of metal. After countless changes, glittering mechanical cities rose from the ground, the metal rapidly spreading across the surface, replacing the soil. Countless exquisitely dressed blue creatures knelt on the ground, their consciousness flowing through pipes into mechanical constructs within incubation chambers, abandoning their physical bodies. In the abyss-like underground rift, countless discarded parts lay scattered in the darkness. One day, a golden Thunder descended from the heavens, shooting straight into the rift and spreading golden energy waves. The discarded mechanical parts seemed to be coalesced by an invisible force, transforming into crude mechanical life forms...
"These are the origins of mechanical life..." Various illusions flashed by, Han Xiao's eyes flickered slightly as he understood.
Machines are merely tools—tools that countless races have learned to use and manufacture in the course of civilization's development. The Galaxy is teeming with races, and pure mechanical life forms that can be born and evolve naturally are almost nonexistent; the vast majority of them are artificially created.
Some races created mechanical soldiers for war, giving rise to mechanical life forms; some races abandoned their fragile bodies and transformed into mechanical life forms to survive disasters; some races lacked the ability to act in reality, so they created mechanical life forms to serve as companion slave groups, and so on.
Beyond Grade A mechanics are the biggest creators of mechanical life.
After finishing his study, Han Xiao let out a breath, allowing his rapidly working brain to calm down.
I glanced at the new abilities displayed on the panel. There were two specializations: [Ultimate Knowledge Master] is an ability that comes with learning the first Ultimate Knowledge, while [Mechanical Life Creator] is a specialization that comes with [Mechanical Life Spark].
Han Xiao looked at the new skill [Life Creation], this was the real highlight.
With a thought, the array of floating guardians surrounding his head simultaneously vibrated and flew to his front, clattering together in a dazzling display to transform into a humanoid mechanical warrior.
Smooth silver alloy armor, streamlined body, cannons originally belonging to floating cannons are embedded in the palms, knees, shoulders, head, and ribs, densely packed, the gaps in the armor are filled with blue Psionic Energy, exuding a strong sense of technology.
This is one of the elite mechanical combatant types that Han Xiao has mastered, called the Floating Fissioner. It can act as its own floating guardian, and it can also combine to become a mechanical combatant, an advanced machine, and an orange-grade equipment.
This Floating Fissioner, controlled by the combat AI Sparta, stood silently in front of me, motionless.
"Let's give it a try and see how it goes..."
Sizzle...
Han Xiao raised his palm, clenched his fist, and activated [King's Army].
A ball of blue-gold lightning-like Mechanical Force formed in his palm, swirling like thunderclouds and crackling. The next moment, this Mechanical Force struck the Floating Fissioner with a whoosh, transforming into streaks of blue-gold electric wires that sizzled and flowed across the mechanical surface before drilling into the gaps in the armor and merging into the mechanical soldier's energy reactor.
Without pausing, another burst of Mechanical Force appeared in his palm, which he channeled into the Floating Fissioner's body, applying [Mechanical Fusion - Imbuement] to it.
Having completed these two tasks, Han Xiao activated [Life Creation], his eyes blazing with golden light, and a dazzling ball of golden Mechanical Force appeared in his palm.
Although [Life Creation] itself has no cooldown, it has usage restrictions—only mechanical targets that have undergone the modifications of [King's Army] and [Mechanical Fusion·Blessing] and possess the initial potential for growth can use [Life Creation], and these two skills have cooldowns.
These three skills, along with [Emperor's Gift], constitute a complete skill sequence for elevating mechanical life.
With a flick of his hand, brilliant golden Mechanical Force surged into the Floating Fissioner, producing a sound like an energy flood.
His health, stamina, and strength were instantly depleted, and his condition plummeted to less than half.
50% of my health and mana were depleted in an instant, leaving me with half my health gone. The feeling of weakness was like a kidney shot, my whole body felt like it was being electrocuted, my legs went weak, and it felt like my body had been hollowed out.
"This move is really tiring..." Han Xiao's lips twitched.
Since advancing to Beyond Grade A, this must be the time I've lost the most health in a single instance...
He exhaled, letting his body slowly recover, his eyes fixed on the Floating Fissioner in front of him.
Bite!
Suddenly, the energy of the Floating Fissioner shone brightly!
The next second, all the mechanical components on his body started moving on their own, and the armor plates on his body opened and closed like scales.
Kerala--
Han Xiao could sense that the Floating Fissioner were undergoing a transformation at the microscopic level.
Countless nanoscale silicon-based nerve fibers grow wildly along the body's mechanical structure, rustling and making noise. The components of the whole body gradually merge into an organic "whole". Sparks of thought ignite in the chip circuit, colliding with each other to build special thinking organs, forming underlying logic. Energy flows endlessly, providing fuel support for this transformation.
Bang! Something seemed to awaken within the Floating Fissioner, igniting the spark of life.
Waaaaah... This state lasted for quite a while before the energy glow of the Floating Fissioner returned to normal.
Han Xiao looked him up and down, then said, "Sparta, give me the test report."
"... Test complete. A new consciousness has emerged within this unit, very immature, and is attempting to communicate with me. I have temporarily disabled its network interface. What should I do now? Please give me your command, Master."
Sparta appeared and spoke in the Quantum Network Vision, his tone rigid and solemn, completely unlike Phillip's liveliness.
"Hmm... First, build a data firewall for its thinking, check its underlying logic to see if it has solidified instructions that cannot be betrayed, and then open its network interface and select some data for it to download."
Han Xiao gave a series of instructions, then slapped the Floating Fissioner, dealing damage and triggering combat information.
The attributes of the Floating Fissioner are now displayed on the panel, no longer as equipment descriptions, but as a character information attribute panel.
The race is displayed as [Mechanical Lifeform]. It has a character level of 185 and can level up like a human. The mech value becomes health points, and various parameters become attributes such as strength and agility. Various weapons and parts become a large number of specializations and skills, and it has self-growth capabilities.
"It's become a living entity..." Han Xiao's spirits lifted, and he said, "Sparta, grant it control over its own body."
Sparta responded and temporarily ceased controlling the Floating Fissioner.
With a whoosh, the Floating Fissioner shuddered, its previously tense body seemingly relaxing. It twisted its head, as if adjusting to the field of vision provided by the sensor, and then raised its palm to touch its face, the metal scraping together making a rustling sound.
The feeling it gives is immediately different.
When the combat AI controls the mechs, the mechs, while not stiff, lack any superfluous movements, remaining lifeless and unresponsive. However, when control is returned to the Life Creation Floating Fissioner, their actions immediately become vibrant, transforming them into thinking, questioning, and restless living beings.
Phillip and Sparta are products of virtual technology, belonging to intelligent life forms, and are fundamentally different from these physical mechanical life forms. The independent thinking of mechanical life forms is equivalent to their "freedom" and "soul," possessing emotions and feelings.
However, their thoughts originate from chip circuits, not from souls in the conventional sense, so they are immune to normal mental and telekinetic attacks... To mechanical life forms, the methods of virtual mechanics are the true "mental attacks," capable of invading the consciousness of mechanical life forms and rewriting their underlying logic.
Han Xiao pre-defined the command logic for the Floating Fissioner, granting them a higher level of authority through AI-controlled intelligence—equivalent to an inviolable supreme military order. This is quite similar to the Zerg...or perhaps the Mechanical Zerg?
The Floating Fissioner surveyed its surroundings, then turned to look at Han Xiao, uttering a question through its voice system in the preset interstellar common language.
"Owner?"
Han Xiao nodded, then paced around it, examining it from head to toe.
The Floating Fissioner stood still, its body motionless, its head rotating 360 degrees, its gaze always following Han Xiao, filled with the bewilderment and confusion of a newborn.
"That's a little scary..." Han Xiao clicked his tongue. "Is there anything you want to ask?"
"Want to ask?" The Floating Fissioner paused, its thought process seemingly racing. After a moment of thought, it finally asked, "Who... am I? Where... am I? What am I supposed to do?"
Alright, the final three questions... Han Xiao chuckled inwardly upon hearing this, and shook his head, saying, "Sparta, open its network interface and feed it data."
The next moment, the Floating Fissioner stopped moving, and countless pieces of information about interstellar space, life, and combat flooded into its mind, which it quickly digested, instantly skipping the ignorant period of an infant exploring the world.
It remained silent for a moment, then suddenly knelt on one knee before Han Xiao and changed its form of address.
"Lord Black Star, my creator."
Its speech system simulates a respectful tone of voice.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and asked, "Now do you know who you are?"
"I am one of your kin." It gave itself a name, "My name is Dark Emperor."
Dark Emperor? Why don't you call yourself Ancestor Youquan?
Han Xiao mentally scoffed, then said in a deep voice, "You are the first generation of mechanical life I created. Let me see your combat power."
Click click click--
The Dark Emperor began to move, testing various weapons in turn, disintegrating into individual floating guardians time and time again, flying like butterflies among flowers, and then merging again and again. Its fighting style was extremely agile and dazzling. The mechanical life form had an extremely high degree of control over its body and could comprehend skills on its own, which were then solidified in the character panel.
Han Xiao's use of Mechanical Force enhancement on it was equally effective. Without AI control, Dark Emperor could unleash extremely strong combat power on its own, making it even stronger than before the Life Creation.
"Come back."
After testing it out, Han Xiao said something, Dark Emperor voluntarily disintegrated and transformed into floating guardians, which then circled around him obediently.
"The effect is good." Han Xiao was satisfied and began to make plans in his mind.
Only by using a complete set of skills such as [Life Creation] and [King's Army] can one create a mechanical life form with self-growth capabilities. However, its efficiency is limited, and it is mainly used to raise troops, allowing them to slowly grow into elite units and mini-boss units.
As for the vast majority of mechanized cannon fodder, Han Xiao does not plan to turn them into mechanical life forms for the time being. Firstly, due to efficiency limitations, he wants to awaken the advanced mechanized units first. Secondly, because the casualty rate of cannon fodder is too high, the long-term effect is not as good as that of advanced machines.
"They transform into mechanical life forms, undergoing a complete metamorphosis, and can even develop their own mechanical civilizations. The Mechanic Emperor has several mechanical civilizations under its control, all of which are its vassal states and clans..."
Han Xiao pondered that allowing mechanical life forms to develop civilization was also a possible path, and it was not impossible to follow suit.
The only problem is that cultivating a mechanical civilization that obeys one's commands, operating fully automatically, reproducing and hatching offspring, and providing a continuous source of soldiers is very time-consuming.
However, given its long lifespan, strong resilience, and the long time span between version updates, it's not a major problem.
"Or perhaps we could steal someone else's existing mechanical civilization?" Han Xiao had this thought, but then dismissed it. He thought it best not to make enemies everywhere and court disaster.
He's not going to be reckless; he's more like a rock-solid rock, never letting himself go.
Having successfully mastered the Ultimate Knowledge, Han Xiao was satisfied and beaming. As he walked out of the machine workshop, he immediately saw several figures. Hila, Fording, Hadavy, and their group of guards were all waiting at the door.
"What are you all doing here?" Han Xiao's gaze swept over the crowd and settled on Hadavy, who was standing in front of them with a mysterious smile on his face.
Hadavy pulled out a stack of Veyne Cards and showed Han Xiao the top card. "Look, your cards have been updated again."
Han Xiao took a closer look and saw that the card depicted him as a powerful figure, "Black Star Han Xiao." The information had finally been updated to "Beyond Grade A," with the suffix "Ally of the Crimson Dynasty" added. The description included details of his battles with Heber and Sisko, and the card's effect was greatly enhanced.
"Isn't this something that was bound to happen sooner or later? You didn't come all this way just to show me this, did you?"
Han Xiao was speechless. Given his status, how could the manufacturer of Veyne Cards not update his cards?
If you dare not update, I'll smash your head in!
Hadavy chuckled, his fingers deftly twirling as he unfurled his cards like a peacock spreading its tail. Han Xiao glanced at them, his brow furrowing immediately. These cards were none other than Hila, Fording, and others, all designated "Black Star Army Guard Officers," like Vanguard Officers in the War Realm, now possessing their own cards.
One of the goals of forming the Guards was to make Hila and the others famous. Now that goal has been achieved, the identity of the Black Star Army Guards has become their label, and they have made a name for themselves. The group came here specifically to share this good news with Han Xiao.
"That's not bad. Congratulations, you've secured a place in the universe." Han Xiao smiled slightly, casually putting his arm around Fording's shoulder and patting him, earning a glare from Morning Star.
At this moment, Aurora spoke up crisply, "Uncle, there's one more thing. A special person wants to see you."
"Who? Someone from the Empire?"
"No, that man claimed to be the lord of Sodrian, named Troy."
Lord of Sodrian?
Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat. Sodrian was a newbie planet for players of the Constellation Corridor 1.0. Because the lord was involved in political factors, it was suppressed as a rebellion by a star system-level civilization. The lord fled with his fleet and hid in various places. He has not been captured yet.
What's this guy doing here looking for me? Han Xiao wondered.
Troy was alone in the meeting room, and he looked preoccupied.
This person is a humanoid race, male, with blond hair tied into an unusual braid, pointed ears, and a nose that is a pair of small holes in the center of his face. He is not bad-looking, but he is a bit old. He is tall, has hands and feet but no tail, and has a pair of large wings on his back covered with yellow feathers. He has some feathered creature genes.
"I wonder if Black Star will agree to help me..." Troy's eyes flickered.
He fled with his fleet, constantly Pursuit by a galactic-level civilization. The situation was dire; if things continued this way, he would inevitably be captured sooner or later. Because of the involvement of some secret political information and the covert operations of his political enemies, Troy knew that if he were captured and brought back, his fate would be worse than death.
Just when he was extremely anxious about the future, he received information that the Black Star Army had opened a branch on Planet Gilman and was recruiting people on a large scale. His mind immediately started to work, and he felt that the Black Star might be able to help him.
--As long as he can join the Black Star Army, follow the Black Star Army's fleet to use the Crimson Dynasty's stargate, leave the Central Galaxy, and escape to the Shattered Star Ring for refuge, he will be safe.
Troy originally wanted to conceal his identity and join the Legion, secretly smuggling himself out of the Central Galaxy. However, he reconsidered and felt that the risk of being discovered by Beyond Grade A was too great. It would be difficult to hide from them, and they would lose even this escape route. It would be better to take the initiative to meet with Black Star, explain the whole story, and openly make his request, trying to persuade Black Star to help them seek refuge.
In his view, only by leaving Central Galaxy could he have a chance to make a comeback and then return to take revenge on his political enemies.
The thought of his political enemies ruining his years of hard work made Troy's expression even more gloomy and resentful.
Having become a rebel, he could never return to civilization. Now, circumstances were against him, and he had no choice but to flee. If he were to seize an opportunity one day, he would not hesitate to destroy everything his political enemies had and take Pursuit him.
brush.
The sound of the door opening interrupted Troy's thoughts. He hurriedly stood up and looked respectfully at Han Xiao as he walked in.
"Lord Black Star."
Troy hurriedly bowed respectfully, introduced himself, and deliberately acted as if he were quite apprehensive.
"I've heard about your deeds. I've heard you're now a rebel. What do you want with me?" Han Xiao asked.
"It's like this..." Troy took a deep breath and, with a sincere tone that he had practiced hundreds of times, recited the speech he had prepared long ago with great emotion.
The gist is that he was framed by his political enemies, which led to a misunderstanding with civilization. In order to protect himself, he had no choice but to rebel and flee, and was forced to become a rebel. Now he wants to come and join the Black Star Army, willing to serve the legion in exchange for the opportunity to go to the Shattered Star Ring for refuge.
"I see..." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, sizing up Troy.
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, and his eyes gradually became strange.