Chapter 36
Su Jing walked towards metal house number 4, her boots leaving faint black marks from the seams of the metal floor in the slum. A few drops of machine oil on the soles of her boots were quickly swept away by a passing cleaning robot. Just as she reached the door, she saw Tony standing on the steps, his work clothes stained with oil, clutching a silver, square device. Seeing her, he immediately rushed over, his face beaming with gratitude: "You've finally come! I followed your instructions and replaced the cores of both robots in the house with spares. They're running even better than before!"
Tony handed over the silver device in his hand. It was about the size of a palm, with a red button on the side and the words "Robot Fault Simulator" printed on it. "This is for you. Press it to send a signal simulating a robot malfunction. The 'Metal Men' (Mechanical Guardians) will prioritize checking the malfunctioning robots and won't have time for you. I also asked an old buddy who used to work with me at the factory. He said there are still some advanced cores that haven't been taken away in the 'Backup Generator Room' and 'Old Machine Repair Shop' in the industrial area. You just have to avoid the guard shift change at 3 p.m.
Su Jing took the malfunction simulator and pressed the red button with her fingertip—the device emitted a soft "beep," and the screen lit up with pale green signal waves. "It works even better than I expected, thank you." She took out the dried fruit she had promised Tony from her backpack. "Take this, it'll be a snack for the kids at home."
Tony took the dried fruit, stuffed it into his work bag, and then added in a low voice, "The backup generator room is in the northwest corner of the industrial area, with only one heavy guard at the entrance; the old maintenance room is on the northeast side, with several abandoned industrial robots inside. The cores are still intact, but you have to be careful of the 'leaky wiring' inside, so you don't get shocked."
Su Jing noted down the location, said goodbye to Tony, and didn't linger—there was still an hour until 3 p.m., just in time to enter the industrial area before the guards changed shifts. She followed her previous route to East Lane 3. The electromagnetic shielding patch on her collar still had 3 hours of effect. Holding the fault simulator in her hand, she walked quietly towards the backup generator room on the northwest side.
Sure enough, there was only one heavy guard at the entrance to the backup generator room. Its silver exterior had several obvious scratches, and its red scanning eye slowly rotated, facing the ground. Su Jing hid behind a discarded metal shelf and pressed the red button on the fault simulator—the device's signal instantly overwhelmed the guard, whose scanning eye suddenly turned to the right, clattering as it walked in that direction, clearly mistaking a robot malfunction for one.
She seized the opportunity to rush to the generator room door, swiped the access card Martin had given her—with a "beep," the door opened. The room was darker than the main generator room, with only a few emergency lights on. Three small backup generators were lined up side-by-side in the corner, their humming much quieter than the main generators. Following the maintenance manual, Su Jing carefully opened the hidden compartments beneath the control panels of each generator. Inside each one was a high-level core, emitting a pale purple light. While not as bright as the main generator's core, she could still sense energy fluctuations.
“Three cores? No, Tony said there were spares.” Su Jing frowned, carefully inspecting the area. She found an old generator hidden behind the innermost generator, its casing rusty and its screen black. She walked over and opened the hidden compartment—indeed, there was another high-level core inside, though covered in dust. She put the four cores into the EMP-proof metal box. With the previous three cores plus these four, she now had seven high-level cores. The system notification read: [Current total: 28 ordinary cores, 7 high-level cores].
Leaving the backup generator room, Su Jing headed towards the old mechanical repair shop on the northeast side. The door to the repair shop was broken and could be pushed open without swiping a card. A strong smell of rust filled the air. Broken robotic arms and malfunctioning circuit boards were scattered on the floor. Several abandoned industrial robots leaned crookedly against the wall, some of their robotic arms dangling on the ground, occasionally emitting small sparks.
Avoiding the leaky electrical wires on the ground, Su Jing walked to the innermost industrial robot—this robot was more intact than the others, with a clearly visible core slot on its chest. She pried open the slot cover with a screwdriver, revealing a high-level core inside, larger than the previous ones, gleaming with a deep purple light. "The 8th one." She carefully put the core away, and a system notification sounded: [Current total: 30 ordinary cores, 8 advanced cores]—the ordinary cores were given to Anna and Lucy by them when she helped them repair the robot earlier; they said they were spare cores stored at home, "You fixed the robot for us, these cores are useless to us, so they're perfect for you."
Just as Su Jing was about to leave the maintenance room, the system's electronic voice suddenly sounded in her mind, accompanied by a more urgent electrical buzzing: [The location of the top-tier energy core has been updated!]
A semi-transparent blue panel popped up, displaying clear information:
- Top-tier core location: Top floor of the City Lord's Mansion in New Luo City (1 km southeast of the Central Tower, accessible via the main gate of the City Lord's Mansion or the aerial passage).
- Target under protection: City Lord Robot (5 meters tall, titanium alloy shell, equipped with two heavy laser cannons and four mechanical arms, danger level 150, possesses autonomous attack awareness, no fixed patrol route)
- Note: Superior-grade cores possess extremely high energy and can significantly improve dungeon rankings. Obtaining one unlocks the "Core Fusion" function (normal/advanced cores can be fused into a superior-grade core). However, the City Lord's robot's defense and attack capabilities far surpass those of the Rebel Robot, so careful planning is advised.
Su Jing stared at the "Danger Value 150" on the panel—60 higher than the rebel robot. The titanium alloy shell meant that ordinary laser guns might not be able to penetrate it, and the power of a heavy laser cannon was unimaginable. She turned off the panel, leaned against the abandoned mechanical arm, and took out some synthetic jerky from her backpack, taking a bite—the dry taste made her more alert. The City Lord's Mansion was near the Central Tower, the core area of New Luo City. The guard density there was definitely higher than in the industrial zone, and there was also a 5-meter-tall City Lord robot. Forcing her way in was definitely not an option.
She subconsciously opened the global channel to check other people's progress. A red message box popped up instantly. It was from "Hunter (USA)" Jack: "Attention everyone! I just got news that the top-tier core is on the top floor of the City Lord's Mansion! But the guardian robots are too powerful. I propose that 20 people form a team and rush in to grab the core. Afterwards, we'll split the spoils according to our contributions! If you want to form a team, DM me. Meet in one hour in the West Alley of the Slums!"
As soon as he sent the message, the deep blue "Black Bear (Russian Bear Country)" Ivan immediately retorted: "Don't waste your energy! 'I am the God of Wealth' already has 8 high-level cores and is ranked first. She must already know the location of the special-level cores. By the time you team up, she may have already obtained them! Besides, you can't even handle the heavy guards in the industrial zone, and you want to fight the 5-meter-tall city lord robot? It's pure suicide!"
Emily, the golden "Nightingale (EU)," didn't comment, only sending a wait-and-see message: "Does anyone know the specific attack methods of the city lord robot? For example, does it have any weaknesses? Without reliable intelligence, forming a team will only increase casualties. I suggest we gather intelligence first before making a plan."
The chat instantly split into two camps. Those supporting Jack's team were mostly participants with lower scores and fewer cores, while those opposing were people who had suffered losses in the industrial zone and knew how powerful the guards were. Some, like Emily, remained silent, observing. Su Jing watched the comments and closed the channel—she knew Jack's team was just a ploy to use others as cannon fodder while he reaped the benefits. Ivan's words, though exaggerated, pointed to the crucial point: time was of the essence; they had to find the city lord robot's weakness as soon as possible to obtain the top-tier core. She touched the robot malfunction simulator in her pocket and remembered Martin's mention of "rebellious robot activity in the central tower." Perhaps she could exploit the conflict between the rebellious robots and the city lord robot to reap the benefits.
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