The Monster Lord is coming
The king paused for a moment, and infinite power came from the place where they touched. His blood was like burning flames, and heat rose from his bones and blood.
He unconsciously developed a liking for the red-haired young man, and patted him on the shoulder with a big laugh: "Good boy, after this battle, you are qualified to join my knight group!"
Aurelius smiled slightly, and the meaning of both sides was self-evident. The knights led by the king himself were also dyed with red stripes. They looked at the red-haired young man affectionately, and then followed the king out of the city wall. Their bodies floated in the air, and they attacked each other fearlessly.
Suddenly, the earth shook and the mountains began to tremble. Thousands of troops followed the king to the battle and collided violently with the black fog.
The bright beam of light reflected by the crystal rushed straight into the sky. Yunmu still wanted to attack, but was burned by the light. The human face on it disappeared, and Yunmu made an inhuman shrill sound. Ultra-high frequency sound waves surged in all directions, raising a huge black wave to smash the city wall!
The king growled, "Never retreat!"
The knights said in unison: "We will follow you till death!"
A huge shadow suddenly expanded, the young man narrowed his eyes, and the ends of his hair fluttered in the wind. He stared at the monster floating in the air. Everything in this world has been polluted, and the [Lost Country] is no exception.
The thoughts of millions of people are placed on one person. A creature like the sun is suspended in the air. It has millions of faces, each with its own different expressions of joy, sorrow, anger, and sadness. Half black, half white, it is mixed with countless mechanical gears, and as it clicks, it continuously drips crystal-clear liquid, which dissolves into the black mist.
The Monster Lord saw this magnificent sight and raised his hand to gently press down. Black mist came down from all directions like a tide, and anything it touched would instantly rot.
Pollution is as poisonous as poison to the creatures in this world. Number One's face darkened, and it was obvious that this was a very difficult problem for him.
The king is indeed very powerful, and the crystals he has created over the years are enough to absorb pollution. But this is only a temporary solution.
As long as the Monster Lord doesn't give up, the crisis will not be resolved. He glanced at the red-haired young man beside him secretly, as if waiting for something. The latter seemed to feel his gaze and looked over with a smile.
He seems to have a lot of confidence, Number One thought.
There are reasons why the kingdom is fighting against the monster lord. Everything depends on whether the trialer can succeed. If the opponent fails, there is no reason for them to protect him.
Number One looked back and was about to continue watching the battle. Suddenly, something in his mind moved and he looked back towards the city.
Tick. Tick.
The sound of the watch ticking slowly began to spread throughout the city. The scene before my eyes gradually became illusory, as if it was being pulled away from the air bit by bit.
A flash of ecstasy flashed across No. 1's eyes: "It actually worked!?"
The Monster Lord raised his hand again, and the endless black mist pulled the city, as if to drag it into the endless abyss. A buzzing sound rang out again in the city, and the golden giant sword slashed at the opponent. The sword light was so painful that it hurt people's eyes, and the sound of breaking through the air was like thunder.
But even such a powerful sword could not break the black mist. The soft mist gently wrapped around the giant sword, and the two made a sizzling sound like barbecue when they touched. For a moment, even the speed of escaping the city slowed down.
Number One said solemnly: "The power of the Monster Lord is so strong that even the artifacts left by the gods cannot resist it."
The red-haired young man showed no fear at all. He smiled and said, "No problem. My brother is very strong."
The time is turned to Mason entering the door alone.
The boy walked forward cautiously. There was nothing in the darkness, only the sound of his own footsteps. After walking for an unknown amount of time, an inorganic electronic sound suddenly sounded in front of him.
"Congratulations on getting the challenge. Please come with me and I will teach you the basics of the Mechanical City."
It was a palm-sized mechanical man that could be easily overlooked if one didn't look closely. It looked up at Mason and repeated.
"Congratulations on getting the challenge. Please come with me and I will teach you the basics of the Mechanical City..."
It seemed that this was his first time to learn. Mason asked politely, "How should I learn?"
"The development of the Mechanical City originated from magic mechanical technology. It was originally a derivative product of alchemy. The former is based on magic, with machinery as an auxiliary, which lowers the threshold for ordinary people to use magic items. The latter is based on machinery as the core, with magic as an auxiliary, and is more cost-effective."
"I am equipped with all the technologies that a junior researcher in the Mechanical City needs to master. Please successfully disassemble and reassemble me within one hour to ensure that all my functions can be used. I will use language to guide you to complete this trial. If you fail, you will be punished."
"......"
He had never seen a teacher who taught like this before. Mason had a bad feeling in his heart: "What punishment?"
"Please concentrate, the trial will begin soon."
Mason saw a very detailed blueprint in front of him. After five minutes, the blueprint disappeared and was replaced by a set of repair equipment. The boy had a bad feeling in his heart, and saw the robot lying in front of him, revealing its iron belly.
"Please remove the forty-two screws of the armor plate and ensure the integrity of the internal parts."
This thing is really hardcore, just give me a diagram and I'll do it. Mason's mouth twitched, the huge mental power brought by the growth of the World Tree became the most powerful support, no matter how complicated the pipeline is, he only needs to look at it once to remember how to do it.
At the urging of the robot, the boy picked up the screwdriver and started the first disassembly.
"Before removing the energy line, you need to close the safety switch, the third button on the left of the center hub. Its purpose is to prevent energy overload."
"You pressed the wrong button. It's the self-destruct button. Self-destruct countdown: five, four, three..."
“!!!!”
How could this thing destroy itself?!
Mason rolled and crawled as fast as he could. The robot exploded on the spot with a bang, and the air wave blew him away directly.
He climbed up in a wolfish manner, casting a huge shadow in front of him.
A drop of cold sweat rolled down the boy's forehead, and he swallowed his saliva: "No, no way..."
"The trial failed and entered punishment mode. Knock down the punishment machine to end the trial early."
A dozen mechanical puppets, each as tall as two meters, surrounded Mason and swung their huge fists. The young man suddenly bent over and dodged the attack at an incredible angle. Although any master would have considered this dodge perfect, Mason's expression froze for a moment, and he was caught off guard by the next fist and flattened.
"Bang!"
Mason felt a pain all over his body and appeared in the center again. He held a maintenance tool box in his hand, and the robot lay in front of him, reminding him in a serious tone: "Please concentrate, the trial will begin soon."
The adrenaline rush from death still remained in his body, and his heartbeat was like a drum. It took him a while to calm down. Even though he had gotten used to the pain when using Oreius, facing death head-on was still stressful.
This greatly affected the boy's subsequent operations. His hand shook and he cut off an energy line that should not have been cut.
"......"
"You cut it wrong. The energy fluid leak will cause the machine to malfunction and explode. The trial failed and entered the punishment mode. Knock down the punishment machine to end the trial early."
"Again!?"
“Bang!!”
"I advise you not to go too far. Letting people get started without even giving them an instruction manual is too hellish!"
"You damaged the engine while disassembling the power system, which will cause the machine to lose power. The trial failed..."
"Bang!"
"......"
After who knows how many times, the constant bombing finally subsided.
The wrench and pliers skillfully assembled the frame, and the tweezers avoided the fragile energy tube and carefully removed the chip.
Those who cannot remember complex distribution diagrams must have never experienced death mode in person. If one takes a wrong step, one will face the hammer of the machine, and even human potential will be developed to the limit. Mason repeated the structure diagram over and over in his mind, concentrating on it, not daring to make any mistakes.
Ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six...
All the pipes in the robot's abdomen have been installed, and the protective iron plates are perfectly fastened.
Fifty-six, fifty-five, fifty-four...
Beads of sweat dripped down the boy's forehead. His hands were extremely steady, and he methodically tightened the screws one by one with the screwdriver.
Three, two, one!
Press the start button at the last second!
Mei stood up unsteadily. After a while of swaying under Mason's nervous gaze, the red light in her eyes finally settled down.
"Congratulations on passing the initial test. Do you want to continue?"
Mason breathed a sigh of relief: "Go on!"
By controlling Oreus, Mason could clearly sense the different flow speeds of both sides. The time in this space was much faster than outside, so he had more time to practice.
When the tester gave his answer, the robot disappeared and was replaced by a knee-high android.
Not only is its structure more complex, but it also has an intelligent system installed. Mason spent a longer time to master it, and if you look closely, you'll find that the boy's hands are unusually steady, and he will never make the same mistake twice.
As his proficiency increased, Mason's assembly speed became faster and faster. Any Mechanical City staff would be amazed when they saw it. Even the most talented researchers could not remember everything they saw and could operate it right away.
While Mason was concentrating on the assessment, a pair of eyes in the void were watching him, recording his every move. Countless data were transmitted to the core, and the metal man's heart was slightly vibrating.
What a pity! In all these years, he has never seen such a genius! If he were still alive, he would definitely take him as his disciple. This person has a brain that is born for research!
In the core of regret, when the boy restored the last button, the electronic sound rang again.
"Congratulations on passing the intermediate test. Do you want to continue?"
"want!"
Advanced trials require the complete disassembly and reconstruction of an adult android, whose internal structure is more sophisticated and has many additional panels.
Mason quickly read the instructions and compared them with the drawings he had memorized. His slender hands methodically disassembled the machine, and in the process, he gained a deeper understanding of the android.
These sophisticated gadgets rely on machinery and energy fluid to move, and have two blank grooves deliberately left in the chest cavity, as if waiting for something to be added.
After being fully repaired, the android finally woke up again. He bowed slightly and congratulated with a familiar voice.
"Congratulations on mastering the basics of android technology. Once you learn this, you will be qualified to learn how to make a purification device."
Mason searched his mind for a while and found out the other party's identity: "You... are the former crystal shop clerk?"
"That's my model number three. You can call me number two."
The android said calmly, "Before I explain the principle, I need to ask you a question: Do you think androids have souls?"
Do machines have souls?
“I think so.”
Mason said: "Parts make up the body, just like organs make up the human body. After developing intelligence, the artificial human may also have his own thoughts."
"You are right. This is exactly the view of the Intelligent School. This school believes that artificial humans also have wisdom and souls, and the purification device is created based on artificial humans. The pollution of the world comes from human evil, and human goodness can purify it. For this reason, artificial humans are created, and through them, the good and evil of human souls are artificially separated. Thus, purification is completed."
Number Two snapped his fingers, and the dark space lit up. Two crystals floated in the air, one clear and the other pitch black.
"Assuming that the android has its own soul, the master's approach is to load the good and evil of the human into the blank soul of the android, and use the program to correct the thought. But there is a side effect that cannot be ignored. Once the soul of the android is out of control, it is very likely to cause [Mechanical Disaster] again."
The two crystals fell into his palms and were then stuffed into the grooves in his chest. Number Two's eyes lit up, and his voice rose and fell slightly.
"Therefore, the master wants to develop a method to completely control the souls of artificial people and use it to purify the evil in people. And I am the first person to be freed from control."
The sound of mechanical rotation echoed inside No. 2's body, and his limbs twisted in opposite directions. The artificial skin cracked, revealing the delicate parts underneath, connected by sticky blood-red flesh. In the blink of an eye, No. 2 turned into a terrifying monster.
"Sizzle...please...sizzle..."
Mason took a step back subconsciously, and the spores quickly formed armor and weapons. The single eye in the center of the deformed monster's head shone at him, and its tone suddenly became normal.
"Please find a way to cleanse the pollution in me, otherwise I will kill you."
At the same time, a sniper rifle appeared, which was perfectly integrated with No. 2's body. The metal surface was covered with red blood, and the muzzle of the gun was aimed at Mason, and the trigger was pressed without hesitation.