nucmednet Chapter 56 Departure
Chapter 56 Departure
The wrench circled the steel armor several times before hesitantly saying, "Could this be... a mechanical life form showing signs of awakening?"
Huang Hong asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Wrench nearly jumped up, yelling, "What do you mean 'What's the problem?!' This is a mechanical life form that's showing signs of awakening!!"
Huang Hong still didn't quite understand. He looked at the wrench and asked, "Are mechanical life forms really that rare? Aren't there quite a few in Fort Luber?"
In Huang Hong's mind, this was indeed the case. Robots like wrenches and medicine bottles, as well as all the Cybertronians, were all mechanical life forms in his eyes.
Upon hearing this, Wrench fell silent for the first time, and after a moment said with some disappointment, "It's different! Strictly speaking, there is only one mechanical life form in the Labob Fortress, and that is Lord Labob. We are just tools equipped with advanced intelligence modules."
Huang Hong looked surprised, not expecting it to be like this.
Wrench quickly adjusted his mindset and regained his lively state, explaining, "Mechanical life forms are different from us. They are real life forms with extraordinary potential and racial talents, capable of continuous improvement and even changing to extraordinary professions."
"In the fortress network, the most basic prerequisite for applying to become the fortress lord is to be a mechanical life form."
Wrench looked at the Iron Man suit and said with some envy, "My scanning system tells me that it has not been loaded with an intelligent module, and it has already shown a trace of the spirituality unique to life. It can be said that it has taken the most difficult step towards becoming a mechanical life."
Huang Hong looked thoughtfully at the template of the Iron Man armor... Cybertronian (unawakened), and nodded in approval.
Wrench looked at the space capsule, held it in his hand, and examined it for a moment before saying, "This is quite interesting. This small capsule contains rather unique scientific and technological knowledge: spacetime string theory, space curvature, space displacement... Although these are all applied knowledge, even if they were all deciphered, they wouldn't form a systematic framework, but the concept is still quite interesting."
Wrench asked, "Tell me, what is your purpose in taking out these two items?"
Huang Hong tossed the spatial capsule around and asked, "How much do you think this thing is worth? Can you upgrade or enhance it here?"
Wrench said, "Let me be clear, this space capsule has no value in the fortress network. We have similar general-purpose technological creations, and the system is quite complete, completely covering the technology contained in your space capsule."
"As for upgrading and strengthening, that's possible, but it will take at least a week. The reason it takes so long is mainly because I need to figure out its technological principles first, and then modify it by hand. As for the price... 7000 credits, the bulk of which is the labor cost."
Huang Hong's lips twitched. He hadn't expected it to be so troublesome. However, he was just testing the waters. If he really wanted to upgrade, his Myriad Manifestations Enhancement ability would be more useful.
Retrieving the space capsule, Huang Hong pointed to the steel armor and said, "You said before that the energy module would be better paired with a corresponding energy network. I'd like you to help me figure out how to do it?"
Wrench said, "If you have a lot of credits right now, I would suggest you go straight for the best, such as the Quantum Resonance Net or the Polaris Core Grid. These are energy networks that are powerful enough to drive epic-quality energy flows, but they will cost at least 10 credits to load."
"However, if we're talking about the energy module I just created for you, the Prismatic Hub is sufficient. I'll give it to you for 3800 credits; the original price was 4000!"
Huang Hong's lips twitched. He glanced at his remaining credit points, which were only 100+, and felt that money really didn't last long.
Seeing Huang Hong's expression, Wrench asked suspiciously, "What's wrong? Didn't you still have several thousand credits? Have you spent them all?"
Huang Hong smiled wryly and said, "Could you...?"
The wrench immediately made an X in front of his chest and declared righteously, "Fortress rules: no credit!"
Huang Hong said, half-laughing and half-crying, "What I wanted to ask was if you could sell me the design blueprints for the Prism Hub at a discount."
"Design blueprints?" Wrench asked doubtfully. "The most valuable thing about the Prism Hub is the materials needed to build this system, followed by my labor costs. The design blueprints aren't that valuable, but you won't get much use for them. Let me tell you, many alloy materials are monopolized within our sluice network, and you can't get them."
Huang Hong waved his hand and said, "Then don't worry about it, just tell me if you're selling or not."
After some haggling, Huang Hong secured the design blueprint for the Prism Hub at a rock-bottom price of 100 credits, essentially giving away the wrench for free.
Huang Hong breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely said to Wrench, "Thank you, Wrench."
The wrench chuckled and said, "You're my first customer, so of course I'll give you a discount!"
After saying goodbye to Wrench, Huang Hong left the Labob Fortress. His journey was far from over, and he was destined not to stay in one place for long before resolving his troubles.
After walking more than ten kilometers, Huang Hong summoned his steel armor and loaded the [Elemental Core (Earth) - Energy Module] onto it.
Waves of energy emanated from the chest of the Iron Man armor, rapidly spreading throughout its body. Inside the armor, the constant creaking of mechanical friction indicated that the internal structure was being fine-tuned according to the new energy module.
Two grooves appeared on the legs of the Iron Man armor. Huang Hong put two USB-like objects into them, which were the materials he had purchased from the machine factory and the wrench.
In addition to scanning, Iron Man armor can also record its transformation capabilities using blueprints.
Once the Iron Man armor had finished absorbing the data from the USB drive, Huang Hong couldn't wait to transform it.
Amid a series of 'clunking' sounds, the mechanical structure of the steel armor continuously rotated and transformed, eventually becoming a large off-road vehicle.
This off-road vehicle's design is unlike any model Huang Hong is familiar with; it has a unique, hard-edged style. The tires are a full two meters high and appear to be made of rubber, but they are actually made of deformable metal with altered properties. Not only can the tread pattern be changed at will, but studs can also be extended, making it suitable for any terrain.
Because it's not a fixed form, the deformation process takes more than ten seconds. Even if you get used to it later, you can only reduce it to seven or eight seconds at most.
Fortunately, it can instantly revert to its original form after transformation, so even if an unexpected event occurs, there is no need to worry about being caught off guard.
Once the fixed form is determined, it is almost impossible to change it. Therefore, unless there is an urgency, Huang Hong still wants to consider it further. He prefers flying mechanical creations, preferably spaceships! The stronger the firepower, the better!!