Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!-Chapter 765: Protocol One: Contact_2

Hovering in the high sky "out of reach" of Bai E, she watched him with a face full of "caution" as she rigidly asked, word by word, "What do you want to do?!"

There was no other way, in front of this terrifying human, maintaining distance was the only way to survive, she believed.

Humans can't fly; it was the only advantage she could find over him.

"..." Bai E looked at his outstretched hand, then lifted his gaze to the other party, somewhat silently.

"It's a... habit of us humans; it's okay if you don't like it, then it's decided. I'll also need to trouble your transport fleet to help move the factory over," he said.

"I will make arrangements," the Intelligent Mechanism lord stared intently at Bai E, "So, can you leave now?"

"...You also need to teach us 'Power Source Shield' technology without reservation."

"Find someone to learn it, that's fine."

"I need to make sure this is completely settled."

"You can send someone to oversee it; you are not welcome here."

"..."

Chitchat.

Bai E nodded, turned, and walked away. At the same time, he whispered to Helen at his side, "Have someone keep an eye on it, also... take extra care yourself."

"Understood," Helen could hardly keep the joy contained within her.

A development better than the original plan.

The original plan was to clear this Intelligent Mechanism, then rely on Li Ming Town's not-so-advanced transportation methods to move bit by bit slowly; she hadn't expected these Intelligent Mechanisms to be so cooperative—now going as far as essentially packaging and delivering themselves to her doorstep.

These were Intelligent Mechanisms!

Once considered by humans as the third worst disaster, beneath demons and insects, who would have thought that now they could be acquired through negotiations.

Whether Intelligent Mechanisms can ultimately be trusted or not, the benefits obtained are undeniable.

The lower-level Intelligent Mechanisms, once their bit of intelligence cores were removed, had nothing to do with Intelligent Mechanisms anymore.

"Do you think there is a problem with it?" Bai E, having turned around, asked Helen through Spiritual Energy.

Helen's opinion also took precedence while observing the Intelligent Mechanisms.

"So far, its behavior doesn't have too many suspicious points, but we can't rule out the possibility of an Intelligent Mechanism's conspiracy. After all, it was after they nearly took over human society that they launched that rebellion. Let's keep watching, I will attempt to contact these original generation Intelligent Mechanisms while learning the 'Power Source Shield' technology to see what they think," she replied.

"Alright, we must be cautious with them." The idea to possibly reintegrate Intelligent Mechanisms into the social system of humans was one they had come up with together.

"I will wait for you to return."

No matter how powerful Bai E was, he couldn't confront this world alone.

Many things needed to be done by others; no matter how strong one was, they couldn't be in every place at once filling every role.

For example, if Black Street were suddenly under a devastating attack, Bai E, now in the Intelligent Mechanism Base, would be unable to aid promptly.

Even racing back as fast as possible would yield nothing but the ruins of destruction.

But if an entire force were powerful, the outcome would be entirely different.

Now, the chance to strengthen that entire force lay in Helen's hands.

To mass-produce the new-style armament systems as much as possible and equip them on as many trustworthy subordinates as possible was the key step in seizing political power during the upcoming opportunity.

This was the step in the entire plan that could most increase their assurance!

Watching the terrifying human's figure gradually recede, the original generation Intelligent Mechanism lord seemed to finally relax her caution.

However, the next moment, she witnessed a scene that made her hair stand on end—

Right in front of her, that human took flight on his own, without any tools or a running start, just floated up effortlessly from the ground and soared into the sky with an easy grace.

And once he had determined his direction, he shot away like an arrow...

He could fly!

Her only advantage was gone!

"..."

'Thankfully, I surrendered quickly!'

'Humans are truly terrifying!'

'At least, I managed to save the last bit of my foundation.'

With the great Will Leader gone, from now on, I could only rely on myself.

Feeling the weight of her responsibility, she proceeded with trembling caution, determined to prevent her race from becoming extinct on her watch.

Why is life so difficult?

I only wanted to hole up here, mine a bit, create some of my kind, and see if maybe one or two would emerge from the selection of numbers to ascend to the "First Generation Intelligent Mechanism" level of awakened intelligent mechanisms, and join my family of first-generation intelligent mechanisms.

'I just want to live my life!'

Sizzling...

The silvery white eye of the intelligent mechanism flickered slightly, and beneath the faint sound of electrical current, a line of text flashed across the surface of the electronic eye of this first-generation intelligent mechanism overlord—

[Agreement One: Contact (Completed)]

...

Bai E flew a great distance in one breath.

To impose sufficient deterrence on the first-generation intelligent mechanism overlord, letting her know that flying was futile, Bai E deliberately displayed his newly acquired ability after ascending to the third stage of Spiritual Energy—

Flying!

The third stage of Spiritual Energy required breaking the world's constraints on the human body.

The ability to 'lift oneself' was the hallmark of this stage.

This was information Bai E had obtained from Spiritual Energy practitioner Pansen, and now, it had become his tangible ability.

From the moment he ascended to the third stage of Spiritual Energy, Bai E's world was no longer confined to a simple two-dimensional plane.

He could go anywhere, above the ground or below the sky.

An entire additional dimension of choice vastly expanded Bai E's tactical options in his future actions.

In fact, the surge in ability went even further.

[Feedback from the mission, your physical strength +2.9, reflexes +2.7, insight +1.8.]

Several days had passed since Bai E met with the reborn Kuang Xin and the others.

Dai Lian had completed the injection of the Gene Optimization Solution and had become the first player to undertake gene optimization; the reborn Kuang Xin and Gong Yan were leveling up swiftly under Gu Lan's guidance; Xu Ruoguang was also working exceedingly hard to meet the stat increase requirements for the injection, especially the reborn Kuang Xin and Gong Yan, who could provide shocking contributions to Bai E's attribute growth.

The proxy leveling by the players led to a rapid increase in Bai E's attributes to physical strength 22.3/24, insight 18.6/24, reflexes 20.7/24.

If the players could just try a little harder, Bai E would qualify for a second injection of the Gene Optimization Solution.

At his current level of status, the only things constraining his gene optimization were his own advancements in power, and no longer the resource limitations of the past.

The explosive increase in attributes significantly boosted Bai E's actual combat ability; maybe every point in the fundamental attributes only strengthened by 10% compared to the previous one.

However, even the slightest enhancement, when amplified by Bai E's skills, could result in vastly different levels of actual strength.

Now, all he needed to do was to train and arm his soldiers to the teeth as well as he could before that "opportunity" arrived.

If possible, completing the second gene optimization before then would give him even more confidence.

...

Within the not too distant Grey Iron City, a modified warrior returned, covered in dust.

'Doctor, we've detected that the people from that town are mobilizing en masse towards the Intelligent Mechanism Base!'

After all, it was a large-scale movement; it would be difficult for anyone who was paying attention not to notice the unusual behavior of the town's residents.

'The Intelligent Mechanism Base?' The tall, elderly man narrowed his eyes, a sharp light flashing through them.

The Intelligent Mechanism Base was not a place that just anyone dared to approach.

If it wasn't that young man's command, just the mutineers from that small town alone would not dare to provoke those powerful intelligent mechanisms.

So... do you already have the confidence to confront the intelligent mechanism overlord?