The Legendary Mechanic (WN)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

An AI civilization did not have any cities and only had ice cold mechanical bases. Not a single living being would be inside, and it would be cold and silent. However, the virtual net would be an extremely prosperous sight. In the virtual world that they constructed, every formless member would be able to have their own body.

To them, the virtual world was their home. As for the bases, cities, and mainframe system in reality, those are only constructs created to protect their home.

Risda and Aroshia were both citizens of such a civilization and were both AI life forms.

AI life forms had almost no physiological desires—unless a simulation module was installed—and did not have any productivity constraints. Thus, there was no hierarchy in the civilization, and everyone was equal. Living in an AI civilization was almost like a utopia. Their method of communication was the exchange of data, and it was many times more efficient than using speech, writing, or pictures. In an instant, a large amount of data could be sent, and only a mind reader would be able to match such efficiency.

When Risda described all that, Han Xiao came to a realization.

For an AI life form to evolve to such an extent, it can be said to be equivalent to a soul.

Ordinary beings would first have a physical body before having a consciousness, but an AI life form was the complete opposite. It first had a consciousness.

The story that Risda had described afterward confirmed Han Xiao’s predictions. This AI life form was indeed coveted by others, and the one who coveted them was a beyond Grade A Mechanic!

This person had broken through all the defenses of the AI civilization, locked down their virtual homeland, cut off all their connections to the net, and captured all the AI life forms in the civilization. To him, those AI life forms were probably materials to create weapons.

He locked up all of the AI life forms in a mainframe system and suppressed the solitary will of the AI life forms through a program. He enslaved them all and only left them with their high-speed calculation ability and learning ability. That person then treated the AI life forms as ‘souls’ and placed them into empty shells to transform the way they lived. They turned into weapons that listened to orders and formed a huge army.

This process was similar to Mind Possession of a Psychic.

Aroshia’s current state was one of the ‘weapons’ that could be mass produced. Her ‘soul’ had been injected into a ball of energy through some special means, and the AI life form had been transformed into an artificial energy life form.

After being turned into a weapon, the shell would no longer be a ‘tool’ that could be casually swapped out but a ‘body’ that the consciousness could not separate from. It was like a lock that locked up the freedom of the ‘soul’. It was almost like the majority ordinary organisms.

The moment that the body was destroyed, the lock would be shattered. Because of the special characteristic of the AI life form living in the virtual world, it would not die together with the body but return to the mainframe system of that Mechanic through the ever-present net regardless of distance. With a backup copy of the body’s data, that Mechanic made use of a top-notch skill to allow the data to automatically reform the weapon’s body and draw energy from the main base through a psionic channel.

This was the reason for Aroshia ‘undying’ body. However, it was not controlled by the system, and thus, there would be an error in her data whenever she was reborn. Under normal circumstances, a weapon that was reborn would not lose their memory like Aroshia.

That beyond Grade A Mechanic had created a powerful army that could be recycled ceaselessly! Every single weapon was a standalone warrior!

Magic and technology made use of different means to achieve the same result. Such technological skills were almost like magic.

In order to kill those weapons completely, one had to wipe their AI life form out in the virtual world.

Ordinary people would develop technology, and when technology went out of control, they ended up being wiped out by artificial intelligence. However, this time, the opposite had happened, and numerous AI life forms had been enslaved.

Aroshia and Risda were both fish that had escaped the net and were extremely lucky to have escaped the process of being enslaved. The two of them wanted to save their brethren, but that required them to destroy the main system so that they would be able to activate the consciousness of their entire kind.

As such, Risda found an opportunity to control the assembly line that had created such weapons to give Aroshia a body. However, the alarm was sounded before they had a chance to take action, and they ended up being chased by countless of their kind. The two of them had no choice but to escape, and Risda had managed to snatch a BlackLight Stealth to escape with Aroshia. However, they could not defend against the numbers of the enemies and fell into a wormhole, and the two ended up being separated.

The changes to one’s body would also cause one’s thinking to be changed. Aroshia originally needed time for her consciousness to meld together and get used to her body, but being chased afterward gave her no time to rest at all, resulting in her memory loss.

…

Hearing Risda’s story, the three of them had looks of disbelief on their faces.

“Undying army‽ A Super strong Mechanic‽”

Han Xiao almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

These two labels were far too unique, and he almost thought that the other party was describing him. Of course, this was not possible. The Great Mechanic Han knew who this Mechanic was. This Mechanic was far too famous, and it would be impossible for him not to recognize that character.

This beyond Grade A Mechanic had been the highest-grade teacher of the Mechanic class in his previous life!

Furthermore, he was one of the main characters in the main storyline [Calamity of the Supers] of the later version. He had naturally formed a faction of his own!

To think that this would be related to the main storyline in later versions. Just what kind of a person did I save?

Han Xiao rubbed his temple and felt a huge headache.

My goodness! Version 2.0 hasn’t even started! Can we still play properly?

Without even thinking, Han Xiao was able to guess what the final target of [Reboot] would be. It would definitely be to reactivate the independent consciousness of those AI life forms and save them from the demonic hands of a beyond Grade A bigshot. Could this mission be any more dangerous‽

Do you think that I am a sh*t digger who loves to find sh*t‽

“I have already told you the truth,” Risda said. “Regardless of whether you are willing to help, I must stay behind to wait for her to recover her memory.”

The three of them looked at each other and Aroshia was in a daze. Such a feeling was like an ordinary nine-to-five working Chinese adult being told that she was actually a South African citizen.

You are actually African—you only look a little bit more yellow. All of your countrymen are being controlled by an alien with a flying saucer. I am going to pull you back to get rid of the aliens and save our country…

Such a feeling was truly awful!

Aroshia was thrown into confusion.

Han Xiao regained his cool and thought about the pros and cons of this matter.

Actually, let’s forget about the cons. Whether or not I want to do this mission is a decision for another day. There is a very obvious pro right now. If Risda stays behind, does this mean that we will be able to use this BlackLight Stealth temporarily?

Han Xiao’s eyes lit up immediately. The BlackLight Stealth was a high-grade spaceship that was worth tens of millions of Enas. From activation to hyperdrive, only a couple of seconds were required. It was the Maserati and Bugatti in the spaceship world. Piloting such a spaceship would give him a great deal of face, and it would save him the trouble of renting spaceships from everywhere!

This is the best!

Because of Alvin’s mission, Han Xiao rejected Risda’s idea of moving out immediately. He got Risda to wait in the warehouse, and they would return after completing their mission. Risda had no choice but to agree with Han Xiao.

The three of them said goodbye to Risda and left the spaceship. Along the way, they slowly digested the large amount of information that they just received and gradually calmed down.

Han Xiao had not expected Aroshia to have such a background. However, she would not bring him any risks at the present moment. Patting Aroshia on the shoulder, he said, “Don’t worry too much. Regardless of how things turn out in the future, you are still yourself at the moment.”

“Hmm…”

Walking over to the elevator region, Han Xiao’s communicator suddenly rang.

Opening up his communicator, Herlous’ anxious face could be seen.

“Black Star, bad news. DarkStar found Alvin’s main body!”

Han Xiao’s expression changed immediately.

“We’re on our way!”