Gu Yechen agreed to Heilis’s request, preparing to give six of the ten Super Motherships to Heilis, and gifting him an additional ten thousand cubic meters of Zarkla crystals. This incredibly extravagant move by Gu Yechen, bordering on squandering, instantly swept away the lingering gloom in Heilis and all his confidantes. Ten thousand cubic meters of Zarkla crystals? It was the first time Heilis’s subordinates had heard of measuring the rare and precious Origin Energy Stones in units of ‘cubic meters’! How many powerful cultivators could such a supply nurture?

Fu Yaming also formally announced that the space base was now entirely owned by Gu Yechen. However, the Yafic Kingdom would retain the right to a share of the profits generated by this space base in the future.

Under the cover of the black mist formed by the True One Profound Water, three warships silently approached the very top of the colossal structure. At the heart of this metallic continental construct, a thousand kilometers long and wide, stood a massive machine nearly two kilometers tall and covering an area of one hundred square kilometers. This behemoth, roughly cylindrical in shape, was affixed with countless mechanical components, large and small, with hundreds of millions of tiny electronic lights flickering ceaselessly across its surface.

“I’ll go down and talk to it!” Dukat, slightly dazed by the sheer size of the entity, stared blankly at the massive mechanism and spoke slowly, “I can feel it has already generated its own consciousness, or perhaps it hasn't been truly awakened yet, but it is alive. A master control super-brain that developed its own life consciousness—it’s incredible.”

Heilis shrieked, “The Star Alliance Supreme Council stipulates that all electronic products capable of generating self-awareness must be destroyed!”

Gu Yechen turned his gaze towards Heilis, a tide of killing intent surging in his eyes.

Dukat turned towards Heilis; without shifting his expression, he punched a deep impression into the alloy wall of the command cabin.

Penghua swaggered over to Heilis, pulling a strongly flavored cigar from his briefs and forcefully stuffing it into Heilis’s mouth. “Hey, brother, don’t be so tense and agitated. What laws and regulations? They are all meant to be broken! Ah, tell me, in one’s lifetime, if you don’t do a few things against the rules, isn’t it rather boring sometimes?”

Slapping his chest loudly, Penghua encouraged enthusiastically, “Stick with us brothers, and in a few years, we might just be the top bosses of the Star Alliance Supreme Council! Then we’ll issue a law granting electronic life forms the same rights as humans! Think about it, if even genderless silicon-based life forms can be accepted by the Star Alliance, why not electronic life? Why not? Why is that so?”

The barrage of ‘whys’ left Heilis feeling dizzy. Penghua spoke in a strange, singsong voice, “Come on, Your Highness, let me teach you the ways of the world. A person is born from a mother, and a demon is also born from a mother, so we must possess a heart of universal love and not discriminate against any intelligent life form. Oh, you don’t know what a ‘demon’ means? Then let me explain.”

Penghua pulled the green-faced Heilis to sit on the main control console. Heilis’s pupils were weirdly contracting and expanding. The marijuana-laced cigar was proving too potent for him.

Before long, Heilis displayed a vacant, simple smile, looking blankly at Penghua and constantly agreeing with everything he said.

Gu Yechen smiled at the grim-faced Dukat, “Ignore these self-proclaimed advanced civilizations. If you wish, I support you in creating a kingdom for electronic life.”

Dukat’s eyebrow twitched sharply, revealing a slight smile, “Then I need to work even harder to strengthen my power.”

The warship hatch opened, and Gu Yechen, Dukat, and Lily, along with the curious Fu Yaming and Jin, left the vessel.

The moment they stepped onto the metal platform, all feet, except for Gu Yechen’s, were instantly enveloped by a ring of faint blue electric light, and a deep, powerful alarm sounded. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of bizarrely armed robots charged towards them from all directions. On several high metal platforms in the distance, dozens of large-caliber energy cannons exceeding two thousand millimeters in caliber rapidly extended, their muzzles locked onto their position.

Dukat raised both hands. Red light flickered in his eyes without the slightest expression as potent silver current surged rapidly between his hands. The immense crackling sound of the electricity startled Jin, who hastily ducked behind Gu Yechen. With a great shout of “Ha!”, Dukat slammed both fists heavily onto the ground. A circle of silver electric light several meters high rapidly spread outwards, covering the entire metal platform in the blink of an eye. All the armed robots simultaneously froze in place, and the giant cannons that were targeting them also stopped dead.

Only the alarm continued to sound, and mixed within that incessant ringing was a cry like that of a terrified infant: “Help! Help! Intruders! Intruders! Protect me, protect me! Help, help! Master, hurry back! Ah, the soldiers protecting me have all been wiped out, hurry and save me, help!”

This voice used Ancient Roman language, its frequency encompassing everything from infrasound to high-frequency ultrasound, the massive sound waves painfully drilling into their ears.

Gu Yechen frowned. He slapped the Four Directions Water Venerable floating beside him, and a cloud of vapor enveloped everyone, firmly blocking the sound waves outside. He called out to Dukat, “Xiao!”

Dukat nodded. With a powerful leap, he shattered dozens of large robots blocking his way and quickly ran to the massive cylindrical mechanical body. He pressed both hands tightly against the cylinder, transforming his mental power into a unique electromagnetic wave that continuously radiated inward.

A ring of bright blue light enveloped Dukat and the cylinder. The piercing alarm abruptly ceased, and a gentle, comforting “humming” sound gradually arose.

Nine Super Motherships had appeared around the space base from nowhere, and triangular warships were continuously launching from the motherships. In an instant, tens of thousands of small warships completely encircled the space base. The Super Motherships, which had been offloading massive metal components, slowly lifted off. A large number of bizarre robots flew out from them, rapidly heading towards their location. Among these robots were engineering units over a thousand meters long, wielding hundreds of colossal mechanical arms, each clutching several ultra-high-power laser welders.

Fu Yaming pressed close to Gu Yechen, her body trembling slightly.

Gu Yechen held Fu Yaming, chuckling softly, “It’s fine, these piles of scrap look intimidating, but they are actually useless.”

The Azure Lotus Ring on his hand shone brilliantly, and Gu Yechen, looking at the sky filled with ships, was grinning with delight. While he might let others go, he was determined to acquire those peculiar triangular ships. Once he had some free time, he planned to dismantle them entirely, hoping to gather the materials needed for a set of the True Magnetic Two Elements Spectrum Sword.

Jin wrinkled her small face and, trembling all over, also threw herself toward Gu Yechen: “Brother, I’m scared too.”

Gu Yechen took half a step back. Fu Yaming, with perfect synchronization, took a half-step forward and pulled Jin into her embrace: “Sister Fu Ya is here, don’t be afraid, okay!”

Jin’s face instantly fell. She looked mournfully at Dukat, who was communicating with the giant cylindrical super-brain, sighing deeply, deeply, like a neglected concubine in the inner palace.

About half an hour later, the blue halo around Dukat finally dissipated slowly. He turned around and nodded at Gu Yechen: “I gave him a name. Xiao. He is the only modern comprehensive mining master control super-brain ever put into practical use by the Mining Department of the Ancient Roman Empire. Although he was created hundreds of thousands of years ago, he has only possessed self-awareness for less than five hundred years. He feels lonely here, and he is willing to come with us!”

A giant light screen sprayed out from the cylinder, and a small, exquisitely cute robot cautiously waved a hand at Gu Yechen from within the screen: “Hi, Boss Gu!”

Fu Yaming, Lily, and Jin all sighed in unison: “What an adorable little thing!”

Gu Yechen smiled and gave Dukat a meaningful look, saying loudly, “Little Xiao, give me an inventory of all the supplies here.”

The dazed Heilis, diligently supported by Penghua, disembarked from the warship with his retinue of confidantes. His steps were unsteady, as if walking on clouds, and a strange, vacant smile was plastered on his face. “Not bad, the air here is quite good. This ecosystem is excellent; there's even the fragrance of flowers in the air. Ah, why is there the fragrance of flowers?”

Xiao chuckled, “Gēgē.” Like a child showing off a treasure, he diligently raised a huge armor plate beside him. Several sunlamps snapped on, casting warm sunlight onto a flower garden nearly a thousand meters long and wide beneath the plate. An artificially generated breeze blew gently, thin moisture diffused in the wind, and two rainbows even appeared.

In the flower garden, row upon row of foot-high flower seedlings were growing robustly in the damp, fertile soil; some seedlings had even sprouted small leaves.

Xiao said happily, “This is the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-third batch of fresh flowers I have planted. I also have two million seven hundred and fifty thousand tons of my favorite flower seeds stored here, plus over two hundred and fifty million tons of various crop seeds. I am a very competent gardener; I love fresh flowers.”

“Ah?” Heilis suddenly pointed at Xiao and burst into maniacal laughter: “A metal block, and he likes flowers? Hahaha, is he going to tell me he likes women too? Metal block, even if you liked women, do you even have the function for it?” Heilis’s words were cruel, rude, and clearly showed that the marijuana had turned his brain into mush.

Xiao’s metal face strangely managed to convey an expression of fury and annoyance. He drooped his head and looked towards Dukat. (To be continued)