IMC Chapter 129

The mechanoids’ powerful learning and practical abilities left the trio stunned. When the Xia Wang Tribe established its magic academy and began training mages, the speed at which they cultivated them was considered extraordinary. However, compared to the mechanoids, their efforts seemed insignificant. What’s more, the mechanoids had accomplished this research entirely through self-exploration, without any guidance.

Although the wind magic on this floor wasn’t very powerful and could easily be overlooked as it was mixed in with the sonic waves, it was undeniable that the mechanoids had already uncovered the essence of magic.

At this rate, the trio realized that their greatest advantage would soon be nullified. When that happened, they would have no choice but to confront the mechanoids head-on. Just thinking about such a scenario was terrifying, but what was even more frightening was the current predicament of Shu Bao and the others.

They were stuck at the center of the main brain building, with large numbers of mechanoid guards waiting for them whether they moved forward or backward. If they continued forward, the obstacles would be one thing, but the bigger issue was that the mechanoids would continue to gather large amounts of data from them, further refining their research on the magical system.

However, if they retreated, the mechanoids might collect less data, but that would mean their mission would be in vain. Even if they successfully escaped the mechanoids’ star system before the mechanoids cracked the magic system, they wouldn’t be spared. Once the mechanoids traced the faintest clues to the Qing Wang Star System, it would face the same catastrophic fate as predicted.

Caught in a dilemma, the trio hesitated for only a brief moment before quickly reaching a consensus: they would continue onward. After all, none of them were of a timid disposition. They knew that a brief retreat would only ensure temporary safety. To solve the problem, they had to face it head-on.

They quickly cracked the mechanoids’ sonic defense system, avoided detection by the mechanoid guards, and proceeded to the next floor. As they continued, they became even more cautious, trying not to expose their magic and reducing the amount of information collected by the mechanoids. However, as they delved deeper, the mechanoids’ defensive methods became increasingly advanced. It was impossible to break through without using magic.

As the trio had suspected, on the next floors, the defense systems began to feature a significant amount of magical attacks. These attacks initially weren’t very powerful and seemed to be just the mechanoids testing the waters. However, as their understanding of magic grew, the attacks became stronger and more troublesome.

By the time the trio managed to break through the ninety-third floor, the magical attacks from the mechanoids had reached a terrifying level. In a pure magical battle, the mechanoids’ magic was no weaker than that of the top-tier mages in the Xia Wang Tribe.

When the trio left the ninety-third floor and prepared to descend to the ninety-fourth, the main brain building gave its first proactive warning, informing them that the danger they would face on the next floor would far exceed their expectations and advising them to turn back. Of course, Shu Bao and the others had no intention of retreating and moved forward without hesitation, entering the ninety-fourth floor.

As it turned out, immense danger often accompanied immense reward. On the ninety-fourth floor, they finally found what they had been searching for: the core data of the mechanoids. Here, stored in chronological order, was a wealth of historical and scientific information about the mechanoids. It could be said that the last ten floors contained the true value of the mechanoids’ culture.

What puzzled the trio, however, was that there seemed to be no defense systems on the ninety-fourth floor, nor any mechanoid guards. At first, they thought there might be some hidden defense system, as in previous floors. But after circling the entire floor, they triggered nothing.

After a careful check, they began searching for information about the mechanoids. On this floor, there was almost no data related to other races; everything stored here was about the mechanoids themselves.

The high-tech building’s data storage method, of course, wasn’t traditional paper-based. Everything had been digitized, but the traditional library reading mode had been preserved, with numerous virtual bookshelves and books. They even simulated the tactile sensation of flipping through paper books.

Shu Bao quickly pinpointed the section about the origin of the mechanoids in the directory, eager to begin reading. However, what he didn’t expect was that the mechanoids’ records about their own origins were quite vague. Unlike their advanced technology, their accounts of their origins were more mythologized.

In the mechanoids’ records, their creation is divided into two stages: the shell stage and the soul awakening stage. Their shells were a gift from their ancestors, whose names were Lai Mi and Wei Lai. As for the soul awakening, it was said that the gods granted them souls and wisdom to help them resist the invasion of external evil forces.

Upon reading this, Shu Bao was confused. The mechanoids were fighting against evil forces? Could it be that the humanoid creatures in Lai Mi’s painting were not the mechanoids?

Puzzled, Shu Bao continued flipping through the records and then came across the name of the evil forces: Humans!

This revelation initially shocked Shu Bao, but he quickly calmed down. Of course, he had heard so much about the mechanoids’ hatred for humans. To the mechanoids, what could be more evil than humanity? Unfortunately, the historical records didn’t mention the fundamental reason behind the conflict between humans and the mechanoids. It seemed that from the moment humans appeared, they were viewed as synonymous with evil.

Due to time constraints, after downloading the data from this floor, Shu Bao didn’t continue browsing. After discussing with the other two, they realized that the data on this floor was all about the mechanoids’ history, divided into stages. It seemed that the last ten floors contained the entire history of the mechanoids, from ancient times to the present.

Once they had gathered their things, they continued to the next floor. However, when they arrived at the ninety-second floor, they were shocked to find it was still completely empty—nothing was there. The same was true for the previous floor. This situation was extremely strange.

After cautiously exploring and finding nothing, the trio immediately began examining the data on this floor. To their surprise, the records on this floor were exactly the same as the previous one. Soon, they realized that it wasn’t the data that was identical—it was that they were still on the ninety-first floor!

They hadn’t descended to the ninety-second floor. They were inexplicably trapped on the ninety-first floor.

“Is this spatial magic?” Shu Bao noticed the traces he had left earlier and carefully felt the magical fluctuations.

“There are indeed magical fluctuations, but there are also some spatial technologies at play. It’s not something that can be broken through with magic alone,” Fu Qing replied, giving an unfavorable answer, which was also their initial concern. The mechanoids’ technology was far too advanced. Once they mastered magic, the combination of technology and magic would make it impossible for the exploration team to rely on their magic alone.

Lan Qing looked around the floor but couldn’t find any flaws. There was no sign of what was causing the spatial shift. “If it’s just a spatial shift, that’s fine, but what if the flow of time is different here? If we’re trapped for a day, a hundred years could pass outside. That would be disastrous.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the other two turned their gaze toward him. Lan Qing quickly raised his hands. “I’m just giving an example.”

“Just hope that example isn’t true,” Shu Bao said. The mechanoids would not be so kind as to simply trap them with spatial magic. Time, for any living being, was the most powerful weapon.

At this point, the trio realized the true meaning of the warning from the main brain building back on the ninetieth floor. From the ninety-first floor onward, the issue was no longer just a matter of technology and magic. It now involved space, time, and other factors. When they stepped into the ninety-first floor, they had already entered a different dimension of time and space.

“What do we do now? Should we just break through the floor and go down?” Lan Qing said anxiously, pacing around before suggesting a rather crude solution.

Shu Bao and Fu Qing, who had been worrying, suddenly had a flash of insight upon hearing Lan Qing’s suggestion. While they couldn’t solve the spatial and time issues, they could deal with the device that created the problem—the floor! They could simply destroy the ninety-first floor.

However, it was clear that the mechanoids had anticipated this when designing the defense for this floor. The flooring material after the ninetieth floor was highly specialized—exactly the same type of flooring Shu Bao had seen in the Mechanoids’ ruins. This material was incredibly hard, possibly the hardest in the universe, and it also served as a medium for the Mechanoids’ energy transmission and storage.

While other races would be helpless in the face of such a metal, two of the three had the means to deal with it. One was Shu Bao, the treasure-seeking mouse, and the other was Lan Qing, who had already become an ancient dragon. Fu Qing, not one to back down, also declared that given ten or eight years, he could wear through the floor himself.

As Fu Qing rambled on, Lan Qing gathered enough energy and began to exhale dragon breath on the floor. The terrifying power of the ancestral dragon’s breath wasn’t just its extreme temperature, but also the purest energy in the universe. Before their eyes, the tough floor began to crack visibly.

Shu Bao and Fu Qing, who were watching and cheering, praised Lan Qing for his incredible skill, with Shu Bao even marveling at his welding technique, saying he could start teaching classes on it.

As the cheers from the other two echoed, the floor finally cracked open with a loud snap. As the hole appeared, the entire ninety-first floor shook noticeably. This wasn’t an earthquake, but the instability created by breaking the spatial boundary.

Looking through the hole, they could see the lights of the ninety-second floor. Without hesitation, the three of them jumped down one by one, avoiding the defense system at the entrance by landing in the central area.

After landing, the three couldn’t help but sigh. Why hadn’t they thought of this earlier? The floors above might not have been as sturdy as this one. If they had been welding their way down, they would have saved a lot of time. The only downside was it consumed quite a bit of dragon energy.

It seemed the mechanoids had either not anticipated someone using such a crude, unconventional method to reach the ninety-second floor, or they had been too confident in the hardness of the flooring between the levels. Either way, when Shu Bao and the others landed, the ninety-second floor was devoid of the mechanoids. Seizing the opportunity, the trio didn’t even bother looking at the data and rushed straight to the next floor.