Chapter 344: Restarting [Grace]

After obtaining the Mechanical Source Points converted by the Heterostructure Cube, Lin Xian felt his energy receive an extremely pure replenishment. This power, converted from the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, surged wildly throughout the Infinite and even into some of the nearby train fleets. Invisibly, it brought improvements to the abilities and physical evolution of many people, and even their stamina was significantly restored. For survivors who had just experienced a brutal battle, this was undoubtedly a timely gift!

Seeing the Mechanical Heart panel, Lin Xian sighed in relief, thinking there was finally some good news. The great battle in the Star Abyss had helped his and everyone else's abilities improve. At the same time, if he were to devour the remaining carriages of the Ocean and the Parrot, his Mechanical Devour skill would reach level 5, and his speed and efficiency would surely be even faster.

"Wait!"

Lin Xian thought of this, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat: "The Ocean's engineering-grade nuclear locomotive set has 170 megawatts of thermal power, and the Parrot's has 140 megawatts. Doesn't that add up to over 300 megawatts!!!"

Then couldn't his Surge skill complete its amplification upgrade?

Thinking of this, Lin Xian immediately opened the skill panel.

Surge (Rare) (Level 3, Maxed): Can be amplified into: 【Superstring Reactor Phase Rainbow Ring】

Amplification Requirement: Complete the devouring of nuclear power devices with a total thermal power exceeding 300 megawatts.

Amplification Time: 24 hours

Good heavens, not to mention how many Mechanical Source Points he could get from devouring two nuclear locomotive sets, but if he could unlock this new skill, he would at least possess the potential for an AT Field shield capable of withstanding an S-rank attack. Back in Xilan City, Lin Xian had inexplicably borrowed this skill in advance to convert the Unit-01's nuclear energy and expand the AT Field shield, which was the only reason he blocked the ray attack from the black thorn in the clouds. Although he wasn't sure why he had used this skill early, Lin Xian already knew its heaven-defying nature.

Simply put, Lin Xian's Mechanical Heart originally output power to drive the train, with all energy sources coming from his own energy conversion. But this skill was the reverse; Lin Xian could gather electrical energy within his controllable range onto himself. As long as the Infinite existed, Lin Xian was equivalent to having a 290-megawatt nuclear reactor behind him!

This was definitely good news!

Thinking of this, Lin Xian felt energized and returned directly to Carriage No. 1 to start taking action.

At this time, the remaining team members of the Ocean and the Parrot were dismantling the weapon equipment and supplies in the carriages with the help of other fleets. Lin Xian had notified them in advance, and these people all knew that Team Leader Lin needed to use his mechanical abilities to convert materials, so no one had any objections and they all came to help.

These carriages were not too important to other trains. Now, the joint train had many vehicles but few people, and the core remained the locomotive sets.

Not long after, both trains were emptied. Lin Xian stayed in Weapon Carriage No. 13, devouring the train carriages outside from a distance, while constantly taking out the converted materials to manufacture ammunition.

Given the current situation, he had to supply all the fleets. Lin Xian turned himself into a mechanical manufacturing center, finding that state of selfless manufacturing he had experienced under the snowy night in Xilan City.

【Devour Progress 65%】

【Devour Successful, Mechanical Source Points +50, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +10】

【Manufacturing Successful - Roarer K23 Electric Gatling Gun】

【Manufacturing Proficiency +10】

The entire joint train's arc formation was now covered by the shimmering film of the Heterostructure Cube. The darkness here seemed to be vastly different from outside the film, as if clarity and thick fog were separated. All the survivors, besides feeling worried, did not feel the coldness of being in the darkness as they had before.

The dark forest on all four sides seemed completely obscured by dense spatial black fog, and even the trees and earth seemed distorted to the eye. But when you stared closely, they returned to normal, as if some kind of visual poisoning had occurred.

Shasha lay by the window, looking outside through a gap, her small brow furrowed as she muttered:

"Sister Kiki, do you think we can still escape this time?"

"Of course we can. Trust your Lin Ge, Sister Kiki, Sister Chen, and your brother..." Kiki was operating the computer with a serious expression and said, "We survived that kind of desperate situation just now, which means we all have the constitution of those who survive great disasters."

Shasha returned to the bed and lay down: "The bullets for the Sally are all gone. If only Lin Ge could manufacture a giant mecha like the one in Xilan City, we could all live inside it. Even an S-rank monster would be knocked down with one punch!"

Kiki rolled her eyes and nodded: "Your Lin Ge does indeed have such intentions, but it's definitely difficult~"

Shasha touched her little belly: "When we were first sucked into the abyss, I almost vomited my stomach out. It was too disgusting. I'll definitely have nightmares tonight."

As she said this, she looked up at Kiki: "Sister, what are you busy with?"

"That robot. The system analysis is almost finished. I am..." Kiki smacked her lips: "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"How could I not understand!" Shasha sat up directly upon hearing this and said proudly: "Isn't it just an AI robot butler? I heard that thing can fight and is very powerful. When the time comes, all those dangerous jobs can be left to the robot, and Lin Ge will be much more relaxed, right~"

When Kiki heard this, her fingers, which were typing on the keyboard, suddenly stopped in mid-air, and then she slowly turned her head to look at Shasha.

"Why are you looking at me..." Shasha looked stunned and turned her head back suddenly: "Is there a ghost behind me?"

Who would have thought that at this moment, Kiki's eyes suddenly lit up. She flew over and pinched her little face, then said excitedly: "So smart! I'll reward you with candy later!!"

Before the words had even faded, she flew rapidly toward Carriage No. 13. At this time, Lin Xian was focused on manufacturing ammunition and weapons while devouring the carriages outside. Gao Ta and Shu Qin were leading people to continuously sort the various types of bullets produced by the fully automatic bullet stamping machine, which were then used to replenish the various fleets. Under Lin Xian's operation, the entire Infinite was like an automatic logistics supply mothership, continuously bringing hope to the various fleets.

At this moment, Kiki quickly swept past the carriages and came to Lin Xian's side, patting him on the shoulder and saying in an urgent tone:

"Hey, hey, Lin Xian, I have an idea. Do you want to hear it?"

Lin Xian raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her: "Speak."

Kiki pointed to the rear carriage: "The overwrite program for 【Grace】 is almost done. If we use this AI robot together with the PX-05 maintenance robot to lay tracks all the way to Baicheng using the Longshan No. 1 track-laying machine, do you think it's feasible? The robot shouldn't be marked with a dark mark, right?"

When Lin Xian heard her words, his eyes flickered immediately. He pondered for a moment and said:

"I've never thought about this question, but it seems to be the case. I really haven't seen any anomalous entities attack non-living objects."

Kiki nodded fiercely: "Laying tracks in such a complex area is definitely impossible for those maintenance robots alone, but this AI quantum volume is 8192, with a full (2^13) computing power. You only need to manufacture tracks in the camp and let her execute the laying. After it's built, we can rush out directly!"

Lin Xian's eyes flickered, and he felt a bit energized. He immediately focused and said: "Repairing bridges and laying roads isn't that simple, unless the terrain is completely ideal, but..."

Having said this, Lin Xian also hesitated for a moment and nodded: "But this is indeed a way, and it's worth a try. However, to be cautious, after you overwrite 【Grace】, I will take a drone out of the camp to test it separately!"

That was what he said, but Lin Xian was still worried that such an active attack would trigger a chain reaction in the dark forest, which was why he prepared to take a flying drone to do a test.

Although signal control would be impossible from a distance, Lin Xian only needed to set an automatic flight program for the aircraft to fly to a specific area. If it didn't cause any commotion, then this plan would indeed be feasible.

Lin Xian didn't hold much hope for this plan, but in the current predicament, he could only treat a dead horse as a living one. Even if it didn't work, he could let 【Grace】 conduct reconnaissance outside, which was better than everyone being trapped here.

Moreover, he had long had ideas about this 【Grace】. As a Deep Red AI, it could provide him with a lot of help. And the robot's materials were extremely special; it was also a great weapon in battle. You have to know that when they were at the Zero Element Center, Xiang Ningjing, the strength queen, couldn't even break its alloy panel with one punch. Its defensive power was evident!

Even if it didn't work, this AI could help share some decision-making pressure.

"Hmm~" Kiki also felt energized at this time. She cupped her chin and suddenly had a whimsical idea: "Lin Xian, do you think those Advent Sect members who want to engage in digital life might also have this plan? Uploading their consciousness into a computer and becoming a robot, so they wouldn't be afraid of the darkness."

"Perhaps. Although the original intention wasn't because of this, the goal is the same," Lin Xian said.

Even if it was just an offline version, there wouldn't be many robots of Grace's level in the world. The best way to perfect digital life was through cloud storage computing, but now the global information network was paralyzed. Uploading one person's consciousness into an AI alone wouldn't solve any problems. Of course, one couldn't be absolute; who knew what extreme things those Advent Sect members would do...

"But there is another problem." Lin Xian thought of what Xiang Ningjing had said just now: "Baicheng was swallowed by the Star Abyss on the Apocalypse Day, and the track situation there is also unclear. If some complex problems arise, 【Grace】 might not be able to solve them either."

【Grace】 was just an AI and did not possess telekinesis or mechanical manufacturing capabilities. If she encountered special situations, even if she had extremely high computing power, it would be futile if she lacked engineering capabilities.

Kiki nodded upon hearing this: "Then we can send 【Grace】 to Baicheng to investigate first. After we understand the specific situation, then we can take action."

"This is possible." Lin Xian looked at her: "About how much longer will it take?"

"It has already been parsed. Not much useful data was found. The Deep Red World is very cautious. This AI was specifically manufactured to guard the Zero Element Center. After I export her motion modules and thought models, I just need to delete the irrelevant parts and then perform a system overwrite. It will take about two hours."

"Good." Lin Xian responded: "Then let's hurry."

Kiki nodded and immediately ran back to start operating.

Lin Xian raced against time to manufacture ammunition and devour carriages. The Ocean and the Parrot had a total of 32 carriages. Except for the two nuclear locomotive sets and two electric traction locomotives, the remaining 28 were ordinary carriages with thick armor, which Lin Xian used to devour one by one.

Each ordinary carriage yielded more Mechanical Source Points than a flatbed trailer. After all, they contained many carriage electrical systems. Devouring one yielded Lin Xian about 50 Mechanical Source Points and a large amount of metal materials.

【Devour Successful, Mechanical Source Points +50, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +10】

【Congratulations, Mechanical Devour upgraded to Level 5, Devour efficiency improved!】

After devouring four carriages, Lin Xian's Mechanical Devour proficiency finally reached 2000, completing the upgrade. In an instant, he felt his devouring progress take a leap forward again. An empty train carriage that originally took about 20 minutes now only took 13 minutes to devour, greatly improving efficiency!

【Devour Successful, Mechanical Source Points +30, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +5】

After the devouring upgrade, Lin Xian devoured another carriage. Sure enough, after the level increased, the effect obtained from low-precision machinery and batch devouring was discounted again. Lin Xian was already used to this change.

It was as if these Mechanical Source Points were his Mechanical Heart's learning of technology. The higher the level, the higher the demand for precision technology. It was obviously unfeasible to want to improve infinitely by batch-taking industrial products. Now, Lin Xian only got a few Mechanical Source Points for devouring a car, which, apart from materials, was negligible for upgrading.

After a while, Kiki's voice came through the communicator.

"Lin Xian, it's done."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xian immediately stopped what he was doing and ran toward Carriage No. 21. The weapon station here only had one 1130, and apart from that, it was vacant, with some sundries and tool equipment placed there. 【Grace】, sealed by Lin Xian with a metal cabinet, was also here.

At this time, Kiki had already opened the metal cabinet, holding a computer and sitting on the ground. Several data cables of the Infinite were connected to the back of Grace's head.

"I've already deployed it, just waiting for you."

"Where is Luo Yang?"

"He's leading people to set up isolation power grids and monitoring sensors along the front line."

"Alright." Lin Xian nodded: "You operate it directly. I've already controlled her mechanical units."

To ensure nothing went wrong, Lin Xian was completely uneasy about this Deep Red AI that hadn't undergone a system overwrite. Fortunately, although his mechanical abilities couldn't handle her quantum processor for the time being, he could at least control her motion units, which prevented this robot from exhibiting aggressive behavior.

Da da da~

Kiki operated the computer rapidly: "Okay, the overwrite has started. It will take about 20 minutes. I've completely erased her system logic protocol and added a new one, and only one."

"What protocol?" Lin Xian asked.

Kiki looked back at him and said very seriously: "Basic protocol: Fully obey all of Lin Xian's instructions."

"Apart from this, do you want to add anything else?"

Lin Xian smiled upon hearing this: "This one is enough. I haven't thought of anything else for the time being."

"Alright then."

Di~

At this moment, under Kiki's operation, the full overwrite of 【Grace】 officially began. Grace's secondary energy started to activate, the quantum core processor began to run, and the superconducting qubit array on the back of her neck lit up with dense red diagnostic lights the moment the system overwrite instruction arrived, scattering and reconstructing all three million bionic neuron synapses within her humanoid shell. An extremely powerful computing state began to emerge.

Lin Xian watched this scene with a slightly solemn expression. He knew that an AI of 【Grace】's level was definitely not an ordinary robot. Even for the Phoenix Society or Xinghua Heavy Industry, according to Kiki, there wouldn't be more than 10 AIs with this kind of computing power, mainly applied to the construction control of large space stations, aircraft, or super-large bases.

Lin Xian guessed that in the Phoenix Society, there must be an AI of a higher level than 【Grace】 used as a central decision-making unit for global strategic coordination. And in an Advent Sect organization like the Deep Red World, it was actually used as an offline management for an underground base. Combined with Chu Yan's team's consciousness reconnaissance of Julius Lite at the Zero Element Center, Lin Xian concluded that the importance of the Zero Element Center was far higher than he had previously imagined.

"Lin Xian!"

Just as Lin Xian and Kiki were waiting for 【Grace】's system overwrite to complete, suddenly, 【Grace】's holographic facial features began to flicker, and that 'Chu Yan' face appeared again. This sudden scene caused the expressions of Lin Xian and Kiki to change.

"What's going on?" Lin Xian shouted.

"It's a hidden program. It aborted the overwrite of the underlying operating system!" Kiki said in surprise: "I'll erase it immediately."

Just then, 【Grace】, wearing the 'Chu Yan' face, slowly opened her eyes and looked at Lin Xian standing in front of her. The holographic face flickered constantly, and she spoke using a broken audio system:

"Lin Xian, in... in the transcendent dimension... do... do not understand it from your own dimension. The power of the dark world must possess a co-frequency effect. Perhaps... perhaps you can communicate through the same substance..."

"Who exactly are you!?" Lin Xian immediately questioned loudly.

Zzz zzz zzz, the holographic face flickered and disappeared. This message had ended, and at this time, 【Grace】's operating system had also been completely overwritten.

Kiki looked at this scene in surprise and said: "She just... was talking to you?"

Lin Xian immediately looked at Kiki: "Kiki, can you still find the program document for that message just now?"

Kiki shook her head and frowned: "No, it has been completely overwritten. That background system seems to have been specially arranged, taking over the system upon detecting the program deletion. But..."

"As if it knew in advance that we were going to do this?" Lin Xian's face darkened. Looking at 【Grace】, who was starting her system, a storm rose in his heart.

Who exactly was talking to him, and what did the words just now mean?

A reminder? A warning?

Why would 【Grace】 know his current predicament?

Why would this robot know that he was going to overwrite her program?

The tangled mysteries continued to wind around Lin Xian's heart like thick asphalt. Ever since contacting Chu Yan and the Deep Red World, Lin Xian began to feel that a mysterious existence seemed to be watching him. But at the same time, the 'reminder' at the Zero Element Center was indeed 'well-intentioned' for Lin Xian from the results, which made Lin Xian even more confused.

If it wasn't Chu Yan, then why would the Deep Red World help him?

In Carriage No. 21, Lin Xian and Kiki were both caught in a state of astonishment. The scene just now was too bizarre, and even Kiki was caught off guard.

"Transcendent dimension, co-frequency effect... Is she telling us something?" Kiki said.

Lin Xian shook his head: "I didn't quite understand, but intuition tells me that this information is very critical!"

"Then... should we tell the others?" Kiki asked.

Lin Xian's face darkened slightly, and he repeated Grace's words in a low voice: "In the transcendent dimension, do not understand it from your own dimension. The power of the dark world must possess a co-frequency effect..."

"What exactly does it mean?"

"Does this mean that the power of the dark world should be interfered with by the existence of the dark dimension itself..." Kiki quickly reacted: "For example, the Hell Black Chrysanthemum sensing S-rank existences, the Heterostructure Cube shielding dark invasions, and the Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Errors clearing the dark space layering!"

Lin Xian focused his eyes: "Disaster plants and forbidden items are all existences in the dark dimension. Now the Federation and the Phoenix Society are researching dark existences to deal with disasters. Your line of thinking is indeed correct."

Counting the dark dimension existences he currently possessed, Lin Xian had two disaster plants and two forbidden items here, and Brother Huo had a golden bracelet. Lin Xian thought of the silver bullet head that Hu Lushou had given him. But the problem was, he knew too little about forbidden items. Why didn't Brother Huo's golden necklace and that silver bullet bring a disaster of fear, but the Fish-Lion Colossus encountered in the Akse No-Man's Land sucked everyone into the Star Abyss?

"These problems might have to be left to Director Ding to find a way." Lin Xian took a deep breath and looked at Kiki: "Back to the present, can we be sure that this AI is okay now?"

This question also stumped Kiki. She frowned and was uncharacteristically uncertain: "Logically speaking, the underlying operating system has been overwritten, and you didn't find any other intelligence cores through mechanical scanning, so it should be clean in principle. However, if there is power beyond machinery affecting it..." She looked at Lin Xian as she said this: "It's hard to say."

The sudden change in Grace made Kiki, who was usually confident, feel a bit lost. Plus, they had encountered too many strange things along the way, and Kiki also had some doubts about the reliability of computers.

"The same situation happened last time. Grace's self-check is program embedding. Since it has been overwritten, let's start it."

If someone could really control an AI directly, then this ability was several grades higher than Lin Xian's Mechanical Heart. Having finally gotten an AI and waited so long, Lin Xian still decided to start it directly.

At the very least, 【Grace】's abnormal reminders seemed to be 'well-intentioned' for Lin Xian so far. The top priority was to use 【Grace】 to solve problems, so he could only suppress the bizarre situation and start 【Grace】.

"Okay." Kiki nodded: "Then I'll start it."

Lin Xian looked up at the exquisite mechanical face and suddenly reached out to take off the beautiful mask used as facial decoration on 【Grace】. Anyway, it had already been cracked by Xiang Ningjing, and he happened to use it to devour and study this new material.

【Devour Successful, Mechanical Source Points +20, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +5】

【Obtained Super Carbon-Solid Condensed Alloy *2】

The new material was in hand. Lin Xian guessed correctly; the level was indeed Level 5, even higher than the Super Carbon-Yne Alloy of the Unit-01. It was indeed a rare item, and this was the first time Lin Xian had obtained a Level 5 material.

If he used this material to manufacture battle armor or train armor, Lin Xian estimated he could face the Snow Demon tide head-on. But Lin Xian was just thinking about it. With the scarcity of Level 5 materials, even if Lin Xian devoured the entire Infinite to prepare it, he probably couldn't convert enough material for one carriage. Now, the latest armor plates of the Infinite only used Level 3 Tungsten-Titanium Alloy plus an inner lining layer, just using the armor layer design of the Unit-01, which was already more awesome than the hull materials of the Interstellar Military's tanks and aerial gunships.

After taking off the mask, 【Grace】's face presented a faceless state with the same metallic luster as her body, which looked much more pleasing and comfortable, at least without that sense of bizarreness.

"Hey, this looks much better~" Kiki couldn't help but say.

Lin Xian weighed the mask in his hand: "Let's keep this state for dialogue from now on. Cancel the holographic face."

"Hmm." Kiki pressed the restart button. Instantly, the core on 【Grace】's chest began to light up, and then all the motion units of her whole body resonated and began to move smoothly. Under Kiki's operation, 【Grace】's faceless face looked at Lin Xian, and a light screen scanned Lin Xian's body.

【System Startup, Current Version, Deep Red No. 3 AI Offline Version】

【Scanning Protocol Instructor】

【Physical signs, iris scan complete. Hello Lin Xian, please issue the first instruction to me to help me identify your voiceprint information.】

【Grace】 walked out of the metal box at this time, her hands behind her back, her toes on tiptoe, still using the elegant motion mode from before. She looked at Lin Xian like an arrogant ballet butler.

Lin Xian examined this AI robot and immediately said: "From today on, your name is Grace. Don't call yourself Deep Red No. 3 anymore."

【Voiceprint Identification Successful】

【Understood, my name will be Grace from now on】

Kiki typed on the keyboard and said to Lin Xian: "I've also entered the information of other team members. She will identify them as friendly forces one by one. Now she needs a little time for deep learning."

"Learning what?" Lin Xian asked.

"The Infinite, Apocalypse Day, Eastward Escape, Ring Star Train Plan, the abilities of all members, abilities, including our current environmental situation..." Kiki said in one breath: "Only then will she understand under what circumstances your arrangements are made."

"Then how long will that take?"

Kiki smiled upon hearing this: "If it were our computer or mecha system, it would take at least 30 days to understand and train such an AI, but for her..."

She looked at 【Grace】 standing quietly in front of her and said proudly.

"It only takes 1 second."

(End of Chapter)