Chapter 462: Add Points

"Deep Blue, give me more points!"

Li Cheng waved his hand with grand boldness, and the room fell utterly silent; after a moment, the toy factory's intelligent core hesitantly asked, "Respected Factory Owner, are you speaking to me?"

Li Cheng nodded. "Yes, report the factory's current data."

The spherical intelligent core said, "Understood. All six main factory zones, along with the factory defense system and employee dormitories, are Level One. Total surplus special points: 118,846. Two S-class concepts, thirteen A-class concepts, seventy-nine B-class concepts, and uncountable C- and D-class concepts."

Of course! Of course!

Dark cultivation is right; consuming humans is right; one cannot grow rich without unexpected wealth, just as a horse cannot thrive without night grass.

Li Cheng, like a fly finding a trash bin, gleefully rubbed his hands together.

Over one hundred thousand special points! A single raid on the British Museum surpassed the total points he had accumulated before.

Although many concepts in the storage room originated from artifacts submitted by customers, the customers themselves knew nothing of the inner workings.

Pluck the wool fiercely—hoard A-class concepts and return only B-class ones; the customers still thank us!

"Intelligent Core, take note: I'm issuing the following orders."

Li Cheng lifted his head slightly, gazing at the factory's grand dome, and said firmly, "Upgrade the Crushing Room, Refining Room, Analysis Room, Design Room, Remolding Room, and Storage Room all to Level Two."

"Leave the factory defense system and employee dormitories unchanged for now."

"Report: insufficient points."

The intelligent core said, "Upgrading a Level One factory module to Level Two requires twenty thousand special points."

Then it's settled.

Li Cheng readily asked, "Which modules do you recommend upgrading first?"

"Considering the large backlog of orders—with the oldest pending two months out—we recommend upgrading the Crushing Room, Refining Room, Analysis Room, and Remolding Room first."

The intelligent core said, "Upon upgrading to Level Two, the Crushing Room will further increase crushing speed, the Refining Room will reduce loss rate, the Analysis Room will improve concept quality, and the Remolding Room will shorten casting time."

"The Design Room's upgrade can be considered later—priority now is clearing the backlog."

"The remaining twenty thousand special points should be prioritized for upgrading the factory defense system."

"Huh?"

Li Cheng paused, then quickly realized, "Is this region becoming unstable lately?"

"Over the past 48 hours, the factory detected five weak seismic waves, the most recent at 700 kilometers, the shallowest at 300 kilometers."

The intelligent core said, "The cause of the vibrations is unknown."

Li Cheng's eyes narrowed. The Arena was not like Earth's real world—terrain was far too random.

Sometimes, flying a thousand kilometers over open land yielded no living thing—safe, but boring.

Sometimes, taking a stroll could trigger a spatial teleport trap, dumping you into a death zone teeming with Lv30 mutated creatures.

The toy factory's current security strength was still too weak.

After a moment's thought, Li Cheng decisively said, "Do as you suggest: prioritize upgrading the Crushing, Refining, Design, Remolding, and factory defense systems to Level Two. Also, review the Storage Room's concepts and find a way to recreate one or two batches of Servitors."

"One batch stays at the toy factory to handle orders alongside the cylindrical robots."

"The other batch should use high-grade concepts, granting them combat capability and long-range communication, to explore the area around the factory. Passive defense only surrenders initiative; true peace requires active reconnaissance."

"As you command."

The intelligent core rolled up and down, bowing.

The toy factory blared its air-raid siren; all cylindrical robots still working inside rushed out.

The modules undergoing upgrade—Crushing Room, Refining Room, etc. —turned translucent pale blue and began reconstructing in place.

Upgrading would take time. The cylindrical robots on the lawn, perhaps bored, had somehow retrieved an old projector and were playing a documentary on China's five-thousand-year history.

The background male voice, deep and resonant, concisely summarized: "The An Lushan Rebellion shattered the Tang Dynasty's splendor; Zhu Wen murdered the emperor, signaling the end of the once-mighty Tang Empire, reduced to dust beneath the iron hooves of warlord conflicts."

"Wu wu wu wu—"

The cylindrical robots all broke down; some even sobbed uncontrollably, their visual displays spraying oil.

The background voice shifted: "After the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Shi Jingtang's humiliation in ceding the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, Chai Rong's northern campaign ambitions—all vanished with the Chenqiao Mutiny, the Yellow Robe Investiture, bringing Central Plains a rare era of peace and prosperity."

"Yay!"

The cylindrical robots cheered, stood up, and embraced, weeping together.

The background voice shifted again: "Yet the policy of 'strong trunk, weak branches' ultimately sowed hidden dangers; the humiliation of Jingkang remained unavenged—when would the minister's hatred end? Yue Fei's cry of 'Return our rivers and mountains' was drowned out by the songs and dances of Hangzhou's West Lake."

"Wu wu wu wu—"

The cylindrical robots collectively collapsed into tears; some grabbed mud from the ground and rapidly molded it into figures of Qin Hui and Zhao Gou, then began punching and kicking them. Others began reciting "Man Jiang Hong" on the spot.

Li Cheng's eyelid twitched violently; internally he ranted: Don't your emotions switch too fast and naturally?! Was there even a ten-second pause between shifts?!

He shook his head, pulled out his phone, and scrolled through the player forum.

Then he saw a top post: "Speculations on the Truth Behind the London Incident."

Clicking in, he found an argument proving Master Pi Fu was possibly a member of the 【Crazy Laugh Troupe】.

"Think about it: Master Pi Fu, a Lv21 lone wolf—why dare enter London alone? Why could he be on such intimate terms with the Side of Truth? The only answer: he's a reincarnated skin of some high-ranking member of the Crazy Laugh Troupe!"

The post analyzed everything—Master Pi Fu's rise, his modus operandi.

Even crazier, a user with ID 【I Am Not Joker】 was chiming in below:

"After friendly negotiations with the player himself, effective immediately, the Laugh God player (ID: xiaoshen) has disconnected and left the Crazy Laugh Troupe. Thank you for five years of dedication and companionship—may your life's dreams be splendid!"

"We are also pleased to announce that, effective immediately, the Master Pi Fu player (ID: Master Pi Fu) has officially joined the Crazy Laugh Troupe as Rifleman/Chef/CEO/Leader. Let's fight till there's no regret!"

Li Cheng's eyelids twitched violently; sweat pooled on his neck. He checked 【I Am Not Joker】's posting history:

"Why I Say Kun's Deadman Is the New Peak of Chinese Pop Music—Sheer Veil Zhou Jielun, Comparable to Zhang Xueyou, Li Zongsheng Not Unsurpassable"

"The New Superman Movie Is So Good—I'd give it an 8 out of 10, full of laughter and tears, Marvel's best ever."

"People who don't like playing 【Ming's End: Batu Simulator】 have terrible taste. I eagerly await the developer, Mr. Xia Siyuan, rushing out 【Qing's End: Feather of Wuchang】 and 【Republic's End: Seizing Luding Bridge】."

Either provoking fights or being sarcastic—if someone insulted him, he'd reply with a smug, grinning, annoying emoji.

Damn it, Joker, you really didn't die!