Just above the city hovered holographically generated weather.

    Su Qi glanced over the crowd that continuously shuffled down various streets, exhausted.

    "A city prison built specifically for them, yet they can move freely and have access to various shops."

    Su had noticed the dining, resting, entertainment, and leisure commercial streets.

    "I thought, according to the understanding of Mechanical Life, they would directly lock everyone in cells, provide food to sustain life functions and the minimum rest time, and then relentlessly continue mining in a repetitive cycle."

    The elderly man said nothing.

    "You''re more vicious than the Mechanical Life."

    He shook his head, "After all, the Mechanical Life know that we are beings of flesh and blood, and a mental collapse would certainly prompt fierce rebellion."

    "Of course, they are not afraid of rebellion, they are afraid that if too many people die, there won''t be anyone to mine for them."

    Su Qi remained noncommittal.

    He kept walking alongside the old man.

    Su Qi was also constantly observing his surroundings.

    Honestly,

    there were indeed many people from ancient times, but there were obviously more present-world adventurers. After finishing their obligatory labor, they cursed and complained, helplessly hating the world, though to no avail.

    "We''ve been here a week now, nothing but mining, do we even have a chance to escape?"

    "Don''t even think about it, there''s no escaping from here."

    There were even some of the Seventh Rank present, but their expressions were grave: "Countless people have tried, but without exception... all died."

    "Honestly."

    Some had resigned themselves: "Rather than thinking about escaping, if we work hard at mining, we might be able to live more comfortably, get better treatment, and maybe even get promoted to the prison''s management."

    Their exhausted, numb words resounded clearly, yet they fell flat like dead water.

    "Su, stop looking and remember to stick close to me, keep out of their sight, act natural, and don''t draw attention from people around."

    "Do we have to beware of our own people too?"

    The old man took in the scene and sighed,

    "These are people who have already lost their will, spirits dead. Some for better benefits have become the vicious dogs of Mechanical Life, unworthy of trust."

    Under absolute power and domination, naturally, there are many who would betray; such is the selfishness and division innate in human nature.

    "Let''s go, dodge the crowd, into the alley," the old man whispered.

    Su Qi followed the old man; this city prison was quite liberating, considering how vast it was, it felt almost like a normal world where all human needs, from eating and drinking to entertainment, were fulfilled.

    There were still nameplates restricting everyone and various surveillance devices on streets and buildings, allowing people to roam freely.

    The number of people around them dwindled, and the path they took started veering towards gloomy corners.

    Su Qi asked, "Speaking of which, aren''t you worried about being tracked by the nameplate?"

    "No need to fear."

    The old man shook his head and reached up to his ear where he revealed an extremely intricate mechanical chip: "I''ve already blocked them."

    Su Qi raised an eyebrow:

    "Prosthetic?"

    "No, something on a higher level that you cannot imagine… Life Technology," the old man spoke softly.

    However,

    Su Qi had already seen through it all.

    These were just ordinary products of the Divine Machinery Kingdom.

    After all, the most important [Heart of Divine Weaponry] from the entire Divine Machinery Kingdom was still serving as a power source on his starship.

    Moreover,

    the Divine Machinery Kingdom had already been destroyed, this world doesn''t seem to know it exists, and this place might very well be the only remaining part of the Divine Machinery Kingdom... a World Fragment.

    "Help me with something," the old man walked to an extremely dilapidated concrete space next to a sewer.

    "Geez, you gonna steal the manhole cover?"

    The old man''s veins popped: "Help me move the manhole cover!"

    This kid was nothing like people from future generations!

    Not only lacking a sense of urgency, he was curious about everything and even had the mind to joke!

    Su Qi: "Alright."

    He moved the manhole cover aside.

    Then the old man stood by, extended his left hand whose fingers transformed, amalgamating a large number of high-tech active molecules that touched the ground, emitting high-frequency signal waves.

    Su Qi watched this scene, he could only say that he had seen it before; the body of the former captain of the starship had been converted into a mechanical form.

    The next moment.

    From the sewer outlet, a slightly worn blue and white mechanical dog slowly emerged.

    "Don''t panic, it''s one of us." the old man reminded Su Qi, worried that the young man would be scared seeing the Mechanical Life.

    "I''m not panicking."

    Old Man: "....."

    He silently watched as Su Qi reached out to pat the head of the mechanical dog: "Not bad, I''d like to have one."

    The mechanical dog''s eyes whirled as it stared at the old man, a mechanical voice with a jarred tone came out: "Old Wang, is this the newbie you brought this time?"

    Old Wang, pressing his forehead, responded: "Yes."

    It was picked up by Su Qi, who posed it calmly and said: "Seems like a guy with no sense of boundaries."

    Su Qi, however, said interestedly: "Can''t help it, this is my first time encountering a Mechanical Life, quite fascinating."

    Indeed.

    This was a new kind of sequence manifestation, the energy and Spiritual Energy inside were similar, yet fundamentally different.

    Life was another form altogether.

    If it was Mechanical Life, it seemed it could solve the life collapse issue of little Ah Ling, after all, Tentacle Man''s daughter, Ah Ling''s life, was fading away like quicksand due to a curse.

    "Let''s go, newcomer."

    It transformed its body into another shape and left Su Qi''s hands.

    "There are surveillance machines patrolling nearby, we can''t stay here long."

    Having said that.

    A rusty pipe appeared in the dark entrance of the sewer, and it jumped down first.

    Old Wang also nodded at Su Qi: "Let''s go, kid, you''ll understand once we get down there."

    He followed suit.

    "Okay."

    Su Qi also followed, there appeared to be gravity shifts inside, and he felt as if he was moving quickly through some sort of high speed.

    The deeper they went, the more they could see the structure below, intricately built yet with a damaged complex framework.

    "It clearly looks like a prison, yet it''s just like a normal living city, and there''s such a vast space below," Su Qi muttered to himself.

    But the mechanical dog calmly said:

    "Because, this place was originally built for the humans we hired."

    "Only."

    The mechanical dog looked upwards, its tone unchanged, yet its emotions seemed somewhat heavy: "... The rebellious forces are ruthless and unscrupulous, now this place has become a prison enslaved by them [Black Spark]."

    Su Qi pondered: "So, you were originally the leaders of this world, and quite friendly with the creatures of the Present World, but were defeated by this [Black Spark] Mechanical Army."

    "Now, you''re hiding below with some humans, barely surviving."

    Old Wang: ".... Kid, your words are somewhat hurtful."

    "But it seems this is the truth, and even more cruel."

    Su Qi, stroking his chin, analyzed: "Because from what I see now, the most important thing for Mechanical Life is energy, and they''re controlling almost all the energy mining areas."

    "From the current standpoint… It seems like a crushing disparity."

    The mechanical dog instead turned its head, showing some emotion: "Humans, you can''t judge our strength."

    "Is that so?"

    Su Qi smiled.

    When he had just picked up the mechanical dog, he had already captured quite a bit of information; it had high strength but some parts were worn and it was also in a super energy-saving mode.

    Here, they were likely in a severe energy crisis.

    In this place where energy is everything, they were completely overwhelmed.

    No wonder Old Wang was so thrilled when he took out that extremely pure energy stone and hurriedly brought him over.

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