Chapter 1714: Control VS Cooperation
Lu Yin had not expected the city to have no humans or even astral beasts, as the Technocracy was supposed to treat all creatures equally. Regardless of if one was human or an astral beast, they were just another life form. However, there were actually no living creatures within First Edition City at all.
The sky above the city had crisscrossing pipes covering it, and there were occasionally ripples in the void when a supercomputer integrated with an android body, not one of which was weak. Although there were no runes in this place, which made it impossible for Lu Yin to precisely determine the strength of anything, he was certain that there were terrifyingly powerful things in this city, as it had the strength to scare even the First Protector.
"Be careful. This place is giving an old man like me a few heart palpitations," the First Protector stated dryly.
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "This junior is also a bit nervous. Is this really a place where people can live?"
"Don’t be ridiculous! Of course not. If you tried to, you’d find yourself going insane sooner or later," the First Protector retorted in a miserable tone. He was still terribly upset that they had been forced to enter First Edition City. Humans had always been the most prevalent species, but in this city, humans were seen as out of place oddities. The mechanical, interchangeable bodies were the most common sight in First Edition City, and it was a jarring change for humans.
Lu Yin still remembered Aeternus Nation. There had been ordinary humans living there, but all of them had been nothing more than livestock, reared for the corpse kings. That place had also had a dead feeling, much like First Edition City, but the cities in Aeternus Nation also contained a feeling of despair and violence.
To some degree, Aeternus Nation and First Edition City had similarities, as neither was a place where humans would willingly live.
"Everyone, please follow me. You’ve had a difficult journey to get here. I’m the vice city master, and I’ve already made arrangements for your quarters during your visit." The person who received them had the appearance of a beautiful woman who looked no different from a regular human. Her frowns and smiles were both beautiful and natural, but Lu Yin had seen a brain enter the mechanical body just before it started to move.
This person was an android, though one with an exceptionally beautiful appearance. This individual most likely enjoyed a high status within First Edition City, and they were also quite strong, as they could compare to an Enlighter.
"Thank you, Vice City Master," the first disciple of the Cloud Valley Master replied.
The beautiful android smiled in reply before leading Lu Yin and the rest of the party towards the center of the city.
There were no identifiable streets within the city. For the supercomputer, the pipes acted as streets, and the android bodies were simply vehicles. They had no need to make actual streets for their “vehicles,” as the androids were treated like s.p.a.ceships or cars.
There were also no houses in First Edition City, but rather strange lightforms that could be found everywhere. Occasionally, an android would exit or enter one of these lightforms. This was simply a city of supercomputers.
Lu Yin and the others were provided with a house that was located close to a transportation pipe. According to the beautiful android, the lightforms could be altered at will, and people could control them with their thoughts.
Lu Yin created an ordinary-looking stone house with the lightform, and when he touched it, it even had the correct texture. This level of technology was simply magical.
Suddenly, a screen appeared far above the city, and Lu Yin and the others looked up to see fourteen figures appear on the ma.s.sive screen. A loud voice announced, "Welcome, guests from humanity. Your visit to our city coincides with a once-in-a-decade compet.i.tion. This android compet.i.tion has reached the semi-finals, and the finals will take place in a month, just in time for our guests from humanity to spectate. You are all welcome to attend."
The whole city started buzzing.
Lu Yin walked out, and he was surprised at the announcement. "Android compet.i.tion?"
Emperor Luo explained, "Both First Edition City and Sky Creation Academy have a number of research teams. These places don’t actually have any families or sects, just research teams. They develop androids or weapons that appear in these compet.i.tions. The winners receive more resources, opportunities, and even a higher status.”
Lu Yin understood that every place had their own compet.i.tions, and the Technocracy was naturally no different. The Human Domain’s compet.i.tions took place in the form of conquests and internal conflicts while the Technocracy’s way of competing was open for all to see.
These compet.i.tions were also events that could only occur in the Technocracy due to the Master Brain’s absolute control over the place. The Human Domain could never pull off such a compet.i.tion.
"Many dominant consciousness prefer to remain with an android that they built themselves. If you look up at the screen, you’ll see profile pictures of fourteen individuals. Of the two at the top, one is the city master, who’s been famous for thousands of years. That dominant consciousness is very powerful, and in the past, they’ve led two research teams to partic.i.p.ate in no less than ten of these compet.i.tions, and they’ve even won twice.
"The other one at the top is named R1O, who’s a talented inventor who only recently appeared. He’s also leading a research team, but this is their first time partic.i.p.ating in a compet.i.tion. They’ve already qualified for the finals, and they also have got a good chance of winning," Emperor Luo explained.
Isn’t that little R1O? Lu Yin"s eyes flashed. Wasn’t that the person who had designed the android blueprints that he had Pilfered and given to Ban Jiu? This was a fated encounter!
"How do you know all of this?" Lu Yin wondered. Emperor Luo had been absent from the Technocracy for many years, so he should not know about all this.
Emperor Luo pulled out a gadget and pa.s.sed it to Lu Yin. "This is from the android that met us. They gave each of us one so that we can learn a bit about the Technocracy."
Lu Yin and the others had all stored their gadgets in their cosmic rings before arriving at First Edition City so that none of their information could be accessed or discovered by the Technocracy.
Once Lu Yin started browsing through the gadget, he quickly learned about the recent android compet.i.tion, as well as a detailed summary that was readily accessible.
A total of 100 research teams had partic.i.p.ated in the compet.i.tion, but only two teams had reached the semi-finals.
The former champion team had mainly focused on developing weapons, so androids were not their forte. Still, they had developed some combat androids, so if they won, it could only be said that the Technocracy was biased.
The weapons that the former champions had created were very powerful, and Lu Yin took a look at some images of them. The weapons all looked very odd, and Lu Yin could not even understand the underlying principles behind them.
As for Little R1O’s team, they had focused exclusively on developing androids, and they had no weapons at all.
Little R1O’s androids were nothing surprising to Lu Yin, as the Great Yu Empire had already started producing the same kind of androids that were able to be upgraded and improved as long as there were materials of sufficient quality. It was impossible to predict the final limits of these androids.
Lu Yin had not dared to consider the implications before, but after he had returned from the Perennial World, he had started to believe that Little R1O"s android design might be able to reach the Envoy level as long as the materials requirement was met.
"For this android compet.i.tion, the winners will be allowed to create an independent army that can join the war against Sky Creation Academy," Emperor Luo said in evident surprise.
Lu Yin had not yet reached that information in the event summary, and he looked up as soon as he heard Emperor Luo"s comment. Sure enough, the man was genuinely excited. An independent army? Did that mean that as long as Lu Yin could connect with the winning team, there was a possibility of being taken to the Technocracy’s greatest battlefield?
After thinking of this possibility, Lu Yin quickly went to find the First Protector.
Lu Yin’s news was like a bucket of cold water getting dumped on the First Protector. "Don"t even consider it! Just wait for those guys from the Sixth Mainland to finish up their business so that we can go back. Why would anyone here take you to the battlefield? Are you trying to reveal your real strength while we’re here?"
"What if it’s possible?" Lu Yin and the First Protector stared at each other.
The First Protector finally snorted. "If you can make it happen, then it would be best for me to accompany you."
Lu Yin shouted, "I’ll let you know as soon as everything’s settled!"
A frown appeared on the First Protector face. He was feeling frustrated because Lu Yin was clearly too confident in pulling this off. "Are you sure you can do this?"
Lu Yin shook his head. "No, but it’s better to try than to do nothing."
The First Protector nodded. "It"s good that you want to destroy Aeternus, but everything depends on the given situation. Don’t try to force anything. Arch-Elder Zen told me that there’s a good chance that you’ll eventually become a Progenitor, and there are just too many things that become possible once you reach that level. There are certain sacrifices that you need to make now in order to realize that future."
"This junior understands. Thank you for your concern," Lu Yin said.
The next day, the vice city master summoned the Cloud Valley Master’s first disciple.
The Envoy was the only one invited, as Lu Yin and the others were merely his entourage. None of them were considered qualified to partic.i.p.ate in the negotiations or even to listen to them. Of course, Lu Yin and the First Protector were not worried, as the only way the Sixth Mainland Envoy would betray them would be if he wanted to die.
This was not the Envoy’s first time visiting First Edition City, as he had visited the place in the past when the Sixth Mainland had invaded the Fifth Mainland. Each time he visited, he saw the vice city master use a different appearance. This time, the vice city master was using an android that had the form of a bear.
The man felt rather awkward while having a conversation with a bear. He watched the bear drink some black beverage as though it was drinking tea. The black beverage was most likely actually something that supported the mechanical body: oil.
Sigh.
The bear opened his mouth and let out a sigh of enjoyment, letting a very unpleasant smell spread through the air. The Cloud Valley Master’s first disciple maintained a respectful manner. "Lord Vice City Master, I’ve explained to you why I’ve been sent here again and again. Might I hear First Edition City’s reply?"
The bear stretched his legs and swung them about. The claws were sharp enough to terrify anyone as this bear clearly was not an ordinary one, as it was valuable and powerful enough to have the vice city master use it. It clearly had the power to compare to an Envoy.
"We have always cooperated with the Sixth Mainland. Even before your war, we helped you by sending you information on how you could deal with the Human Domain. Once you invaded, we took part in the fighting ourselves and helped to invade the Outerverse. It would seem that my city will answer whenever the Sixth Mainland calls, but this time is an exception." The bear was very serious as it stared at the Envoy. "We were defeated during that invasion, and while we do not know what Sky Creation Academy’s support is, a new group of androids have appeared there that are terribly powerful. We are being pushed back again and again, and while we can support you by sending androids to the Human Domain’s Outerverse, we cannot send very many at all. I am sorry."
The Envoy was not in any condition to discuss anything with the vice city master at this time, as he only wanted to return to the Sixth Mainland as soon as possible. However, he had been sent here to negotiate, and it would be too much if he left without making any attempts towards negotiating at all. "Sir Vice City Master, you also know the situation that my Sixth Mainland is facing. Even if you are unable to send the numbers that Bluedome Elder requested, even half will be of great help.”
The bear shook its head. "We can’t even send that. At best, we can send a million androids and a single android with the power of an Envoy."
The Cloud Valley Master’s first disciple shook his head. "That’s not enough."
"Go back and consider it, as there"s only so much we can give you," the bear said.
The human left, and the bear stared at the man’s back before taking another sip of his black liquid.
After the man returned to the Sixth Mainland’s quarters, Lu Yin went to meet him.
"A million androids? And one Envoy level android?" Lu Yin frowned, as that was indeed a lot. While it was far from the numbers that Bluedome Elder had requested, it was still enough to deal with the Great Eastern Alliance. This put a great deal of pressure onto Lu Yin.
He had to ask, "Isn’t it said that your Sixth Mainland controls half of the Master Brain? How can First Edition City even try to bargain with you?"
The Cloud Valley Master’s disciple’s face took on an unnatural expression. "We don’t control it, but rather cooperate with it."
Lu Yin blinked. "Cooperate?"
The Envoy nodded. "The Four Empyreans tell everyone in the Sixth Mainland that we control the Master Brain, so only a few people know that we are actually only cooperating with First Edition City. They help us out, and in return, we provide them with resources and materials that they require."
"First Edition City does things for you? Like what?" Lu Yin wondered.
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