35 Welcome back
Moments before, as Kraynnor gazed at his skill panel and his most recent inventions, a lively conversation flowed in the chat of apprentice mechanics.
[CosmicEngineer: Two days? Lies won't get you far, buddy.]
[User God Mechanic has left the Lumineos sector room.]
[CosmicEngineer: Hah! See, he was just a liar and left in embarrassment after spewing nonsense in a fit of anger.]
[GravitonBuilder: What if he was actually telling the truth...?]
[QuantumArchitect: If God Mechanic isn't lying, I wouldn't show my face around here for months if I were you.]
[User NebulaInventor has left the Lumineos sector room.]
[CosmicEngineer: It's impossible that this "god" was telling the truth. Otherwise, why would he leave the chat? Logically, he should boast about his achievement until everyone praises him, right?]
[QuantumArchitect: That may be logical to you, always chasing fame without considering morality. I don't understand how someone with your personality gets so many orders. It's so illogical...]
[CosmicEngineer: Tough luck for you that the Lyranthia system only trusts me, after all, I agree to create weapons for the wars in the surrounding areas.]
[User CosmicEngineer was penalized with fifty Knowledge Points for revealing details of his life.]
[CosmicEngineer: But I didn't say which planet I was on!]
What followed was a round of laughter, until another system notification interrupted the conversation.
[User GravitonBuilder has paid one hundred Knowledge Points to verify if User God Mechanic was lying.]
[CosmicEngineer: Can you do that!?]
[QuantumArchitect: Where's that option? I've never seen it in my interface. How did you discover it?]
[GravitonBuilder: It's not available, but as I was talking aloud about how cool it would be to know if God Mechanic was telling the truth, the system offered me the answer for a hundred points. Still... I didn't expect such a response.]
[CosmicEngineer: What did it say? He was lying, right? From your words, maybe it took him much longer to advance than usual; he knew he was bragging!]
[QuantumArchitect: You should worry more about yourself than the lives of others. Have you paid the fifty points already? If you keep this up, everyone will advance while you remain stuck as an apprentice mechanic.]
[CosmicEngineer: Damn, if I see you in Celestial Synthesis, you'll regret it...]
[User CosmicEngineer was penalized with fifty Knowledge Points for revealing details of his life.]
The chat fell silent for a moment, with everyone surprised by the severe penalty. Earning a hundred Knowledge Points was no easy task, especially for apprentice mechanics, who had many restrictions compared to rookies.
[GravitonBuilder: Anyway... For those who want to know, God Mechanic had his first class promotion in a day and five hours. So, I retract what I said earlier; I don't want trouble with this genius. Who knows, maybe he really is a descendant of one of the Galactic Ascendants. It's better to be safe than sorry.]
[User GravitonBuilder has left the Lumineos sector room.]
[QuantumArchitect: I should have left a long time ago, just like NebulaInventor.]
[User QuantumArchitect has left the Lumineos sector room.]
[CosmicEngineer: So, if he was telling the truth? Now this and my points... Screw it!]
[User CosmicEngineer has left the Lumineos sector room.]
"..."
The chat room was plunged into a deathly silence, and within minutes, all the messages disappeared.
[User StellarInnovator has entered the Lumineos sector room.]
The silence persisted until someone entered but quickly departed.
[StellarInnovator: Something incredible happened in the Orpheus sector! They say a mysterious metal tower was expelled from an unknown dimension. Many Ascendants have been trying to enter, but the technology used in the tower is astonishing. Nevertheless, they say that in a year, they might open a path to its interior.]
"..."
[StellarInnovator: Hello?]
[StellarInnovator: You're always here at this time; how strange...]
[User StellarInnovator has left the Lumineos sector room.]
In the blink of an eye, these last messages vanished, leaving the chat room completely deserted.
...
"What a shame, I wanted to see what they said about how quickly I advanced."
Kraynnor couldn't understand what had happened; just moments ago, the chat was filled with conversations, even if there weren't a multitude of connected mechanics, there were still enough to keep a lively conversation.
However, suddenly, silence reigned, and without further ado, he closed the chat window and headed to his ship.
"What a lovely sight, it brings back memories of when I was building my laboratory," Kraynnor murmured, his voice filled with nostalgia and a sadness he couldn't hide.
He knew that the destruction of his laboratory would be a wound that would linger in his heart for a long time.
At some point, the number of BioSync battery androids had reached hundreds of thousands, all thanks to a beneficial production cycle: as more androids were activated, there was more available labor to create even more.
But what really stood out was the rapid progress of his ship, which was halfway to completion. His eyes rested on the exterior, which, although of simple design, exuded its own beauty.
Well, it was a matter of preferences, as they say, tastes vary from person to person.
It had an elongated and slender shape, majestically rising inside the immense hangar. With dimensions exceeding one hundred fifty meters in length, eighty in width, and fifty in height.
The colossal ship had dimensions almost comparable to those that existed half a millennium ago.
Excluding the huge Astrylite ships, he had only witnessed such magnitude in ships from the old private space corporations that flourished when humanity still existed.
His ship had a pure white design with elegant black lines and curved glass windows that adorned the hull.
Fortunately, the factories still had paint in excellent condition.
Four propulsion engines were located at each corner of the ship. These engines, instead of being system technology, represented the fusion of knowledge acquired through Universal Points with human technology.
After all, the system didn't provide him with specific technologies; it provided him with essential foundations.
Kraynnor chose to incorporate one of the most advanced and commonly used engines by human society in the year 2303. These engines had been the backbone of numerous missions, enabling travel to satellites like Ganymede and even asteroid mining.
Although he had never focused on space exploration, he had seen documentaries and explored pages about these Solaris drives.
They operated with efficient use of solar energy, transforming solar radiation into an advanced form of ion propulsion. If humanity had continued to improve this technology, it would have been possible to develop engines that would allow exploration far beyond the solar system.
Now, that dream became his unwavering duty...
Something he found curious was that the system didn't provide him with any Knowledge Points related to this ship. Kraynnor supposed that maybe he would only receive points when the ship was fully assembled.
In any case, he preferred this option rather than receiving notifications every time a new component was generated, as that could drive him to madness.
"This should be enough," he whispered to himself.
Kraynnor left some instructions for the androids to use the seven new technologies en masse.
With no other immediate tasks and with forty thousand automatons still battling the aliens, Kraynnor decided to take a trip. His goal was to retrieve his friend, as he needed an AI with the necessary capabilities to control all aspects of his ship.
Using his HoloCraft, he quickly designed a blueprint and employed dozens of androids to build it in record time. He only had to wait for fifteen minutes until he received a notification.
[Ding!]
[User God Mechanic has built a Zero-Star device; 0.5 Knowledge Points will be granted.]
"So little? Well, I didn't expect much for a small, unremarkable submarine," Kraynnor commented as he descended to the sixth level. He headed to the tidal generator area, which now functioned perfectly and supplied power to the last three levels.
In the water, he found a small white submarine, barely two meters long and one meter wide. It was designed to be disposable, as he would only use it to reach his other submarine.
Whoosh!
He boarded it and manually activated all systems before moving slowly through the hatches.
A few minutes later, he was out of Caelum.
Kraynnor powered up the engines to the maximum and headed to where he remembered leaving his submarine.
The journey was straightforward and uneventful. He soon reached his submarine, which was a kilometer away from Caelum. Kraynnor noticed that Cognitron X-12 had not realized his arrival, which was understandable, as all the technology he had developed now had the 'SSF' algorithm.
Thud!
"Enjoyed the last few hours looking at the ocean?" he asked aloud.
It wasn't until he exited the disposable submarine, spoke, and tapped its outer hull that his AI finally responded.
[Welcome, Master. Did you manage to replicate the exoskeleton technology?]
"My old friend, I've achieved much more than that. You'll be surprised when you see our new base," Kraynnor said with a big smile.
Creeeek!
The top hatch opened, and upon entering, his first action was to dry off and change into his usual attire. Although he didn't mind wearing only his exoskeleton, he preferred to wear his lab outfit outside since the exoskeleton emphasized every muscle in his body, especially his sizable package in the crotch area.
One thing he was sure of was that he didn't like to show off.
In an instant, he put on his white lab coat and proceeded to apply the 'SSF' algorithm to Cognitron X-12's programming.
From this point onward, any invention in which his AI assisted him would have that algorithm.
Quickly, several white mechanical arms appeared inside and configured his drones and all his devices in the rear storage, including the Biomass Energy Saber, the Creature Identifier provided by the system, and his Evolving Workbench.
Kraynnor looked at his glasses, which could identify any living being, and wondered if they would give him any answers about the plant mutant on the third level.
"Come on, this submarine is no longer worthy of being your home," Kraynnor said as he settled into the seat and relaxed.
[Advancing toward Caelum.]
Zummm!
With those words, the submarine set off toward Caelum.
Meanwhile, the disposable submarine floated aimlessly, ready to embark on its own adventures in the world...
