Star Ocean: Starting from the Abandoned Mining Space Station.

Chapter 171 Tower

Chen Ming actually had a rough understanding of the situation of the mechanical clan before.

But in the past, he didn't have many ways to download these research reports on the investigation of the machine race at will. These things all cost money.

At that time, instead of spending money to buy these reports, Chen Ming might as well spend the money on himself and his spaceship.

Until now, he has been able to browse the things that are now available to him without any restrictions.

Soon, Chen Ming basically determined the role of the city Di Guang had discovered.

It can only be said that when the results were obtained through image analysis, he was a little nervous for a while.

Based on several research reports.

The city that Di Guang discovered was a stronghold used by the civilization that built the Machine Tribe to occupy this barren star field. It was equivalent to an outpost on the border.

No, it's not even an outpost. They just planted a flag here to indicate that they had been here.

The current location of the empire is a place that was looked down upon by humans during its heyday, which is why there are so many mechanical races left here.

As for the mechanical races next to them that are at war with Yuhui and the Empire, they were developed and spread again by the mechanical races left over after the destruction of that civilization.

The research reports Chen Ming has on hand related to the mechanical race cannot avoid that destroyed civilization.

So Chen Ming now has a basic understanding of the situation of the mechanical race and another destroyed civilization.

I almost know everything I need to know, even if I don’t want to waste too much energy on learning, at least I have some basic understanding.

However, the empire's current research on that civilization is not in-depth.

It’s not that there is no research, but the productivity of this civilization before its destruction can be said to have reached its peak.

In their heyday, humans today couldn't even touch the edge.

I wanted to study it, but after studying it for a long time, I found that the results were only superficial.

So now, even if Chen Ming knows that this city is just a flag for marking, he still has to go and see. There is a certain possibility that there are relics of another civilization on it.

After confirming these conditions.

Chen Ming commanded three cruisers and set off.

The jump begins.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Ming arrived at the predetermined location, at the edge of the galaxy where the planet where the mechanical race existed was located.

For safety reasons, Chen Ming did not continue to drive three cruisers inside in a swaggering manner.

Instead, it stopped on the spot and let the highest point shut down all unnecessary and redundant devices.

Almost all the energy of the entire ship is used to supply full power to the galaxy scanning array composed of a large galaxy-level scanning core and long-range high-precision sensors located in front of the highest point.

By adjusting the specific detection frequency, the scanned object can be locked on metal and mechanical objects.

Especially for materials such as dolomite steel, which has a large number of mechanical families, as long as it can be locked, the results returned by the detection will be clearer.

After the high-power scanning lasted for about ten minutes.

The Galaxy Scanning Array is shut down.

The scan results appeared in Chen Ming's hands.

The scan result report contained a lot of detailed data that Chen Ming couldn't understand, but it wasn't important. He was already studying it through a guide left by the designer of the Supreme Point.

So far, he has learned part of it, at least he can still understand the results of the targeted scan he just conducted.

There is nothing wrong with the entire galaxy's interior, which is basically the same as the rough survey before refraction.

The mechanical race exists only on the planet where the mechanical race has been discovered before.

They are only on that planet and show no signs of expansion.

Although there are minerals and metals on other planets, there are only these things, nothing particularly valuable.

The planet where the mechanical race exists can be seen based on the actual scanning results from the highest point just now.

The mechanical races above are not distributed across the entire planet, but are all concentrated in a mechanical race city located about 30 degrees north of the equator.

Because this habitable planet has no deflection angle, and its location in the habitable zone is closer to the star that is larger than the sun compared to the earth.

Therefore, the climate of the entire planet will be relatively hot, and basically there will be no change. The environment of the mechanical city should be somewhat similar to a tropical rain forest.

The last time I came here, I saw a dense jungle of green vegetation.

There is also a mechanical city that is almost trapped in the jungle.

Combined with what was just scanned from the highest point, this city is exposed to the natural environment, and there are very few active machines in the areas that can be scanned by the scanner.

Chen Ming felt that the mechanical race here might be dormant and seemed to have stagnated in development. It might have been hundreds or thousands of years without any movement.

However, after all, the highest point is scanning a large area from a long distance, and the results may not be accurate.

Still have to get closer to make sure.

But at least one thing is certain, that is, Chen Ming did not detect any signal of large-scale activities on the planet.

This should already explain a lot.

Chen Ming slightly adjusted the positions of the three spaceships.

Let the Brilliant Class with the strongest firepower and mobility be at the front, the Supreme Point and the Defender at the back, and the relative positions in a triangle gradually approach the planet of the mechanical race.

Although the Supreme Point did not scan the existence of mechanical warships in space just now, the precautions that should be taken must be indispensable.

As the spacecraft gradually approached, Chen Ming's mind was still repeatedly recalling the contents of the research on the mechanical race that he had just seen.

According to research and surveys by some research institutes within the empire.

There is a huge difference between the individual members of the Machine Tribe and Afterglow, who may seem similar at first glance.

The most obvious point is that afterglow is an individual like human beings, while the machine race is more similar to a hive mind.

All mechanical bodies are sub-individuals, with only basic consciousness. They are more of a part of the collective.

Of course, the few mechanical clans that Chen Ming had come into contact with were obviously independent and had most likely been disconnected from the collective.

And the city of the mechanical race that it is going to contact now is very likely to be an independent group of the mechanical race.

However, for all the mechanical races, their hatred of humans can almost be said to be engraved at the bottom of their logic and cannot be changed.

Therefore, Chen Ming does not expect to have direct contact with them.

If contact did occur, it would have been during combat.

The three cruisers quickly approached a relatively safe distance, and then stopped directly, without directly entering the planet's orbit around the star.

The main reason is that Chen Ming is worried that there may be warning or defense satellites of the mechanical clan in the orbit around the star.

So it's best to let Supreme scan it first.

This distance can already allow the highest point to conduct a high-power scan while ensuring a sufficient safety distance.

After the ship stopped, Chen Ming directly started the galaxy scanning array at the highest point again.

It didn't take long.

A steel city surrounded by jungle and integrated with the jungle appeared in front of him.

The last time Di Guang came to get close to the planet, he only saw some mechanical tribes operating outside. He briefly recorded the characteristics of the city and then evacuated without doing too much investigation.

This time Chen Ming came in person and had a thorough look at the city.

At the same time, I also completely understood what the death of civilization is.

Only those who actually saw this rusty city that could collapse at any time, the fragmented vegetation that grew wildly on top of countless buildings, and the machines that were paralyzed everywhere.

Chen Ming finally understood the meaning of the four words "destruction of civilization".

Chen Ming didn’t look at the city scenes much because he had to go down there later.

Chen Ming now pays more attention to things in orbit around the star.

The scanning array has just detected the existence of a satellite in orbit, but it is certain that the satellite has stopped working and is in a dilapidated state overall.

At the same time, there are no weapons or warning equipment around.

So Chen Ming let the defenders go over and easily recovered the satellite and put it in the warehouse.

The satellite's appearance clearly appeared in front of Chen Ming through the defender's internal monitoring.

The outer shell made of dolomite steel material has not changed much in space, but its internal circuits have long since completely aged and cannot operate again.

The time that the satellite existed in space is so long that it is impossible to determine it. I only know that it must have been a long time ago.

And due to the aging of the lines, the signal receiving and transmitting functions have been completely damaged, and the internal records cannot be viewed.

Even if Chen Ming had the repair ability, he could only repair the signal retracting and reproducing functions, and the internally stored records could not be restored.

This satellite now seems to be a piece of scrap metal that can only be recycled.

Alternatively, Chen Ming can also do a little research on the manufacturing process of the communication equipment.

There is no need to learn technology. Chen Ming knows that the empire's super-light communication technology is learned from the heritage of these civilizations.

It's just that the satellite is already in such tatters, he doesn't expect to be able to study anything.

In short, Chen Ming can now confirm that there is no defense at all on the outer surface of this planet.

Just go down there.

Of course, Chen Ming did not go down in person, nor did he ask the cruiser to go down.

It was too dangerous for him to go down by himself, the cruiser would consume too much to enter the atmosphere, and it would be too conspicuous.

So Chen Ming directly used the landing craft on the Defender to launch a small robot equipped with a gamma core and entered the planet's atmosphere.

The fire produced by the landing craft when it rubs against the atmosphere may attract the mechanical race, so Chen Ming deliberately let the landing craft land far away.

And in the process, the highest point in the orbit continues to maintain a fine view of the city.

However, Chen Ming's deliberate precautions seemed meaningless.

As long as the mechanical race was not blind, they would definitely be able to see the fire falling from space, but they didn't pay attention at all, and they didn't come to investigate.

Among the sporadic moving machines that the scanning array could see, none of them cared about Chen Ming's landing craft.

This scene actually made Chen Ming, who had originally planned to prevent the mechanical clan's surprise attack, take some time to get the landing craft closer to the mechanical clan's city again and put down the small robot.

The small robot moved quickly and lurked close to the city full of vegetation, arrived at the edge of the city, and stayed at a certain distance from the security devices at the edge of the city.

Before completely entering the city, Chen Ming once again clearly felt that this was a dead and silent place.

There was no sound except the occasional sound of mechanical parts.

This is a habitable planet, and it is also a habitable planet in the tropics.

The vegetation is dense and there are rich biological species, but it seems extremely quiet around the mechanical city.

You can't even hear the chirping of insects. At most, you can only hear the wind blowing through the vegetation and the movement of leaves rubbing against each other. I'm afraid the situation is the same inside the city.

This scene made Chen Ming, who had just left the popular pirate space station, feel physically uncomfortable.

Fortunately, he didn't need to go in personally.

After observing for a while, the small robot easily passed through the paralyzed security device on the edge of the city.

And through the scanning equipment installed on it, Chen Ming confirmed the locations of most basic security surveillance within the city.

At this point, Chen Ming finally understood why the empire had so much technological growth during its pioneering period.

It was obviously learned from the relics of another civilization.

These surveillances, which are similar to Chen Ming's common surveillances, are evidence.

The small robot confirmed the many damaged surveillance blind spots and successfully entered the city.

And after entering the city.

Chen Ming became more and more certain that this was a dead place.

Almost all the machines that are visible to the naked eye have lost their appearance as mechanical beings and are sleeping stiffly in place.

And at the level of data networks, only a small number of electronic signals are propagating throughout the city.

The electronic signal density here may not even be comparable to the mining space station where Chen Ming once worked.

Of course Chen Ming was referring to the mining space station that is still in operation.

A space station with a diameter of only two or three kilometers is completely incomparable to this city in terms of scale.

But the density of signals has exceeded that, and the situation in the city is undoubtedly very bad.

At this time, Chen Ming's robot scanned the most frequently fluctuating signal.

It is emitted from the top of a tall tower in the center of the city, which is constantly sending information to satellites in space.

It's just that the satellite in orbit corresponding to the city has been damaged, and is now on Chen Ming's defender. There will be no response to the continuous sending of signals.

Chen Ming tried to capture the content of the signal.

But it is a pity that Chen Ming cannot decipher these contents at all, and can only record the information itself.

Then let the robot continue its action.

This scene of decay in the city, no, it should have been decayed, is not very attractive.

We still have to let the robot follow the hidden corners among the countless collapsed buildings and prepare to go to the core of the city.

That tall tower.

In addition to continuously sending signals to satellites, the tower itself seems to function as an energy tower.

Relying on microwave energy to provide electricity for the entire city to operate.

Either the tower is the core of the city, or the buildings surrounding the tower are the core of the city.

In short, Chen Ming must go there.

As he approached the center of the city, Chen Ming finally saw a machine that was not dormant but still active.

Like the maintenance robots that Chen Ming had seen before, it had several robotic arms. At first glance, it looked like a robot that performed auxiliary work.

It is currently clearing vegetation covering various buildings and even walking roads.

But it is obvious that there is only one mechanical clan cleaning up, and its efficiency is almost non-existent compared to the entire city.

But this machine clan continued to work in vain as if it didn't know it.

Chen Ming took a few glances and then continued to let the robot move forward.

He still can't take the initiative to contact the mechanical tribe before he can be sure whether the mechanical tribe here is as aggressive as the ones he has seen before.

As he continued to approach the city center, Chen Ming also discovered many fallen robots in the gaps between many buildings covered with dense vegetation.

At first glance, it looks like there are fallen robots everywhere on the road outside.

However, Chen Ming took a closer look and realized that this fallen machine was different from other machines.

There was no sign of any electrical signal activity on the fallen robot in the gap between the collapsed buildings.

It is completely different from the machine next to it that is still working and barely keeping the city running.

It's even different from those dormant mechanical races on the outskirts of the city.

It's not dormant, it's dead.

Lost the consciousness of the sub-individual and lost its own existence.

So……

Chen Ming controlled the small robot to remove the gamma core installed inside.

The circuit inside the body of this machine, which is the same model as the combat machine that Chen Ming has seen before, is connected.

Its body is slender and resembles a praying mantis, but it has a roughly human shape.

The left arm is a robotic arm that mimics the structure of a human arm, while their right arm is replaced by a familiar electromagnetic javelin.

At the beginning, Chen Ming directly used the Iron Mine and relied on the weight of the spacecraft to forcefully kill the machines.

But now he no longer needs to use this method.

Soon, the gamma core was successfully connected to the inside of this mechanical family and successfully controlled its... corpse.

And its name also appeared in front of Chen Ming.

[Mechanical Family Standard Mechanical Body·Jing Mantis (Damaged)]

On the more detailed pull-down panel, Chen Ming can also see more detailed data, such as the status of different parts of this machine family.

Its robotic arms and weapons are displayed in detail on the panel.

But these were not important. There were only a few special lines that made him pay more attention.

One of the lines is [Individual Consciousness: Death].

The other row is at the bottom of the panel [Executable operations: repair/renovation/disassembly]

The line that Chen Ming was most concerned about was the contents of the three components in the column similar to the "Important Equipment" on the spacecraft panel on the mechanical race.

[Standard-level core chip (damaged)] [Standard-level secondary core (damaged)] [Nano-level maintenance machinery (3%)]

Like all the damaged mechanical equipment that Chen Ming has come into contact with, these can all be repaired as long as there are materials.

But will repairing a mechanical body lead to the resurrection of its dead individual? Will the surrounding mechanical tribes that have not noticed the small robots lurking in suddenly come around after the resurrection?

As soon as Chen Ming had this question in his mind, he immediately denied it.

Let’s not talk about whether it is reliable to resurrect a mechanical life simply by repairing its parts.

Just say that his spiritual power can make the mechanical body controlled by him stay under his control for the rest of his life, and he can just repair it directly.

Chen Ming activated his spiritual power, with a slight consumption of mental power and a small decrease in materials.

The entire Jingmantis was successfully repaired.

But Chen Ming's psychic power only repaired its external worn armor, internal aging circuits, as well as its chips and secondary cores.

Its [Nanoscale Maintenance Mechanical Body (3%)] column has not changed.

It is just like fuel. Chen Ming must find a way to produce it before it can be replenished.

But the manufacturing of fuel and the manufacturing of nanoscale robots are not at the same level of difficulty.

So Chen Ming chose to ignore it for the time being.

He looked at the line of consciousness on Jing Mantang's panel.

A look at what he thought.

The consciousness of the mechanical race is still in death and has not been restored due to the repair of the chip and secondary core.

Chen Ming knew that Yuhui's individual consciousness was a piece of data that existed in the core, but he didn't know what kind of existence the consciousness of the mechanical race was.

There was nothing he could do about resurrecting a mechanical life.

Chen Ming shook his head slightly and relied on his control of Jing Mantis to try to read the contents of its chip.

But the result was a failure.

Although Chen Ming successfully extracted the internal data, he could not understand the content at all.

Just like when he tried to read other mechanical family chips before, it is also the same as the entire empire has not yet been able to decipher the language and data of the mechanical family.

As a relic of another civilization, the mechanical race is indeed very special.

Chen Ming thought about it and simply asked Chaofan, who was already installed at the highest point: "How is your Yuhui's research on the mechanical race?"

"I am not responsible for the research of the machine race. I am generally responsible for the design and manufacture of ships. You brought me out of the giant shipyard before. You should be clear, right?"

"It's clear, but I just want to ask. I can only ask you about research matters now."

"Well, I don't know much. I only know that our research on the mechanical race is very difficult to deepen."

"The machine tribe has the same extreme hatred for us as they do for you. They cannot communicate with each other and can only conduct research through captives. However, there has been no breakthrough progress so far."

"We can only allocate the excess chips to extract the computing data flow inside the chips to increase our speed."

Chen Ming nodded, indicating that he understood.

It can only be said that it is a pity that I did not learn any valuable information.

And there is nothing valuable about this machine.

At most, the design of Jing Mantis's own mechanical body can be recorded. Next time Chen Ming lacks a combat-type mechanical body, he can just use this template.

In fact, Chen Ming had recorded videos before when he was dismantling the robots he killed.

But at that time, Chen Ming had not yet experienced half a year of study. Now Chen Ming shook his head after looking at the rough dismantling skills. He could only say to watch the video.

Only now that he has obtained Jing Mantis's real object can Chen Ming find the meaning to learn and reproduce it.

Of course not now.

At the scene, Chen Ming still let the body of the robot that he had controlled stay where it was to prevent it from being discovered.

At the same time, let the small robot take back the gamma core and continue to go deeper.

After about an hour, the robot passed through the city, which became increasingly decayed as it went further inside.

Finally arrived in front of the tall tower in the center of the city.

(End of this chapter)