This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 363 - 195: A Small Upgrade for Theo_2

Chapter 363: Chapter 195: A Small Upgrade for Theo_2

After anxiously waiting for most of the day, the door behind him finally opened.

"Alright, take them," said Li Ming, tossing two boxes to him.

"Alright, done?" Saber was bewildered, not reacting at first, glancing at the boxes and then at Li Ming.

Li Ming calculated, "Let’s see, left and right hands, energy core, this is a leg, just missing another leg, torso, and the head, right..."

Saber opened the metal box, and indeed, the metal limbs inside had been repaired to a certain extent.

He swallowed hard, shocked at heart, but wasn’t this too fast?

What had he been waiting for days before?

A numb sensation spread through his body as he suddenly snapped back to reality, looking up to see Li Ming frowning at him, he quickly said, "Right, right..."

Saber left, still unsettled, and he was still somewhat dazed by the time he got back to the shop and to Star King’s side.

"Saber, what happened, were we discovered by Ulrich?" Monroe’s urgent voice rang out from the room; he seemed to be in much better condition than at the start.

The energy engine in his chest constantly operated, emitting flashes of energy, and many energy pathways in his body had corroded.

But after all, he was an advanced mechanical body, not solely dependent on energy pathways for energy conduction; the repaired arm was constantly moving.

Saber’s early return and his peculiar state, still not quite back to himself, gave Monroe an uneasy premonition.

Last time Saber came back, he had told Monroe that Ulrich’s sudden appearance had disrupted their plan, and while they hadn’t been caught red-handed, the mechanical arm had to be left with the other party.

After Saber left, he had observed the Floating Island from a distance and seemed to see a minor skirmish erupt, not knowing what had happened.

This had both of them very on edge; Saber even suggested moving, but Monroe stopped him, reasoning that if Ulrich had truly discovered them, they wouldn’t get far.

Hope for repair was within reach, and he did not want to see everything turn into a vain dream again.

"No, no..." Saber hastened to explain, quickly opening the box, "There were no issues, Ulrich didn’t notice."

Monroe breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately, the energy engine in his chest flared up brilliantly, violent energy coursing through the damaged pathways, making his entire body convulse.

"How could it be repaired so quickly, both mechanical limbs are fixed?" Monroe’s tone hid an uncontrollable shock.

Saber’s face bore a bitter smile, "That’s the thing, earlier, it seems the Mechanic deliberately delayed to prevent us from being too surprised."

Monroe fell silent, his heart unsettled for a long while, finding a way to repair the "nano-curse" in Land of Stars had already surprised him enough.

The nano-curse was a difficult problem to handle, yet the other party treated it with ease, as if drinking water, while the previous repair time was just a show for them.

"Where did this Mechanic come from..." wondered Monroe, his astonishment growing, "Could it be, a Casting Star Mechanic?"

But he mentally denied it, "Impossible... Impossible..."

...

After seeing off Saber, Li Ming entered a state of intense development again, with many targets before him, he was eager to elevate his own level of existence as soon as possible.

Electric arcs flickered, elemental energy surged, and the glow radiated from Trading Island began to fade as it entered the night.

Hmm? Li Ming’s heart skipped a beat, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

The special environment required him to keep the Intelligent Assistance active even while developing gene seeds, even though it took up a Control Bar slot.

Now, suddenly there was a new target within his covered range, falling from the edge of the Floating Island, with a long, indifferent, and somber face, gray pupils—it was Theo, moving with extreme speed.

What was he doing here?

A chill ran through Li Ming’s heart. The man had just appeared at the edge of his range and within seconds was less than ten thousand meters away, and in the next moment, he would likely reach outside the room.

Such swift speed had not caused a sonic boom, and the alert Tank Guard soldiers remained completely unaware.

Li Ming’s heart pounded violently, his mind racing like lightning; Theo’s stealthy approach suggested ill intent, and now it was utterly impossible to escape.

Fight?

Using a Hot Nuclear Fusion Bomb might hold him off for a moment, drawing the Collector’s attention.

But afterward, Ulrich’s vigilance toward him would surely increase.

He looked around and a bold idea suddenly burst forth from his mind.

Theo hadn’t forced his way in; he even used some kind of hacking method to open the studio door.

Hanging in mid-air, feet not touching the ground, he was even cloaked in an electromagnetic horizon to disrupt regular surveillance equipment, fully prepared.

"Hmm?" Theo’s expression paused for a moment, and he looked left and right, suspicion in his voice, "Where is he?"

The studio was empty, various metal parts laid out, and in the corner was a pale golden armor being repaired, with its back opened up.

"Not here?" Theo furrowed his brows, muttering softly, "He should not have left after yesterday’s banquet, Ulrich was keeping an eye on him."

He carefully surveyed the whole studio, his gaze falling on several closed cabinets; with a wave of his hand, the metal cabinet doors swung open to reveal nothing inside.

"Really not here?" Theo practically turned the entire studio upside down, even tearing down the metal panels from the walls to ensure there were no hidden spaces before putting them back.

As an A-level lifeform, he already had a keen perception of the environment, and ordinary methods of concealment wouldn’t work.

But the opponent was, after all, a great mechanic, not to be underestimated.

"Let’s check other places..." He left the studio, searched every room in the center of the floating island, and ultimately returned to this studio.

"There’s always this strange premonition that something is off." Theo paced back and forth, his eyes flickering, fixing on the pale golden mecha in the corner.

He looked into the cockpit again, making sure there was nothing.

"What exactly is off..." Theo felt stifled, speaking lowly, "It seems he really isn’t here... pity..."

He shook his head, restoring everything in the room to its original state, and his figure also vanished.

In the silent studio, there was no movement, and after about half an hour, Theo reappeared, looking around, everything was as he remembered.

"Really not here?" Theo shook his head, seeming to have truly left.

Another hour passed, and he appeared abruptly, coming in from the ceiling, the room still empty as ever.

"Alright, you win!" Theo spoke in a grave voice, "Worthy of a great mechanic."

It seemed he had completely left, and only after six full hours did he return.

Theo returned with a face almost black as a pot’s bottom, his grey pupils flickering with a hazy silver light, "How could he just disappear like that!"

"I don’t believe it!"

In his view, the room was full of hazy black traces, the pheromones left by life forms.

He barely sensed them but couldn’t discern them specifically.

These pheromones were abundant in the room and scarce outside, so he went back and forth many times, believing the other party was inside the room.

If it wasn’t to avoid alerting the other party, he would have even flipped the whole room over.

But now it was almost as if he had already done so, and there was no place to hide a person here.

"Could he have run away..." Theo had an incredible guess rising in his mind.

Theo became determined, deciding to wait it out here; he didn’t believe the other could disappear into thin air.

Besides, he sometimes felt a sporadic sense of being watched.

"This guy, he must be really losing it." Li Ming’s mouth twitched, of course, this was a psychological effect.

Because now he was in possession of the tank guard; his physical body had disappeared, and he had opened the cockpit, creating the impression he was in the midst of repairs.

Theo could never imagine that he was the armor in the corner.

If the other side wanted to drag this out, he didn’t mind.

Only he couldn’t understand why Theo came looking for him, seemingly determined not to stop until he achieved his goal.

"Shouldn’t he be worried about where his potion has gone?" Li Ming muttered, "Could he really have guessed it was me?"

"No, if he had guessed, he would have made a move at the banquet, there’s no need to sneak around."

"Why does everyone drool over me this much..."