This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 523 - 275 Theo Regresses: The Early Bird Catches the Worm (Seeking Monthly Pass at the Beginning of the Month!)_2

Chapter 523: Chapter 275 Theo Regresses: The Early Bird Catches the Worm (Seeking Monthly Pass at the Beginning of the Month!)_2

"Hmm..." Li Ming raised an eyebrow; as the saying goes, when sleepiness hits, a pillow arrives—Theo’s involvement made the operation more assuring.

Although he wanted to fish in troubled waters by leveraging the power of the Torch Organization, the current situation was becoming difficult to predict.

Instead of waiting for the other party to be fully prepared and strike them hard, it was better to act in advance and catch them off guard.

Although this deviated from his original plan, it was impossible for things to progress perfectly in the direction he had anticipated.

"Okay, it’s a deal," Li Ming agreed immediately.

"I’ve already spoken with Ulrich. You go and talk to Sandro; even though he’s brave but foolhardy, he’ll suffice as cannon fodder."

Theo seemed to have discussed with Ulrich when he came, taking many aspects into consideration.

"We can’t take action now; in the vastness of interstellar space, we can only rely on warships to escape, and it’s easy to be destroyed."

"We need to wait for the right opportunity..."

"Do you think there’s a big chance of killing Connet and the others?" Li Ming suddenly asked.

Theo pondered, then shook his head: "Not likely, even though we are far from the Torch Organization’s main base, Connet must have had a contingency plan when he made this decision."

"Then we can only wait until we reach the Torch Organization’s temporary base. That place is located in the Red River Star Stream, not too far from the Land of Stars."

"When the time comes, escaping should be relatively easy." Li Ming estimated, "About ten more days, I guess."

Theo looked at him deeply, swallowing the question "How do you know?" that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Can the Torch Organization wait for more than ten days? Hasn’t Connet already looked for you?"

"Don’t worry, of course, I will explain to them." Li Ming said indifferently, glancing at Theo and then asking, "Is it really Duke Guya standing behind you?"

This was already his third time asking this question.

Theo hesitated, then shook his head: "It’s his adopted son, Hornedil."

"Ha..." Li Ming smirked: "Adopted son?"

Then he said provocatively, "Is he the one who provided you with the ’Casablanca Flower’?"

Theo’s stern face twitched a moment, then he sighed, "Indeed, it was him."

"Ha..." Li Ming said meaningfully: "This lord really throws his weight around, leading with the ’Casablanca Flower’ right off the bat."

When he killed Seraad, he learned something interesting; the person who hired him seemed to be "one of his own."

Theo’s expression changed, shaking his head: "He actually wasn’t planning to give it to me, it was just bait to get me to work for him."

"But he’s too young, and what he sent turned out to be the real deal, which caught me off guard."

"Oh?" Li Ming showed surprise.

"I only wanted to use him to climb up to Duke Guya." There was no emotion in Theo’s gray pupils, "Mutual usage is the norm in interstellar politics."

"Is the civilization that destroyed your race an advanced civilization?" Li Ming asked curiously: "With your strength, can’t you take revenge?"

"Killing a few leaders is pointless. What I want is to rebuild my race and civilization, and then to assimilate them; that is what true revenge is," Theo said with an ever-changing expression, "Besides..."

He stopped halfway through, frowning and shaking his head, "I’ve said too much. Let me know when we’re taking action."

Theo, a man of few words, left after dropping this line.

"There are stories everywhere in interstellar space..." Li Ming muttered, shaking his head.

After this little interlude with Theo, Li Ming returned to his previous state of tackling challenges in seclusion.

Only after two or three days did Connet send someone to inquire, and Li Ming sent them away with a few words.

Three more days passed like this, estimating that Connet and his people were getting impatient, Li Ming leisurely came out of his room to the main ship’s laboratory.

Over the past several days, Benny, whose face had been gloomy, finally blossomed into a smile at the sight of Li Ming, as if a chrysanthemum had unfolded.

"Lord Azure Dragon, it’s been a long time," Benny approached, cursing inwardly.

More than ten days had passed since he proposed his plan.

He had thought the plan would proceed as he imagined, but Azure Dragon just wouldn’t budge.

He originally wanted to send Connet to urge them a bit, preferably vent some anger, and give a warning.

But due to the confrontation between Azure Dragon and Theo, Connet and the others became extremely wary, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Watching the Tidal Period of the Red River Star Stream approaching, his anxiety grew.

Although the arrival of the Tidal Period didn’t mean the competition would start right away,

having the upper hand was still very important. If they couldn’t even get the preliminary preparations done, how would they continue with the follow-up plans?

"Sigh, after so many days of research, finally, I have not failed everyone’s expectations, and a solution has been found," Li Ming sighed as if exhausted.

Jesaya also came over, his mechanical pupils scanning Azure Dragon and analyzing him up and down.

He found it hard to imagine that Azure Dragon could match Theo, who excels in that field, and even wound him.

The clash between the two was too brief; by the time he arrived, it had already ended, only to see Sandro and Ulrich arguing loudly, exposing each other’s dark secrets.

Indeed, it was rare to see Ulrich so angry that he seemed to be fuming.

But it was nothing compared to when his core processor overloaded and smoke billowed out.

"At least you’ve made some headway; my progress here has been painfully slow," Benny sighed, deliberately taking out an experimental crystal that had failed and then feigned a sudden realization. He quickly asked,

"Ah, right, Lord Azure Dragon, your research isn’t on Crystalization System Coefficient, is it?"

"A few days ago, I wanted to ask about it, hoping that our paths wouldn’t cross, but I ended up being stopped by your Mechanical Body."

He looked at Li Ming, his heart seemingly rising to his throat.

He wouldn’t mind later on revealing a look of lamentation, bewilderment, anger, and helplessness, having no choice but to accept the reality to satisfy Azure Dragon.

The Torch Organization was eager to create the Sublimator, and with Azure Dragon holding out for a better deal, he would inevitably outpace Benny’s progress and present a solution to the crystal coefficient problem.

In that case, the Particle Effect Device would become a brand-new challenge, and he’d have a better position to raise the price.

His grasp on human nature would never be wrong.

That old man’s acting was pretty impressive. After pondering for a moment, Li Ming responded soothingly, "Rest assured, Lord Benny, my solution is for the Particle Effect Device."

As his words fell, Benny’s expression froze on his face, showing a forcibly repressed yet uncontrollably twisted grimace, "What... what did you say?"

Li Ming continued seriously, "Last time I came to the lab, I already saw the efforts you put into the Crystalization System Coefficient. If I were to research the crystal coefficient too, wouldn’t it be a waste of time?"

"Yes, a waste of time, a waste of time..." Realizing he had lost his composure, Benny’s wrinkled face trembled slightly, but he had to force an ugly smile.

Jesaya’s glimmering blue pupils flickered, analyzing something.

"You truly are... truly are... wisdom, wisdom..." Benny was now almost babbling, his heart filled with irrepressible doubt and suspicion.

How could it be? How could Azure Dragon be researching the crystal coefficient?

Did he... really have such good intentions?

Benny couldn’t help but harbor suspicions, only to dismiss them.

To rise to such a status, isn’t each one a shrewd individual?

Good intentions might sprout in some dirty corner of the heart, then become cherished sanctuaries of nostalgia, but they would never be displayed openly.

"Alright, everyone..." Li Ming clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s gaze, awe, fear, reverence, a kaleidoscope of emotions hidden within their eyes.

Li Ming began to work. With the raw data and the accurate particle parameters as a blueprint, it took him no more than two hours to create the active particles that met the requirements.

After a long ten-second overload test, the particles were still stable, and the entire lab couldn’t help but let out a cheer.

Next, they only needed to produce more particles and parts for the actuators to be integrated into the main structure.

This step was somewhat tedious, taking three to four days.

But solving one difficult problem signified that they were one step closer to creating the Sublimator, the silvery spherical Sublimator almost ready to close up at the very top.

Benny’s mouth twitched, utterly distracted throughout the process, unable to figure out where the problem was.