This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 669 - 349: Unexpected Gains, The Long-Missed Upgrade!_2

Chapter 669: Chapter 349: Unexpected Gains, The Long-Missed Upgrade!_2

It looks like the corpse of some kind of special life form.

"Could this be..." Li Ming’s mind began to form a hypothesis.

In the next moment, Vermilion Bird explained, "You guessed correctly. This is the primary life form of the Dimension World, code-named—Brown Iron Beast."

"Previously defeated by the Holy Silver Civilization using magnetic resonance methods, its corpse wasn’t transported back before being seized by the Star Abyss Empire."

"The Star Abyss Empire wasn’t very interested in it and didn’t study it for long, before being wiped out by the Holy Mother Church, leaving the corpse abandoned here the whole time."

"I never expected it would still be here," Li Ming remarked in surprise, then added with a hint of admiration, "Nothing beats using your own artificial intelligence."

He hadn’t even issued any instructions, yet Vermilion Bird knew exactly what he desired most.

Vermilion Bird continued, "Master, please look to your left."

Li Ming turned his head as the metal display cabinets embedded in the warehouse wall automatically opened, revealing several brown crystals.

"Divine Attribute Crystals." Li Ming’s gaze rippled as he picked one up and held it in his palm, absorbing a certain type of energy from it—an energy he was very familiar with.

There were eight in total, including those he’d left over from before.

Once he finished absorbing them, his Divine Energy had surprisingly reached ten units.

"An S-Class Dimension Creature can drop this many...?" Li Ming pondered, noting that on his right, there were also two brown stones, about the size of a baby’s head, their bases equipped with anti-gravity devices.

Li Ming tried lifting one—its weight was astonishing.

"These are the material cores extracted from the Brown Iron Beast’s body, formed from the ultra-compressed and mutated iron elements, classified as unknown materials," Vermilion Bird explained.

Li Ming attempted to absorb metal energy and, sure enough, was met with a surge of immense power.

"The rapid turnover of rulers in this Dimension World isn’t without its benefits—nothing gets properly handled," Li Ming mused, before asking:

"But did the Star Abyss Empire really instigate all of this chaos just to steal these scraps?"

He found something amiss. He didn’t harbor any prejudice toward the Star Abyss Empire but didn’t believe they were so desperate for resources that they’d act recklessly on mere fragments.

Moreover, they hadn’t even bothered to transport the loot away.

"Regarding this, the base contains some fragmented records," Vermilion Bird’s voice echoed, "Eternal Silence Star..."

"Eternal Silence Star." Li Ming paused momentarily, repeating the name.

Vermilion Bird responded, "Yes. Based on the data I gathered, the Holy Silver Civilization and the Holy Mother Church are intricately connected. From the very beginning, this base has recorded communication with the Holy Mother Church."

Li Ming was taken aback—were the Holy Silver Civilization and the Sister’s Heretical Cult colluding?

Vermilion Bird continued summarizing the intelligence: "The Holy Silver Civilization discovered traces of Eternal Silence Star in this Dimension World and informed the Holy Mother Church. For some reason, the Star Abyss Empire learned of this and took action."

"However, during the subsequent searches conducted by the Star Abyss Empire, no related information was found. This led to the departure of their main forces, leaving only a few personnel behind."

Eternal Silence Star... Li Ming contemplated. Could the Star Abyss Empire be searching for this Eternal Silence Star?

Could the Holy Mother Church also be pursuing it?

A sudden, peculiar thought emerged in Li Ming’s mind: could the Eternal Silence Star, in fact, be the object that the Star Abyss Empire had stolen from the Holy Mother Church years ago?

As this notion surfaced, his body tensed. While continuing to absorb metal energy, he pondered intensely, increasingly convinced of its plausibility.

Another question arose—what exactly is this Eternal Silence Star?

A weapon? Or something else?

He inquired of Vermilion Bird, but Vermilion Bird’s compiled database contained only the name itself.

Li Ming shook his head, his focus drifting back to the Brown Iron Beast’s corpse—a connection between the Eternal Silence Star, the Terrax Civilization relics, and this forsaken anomaly explained the neglect.

It took Li Ming half a day to absorb the two chunks of metal material and what’s left of the Brown Iron Beast’s corpse.

Primarily, absorbing the Brown Iron Beast’s body consumed a lot of time. From the two core metal materials, he extracted a total of forty million units of metal energy.

From the residual remains of the Brown Iron Beast’s corpse, he absorbed an additional ten million units of metal energy, bringing his grand total to fifty million units.

Li Ming was extremely satisfied; this metal energy felt akin to manna falling from the heavens.

"Master, while compiling residual data records, I discovered some intriguing entries..." Vermilion Bird interjected and displayed a recording.

On the screen, numerous workers clad in silver uniforms surrounded a massive rectangular object—seven or eight meters high and undoubtedly over a hundred meters in length.

Various large-scale devices collaborated in effort, slowly prying open a gap as fully armed explorers ventured inside.

Not long after, they returned safely; the lead figure was clutching an irregular black stone in his hand.

"Terrax Stone?" Li Ming’s eyes narrowed upon recognizing the excavation footage.

Vermilion Bird’s compiled records offered scant details, only noting its origin from that particular relic site.

Li Ming grew increasingly curious. "Let’s go see what’s happening over there..."

Emerging from the base, Li Ming held a Divine Attribute Crystal in one hand, continuing the absorption process.

Meanwhile, his mechanical soldiers had roughly organized the items. The total inventory comprised five shuttle ships—one large, two small.

Among them was also their specialized communicator for external connections—a bulky device comparable in size to a small house. Upon inspection, Li Ming noted its complex principles: it traversed dimensional barriers to initiate external communication.

Not all Dimension Worlds could establish networks for external contact, and once activated, the device was largely immovable.

[Dimension Communication Device—A-Level: A communication system specifically engineered for the unique environments of Dimension Worlds.]

[Control Conditions: Six million units of metal energy]

[Control Effect: Perception Boost: +1000%]

[Control Ability—Temporary Communication: Constructs a connected network to the Main Universe. Requires stability for sustained activation and does not work on S-Class or higher Dimension Worlds.]

Sure enough, its control effect focused on external network connections. Though it imposed certain limitations, it was far better than being immobile.

Aside from this device, two major weapons stood out.

[Space Confinement Device—S-Class: A powerful space-locking tool that seals spatial parameters.]

[Control Conditions: Twenty million units of metal energy]

[Control Effect: Space Affinity]

[Control Ability—Locking: Seals the spatial parameters within a designated area.]

[Superdimensional Charge Penetration Interferer—S-Class: A specialized interference tool, highly effective against mechanical bodies.]

[Control Conditions: Twenty million units of metal energy]

[Control Effect: Charge Piercing]

[Control Ability—Superdimensional Interference: Disrupts mechanical creations within a designated area.]

Both items were S-Class controlled objects but, due to their auxiliary roles, required relatively low expenditure for control.

"Tsk..." Li Ming rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

These items were undeniably powerful, but their utility seemed somewhat marginal to him.

They would only come into play against certain enemies. If he opted to control them, not only would it cost forty million units of metal energy, but they would likely accumulate dust for an extended period.

"Forget it, better to just recycle them," Li Ming decided, shaking his head, resolving to absorb them as pure metal material.

After another half a day’s effort, recycling the two weapons yielded a total of twenty-eight million units of metal energy, pushing his aggregate to one hundred and fifty million units.

On the other hand, the communicator was a necessary controlled item. Without receiving external information, operations were incredibly inconvenient.

"Upgrade controlled objects!" Li Ming exhaled deeply. This time, he didn’t opt for Mechanical Guards—one was already sufficient for intimidation and handling most situations.

If he faced Thunder or foes that couldn’t even be managed by the Human Cannon, adding another guard of the same caliber wouldn’t suffice.

The top choice was naturally the mid-tier controlled object: [Justice Arm Armor]. Its data enhancements were undeniably supreme, and its traits like [Armor-piercing True Damage] were astonishing, ignoring 25% of the defender’s resistance.

The overwhelming power of his Human Cannon owed a portion of its might to this equipment.

Spending one hundred million units of metal energy, [Justice Arm Armor] became even more fitted to his skin within the control bar. The menacing design grew more streamlined, the metallic armor more ornate, adorned with intricate patterns that were both regal and striking.

[Justice Arm Armor—S-Class: The Justice Fist lands only on the guilty!]

[...]

[Control Effect: Trait—[Armor-piercing True Damage], [Super·Charging Strike]]

[Control Ability—Justice Fighting: Additional power amplification: +50,000%.]

[Armor-piercing True Damage: Gains a 2000% power boost and ignores 30% of the target’s defense.]

[Super·Charging Strike: If not struck by any attack within three seconds, the next strike gains the full power boost from the controlled object.]