Shi Lang was lying on the ground with his breathing ragged. At this moment, the observation puppet approached him and said, “Congratulations, defying the overwhelming odds, you have come through to the last test. You can now select any skill that is embedded in the matrix.”
Shi Lang sat up with some effort and asked, “What matrix?”
“Matrix is the intelligence source of the puppet you have defeated. The matrix contains all the material skills that the puppet has gathered through the millennials of fighting with enemies.”, replied the observation puppet.
Shi Lang gulped at the thought of a millennial old puppet. After all, this was a piece of tech that was far more advanced than their own skills in the federation. To think that when the earth was just coming around with the concept of life, this planet was nearing its death after seeing what the peak looked like.
Shi Lang asked, “If your technology is so advanced, then why did not lead a campaign around the starry sea?”
The puppet replied, “The cost of the war was not suitable in the long term, and plus, without humans who will create a puppet? We have intelligence, but not ingenuity. We cannot evolve our thoughts without proper guidance. That leads to our destruction. When our makers passed away, there were millions of puppets like me. However, now I am the only one left.”
Shi Lang asked, “Will you cease working too?”
The puppet nodded and said, “If I am left alone for a decade more, then yes, I will cease working as well.”
Shi Lang looked at the puppet and he found that this tin-man was quite exquisite and it can help him in the matters of work that he did not like. He asked on a whim, “Would you like to follow me?”
The puppet thought about it for a few minutes, and said, “Yes, Sire.”
Shi Lang smiled and said, “You are quite a cheeky one, but I like that. So do you have a name?”
That said, he began to fiddle with the head of the puppet in his hands. He was not sure how to open it but after channeling the spirit energy inside the head, he found the chip in a hidden compartment. He pressed the hidden switches and opened the head. Shi Lang then pinched on the exposed part of the jade slip and pulled it out carefully.
This thing was a few millennia old, who knew how delicate it was. He channeled the spiritual energy through the jade slip and he felt his mind explode. The information contained inside this slip ranged from alchemy to forging, to array formation to medicine. However, all of this was basic level knowledge.
Shi Lang sat in a daze, for ten minutes before the information completely synced with his brain. Then he raised his head and asked, “This was all basic level knowledge, is that all?”
The puppet replied, “Yes, Sire. My makers started with a level lower than this, but I have some advice for you. Do not circulate this knowledge outside, after all, the greed for power can destroy planets and civilizations, let alone a single you.”
Shi Lang nodded and asked, “Will you not tell anyone else?”
“Not until you command me to, Sire.”, the puppet replied.
Shi Lang nodded and stood up, patting his battle suit to remove the dust. He asked, “Do you have a name?”
“Observation Bot.” replied the puppet.
Shi Lang clicked his tongue and said, “This name is a mouthful. Hmmm, how about OB-One. You are the first observation from now on, so one, OB-One. Do you like it?”
The puppet replied, “As long as you like it, Sire.”
Shi Lang nodded and then he asked, “What about all the spirit stones? How many are there?”
OB-One replied, “There are nine trillion spirit stones in this chamber. One spirit stone can help a rookie cultivator to wash their marrows one time.”
Shi Lang gulped at this number, and asked, “How did your makes die when they had such wealth?”
OB-One shook his head and said, “These were dug out by my predecessors, when the last king died, he was still trying to dig out the biggest spirit stone mine on the planet. However, he died in the middle of the process. The puppets did not receive any other commands and continued till they emptied out the coffers in that region.
Shi Lang was a little scared by this explanation and sighed. He said, “OB-One, do tell me how can we take away this amount of spirit stones from this place?”
OB-One said, “Sire, I have three working space rings, One of them can carry this amount with ease.”
Shi Lang asked, “You really have the solution, but do tell me, how do you use the space rings?”
The puppet shook his head slightly and said, “Sire, I cannot use the space rings, I have a spirit crystal inside me but I cannot channel this energy outside my body. These rings are something I have kept for the use of a cultivator. The first one to get through the tests will get the skills and the wealth here.”
Shi Lang nodded and asked, “I would like you to strong eight trillion spirit stones in one space ring, divide the rest in half and store it in the other space rings.”
The puppet nodded and said, “Yes, Sire.”
Shi Lang nodded and they both moved to the outside of the test room. OB-One asked, “Sire, a friend of yours is trying to get through the tests, her chances are not good.”
Shi Lang chuckled and asked, “Who is it?”
OB-One replied, “A female.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Deactivate the traps and devices, let her come in here. Her test scores are nullified. Also, in the future, this whole place is to be used as the training course for the soldiers above. I will study the final puppet and the other puppets, then, we will manufacture them and have them test the soldiers coming here.”
OB-One replied, “As you wish, Sire. Here…”
That said, he took out the three space rings and handed them to the young man. Shi Lang sensed the space inside the ring and his mind was boggling, it has been a lifetime since he found a space ring. He covered the spirit stones in his spiritual energy and the stones flew inside a vortex entering the ring.
He did not count the number of spirit stones entering the ring, all of a sudden, OB-One said, “Sire, Eight trillion has been stored inside.”
The bot has been counting the number of spirit stones for him. Shi Lang put away the ring and then the same process was used on the rest of the spirit stones and just as he finished storing the spirit stones, he caught Hayley rushing inside the room quickly.
She came closer and saw the damage on Shi Lang’s suit. She asked, “You dim-witted bastard, what were you thinking when you took the final test? You knew that you cannot get out of that formation, did you not?”
However, the next moment, she froze, OB-One was gazing at her with his bulb-like eyes. The puppet was not made to look very humane, it was typical clockwork. With a metallic shell covering its delicate parts. Hayley was shocked to look at this guy. Shi Lang said, “This is my new friend, OB-One. OB-One, this is my adjutant, and best friend, Colonel Hayley Dupont, you can address her as Colonel Hayley.”
OB-One reacted quickly, “Yes, Sire.”
Shi Lang kicked the woman in the shin and said, “Manners, Colonel.”
Hayley glared at him and then said, “Hello.”
Shi Lang said, “It is time, we go to the surface, I have good news that will be very helpful.”
Hayley nodded, OB-One said, “Sire, this way.”
Shi Lang nodded and they all moved through the maze they came to stand at the hole, and OB-One stomped on the ground hard. All of a sudden, the ground lit up with various patterns. The ground trembled, and then it moved up, like an elevator.
It took them a few seconds to reach the surface. Jenkins was standing at the edge of the hole. He saw Shi Lang and said, “You fucking bastard.”
Shi Lang chuckled and said, “Oh come on you grandmom. I won. Also, I gained a huge mother load of spirit stones for us to get stronger.”
Jenkins asked, “How many? A few thousand? Was it worth it?”
Shi Lang clicked his tongue and said, “If I said, I can buy out the federation?”
The two people were shocked, they could not understand what Shi Lang was saying. Jenkins asked, “What do you want to say?”
Shi Lang coughed lightly and said, “I got eight trillion spirit stones.”
The two people opened their eyes so wide that OB-One said, “Human Anatomy is so fascinating. To think that the eyes are so wide open, yet they are fitted inside the sockets.”
Jenkins finally registered the presence of the puppet, who said, “I am OB-One. Nice to meet you.”