Han Zai’s face was covered in black ash.
He stared, tears welling up in his eyes.
After his grandfather passed away, Han Zai was his only companion.
He had even promised that once he saved 800 credit points, he would definitely help Han Zai get a new, non-leaking hydraulic pump, and it had to be brand new, not more than eighteenth-hand.
But now, Han Zai was completely, irreversibly, dead.
Although Han Zai’s body had never had any warmth.
But at this moment, Cheng Qi felt that the steel hand he was holding was colder and more piercing than ever.
Suddenly.
Seven or eight playing cards, all Jokers, fell out of the mechanical arm’s seams on Han Zai’s arm.
Cheng Qi’s arm trembled even more, “You even learned how to hide cards?”
But in the next instant.
Cheng Qi’s tears burst forth, and he clutched his forehead, choking out, “Why did this happen?”
“Detected similar technological creations.”
“Proceed with technological synthesis?”
A voice filled with a sense of technology came from his ear, and Cheng Qi’s expression flickered as he looked somewhat dully at the back of his right hand.
Inside the unknown crystal wristguard, four points of azure starlight flowed and danced, rotating and tumbling, beginning to form a certain order.
“This wristguard…”
On Cheng Qi’s right wrist was a blue wristguard with flowing light, somewhat thick, with a protruding part extending to the back of his hand.
Cheng Qi didn’t know what this thing was.
His grandfather said that when he found Cheng Qi, this thing was already on his tender little hand.
This thing was very strange; it could change its form as Cheng Qi grew, always fitting snugly to his wrist with almost no gaps, and after more than ten years without charging, it still glowed faintly.
Later, his grandfather said that this might be a Level 13 civilization artifact.
But his grandfather was already a bit senile at the time, claiming his urinal and dentures were also Level 13 civilization artifacts, and the adult diaper under his protective suit was even more impressive, a Level 17 civilization artifact.
Buzz—!
The surface of the crystal wristguard suddenly emitted two azure scanning beams.
One moved up and down, scanning Han Zai’s broken body, forming a crisscrossing blue grid that covered Han Zai’s surface like a blanket, as if the crystal wristguard was collecting Han Zai’s data.
The other scanning beam spanned over a dozen meters, scanning a garbage pile in the distance.
The inside of the garbage pile instantly became visualized.
Cheng Qi clearly saw that beneath the distant garbage pile, another humanoid Nanny Robot was half-buried, half-exposed; it was also a discarded B343 Nanny Robot, the same model as Han Zai.
The B343 Nanny Robot was a basic model, cheap to manufacture.
In mainstream human society, such robots were ubiquitous, their status even lower than a pet dog.
Therefore, in this enormous Earth garbage dump, there were certainly more than one discarded B343.
Cheng Qi’s pupils trembled slightly, “Two B343s, can they merge into one?”
“Please select the synthesis subject.”
Cheng Qi was somewhat shocked, instinctively looking at Han Zai by his feet.
The wristguard suddenly seemed to have visual capture capabilities; the grid covering Han Zai’s body turned red and flashed rapidly.
“Material formatting initiated.”
Cheng Qi’s wrist suddenly experienced subjective kinetic energy, controlling his right hand to straighten and point towards the distant B343.
That half-buried, half-exposed, rusty B343 suddenly glowed with an azure light.
After a strange tremor.
Its body impossibly shattered into tiny blue light particles.
“Dispersed into primitive units.”
“Formatting…?”
Cheng Qi’s heart was filled with disbelief.
Then the crystal wristguard suddenly absorbed the blue light particles into its body like a long rainbow drawing water.
Cheng Qi’s right hand moved uncontrollably again, pointing at Han Zai on the ground.
A translucent long river appeared, connecting the crystal wristguard and Han Zai, ethereal as silk, like a kind of channel.
The crystal wristguard outputted in reverse, and some blue light particles moved along the long river, ‘sprinkling’ onto Han Zai’s body.
In the gloomy garbage abyss, a technologically advanced light emanated.
It was like an unspeakable miracle.
Faintly visible, Han Zai’s body gradually completed, and some external force slowly lifted his body, standing him on the ground.
In just over ten seconds, the brilliant light gradually faded.
Cheng Qi’s eyes widened slightly.
What appeared before him was a brand new humanoid robot, completely free of rust and damage!
Its entire body was dark silver alloy, its shoulders were wider, the joints of its limbs were more refined, and its body had grown taller by several inches!
“B897 Security Protection Nanny Robot.”
“Equipped with home security patrol and monitoring devices, capable of effective pre-judgment and reconnaissance before encountering intrusion and danger.”
At this very moment, the robot’s shoulder coverings flipped, and 8 small full-spectrum radars slowly rose, emitting detection waves in all directions without blind spots, causing the surrounding air to hum faintly.
Cheng Qi was stunned.
It upgraded directly from B3 to B8, and gained entirely new functions.
“Detected similar technological creations.”
“Proceed with technological synthesis?”
Before Cheng Qi could react, the crystal wristguard once again emitted its cold electronic synthesized voice.
Two azure scanning beams were again emitted from the wristguard, locking onto a starship wreckage not far away; the beams instantly penetrated the massive alloy plating, and the outlines of two other B343 Nanny Robots were scanned and clearly visible.
“There are two more discarded B343s there?”
Cheng Qi’s eyes flickered; it was common for the same type of discarded items to be clustered together, as their origin was very likely the same garbage transport ship.
“Please select the synthesis subject.”
“Material formatting initiated.”
At this instant, two B897s appeared before Cheng Qi.
One’s prototype was the unnoticed garbage, the other was the deceased Han Zai.
“Detected similar technological creations.”
“Proceed with technological synthesis?”
Inside the crystal wristguard, two scanning beams were again emitted, scanning the two brand new B897s.
Cheng Qi’s throat was slightly dry, “It can continue?”
“Dispersed into primitive units.”
“Fusion upgrade.”
With Cheng Qi’s tacit approval.
The second B897 was ‘formatted’ into countless tiny blue light particles.
These light particles then converged along the brilliant translucent river onto the B897 that had Han Zai as its prototype.
In other words.
The basic synthesis logic of the crystal wristguard was four into two, two into one, with gradual level progression.
After 30 seconds.
The brilliant technological light faded.
Cheng Qi’s pupils contracted; the B897 before him had changed again.
It grew taller again by several inches, its limbs became much thicker, and it was clearly visible that all its joint parts had been greatly strengthened, seemingly capable of withstanding greater torque.
Especially its mechanical hands, which had changed from the previous dark silver to silver-gray, their material hardness seemingly increasing by a grade.
“A24 Environment Adaptation Nanny Robot.”
“Equipped with powerful environmental adaptability, capable of normal operation in extreme weather conditions or complex terrain, and with multiple everyday tools concealed within its body, allowing for primary form changes.”
At this moment, the A24’s thick legs deformed, metal coverings flipped and moved, and a lightweight alloy track rolled out from the inner thigh, replacing its feet; the internal engine roared, and great horsepower seemed hidden within the tracks.
At the same time, its arms also changed shape, with various tools constantly flipping and replacing, including hydraulic pliers, hydraulic jacks, high-speed rotating alloy sawteeth, and a metal cutting gun capable of spraying blue flames.
As an upgraded model, its 8 small full-spectrum radars on its shoulders still existed, and their range was enhanced, rotating silently.
Cheng Qi looked up at the A24 Nanny Robot, which was now 50 centimeters taller than before, standing approximately 2.3 meters tall.
He was so shocked he was speechless.
An A-class assistant robot costs at least 20,000 credit points; perhaps they are common on other planets, but for Earth at this time, there would certainly not be a second one.
Moreover, it was brand new.
“Han Zai…?”
Cheng Qi’s voice trembled, “Can you hear me?”
The robot’s head was still somewhat clumsy, without any sleek design; on its square alloy head, its two eyes were two thin lines, with two points of red light flickering back and forth within them.
“Greetings, esteemed purchaser.”
“The A24 Environment Adaptation Nanny Robot is at your service.”
“Please complete the initial setup so that I may serve you better.”
Listening to the emotionless voice coming from the robot, Cheng Qi’s body completely stiffened.
This was what he feared most.
Although the robot’s body was repaired, Han Zai would never come back.
A glimmer of tears appeared in his eyes, and Cheng Qi reached out his arm, touching the A24’s chest.
“Greetings, esteemed purchaser.”
“Please complete the activation operation.”
“If you insist on performing an unconventional operation, I cannot guarantee that I will not accidentally injure you, you know.”
The robot looked straight ahead.
“???”
Cheng Qi’s hand movements, however, paused.
Why did I hear a very familiar tone?
Would a brand new A24 speak like that, you know?
“Forget it!”
“I can’t keep up the act, you know!”
“You silly kid, don’t touch my chest!”