Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"Whoosh!"

Under the onslaught of the downpour, countless newly destroyed mechanical debris were washed by the rain, extinguishing their last bits of light.

Numerous figures in black raincoats stood silently around a towering figure over two meters tall, loyally guarding the deity of their hearts.

"Where is the person? Where is the person?"

The center of the slightly coffee-colored eyebrows was deeply furrowed, and the tall man in a white coat grew more impatient as he watched his subordinates search around and finally bring back the news.

"Where is the person! Find the person for me!"

The tracking signal was lost right here! Even if dead, his most perfect test subject should have died here.

Besides... how could she possibly be dead?

How could she be dead?

This was an exceptional test subject bestowed by the heavens, surpassing the technology of the Golden Age, irreplaceable by anyone!

Prototype wouldn't die! Read latest stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"Doctor, we have searched everywhere, really, there is no..."

Boom!

The officer reporting the news was instantly grabbed by the neck and hoisted up, his choking pain causing his legs to kick unconsciously in the air.

With gray-white pupils that seemed murky due to age, the doctor stared at the struggling officer with an expression filled with icy death, "If you can't find her, you all deserve to die!"

"Snap!"

With a casual throw, the officer was tossed to the ground in the distance, rolling several times, but he didn't dare take any time to alleviate his pain and immediately got up on his knees to express his determination, "Yes, Doctor!"

The doctor didn't utter a sound, his gray-white eyes just silently swept over everything before him.

A large number of mechanical bodies were eradicated after he arrived, but it was clear that a great battle had taken place here before that.

Whether it was the mechanicals that came later or some unknown individuals involved in the earlier battle, the battlefield had been cleaned up neatly, leaving too few clues to prove the identities of the previous combatants.

But based solely on the damaged yellow first-generation mechanical body found, the identity of the unknown combatants could be roughly determined—

Soldiers.

First-generation machines were generally hard to destroy, and even if they were damaged in battle, they would be sent to the mechanical core base for repairs quickly; the damaged mechanical corpse left here was obviously destroyed in that battle.

Every first-generation machine was unimaginably powerful, and a mechanical fortress with a first-generation machine at its core was probably not something that "Prototype's" squad would dare provoke.

Even if they had launched an attack without prior knowledge, with their fighting strength, it would have been absolutely impossible to completely destroy a first-generation machine.

Unless there was another team of equal size or even greater strength coordinating the attack.

And who would actually lift a hand against mechanicals, a foreign race from which little benefit was to be had? Perhaps the signal base station here could explain something.

The human cities that had only just restarted internet technology.

And which city was closest to this base station?

Apart from Grey Iron City, there was only Blackwater City.

If they really couldn't find many clues, perhaps... he himself needed to take the time to visit Blackwater City.

Dare to take Prototype away?

Anyone in contact with Prototype, they all must die!

Similar incidents had occurred in the past, and so-called "self-awakening" was not the first of its kind, but never before had Prototype truly escaped from his control.

Prototype might not know where the sensor inside her body was hidden, but her powerful Spiritual Energy could unreasonably shield anything she wanted to shield.

Of course, this couldn't last long. She wouldn't be able to escape!

...

"Sis said you would help me, okay~" Nova rested her chin on the back seat, gazing expectantly at Bai E, "I can't hold on for long, the big villain will come looking again."

"Or should I dissect you right now?" Bai E glanced back at her.

Simple dissection might solve the problem, but the violent dismantling might be more than the new soul can bear, risking its rebirth from the unbearable pain.

Let's not even mention that Bai E had promised Feier Ade not to let Nova be reborn again; as for the current personality named "Nova," Bai E found it quite decent.

The character he had rolled this time was a good one; there was no need for Bai E to want to switch it out.

And thanks to the feedback from Wen Jie, he now possessed body modification technology that was nearly level 2, making his work a bit more technical.

Paired with his own maxed-out dissection skills, it wasn't entirely impossible for him to operate on his own.

However, it wasn't perfectly safe; without professional equipment, the success rate had to be discounted to some extent.

If he could increase the level of his modification technology skill, he would obviously feel more confident when operating.

Having heard about the follow-up treatment from Bai E, Nova immediately shrank her body and revealed a visibly fearful expression, "Don't... I'm afraid of pain. You said you could be gentle, you can't start now."

Bai E rolled his eyes, "Then why are you rushing me."

Nova instantly grinned, "I was just looking for an excuse to talk with you~"

"..."

He had fallen for it after all.

This girl was a real chatterbox; even without anything to say, she'd find a topic and forcibly start a conversation.

Bai E didn't pay her any more attention but appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, starting to take stock of his gains this time—

The biggest one was obviously from the blown-up minion, from which he acquired "Mechanical Mindset."

[Mechanical Mindset: Your familiarity with machinery allows you to fully immerse your thoughts into the properties of machines. From now on, you will find it easier to establish connections with machinery and receive the acknowledgment of the "Machine Spirit". Moreover, your own thought process can become similar to that of machinery logic when needed (you can multitask with no burden, simultaneously running multiple unrelated processes without interfering with one another).]

In combination with the previous "Body of Machinery," he already had both the hardware and software related to the "Machine Spirit" fully equipped.

As for the other knowledge and technology, he wouldn't consider them for the moment; lacking sufficient scientific research experience, Bai E did not want to waste precious Universal Experience by simply adding points.

Apart from that, the most important thing was actually his own Spiritual Energy.

The breakthrough of 99 points of Spiritual Energy required an intense burning of the soul.

Only the eruption of will caused by certain matters could possibly break through this final step.

Combat was one of the simplest methods.

This is what Yue Ying had taught him before.

Regrettably, this battle only grazed the threshold, but the ensuing ripples were not strong enough.

Was the opponent too weak? Or were the core emotions involved insufficient to make him truly "boil with passion"?

Bai E leaned towards the latter.

The battle was difficult, and if he hadn't possessed the "Resistance to Death" trait, he might have been instantly wiped out.

But overall, there was no strong emotional fluctuation.

The smart machines were adversaries to humans, but that was it.

They were like neutral map mobs, not powerful enough that he had to rely on bursting seeds to fight them.

It would have to be those demons that could better stir up emotions from the bottom of one's heart.

Perhaps on his return, he should find trouble with that colosseum...

Bai E's thoughts drifted off, returning to his true foundation.

[From the commission's feedback, you gained +0.1 in Insight, +0.1 in Physique, +0.1 in Reflex, +0.1 in Mystery, +21 in Light Weapon Mastery Experience, +12 in Light Firearms Mastery Experience, +20 in Ranged Weapon Mastery Experience, +15 in Combat Mastery Experience, +52 in Knowledge - Human Body Modification Project 1.0 Experience.]

"..."

Pretty stable.

While he had no time to train, others continued to shoulder weights and advance on his behalf.

Gradual feedback from players was always a significant channel for improvement.