Chapter 574: Alina and the old witch
Mark didn't expect to see this. It was already overwhelming enough for him to realize the potential of replicating the intelligence cores. But, this news was even top of it.
What makes an Android different from a battle robot? Of course, the appearance makes a huge difference, but it is the presence of the core in the Android that makes it more special.
The intelligence core not only houses the Android's consciousness but also has unique abilities based on how it was created. That's why Alina, Allen, and Ark had different abilities in the first place. The system created them based on what it thought their abilities suited its host the most.
But, since Ark Prime was created by Mark, who used his own ether energy as the medium, the artificial intelligence Ark's intention here is to maximize the output. So, it went on extracting the best variant element it could do, from its ether particles and supplied it to the core, giving it space-based elements.
This newfound discovery brought several thoughts to Mark.
He broadened his horizons in a matter of seconds as his brain ran faster and faster.
*Clap*
"Ark, I bet if you are upgraded to the next rank, you can extract advanced grade attributes too, right?" he inquired inside his head, under the assumption of Yes.
*Ding! I cannot say it certainly without any data on other A.I.s but there is a high chance that I could do it.
"There's still a reward from the system left for me. I could upgrade Ark to rank 8 through Upgrade Crystal. However, I need to expand it more. Including the main branch, I have opened 7 so far. So, 3 more are needed. Not to mention, I need to sell atleast 1000 weapons from each.
Hmm… since there is no system to monitor my process, let's just do it using a loophole process. I need 10 million gold coins of worth transactions through the store, right? Let's complete both quests at the same time."
Since it is better to wait until Ark's upgrade, Mark halted the current project and gave another task to the robot, "Ark Prime, I want you to work on upgrading the Song missile, and Alina…" He then looked at the three-headed robot dog, "How far can you track your body's nano-chip?"
"Big Bro, you want to get back my body?" She asked; her voice filled with surprise.
As Mark nodded, she started jumping on her four legs like a poodle, "Yay, Big Bro is the best..."
She might be of lower rank than Ark and less knowledgeable, but she is certainly more emotional compared to Ark. It was as if she was a human in the body of a robot.
Mark couldn't help but smile when he saw that, and Ark gave a weird glance at the jumping dog; his gaze was filled with curiosity.
*
The same day evening, Lei Yan City, Leon Empire;
In the streets of the seventh biggest city of the Leon Empire, roughly two dozen corpses were lying on the ground, some of them had their heads cut off away, some were mere stabs in the necks or in the chest, and some had several cuts all over the body, and some turned into dried flesh.
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The City Lord was in fear, with his trusted subordinate of 7-circle realm cultivation shielding him, as an old witch with a staff was slowly advancing toward him with a creepy smile.
However, she wasn't the one who the city lord and his bodyguard were afraid of. It is the hooded woman standing beside with a scimitar in her hand. Under the hood, her face was emotionless and her steps were steady, as if she had no intention to move.
"We don't have any personal enmity, senior. If you show me mercy, I'll pay compensation two times the amount you were commissioned with," The City Lord pleaded with a roar.
The old witch let out a chuckle, "Sorry, but the client promised us something more valuable than your pitiful money. You should die. Surrender to your fate and you will die without much pain. Resist and you will receive a death worse than your servants."
The City Lord's eyes couldn't help but wander the streets to glance at the corpses once again. He gulped his saliva.
"Lord Yi, I will stop them here. Take the chance to escape," said the bodyguard as he took another pill to stabilize his cultivation. He wasn't originally a 7-circle realm expert. He was a 6-circle realm expert who took a high-quality augmentation pill to raise it temporarily. He had two of them.
Taking another one will not help him much but it will give him some more time to maintain the realm. Once its effects are over, he is going to become so weak from double consumption that even a kid could kill him.
Yi Caijun knew it but he couldn't bear to leave his best friend, whom he had grown up with, to die. At the same time, there is no guarantee that he will live either. As a last resort, he took out the family inheritance and threw it to the ground, "How about take it and leave us alone? Announce to your client that we were killed. We will be leaving this city… No, this Empire, and never to return."
*Snap*
"Tch, so noisy…" The old witch snapper her fingers, in response to his deal. Suddenly, vines erupted from the ground and captured them, absorbing their life force. "Puppet, go…" She ordered the hooded woman, simultaneously.
The woman charged forward and swung down the sword at their necks, not giving them any time to even defend themselves.
As both of their heads rolled on the ground, the hooded expert returned the scimitar back to its sheath, returning to her master with a single leap.
The witch then slowly walked forward and picked up a double-sided mirror, "Foolish human. I can get the Mirror of Truth after killing him too. Why would I spare him and risk my reputation?"
After observing it for a while, she poured her ether energy into it and aimed toward the hooded expert. The latter stood there, without moving an inch.
As one side of the mirror emitted rays of light and shined upon the target, the other side displayed a metallic robot. "Hmm, she wasn't a human who died. She was a lifeless puppet who was probably discarded by its owner." Her smile grew further as she gazed at the hooded woman once again, "This makes it even more perfect to use for assassinations.
Anyway, let's continue." She took out a scroll and opened it, revealing several names on the list. Almost all of them were struck off. She struck off the name Yi Caijun's name with a tiny beam of ether energy from her finger.
As soon as his name has been cut off, another name is revealed at the bottom of the scroll, "Shi En? The successor to the Nuwa Church's Supreme Pontiff? This is going to be troublesome" She furrowed his brows.
"Didn't he sever his ties with the royal family? Why does the prince want him dead? Was he worried that the prince would return to the family and claim the throne? Well, he is in the direct line of the previous emperor. In theory, he does have the right… Oh, well… we can't question his intentions. According to the deal, I promised to kill 50 of them.
And so far, I have killed 48. Once I kill him and then the next, who might even be that old Emperor or another prince in competition, I will finally get that Amon Scroll's last fragment. Once I finish collecting the pieces, I will be able to summon Amon and form the contract. I'll be invincible then. Not even those demigods from Western Moon will be my match."