Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1079 Miners and Overseers

After listening to Amond's words, Xia Xiu turned his head slightly and looked out the window at the planet colonized by mechanical civilization—Crystal II.

The planet's surface emanated a deep, purplish-red glow, and the entire city resembled a complex organism, with its internal biological systems quietly functioning, like a massive, metal-coated mechanical heart.

A slight chuckle flickered in his eyes as he raised his silver cane and murmured mockingly:
"It seems I've finally figured out the characteristics of this Mech race, Amond. Isn't this a pretty good opportunity for me?"

Armand remained calm, his gaze fixed on the scene before him, and his voice remained completely still.

"what chance?"

“We need to move into Crystal Star II and investigate thoroughly.” Xia Xiu paused, then said meaningfully, “I happen to have a broken spark, which allows me to impersonate a member of the Machine God Clan. The identity verification from the Maxwellist Church is a piece of cake for me, given that I possess the spark.”

He smiled slightly, and the principal joked, "I feel like we're like aliens infiltrating Terra in a science fiction movie from the Edisi Federation... Oh, no, to the mechanical races, we really are aliens."

Armand quietly added:
“You are the Om Messiah, and to the Cult of Machines, you are not an alien. To them, you are probably worse than an alien—you are a heretic—those who worship the Shattering God want to tear you to pieces the moment they see you.”

Xia Xiu smiled after hearing this, seemingly not taking it to heart at all.

He turned back to look at the image of Crystal Star II, his gaze sweeping over the outline of the mechanized city, as if he were plotting something grand. The vast city was laid out in a well-organized manner, the interplay of starlight and crimson clouds creating an atmosphere that was both serene and oppressive. And in the distance, the Dyson sphere seemed like an eternal eye of judgment, watching over everything on this planet.

Xia Xiu's voice was deep, yet exceptionally firm:
"So, the goal is now very clear."

He paused, looking at Armand, a sharp glint in his eyes:
"Find Kondratiev, rescind the Ophiuchus Protocol, investigate all the secrets of Aristarchus and the Dyson sphere, and find a way to—take control of that Dyson sphere."

He said softly, "Now, let's begin."

Before he finished speaking, his finger lightly touched a floating symbol on the control panel, and the Heavenly Lineage immediately responded, with Eden's voice echoing throughout the ship as usual:
[Command confirmed: Unlock hatch, initiate landing procedure.]

The hatch slowly opened, revealing a flash of blue light, followed by the deep starry sky outside. As the hatch opened, Xia Xiu fearlessly stepped out, swiftly passing through the barrier of light.

There was not a sound outside; the silence and boundless darkness of space rushed towards us.

However, Xia Xiu's body had already been forged into an indestructible state by the power of the Holy Forging.

That superhuman physical response to the environment is instinctive—he can ignore the effects of extreme temperature differences and weightlessness even without any protective equipment.

His body seemed to merge with space, and all that could be perceived was that profound power and boundless freedom.

He stood easily at the hatch, the floating platform beneath his feet gradually disappearing, as if all external factors were irrelevant to him.

Then, his gaze sharpened, and the figure of Sisyphus appeared behind him, transformed into a sculpture with a perfect physique, clearly defined muscles, and a purple-gold light shining on his body.

[Sisyphus] began to manipulate vectors. The manipulation of vector forces freed Xia Xiu's body from the constraints of gravity, making him appear like a free-falling elf.

“Crystal Star II, here I come.”

He leaped down, instantly unleashing his powerful spatial manipulation abilities. His body gently rose into the air and plummeted towards Crystal Constellation II.

Precise manipulation of vector forces propelled him toward the target area.

At the same time, through his ability to [weaken his presence], he easily concealed his aura and energy fluctuations, making him undetectable by any surrounding detection systems. Eden's assistance allowed him to completely hide his whereabouts, and during this process, the intelligence of the think tank blocked any possible detection and scanning by Crystal Star II.

"The invisibility effect is perfect," Xia Xiu thought to himself, as his descent speed gradually increased.

The external environment began to change, and the starry sky ahead was gradually swallowed up by the purplish-red light trail of Crystal Star II.

The streak of light, like a pervasive blood mist, covered half the sky of the entire planet, resembling the scorching marks left by a falling star, devouring everything and every life that entered it.

His descent accelerated, the surrounding lights stretched rapidly, and the stars seemed like an unattainable memory. Through this mist of light, he finally saw the landscape below.

The south polar region of Crystal Star II is being swallowed by large swaths of purplish-red light. The surface is covered with countless gigantic buildings, broken man-made facilities, and deformed landforms, suggesting that this area was once an industrial or experimental zone, but has now been eroded into an extremely desolate place.

The light spread here, like the corrosive power of some kind, gradually changing the form of everything around it.

[Sisyphus] continued to control him as he plummeted downwards, the surrounding space seemingly distorted completely around him. The powerful force made Xia Xiu feel as if he were traveling through an endless time tunnel, and the acceleration every second made the surface of the earth gradually clearer, until he brushed past the purple-red ocean-like light mist and landed precisely in Antarctica.

……

……

After Xia Xiu landed steadily, the ground beneath his feet was as hard as iron.

Before me lies the heavy industrial center of the Antarctic region of Crystal Star II, shrouded in an eternal night.

Even without natural clouds, the sky is always shrouded in thick purple lightning, with thunder and lightning like the roar of an angry god, constantly tearing the sky apart and illuminating the ruins of the city.

The air was thick with energy dust, and a pungent chemical smell filled every inch of the air.

This land has been polluted beyond redemption by industry.

Even the air itself was filled with a metallic and corrosive smell, making it suffocating.

The buildings on the ground were scattered in a staggered manner, and towering factory chimneys spewed out black smoke, making the whole city exhale a deathly aura.

Occasionally, the roar of robotic arms and automated devices pierces the air, accompanied by the rumble of thunder and storms, creating a massive, incessantly noisy industrial hell.

The steel towers in the distance, once like giants, are now jagged, mottled, and rusty due to the corrosion of time and the rebellion of industry, standing like tall broken bones in this desolate land.

Upon arriving at Crystal Mansion II, Xia Xiu witnessed a strange scene.

He saw a group of silicon-based robotic miners carrying out arduous mining operations using heavy drills and excavation equipment.

Each mining robot is three meters tall, with a heavy body and a surface covered with brown metallic armor.

Their chests have obvious gaps, as if they have been forcibly removed, exposing the internal power core and energy channels, with abandoned interfaces and stitching marks clearly visible.

Interestingly, although these Mech Miners are covered in heavy metal armor and have huge, rough bodies, they all maintain a humanoid structure.

Their limb proportions, body structure, and even posture are all designed in imitation of humans, their movements steady yet not stiff, especially—their faces. Each mech's face is assembled from a complex metal structure, appearing like a cast iron sculpture, yet far from cold and rigid. It is a facial module composed of intricate mechanical panels, movable surface armor, and a micro-hydraulic expression system, possessing extremely high precision control capabilities.

The brow area of ​​the face is made of movable armor, which will slightly rise or fall when performing different actions to simulate states such as "focus", "dissatisfaction" and "alertness".

The eyes are embedded with highly sensitive optical sensor crystals that flash low-frequency blue or red light in dim environments, with different colors representing different work states and mood changes.

The nose has sharp lines that fit perfectly into the heat dissipation channel of the central data processing unit, while the chin is made up of two opening and closing metal scales that vibrate slightly when issuing short commands or internal communication signals, just like simulating the opening and closing of human lips.

What is most striking is the emotional profile they exhibit during long working hours.

Although they lack real facial muscles, they still exhibit a near-human-like facial expression response when performing different tasks thanks to their adjustable metal sheet structure.

When the drill bit encountered hard rock, a miner's brow drooped noticeably, and the optical sensor inside flickered, as if expressing frustration or dissatisfaction.

Right next to the miners were a group of mechanical supervisors, who were 30% to 50% taller than the miners, generally between 6 and 8 meters tall. Their imposing stature and commanding presence exuded a strong sense of oppression.

The armor worn by these overseers consisted of thick, angular metal plates, particularly on the chest, shoulders, and back, forming an impenetrable shell of protection.

Their limbs are thick and bulging at the joints, with hydraulic reinforcements protruding outwards, revealing a powerful sense of strength.

Each overseer wore a towering helmet with two or three protruding horns at the front. The visor almost completely covered their faces, with only a pair of cold, indifferent optical sensors visible.

They were equipped with huge energy whips to whip the miners; when they swung the whips, arcs of electricity flashed across them, producing a piercing crackling sound.

The whip has a barb at the end, which can instantly paralyze and immobilize the target.

The biggest difference between these mechanical overseers and miners lies in their chests. Each overseer has a huge gear mechanism on their chest, which from a distance looks like a giant mechanical heart.

At the same time, they are equipped with sonic amplifiers on their shoulders or heads, which can issue clear commands amidst the huge noise of the mine, forcibly transmitting the commands to the miners' ears.

Xia Xiu stood quietly behind the wreckage of a melted pipe, his aura slowly dissipating like ripples on water, completely disappearing.

At this moment, a mechanical supervisor nearly eight meters tall stood among the miners. The light source on its forehead, like a searchlight tower, suddenly lit up, casting a sharp, cone-shaped beam of light across the mining area. The gear core on its chest also began to rotate, emitting a heavy "click-clack" sound, as if proclaiming its power and presence.

Immediately afterwards, the sonic amplifier on one of its shoulders suddenly started up.

"■§——!!!"

Amidst the roar, electromagnetic vibrations surged, and low-frequency mechanical sounds amplified several times over, accompanied by piercing noises that echoed throughout the mining area. Even amidst the heavy thunderstorms and industrial roars, the sound still pierced the eardrums like an iron hook tearing through the air.

Standing to the side, Xia Xiu was in no hurry to act. He glanced at the silicon-based miners who were still working silently, and Eden's voice appeared in his mind:

[Language Type: Broken Church · 04-A General Cyber ​​Language]

[The current broadcast content is being decoded...]

[Translation Method: Structural Semantic Deciphering + Low-Frequency Magnetostatic Filtering + Hot Word Command Comparison]

Seconds later, in Xia Xiu's mind, Eden presented the malicious language in its entirety in human language format:

“You slag pieces without any gears are not even as good as a decent piece of cast iron.”

“Look at you wheelless scrap metal, all you do is crawl around in the dark, like a bunch of lowly cave crawlers.”

“Every time I see you mechanical mules shirking your duties, I get angry. Remember, you are disposable products created to be consumed. You will rust, lose parts, and become scrapped due to overload.”

“Look at you, you don’t even have the most basic conversion core. You’re a bunch of empty shells who don’t deserve to have names. You were originally only meant to be locked up underground, rotting in the gutter like cold-made bodies. It was the God of Myriad Machines who took pity on you flawed products and gave you the opportunity to work and prove yourselves.”

"Who wants to listen to you? Nobody. Even if you did speak, it would only be the creaking of a tin can."

"Scrap metal! Rusty barrels! Your existence is a waste of our God of All Machines' energy... If we don't meet our mining targets today, you'll all be going to go and gnaw on microchips."

Xia Xiu turned slightly to the side, standing behind the discarded mechanical components, and observed with great interest the group of busy mechanical supervisors in front of him.

He didn't rush into action, but quietly analyzed the differences between them and the miners.

Although they seemed to belong to the same race, under Xia Xiu's scan of the shattered fire, he began to perceive a completely different world.

'Shattered Spark - Full Intelligence Scan'

A vague yet incredibly detailed omniscient scanning interface appeared in Xia Xiu's eyes.

As the power of the spark circulated, he began to move within these mechanical individuals, scanning every tiny energy fluctuation and internal structure.

That complex perception, like a neural network, gradually revealed the difference between miners and overseers.

“The meningeal blocks are exactly the same, the only two differences are whether there are gears in the chest and the state of the burning of the flame…” he murmured.

He saw through their secret—within the body of each mechanical race, there floated a small energy ball, 10-30 centimeters in diameter, which was the spark.

Unlike the eternal flame of the God of Machines, the flames of these mechanical races cannot burn for themselves and must rely on external forces for replenishment, much like an engine that will stop running at any time if it runs out of fuel.

The miners' embers were like those in a state of prolonged hunger, their light dim and possibly extinguished at any moment, as if their lives and will were inextricably linked to the external energy supply, and they would fall into a state of death when they lacked replenishment.

Xia Xiu's gaze darkened slightly, and a fitting adjective came to mind—hunger.

These miners were starving.

Compared to the miners' fervor, the mechanical supervisors' fervor was far more intense.

The energy spheres within them are even larger, with shimmering light particles on their surfaces flowing extremely actively, full of power and heat. The outer transparent energy membrane is strong and bright, seemingly never to dim.

The foremen's fires were like large furnaces brimming with fuel, while the miners' fires were like furnaces lacking coal, ready to go out at any moment.

The difference in their energy levels is like two huge chasms, deeply dividing their respective statuses.