Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1080 The Strange Maxwell Society

Xia Xiu's gaze passed over the armored shoulders of the overseers, looking at the group of miners who continued to work amidst thunderstorms and energy dust, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

He quickly sketched out a structural logic in his mind—through his analysis of the fire and gears, he had roughly deduced the social structure of the mechanical race of the Maxwellist Church.

Unlike the Fire Seed mechanical church on Terra and Mars, this church has long abandoned human flesh and blood, embarking entirely on the so-called path of mechanical ascension—using Fire Seed as its soul, and forging believers of the God of Machines with biomimetic logic and structural rules.

"They are not an extension of humanity, but an independent race built from the spark of fire... But why does this church have such a strange feel to it? Can't even mechanical races escape the inherent flaws of human society?"

"Are the think tanks of the Marxist church just sitting around doing nothing? The more they develop, the more they regress, even allowing the slave-owning class and the slave class to coexist."

He couldn't help but marvel inwardly; these mechanical races exuded an aura of an ancient slave society.

Considering that Crystal Salvation is already a massive industrial planet, and given the existence of an inexhaustible energy source like the Dyson sphere, it's unlikely to develop into a slave society.

But it is indeed true that among these completely transformed silicon-based individuals, each one is a born follower of the Machine God.

Ironically, even such a race has failed to rid itself of the oldest cancer in the social structure—the hierarchy.

In the mining area before us, class divisions are almost naked; whether or not one possesses the "transformer gear" has become the most fundamental dividing line in Maxwell's society.

Those with teeth are called complete androids, representing autonomous transformation capabilities, information access, and advanced access to operational modules—they are born with information authority and stand at the top of cyber society.

Those without teeth are like the miners Xia Xiu saw; they have no gears, no ability to reconstruct structures, and can only undertake the most basic, dangerous, and repetitive mechanical labor.

Their spark is weak, their energy unstable, and their authority limited; they are a working class completely deprived of the right to reconstruct.

This inevitably made Xia Xiu suspect that, given the explosive growth in productivity, such a social situation could still occur. Perhaps someone had achieved the dream that Financial Street had always longed for—to become the ultimate producer and monopolize all information control.

"We need to observe further..." Although Xia Xiu was also puzzled, he needed to see why this cyber society had developed into such a strange state.

At the same time, he once again activated the core authority of the shattered fire seed within his body, sending a barely perceptible stream of information into the main processing center of the training supervisor, and began scanning discreetly and precisely without triggering any security protocols.

Target: Gear structure core.

At that moment, he finally saw the truth about these deformed gears.

Or more accurately, it is a broken [unlimited self-replicating machine chip].

These gears are not physical structures in the traditional sense, but a set of controllable and partially autonomous nano-microassemblies that can achieve local structural modification and mimicry reconstruction by replicating surrounding auxiliary structures and mobilizing energy micro-assembly modules.

"...It is not a true transformation, but a mechanical structure replacement achieved with the help of a micro-replicator."

Xia Xiu's mind raced, a complex conceptual map appearing before his eyes:

[Simulated structure reading → Module instruction rearrangement → Micro-assembly particle activation → Replacement of original components → Temporary functional reconstruction]

"It is a material engineering mechanism with temporary deformation capabilities... It is essentially a 'copy-assemble-coverage deformation', not true structural flexibility."

But for the robots of this world, that is enough—those with teeth represent those who have the power to construct themselves, while those without teeth do not even have the authority to modify themselves.

In other words, those with teeth possess extraordinary data and extraordinary production objects in cyber society, and use this to blatantly enslave the toothless, exploiting and suppressing them in a way that is even more bloody than the Financial Street.

At least before the birth of its master—the ultimate producer—the Financial Street knew how to give money, and the internal struggles among financial giants would open up some social circulation channels. Although not much, it was still a little better than the current cyber society that didn't even bother to pretend.

Both are despicable, but at least Financial Street isn't as foul. It's like the Four Monarchs and Crimson; if only one side could exist, Xia Xiu would hold his nose and tolerate the Four Monarchs.

He pondered for a moment, just as he was about to investigate further, when the situation on the field suddenly changed.

The tall supervisor, who was giving instructions through a megaphone, suddenly paused, his body stiffening slightly.

A moment later, it lowered its head, the structure beneath the mask trembled, and its tone suddenly became obsequious and respectful:
"...Yes...I understand, I'll go there now."

This unusual reaction immediately caught Xia Xiu's attention.

He quietly activated the information erosion module of the Fire Seed, and a silk-like information chain silently connected to the communication channel that the other party had just ended, and with Eden's cooperation, it docked the signal frequency.

The next second, an encrypted communication was swiftly captured, and the [Eden Decryption Interface] immediately appeared in Xia Xiu's mind:
[Signal Source: Functionalist Commission, Charon South District Dispatch Center]

[Communication content: Interim instructions intercepted, decoded successfully, transcribed as follows—]

"An unusual fluctuation has occurred in the Charon mining area, and the energy block inventory is once again critically low."

“Individuals have violated the ‘Maswickian Classification’ by illegally possessing modified gears and have been identified as remnants of the rebel forces.”

"According to the Seventh Working Coordination Order, an energy hijacking incident has occurred in Area A of the Antarctic Segment, which has been confirmed as an escapee from the previous crackdown."

"Immediately dispatch some personnel from this district to the sealed-off area to assist in the suppression operation."

"Supervision of this mining area will be strengthened accordingly, and the energy block collection rate will be doubled."

"Military officer overseeing the mud furnace: The ore layer you are responsible for has entered the [Red Line Operation Mode] to ensure the mission is completed."

Upon receiving the notice from the Functionalist Committee, the military overseer named Mud Furnace quickly approached another overseer of similar build but slightly heavier construction. The latter's armor was a deep brown, with energy pipes winding downwards around his legs like tree roots. Mud Furnace's shoulder-mounted sonic amplifier roared to life, its mechanical sound interspersed with sharp, commanding frequencies.

"Mudfire, today's energy block collection has doubled."

“These wheelless scrap metal pieces are being processed too slowly. You’re in charge of keeping an eye on them and getting them moving faster.”

Mudfire slightly turned its head, indicating that it accepted the order. The deformed gear on its chest vibrated slightly, as if calculating the gap between the mining speed and the current efficiency, while the miners around it continued to work with their heads down, completely unaware that a new pressure was about to crush them.

The lower half of the clay furnace suddenly became firmly planted on the ground, and the entire body emitted a series of low, resounding clicks as if tens of tons of steel were simultaneously releasing their compressive force.

"Kakaka-"

In the next instant, its breastplate, back, and limb armor folded outwards like flower petals, the support structure and ducts suddenly contracted, and a pair of sharp main wings extended from its back, stretching backwards at an angle like cutting blades; long, stabilizing tail fins deployed at the spine, and sloping air intakes opened on both sides of its lower back, embedding themselves into the energy-concentrating turbine engine. The lower leg armor folded inwards, and its feet retracted into the power pack assembly, transforming into hovering steering nozzles; the abdominal armor folded and integrated into an aerodynamic downcomer, while the original head retracted inwards, embedding itself into the central driving control core.

In the blink of an eye, the heavy-armored foreman, originally in human form, had completely transformed into a highly maneuverable, streamlined combat flying weapon.

Its overall body is dark gray and silver, with a long main body and tightly fitted armor. The tail fins are forked and extended, and the control nozzles on both sides are emitting a fiery purple light.

"This design has a feel of the old-school third-generation fighter jet, the Falcon-16, from my past life..." Xia Xiu thought to himself as he looked at the other's appearance.

Because of the existence of the lineage, Terra in this world has seen a surge in black box technology. Although fighter jets exist, their development paths are incredibly diverse. Even now, when Terra develops aerospace fighters, it's like Farron's [Mount Guard], using [Steam Interaction Pumps] to modify dragons as modified aerospace mobile units.

It's truly rare to see a fighter jet as pure and respectful of physics and fluid dynamics as the clay furnace in front of us!
At this moment, the mud furnace engine emitted a low-frequency roar that sounded like a bellow, and then leaped up with a propulsive burning trajectory!

boom------

He transformed into a streak of iron wings, piercing through thunderclouds and energy rain, and flew straight towards the area where the rebels were lurking.

Xia Xiu stood rooted to the spot, his blond hair fluttering slightly in the arcs of electricity. His golden eyes flashed briefly, and an intriguing smile curved his lips.

"The deformation mechanism and propulsion rail structure... are quite sophisticated."

As he finished speaking, a semi-transparent [Möbius strip] suddenly appeared beneath his feet. The ring was woven from countless silver-white lines and overlapping spatial curvatures, rotating lightly as if opening a folded passage in space.

The next instant, Xia Xiu moved, his entire body twisted into the one-sided ring-shaped space zone.

Om-!
Without propulsion or energy bursts, only a coordinate-jumping teleportation, he swept across the mining area like a silent light and shadow, precisely following the trajectory of the clay furnace layer by layer.

A leap, a turn, a swoop, a landing.

He remained hidden behind every distorted space without the slightest disturbance, his figure shifting between the night and thunderclouds like a shadow chasing a star.

……

……

Crystal Star II Charon Antarctic Segment A.

Dark clouds hung low like iron plates, thunder rumbled, and purple lightning intertwined with energy dust storms, creating a war zone that tore the sky apart on the wasteland. This was Area A of Antarctica, the most unstable edge of the Charon mining region, and at this moment, it had already been torn apart by the firepower of a sudden civil war.

On the ground, a fleet of brightly colored mechanical vehicles was speeding and breaking through the encirclement.

The yellow sports car led the charge, its wheels rubbing against the ground and sparking intense heat.

Silver-white police cars followed closely behind, ambulances painted in blue, white and red with highway medical markings sped along, and several rugged armored trucks brought up the rear, their huge tires rolling over the metal debris and kicking up layers of dust.

They were operating at full speed, charging left and right amidst continuous aerial fire.

In the air, two squadrons of black-painted Apache heavy attack helicopters circled at low altitude, their chain cannons on their bellies humming incessantly, each shot like a claw of hell tearing through the sky.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-!
A dense barrage of bullets rained down like a torrential downpour, relentlessly suppressing the oncoming motorcycles. Bullets struck the steel plates of the ruins, sending sparks flying. Several sports cars were grazed by the bullets, their engines instantly exploding.

A silver-blue ambulance was hit by a grenade on the way, its front end completely blown apart and its rear end bursting into flames. However, before the shockwave had even dissipated, the vehicle suddenly jolted and began to deform rapidly amidst the flames.

Kakakaka——!
The sides of the vehicle folded down, the wheel hubs shrank inward, the front cover rose up to become a chest armor, the legs flipped out from the chassis, and the arms extended and rolled out from the doors. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a three-meter-tall humanoid fighter jet, rolling down and flipping up from the flames. A series of "poof" electromagnetic exhaust sounds came out of its chest, and the whole machine trembled.

Before it could regain its footing, the air howled again.

"—Screech—!"

Two high-speed third-generation fighter jets swept down from the clouds, their belly doors opened, and several air-to-ground missiles crashed down in parabolic arcs.

Mushroom-shaped flames immediately rose from the ground, rushing towards us, and the entire wasteland was instantly turned into burning scorched earth.

Two more motorcycles tumbled in the impact. They were blown away by the aftershocks of the explosion before they could complete their transformation in mid-air. They rolled several times on the ground before barely completing their transformation, looking extremely disheveled. The fire field was faintly visible, and the warning light of the energy core continued to flash.

The remaining rebel mechs converged on an abandoned factory, using the wreckage for brief cover. Upon landing, they all transformed—the shells folded inwards layer by layer, the mechanical exoskeleton and combat modules rapidly unfolded, and each individual deployed its left or right arm in a combat stance. The outer shell deconstructed and reassembled, forming a pulse coil and energy-conducting gun structure.

"Sizzle—crack—"

[Ion cannons have been deployed!]

A mechanical cyber language sounded, and then they raised their arms. As the cannons were fully charged, five blinding blue and white electric currents erupted simultaneously, tearing through the wasteland air and firing at the helicopters and fighter jets in the sky.

"boom--!"

"Tsk—smack!"

A high-frequency ion beam suddenly struck the side cabin of an Apache helicopter, causing the cabin to explode in a blinding flash of fire. The helicopter shook violently and spun as it crashed into a nearby slag heap.

But more air units continued to suppress the enemy from high altitudes, their fire control systems far more precise than the rebels' makeshift counterattacks.

Less than ten seconds later, three missiles swept across the night sky again, exploding precisely over the processing plant. The entire roof was instantly blown off, and rubble, steel bars, and flames fell in a mixed shower.

Although the counterattack was fierce, it could not stop the overwhelming force of the air superiority units' ground suppression.

Xia Xiu was standing atop a towering broken tower a hundred meters away, watching this strange scene.

He arrived at the combat zone a minute faster than the third-generation fighter jets. As soon as he arrived, he saw armed helicopters and fighter jets beating up the motorcycle convoy below.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself with a strange expression:

"Why does this feel so familiar... What on earth is the think tank of the Marxist Church doing? Did someone give it some weird expansion pack? Otherwise, how could these Iron Men have developed into this mess?"