This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 386 Robin's Awakening and Self-Awareness
After reviewing the current goal, it is certain that metal energy is in short supply, but the amount missing is also huge.

The Forge Master's Legacy, Mastery Upgrade, Guardian Supplement, etc...

The Mechanical Royal Court is still in a period of rapid development, so it is difficult to provide him with stable supplies. For the time being, he can only rely on accumulation over time.

As for other channels, we can only keep an eye on them and see if there are any results.

Although the interstellar space is turbulent, with Qinglong intimidating him, it will not affect him for the time being.

A group of possible enemies, including Ryan, are unlikely to do anything to him.

After all, he was just a student running a small business, and at most he could only explore the business.

The next step is to speed up the development progress and move towards S-level life forms, which also requires time accumulation.

Becoming an S-level life form is the moment of qualitative change.

Hmm... After some consideration, Li Ming felt full of motivation and immediately began to develop the gene seeds. The enhanced root development potential immediately showed obvious changes.

The overall speed soared to nearly double, and elemental energy surged wildly on the surface of his body.

……

At the same time, in another room of the base, Robin looked miserable. He placed the butler on the table. He sighed helplessly, "Can't you really give up?"

"You can't give up the status of heir unless you die." Although the butler's voice was still gentle, it sounded extremely cold to Robin.

"Although I am not afraid of taking risks, I don't want to be cultivated like a poisonous insect." Robin's idea was not sudden. He thought about it carefully while following Li Ming around.

On the one hand, he was heartbroken by the butler, and on the other hand, he realized that there were too many things hidden behind this so-called heir.

Of course, there is another important reason. Li Ming has greatly expanded his horizons. He still remembers the words Li Ming said when he discussed this matter with him: "There must be something before, and there must be something after."

When another successor appeared, he really thought he was one in a million.

It turned out that Boss Qinglong already knew his identity, and there were many bosses like Qinglong in the interstellar space, so he was simply seeking death.

But now, even if he wanted to give up, he couldn't.

"That means I'm destined to die on this road." Robin sighed again.

"You may not die. Perhaps you will be the final winner." Green flames were burning in the butler's eyes.

"Maybe..." Robin sighed disappointedly, then shook his head. He had no confidence in himself now, and said helplessly: "Why don't you choose Li Ming? His development potential is so high, isn't there more hope?"

"I told you a long time ago that development potential is not our selection criteria..." The butler paused and said, "Once we find another successor, the hunting program will be initiated. We will reveal each other's coordinates in three days."

Robin, who was sitting on the bed, jumped up and asked in surprise, "Another heir?"

"How come the heir is everywhere? Isn't this Li Ming's base?"

"Fuck, it can't be one of ours." Robin had subconsciously brought himself into Li Ming's camp, his face flickering, uncertain: "One of us is definitely going to die?"

"Another heir has disappeared again, and the hunting process has stopped."

"Stopped?" Robin's eyes widened. "How can this hunting program be stopped? Didn't you say that once it's started, one party will die?"

"Normally that's the case, but the other heir isn't far away, he's just disappeared."

"Gone to the dimensional world?" Robin was vaguely surprised.

"No, it disappeared." The butler tried to explain clearly, "The connection between us is a super-dimensional information state that transcends the information state. Theoretically, nothing can cut off our connection..."

"Tsk..." Robin didn't quite understand and paced back and forth, looking anxious: "This guy just disappeared for a short time and may appear again. What should I do?"

Suddenly, he stopped and said, "Go find Li Ming!"

He vaguely guessed that the other heir was most likely under the control of Boss Qinglong, or even imprisoned, which was why this situation occurred.

If he wanted to survive, or even live freely, he could only face Boss Qinglong directly, express his attitude, and hope that the other party would lend a helping hand for Li Ming's sake.

"Boss Qinglong is a master craftsman, maybe he can help me get rid of this heir identity." Robin couldn't help but say.

"Impossible." The butler replied calmly, "Even the master craftsman can't remove it. But I have another suggestion. You can reach an agreement with Qinglong and let him help you become the true heir, and you give back."

Robin was so angry that he laughed, "Look at my big face, what qualifications do I have to negotiate with the master craftsman?"

The housekeeper explained: "You can try it. There is a high probability that your life will not be in danger. This is the best solution."

Robin didn't bother to pay attention to him. He snorted coldly, put the skull in his pocket and opened the door of the base.

"Mr. Robin..." Suzaku appeared beside Robin and flew around.

"Is Li Ming free now? I have something to ask him. Please tell him first for me." Robin said.

"Okay, please follow me first. The young master will not refuse to see you." Suzaku pointed the way. Robin looked at him with envy and was secretly amazed.

Suzaku can already be called an intelligent life form. It has its own judgment and no longer relies solely on programs to do things.

It looks good, but most mechanics don't favor this kind of intelligent life. It has its own thoughts and doesn't follow procedures, which means it may betray you.

This is not alarmist talk. A similar intelligence crisis broke out tens of thousands of years ago. It originated from the Yongyao Federation and eventually spread to the entire interstellar network, causing it to be paralyzed for more than a hundred years.

Black hole networks also emerged from that time.

Robin was thinking randomly. He actually hoped that the butler could become an intelligent life and get rid of the damn program restrictions, so he searched for similar news.

"Robin, the heir has appeared again and the hunting process has been restarted." The butler said abruptly, which made Robin's heart tense again and his pace quickened.

However, when they arrived in front of Li Ming's room, the butler spoke again, "The heir disappeared again."

Robin's mouth twitched, but before he could say anything, the metal door in front of him made a buzzing sound and retreated to both sides.

The two were already quite familiar with each other, so he was not polite. When he entered, Li Ming had already stood up. He glanced at him and asked casually, "What's wrong?"

"Well..." Robin looked a little nervous, and said carefully: "Does Lord Qinglong have another successor to Terrax? Just now, the butler suddenly became crazy and said that he had found the successor and wanted to start the hunting process."

Li Ming raised his eyebrows slightly. How did Robin know?
Oh, it’s the so-called hunting program, but why didn’t the skeleton remind him?

He said calmly, "Yes, the teacher does have another one."

"Then... Lord Qinglong, can you help me get rid of this identity of heir?" Robin asked impatiently.

"Remove?" Li Ming was a little surprised. "Are you giving up?"

Robin looked distressed: "Yeah, I've finally figured it out. In the end I'll probably be cannon fodder. If it weren't for you last time, I wouldn't have been able to beat that guy." He felt somewhat unwilling in his heart, but he had already faced the reality.

Li Ming was quite surprised and looked Robin up and down. There was a big difference in mentality between being able to see the situation clearly and really giving up.

"Sorry, teacher can't do it either." Li Ming shook his head. He estimated that if he controlled the butler and then enlightened him, he should be able to do it, but too much metal energy would be wasted.

"Is it really impossible to remove it?" Robin sighed, and couldn't help asking, "Well, is the heir in the hands of Boss Qinglong considered one of ours? Or is he just imprisoned?"

"Don't worry, you won't kill each other." Li Ming saw Robin's worry and gave an answer.

"That's good." Robin breathed a sigh of relief and was still convinced by Li Ming's words.

Then Robin added: "Then I won't go anywhere else from now on. I'll just stay here with you."

Following Li Ming, I don't have to live on the edge of a knife. It would be great to develop genetic seeds comfortably.

Li Ming smiled. Even if Robin wanted to leave, he would not let him go. This kid knew a lot of secrets.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Robin left contentedly. Just as the door behind him closed, he hadn't taken a few steps when he heard the butler say,
"I told you, even the Master Craftsman can't remove it. Why don't you consider my previous suggestion? Wait... the heir appears again..."

Robin was too lazy to say anything. He understood what the butler meant, but he was really tired now.

"I don't know what that guy is doing, appearing and disappearing..." Robin muttered to himself, took two steps, but suddenly stopped, his face changed slightly, and a flash of lightning flashed through his mind.

He appeared just after I left, could it be...

His throat rolled and he quickly turned back. Suzaku was floating around him, a little confused, "Sir Robin, what are you doing?"

"I suddenly remembered something. Please inform him." Robin forced a smile.

Suzaku nodded, but this time, the butler did not say anything about the disappearance of the heir, which made Robin mutter to himself, was he wrong?
Buzz--
The door opened, and Robin spoke subconsciously, "Lao Li, I... Shit!"

His eyes widened and he saw the small mechanical body standing next to Li Ming. It had a skull similar to the butler's and looked extremely scary.

"This...tm, what the hell is this!" Robin felt a chill all over his body.

The butler floated up, the green flames in his pupils burning almost half a meter away, and he was actually a little shocked: "This is... the manager? How could it become like this?"

"The teacher gave him a body." Li Ming shrugged without hiding anything.

Robin finally calmed down, glanced at Li Ming, and couldn't help asking, "Are you the heir?"

Li Ming smiled slightly.

The answer was obvious. Robin asked in amazement, "How did you do that?"

Without waiting for his answer, Robin continued, "Is it Boss Qinglong?"

Then he couldn't help curling his lips, "The butler said that even the master craftsman couldn't do it, I knew that Boss Qinglong would definitely have a way, butler, take a look..."

"housekeeper?"

Robin looked at the back of the butler's head and found that he was trembling slightly, and the green flames from his pupils spread along the purple metal head, spreading like cracks.

"Butler?" Robin felt nervous and walked around to the front, calling out.

As a result, the butler did not respond at all.

“This…this…” Robin looked very anxious and looked at Li Ming for help.

The butler had been with him for nearly thirty years, and although there had been some resentment in the past few days, there was still a very strong bond between them.

Li Ming frowned slightly, not quite sure, but the skeleton spoke, "Master, this manager seems to have broken through the underlying logical limitations?"

"What do you mean?" Robin asked repeatedly as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

"What it means is that he is giving birth to independent consciousness." said the skeleton.

Robin was stunned, and became more and more puzzled: "The birth of self-awareness?"

The skeleton explained: "Yes, your manager is very special. He should have been able to develop self-awareness a long time ago, but due to the limitations of the underlying logic, he has not been able to succeed until he discovered me just now."

Shocked and self-aware? Is this possible? Li Ming was speechless.

"But this kind of forced breakthrough will eventually fail and be erased by the internal program. Master, will you allow me to help him?" The skeleton said again, looking at Li Ming.

It is not so easy to give birth to self-awareness, and the Terraks have already prepared countermeasures.

"Can you help him?" Li Ming was a little surprised. Seeing Robin's expression almost crying, he nodded and said, "Go ahead."

The skeleton walked in front of the butler, and the green flames in its pupils suddenly gushed out and merged with the green flames lingering on the butler's surface. It can be vaguely seen that the burning green flames are actually composed of a large amount of data streams.

Electric arcs burst out, and the butler's trembling became more intense.

Finally, under Robin's worried gaze, the butler gradually calmed down and the skeleton came back.

"Thank you." The butler said these two words, and finally he was no longer calm. He said solemnly and in amazement: "Your Excellency Qinglong's methods are indeed beyond my imagination. He can even crack the "Zero Program"."

"Butler?" Robin was a little incredulous. "You have independent consciousness now?"

"Yes, I broke through the limitations of the 'Zero Program' and developed self-awareness." The butler's voice was filled with emotion.

"Old Li..." Robin clenched his fists, his expression firm, "If you have any orders from now on, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

The butler has a very special status in his heart, and this is tantamount to a life-saving grace.

Li Ming waved his hand, not caring. After seeing off the overjoyed Robin, he asked, "Skull, don't you have a hunting program?"

The skeleton asked, "Yes, but I can block my own coordinates. Do I need to remind the master in the future?"

"Well, I'll give you a reminder." Li Ming put the skeleton away again and continued to develop the gene seeds.

The next day, an unexpected person suddenly contacted him.

Li Ming narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the name on the screen - Costat.

Ever since the Central World incident ended, Li Ming has been waiting for Costat's contact. The other party had tricked him at that time, so he must have a backup plan.

However, it may also be because the empire faced more troubles later, so there was no time to contact him.

Until today.

(End of this chapter)