I was transported to a broken world, yet my dreams are connected to Star Iron?

　Without even thinking, Black Tower knew it must be related to Lingmo's experiences in another world: "It's not surprising that she has many things that defy common sense. After all, although Lingmo seems a bit simple-minded, she is a genuine representative of the Envoy—and even a representative who can make decisions directly for the other party."

　Black Tower's words were not an exaggeration. After all, based on her current deductions, the envoy behind Suzuma was very likely the girl named Kiana.

　And the relationship between Kiana and Suzuma... tsk.

　"So that's the case, then I'm relieved."

　Screw Gum nodded slightly: "Without a doubt, this inorganic life form named Pascal has indeed developed its own emotions."

　"Oh?"

　Hei Ta asked with some interest, "Doesn't that mean that most mainstream theories about the origin of silicon-based civilizations have flaws from the very beginning? After all, according to their thinking, a mechanical creation with Pascal's level of technology wouldn't even be worthy of being called an intelligent machine."

　"This theory has been flawed from the start."

　Screw Goom sighed: "When Rupert I was first born, he was just an extremely simple mechanical device. Even the space used to store his emotions was only about ninety bytes. However, this did not prevent him from developing a self."

　"However, in people's memories, Rupert I is more deeply remembered as a genius or as a tyrant, so much so that most people overlook how miraculous his process of self-awakening was."

　"In my research, there are many possible paths for silicon-based civilizations from awakening to birth. I have already disproven some of these paths, while others are still being explored. However, there is no doubt that Bellberg of Yalilo VI will be a very important subject of observation. Perhaps I can use it to demonstrate an important proposition—that the emotional sparks of inorganic life are closely related to organic life."

　"..."

　Schwaro listened quietly to their conversation. Although Suzumo had only given a brief introduction to the two, Schwaro's database had already clearly shown him just how terrifying these two were.

　However, judging from their current exchanges, this Mr. Screw Goom seems to have high hopes for the Mechanical Settlement and even the entire Beloborg.

　"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Schwarz."

　Screwgoom noticed Schwarz's thoughts: "Please forgive my inappropriate wording. Although I didn't mean it that way, my description just now was indeed a bit disrespectful to the creatures on this planet."

　"I will not treat you as experimental subjects, but as friends. So please forgive my previous rudeness. I sincerely hope that the silicon-based civilization on Bellberg can truly evolve and even form a common entity with the native organic civilization... At that time, we may be able to call each other 'brothers'."

　"Analysis: With the current computing power, we cannot analyze the purpose... However, I can sense your optimism about the future development of Yalilo VI, thank you very much."

　“Hehe, Schwarz, Screws’ promise is not just empty words… He said he has high hopes for you, which means he really thinks highly of you and may provide you with necessary assistance at a critical moment in the future.”

　At this moment, Suzumo, who had finished debugging the system for Pascal, also opened her eyes with a smile.

　"Clara, its emotion module should be fine now, but to prevent any trouble, I suggest you replace it with a brand new one as soon as possible. Congratulations, thanks to your persistence, the second silicon-based life form with true emotions has been born in Bellberg."

　"Eh?"

　Clara was a little confused: "To truly have emotions... but I feel that every member of the mechanical settlement has very rich emotions."

　"That would be even better."

　Lingmo patted Clara's hair: "Alright, go get Pascal repaired. Xing is nearby, you can ask her to protect you."

　"Okay, goodbye, big sister!"

　After watching Clara leave, Lingmo turned back and said, "Regarding the hidden dangers of Belloberg... you probably don't know yet, but Schwarzkopf should have quite a few records. One of the main reasons I invited you here is to hear your opinions and experiences on these situations. As it stands, the most serious hidden danger of Belloberg is probably the company itself."

　"The company? That's true. The automated mechs here do use the company's source code. Although there have been some optimizations in the mechanical structure, it's still a bit of wishful thinking to expect a genius who can optimize the company's source code to appear out of nowhere in such a small place."

　Black Tower looked at the scan results he had just compiled and said, "So... these mechs were originally bought from the company?"

　"Probably. Swallow doesn't have detailed purchase information, but it's certain that the first High Guardian borrowed a large sum of money from the company."

　"However, when this loan was taken out, Belloborg was a thriving tourism and earth marrow export planet with a promising future. The far-sighted Great Guardian used the loan to build a large number of shelters throughout Yalilo VI, including Belloborg. Although most people did not understand her at the time, these criticisms turned into boomerangs after the Antimatter Legion invaded."

　Lingmo shrugged.

　"So, not only the first batch of mechs, but also the construction materials for Belloborg, the large number of destroyed shelters... the initial funding for all these things actually came from that loan."

　Chapter 133 Oh my god, how could Suzumo be so wicked!

　"Oh, you said this."

　Lingmo had only spoken halfway when she noticed that both geniuses looked as if they had suddenly realized something.

　"Huh, is this really that common?"

　Lingmo asked, somewhat puzzled.

　"Of course it's common, it's incredibly common."

　Black Tower sighed and said helplessly, "The situation you described is a common one when a company controls a planet and expands its equity territory. In fact, it's rarer to find a planet that isn't exploited in this way."

　"As for extreme cases like the Yalilo VI, although they are less common, there have definitely been quite a few similar cases."

　"So... how do other planets usually deal with this?"

　"Well, this..."

　After a moment of contemplation, Black Tower said, "Given the situation with Yalilo VI, the company might not necessarily send anyone over."

　"You need to understand that a loan that has been outstanding for seven hundred years is an astronomical figure. Even at the most basic interest rate, if you only borrowed one credit point from the company seven hundred years ago, you would need to repay about 10 to the power of 28 credit points seven hundred years later. After all, it's an exponential explosion, a very simple principle."

　"Instead, if a planet could actually repay such an astronomical sum and directly release the credits of that sum into the market, it would actually cause problems for the company, such as inflation, because the amount is too huge."

　Screw Gum picked up the conversation.

　"When the company recycles these bad debts, it never intends for the other party to pay them off. It simply wants to gain control of a planet. Based on this goal, the probability of conflicts between the company's recycling members and the local authorities once reached a dangerous level."

　"In other words, this is a tough job. If the company really sends someone to recover the bad debts on Yalilo VI, there are only two possibilities: one is that the person sent to recover the debts has offended the company's higher-ups, and the other is that the person has some connection with this planet and therefore volunteered."

　"Considering that there shouldn't be many survivors of Yalilo VI outside, the latter situation can almost be ruled out. Therefore, whether the company will become a hidden danger for Yalilo VI is basically just a matter of luck."

　"After all, if the other party arrives too late, and Yalilo VI has already completed its post-disaster recovery and has the confidence to resist, then the company might take the initiative to negotiate. In this case, forcibly occupying this planet might be counterproductive, so it would be better to discuss it and make money together."

　"of course."

　Screw Gum glanced at Clara and Pascal in the distance: "If Yalilo VI really does have a dispute with the company about this bad debt due to bad luck... I will help mediate."

　"It would be an exaggeration to say that they would mediate. If the company knew you wanted to observe this planet, they would probably just give you face."

　Black Tower snorted: "I know those guys all too well. They've always been eager to recruit geniuses. Unfortunately, so far, the company has only partnered with three geniuses. If they had a chance to curry favor with you, they wouldn't even blink if it were ten more, let alone one Yalilo VI."

　"So, if someone really comes to retrieve Yalilo VI..."

　Lingmo couldn't help but think of Toppa's storyline: "Her expression must have been quite something, right?"

　"Of course, even if it were just you here, let alone screws, the company couldn't do anything to this place."

　Hei Ta stood on tiptoe and patted Ling Mo's head, looking at her with a disappointed expression: "As for you, you're supposed to be my genius lab assistant, so have some confidence. Do you really not know how valuable that title is in the world?"

　"Hey hey hey..."

　Lingmo smiled foolishly: "Then, as a lab assistant, can I apply to do experiments with Ms. Black Tower?"

　"Of course, what kind of experiment do you want to conduct?"

　"Let's experiment with how long it takes for two people to feel refreshed while sleeping in a hugging position... Ouch!"

　"Never doing anything right..."

　Hei Ta withdrew the little hand that had been tapping Ling Mo's head: "Now that things have come to an end on Yalilo VI, hurry back to the space station. I've analyzed some information about your situation in the other world that I need to share with you. Also, your little gray-haired girl should come back to test the simulated universe for me."

　"Yes, Ms. Black Tower!"

　……

　Having concluded their exploration of the mechanical settlement, Lingmo and the others had peacefully passed their final day of stay in Yalilo. Urged by the Black Tower, they quickly boarded the Star Train and returned to the space station to resupply and prepare for their next departure.

　It's worth mentioning, however, that Screwgoom didn't hitch a ride back to the space station. Instead, he planned to stay in Belloborg for a few more days. According to him, he intended to conduct a census of all the mechs in the entire mech settlement to check if there were any other automated mechs like Pascal.

　Black Tower was quite happy to let him linger a few more days. On the eve of leaving Belloberg, Black Tower went to find Screw Gum with a mysterious look on her face, seemingly to discuss some "big plan". Although she did not reveal it to Lingmo, Lingmo could guess about this plot.

　After all, it is well known that before elbowing Lagos, the last time the two geniuses joined forces, their purpose was merely to give a title to some guy who left a backdoor on the space station.

　Of course, Suzuma was also very interested in this, because she also wanted to ask Silver Wolf for a favor, so she went to find the Black Tower doll left in the Black Tower office.

　"You said you want to participate too?"

　The little black tower doll's eyes were now filled with great confusion.

　"Dealing with a hacker is already an exceptional treatment, with two geniuses teaming up to teach her a lesson. If you were to be added to the mix... wouldn't that be a bit too much of a blow to the child's psychological development?"

　"No no no..."

　Lingmo shook her head repeatedly: "Don't worry, Silver Wolf will be even more excited when he discovers that not only Screwgoom is here, but also me."

　Black Tower paused for a moment, then asked with a strange expression, "Masochist?"

　"She just likes to make things more difficult for herself. By the way, I'm not trying to elbow the wolf. I just want to take this opportunity to get to know her better and ask her for a favor."

　The little black tower doll's eyes lit up immediately: "So, how do you know her so well? You like the smaller ones?"

　"..."

　A few black lines appeared on Lingmo's head. Then, she grabbed the little black tower's hand and instantly invaded the black tower doll that was left in the office with her corrosive power.

　"Instruction: Disable the rant module, and require sensitive word review according to the space station security protocol when downloading databases from the network."

　"Instruction approved..."

　After Suzumo turned off the random module that Black Tower had turned on to tease her, Little Black Tower finally returned to normal: "Okay, so, how do you want to join in?"

　"Participate? No, no, no..."

　Lingmo shook her head: "Black Tower, you should have figured out how to teach Silver Wolf a lesson by now, right? If I'm not mistaken, it should be... a title ban?"

　"So, please transfer the data of those seventy-six accounts to me when the time comes."

　-

　-

　-

　To prevent everyone from missing the delightful little Easter egg in the new storyline, here's a reminder: Xia Die actually left us a ghost story.

　Chapter 134 Silver Wolf: Oh no, should I tell Liu Ying that these two slept together?

　After some private planning with the Black Tower, the space station quickly returned to calm.

　Meanwhile, the members of the Star Train were busy with their own tasks. Xing ran to test the simulated universe, Lingmo shuttled between the Honkai and Honkai Iron, Sanyue was organizing photos and local specialties of Belloberg, Danheng was compiling think tank materials, and the two "parents" of the Star Train purchased a batch of supplies at the space station, preparing to send them to Belloberg on their next departure.

　However, this peaceful routine was soon disrupted by the arrival of Screw Gum.

　Due to the arrival of Screw Goom, Hoshi also received a request from a staff member named Leonard. When the Star Core Hunter was invaded, he left some graffiti with hidden information in various places on the space station. The staff member asked Hoshi to help him clean it up, and out of curiosity about the Star Core Hunter and his own background, Hoshi agreed without hesitation.

　However, while the other side was cleaning up the graffiti all over the space station...

　"Huh? Is the graffiti I left on the space station last time being read?"

　A semi-transparent figure appeared in a corner of the space station.

　"Let me see what's going on... Screwgoom suddenly appeared at the space station?"

　The projection of the silver wolf began to ponder.

　"Hmm, this game seems a bit difficult... Speaking of which, Elio's expression before I set off was indeed a bit hard to describe. Although he didn't give me the script, it didn't seem like I was going to have a great victory."

　"Oh well, it doesn't matter if I lose. I can always play another round. Games are more fun when there's a challenge..."

　The hesitation didn't last long. For this hacker girl, the situation of being surrounded by powerful enemies only excited her more: "However, since it will take some time before all the graffiti is cleaned up, I'll go and visit that guy named Lingmo first. Otherwise, if I don't achieve my goal in the end, at least I'll have satisfied my curiosity."

　During the previous invasion of the space station, the pink-haired girl who used strange abilities and completely dominated Silver Wolf in electronic warfare left a deep impression on her. However, since she had a mission to complete at the time, the encounter was not very satisfying. Therefore, she plans to go and check on Suzuma's situation again this time.

　Even if they can't meet Lingmo, they can at least learn more about her through some clues. After all, judging from the current situation, apart from Elio, the other Star Core Hunters know nothing about this mysterious girl who has a good relationship with the stars. And for some reason, Elio doesn't mention Lingmo's situation at all, which is suspected to be related to the mysterious messenger behind her.

　"Prometheus, help me locate Suzumo's room."

　After giving the command in a soft voice, the Silver Wolf's projection instantly disappeared from its original spot. When it reappeared, it was already at the door of Suzumo's room.

　"Looks like my luck isn't so good..."

　Silver Wolf sighed regretfully as he reviewed Prometheus's investigation results.

　According to nearby surveillance footage, Lingmo left the room early in the morning and never returned, so there is no one in the room now.

　"Well, since we're already here, let's just treat it as a visit."

　The silver wolf's projection passed straight through the locked door.

　As Black Tower's experimental assistant, Suzumo's room should theoretically be very luxurious. However, unfortunately, neither Suzumo nor Black Tower pays much attention to the enjoyment of material life, so Suzumo's room on the space station is probably just of ordinary standard—excluding the things in the room.

　As for why I said that... the furniture in Suzuma's room was purchased with Estella's help, and Estella later told Suzuma, "It only cost a little money."

　However, perhaps because she left in a hurry in the morning, Lingmo's room was not tidied up much and remained as it was when she played games and slept the night before, full of life.

　"Wow, so many games? I didn't expect Suzuma to be a fellow enthusiast."