202: Automatic turret with "Silver" paint scheme

The "Feint" plan was a resounding success, not only securing the vital trade route but also making the "Spark" brand Flying Sword an instant hit. Spirit Stones and resources obtained from trading "trash" gradually piled up in the base warehouse, and everyone finally escaped the meager days of the past, standing much taller now.

Wen Youyi, however, did not immerse himself in the fleeting joy. He knew the Scavenger was only temporarily lured away, and the crisis was far from over. To truly gain a foothold in this treacherous Starry Sky Debris under the watchful eyes of the Creation Heavenly Court, they had to possess stronger self-defense capabilities.

Thus, while the "Flowing Silver Assembly Line" worked day and night producing star iron and standard-issue Flying Swords, Wen Youyi pulled Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Brother Li, and Ying together to start a new "black tech" project—the Base Automated Defense System.

On the Sand Tray in the center of the meeting hall, Wen Youyi placed several small flags around the metal block representing Bedrock Base.

"Having sturdy walls and gates isn't enough; that's just waiting to be hit." Wen Youyi pointed to several key passage entrances and high points. "We need to deploy automated sentry and attack units in these places, which are... Automated Turrets!"

"Automated Turrets?" Zhao Iron Pillar's eyes lit up. "Like the ballistae used by Mortal armies, they fire on their own?"

"Something like that, but ours are more Advanced." Wen Youyi explained with a smile. "The core is to utilize Sensing Rune Technology from the ancient database to identify friend or foe—primarily identifying energy fluctuations that don't belong to 'Spark' members. Once an unauthorized energy source is detected approaching, it will automatically trigger an attack."

Senior Brother Li was responsible for designing the turret's main structure. He drew inspiration from the simplified form of a small secondary gun on an ancient starship. The main body was cast from star iron, with the core being an energy converter and firing array, looking like a metal stump with a short, thick barrel.

Senior Brother Zhang focused on the most important "Perception and Control System." He embedded a processed Induction Crystal on top of the turret, which was extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations, and inscribed it with complex Recognition Runes. This System could roughly distinguish the Chaos fluctuations of Flowing Silver, the familiar Star Power of Spark members, and other strange, hostile energy signatures.

"The most critical part is the energy source and attack method," Wen Youyi raised the core issue. "We can't run a power line to every turret, nor can we have Iron Pillar changing Spirit Stones every day."

Everyone fell into deep thought. The base's own energy supply still needed careful planning; supporting the continuous operation of a large number of Automated Turrets would be too heavy a burden.

At this moment, Ying, who had been listening quietly, softly proposed an idea: "Perhaps... we can use the Flowing Silver?"

Everyone's eyes turned toward her.

Ying walked to the Sand Tray and pointed to the base's perimeter. "Flowing Silver itself can absorb and store energy. Could we design a special 'charging interface' at the base of the turrets? Let the Flowing Silver actively come over to 'charge' the turrets, just like they carry energy fragments to the furnace. This way, the energy source is decentralized, relying on the Flowing Silver collective's own gathered energy from the debris."

"Great idea!" Wen Youyi's eyes brightened. "Upgrade the Flowing Silver from porters to 'power banks'! What about the attack method? Using pure spiritual energy beams is still too costly."

"We can use physical ammunition," Wang Wu interjected. "What we lack least right now is star iron! The furnace produces so many scraps and rejects every day; grinding them into small metal pellets would cost almost nothing. The turret would only need to consume a small amount of energy for accelerated firing."

Physical pellets? This line of thought immediately opened up a new situation.

Senior Brother Li immediately began calculating. "If we use the principle of electromagnetic acceleration... no, use Spiritual Field Acceleration! The structure can be simpler, consume less energy, and if the pellet speed is high enough, the penetration power will be absolutely staggering!"

The plan quickly took shape: Automated Turrets cast from star iron, relying on Flowing Silver for periodic charging, firing cheap star iron pellets, and controlled by Induction Crystals and Recognition Runes to distinguish friend from foe.

With the theory sound, practice immediately followed.

The first experimental Automated Turret was soon born in the industrial zone. It looked like a round-headed metal mushroom; the "cap" on top was the Induction Crystal, the "stem" in the middle was the acceleration track and power structure, and the base at the bottom had a reserved "charging port" for the Flowing Silver.

They transported it to the entrance of a minor passage in the base and installed it. Wen Youyi personally adjusted the "Whitelist" of the Recognition Runes, inputting the energy signatures of all current base members and the Flowing Silver.

Next was the exciting testing phase.

"Let's test the identification capability first." Wen Youyi signaled Zhao Iron Pillar and Wang Wu to walk past the front of the turret one after another.

The Induction Crystal on top of the turret flickered slightly but showed no reaction.

"Good, the Whitelist passed." Wen Youyi nodded. "Now, let's try the attack mode. Iron Pillar, throw a rock at it to simulate an attack."

Zhao Iron Pillar gave a cheeky grin, picked up a piece of debris from a distance, swung his arm wide, and threw it toward the side of the turret—he didn't dare hit the Induction Crystal directly.

The moment the stone entered a twenty-zhang range in front of the turret!

"Hum—"

The Induction Crystal instantly lit up with a red light! The turret base emitted a slight hum, and a flash of light streaked across the acceleration track in the "stem" section!

"Shoosh!"

A silver light shot out at a speed difficult for the naked eye to catch!

"Pop!"

The stone flying in the air was directly blasted apart mid-air, turning into a cloud of stone powder!

The speed was so fast and the power so strong that everyone was startled!

"Holy crap! This thing has some kick!" Zhao Iron Pillar shrunk his neck, glad he hadn't stood too close.

"Success!" Wang Wu and the others cheered.

However, before they could celebrate for long, Senior Brother Zhang, who had been observing the "charging port" at the bottom of the turret, suddenly let out a surprised "Huh?"

A passing Flowing Silver individual, seemingly attracted by the energy fluctuations from the turret's operation, curiously wiggled to the vicinity of the "charging port" and extended a silver tentacle to investigate.

Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, this Flowing Silver did not spit out an energy block to charge it as expected, but instead... began to "climb" up the turret's metal casing!

The silver liquid spread rapidly, soon covering the entire turret in a thin, Flowing Silver plating!

"What... what is it doing? Is it treating the turret as a snack?" Zhao Iron Pillar was dumbfounded.

Wen Youyi was also stunned, but he keenly noticed that the turret's energy readings, far from dropping, seemed... more stable? Moreover, that layer of Flowing Silver plating seemed to be spontaneously and extremely slowly absorbing the weak stray energy in the space, replenishing itself and indirectly nourishing the turret.

"Wait... they don't seem to be eating it." Wen Youyi observed closely. "They seem to be... enchanting it? Or rather, adding a layer of living, self-repairing 'armor' and an 'energy collection layer' to the turret?"

This unexpected discovery left everyone speechless with amazement.

Just how many more surprises did these little Flowing Silver creatures have that they didn't know about?

The successful test fire of the Automated Turret, coupled with the Flowing Silver's inexplicable "friendship enchantment," instantly boosted the base's defensive power by a level.

Looking at that "metal mushroom" draped in Flowing Silver armor, appearing exceptionally majestic against the backdrop of the debris, Wen Youyi felt a surge of pride in his heart.

"Excellent! According to this standard, produce twenty units first! Arm all the main entrances and outer high points of our base!"

"I want to turn this Starry Sky Debris into a... steel graveyard for any enemy who dares to invade!"

The wave of technological explosion was arming "Spark" to the teeth at an unprecedented speed.

(End of Chapter)