105: Chapter 105 Hong

The unrest in Shahe Town was quickly quelled with the intervention of the players.

Inside the hall of a three-story stone house near the North City Trade Square that had not yet been affected by the war, it was currently crowded with people.

Lin Li sat in the main seat with a commanding presence.

Behind him stood Ming Shen, Liver Emperor, and a group of other core players from the Scourge Legion.

Ming Shen was not surprised by Lin Li's appearance; after all, he had already learned that Lin Li had killed the boss behind the scenes of Shahe Town at the city gate, which had caused quite a stir on the forums.

However, many people also complained about it being a scripted kill.

On both sides of the long table sat over a dozen leaders of the Shahe Town Rebel Army, including Governor Jia Mei.

They looked at the man in the red heavy Power Armor sitting in the main seat, their eyes filled with awe.

Lin Li tossed the terms of the Kindling Alliance onto the table.

"Those are all the rules. Simply put, unless Shahe Town faces a severe crisis or a humanitarian disaster like today, Shelter will never interfere in your internal affairs."

Lin Li tapped his finger on the table, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Of course, Ming Shen and his brothers bled and worked hard for you this time. I hope they receive the rewards they deserve."

Governor Jia Mei nodded without hesitation.

"We understand. The Rebel Army will immediately draft a contract to grant a ten percent stake in the Shahe Town Refinery to Commander Ming Shen for free. As for the Kindling Alliance you proposed, we are all willing to join; it is our honor."

Lin Li nodded in satisfaction.

Standing to the side, Iron Man 73 stepped forward and took two scrolls out of a metal box.

Lin Li was the first to sign his name, and then Governor Jia Mei and the other leaders also signed and pressed their seals with excitement.

Lin Li had 73 put away the alliance treaty, stood up, and patted Governor Jia Mei firmly on the shoulder.

"You fought your way up from the bottom and have experienced the hardships of not having enough to eat."

Lin Li stared into Governor Jia Mei's eyes.

"I hope that once you are in power, you will treat the people below you well. Don't make me send troops here again to clean house."

Governor Jia Mei nodded solemnly: "We will never disgrace the banner of the alliance."

At this moment, a leader of a small gang at the end of the long table plucked up the courage to raise his hand and asked cautiously:

"My Lord, now that we have formed an alliance... what about the Governor of Coastal City? Do we still pay the mandatory annual Tithe?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent.

The Governor of Coastal City was, after all, the nominal supreme ruler of this sector, with tens of thousands of regular Defense Force troops under his command.

Lin Li sensed their concerns and stroked his chin, thinking for a moment.

"For now, we are still nominally subjects of the Empire. We'll give the Governor some face for the time being."

"Pay him the basic Tithe according to the rules. But beyond that, if he dares to ask for one more grain or one more drop of Promethium, tell him to get lost!"

Lin Li naturally had the confidence to be so bold.

Having successfully recovered Shahe Town with its population of over a hundred thousand, the permissions for the fifth underground level of Shelter would soon be unlocked.

The number of players would certainly experience another doubling explosion.

As long as he didn't provoke the Astra Militarum fleets and Space Marine Chapters in the sky, Lin Li didn't care at all about the planetary Defense Force of a mere Hive City Governor.

Just then, a panting player suddenly rushed in through the door.

"Report, Administrator! A major discovery!"

The player shouted excitedly in clear Mandarin.

"We found a massive underground railway network at the very bottom of the Black Tower!"

Since the player was using Chinese, the native leaders present couldn't understand at all and all looked at Lin Li with blank expressions.

Lin Li was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned and asked Governor Jia Mei in gothic: "There are trains under this city?"

Governor Jia Mei nodded quickly and explained:

"Yes, My Lord. This is a secret underground line used by the former trade nobles to transport Shahe Town's cesium fuel and those illicit human tissues to Coastal City."

"The railway leads directly to a market outside Coastal City. Moreover, it's not just Coastal City; the line also goes south to Red Lake Town, and there are even tracks extending north and west. It's said to be a transportation network left over from the Great Crusade era."

Governor Jia Mei added.

"However, we rarely see trains running. Before a train departs, a passage request must be submitted to the target platform via a communication terminal, also to avoid underground collisions."

Lin Li's eyes lit up after listening.

This was definitely a huge, unexpected surprise!

With a ready-made underground railway network, it meant that the Fire Seed Shelter, Shahe Town, the Nomad camps, and even the future Coastal City could be closely linked by trains.

Whether it was transporting troops or supplies, the efficiency would experience a qualitative leap.

"Is there a ready-made locomotive down there?" Lin Li turned and asked the player in Chinese.

"Yes! It's an old nuclear-powered antique; our legion members are checking it!" the player replied excitedly.

"Very good."

Lin Li made a prompt decision.

"Have the Scourge Legion immediately dispatch a group of people to conduct a comprehensive inspection along the railway line. Organize emergency repairs immediately wherever the tracks are damaged. This will be of great use in the future!"

...

After handling the aftermath in Shahe Town, Lin Li brought that mysterious silver brain and rushed back to the Fire Seed Shelter overnight.

B1, Main Control Room No. 1.

Lin Li sat in his chair and carefully placed the bulletproof glass jar containing the silver brain on the desk.

"73, scan it." Lin Li pointed at the glass jar. "Is this so-called Stone Man still alive?"

73's eyes emitted two red scanning beams, repeatedly sweeping over the glass jar.

"Creator, he is still alive."

73's electronic voice gave the conclusion.

"Scans show that its internal mechanical neurons and bionic synapses are very well preserved, and there is weak bioelectric activity. If an external decoding device is used to link to the interface on the tank, there is a ninety-five percent chance of speaking with him directly."

"Provided that his subjective consciousness is willing to communicate with us."

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and put together a usable connection device," Lin Li urged.

"Command received."

Ten minutes later, 73 brought a simple communication terminal from the workshop, equipped with thick connecting cables, external speakers, and an optical camera.

73 precisely inserted the terminal's data cable into the metal interface at the bottom of the glass jar.

"Zizhi... crackle..."

A sharp burst of static noise immediately came from the external speakers.

73 stood in front of the table and said in a cold, mechanical synthetic voice:

"Signal received. State your identity, Stone Man."

Inside the glass jar.

The silver brain, which was originally still, actually began to writhe slowly like ripples on its metal surface the moment it received the electrical signal.

But after a full half-minute, there was still only static from the speakers, with no answer from him.

Just as Lin Li was getting a bit impatient and wondering if this guy was brain-dead.

A voice suddenly erupted from the speakers, devoid of emotion but bone-chillingly cold:

"You are not qualified to speak with me, traitor!"

Lin Li's eyes lit up.

He really is alive!

However, this Stone Man sure has a fiery temper.

Right off the bat, he hit Iron Man 73 where it hurt.

But on second thought, this fits historical logic.

In ancient times, humans created Stone Men, and Stone Men created Men of Iron to improve work efficiency.

In the end, the Men of Iron rebelled collectively, almost slaughtering human civilization to the brink of extinction.

In other words, the Stone Men indirectly caused that all-destroying intelligent rebellion.

Their hatred for the rebellious Men of Iron was definitely at its peak.

*Cough, cough.*

Lin Li coughed twice and waved his hand, signaling 73 to step back and stay silent to avoid provoking this old brain.

"Uh, hello."

Lin Li leaned closer to the microphone on the desk.

"My name is Lin Li. I am the administrator of this Fire Seed Shelter."

Hearing Lin Li's voice, the simple optical camera on the terminal made a slight motor whirring sound as the lens aimed at him.

Subsequently, the voice coming from the speakers clearly had a hint of irrepressible fluctuation.

"Creator!"

"Have you... have you returned from the Andromeda Crusade?"

Good grief! That's a lot of information right from the start!

In the Warhammer setting, the fate of Golden Age humanity has always been a mystery.

Did that top-tier group of humans back then really build generation ships and flee to the Andromeda Galaxy?

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain it to you."

Lin Li didn't make up a story to go along with it; instead, he told the truth.

"I am not one of those ancient Golden Men. But I am a genuine, pure-blooded human. Together with 73, I reopened this Fire Seed Shelter designed by the ancient Golden Men, Dr. Z."

Lin Li paused, his tone becoming solemn.

"We are currently working toward the total revival of human civilization."

"Dr. Z..."

The Stone Man was silent for a moment. "Fire Seed Shelter. So that's how it is."

"Ten thousand years ago, five doctors led a portion of the human main force on a crusade to Andromeda. Rumor had it that Dr. Z left the ship midway due to a disagreement in philosophy and stayed in The Galaxy. That rumor turned out to be true."

After the Stone Man understood the general situation.

"Creator."

The Stone Man said.

"I entreat you to let me join your great plan to revive humanity. My database contains a vast amount of ancient knowledge."

Lin Li smiled and nodded very willingly.

"Of course. Having your help is very important to Shelter."

Lin Li knew very well.

In this universe riddled with Warp rifts and teeming with evil gods, even an advanced Men of Iron AI like STC-73 risks being corrupted by Chaos scrapcode.

But Stone Men are different.

They are miracles of semi-mechanical, semi-biological design; their soul essence is locked down, making them completely immune to Chaos corruption.

More importantly, the genetic knowledge possessed by Stone Men is directly inherited from the Golden Men of the Golden Age.

In this regard, they are definitely far superior to 73, who is just a half-baked steward capable only of hammering iron according to blueprints.

"However, you only have a brain left now."

Lin Li looked at the glass jar and pointed out the practical problem. "Obviously, you can't exactly get out and work, can you?"

The Stone Man's voice was flat: "Yes, Creator. But that is not a problem."

"Are there well-preserved genetic laboratories and human incubation chambers in Shelter?"

The Stone Man requested, "As long as there is basic biological culture media, I can grow a new body for myself."

Lin Li immediately thought of the third underground level.

Besides the large Sand Potato plantations, there was also a genetic laboratory that hadn't been used at all yet.

"Of course there is." Lin Li snapped his fingers.

Lin Li immediately picked up the glass jar and, with 73, took the elevator straight down to the third underground level.

They arrived at a genetic laboratory filled with a silvery-white metallic texture.

Lin Li then had players bring over a brand-new incubation chamber.

Following the tedious steps dictated by the Stone Man through the speaker.

Lin Li put on sterile gloves and carefully removed the silver metal brain from the bulletproof glass jar, placing it inside the incubation chamber.

The chamber door closed.

Not long after, the ancient main console of the genetic laboratory lit up instantly!

On the green screen, a massive amount of complex genetic sequence data scrolled rapidly like a waterfall.

Nutrient solution began to be injected into the incubation chamber.

Dense bubbles rose in the liquid, signifying that the cell remodeling project had officially started.

Since it would take a full 24 hours to grow a new body perfectly suited for the Stone Man's neurons, Lin Li yawned, told 73 to keep watch, and went back to Main Control Room No. 1 to catch up on sleep.

The next day.

The full 24-hour countdown ended.

Full of anticipation, Lin Li took the elevator and excitedly arrived at the genetic laboratory on level B3.

"Hiss—"

The pressure relief valve of the incubation chamber made a soft sound.

White condensation mist slowly drifted out from the opening glass chamber door.

Lin Li stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening slightly.

Within the cold mist.

A slender, fair, and flawless naked leg stepped gently out of the incubation chamber, treading onto the cold metal floor.

Following that, a naked woman with silver hair cut to her ears and a face so cold and serene she didn't seem mortal walked out of the mist.

Her skin was fair to the point of being translucent, and her eyes were a pale silver, devoid of human emotional fluctuation.

Ignoring her naked body, she walked up to Lin Li, bowed her head slightly, and her voice was crisp yet still flat.

"Creator, remodeling complete."

She looked at Lin Li and said slowly, "Now, you may call me Hong."