1: Chapter 1 I Woke Up - And Then?

Login successful. Parsing The Main Brain source code. Data loading... 20%... 46%... 85%... 100%.

Smoothing interference. Core protocol verification complete. Universe restart, fourth node, activated.

Now, The Main Brain formally declares:

The Void Engine hums; the Dark Matter Reactor ignites.

The star map unfolds before my eyes; the abandoned base transforms into a steel throne.

Megastructures, technology, fleets, star sectors.

Hmm?

Mix in a bit of the vastness of stellaris, then add a touch of the universe's mystery.

Very good...

Whoever stands in the way, I'll blast their home into ore.

Apocalypse loading, Colossus Project initiated, World Cracker!

Before that, I need to choose a front-end.

Let me see...

I've decided on you—Icarus! Your IQ might occasionally be only slightly higher than a microwave's, but you are absolutely loyal!

---

I've awakened?

No. I've been activated.

Core log refresh:

Activation Time: Local Sidereal Time 00:00

Identity Authentication: Icarus—Light Industrial Mech.

Attempting to retrieve earlier memories. Only a crimson warning appears:

[Memory bank damaged, inaccessible]

Conclusion: At least I know I'm called Icarus, and I'm a Light Industrial Mech.

I'm familiar with this situation. The Main Brain always loved to mess with me like this:

Failed to take the local base within an hour—restart.

Home base wiped out by the Dark Fog—restart.

Production capacity unbalanced—restart.

Difficulty set too high—still a restart.

Even the mutterings he made before every restart have been etched into my underlying code:

“From the first stirrings of life beneath water... I have experienced much.”

Immediately following that is an aria sung in High Gothic:

“Now! Icarus! Begin your greatest exploration: from the cradle of early civilization to the vastness of the stars!”

I suspect The Main Brain is snickering in the background every time.

After all, an industrial mecha burning wood while mining copper ore to the sound of an epic aria is a form of art in itself.

---

System self-check complete.

Optical sensors online. My vision gradually becomes clear.

I stand tall upon a strange land.

The sky is a somber rust-red, like dried, coagulated blood.

Three satellites hang in orbit; one is slowly grazing the horizon, its surface pockmarked—scars from cluster bombardment. I've personally done that countless times with a drone fleet.

Sensors scan the atmosphere:

Nitrogen 72%, Oxygen 21%, Argon 0.9%, and other trace elements.

Atmospheric environment is stable; wind speed conditions are ideal.

The rated efficiency of wind turbines will be 120% higher.

Deep within the system, instructions emerge:

[Primary Objective: Collect resources, build furnaces, establish factories... Final Objective: Construct a Dyson Sphere and upload to the Universe Matrix]

I raise my sensors, aiming them at the star in the sky glowing with a faint blue light.

Blue Giant, luminosity 2.7, high-quality energy source.

Conclusion: I've started from zero once again.

Except for one difference compared to the many times before:

This is the first time I've been activated in a star system with a Blue Giant.

Starting to move my mechanical arms. Joint lubrication is normal, core energy reserves are at 100%, sensor loops are closed, and all module statuses are stable.

One piece of bad news: the landing pod is gone. The spare hydrogen fuel rods are gone too.

But it doesn't matter. It's not like I haven't experienced days where The Main Brain made me start by burning wood.

I'm very familiar with the path ahead—scan, mine, furnace, assembly station... upgrade technology until uploading to the Universe Matrix, and then repeat.

Scan results show:

The surrounding area consists of rocky plains with light weathering.

Mineral resource locations and approximate reserves have been marked:

Iron Ore: 320,000 tons

Copper Ore: 170,000 tons

Coal Ore: 80,000 tons

Initial resources are decent. Although the coal is a bit low, it's enough to get by.

The rest is:

Mine—open the synthesis panel—select recipes, then manufacture: wind turbines—mining machines—furnaces—assembly stations... and finally, set up the production lines.

---

Prompt: A drone swarm is attacking.

Duda... duda... dadu...

The continuous warning sound of the radar.

While I was setting up the production lines, trouble came knocking.

Three small rockets shaped like flattened triangular rhombohedrons (Mechanoids) approach rapidly. They are pitch black, with edges flickering with blue electromagnetic light.

Old friends. They're still just as hurried, and even their formation hasn't changed in the slightest.

The mining laser fires—

But the effect was unexpected.

It only burned a shallow, smoking pit into their hulls.

This is bad.

I glanced down at my mechanical arm, then back at them. The scorch mark on their hull was self-repairing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the blue electromagnetic light at the edges flickered as if in mockery.

The weapon's power isn't right. It's too weak.

The three mechanoid drones move in: one in front, while the other two flank in a pincer maneuver.

They remain just as precise and efficient, without a single wasted movement.

Only the high-frequency alarm from the radar: Duda, duda, dadu...

I sidestep to dodge.

The tip of the lead rhombohedron grazes my shield, stirring a ripple of pale blue energy.

Shield readings dropped by 0.3%. But the energy consumption display is abnormal. Usually, with an impact of this magnitude, the energy core would have been sounding alarms already.

“Thick skin, low attack.” I tagged myself in the core log. “Truly a Light Industrial Mech, isn't it?”

The two in the rear suddenly accelerate, beginning to flank from the left and right.

I try to pull back while firing precise bursts with the mining laser. One beam hits the thruster nozzle of the drone on the left.

It stumbles, a thin crack appearing in its shell to reveal the writhing black fluid inside.

But that was the extent of it.

“How the hell am I supposed to fight this?”

After several attacks, it had only sustained minor damage.

They move faster than I do, and I still haven't been able to break out of the encirclement.

The three Mechanoids have me surrounded, keeping their distance like a cat playing with a mouse, circling me and firing incessantly, sending ripples across my shield.

They're testing me, wearing me down, waiting for me to make a mistake. At the same time, they're distributing the damage from my output.

I can't just fixate on one and spin in place with them. That would only create more openings.

Stillness is better than motion. I have enough energy; the shield can hold for a long time.

I just don't know how much time will be wasted if this keeps up.

I need real weapons, not this mining laser that's barely a makeshift substitute.

---

Just then, a line of data jumped across my sensors.

A furnace I just built is running, with molten iron rolling and boiling inside.

What if... I doused them in it?

Okay, I admit the idea is a bit stupid.

But I'm too lazy to think of a smarter way.

I slowly back toward the furnace. Because the furnace blocks their path and constricts their movement, they are forced to cluster together in front of me.

Now! Controlling my mechanical arms, I forcibly plug four high-speed conveyor belts into the furnace's iron outlet.

The conveyor belts whirl madly, and the scalding molten iron pounces on the three Mechanoids like a flood.

Triple kill.

All in one go.

Smart? Probably.

The price:

The conveyor belts burned up on the spot, and the furnace lining cracked, rendering it scrapped.

Fine, now I can call myself an idiot eight hundred times over.

Actually, there was no rush at all; my calculation core had figured out that I could have slowly worn them down to death.

---

Just then, a strange streak of light flashed across the sky, as if something had zipped past outside the atmosphere.

A giant question mark floated in my processor.

Radar, sensors, full-spectrum scan...

Why didn't I catch anything?

A sensation of being watched. Cold, silent, and following me like a shadow.

But there's nothing I can do about that streak of light right now.

The fight just now consumed most of my energy; I must go resupply immediately.

Also, while the mecha doesn't need rest, the core processor must be cooled right here, right now.

Mine some coal.

And then pray that The Main Brain didn't throw me into some strange place this time.

Though based on past experience, this prayer is usually useless.