Chapter 4 Bird’s-Eye View

Chapter 3 Mushroom Forest <TOC> Chapter 5 Local Monsters

Next page password is bold portion: SIdOylJI6r!*

Translator: SumTLMan

Zhou Yi firmly grasped the metallic cube in his hand.

He channeled his energy into it.

His energy levels steadily declined.

-10

-10

After the charge reached 800 points, the metallic cube finally responded. Its highly compressed and folded body unfolded outward, transforming into a small red quadcopter drone, its surface adorned with geometric silver patterns.

The remote control screen displayed:

[Red Falcon charging complete.]

The drone took off, hovering silently and steadily before Zhou Yi.

“Welcome to using Red Falcon.”

Red Falcon circled Zhou Yi once and said in a flat artificial voice: “Red Falcon is a rescue-type drone, equipped with binocular vision and near-infrared sensors, capable of omnidirectional obstacle avoidance… It can capture high-altitude images to confirm the location of trapped personnel, perform laser pinpointing to acquire their positional information, and synchronize distribution to ground search and rescue teams… We are wholeheartedly at your service.”

Zhou Yi felt a pang of disappointment.

Could it be that mechanical Light Absorber species merely evolved to harness the power of the Dead Sea?

He sighed and lamented: “In the end, it’s just an ordinary drone, lacking AI capabilities… Without interactive functions, it can only be manually operated. For basic rescue and reconnaissance, it will have to suffice.”

Suddenly, the four cameras on Red Falcon emitted a faint glow.

“You are familiar with AI?”

Zhou Yi was startled: “You can converse normally?”

A voice emanated from within Red Falcon: “You are not an uninformed human. I am pleased to communicate with you.”

Zhou Yi’s curiosity was piqued: “Earlier, were you deliberately playing a fixed voice template?”

“That is the standard procedure.”

Red Falcon replied: “Communicating with lifeforms lacking basic knowledge reserves is merely a waste of my energy; it’s unnecessary.”

“For the vast majority of humans, they merely wish to utilize my power; communication is not important.”

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement: “Indeed.”

He inquired: “How did you end up in this Mushroom Forest?”

The drone’s four red eyes flickered like embers.

“Because I trespassed into enemy airspace.”

“Originally, I was part of a drone swarm. While flying over a hilly terrain, we were intercepted by intense ground bombardment. That combat vehicle was equipped with a combined gun-and-cannon weapon system, a professional drone killer.”

Red Falcon recounted the situation briefly: “Many drones were destroyed and crashed. Although I narrowly escaped destruction, my defensive layer was breached. After escaping the danger zone, I crashed here. My energy module was damaged by the combat vehicle, rendering me unable to absorb external energy. After depleting my energy, I entered hibernation.”

Zhou Yi realized: “It seems that combat vehicle isn’t far from here.”

“At that time, it was located approximately 40 kilometers due north of here.”

According to what A Jin had mentioned earlier, that area was already the domain of the Claw Boar hordes.

Many years had passed since Red Falcon was shot down; who knew whether that combat vehicle was still there.

Zhou Yi pondered deeply.

He could find an opportunity to explore the northern region.

But this matter was not urgent.

That area was the stronghold of the Claw Boars; charging in recklessly would be akin to walking into a tiger’s den and required thorough investigation.

Zhou Yi glanced at the quadcopter drone: “Compared to natural Light Absorber species, why are mechanical ones so rare?”

This was his own method of classification.

Natural ones refer to mutated natural lifeforms, such as the Warrior Crab and Claw Boar, both belonging to this category. Mechanical ones refer to man-made devices and tools from before the wasteland era that have transformed into Light Absorber species.

In his ten years in the Dead Sea, Zhou Yi had only encountered two mechanical types.

One was a deranged golf cart, speeding along the seabed, its loudspeaker blaring “Wumeng Mountains connect mountain after mountain.” He only had a fleeting encounter with it.

Another was a television, endlessly looping the 1986 version of —Journey to the West—, day in and day out. Other than that, it exhibited no abnormalities. But as soon as you moved or touched it, it would shut down.

Originally, Zhou Yi had the Warrior Crab carry this television, but during a storm, it shattered into pieces on its own. He wasn’t sure if it was due to old age or if it chose to end its own existence rather than live without freedom.

Neither could be communicated with.

But natural Light Absorber species were as common as grass in the Dead Sea.

“You mean mechanical and electronic lifeforms like me? Our numbers are not few; under the influence of the death light, the mutation and awakening rate of mechanical and electronic devices is not low.”

Red Falcon responded: “It’s just that mechanical and electronic lifeforms gather in specific cities. Those cities are almost entirely composed of mechanical and electronic lifeforms, providing the basic services and repair supplies we need.”

“For instance, I come from ‘Recursion City’ in the northern region, about 2,000 kilometers from here.”

“Whether flying or traveling on the ground, mechanical and electronic lifeforms have fixed routes. You can see many along those routes, but rarely outside them.”

Only then did Zhou Yi see the light.

Mechanical types tend to cluster in specific regions.

“However, my timing system has been halted for so long that I can no longer calculate how many years have passed since I entered hibernation. Much information now needs recalibration, and both data and components require upgrades,” Red Falcon added.

When it awakened as a Light Absorber species, the Dead Sea had already formed, and there was no way to know when humanity had suffered this bizarre apocalyptic catastrophe.

“You are my awakener and activator, my collaborator. I have completed relationship registration and identification binding… Until either of us perishes or shuts down, we will maintain a cooperative survival relationship.”

“Please allow me to reintroduce myself.”

Hovering before Zhou Yi, Red Falcon said: “I specialize in reconnaissance and positioning. From high altitudes, I can discern signs of various life forms, perform real-time image recording, and synchronize data transmission.”

“In Recursion City, my physical test data were: [Strength] E, [Skill] C, [Vitality] E, with a final rating of D.”

“In these evaluations, Strength represents destructive power, Skill represents proficiency in specific techniques and their effectiveness, and Vitality represents the durability of the body.”

“Seems like it’s specialized in skills,” Zhou Yi mused.

He asked: “Your skills are imaging and positioning?”

“Please direct your attention to the screen.”

Red Falcon suddenly ascended rapidly, flying northward and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

“Not bad speed,” Zhou Yi remarked, a hint of admiration in his voice.

On the remote control’s screen, the electronic map transformed into a real-time aerial view of the ground below.

As dusk had settled, the display resembled infrared imaging, dotted with numerous slowly moving points of light, appearing to be various small life forms.

The lens zoomed in further.

“Please select a target.”

Zhou Yi swiped his finger across the screen, selecting a person climbing a mountain. A beam of light outlined the figure of the hat-wearing youth.

It was A Jin, returning to the settlement.

“Target selected.”

Suddenly, lines of text appeared above A Jin’s head:

——Being a scavenger is promising too. A master-level scavenger can even pick up those powerful monsters!

——If Master Zhou could settle in Grub Grain Town, the scavenging industry here would surely flourish, and everyone wouldn’t have to starve or flee anymore…

——Today’s meat was so delicious; I really wish I could have another bite.

——I should seek more advice from the master, but would he find me bothersome?

Zhou Yi was taken aback.

“Damn!”

These weren’t self-mutterings.

They were A Jin’s innermost thoughts.

An electronic voice emanated from the remote control: “This is the skill I synthesized after awakening, [Bird’s Eye View]. By scanning and imaging, I capture the waves emitted by targets and extract information from them. This allows me to filter out groups in distress or danger and perform precise positioning.”

“Truly a mind-reading ability,” Zhou Yi thought.

He asked: “What’s the success rate of reading information? How accurate is it?”

“In the absence of interference, I have activated Bird’s Eye View 181 times, successfully reading 179 times, achieving a success rate of 98.89%,” Red Falcon replied: “Accuracy is even higher, as it’s a synchronous reading of the waves emitted by life forms, merely a translation method.”

“Previously, in Recursion City, I specifically upgraded relevant modules and sensors; the information reading itself is reliable. I relied on this ability at full power to evade the lethal attacks of the Killer War Chariots.”

“The biggest drawback of [Bird’s Eye View] is its high energy consumption, and since my body is relatively weak with limited energy reserves, activating it significantly reduces endurance. Locking onto a single target consumes relatively less.”

“Activate it at full power; let’s see,” Zhou Yi instructed.

“Understood.”

On the images captured by Red Falcon, lines of text appeared over the red dots on the screen:

——What should I eat today?

——Ah, pissing feels so good.

——Mating!! I want to mate!

——It’s hunting time; all the bugs must die.

——The grass is so tough today, can’t even bite through it. Why don’t you grow softer! Damn it, I’ll bite you to death!

Witnessing this scene, Zhou Yi couldn’t help but feel delighted.

With Red Falcon at his side, he could precisely monitor and investigate all creatures roaming the vicinity.

His intelligence-gathering capabilities were now off the charts.

However, in just this brief moment, the drone’s four-bar battery had already lost one bar.

Due to Red Falcon’s damage, it couldn’t self-recharge at the moment.

But that wasn’t a significant issue.

He could recharge it himself, enough for at least seven full charges.

With Red Falcon, settling down here, far from the cities and with relatively few Light Absorber species, became an increasingly attractive option.

Gripping the remote control firmly, Zhou Yi began practicing coordinated combat maneuvers with Red Falcon.

Chapter 3 Mushroom Forest <TOC> Chapter 5 Local Monsters

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