Chapter 1123: Chapter 1123: Side Story - Rubble Arc
The rubble fell vertically, and the brat upstairs laughed loudly, watching the rubble hit the ground and shouted, "So much fun!"
"I want to do it again!"
The already weak rubble couldn’t resist the brat with the robot protection, he was picked up, taken to the rooftop, and pushed down again by the brat.
Over and over again, countless times.
Apparently, the brat got tired of this game, finally stopped, but only stopped the game.
The weak rubble was tied to a chair like an operating table, with the brat holding various dismantling tools, banging on the rubble.
"It’s strange, you have no screws."
"You really look like a human!"
The brat researched for quite a while, couldn’t find any gap to pry open the rubble, thought not to break it, there are many games still to play.
"Take it apart later!"
The rubble was taken off the operating table by the brat and tied to a wheelchair.
"You’re sick, I want to take good care of you."
"Eat well, okay!"
The brat bought lots of radioactive food, forcing the rubble to eat every day.
In a good mood, feed less.
In a bad mood, feed a lot.
Yet, the rubble showed no emotional reaction, because his brain kept operating, to him, as long as his brain was working, nothing else mattered.
This process lasted three months, the brat probably had enough, didn’t bother with the rubble for a long time, the rubble was piled in the brat’s storage room.
By now, the rubble’s limbs couldn’t move, he needed time to recover, amidst the piled-up miscellaneous items, the rubble didn’t feel miserable, instead, he enjoyed the rare quietness.
"Finally, the rubble can study well."
In this daylight-deprived storage room, the rubble didn’t know how long he had been, probably a long time.
Because one day, the grown-up brat broke the law and was caught, his parents got implicated too, the whole house was put up for sale.
Several uniformed individuals cleaned through the house, discovered the rubble in the storage room, with eyes still moving.
"There’s a robot here."
"Rubble is not a robot, but a great member of the Mechanical Clan."
Rubble’s words startled the cleaners but didn’t bother, saying to those outside the door, "To the junkyard."
"Okay!"
A big black bag covered the rubble, everything turned pitch black, and then he felt himself moving.
He didn’t know how long passed, only felt a free fall, with a bang, the rubble hit the bottom.
Below felt rough and uneven, with many unknown protrusions, a lot of unpleasant smells lingering around.
"Quick!"
"This is so big!"
Amidst a flurry of rustling sounds, the bag covering the rubble was opened, and a voice of disappointment sounded.
"A broken robot."
"Rubble is from the Mechanical Clan, not a robot."
"What’s the Mechanical Clan?"
"The Mechanical Clan isn’t a thing. It’s the greatest race of wisdom."
Rubble’s explanation didn’t evoke any sympathy from the scavenger, a hammer hit upon the rubble’s head, and he only felt dizzy before passing out.
The scavenger, with a hooked stick, raised and forcefully hit the rubble, dragging him away.
Rubble was clueless of what happened, he was sold again.
Sold to a scrap metal company, melting various metals, making small parts to sell.
When rubble was poured into the factory among lots of discarded metals, someone would specialize in sorting them.
"Rubble?"
Someone familiar with rubble, Grandpa Waden found him amidst the metals, rescued him, and took him to his place.
After rubble woke up, seeing Grandpa Waden, thought he was back to the Mechanical Clan.
"Silly child, our Mechanical Clan is gone, can never go back, whether it’ll exist again, nobody knows."
"Rubble isn’t silly, rubble is the smartest of the Mechanical Clan."
Grandpa Waden didn’t dampen rubble’s enthusiasm, many from the Mechanical Clan learned something from life’s hardships, but only rubble kept his original thirst for knowledge.
"Child, you’ll be the hope for the Mechanical Clan, bearing the burden of passing down the legacy, so you must live well, understand?"
"Rubble is always learning."
Grandpa Waden couldn’t make rubble understand, only telling him to live well.
Now, rubble had accumulated many toxins, couldn’t expel them, slowly building up, silently eroding his brain.
In the days ahead, rubble and Grandpa Waden worked here together, but the surrounding radiation kept eroding their bodies, Grandpa Waden gradually weakened more and more.
Finally came a day, Grandpa Waden called rubble over, giving him a few last words.
"Rubble, remember to live well."
"Rubble will."
"When you meet someone willing to do anything for you, just follow them, everything will be fine."
"Though we’ve been through hardships, it’s all part of the inevitable wheel of history, no need for resentment, keep your mind steady, persevere, things will be good."
"Rubble doesn’t understand, but rubble remembers."
Grandpa Waden finally passed away, within the Mechanical Clan, Grandpa Waden might not be considered wise, but his wisdom rivaled any human, playing a significant role in rubble’s life.
Grandpa Waden’s passing didn’t impact rubble.
Rubble continued working, after getting off work at night, he habitually called out for Grandpa Waden, but there was no response, his heart felt a momentary void, yet quickly recovered, as if nothing happened.
The stars shifted, rubble worked in the factory for several years until the factory was bought by a larger one, and rubble was laid off.
The laid-off rubble, after several changes, was finally sold to a robot enthusiast, who researched him for a long time, but the Mechanical Clan and robots were different, yielding no findings, eventually, rubble was sealed in a box.
Years later, the enthusiast was preparing to move off this planet, while organizing luggage, he found rubble.
By now, the robot was covered in rust, no longer flexible in the eyes, couldn’t even move, and with the enthusiast aging past the fever he’s quickly posted on the Star Network if someone buys before moving, sell it.
If no one buys, dispose of it.
Meanwhile, on the distant Blue Star, Fu Yunhe, under Nian Shutong’s request, was picking a robot on the Star Network, constrained by his tight budget, chose one that looked tall but was quite cheap.
Settling, ordering, waiting for the delivery.
