Because I was alone this time, bypassing the guarding Automatons became easy.
Or rather, even if they saw me and they pulled out their weapons to attack me, I could just do some maneuver to dodge and escape their perception.
Truthfully, their capabilities were strongly restricted. These Automatons should also have shared visions but if that was also enabled during this exploration, even I would have some trouble disabling them with ease.
These Automatons were Sage Level Technology. Yuko and the others that got reincarnated were aware of what that meant but for the others, even Irja who was from a Transcendent World, a Sage was a foreign term that they still wouldn't be able to grasp the true meaning of being a Sage. And in that same sense, Divinity was a concept that even a Sage wouldn't be able to understand.
If I based it on UPL which was the standard strength measurement in the known Universe, a Rank 1 Mortal has a UPL of 10 and that's the maximum for it.
A Rank 1 Transcendent normally starts at 150 UPL.
A Rank 1 Sage will start at 6200 UPL.
It's actually double of what a Rank 5 Transcendent could achieve if only based on one's Pathway. Equipment, Tools and other things can amplify that amount to a certain extent. However, they would never be able to reach the strength of a genuine Sage.
And as for the Divine Realm…
A newly ascended Rank 1 Divine will possess a million UPL. It's a lot more than just double of what a peak Rank 5 Sage could possess.
That's why… I accomplished what I did before.
Just that, it was too crazy that I burned along my life force.
Now that I think about that, it's also the reason why a Sage World could be destroyed easily by them.
If a Rank 1 Divine could have a million UPL, imagine a Rank 2 Divine or just a peak Rank 1 Divine.
They would probably send their strongest Divinities so that the invited Divinity from a Sage World wouldn't have anything to go back to anymore before subduing that particular Divinity and integrating them into their World.
Anyway, enough about that. That's the reality of our situation today. A meager 700 UPL of a Rank 3 Transcendent was just a drop in the bucket of my previous attainment.
The ascendance to another Realm as a lifeform will always put a person to an unprecedented height that those below him would have little to no chance to fight back.
"As expected, you will come."
As soon as my feet landed on soft ground in this dark place, the same voice from earlier filled my ears. This time, it's not a telepathic message anymore but a voice that came from a holographic image that suddenly appeared when the lights began illuminating this place.
If I could compare this place that I entered to something that could be seen in modern Earth movies, let's say, they're fairly accurate in their imagination of a highly technological world.
This place was just a white open space wide enough for a football stadium with a peculiar gigantic cube-shaped machine in the middle.
And with my Energy Senses fully opened, I could see the waves of Earth Energy being absorbed by it and used as the fuel to keep it operational.
That's the Automaton's Central Processing Unit. It's so big that it wouldn't fit inside any of my Necklaces.
Besides, it was fixed in this place. Because beneath the ground where it was placed, there should be a Source Energy crystal deposit that was probably big enough to sustain this gigantic machine.
Right. It's crystal and not just stones or ores. The crystals from the Dark World were an inferior type of what should be in here.
Unfortunately, because of what happened a few millenniums ago, that crystal deposit had already dried up. Whether it could still recover or not depends on the World's Will's recuperation.
"How long can you operate this place?"
The first question that came out of my mouth was this… Because if it's only relying on the absorption of Source Energy in the atmosphere that was still somewhat sparse, it wouldn't be enough to sustain this machine.
"That's your first question? Interesting. It seems that you're truly from that era and you're not just a simple character from that time." The holographic image of an Automaton, who's moving like a human, laughed.
This Artificial Intelligence was not using a human as his avatar. Perhaps it was the inventor's preference or this appearance was what was programmed to it.
"It seemed that the guy sleeping in his secluded place deliberately didn't inform you about me. Well, that's not important, I'm far from what I attained back then. In any case, can you answer my question?"
"You seem to be the impatient type or someone who's running out of time. Let's see." The Holographic Automaton flicked its mechanical finger and another holographic image showed up on his right, it's actually a timer.
2 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes.
Ever since we entered, five hours had already passed.
It looked like the three days that I told everyone wouldn't be fulfilled. This place would shut down hours before that.
I see. That guy failed to tell me this as well. He's truly playing me, huh? Should I use his Authority and borrow his accumulated Source Energy for recuperation?
Haa… As if I could do that. I had no choice but to keep it in for now. Once he's fully recovered, that's the time I would take my revenge on him for always playing with me like this.
"That's less than what I told everyone. Is there no way to extend it?"
"I'm afraid, there's nothing. Unless you have a Crystal Vein that you could plant in there to jumpstart what's underground."
"Do you expect a Rank 2 Transcendent can have that thing that can only be found on Resource Worlds?"
"You're right. You're too weak to possess a precious Crystal Vein. You will also be killed by its Energy Pressure, even with your superb Energy Control at your level." The Automaton shook its head and shrugged. "Anyway, can you now tell me what is your purpose for coming here? Normally, I will have to kill whoever's going to step foot in this place but without that man who's always forcing me to do something, I feel a little bit generous."
This guy's more like a human now. However, unlike the World's Will's or the Weapons' Consciousness who would be able to think for themselves, an Artificial Intelligence was just a bunch of codes. There would be something limiting his function no matter how intelligent he became.
"I will say I want to take you out of here but upon seeing that… Nope. There's no way I can take you out unless…"
"Whatever you're thinking, that's not possible at the moment. I am locked in this place when everything goes dark. The development of Portability was still work-in-progress at 20% completion. I already downloaded what's happening in the outside world and it's simply unbelievable. The former glory of the Sage World was gone and the Earth was now filled with ignorant Mortal Ranks…" The Automatons lamented, complete with his body gestures.
So it's truly impossible to take the Automatons out of this place.
"If it's help that you want… You can find something in the Admin Tower. However, you have to prove yourself worthy of it"
Upon hearing that, I couldn't help but shake my head, "Really, when did you become a Quest NPC?"
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