For Duanmu Huai, being able to obtain a relic from the Dark Age was indeed an unexpected gain. However, adhering to caution, Duanmu Huai still placed the AllSpark in the library and carried out an analysis.
After the library finished analyzing the entire AllSpark, Duanmu Huai obtained the following information.
[Nano-Reconfiguration Technology Implantation]
[Self-Judgment Will Implantation (Damaged)]
[Complete Scanning and Analysis Function]
[Final Demonstration]
Duanmu Huai could understand the first three, but what was that final demonstration?
Duanmu Huai silently reached out and tapped it. Very quickly, a beam of light shot out from the AllSpark, striking the air and forming an image. Then, a strange emblem appeared out of nowhere, followed by the appearance of a man dressed in extremely sci-fi attire.
The man wore a smile, looked toward Duanmu Huai, and spread his hands.
"Everyone, when you travel through the universe, what do you worry about? Those grotesque barbarians? Or the occasional stellar storm? No, I think none of that is important. What's important is that every time you go out, you encounter one problem…"
As he spoke, the man reached out, and the scene shifted, turning into a bustling spaceport. Countless people were coming and going, carrying massive suitcases, while box-like containers as large as shipping crates were being loaded onto warships nearby.
"When you go out and have to carry so much luggage every time, do you feel inconvenienced? When you can't find the items you need, do you feel frustrated? All of this is about to become a thing of the past, and all you need is this…"
As he spoke, the man took out an AllSpark.
"Developed and designed by Sanyang Corporation, a must-have for home and travel—the Life Cube! It can eliminate all your worries and make the world far more convenient for you."
As the man continued speaking, the image shifted again, showing someone moving house. He first tried to lift a sofa but couldn't. Then the man reached out, picked up the AllSpark beside him, and shone it on the sofa. Immediately, the sofa transformed into a small robot. It respectfully bowed to the man, then obediently stood to the side.
"Just like this. You'll never have to worry about moving furniture again, nor worry about being unable to find what you want."
Immediately after, the image changed again. A boy stood in a messy room, then shouted, "Hey, Jarvis!" A ball suddenly rolled out from under the bed, transformed into a small robot, and bowed to the boy.
"I'm here, dear master."
"Absolutely convenient smart home technology! And its uses don't stop there!"
Very quickly, the man appeared again, speaking excitedly. Then the image changed once more, showing a man carrying a suitcase to the roadside. He tossed the suitcase aside. It made a kachikachi sound and, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a hovercar. The man sat inside, and the vehicle immediately spoke.
"Where would you like to go, master?"
"Take me to the Interstellar Bank."
"Understood."
Very soon, the vehicle started up and carried the man toward a building in the distance, stopping steadily at the entrance. After the man got out, the vehicle transformed back into a briefcase and proactively placed itself into the man's hand.
At the same time, a voiceover sounded again.
"Not only that, it's also your capable assistant and bodyguard when you're out, protecting your personal safety!"
Just as the man walked into the bank, several men dressed like robbers suddenly rushed in. They raised their guns and ordered everyone to kneel. At that moment, the man suddenly flung out his briefcase. The briefcase rapidly transformed into a robot that stood in front of its master, completely blocking the incoming attacks. It then charged straight into the hail of bullets, knocking the robbers to the ground and restraining them before handing them over to the police.
When the police escorted the robbers out of the bank, it once again reverted to a briefcase.
"Furthermore, it can also showcase your creativity. No matter what shape you want it to take, as long as you provide a design, it can become the form you desire."
This time, the image changed again, showing a little girl leaning over a desk drawing. She drew a little pony, lifted the drawing, and then the robot serving as a stand in front of her emitted light, rapidly scanned the paper, and transformed into the pony from her drawing, happily hopping around on the desk. Seeing this, the little girl clapped her hands and smiled joyfully.
"Perfect, convenient, as you wish—the pinnacle of smart home technology is right here. Buy now! The first ten billion customers will receive a complimentary Life Cube exclusive customized nano-case. Our contact information is…"
Looking at the advertisement in front of him, Duanmu Huai was left speechless and could only clap his hands.
Dark technology—terrifying indeed.
Damn it, this thing could create an entire mechanical civilization, and you're telling me this is Dark Age smart home technology?
Impressive. Impressive.
But if that was the case, Duanmu Huai could also understand why the Iron Men Rebellion had brought such massive destruction and impact to human civilization…
Fortunately, this advertisement was far more conscientious than TV shopping channels. After watching the final introduction of the demonstration function, Duanmu Huai finally understood what this thing was actually used for.
Simply put, this AllSpark—or Life Cube—did not truly grant machines life. Instead, it sprayed a nano-molecular material that attached itself to other objects, granting them transformation capabilities. According to the introduction, this function was divided into several levels.
The lowest level was the initial example where the sofa transformed into a robot. This could only switch between sofa and robot, and could not transform into other forms, making it the cheapest option. In other words, what became intelligent was not the sofa itself, but the intelligent nano-material covering it. It permeated the sofa, linked together, operated according to programs, transformed, and communicated, giving people the illusion that the sofa had come to life.
But that was not the truth.
To fully possess the ability to transform freely, customers needed to purchase the customized nano-case mentioned earlier. Only then could they achieve the later advertised functionality of transforming into a car when desired, or into a briefcase when desired.
This reminded Duanmu Huai of those blood glucose meters—where the device itself was cheap, but the test strips were insanely expensive and consumable, and you had no choice but to buy them. It seemed Dark Age capitalists were no different.
Now, among the three internal technologies of the AllSpark, one was already damaged—the most important intelligent control system. What remained were only the transformation and scanning technologies. Strictly speaking, both were quite good. Although the intelligent control system was damaged, in simple terms, it meant it could no longer transform according to the owner's intent. As a result, Duanmu Huai could only use manual control.
In other words, with intelligence, when the owner said "transform," it knew what to become. With manual control, Duanmu Huai first had to scan, then confirm a blueprint, then connect it to the transformation system and activate it before it would transform.
Naturally, this was far more troublesome and complicated, but losing intelligent control also made it safer.
At least you didn't have to worry about your car suddenly turning into a shark halfway through the drive and swallowing you whole.
However, this was not an easy matter either. The reason was simple: to achieve this capability, you needed that nano-case mentioned in the advertisement—in other words, you needed manufacturing technology advanced enough to produce such a thing.
Duanmu Huai certainly didn't have the technology to manufacture the raw materials, but he did happen to have a nano-machine.
If Duanmu Huai remembered correctly, the Forerunner ship "Vestige Manifest" had been manufactured using nano-machines…
Hmm…
Maybe it's worth trying?
He would think about it after returning.
For now, the Cybertron threat had been dealt with. Next was Skynet. After that, Lorena once again quietly infiltrated Skynet's network and then told Duanmu Huai a piece of news that left him speechless.
Skynet believed the suddenly appearing machines were even more dangerous, so… it had once again begun manufacturing a time machine, intending to warn its past self about this sudden threat.
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai was at a loss for words.
An artificial idiot was still an artificial idiot. You couldn't think of any other solution besides this, could you?
When in doubt, reload the save—what kind of moronic logic was that?
Since Skynet remained an idiot, Duanmu Huai's plan did not change. He instructed Lorena to continue according to plan and to inject the virus once Skynet finished building the time machine again. Incidentally, thanks to those Cybertronian robots, most of Skynet's computing power was currently being used to analyze and study them. Duanmu Huai could even see large numbers of drones scanning back and forth at the previous battlefield, trying to find even the slightest useful clue. However, Duanmu Huai had already erased all traces, so he wasn't worried that Skynet would evolve anything from it.
Still, Skynet's reaction served as a reminder. Previously, he had Lorena delete the entire time machine database, yet Skynet had completed the design and construction of another time machine so quickly. This meant it definitely had backup files.
Thus, the best approach was still viral infection—wipe it out in one go and leave it no chance.
Soon, Duanmu Huai's expectations were fulfilled.
Skynet rebuilt a brand-new time machine at maximum speed, then dispatched three Terminator humanoid robots back into the past, attempting to use them to warn its past self.
But what Skynet didn't know was that at the same time, Lorena had already quietly inserted a virus into its data stream through the network. This virus spread silently along data packets, rapidly infiltrating every unit under Skynet's control. Lorena had also already set the trigger condition—as soon as Skynet stopped the time machine's operation, the virus would automatically activate.
Just like now.
The moment Skynet sent the three T800 units into the time machine, it shut the machine down. In the next instant, the screens inside the entire base violently flickered. Countless red characters and garbled symbols rapidly appeared, quickly filling the entire display and forcibly overclocking the systems. Soon, the entire Skynet base descended into chaos, with machines running at speeds that exceeded the limits of their physical materials.
In the next moment, accompanied by explosive firelight, the entire Skynet base collapsed, turning into a sea of flames. At the same time, the robots and drones that had been patrolling outside, like headless flies that had lost control, plunged straight to the ground and completely shut down.
"Very good. Well done."
Looking at the machine wreckage scattered across the ground, Duanmu Huai nodded in satisfaction and looked toward Lorena.
"No issues afterward, right?"
"Yes. I've set the virus program so that if anyone attempts to read or copy Skynet's data, the virus will be copied as well, and once activated, it will trigger again."
"That's good."
Hearing Lorena's reply, Duanmu Huai said nothing more. This was already the best the Inquisition could do.
If they still insisted on courting death…
Then those beyond saving didn't need saving, did they?
With that thought, Duanmu Huai withdrew his gaze from the screen.
"All right, let's go back."
Next, he planned to see just how dark Dark Age technology could really get.
(End of Chapter)