After returning from the Time Anomaly, there were many things to do.
Repairing the pocket watch and armor, finding ways to acquire more powerful Curios to enhance his combat strength.
Forging a new body for the resource allocation robot.
After his vacation from Herta ended, Bai Luan also had to temporarily take over Herta Space Station and improve the Space Station's combat strength.
Overall, Bai Luan's life was busy.
After watching the courses by Stark and Conrad, Bai Luan's forging ability significantly improved.
The pocket watch was too troublesome to repair; many parts were completely destroyed, making it extremely difficult to re-engrave, and he didn't have the original blueprints, so it was temporarily set aside.
The armor was his main source of combat power, so it was prioritized for repair.
This set of armor was inherently made of nanobots, so repairing it was very simple.
He just needed to create a portion of nanobots, then input the nanobot manufacturing blueprint into them, and they could achieve self-replication.
Bai Luan only needed to provide the raw materials they required later on.
In a sense, treating them like pets seemed fine; if he wanted a pet's appearance, he just needed to add a mimicry mode.
Fortunately, he no longer had to spend Herta's money to build his own things.
Speaking of which, there were still some twists and turns when he retrieved his accounts.
Logically, an account that hadn't been logged into for a long time should have been canceled.
However, the works on these three accounts were so classic that they would periodically become popular again after a period of time.
For example, the localized Plants vs. Zombies set against the backdrop of the Swarm Disaster has, over the years, branched into various versions under the stewardship of other authors.
And each of these versions required payment; for every payment the company received, a portion would be remitted to Bai Luan.
The accumulated amount over these years was… a very, very large sum of money.
Under this cycle of becoming popular → gradually fading from public view → renaissance → becoming popular, these three accounts had already become a rule-bending phenomenon.
Some people even specifically went to the accounts to pay homage.
Fashion is a cyclical circle—this was the most liked comment under these three accounts.
Even the original poster of this comment had passed away many years ago.
It was also for this reason that, although the three accounts had always been unmanaged, they were never canceled.
The company wasn't without ill intentions, wanting to seize these three accounts, but Herta discovered it, and a single "Don't touch them" immediately extinguished all their desires.
I, Bai Luan, will reiterate once more.
Working under Herta, besides requiring excellent professional skills, there are no other issues.
And this sole issue, upon closer examination, is also your own problem.
What? Herta's personality makes her difficult to get along with?
Shut up!
I forbid you to slander the perfect Ms. Herta!
She! Is! Per! Fect!
Ahem, let's not mention Ms. Herta's greatness for now.
In short, with Herta's help, Bai Luan retrieved all his accounts, as well as his credit card.
The credit points in his credit card were already an astronomical figure; he was already financially free before, and now he was free beyond measure.
He could even use this one card to inflate prices in the nearby area.
However, besides Aha hoping he would do so, no one else would want him to.
With no worries about raw materials, the armor was repaired very quickly.
Incidentally, this armor cannot be considered a Curio; individual nanobots are considered Curios.
『Curio: Nanobots』
『Directly bound to you; without your authorization, others have no right to use them; can be freely controlled by thought without the need for implants』
After repairing the armor and regaining his touch, Bai Luan put the recasting of the robot's body on the agenda.
After all, it was truly running out of time; its body had reached its limit and could no longer operate.
Bai Luan had no choice but to first dismantle its core, and then, based on its core, upgraded it.
If the original core was a dilapidated old house, then the upgraded core was a luxury apartment.
That's right, the body Bai Luan forged for the robot was aimed at the level of a sentient mechanical lifeform.
That was over nine hundred years of waiting.
No matter how cheap it was, it was enough to exchange for a new life.
As for whether such a creation counted as a robot or a sentient mechanical lifeform, Bai Luan couldn't be bothered to care.
I have the ability to create it, and no one can control me.
That being said, there were always some things in body forging that would stump him for a long time, sometimes even for half a year.
Of course, half a year refers to half a year in the Little Black Room; in reality, Bai Luan merely frowned at the problem before solving it.
Bai Luan spent several years forging a new body for the robot, but in reality, it manifested as:
A super invincible genius created a robot that amazed the industry after only three days of study.
Fortunately, only Herta knew about this.
Hmm…
That doesn't seem like good news either.
Never mind, at least the people at the company don't know.
If they knew, people from the Genius Society would immediately come over.
When retrieving his accounts, Bai Luan had already argued with those company people long enough and didn't want to repeat it.
Anyway, the robot's new body was finally built.
For this body, Bai Luan didn't deliberately pursue a human-like appearance; at first glance, one could tell it was a robot—a smooth yet angular metal shell, a humanoid face with distinct mechanical features, and an overall mechanical aesthetic.
Bai Luan placed the upgraded core into this body, then activated the robot.
The body's energy core began to supply power like a heart, gradually activating each body module.
Finally, those mechanical eyes lit up, and a blue glow filled the entire pupils.
It woke up.
It seemed somewhat confused by its current state; it raised its arms, examining its flexible hands.
The mechanical linkages between its ten fingers operated smoothly, pleasing to the eye, and incredibly agile, almost indistinguishable from human hands.
"Is this…"
A voice with a metallic quality, yet exceptionally clear and rhythmic, spoke, carrying a hint of uncertain inquiry.
"…my hand?"
"Yes, your hand."
"It seems I can return to my post again?"
"Of course you can go."
Bai Luan smiled at the words.
Although it seemed like a waste for such a sentient mechanical being to be a small resource allocation robot.
But it didn't matter; Bai Luan's upgrade was not meant to bestow upon it a mission commensurate with its technology.
As long as it didn't harm the world, it could do whatever it wanted; it was free.
"Essentially, you are still that resource allocation robot, but you are also more than just a resource allocation robot."
"…A wonderful feeling."
Xiu lowered its head, re-examining its brand-new body, its fingers caressing the cold chest plate.
"It's like breaking free from a chaotic dream… My thoughts are clearer and swifter than ever before; I… seem to have become smarter?"
"Something like that. Oh, I also gave you a name."
"A name?"
"Yes, it's a bit long: Xiu Stark Conrad."
The meaning of this name was also very simple.
I, Stark, and Conrad fixed you.
As for why his own name wasn't included?
That's because he wasn't dead yet, of course.
"It's really long."
Xiu nodded in strong agreement.
"So, usually, just use the simplified version; call you Xiu."
Xiu had no reaction to this, merely standing up. For it, the body's sensitivity was a bit too high.
There were many extra components that it needed time to adapt to.
Xiu looked at Bai Luan, at its creator.
"What do you need me to do?"
Bai Luan shook his head and said:
"I don't know, ask yourself. From now on, this is your own life."
"…"
Xiu fell silent for a moment after hearing that. Over nine hundred years of waiting and perseverance, a dismantled and reforged shell, an expanded mental domain…
Ultimately, all converged into that single phrase: "Ask yourself."
After a long while, the corner of its mouth, covered with precise metal components, curved upward in an extremely slow, yet incredibly real, clear arc.
That was not a programmed expression, but an epiphany and joy regarding "existence" itself, originating from the depths of its core.
It raised its hand, gazing once more at the perfectly operating mechanical fingers, feeling the pulsating flow of energy in its circuits, feeling the torrent of information from every ray of light and sound received by its sensors.
An unprecedented warmth, difficult to fully analyze with logical code, seemed to quietly grow and flow deep within its cold metal core.
"There is a kind of…"
Xiu's voice deepened, carrying a metallic quality, yet strangely mixed with a tremor almost akin to… emotion.
It articulated, word by word, clearly stating this newly grasped truth, a truth sufficient to define its new life:
"The feeling of being alive."