Many days later.
Through the porthole, a metallic planet gradually approached. There was no greenery of the forest, no dust of the land, and no blue of the sea. The ubiquitous metal replaced nature and occupied the surface of the planet.
"Destination detected, hum … arriving at Noriose, hum … surface temperature suitable, hum …"
In the spaceship hall, a round-headed robot spoke in a mechanical voice. Its cylindrical body was like a can, and there were slender mechanical arms on both sides of its body. It was about one meter tall and only reached the thigh of a normal human. There was a wheel below it, and that was how it moved.
Suddenly, a large hand grabbed the robot's head and lifted it into the air. The robot seemed to be panicking, and its two mechanical arms swayed in the air. Together with this round robot body, it looked strangely cute.
"Caught, hum …" The robot spoke.
This time, the man in black sitting on the sofa spoke.
"Put it down. How many times have I told you, Herlous? Don't play with my robot!"
Herlous shrugged and put down the robot. This little guy returned to the ground and hurriedly used the wheel to slide to the side of the sofa, wanting to hide behind Han Xiao's legs while shivering.
Han Xiao casually patted the robot's metal head as gently as if he was treating a pet.
Herlous had one hand on his waist and the other on his head. He said helplessly, "Does this artificial intelligence you created really have combat ability?"
"Can't you remember its name? It's called Philip! "
Han Xiao facepalmed. "It's only a half-finished product."
While the spaceship was traveling, Han Xiao did not stay idle. He assembled many more powerful blueprints and updated his combat machinery. He also used the newly obtained (Advanced Virtual Intelligence Technology) to create Philip. This was an artificial intelligence. Compared to the smart chips in the past, the calculation speed, logic structure, and data capacity of artificial intelligence were many times higher.
There were a few models for artificial intelligence, two of which were more unique. One was to directly input the template data, making it seem like the artificial intelligence had its own virtual personality, but in reality, it still followed a fixed closed thought framework, only simulating intelligent creatures. The advantage was that it was obedient. The second was to truly have independent thoughts and imagination, and it could think on its own. Only basic commands could control it. Obviously, the latter was more agile and had the potential to become a virtual life or mechanical life, but the risk was also higher.
Han Xiao only needed a good helper for the time being, so Philip was the former. The reason why it was a semi-finished product was because there were still some logical commands that had not been set up. The virtual personality still had flaws and needed more time to perfect it. However, there was no problem in running it. Philip could download data through the Internet, but it would not affect the fixed virtual personality. Han Xiao had casually built a robot body for it.
As for why he named it Philip, it was the name of the tortoise he had raised in his previous life. He used it to remember the razor that had died young. For lazy people who wanted to raise a pet but didn't like to clean, a tortoise was the best choice … Maybe the tortoise would still be alive even after the owner had raised him to death.
Looking at the planet outside the window that was getting closer and closer, Han Xiao said with a deep voice, "We're almost there. This is one of the transit stations to enter the Shattered Star Ring, so there will be many people from other Star Fields. Who knows how many powerful Supers there will be? Let's keep a low profile and not cause any unnecessary trouble. Our goal is to find the Dragon Emperor's teacher … Ames is rushing back from another Star Field. Even if her spaceship is fast, it will still take some time. Let's look for clues in Noriose first."
Noriose was at the edge of the Shattered Star Ring. This planet did not belong to any civilization. A long time ago, a super financial group had taken a fancy to this planet's geographical location and bought it. Back then, this planet was just a numbered, desolate, and uninhabited planet with a harsh environment. The financial group had modified it into an artificial planet and used countless equipment to change the ecological environment, making it habitable. Thus, this planet became a transit station to enter the Shattered Star Ring.
Because there were no planets near Noriose for a long time, and the nearest stargate required at least three days to jump, many travelers would choose to settle down there to replenish fuel and resources, repair their spaceships, and have some fun. Thus, the financial group made a lot of money and broke even in less than fifty years.
The prosperity of the economy also attracted many galactic residents. They smelled the opportunity to make a fortune and opened shops there. Similarly, all kinds of business organizations also started to operate there. Noriose gathered countless travelers, and it was very prosperous. However, unlike Floating Dragon Island, Noriose did not accept criminals, and the wanted order was effective there. Almost no galactic pirates or wanderers came to this place.
However, the financial group that controlled Noriose did not want galactic pirates to set their eyes on this rich land. Thus, many frigates were stationed outside the planet and the port was set outside the planet, not allowing any spaceships to enter the planet's atmosphere. Even the frigates themselves were not allowed to enter. This was to prevent outsiders from stealing the frigates! Furthermore, the financial group had set up a super large energy shield to cover Noriose's atmosphere to prevent long-range attacks from destroying the planet's surface.
All visitors had to park their spaceships at the space port. If they drove their spaceships into the atmosphere, the frigates would fire after warning them. If the travelers wanted to go to the surface for entertainment, they had to take the ten thousand meter elevator that connected the sky and the earth.
This was the security measure of Noriose. It was very strict and made the travelers feel safe.
However, there were galactic pirates who did not give up. Some tried to force their way in and were blown up by the frigates. Some robbed on the surface and took the elevator to the port, but they were caught by the security forces. The most common situation was when the galactic pirates were robbing on the surface and were killed by travelers passing by. No one knew what kind of people the travelers from other Star Fields were.
Crouching tigers and hidden dragons!
As they got closer, they could see five gigantic steel space stations floating in different directions of Noriose. These were five space ports outside the atmosphere. There were all kinds of defense turrets on them, and a large number of frigates were parked around them.
The spaceship stopped at the nearest port. Han Xiao settled the procedures for the spaceship and brought the curious crowd to the elevator area. This place was packed with people, and there was a long queue of all kinds of creatures.
Aroshia looked up and said, "This place gives me a familiar feeling. I think I've been here before …"
This time, a notification appeared on the interface!
Han Xiao took a look. It turned out that the progress of the second round of [Reboot] had increased by one point.
Looks like Noriose is one of the places in Aroshia's memory fragments. She came here before in one of her lives, and I accidentally bumped into this place, he thought.
Fu Ding looked around and said, "Just here, I can feel at least forty Grade B energy waves."
"No wonder we have to keep a low profile." Sylvia was a little nervous. She felt like a sheep that had entered a tiger's den. Luckily, her teacher, Uncle Herlous, and Sister Aroshia were also very strong, so she was a little relieved.
In his previous life, Noriose was a high-level area. If the players wanted to go to other Star Fields, they had to go through similar transit stations. By the time they could leave the Star Field, the players' levels were already not low.
After queuing for a while, it was finally their turn. The staff at the elevator kept collecting the tickets and said welcome to every passenger with a professional smile.
When it was Han Xiao's turn, the staff suddenly smiled and said, "Welcome to Noriose, Black Star."
"You know me?" Han Xiao lowered his head and looked at him, slightly surprised.
"I'm just here to pass on the message. Have a good trip."
When they entered the port, the surveillance cameras automatically detected the identity of the visitors, and the upper echelons found out about Han Xiao's identity. The Black Star Mercenary was quite famous in the Shattered Star Ring, especially since Floating Dragon's background was not to be underestimated. The financial group valued famous people from all walks of life, so the upper echelons had specially instructed them to be more polite to the Black Star Mercenary.
The elevator was very spacious, and each trip carried hundreds of passengers. After a short wait, the ground beneath everyone's feet sank as the elevator began moving. Soon, it slid out of the space station along the tracks. The walls of the elevator were made of transparent glass, and the spectacular view of the sky immediately entered their eyes.
He saw that there were dozens of elevator tracks connected to the port nearby. They were like towers that reached the sky, and they were all in operation. This height was above the clouds, and it was as if the sea of clouds was under their feet. The tracks extended all the way down into the clouds, and the ground could not be seen. Looking into the distance, the sky gradually turned from black to blue, and the artificial Fixed Star was shining so brightly that it was as if they could touch it with their hands.
"So beautiful! Philip, take a picture. "Sylvia's eyes sparkled.
Philip's mechanical eyes kept flashing, and he took pictures crazily. He was originally an assistant, and Han Xiao had given the other officers secondary authority. When he was not giving orders, the others could give orders to Philip.
Passing through the clouds, Han Xiao looked down at the city on the ground. Countless spacecrafts were flying around, and they could only fly below two thousand meters. The buildings that were hundreds of meters tall were like steel spears pointing to the sky. This was a city that was completely made of steel. There were no plants in sight, but it was not dead. Instead, it was filled with colorful neon lights, and it was extremely prosperous. Large ecological facilities provided the freshest air, and under the steel ground, there were many facilities for governing the city, controlled by the city management system.
The foundation of the city was a kind of colonial-level machinery that could be mass produced. When thrown on the surface of a planet, a city like this would be formed. The Noriose Consortium had bought this kind of "Idiot's Automatic City Expansion Pack" from the Red Empire and easily transformed this planet. With money, one could really do whatever they wanted!
Noriose had more than a dozen cities on the surface, and they were connected to each other by electromagnetic tracks and high-speed trains. Han Xiao and the others were heading to City No. 4.
Looking at the surface getting closer and closer, Han Xiao suddenly frowned, and his heart skipped a beat.
"There's a feeling of unease in my heart. I keep feeling that something is going to happen …"
…
When the elevator reached the surface, they followed the flow of people out of the station. The noisy atmosphere hit them in the face, and the streets were crowded with people of all kinds.
Bang!
Philip was knocked into by a passerby and spun around a few times. Seeing this, Sylvia bent down and hugged the robot to prevent it from being kicked away.
"There are too many people here. How are we going to find the person?" Herlous asked loudly as he pushed away an insect creature that seemed to be selling its body.
Han Xiao already had a plan. "Because Noriose is a major transportation route, many intelligence organizations have set up branches here to record the information of all travelers. I know what the target looks like. As long as we ask the intelligence organization, we will definitely get some clues."
Herlous was enlightened. "You really know everything. How reliable."
They walked through the crowd. About twenty minutes later, Han Xiao stopped at the entrance of a tall building.
"This is the place. The ninety-seventh floor is the office of an official intelligence organization." Han Xiao looked up. It was easy to find the location of an official intelligence organization.
The group took the elevator up to the ninety-seventh floor. It was very dark here, and the floor-to-ceiling windows were covered with black cloth, as if deliberately creating a mysterious atmosphere. After walking in, there was only one receptionist at the door. Beside them was a long and narrow corridor. The space here was very spacious, but the other places were all black walls, so it was impossible to pass through.
To ensure the privacy of the customers, this floor was divided into opaque cubicles by the walls for detailed discussions. The corridors between these cubicles were like a maze, and this corridor was the only entrance. There were countless forks inside, so the customers would not meet each other.
"I'm here to buy intelligence." Han Xiao expressed his intention to the receptionist.
"Wait a moment."
The receptionist pressed a button on the table.
After a while, a human trader in a black suit walked out of the corridor and said in a deep voice, "Please follow me."
Han Xiao and the rest followed the human trader into the corridor, turned into a fork, and walked toward a cubicle.
Just a few seconds after they walked into the fork, another birdman trader walked out from another fork with the customer who had just bought the information and headed toward the door, missing Han Xiao and the others by a hair's breadth.
"Thank you for your patronage."
At the door, the Birdman trader said goodbye to his customer.
This customer was wearing a hood, and his entire body was shrouded in a black robe, hiding his appearance.
He did not say anything, walked out, and pressed the elevator button.
The moment the elevator door opened and he lowered his head, the light briefly illuminated his face under the hood.
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