novelhk Chapter 13 Growth
Chapter 13 Growth
Phil Maxim's workshop became Liu En's next base.
He gets up at six every morning, eats breakfast, and then sits at his workbench to study. Marcus's data core is like a bottomless pit; thousands of years of accumulated knowledge are encoded in high-order binary, each segment requiring repeated analysis, comparison, and verification. He is not a true member of the Mechanicus, has not undergone systematic apprenticeship training, and has not received the blessing of the Mechanic in the temple of the Forging World. His only reliance is the fragments of memory left behind by a deceased Mechanic Priest, and the ability to piece these fragments together into a complete system of knowledge.
In the first two weeks, besides studying, he spent a lot of time visiting the flea markets in Zhongchao and Xiachao.
Lucis was teeming with mechanical enthusiasts, and its secondhand markets were overflowing with discarded equipment, scrap parts, and defective products from the Mechanical Repair Guild. Some came from the Temple's regular warehouse clean-outs, some were privately resold by field personnel, and some were simply scavenged by junkyard workers. Liu En bought any unfamiliar mechanical creations he encountered for scrap metal prices, disassembled them at his workshop to obtain blueprints, and accumulated a vast and diverse collection, even including trinkets from Imperial nobles.
One day in the first month, he found a half-body power armor set in an inconspicuous corner of a stall.
As his field of vision swept across the armor, he detected a faint fluctuation, unlike that of ordinary metal—not an electromagnetic signal, not heat, but something deeper, like a sleeping heart beating slowly, almost imperceptible yet undeniably real.
The breastplate and backplate are joined together, their surfaces bearing numerous scratches and a hole burned through by an energy weapon. Most of the cooling pipes in the lining are aged and cracked, half of the sensor array is inoperable, and the power battery is long since destroyed. But its frame is intact, and a faint ripple is seeping from deep within it.
The stall owner asked for 150 Throne Coins, but Liu En bargained down to 100, and the deal was done.
Back in the workshop, he placed the power armor on the workbench. The field of influence was activated, his consciousness reached, and the decomposition command was issued. The worn-out half-body armor vanished silently, transforming into an atomic cloud stored in the warehouse. Simultaneously, a complete set of material composition information flooded his database—from every armor plate to every pipe, from the servo motors at the joints to the cooling layer of the chest armor lining, every atomic arrangement was precisely recorded. Deep within the blueprints, in the atomic lattice between the main frame and the armor layers, he discovered a peculiar structure. The bonding angle shifted by less than a hundredth of a degree, the electron cloud distribution exhibited a pattern he had never seen before, and the lattice contained several unknown atoms—the very source of that peculiar fluctuation.
Machine Soul. A living machine soul.
He extracted this structure separately, labeled it "Machine Soul - Half-Body Power Armor - Source Sample," and stored it in the core category of the database. It was faint and old, like a candle flame about to go out, but its existence was real.
Then he began to reshape. Atoms were retrieved from the warehouse and condensed according to the complete blueprint. Armor plates, pipes, sensors, batteries—all components were molded into one piece. Most importantly, he instructed the shaping process to embed that piece of machine spirit structure into the main frame of the new armor exactly as it was, in the exact same position.
A few minutes later, a brand-new half-body power armor appeared on the workbench. It looked exactly the same as the old armor, but all the damaged parts had been replaced, and the surface was free of scratches and burn holes. He activated the armor's energy system, expanding the field of influence, and probed the machine soul structure with his consciousness.
It was there. And it pulsed more powerfully than it had in the old armor. More importantly, when his consciousness touched it, he felt a distinct intimacy—not a passive mechanical response to the user, but a kind of active, almost instinctive pull. It recognized him. Or rather, it recognized the consciousness that had shaped it.
Liu En hung the first remodeled suit of armor on the rack next to his workbench. It was now his.
But he didn't stop.
He retrieved the same atoms from the warehouse, and the complete blueprint from the database—including the machine soul structure—and reshaped it. A second, identical half-body power armor took shape at the other end of the workshop. He activated it, probing it with his consciousness. The machine soul existed, the sense of intimacy existed, the intensity, frequency, and signal characteristics of the pulse—exactly the same as the first set. The machine soul blueprint could be precisely replicated, each replication producing a completely new, identical, independent entity.
He recorded in the database: "Same origin machine souls, can be mass-produced, each individual is independent and has the same properties."
Next, he began testing the machine spirit's growth potential. He took the first suit of armor and repaired and upgraded it multiple times—replacing the cooling pipes with more efficient ones, upgrading the sensor array, and replacing the power battery with a miniature nuclear fusion reactor. After each upgrade, he checked the machine spirit's status using a field test. As the armor's performance improved and usage time accumulated, the machine spirit's pulse became increasingly stable, and its signal strength slowly increased. It was like a plant being watered, taking root and growing within its new body.
He documented this discovery: "Machine spirits can be enhanced through equipment maintenance and performance upgrades."
Then he wanted to do an even bolder experiment.
He sculpted a standard military laser pistol from the warehouse, without incorporating any machine spirit structure during the process. Once completed, the pistol was an ordinary, soulless weapon. Next, he retrieved the machine spirit blueprint of his half-body power armor and grafted it onto the atomic blueprint of this laser pistol—embedding an identical atomic arrangement near the energy channel.
Shaping. Atomic condensation. A brand new laser pistol appeared on the workbench.
He picked up the gun, his domain expanding, his consciousness probing inside. The machine spirit existed. But its state was completely different from before. It was weak, chaotic, as if stuffed into a container that didn't belong to it. Its pulse was intermittent, its signal strong and weak, threatening to go out at any moment. It didn't recognize the gun, nor did it recognize itself—or rather, it was desperately searching for something familiar but couldn't find it. The entire machine spirit was on the verge of dissipating.
Liu En set it aside and never used it again. He recorded in the database: "The machine spirit is specific to the equipment type. Cross-category grafting can barely survive, but its condition is extremely poor and it may dissipate at any time."
He also created a different model of power armor—not a half-body suit, but a standard Astral Army "Solvin" type fully enclosed power armor. He also grafted the blueprints of the half-body suit onto the blueprints of this new suit, placing them in the armor layer inside the chest plate.
The shaping was complete. The new armor took shape. He activated the system and probed it with his consciousness.
The machine spirit exists. It's not as weak and extinguished as it was in the laser gun, but it's far less stable than it was in the half-body armor. The pulse is weak, and the signal attenuation is obvious, but it has found a "home" that it can barely take in—both are power armor, and their similarity in form and function prevents it from dissipating. It's a bit like a lost child finally finding a roof that can barely shelter it from the wind and rain.
He recorded the complete experimental conclusions in the database:
"1. The blueprint of the machine soul can be completely copied. The properties of the copied machine soul are consistent with the original, and it has a natural affinity to the creator."
Second, the strength of the machine spirit can be enhanced through equipment maintenance and performance upgrades.
Third, the Mech Soul is specific to the equipment type. It can survive when combined with equipment of the same type (Power Armor → Power Armor) but its status will decay; cross-type grafting (Power Armor → Laser Gun) almost fails, and the Mech Soul is on the verge of dissipation.
Fourth, the universal atom is the necessary medium for replicating machine souls; ordinary atoms cannot be used to create machine soul structures.
He kept the first set of power armor for his own use. He would take it with him every time he went out, whether he wore it outside or not. The second set of the same armor was sealed away for future use, the laser gun was scrapped and dismantled to recover atoms, and the Solvin-type power armor was left in a corner of the workshop as an experimental sample.
From that day on, Liu En gained a more systematic understanding of the "machine soul" aspect of his abilities. He knew he had touched upon a realm that even high-ranking priests of the Mechanic Order might not comprehend.
The robotic arm was also a find from a flea market. It was a Tentacle-IV type mechanical engineer's specialized arm, highly precise, with micro-tool interfaces integrated into the fingertips. Liu En bought it for eighty Throne Coins, disassembled, optimized, and rebuilt it. He generated a standard bio-neural interface on the back of his head, directly connecting the robotic arm to his nervous system, and added a quick-release base to the power armor's shoulder.
He stood before the mirror, gazing at his reflection. Beneath the deep red robe was the half-body power armor he had restored to near-new condition; its dark gray terracotta surface gleamed coldly, and the miniature Thinker indicator light on the left side of the breastplate flickered faintly. His left arm was metal, and a small silver interface panel adorned the back of his head. This made him look like a true member of the Mechanicus.
But Liu En believed this was far from enough. The power armor and mechanical arm were merely external attachments; once removed, his body remained the same malnourished form he'd brought from the bottom nest. He needed a more thorough solution.
He spent the entire night studying the section on human mechanical enhancement in the Marcus data, and then implemented a covert modification program on himself—replacing all the bones in his legs with high-strength lightweight alloy, replacing his ribs with a bio-composite ceramic skeleton, and implanting an auxiliary mechanical mechanism in his chest cavity. The entire process took several hours, and there were no changes to his appearance, but his legs could withstand several times the impact, his chest cavity was strong enough to withstand blunt force trauma, and his heart and lungs were mechanically protected in extreme environments. He archived all the modification data and noted the possibility of future upgrades in his notes.
He closed his notebook, picked up his data tablet, and continued browsing the flea market listings. He needed to find a better sensor array tomorrow.
In the third month, he felt that his knowledge needed to be tested in practice. After paying rent and buying equipment, he didn't have much Throne Coin left, so taking on some repair work would allow him to practice and make a living at the same time.
He posted a message on Zhongchao's information terminal: "Mechanical Repair Society Technical Craftsman, Level 2, undertaking maintenance, repair and calibration of various mechanical equipment." He left the workshop address and contact code.
The first customer arrived quickly. A guild merchant from Zhongchao brought an old automatic loom. Liu En scanned the problem with his field of vision and immediately identified the issues—wearing gears, loose bearings, and aging circuitry. He removed the damaged gears and bearings, retrieved atoms from the warehouse, and, based on information gleaned from disassembling other old parts, reconstructed new components and installed them. Half an hour later, the loom was running smoothly. The merchant paid twenty Throne Coins.
The news spread quickly. Merchants and workshop owners from Zhongchao and Xiachao began to come knocking on his door. Liu En took on a wide variety of jobs: repairing automatic welding machines, calibrating measuring instruments, and replacing old data cores. His work method was simple and efficient—he would remove the broken part, find a reference in old parts or retrieve blueprints from an existing database, and reshape and replace it. Material costs were almost zero, his prices were fair, and customer satisfaction was very high.
In the fourth month, he received a special commission.
The client was a third-order novice technical priest of the Mechanic Order named Vitellius. He was a field operative for the Phil Maxim Mechanic Temple, responsible for maintaining a group of mechs surrounding the temple. These mechs were standard Mind Control Legion models, severely damaged in a clearing operation decades ago, and had been sitting in a warehouse ever since.
Vitellius heard of Liu En's name and went to his workshop.
"Several mechs need repair. The joint seals are worn out, the sensors are drifting, and one has internal damage. Materials and labor will cost a total of one thousand Throne Coins. What do you want?"
The temple's warehouse is located in the Upper Nest area. Ten fighter jets are lined up against the wall, their armor surfaces bearing faint traces of rust.
Liu En started with the first unit. He covered the field, his consciousness reached it, and the aging seals and lubricants were decomposed and rebuilt into new ones. The sensor array was calibrated one by one—he didn't replace them, but directly decomposed the aging and failing sensor chips within the field, then retrieved information from the standard sensor database, used atoms from the warehouse to rebuild new chips, and replaced the old ones. The entire process didn't require disassembling the casing.
On the fifth unit, he encountered a problem. The mech's outer shell was intact, but its internal power system was damaged—part of the battery was burned through, several wiring circuits were melted, and there were abnormal burn marks on the processor's surface. Several mechanical parts were also covered with a layer of corrosion residue he had never seen before.
After some thought, he decided to disassemble the entire mech. He started by disassembling the outer armor plates, storing the atoms and information in the database. Then he disassembled the internal structure layer by layer—the skeleton, servo motors, circuitry, and processor core. Each layer of disassembly generated information, which was stored in the database. This was the first time he had obtained a complete blueprint for an intelligent mech—the armor structure, skeletal frame, power circuitry, and control system; all the design details were laid bare before him.
Then he began to reshape it. The atoms recombine into armor plates, servo motors, and processor cores. But he didn't make it entirely new—he randomly generated a few fine rust spots on the outer shell, added slight hardening cracks to the joint seals, and left a few scratches of varying depths on the edges of the armor. Overall, it looked like an old but functional mech, blending in seamlessly with the other ones in the warehouse.
He didn't reassemble the corroded residue. He found a small piece of data storage in the gap of the armor, read a few fragments—a dark, damp cave with walls covered in some kind of organic film, followed by a recurring string of low Gothic characters: "Muttax Seventh Laboratory." He put the data storage back in its original position, noted the string of characters in his database, and didn't investigate further.
With all the mechs repaired, Vitellius came to inspect them. He checked the mech that had been thought to be scrapped and opened the breastplate panel to take a look.
"The technical level is excellent. This is a worthwhile deal."
He paid one thousand throne coins on the spot.
Liu En accepted the payment. This was his first decent income in Lucis, and also his first contact within the Mechanicus.
In the days that followed, Vitellius would occasionally contact him, introducing him to outsourced work for the Temple—repairing equipment, calibrating instruments, and even adjusting the personal gear of lower-ranking technical priests. Liu En accepted all comers, charging anywhere from tens to hundreds of Throne Coins per job. He gradually amassed a considerable sum of money.
More importantly, he gained access to more people within the Mechanicus through Vitellius.
Low-ranking technical priests, field craftsmen, temple apprentices, and even a few retired master craftsmen. They came from different backgrounds and had different experiences. From their accounts, Liu En gradually pieced together a fact: not everyone in the Mechanical Order had formal training. Many were self-taught—from the bottom nest scavengers, retired Imperial soldiers, or those who privately took on disciples. The more successful ones had their own mechanical arks, or even built their own miniature forge worlds.
After hearing this, Liu En felt a sense of relief. He had originally planned to enter the Temple through Vitellius for further study and systematic training. But now he had a new idea—he wasn't prepared to truly enter the Mechanicus's system. That meant layers of approval, strict hierarchies, and difficulty in escaping. He longed for freedom.
He wanted a boat.
A standard cruiser, or more practically, a cargo ship capable of interstellar travel. He wanted to go to a desolate planet, free from imperial bureaucracy, the corruption of chaos, and the threat of aliens, to quietly develop his abilities.
But he can't even afford a small boat right now. So he continues to take on jobs at the workshop, save money, and constantly learn and upgrade his equipment.
He optimized the power armor several more times. The power of the field shield was increased, and the energy output of the miniature nuclear fusion reactor became more stable. He added a holographic display module to the helmet, which could project equipment data directly into the field of vision. The robotic arm was also upgraded, with the tool interfaces at the fingertips expanded to six types, covering most maintenance scenarios.
He also found a damaged Thinker at a flea market, disassembled it, and obtained the complete blueprints. He spent several weeks studying its architecture and logic, and then rebuilt a miniaturized version in the workshop, embedding it into the back armor of the power armor as a data processing center.
His savings were growing, but still far from enough to buy a ship. Even the cheapest secondhand cargo ship cost several million Throne Dollars, while cruisers started at hundreds of millions. His current maintenance income, though stable, was far from sufficient.
He began to actively reach out to more members of the Cult of Mechanics, not just through Vitellius. He attended several gatherings of Middle Nest's technical craftsmen—the kind of informal gatherings held in taverns, where all sorts of people came together. There were proper temple technical priests, independent craftsmen with their own methods, merchants who traded parts, and even men who looked like pirates looking for technical talent.
Liu En learned a great deal at these gatherings. Not technically, but in a more worldly way. He learned how to deal with people from different backgrounds, how to protect himself in transactions, and how to glean useful intelligence from snippets of conversation. He also took on a few side jobs—modifying the power system of a private yacht and repairing the engine of an expedition's exploration vessel.
These jobs were lucrative, but also risky. Once, he almost got targeted by the Ministry of Justice because the owner of the private yacht was suspected of smuggling. Luckily, he noticed in advance and quickly left the boat, avoiding being implicated.
Days passed. The workshop was upgraded to a larger one. His Throne Coin deposits surpassed five figures. The technical maps in the database grew ever larger. He learned fluent binary communication and no longer needed a translator. The interfaces on the back of his head expanded to three—one connected to the robotic arm, one to the power armor's data bus, and one as a backup.
Vitellius would occasionally visit the workshop for a cup of his homemade synthetic coffee. The two would chat about technology, equipment, and occasionally, the inner workings of the Mechanicus. Knowing Liu En didn't want to join the Temple, Vitellius didn't try to dissuade him, only saying, "You can choose whichever path you want, but don't sever your connection with the Temple. Some things only the Temple possess—like the calibration keys for the warp engines, or the Titan repair licenses. Without being in the system, you'll never access these things."
Liu En nodded to indicate he understood. He knew Vitellius meant well, but he also had his own considerations—he could obtain the calibration key for the subspace engine from the dismantled spaceship. He didn't need the Titan's repair authorization at the moment. What truly limited him wasn't technology, nor authorization, but a sufficiently secure and secretive base.
He needs a boat.
931.M41, Week 12.
Lucis's first year was drawing to a close. Liu En sat at his workbench in the workshop, looking at the list he had compiled on the data board: current savings of approximately 12,000 Throne Coins, fully equipped, a comprehensive information database, and a preliminary network of contacts. He was still at least a hundred times short of acquiring a secondhand cargo ship.
He wasn't in a hurry. The original owner of this body was only twenty-eight years old, but in this era, life-extending surgery could easily allow someone to live for hundreds of years. With further mechanization modifications, living for thousands of years wouldn't be uncommon.
Time is not an issue. He just needs to take it one step at a time.
Liu En turned off the data panel and began to organize his plans for tomorrow: in the morning, he would continue analyzing the chapter on the power armor servo system in the Marcus data; in the afternoon, he would go to another client introduced by Vitellius to see a faulty plasma cutter; and in the evening, he would attend the Zhongchao craftsmen's gathering to inquire about the market conditions for second-hand ships.
He checked the power armor's energy and field shield status, confirmed that the robotic arm's tool interface was clean and unobstructed, then set the six servants to standby alert mode and lay down on the bed in the rest area.