Chapter 606 - Can You Be a Decent Human Being? (Part 1)

Godslayer arrived immediately to examine the condition of the three extraterrestrial powerhouses. She had witnessed the entire battle. Her gaze fell upon the nine-tailed cloud cat formed from clouds in the starry sky, and the wise-looking husky who had returned to its dog form, surrounded by divine swords... Then to the crow on Lu Ran’s shoulder, and the Magnetic Star Dragon King before her.

Godslayer took a deep breath. Unlike Lu Ran, her Superior Legendary-level combat power was achieved through the combined strength of multiple mechanical familiars and her own enhancements.

However, on Lu Ran’s side, it was clear that the four familiars he had sent out each possessed combat power close to that of a Primary-Divine being. Coupled with Lu Ran’s own enhancements, it was no wonder he had been confident in dealing with these aliens.

“Are you going back on your words regarding the materials for the Mechanical Primary-Divine being?” Lu Ran asked, not bothering with the origins of the three aliens for now, and instead demanding the Primary-Divine materials from Godslayer.

Godslayer remained silent for a long time. Lu Ran’s gaze began to carry a threat. He could sense that Dark Crow’s bewitching power was still active, but Godslayer seemed to be hesitating.

“Are you?” Lu Ran asked in an unfriendly tone.

If Godslayer went back on her words and he couldn’t obtain the materials for the Mechanical Primary-Divine being, he wouldn’t mind destroying the Stellar Moon Republic right in front of her. He would use the souls of an entire nation to make up for his losses. There was still time.

After a long silence, Godslayer finally decided to proceed according to their agreement.

“I’ll give them to you, but I hope you will fulfill the rest of your promise.”

Mainly because, although Lu Ran hadn’t yet displayed Primary-Divine level power, he was already close enough. He was an existence the Stellar Moon Republic could not hope to oppose, even with its full strength.

Lu Ran smiled slightly. “That’s more like it. After destroying the Mechanical Primary-Divine being, I will completely resolve the threats to the Stellar Moon Republic.”

Godslayer extended her hand, and a mechanical cube appeared in her palm. “I hope you can do it.”

It was a spatial equipment, the Mechanical Space. Lu Ran took it and looked inside. The Mechanical Space contained a cluster of research institutes. There were 332 in total, where all the facilities served the creation of the Mechanical Primary-Divine being.

Originally, these institutes had operated autonomously, relying on the intelligent computing power of the Republic’s supercomputer, with numerous Epic-Legendary beings and Godslayer’s own mechanical familiars acting as assistants. However, after Godslayer transferred the institutes, the research on the Mechanical Primary-Divine being had been suspended.

There are so many Legendary materials! 52 Legendary-grade materials suitable for mechanical components, and even one Divine-grade resource. This is unbelievable!

After scanning them with his Eye of Detection, Lu Ran’s heart raced. However, that wasn’t all. After taking over the materials related to the Mechanical Primary-Divine being, he turned his attention to the project’s lead, Godslayer.

“You understand, right? What I want to destroy isn’t just the materials, but all the design concepts behind the Mechanical Primary-Divine being. That means I also need to erase the key memories related to the manufacturing of the Mechanical Primary-Divine being from you and the other developers.

“After all, given enough time, the Republic could still gather these materials again. As long as you still possess the theoretical knowledge and thought process to create the Mechanical Primary-Divine being, destroying it now would be meaningless.”

Godslayer looked toward the direction of the cosmic battleship. “It’s impossible now. Most of the core materials for the Mechanical Primary-Divine beings aren’t native to Stellar Moon. They were collected by the Republic over more than a thousand years from the cosmos. Like that battleship, they are foreign objects. They are non-renewable.

“So the Mechanical Primary-Divine being project was a one-time plan. As long as you destroy these core materials, the Mechanical Primary-Divine being can never be born again.”

“For safety’s sake, please just cooperate,” Lu Ran said.

“As you wish.”

Lu Ran then reached out, and his hand covered Godslayer’s entire face. With the help of Dark Crow’s Spiritual Speech power, he extracted and crushed the memories related to the design and manufacturing concepts of the Mechanical Primary-Divine being from Godslayer.

Having a segment of her memories extracted inevitably affected Godslayer.

Her face turned pale, and she looked deeply at Lu Ran. “When will you deal with the other two Primary-Divine beings? They are both severely injured and dormant now. They haven’t recovered. This should be the best time to deal with them. Of course, their resting places are extremely well-hidden. The Republic has investigated for over a thousand years without finding any leads.”

“Give me some time. I need to borrow the power of the Creation Divine Dragons. It’s a fight where me not overpowering them will only bring disaster to the Stellar Moon Republic,” Lu Ran said calmly while looking at her.

“Then begin destroying the core resources of the Mechanical Primary-Divine being.” Godslayer stared at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran picked his ear. “What did you say? I can’t hear you. Speak up.”

“I said, you can begin fulfilling your promise now. Since you want to destroy the Primary-Divine resources, destroy them right here in front of me.”

Lu Ran looked at Godslayer as if she were an idiot. “How can I just destroy them here? Destroying them here would only eliminate the Mechanical Primary-Divine being in this timeline.

“My goal is to destroy the Mechanical Primary-Divine being project across all timelines. So, I need to use these resources as a medium to connect all timelines and thoroughly destroy the Primary-Divine materials. It’s very troublesome.

“Anyway, don’t worry. I’ll record a video as proof when I destroy them. Humans don’t lie to humans. You go handle the aftermath in the Republic first. I’d be a dog if I lied.”

With that, Lu Ran landed on Sudden Death King, recalled all his familiars, and with a flash of lightning, Sudden Death King carried Lu Ran away into the starry sky. As they left, they conveniently took the cosmic battleships of the three extraterrestrial powerhouses with them.

They left behind Godslayer, who was in a mental breakdown. She felt something was wrong, but couldn’t think clearly due to the Evil God’s power.

Not long after, Lu Ran summoned #18 and handed it the Memory Soul, the cosmic battleships, and the Mechanical Space containing the Primary-Divine research institutes.

In addition, he gave it the Technical Explosion trait, the Hyperactivity trait, and the Legendary amplification card. Faced with so many resources, #18, who was still at the quasi-Legendary stage, began breathing rapidly. Its small fists clenched tightly, and beams of light shot from its eyes.

Lu Ran thought of something and said to #18, “Go in and research. Try your best to achieve some results before the secret realm ends. If you can produce results before the secret realm ends, we can still pull off something big. If it takes years of research after returning, the loss will be huge.”

Lu Ran looked longingly in the direction of Stellar Moon. After all, this was his last chance to get freebies.

“I’ll try my best, Master! I’ll try my best! Then, I’ll begin.”

To save time, #18 didn’t want to talk to Lu Ran anymore and plunged headfirst into the Mechanical Space. It first used the Hyperactivity trait and the Technical Explosion trait to undergo its third-stage evolution.

The Hyperactivity trait would ensure #18’s endurance, while the Technical Explosion trait, combined with the Lucky Flower trait Lu Ran had obtained from Six-Path Flower, would increase the probability of #18 quickly producing top-tier results.

Thus, #18 took over the research on the Mechanical Primary-Divine being alone. Although Dark Crow wanted to assist, #18 worried that its jinxing mouth would bring bad luck and pollute its path to becoming a Primary-Divine being, so it shooed Dark Crow away.

After #18 began studying the Mechanical Primary-Divine blueprints, Lu Ran didn’t sit still. He turned his attention to the sealed elemental gods in this ascension realm.

“If #18 can replace the Mechanical Primary-Divine being before the secret realm ends, we can fully attempt to take down the Light and Dark Primary Divine beings.

“If #18 can’t replace the Mechanical Primary-Divine being, then both the Light and Dark Primary Divine beings and the Chaos Dragon God will be wasted. Although Captain Doofus and the others are already strong, they’re still a whole level behind, so I don't have much confidence in them beating them.”

Lu Ran began to pray. He first entered the Divine Void Court and had the Void Mantis help him summon Squirrel God, planning to begin a new round of elemental god-hunting.

***

Time passed bit by bit. Baby Cloud began its third round of god-eating, while Lu Ran used the Time Acceleration beastmaster skill to enhance #18’s research efficiency and Soul Amplification to boost its comprehension.

To speed up the research, Lu Ran had even used his only Legendary amplification card on #18. Combined with its third-stage evolution, #18 was now a research-type lifeform of the Low-Legendary species.

Moreover, unlike the Republic’s situation when creating the Mechanical Primary-Divine being, #18 had another advantage. It had analyzed the battleship of the extraterrestrial civilization through the Mechanical Heart. After analyzing this battleship, it discovered crucial information.

It wasn’t that the battleship was particularly powerful; it was mass-produced. However, it was undoubtedly mass-produced by a Mechanical Primary-Divine being from another civilization.

“That Cosmic Overlord Legion might also have a Mechanical Primary-Divine being!”

Therefore, by referencing the research thought processes of other Mechanical Primary-Divine beings, #18 gained invaluable insights.

Meanwhile, in the Stellar Moon Republic, as time passed, Dark Crow’s bewitching power began to fade from Godslayer. Freed from the evil thoughts, Godslayer, who had been in seclusion within the Republic waiting for Lu Ran to fulfill his promise, suddenly began to sweat profusely.

“What have I... What have I done?”

Godslayer’s heart raced, and her eyes filled with panic. All of her interactions with Lu Ran replayed in her mind. This review made Godslayer feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She realized she had done something incredibly foolish.

“Unknowingly, my mind was influenced by his power. It was a bewitching power similar to that of the Evil God overlords from the beastmaster era. Damn it!”

Godslayer stood up and immediately headed into the starry sky, wanting to find Lu Ran. However, Lu Ran was long gone by then. A bad premonition washed over her. She felt like she had created an enemy for the Republic far more terrifying than those three aliens. Thinking back now, she discovered many flaws in Lu Ran’s bewitching words, but it was already too late.

“I must find him!”

Even though Godslayer knew she was no match for Lu Ran, she began searching for him frantically. And so, with less than a day left before the ascension realm ended, Godslayer was anxious.

Lu Ran was also anxious, however. Due to the Technical Explosion trait and the assistance of the Lucky Flower, #18’s research capabilities had improved rapidly in this short month.

Research-type lifeforms leveled up through research, and researching the Mechanical Primary Divine being was undoubtedly the project that yielded the most experience.

During this time, using the various Legendary mechanical materials collected by the Republic over a thousand years, #18 underwent a full armed evolution on itself. It didn’t take long for it to reach the Superior-Legendary species.

However, whether Low Legendary or Superior Legendary, they were still just Legendary species. The difference was similar to that between Low Transcendent and Superior Transcendent. It was not a huge gap. The truly difficult part was the final step of fusing with an energy stone the Republic had found.

It was an energy crystal of unknown origin to the Stellar Moon Republic. Its energy was very stable but also extremely terrifying. Through analysis, the Republic determined that if the energy within this crystal were to explode, it could instantly destroy a Primary-Divine level lifeform.

However, not to mention whether the Republic had a way to detonate it or control the explosion, such a one-time use would be a tremendous waste.

Instead, using such an energy crystal as a mechanical energy source, providing Primary-Divine level computing power and research capabilities to a research-type lifeform, was clearly the most cost-effective method.

“We’re only missing this final step. How do we use this?”

The Republic didn’t know the origin of this energy crystal, but Lu Ran saw it clearly with his Perfect Eye of Detection.

[Name: Super Body Spirit Gem]

[Introduction: A Divine-grade resource, the spiritual core of a Spirit-attribute Divine-grade lifeform. Due to the lifeform’s extreme refinement of this core, the energy within is difficult for outsiders to use.]