Plaff!

Kraynnor eagerly wanted to explore the contents of the boxes, but his exhaustion was overwhelming. His limbs trembled uncontrollably. Reluctantly, he settled into one of the one-meter-square metal boxes, brushing off the dust with one hand before making himself comfortable.

"Haaah..."

He took a deep breath, making an effort to regain some energy.

Meanwhile, he reflected on the commotion he had caused by knocking down all those doors. Strangely, nothing seemed to be emerging, which led him to question the state of the automatons on the lower levels.

All he knew was that some cargo robots were busy transporting large quantities of components on the fourth level to an unknown destination.

After five minutes of rest, Kraynnor felt sufficiently revitalized to continue. "I'm as good as new!" he muttered, clenching his fists, although he felt his muscles protesting the effort, but at least he was much better than before.

He got up and headed toward one of the dozens of metal boxes that stretched across the warehouse.

"As I suspected, they're completely useless," Kraynnor affirmed.

The high-tech locks that had once guarded their contents lay dead, vulnerable to brute force. With determination, Kraynnor gripped the edge of the lid and pulled with vigorous effort.

Crraaack!

With a metallic crunch, the lid gave way and opened, revealing a wealth of expensive and rare materials.

"Haha, without a doubt, the journey has been worth it! Gathering this on the outside would have taken months, or even years," his smile widened and turned fierce, revealing his pearly teeth, while his blue pupils sparkled with excitement.

This single box held an impressive load of three tons of refined titanium, as well as a ton of rhodium and another of palladium!

Kraynnor had already made a substantial gain with just one of the boxes, and nine more were still waiting for him in the warehouse. Not to mention all the other resources available in the other warehouses.

Now, his only concern was to determine how to wisely utilize all these valuable resources...

He had some ideas in mind, but before making a decision, he decided to conduct a thorough inventory and analysis of everything at his disposal to determine what projects he could undertake with these top-quality materials.

In the remaining boxes, Kraynnor found white gold, tritium, lutetium, iridium, neodymium, platinum, osmium, ruthenium, and more. Even when his laboratory was at its peak, he had never had access to such a vast array of materials. Despite that, back then, he managed to create a series of incredible creations.

With the materials from the warehouses, Kraynnor saw astonishing potential to surpass his previous achievements!

In the blink of an eye, ten minutes passed. He had gone through the twenty warehouses, discovering everything he wanted and more. Now, his goal had changed: from searching for materials to taking them with him outside of Caelum.

For the moment, he was aware that he could not carry out his plan alone, but he already had in mind who would be his perfect assistants. Without hesitation, he ascended to the fourth level.

Indeed, he intended to use those automatons as cheap labor!

Climbing skillfully through the thick roots that surrounded him, he entered the room in complete silence, avoiding alerting the cargo robots that were constantly moving. As he watched the continuous production of mechanical parts on the assembly lines, he wondered where they obtained such a quantity of raw materials. Could they be extracting them from other warehouses?

Without hesitation, he followed the steps of one of the cargo robots carrying a load of dozens of parts intended for the construction of androids.

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There were arms, legs, torsos, heads, circuit boards, bright eyes, and neural circuits ready to be assembled into fully functional androids.

"!"

As he passed through several rooms, he finally reached the place where the parts were unloaded, and what he found left him speechless.

Before him stretched a vast space that extended for kilometers. In the center of this immense stage, perfectly ordered rows of countless androids lined up, creating the impression of an army of millions, ready to go into action on a world war scale!

Clack, clack, clack!

In the midst of these androids, thousands of figures moved swiftly, performing a wide range of tasks.

They were silver, with slender bodies, each equipped with three arms on each side. Each arm worked meticulously to assemble pieces in different androids, while other robots were dedicated to building new androids from scratch.

However, what caught Kraynnor's attention the most was the impeccable condition of all these androids and assembly robots.

They showed no sign of rust or deterioration!

As he contemplated what he saw, he couldn't help but speculate about the type of commands or directives that had been given to these robots on the lower levels, since the automatons on the upper levels had a more aggressive and hostile approach.

Zzzrrrrr...

"?"

Suddenly, Kraynnor watched as a cargo robot emerged in the distance, carrying a load of rust-covered android parts.

He approached one of the walls without any visible entrance. However, Kraynnor was surprised to see that the wall began to split in two halves, revealing another vast space, another hangar!

Swoosh!

Kraynnor moved swiftly, avoiding the roots that extended even in this place, and within seconds, he stood before the immense entrance.

As he looked inside, he was completely astonished, surpassing all his expectations. This place was even more impressive than the sight of the millions of androids behind him.

Before him were huge robots, each with dozens of meters in height, composed of metal and advanced stages of rust.

Zsssshhhh!

The characteristic sound of the melting process, a metallic hiss that filled the air, was deafening. In one corner of the hangar, there was a colossal structure where the cargo robot from earlier disposed of the rusted parts, which were melted in a matter of seconds.

Kraynnor immediately recognized it as a smelting furnace, which seemed to be running continuously.

The molten metal was transported to several nearby machines. These machines molded the metal into massive pieces that were manipulated by elegant mechanical arms.

They were equipped with gripping and movement systems, sliding with precision and strength to transport the massive metal pieces.

Through rail systems and lifting platforms, they transported the pieces to their destination, where they integrated them into the giant robots. For Kraynnor, it was like discovering that an old painting accumulating dust in the attic turned out to be a masterpiece created by a famous artist!

Kraynnor meticulously counted each of the massive robots in the vast hangar.

He finally counted eight. Like the androids in the other hangar, these robots lay motionless, as if they were mere decorations. The question was: why were they all turned off?

It didn't make much sense, given that all the automatons on the upper levels were operational.

Determined to solve the mystery, Kraynnor ventured into the other hangar, where dozens of cargo robots buzzed around, unaware of his presence. Stealthily, he approached one of the androids, making sure no assembly robot was nearby.

With a deft hand, he easily disassembled the robot's casing and explored its interior.

The answer was revealed immediately: there was no battery. The compartment that would normally contain the power source was empty, as if it had been intentionally removed. Carefully, he closed the casing and went on to check other robots, all showing the same deficiency.

Full of doubts, Kraynnor decided to put an end to them.

He watched one of the assembly robots closely as it worked from a distance. The machine meticulously placed pieces on an android that was under construction.

Click!

Then, when it finished, the assembly robot moved away from its coworkers. Kraynnor saw his opportunity and moved quickly. He approached the robot from behind, gripping its head tightly. The casing came off with a subtle snap.

[Alert...]

With the interior exposed and its voice fading in an instant, Kraynnor reprogrammed the robot surprisingly quickly, as if solving a five-piece puzzle.

[…Sir, I am ready to follow your instructions.]

A cold robotic voice emanated from inside the assembly robot.

Kraynnor made a gesture of silence and whispered, "Follow me," with these words, he headed to a secluded place where no automaton could hear him speak.

"Why are they building so many androids?" Kraynnor questioned.

[Five hundred years ago, some units received the order to create an army capable of facing the invaders who exterminated the human race. This mandate has been passed down from generation to generation, as a default program in the programming of each unit.]

"Does that army also include those giant rusted robots?" he said, pointing to the door of the other hangar.

[Initially, we were focused on fulfilling the main order to create an army, so we continued to produce military-type androids.]

Its eyes sparkled, projecting a low-quality hologram that blinked incessantly. It was a detailed plan explaining the construction of a war-oriented robot.

[But we found this plan in the database of one of the assistant androids working alongside Caelum's top scientists. Since it is a creation oriented towards violence, we considered it appropriate to incorporate it into the order to build an army.]

"...Interesting, that clarifies several mysteries. However, why don't any of these androids have their batteries installed?"