Chapter 187: The 1st Generation Activates [Part 2]
Both squadrons at the grand hall were a little impatient seeing that there were more and more robots gathered outside. They kept hearing the cracking sounds of robots opening fire at them from outside. Now it was just the 3rd generation robots. Once the 2nd generation robots had shown up, there would be no telling if if the ancient castle still resist against them.
Right now Falvey was extremely angry since they had not agreed to protect their buyer on the contract. The problem was that their current deal wasn’t finished yet, and while the price had been negotiated and the goods had been examined, they hadn’t gotten their money yet. Judging from the current circumstances, it was unlikely that Frentz would pay them until the crisis was over.
This was a complete disaster that they, the innocent bystanders, were dragged into against their will.
Since the goods had already been turned in, they should be paid upon delivery of the goods, Plus, it didn’t look like Frentz was going to ask for their help either.
Hence, Falvey explained his circumstances directly to Frentz. This was Frentz’s problem, and the two squadrons were purely innocent bystanders who got dragged into his troubles. They would take their pay and leave, while Frentz would do whatever he needed to do to deal with the situation. Neither Falvey nor Shawton were idiots; they knew that Frentz must have his own trump card. In that case, why should they sacrifice their own men’s lives over someone else’s robot problems? Although it was relatively difficult to break out of the encirclement, it would only get harder if they waited until the 2nd generation robots showed up. They might as well leave now, get on the spaceplanes and fly away from this planet.
However, what surprised Falvey was that Frentz had wished for them to stay, and he was willing to pay twice the remuneration for the T13 minerals as reward.
Still, no matter how much money he offered, they must be alive to be able to spend it. Moreover, due to a certain number of rules Frentz had set when they arrived, they had only brought some simple, portable weapons with them. It would be incredibly difficult for them to fight against those inhuman fellows with the equipment they currently possessed. A simple comparison of numbers would show that they were at a complete disadvantage.
“Two hours; I only need you to stay here for two hours. In two hours, I will work together with my people on the other side of the planet and find a way to eliminate the virus. If we haven’t found a way by then, then I will activate the 1st generation robots to fight them -”
“- and trail the 2nd generation robots’ footsteps?” Falvey said somewhat tauntingly.
“No, the 1st generation robots are different from the other generations. They are my proudest work. They will not be invaded by the virus.” Frentz said with certainty.
Falvey cast a glance at Shawton, and Shawton looked a little doubtful: are all Robert Family members so blindly confident in themselves?
“Right now, the castle’s defenses are more than sufficient to hold back the 2nd generation and 3rd generation robots. I’m not saying that the castle will hold up forever, but two hours is not a problem.”
Now this statement was slightly more believable to Shawton and Falvey. The outer layer of the ancient castle was protected by energy shields, and the outer and inner walls were so tough that even Carl couldn’t break through them.
To be honest, both Shawton and Falvey understood that right now was a good opportunity to leave if they wanted to be safe. If they stayed, then it was entirely possible that the situation would slip out of their control later. On the other hand, if they turned down Frentz now then the news that ‘Vanguard’ was afraid of ‘Grim Reaper’ and the Robert Family robots would spread to the world before too long.
God dammit, what a f*cked up situation this is!
After Falbey and Shawton had discussed the matter, they accepted Frentz’s suggestion and signed a new contract. Both parties were a lot more at ease after the new contract was signed.
Frentz returned to his study to work, and Shawton and Falvey stayed back inside Frentz’s study as well. What if this fellow decided to change his mind and escaped?
Frentz didn’t object to Falvey and Shawton’s stay inside his study. He was sure that they wouldn’t understand the Robert Family’s exclusive programming language with their IQ and level of culture anyway.
Maybe Falvey and Shawton would have blown Frentz’s brains apart if they could actually hear his internal evaluation of them.
Right now, both squadrons were hanging around inside the grand hall. A number of people were roaming everywhere inside the ancient castle since there were no robots to restrict them anyway. Frentz didn’t voice an objection against their activities either, which was those people who were bored to a lack of activity walked around and checked out the castle. It’s not everyday one get to see a castle.
“Fuck, the doors are all locked. Here I thought we might get to see something rare!” Cary pouted and complained after he explored the castle once.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. This is the Robert Family’s domain after all. This may be a castle, but this is also the work of a robot family. Why else do you think Frentz would let us hang around here without worry?” Eudy sneered.
“Don’t forget about the guns that popped out of the walls everywhere and took out the robots inside the castle earlier too. This castle is Frentz’s ‘eyes’.” Beaver added.
Scarlet Wind and Tang Qiuqiu had no interest in such things. Snowball was pulling Tang Qiuqiu around and talking about his glorious achievements from the battle earlier. Scarlet Wind was playing with his own claws, while Udoze moved closer to get a better look at the claws curiously. Just how did these claws manage to tear those robots in half?
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“Hey, what are you thinking, Cillin?” Cary bumped Cillin with his elbow.
Cillin and the gray cat had been quiet since the beginning.
The gray cat was lying on top of Cillin’s shoulder with its eyes closed, looking like it was asleep. However, Cillin knew that it was processing the new electromagnetic waves it had received and the signals Frentz had transmitted. This entire ancient castle had revealed too much information, and while the others knew nothing about this, to the gray cat who had successfully deciphered the Robert Family’s exclusive programming language, the information contained in this place was massive.
As for Cillin, he hadn’t mulled over the same matter for an overly long period since his mastery of the machine language couldn’t compare to the gray cat’s. He was analyzing something else. When he heard Cary’s question, Cillin looked up at Cary and the others.
“Did you guys realize that the village and town buildings we passed through earlier – be it the tall, short, luxurious or humbles ones – were mostly intact even though some of them were destroyed? Even the buildings that were caught in the crossfire between the 4th, 5th generation robots and the 2nd generation robots are still intact. Those buildings are almost the same as the ancient castle we’re in.
When he heard Cillin’s words, Cary thought back and cast a glance at the display screens on the walls of the grand hall. The displays showed images from a variety of viewing angles, although the main focus was placed at the areas surrounding the castle. From these images, he could see that it was true that some buildings weren’t damaged by the ensuing battle. Even though the 3rd generation robots were ramming into things here and there, only some bits and fragments came off the buildings.
“That’s true…”
“What’s the estimated time before the 2nd generation arrives?” Cillin asked.
Beaver and Eudy took out some small portable instruments and calculated.
“At the fastest, they will arrive in ten minutes.” Beaver pointed at the flying type robo-birds on the panel. These robots were also the fastest among their kind, “It won’t take long for the rest of the robots to show up as well. Once these pioneering squads had reached their destinations, the rest will arrive in succession.
Cillin nodded, “What else do we know?”
Beaver said with a bitter look on his face, “We’re cut off.”
“The incoming and outgoing signals in this castle had been cut off. Only Frentz and his people could continue to transmit and receive their own signals.” Eudy pulled Dough’s tail away from his arm and said.
Cillin gave a grunt of agreement and closed his eyes. He leaned against the chair and said nothing.
“Hey, you can’t possibly want to sleep in this situation?” Cary let out a strange cry.
Cillin didn’t even bother opening his eyes, “There’s nothing I can do even if I opened my eyes. I may as well take this opportunity to rest for a bit. A tough battle might just be right around the corner.”
Cary opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything. He continued to watch Eudy and Beaver working on their statistics.
With his eyes closed, the incoming and outgoing signals in the surrounding area appeared in his mind. He could even distinguish those unfamiliar symbols, but he didn’t know what they meant. He would probably need the gray cat’s help to translate them once the time came.
Ten minutes later, the first group of the 2nd generation robots arrived at the castle. They could sense very clearly that the castle was under even heavier fire than before.
While the castle itself wasn’t damaged, the shockwaves happening on the energy shields had affected the building itself. Therefore, the people inside the grand hall were all tensed up as they feared that the energy shields might collapse in the next moment.
The good news was that the energy shield had held on for two hours. Although it was nearing the brink of collapse by the end of it, they had survived the two hours.
The bad news was that Frentz and the other Robert Family members on this planet weren’t able to find a way to eliminate the virus. The virus was too crafty, and the more he understood the more he knew about its complexity and ruthlessness. One mistake and every infected robot might self-destruct at the same time. If that happened then this planet would truly be destroyed. Frentz’s several dozens of years of hard work would all go to waste as well.
Two hours later, the look in Frentz’s eyes had dimmed by a lot. Just like they had discussed earlier, he only had one method to use now.
Frentz stood up from his chair and walked to the wall behind the chair not far away from his desk. He placed his hand on the wall just like before. As a light screen and control panel appeared on the wall, he entered a series of symbols and went through a series of inspections such as identity scan, genetic verification and so on. Finally, Frentz said, “1st generation, activate.”
The 1st generation was the generation of robots Frentz spent the most effort on. Unlike the 2nd generation robots that were placed at the mountain area, these robots had in fact been right next to Frentz and the other Robert Family members on this planet.