Warhammer: Rebuilding the Golden Age Starting with Farming

Chapter 34 The State of the Black Box

Andy sat at the control panel in the core studio, where a waterfall of red code was scrolling wildly on the holographic projection screen in front of him.

The black data core he had snatched back from the Cleaners was now plugged into his main interface.

It must be said that interpreting it is quite difficult.

This so-called "complete data backup" is riddled with garbled text, missing or unmarked header files, and timestamps that are not aligned at all.

Of course, this is quite normal. Andy guessed that this backup largely relied on the black box's own backup function, and Helios did not obtain the complete protocol, or because he could not understand some indicators that did not belong to this era, resulting in fragmented content.

Andy had no choice but to invoke his powerful logic core and begin an incredibly tedious data cleaning task.

He needs to first eliminate secondary information and retain only the most basic sensor readings—voltage, temperature, magnetic field frequency, and radiation wavelength.

As the cleaning process progressed, a fragmented but still realistic picture slowly emerged.

Clearly, this black box buried under tens of thousands of tons of rubble did not stop operating because of the factory's collapse.

On the contrary, it is still alive.

Not only did it survive, but it also entered an extremely violent operating state the instant the factory collapsed.

A purple curve caught Andy's attention; it was the radiation wavelength reading, which had stabilized at 380 nanometers.

However, the energy index fluctuated within an extremely high range.

Andy immediately inputted this set of feature data into the STC database in his mind for comparison.

[Searching for matching protocols...]

A few milliseconds later, the database displayed two possible results.

This put Andy in a brief moment of confusion.

The first result is [Agreement A: Maximum Capacity Overload Mode].

If this is the case, it means the machine is simply broken; its limiter has failed, causing the energy field to overflow.

This situation is relatively simple to handle.

Andy only needs to find a way to cut off the external power supply or manually insert the control stick to stop it.

But the second result was fatal.

[Protocol B: Core Circuit Breaker Containment Mode]

This is the last line of defense designed by STC to prevent the reconfigurator from exploding under extreme conditions.

Once this mode is activated, the machine will determine that the surrounding environment is extremely dangerous, and then forcibly reconstruct all surrounding matter by releasing high-energy radiation, turning everything, whether it is concrete, steel bars or human bodies, into high-density silicate crystals.

It is building a shell for itself.

It attempted to completely seal itself with an indestructible crystal shell to insulate itself from heat and prevent its core from exploding.

In this mode, any carbon-based organism that gets close will be treated as "building material" and instantly decomposed and recombined.

Andy needs to figure out which one it is.

If it's Agreement A, he can just rush in with his tools and start fixing it.

If it were Agreement B, rushing in like that would end up like that crystal corpse.

Even if he were an iron man, the force field that could reconstruct molecular bonds would still cause irreversible damage to his engineered armor.

Andy stared at the screen, trying to find that decisive variable among the massive amount of data fragments.

However, Helios's data was terrible; the crucial logic logs were all blank.

Andy could only deduce this from the side data.

He focused his attention on an inconspicuous hydraulic record.

That's the pressure reading for the machine's main cooling circuit.

Three seconds before the factory collapsed, the reading plummeted to zero.

This indicates that the coolant hose has burst or been drained.

Immediately afterwards, the temperature sensor reading on the outer casing spiked by 800 degrees Celsius within 0.5 seconds.

Without coolant, any normal overload mode, such as Protocol A, will inevitably cause the core to overheat within two seconds, then flatten at least one-third of the bottom nest, and the vast majority of industrial buildings will be instantly razed to the ground.

But the machine didn't explode.

It just caused the factory to collapse.

Since it didn't explode, it means that in the last moment before the big explosion, it forcibly activated some kind of heat absorption process to suppress the core temperature.

The transformation of matter from a disordered state to an ordered crystalline state is an endothermic process.

Case solved.

That is Protocol B.

The machine is frantically burying itself; the radiation field around it is now absolutely lethal.

Andy breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a headache coming on.

This means that direct digging is simply not feasible.

Any attempt to dig into the ruins will damage the crystal shell it is building, causing the machine to increase its radiation output to "repair" it.

We must find a route, a route that can bypass the outer high-radiation zone and go directly to the core control room of the machine.

Andy pulled up the factory structure diagram from the Helios Group's security hard drive.

Then, he retrieved the original blueprints for the "Matter Molecular Reconstruction Instrument (Standard Type)" from the STC database.

The two maps are superimposed on the holographic screen.

Helios's factory was built on the original structure of the machine, but many modifications were made.

For example, in order to monitor the gene-stealing workers, they installed a dense array of automated sentry turrets in the corridors of the core area.

Andy looked at the positions of those turrets and suddenly wanted to laugh.

These turrets were installed in extremely tricky locations, right above the "maintenance drone launch port" originally reserved by the reconfiguration device.

When the factory collapses, the heavy turret bases will fall and jam the drone's hatch.

This is very interesting.

The reconfiguration device originally came with a very brutal internal defense system, including laser-cutting drones and anti-intrusion poison gas.

But now, because of the haphazard construction by Helios and his group of geniuses, the machine's own hands and feet are tied.

The drone can't get out.

The good news is that once the turret wreckage was crystallized by the black box, the drones became even more unable to get out!

Therefore, the internal defense of the entire core area is in an extremely awkward state of paralysis.

Once you can get in, it's actually safe inside.

Andy's finger swiped across the holographic map.

The main entrance was sealed off by tens of thousands of tons of rubble and radioactive crystals.

The ventilation shafts on the side were also blocked by molten metal.

The only gap is underground.

Andy pulled up the map of the "secret passage" that he had previously obtained from Dr. Sisyphus, the bird-beaked doctor.

The red dotted line runs through the underground acidic river, passing by the old drainage system directly beneath the factory.

The drain outlet is located at the bottom of the core base of the reconfiguration instrument.

Furthermore, according to the STC's structural diagram, there is an emergency maintenance hatch, which is a purely mechanical structure and not controlled by an electronic lock.

This is practically a backdoor left for Andy.

Andy marked the route in green.

Intelligence advantage established.

He knew the machine's current state, its security vulnerabilities, and how to get in.

This is a million times better than the Helios recovery team still outside with shovels trying to dig.

If they dare to dig again, they'll be taught a lesson by radiation sooner or later.

Andy prepared to shut down the data terminal and begin preparing the equipment.

Just then, his fingers stopped.

On that scan of the underground drainage system, at the point where the secret passage exit connects to the machine base.

There is an unusual signal fluctuation.

Andy had previously thought it was the turbulence of an underground river or geothermal disturbance.

But now, after data cleaning and STC's high-precision restoration, the signal has become clear.

That was a heat source.

A very weak, but extremely stable, biothermal source.

It doesn't move; it just sits on that only path.

Andy's electronic eye flashed.

This cannot be an ordinary bottom nest creature.

Ordinary mutant rats or crocodiles simply cannot withstand the radiation leaked from the reconstruction device.

Anything that could survive in that location either has an extremely unique physical structure, or...

Andy thought of the amethyst man he had locked in the cold storage.

Cunning.

The Helios factory was full of their workers.

The factory collapsed, and these people must have suffered heavy casualties.

But what if there are even more advanced individuals?

For example, a pureblood responsible for overall coordination, or some kind of even more terrifying mutant.

Could they, on instinct, have fled to the lowest radiation corner underground to eke out a living when the disaster struck?

Andy labeled the heat source as a red skull.

"Looks like I can't just go down there with a shovel."

Andy was talking to himself.

That narrow underground drain might end up being used as some kind of regional map.

He needs to take down an opponent who may be even more formidable than a Space Marine in this extremely cramped, waterlogged, and radioactive environment.

The heavy logging gun is too long to carry around; it's too long to use effectively.

Using a flamethrower in such a confined space is suicidal, as it would deplete the oxygen supply instantly.

Andy glanced at the industrial rubber and shape memory alloy scraps he had just made.

Perhaps it's time to upgrade my chainsaw.

In short, we must prepare for the worst.