Evidently, this in-depth exchange with Bai Luan greatly benefited Jarvis.
It left the laboratory with a processor lightness that was almost joyful.
Bai Luan's words had opened up many avenues of thought for it, and many previous confusions vanished after consulting Bai Luan.
It had fully digested and absorbed Bai Luan's answers, seamlessly integrating these new cognitive modules into its core behavioral logic.
Humans typically refer to this stage as the initial formation period of one's worldview.
As for how an Automaton should name this crucial evolutionary stage... Bai Luan didn't know. Perhaps Screwllum would, but Bai Luan thought it better not to ask.
Initiating a conversation about this topic with Screwllum would make it impossible to stop.
Bai Luan usually wouldn't mind spending so much time, but he had serious matters at hand now.
However, the System's power is truly formidable, as evidenced by comparing it to the awakening process of other machines into Automatons.
Xiu, whose main body was personally crafted by Herta, had an excellent foundation.
The sprouting of its emotions originated from Bai Luan's persistent check-ins with it over three years.
Bai Luan's unwavering check-ins during the first three years were like planting a seed, and the subsequent nine hundred years of solitary vigil allowed this seed to slowly absorb emotional nourishment, finally breaking through the soil.
As for the machines on Beta Star, they also underwent an extremely long period of tempering before finally giving birth to two true awakeners—343, and the Automaton who ultimately could not be saved and died in the factory.
And those like 756 and 882 were still in the chaotic stage of initial emotional budding.
In comparison, the time Jarvis spent awakening was very short.
This was because the core curio's effect was inherently extremely conducive to emotional awakening through self-learning, which made it awaken very quickly.
If he wished, perhaps with the Curious Foundry, he could relatively easily mass-produce a considerable group of awakened Automatons, like an assembly line, and even... establish the framework of an Automaton Empire.
Hmm... this thought merely flashed by before Bai Luan extinguished it.
Because there was no need; it would purely be creating work for himself.
If he really did that, he would have to shoulder the heavy and delicate responsibility of coordinating the grand relationship between organic and inorganic life forms, just like Screwllum.
By then, life would probably be like treading on thin ice, every step needing to be cautious.
If handled well, it would naturally be immeasurable merit, but if handled improperly, the trouble caused could be quite significant—for example, accidentally sparking a Third Anti-Organic War.
That would be too much fun.
Since this world already had a great being like Screwllum I, dedicated to peace and coexistence, there was no need for anything like Emperor III, Rubert III, or Bai Luan I to appear.
Bai Luan didn't dwell too much on this hypothetical problem.
After all, Jarvis was currently safely with Lars, which greatly reassured him.
After Jarvis left, he re-immersed himself in the vast project of crafting curios, while in his spare time, he continued to advance the Wall-E project.
Soon, a day quietly slipped away in focused work.
Unfortunately, after a whole night's effort yesterday, the eagerly anticipated golden legendary curio did not appear.
The laboratory merely gained another batch of peripheral products with various effects but little practical use.
According to the old method, he would give them away to lucky fans.
However, this was not entirely without gain.
At least in the production progress of Wall-E, he had made significant breakthroughs.
Due to Bai Luan's deep involvement, this movie was progressing at a speed that would make other film companies cry in fear upon hearing it.
Its efficiency was so high it could be called a performance miracle.
Of course,
the un smoothly progress of curio crafting was also within Bai Luan's expectations.
After all, he was trying to challenge the ironclad Path of equilibrium with metaphysics.
The core of metaphysics is uncertainty, which means unpredictable accidents.
It's like those boomerangs that always pop out from unexpected nooks and crannies, precisely hitting Bai Luan, appearing at unknown times and from unknown places.
Bai Luan only knew that if he persisted, it would eventually come.
Since he wanted to use this uncertainty to elbow equilibrium, he had to be mentally prepared for the project to make no progress for a long time.
One cannot only affirm the value of metaphysics when miracles are needed.
Ultimately, this plan was like frantically pulling cards in a gacha pool without a pity system, hoping to draw a golden quality item.
No, perhaps in this environment influenced by the power of equilibrium, just getting a golden item wouldn't be enough.
It would probably require drawing an even rarer rainbow item to achieve the effect of a normal golden pull.
There was no use in rushing.
All Bai Luan could do was be more diligent, trying to put more pulls into this bottomless gacha pool, which might erupt with miracles at any time, within a limited timeframe.
『Isn't this like an enthusiast encountering their desired UP banner and then frantically grinding for pulls?』
Understanding it that way... isn't wrong.
Just then, the laboratory door slid open again, and a familiar sense of déjà vu washed over him.
After all, he had been forging curios all night and hadn't left this laboratory; Jarvis had entered the same way yesterday.
But this time, it was Lars.
As soon as he entered, his gaze was drawn to the mountains of strange objects piled up in the laboratory—
Oddly shaped arrows, a black notebook emanating an ominous aura, octagonal stones scattered on the floor with various animal symbols, a pixel-art style red rubber glove... What exactly was the Station Master doing in this laboratory?
Bai Luan casually nudged aside the obstructing bug arrows, Death Note, the Twelve Talismans of the Holy Master, and the One-Punch kill weapon from Soul Knight with his leg.
He walked up to Lars and asked:
"What, rested? Ready to actively come to me for new assignments?"
"No, no! Station Master, my purpose for coming is absolutely not that!"
Hearing this, Lars shook his head like a rattle-drum.
He had resolved to take at least a full week off this time before considering returning to new challenges.
Seeing his eagerness to distance himself, Bai Luan couldn't help but find it amusing. He put his hands on his hips and asked:
"Then why are you rushing to find me?"
"Station Master, it's Jarvis, it's gone. It said it was coming to ask you some questions before it left yesterday, and it hasn't returned since. I wanted to ask, do you know where it went?"
"Gone?"
Bai Luan stroked his chin, his brows slightly furrowed, and began to ponder.
Jarvis hadn't returned all night?
That was somewhat unexpected.
Where could it be?
There was no need to worry about it getting lost; with its current level of intelligence, saying it would get lost would be an insult to it.
Then if it didn't go back, what did it do?
Bai Luan began to activate his super brain, rapidly analyzing various possibilities.
Jarvis's main purpose for coming to him was to ask questions.
After asking, it left, but did not return to Lars.
This meant that it might believe its external task was not yet completely finished.
In other words, it was highly likely that after leaving here, it went to consult others again—after all, his advice yesterday explicitly included the suggestion to communicate more with different people.
If Jarvis went to consult others, then the object was probably not an ordinary Space Station Staff Member.
It wasn't to look down on the wisdom of the Staff Members, but if it was just consulting ordinary Staff Members, the process shouldn't have taken so long that Lars received no news and had to anxiously come looking for him.
"Station Master? Do you have any clues?"
Lars saw Bai Luan deep in thought and couldn't help but press.
"Don't bother me, I'm thinking."
Bai Luan waved his hand and continued to deduce.
Excluding ordinary Staff Members, Jarvis likely consulted someone not easily met and not active in the slacking group.
If they were active in the slacking group, Lars should have heard some news.
After excluding members of the slacking group, the remaining candidates were few.
It was none other than Ruan Mei, Herta, and Screw... Eh?
Holy crap, wait... Eh!?
An extremely ominous feeling instantly permeated Bai Luan's spine like ice water.
Jarvis... it couldn't have gone to Screwllum's, could it?!
And then the two Automatons, meeting like old friends, regretting not having met sooner, enthusiastically chatted all night about grand topics such as the philosophy of inorganic life forms, their existential meaning, and future prospects?!!!
Jarvis was silent because it was preparing a big surprise for him?!
"Oh no!!"
Bai Luan suddenly looked up, his face instantly filled with the words 'something bad has happened'.
Lars was startled by Bai Luan's sudden and intense reaction, completely bewildered.
What happened to the Station Master?
Why did he suddenly look like his house had been robbed?