Older brother—Hearing Clara call him 'older brother,' Oliver couldn't help but think of that eight-year-old girl.
He wondered how she was doing now.
To what extent had the script affected Amphoreus?
Unfortunately, Amphoreus had no coordinates.
Its location was even hidden by the big shots; only the power of Trailblaze could open the entrance.
He also didn't know when the Astral Express would arrive—"Mr. Oliver?"
Clara's soft call pulled Oliver's thoughts back.
He came back to his senses, walking step by step as if on stairs, from the air to the ground.
Svarog's camera-like head bobbed up and down, following Oliver's figure, its large red eye fixed on Clara.
"Clara, are you intact?"
Its first concern was still Clara.
Clara stepped out of Oliver's arms, walked in front of Svarog, and nodded, "Mr. Svarog, I am fine."
Only upon hearing this reply did Svarog shift its gaze to Oliver.
"Re-evaluating target status. Threat index cleared."
"Welcome, Deliverer of humanity."
"After calculation, entrusting everything to you yields the optimal result; others are insufficient, which is why I invited you here."
Oliver sized up Svarog; he even had to tilt his head back just to meet its gaze.
To be honest, its appearance was underwhelming, but its calculation capabilities were decent.
Setting aside everything else, how many people would spend their entire lives just to calculate the result of clinging to his, Oliver's, coattails?
"Alright, from now on, you will be Belobog's Technology Consultant, responsible for supervising all projects at the research institute."
Oliver immediately assigned Svarog a new job, adding casually, "Do a good job, and later I'll find Zandall to enhance your computing power, giving you a chance for mechanical ascension, just like Nous."
Leaders, after all, always have to promise grand futures.
"There can only be one Aeon of Erudition in the universe; mechanical ascension is impossible for me. However, the work you mentioned, I can complete."
Svarog answered honestly.
Accepting empty promises? That will never happen.
"Suit yourself. Now, take me to the old era's armory. I need to use it."
"Instruction received. Protocol approved—please follow me."
Svarog led Oliver into a secret passage.
Clara remained where she was to watch the base and calm the other robots.
Svarog was the boss of the mechanical settlement, and Clara was the second-in-command.
Without Clara, this home would fall apart.
Oliver followed Svarog for a long time.
They went up, then down, and took eighteen turns.
Finally, they arrived at an enormous underground cavern!
In the center of the cavern was a platform the size of two football fields.
The surrounding stone walls showed no obvious entrance.
Svarog operated a dilapidated machine, and after a few beeping sounds.
Boom!
The entire space began to shake.
Oliver looked up.
Countless hatches appeared on the stone walls.
Oliver chose the nearest hatch and jumped inside.
"So there was space inside the stone walls."
Oliver couldn't help but marvel.
Behind the hatches were spaces of varying sizes, storing different items.
What lay before Oliver was a railgun!
It had a massive barrel and a mount shaped like a spider's abdomen. (As shown in the picture)
Its appearance was incredibly cool; one look suggested immense power.
However, thick dust had accumulated on its surface.
It had been stored here for at least five hundred years, perhaps longer.
"I wonder how this thing compares to the railguns from my home world?"
"It stands to reason that starship civilization must be stronger than a spaceflight-level civilization."
As everyone knows, Oliver's home world was only a spaceflight-level civilization and could not yet navigate freely throughout the universe.
Jarilo-VI could already do that in the old era.
Oliver patted the railgun, satisfied, and headed toward the next hatch.
"This is—"
Oliver saw something that looked like an RPG, but with a more futuristic design.
Svarog followed behind him and said, "Currently accessing data—data shows this is an Imaginary Ion Cannon. It accelerates ions using Imaginary Energy to fire a blue energy beam."
"And this one?"
Oliver pointed to a rifle-shaped weapon nearby.
Svarog: "Handheld Railgun."
Oliver picked up the Handheld Railgun, shook off the thick dust, and pulled the trigger, but there was no reaction.
Svarog explained, "Due to the prolonged storage period here, the energy has long since drained and requires recharging."
"Recharging? That's simple."
An Emanator can control the Imaginary Energy of a Path and fully charge it in minutes.
Oliver watched as purple light flashed on the Railgun.
He gently pulled the trigger.
Zzzzt~ BANG!
A beam of purple lightning shot out, struck the stone wall a thousand meters away, and instantly blasted a deep hole.
"You have all these good things, yet you didn't use them when resisting the Rift? Did you dislike them?"
Oliver teased.
Svarog did not understand teasing and replied seriously, "After calculation, these weapons were insufficient to help humanity survive the Stellaron crisis; their use would have been a meaningless expenditure."
"Heh, that makes sense."
Oliver casually brushed him off and continued browsing the next warehouse.
Only one machine was placed here, and he didn't know what it was for.
Svarog: "This is a Quantum Communicator, but it is damaged and unusable."
Oliver shook his head regretfully and moved on.
The next hatch contained automated soldiers.
Humanoid robots similar to Svarog.
They were just covered in dust and unable to start.
Oliver even found a damaged star chart.
"It's actually broken—never mind, lighting up the star chart later will also work."
Once the star chart was lit up, they could reconnect with other civilizations and stop being orphans.
Of course, the downside was that the IPC would be the first to show up demanding payment.
Thinking of the astronomical figures on the bill mentioned in the plot, Oliver sneered.
"I'm still not going to pay it back. At worst, we'll fight. It's only two Emissaries of Preservation; the advantage is mine."