A moment later.

Su Ming appeared on the wide street, where virtual advertisements on the surface of towering buildings were broadcasting the message of a large-scale retreat, with some famous experts and scholars commenting.

"Protest the retreat!"

"Strongly demand to reclaim the defense line."

...

Crowds of people on the street were shouting while holding banners.

Su Ming glanced at them and sighed softly. Then he raised his wristband to send a message to Ankaga, asking him to bring Celeste over.

"Okay!"

Ankaga quickly replied.

Su Ming then strolled towards the City Lord Mansion.

The sights and sounds along the way made Su Ming feel deeply emotional.

The saying proved true: one cannot afford to show defeat, for when that happens, all sorts of unsavory characters will emerge.

A few hours later.

Su Ming stood inside the City Lord Mansion courtyard, waiting quietly.

Rumble~

A huge roar sounded in the sky, followed by Ankaga piloting the V Generation Mecha·Night Demon descending from the sky, stopping beside Su Ming.

Clack!

The cockpit opened.

Ankaga floated out with Celeste and said.

"Boss, I’ve brought Celeste over."

"Hmm, wait here. Celeste, come with me."

Su Ming said.

"Okay!"

Celeste followed Su Ming excitedly.

Soon, Su Ming took Celeste into an inconspicuous new building and then into a utility room.

He walked to the innermost part of the metal wall and pressed a few spots on the wall.

Clack!

The metal wall automatically split open, revealing a special elevator.

"Wow, hidden so deep!"

Celeste said in surprise.

"Let’s go!"

Su Ming stepped onto it.

Celeste hurried to follow, as the elevator descended rapidly.

Before long, Su Ming brought Celeste to a tightly closed black metal door.

Gamir was still guarding there; when he saw Su Ming and Celeste, he asked anxiously in greeting.

"Lord Su Ming!"

"Gamir, you should have received the notice, right? We need to handle something inside. Don’t let anyone disturb us!"

Su Ming instructed Gamir.

"Understood."

Gamir replied respectfully.

After instructing Gamir, Su Ming went up to the black metal door and pressed his hand against it.

Clack!

Along with the sound of gears turning inside, the thick door slowly opened.

Su Ming led Celeste inside and introduced it to her.

"This is the study of the Dragon String Council President."

"Oh!"

Celeste looked at the giant chamber, responding numbly to the illusory image, but she thought to herself, "This is the Dragon String Council President’s study? If I can find the core data left by the Mechanical Friend here and receive its legacy, I might really take off."

Celeste couldn’t help but imagine herself after obtaining the data, her presence becoming grand, intimidating the little spider Pamie.

"Little Pam!"

"Celeste, what are you giggling at?"

At that moment, Su Ming’s puzzled voice interrupted Celeste’s fantasies.

"Ah, nothing."

Celeste snapped back to reality and replied with a giggle.

The truth is, Celeste followed Su Ming here hoping to find the core data.

Although Su Ming found it odd, he didn’t delve too deep. He simply pointed towards the right side of the chamber, to the giant cone-shaped mechanical device, and introduced it to Celeste.

"That machine is the equipment for contacting the Mechanical Friend."

"Oh! I’ll do a scan!"

Celeste immediately scanned the entire chamber and the device from all angles.

"How does it look?"

Su Ming curiously asked.

"Hm, this device is quite special. In terms of structure, it should be a special virtual mechanical device with a signal emission feature."

Celeste did not find any other devices capable of storing data within the study.

"Yes, exactly."

Su Ming nodded.

"Let’s try starting the device and contact the Mechanical Friend!"

Celeste couldn’t hold back her eagerness.

"Alright, hopefully, we’ll gain something this time!"

Su Ming took a deep breath and said.

"Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, everything will be fine. I’m not someone you can compare to."

Celeste said with utter confidence.

"Alright, I’ll rely on you then."

Su Ming walked to the giant cone-shaped device and pressed the start switch.

Clack!

With the sound ringing crisply.

The device’s surface lit up with intricate patterns, and a faint light halo appeared atop the spire.

Su Ming then opened a neural connection chamber and lay inside.

Celeste also floated into the adjacent neural connection chamber.

The two initiated the connection simultaneously.

A phantom screen emerged, displaying a prompt box.

"Countdown 10S, logging in..."

As the countdown concluded, Su Ming’s consciousness suddenly sank, as though losing gravity, plunging into endless darkness once more.

Soon, Su Ming appeared in a shattered world.

Celeste manifested beside Su Ming thereafter; gazing at the fragmentary sight, she blurted with a dumbfounded expression.

"Uh, broken data world?"

"Yeah, what’s wrong?"

Su Ming nodded and replied.

"Nothing, but how do we contact the Mechanical Friend?"

Celeste’s face dropped; she was initially hope-filled to extract data, but now her dream was shattered.

"Follow me!"

Su Ming led Celeste towards the ruined city.

Soon, both landed at the city central square.

Su Ming pointed toward the center of the square, where a tall mechanical spire stood and said.

"Long Bai told me before, this spire is the Mechanical Friend’s vessel; it’s generally used for contact."