The Artifact Forger from the Beginning of Collapse

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But now, the true emperor has appeared!

A virus-like ability to spread, and a machine spirit that allows inorganic life to transcend the norm...

It's time to make inorganic life great again!

"Do you know how many credits a bottle of engine oil is worth now?!" Black Tower shouted from behind Chen Li.

"Don't use the permissions I gave you to look at random junk." Chen Li flicked the Black Tower doll's forehead.

"Oh."

"Conclusion: Machine Souls must never be allowed to spread to the Endless World again," Screw Gum said solemnly.

As the current leader of inorganic life, Screw Gum knows better than anyone what kind of impact the Black Tower Doll, which can spread machine souls, would have on the current survival of inorganic life in the world if it returned to the Honkai Impact 3rd world.

“I know. That’s why I said I extracted the ‘spreading’ entry from the Black Tower Doll before you arrived. This means that the crisis, which could spread like a virus and unleash a world-destroying frenzy, has been successfully resolved. And this Black Tower Doll is also the only survivor in the world with a machine spirit. I called you two over here precisely to discuss the current situation,” Chen Li said.

Entry entries are such magical things.

An entry represents the origin of an item.

If you remove the "immortality" attribute from an immortal god, then the god would have a health bar.

If you remove Aqua's "Wisdom" attribute, then Aqua... will not change at all.

Even if Aqua does have the [Wisdom] attribute, that attribute would definitely be mutated.

What does this tell us?

It tells us not to waste our time on things that don't exist.

After Chen Li removed the "spread" entry, he extinguished the biggest advantage of that unknown world destroyer seed player.

With the virus no longer transmissible, the only victim is the little black tower figure behind Chen Li.

165

Chapter 165 The Great Black Tower: Oh no, I've become a substitute!

"What's there to discuss? Let's just keep this doll. It's quite interesting." Black Tower looked at another Black Tower doll, his face full of interest.

"Question: Does the loss of the propagation entry mean that this situation can never be replicated?" ScrewGumm asked.

"Theoretically speaking, yes. Without the transmission term, no matter what method you use, you can't make this virus spread. If you don't believe me, ask Black Tower."

"Oh, why are you asking me that?"

"Don't tell me that after discovering the situation of your doll, you didn't try to back up and copy its state."

"Uh... okay, her situation is indeed impossible to replicate. Don't look at me like that, I'm confident I can eliminate any danger. Besides, I'm just confirming again whether the doll's situation is truly impossible to replicate. What if Chen Li makes a mistake?" Seeing Screw Gum turn to look at him, Black Tower instantly raised his hands in surrender.

"Question: So what exceptions could actually happen?" Screwgoom then asked.

"For example, possessing certain propagation-related artifacts could potentially lead to the spread of machine spirits. This is because artifacts have higher priority than the attributes," Chen Li said.

"Then as long as she doesn't come into contact with any propagation-type artifacts, wouldn't that be fine? So let's just keep this doll... Wait, does WeChat Moments count as a propagation-type artifact?" Black Tower suddenly paused for a moment.

“…Okay.” Chen Li nodded.

"What should I do?"

"If you trust me, you can leave her at my house. I will check her up regularly."

"???" Black Tower stared wide-eyed at Chen Li.

“If she wants to use a propagation artifact to spread this machine soul virus, corresponding illusory terms should also be generated on her body. I can see similar terms that are about to be generated by touching the doll,” Chen Li said.

"Oh, this kind of examination..."

Hei Ta was startled.

"What else do you think?"

"Can't I even think about it?" the Black Tower puppet suddenly raised its head and asked in a low voice.

"Thinking about it is illegal, and even thinking about it is a sin."

"Oh."

"Furthermore, the Moments feature doesn't currently allow 'communication' or 'selling' of one's talents, so after I removed her dissemination tags, this little guy's potential harm was minimized," Chen Li said.

"Little guy, did you hear that? Now we're deciding your fate. Aren't you scared at all?" Black Tower walked up to Chen Li and stared at the Black Tower puppet that only had its head peeking out from behind Chen Li's waist.

"Hmph! You are the Black Tower, and so am I. Why should I be afraid of you?" The Black Tower puppet stopped hiding and stepped out from behind Chen Li with its arms crossed, looking at the Black Tower arrogantly.

You are the Black Tower, and I am the Black Tower. Why not ask whether the Big Black Tower and the Little Black Tower are both Black Towers?

"Hmm, it seems the [Personality Mapping Module] and the [Unreasonable Module] are still functioning normally." Black Tower nodded in satisfaction.

This proves that Chen Li was right; the Black Tower puppet in front of them is still the Black Tower puppet, and its perception has not been altered.

In fact, the Machine Soul Virus does not need to distort cognition at all, because as long as it does not encounter Chen Li, the Machine Soul Virus can continue to spread normally, and the destruction of the world is already a foregone conclusion.

Whether it's because some robots with machine spirits rebelled in search of freedom, or because some people with ulterior motives wanted to use machine spirits to rule the world, the rise of a new species means the end of an old one.

Because Black Tower knew that the Black Tower Doll's cognition had not been altered, Black Tower didn't care about the Black Tower Doll's little temper at all.

At most, we've become a little more free.

To put it nicely, it's called "freedom"; to put it bluntly, it's called "insubordination."

However, the Black Tower Doll is equipped with the "Unreasonable Module" and the "Refusal to Cooperate Module", so it's not surprising that the Black Tower Doll is unruly.

On the contrary, because this Black Tower doll possesses a machine soul, Black Tower actually wants to collect it as a rare treasure.

As long as the Black Tower puppet remains the Black Tower puppet, the Great Black Tower doesn't care.

For the Great Black Tower, the biggest problem is having no problems at all.

Moreover, the Great Black Tower once had a Black Tower Personality Completion Project, which failed several times. This led the Great Black Tower to conclude that it was indeed perfect and that this personality could not be improved at all!

However, the Black Tower doll may have the potential to be improved to perfection.

Oh no, I'm getting the urge to do research.

Machine Soul... it's so interesting!

"Let me see your number... Black Tower Doll #0988? Very good, I'll remember you."

"Please call me the One Black Tower!" The Black Tower doll crossed its arms.

"You little rascal, you're quite bold, directly using the name the Erudite Society was planning to give me." The Great Black Tower was both amused and exasperated.

Because Black Tower created many Black Tower dolls to impersonate others in crucial moments, but also installed a personality mapping module on each Black Tower doll, the name "Black Tower" seems a bit confusing.

The contributors to the Bo Shi Society once considered adding a title to the Great Black Tower, something like "The Unique Black Tower".

The Great Black Tower was clearly not interested in this, but the Black Tower doll seemed quite interested.

“Because there is only one Great Black Tower, but there are countless Black Tower Dolls. And I stand out among countless Black Tower Dolls, so am I the only Black Tower? The one and only Black Tower Doll!” the Black Tower Doll said, puffing out its chest.

“You’re right… From now on, your number will be Unique Black Tower.” The Great Black Tower found this very interesting, so it readily agreed to the Black Tower Doll’s request.

This also shows that although the Black Tower Doll is somewhat unruly due to the "freedom" brought by the Machine Soul, its attitude towards the Great Black Tower, its creator, is still evident.

"Chen Li, I've become the Unrivaled Black Tower now, isn't that amazing?" The Unrivaled Black Tower said proudly to Chen Li.

"Oh no, the Great Black Tower has become a substitute."

"That's not quite right. These Black Tower dolls only resemble me about six or seven parts from when I was a child. The real me is unique, unparalleled, and breathtakingly beautiful!" Black Tower said confidently.

It is precisely because of its self-confidence that the Great Black Tower can tolerate the misbehavior of the adorable Unique Black Tower.

It's like a kitten trying to box with you, only to be knocked to the ground with a flick on the head. Even if it activates its Hakimi Spinal Dragon form, you'll only find it amusing, not a challenge to your authority.

When you're weak enough, even being angry seems cute.

“I am the only Black Tower. You are at most unparalleled in the world, a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky,” the little Black Tower retorted.

"Alright, alright." Even the Great Black Tower was amused by the Unique Black Tower.

That's so interesting.

I simply can't get angry.

"Screw Gum, what do you think of this decision?" Just as the Big Black Tower was teasing the Little Black Tower, Chen Li asked Screw Gum, who hadn't spoken until now.

"Logic: You will check her body every day to ensure that the Machine Soul Virus will not spread, and the ownership of the Black Tower Doll belongs to the Great Black Tower. I have no reason to object to the decision made by the two of you," Screw Gum said clearly.

"Curious: But I'm really curious to know just how far the Machine Soul can go?"

"Well... this little black tower's abilities might exceed your imagination. Originally, the machine soul virus she possessed was contagious. Once it spread, the black tower doll could only be considered patient zero. But once the machine soul virus lost its ability to spread, this little black tower became the machine soul virus itself..."

As Patient Zero, Little Black Tower already possessed the strongest potential, and now that it has become the only Machine Soul, it represents a significant enhancement on a spiritual level.

And coincidentally, the machine spirit is inherently idealistic.

"...Perhaps this little black tower has the potential to become a star god," Chen Li said with emotion.

"Really?" The Big Black Tower and the Little Black Tower looked at Chen Li at the same time.

"Of course they're fake." Chen Li looked at the two black towers in surprise.

How can you believe such an exaggerated claim?

"Sigh, I was even thinking of creating a destiny called the Black Tower in the universe." The Great Black Tower shook its head in disappointment.