Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Fully Automated
John initiated the inspection, and his prosthetic eye began to flicker, with a torrent of data constantly appearing before his eyes.
This feeling was somewhat similar to looking at the Black Spider blueprints.
John finished analyzing the inquiry protocol content, but found that none of his current devices could support it—the scan results showed insufficient processing capacity.
He shifted his attention to the box at his feet.
Inside it was a familiar hound trenching machine, the raw material for transforming it into a Black Spider.
As a versatile machine by Jingke Heavy Industry, while it possessed strong digging, collecting, and carrying capabilities, its load capacity did not meet the standards of Transport Protocol 308, and its mobility was barely adequate.
To transform it into a Black Spider, other components were needed.
John was no longer a homeless person residing in a restaurant lounge; now with money in his pocket and ample time, he could legally purchase materials on a terminal machine and wait for drone delivery to his door.
Hmm, wait!?
An idea suddenly flashed in John’s mind.
He lifted his cup of water and turned to look outside the window—Tiebang Logistics’ heavy transport drones were shuttling across the city sky.
This thing’s data should meet the requirements, right?
John previously worked for Tiebang Logistics, where the best transport drones in the city were controlled by the company. To get one for personal use, you could only spend a fortune on the streets looking for a middleman.
Without considering buying a new one, he stood up and retrieved the EMP Emitter given by Gino from the workshop.
John had never claimed to be a lawful citizen.
First, he cleared a circle around the living room, then added all the materials he would need later to the shopping cart on the website, filling the hover express’s weight capacity to ensure that a big one would come to deliver the goods.
Several hours later, logistics notified for pick-up.
A hexacopter cargo drone crossed over the hovercar tracks of Dan Street.
It steadily navigated through neon signs to the top of the apartment building, hovering layer by layer to John’s room balcony and scanning for a landing spot.
John looked at the giant box it carried and smiled satisfactorily.
The load capacity of this thing must be up to standard.
He raised the EMP Emitter and fired at the transport drone.
Bam, oong—
The special magnetic field swept through the living room like a thunderstorm.
The apartment’s home appliances were insulated, causing only brief flickering and static noise, but the drone, hovering on the balcony, faced the electromagnetic attack directly.
An invisible giant wave swept over it...
It tilted outward as if struck heavily, its indicator lights flickering wildly, and after bumping into the wall and railing, it fell straight down.
John quickly stepped forward and grabbed it.
After all, he lived on the fifteenth floor, and if it fell below, the Black Gold Gang and Eden City News would start searching for the perpetrator.
The company equipment emitted intermittent electronic sounds, like a dazed sex doll struggling before passing out.
"Warning, warning... You are conducting illegal attacks on Tiebang Logistics assets, please... cease the infringement immediately, error report sending... aborting... retrying..."
John took out a prepared tool, deftly pried open the cover, and inserted a data cable into the maintenance port.
Black Light swept through the system.
The internal condition was terrible, as if the ground had been bombarded by shelling and then viciously crushed by a heavy asphalt paving machine.
Gino’s electromagnetic gun was indeed impressive.
Its interception effect was explosive, but after firing one shot, it issued an overheating warning, the internal ICE firmware was burned out directly, and the Plato phase of the chip was declared scrapped. From this perspective, the cost was enormous; fortunately, John still had a set and could use it if needed.
The transport drone lay paralyzed in the center of the living room.
He fetched an extension reel from the workshop, set up several mobile devices, and began repairing the transport drone:
More than half of the internal circuitry was burnt out, but the main structure was intact; Tiebang Logistics’ equipment insulation prevented most of the damage.
John dismantled the delivery box—first shooting it down with the EMP, then using the goods it delivered to repair it.
It felt a bit ironic.
He wore a vest stained with industrial waste oil, with a thick scratch-proof workshop mat under his feet, two mobile spotlights behind him, and three monitors flashing various complex parameters at his side.
The arrangement resembled a Jingke Heavy Industry technician.
But this knowledge was all brought by Black Light.
When John received the related blueprints in his mind, information relevant to equipment debugging and program compiling appeared; without hesitation, he could do it to textbook standard and beautifully.
He did not jokingly claim that with sufficiently good equipment, he could easily replicate the precision of original factory production.
Finally, it was the program editing.
It was as if John hosted his brain, and the screen was filled with rapidly flashing, overwhelmingly dense data streams, with brief pauses appearing more like gibberish, completely different from the characters seen on the public network.
What on earth were these compiled compressed packages downloaded from Black Light?
John couldn’t comprehend those words or understand the precise logic of operations between protocols and programs. If he had to explain it to others, he’d be at a complete loss, yet his typing was faster than the highest-speed prosthetics.
The on-screen progress bar completed its loading.
[-Please rename the device-]
John pondered briefly, gazing at the enormous billboard outside the window, settling on a name in the depths of his consciousness.
[Device: Captain]
[Status: Transport protocol activated, connected to the device management center, standby mode.]
He opened the detailed information on the transport drone managed by Black Light, which included not only the device parameters and component operation but also its system.
[Module Slot 1: Jingke V8 Integrated System]
[Module Slot 2: Eden City Level 6 Cruise (including satellite synchronization, local network calibration)]
[Module Slot 3: [Idle]]
John activated the transport protocol, and the device’s operating status changed before his eyes.
[Program loading...]
[Description: Adheres to Transport Protocol Code No. 308, independently transporting key materials, specific route not set yet.]
John understood the program’s purpose.
From now on, the Captain only served himself, shuttling across Eden City, assisting in deliveries, primarily regarding things not suitable for public attention.
For instance, the Black Spider.
The Captain could pack today’s newly arrived Black Spider and deliver it to the garbage dump outside the city, or send the excavated material items back to the rental house. Once a certain quantity was reached, it would start shuttling back and forth.
John also brought out Plato’s ICE firmware, replaced the hexacopter’s firewall; this was experimental defense firmware, equivalent to giving the Captain a shield at the data level.
Black Light incorporated it into the managed equipment for round-the-clock supervision:
Needless to say, any attempt to hack in or perform an abnormal scan, John would receive alerts, and with such extensive protective measures, barring violent bombardment, ordinary technical methods couldn’t stop it.
John removed the Tiebang Logistics-branded cover and installed a solar energy collector, resolving its future energy issues. He didn’t remove the charging port, so it could still charge himself in emergencies.
The Captain took off smoothly.
It changed employers and began a new job, due to its connection with the Black Light database, it could precisely avoid each reported flight path while flying among skyscrapers.
John tidied up the living room wreckage and tossed the oil-covered vest into the mesh bin.
The operational status of the equipment flashed before his eye.
The Captain’s maiden flight successfully landed, coordinates located at Eden City’s No. 3 landfill.
Black Spider No. 2 safely arrived and began working, while the windfall and Special Inhibitor raw materials collected by No. 1 were being loaded. Once packed, the Captain would return to Dan Street Apartment following the latest route.
This transport line was settled.
The data stream flickering in John’s prosthetic eye disappeared, and the controller in the mirror looked somewhat haggard. He couldn’t help but wonder—could he earn a side income by using the Captain for transport or picking up goods himself?
After a brief thought, he dismissed the idea.
The Captain’s program wasn’t yet suitable for exposure; any slight movement on the street was noticed by others, and if targeted by companies, it could lead to trouble.
Black Light’s secrets were growing more numerous.
John was barely standing firm now; perhaps it was time to complete the only main task in his mind.
Investigating the truth behind the accident might yield further understanding of Black Light.
John finished freshening up and collapsed on the couch; a whole day and night’s running around, plus equipment modification and the like, had thoroughly exhausted him.
He couldn’t help but fall into a deep sleep.