The collection robot began to do needlework, sewing and patching.
Zombies have no intelligence, only an instinctive desire for living creatures. As for a hunk of metal like a robot, the Zombies wouldn't even give it a second glance.
After mending the bedsheet, its spider legs extended to straighten the sheet. Then, it collected the scattered Crimson Crystal Stones one by one before scurrying over to Electric Vehicle No. 10, which had slid more than a hundred meters away.
The spider legs transformed once more, a wrench and screwdriver extending. It removed the reinforcing materials that Lin Qi had taken from his Exoskeleton and temporarily installed on the electric vehicle, then carried them over to the bedsheet.
Bundling up the bedsheet, the collection robot weaved past one Zombie after another until it reached the base of Lin Qi's building.
It opened the door, went inside, placed the bundle on the floor, closed the door, and locked it.
The collection robot had a rough layout of the building in its databanks. Upon reaching the stairwell, it headed toward the Iron Man Club's experimental workshop.
...
Xia Chu followed behind Lin Qi, her heart hammering in her chest and her breathing still ragged.
'Is Lin Qi's Exoskeleton really that powerful? Or is it not the Exoskeleton, but Lin Qi's own Extraordinary Ability that's so strong?'
Xia Chu didn't have an answer; she just followed silently by Lin Qi's side.
Lin Qi entered the stairwell and made his way to the sixth floor.
According to the data the collection robot had acquired, the club's experimental workshop was on the sixth floor. It was a large space, a communal area shared by several clubs.
These included, but were not limited to, the Iron Man Club, the Robot Fighting Club, and the Mo University Robotics Competition Team. This was precisely why the workshop contained a wealth of the parts and materials Lin Qi needed.
His Spiritual Vision remained active. To Lin Qi's surprise, the building was nearly devoid of Zombies, but there were no living people either.
'The Zombie outbreak must have started at night. The only Zombie my Spiritual Vision is picking up is the security guard on the first floor. The building should be mostly safe.'
The walk to the sixth floor was uneventful, and they soon arrived before the main door of the experimental workshop.
The door was unlocked. Lin Qi pushed it open and went inside.
The moment he saw what was inside, Lin Qi knew he had come to the right place.
The workshop was divided into numerous sections for the different clubs, but all of them were related to machinery.
There was barely any place to sit; materials and equipment were strewn everywhere.
There were various types of motors, chips, alloy casing materials, and even a few medium-sized 3D printers.
From the perspective of an L-level Researcher, this equipment was primitive, but with a few simple modifications, it would just barely suffice.
'The metal materials might be insufficient, but that's alright. There's a warehouse for the material sciences department upstairs.'
'With the resources in this building, I could even set up an M-Class weapons production line.'
Limited by the strength of the materials and the precision of the equipment, M-Class was pretty much the ceiling.
But there were distinctions even within M-Class—size, for example.
A medium-sized Mecha, over four meters tall and built entirely with M-Class technology, would have combat capabilities no weaker than an L-Class Prosthetic Implantation. In fact, its destructive power might even surpass it.
"Xia Chu, help me check the power systems. We have a big project ahead of us."
"I'm going to build a Mecha in the next 36 hours, and then we'll rendezvous with the rescue team as soon as possible."
Lin Qi had no intention of going it alone.
The Dragon Country of the Doomsday World was clearly formidable. Furthermore, the heavy-industrial weapons and equipment Lin Qi envisioned were not things one person could build alone.
Only by securing more manpower and material resources could Lin Qi reap greater rewards in the Doomsday World.
"A Mecha?"
Xia Chu was astonished. She never imagined this was Lin Qi's reason for coming to the university.
'Would it even be useful?'
As far as Xia Chu knew, humanity's technology hadn't reached the stage of building Mechas for combat.
For example, in the robot marathon held just days before the apocalypse, only a minority of entrants even finished the race. Most of the robots had trouble just walking.
There were technical hurdles in both hardware and software.
"Trust me," Lin Qi said to Xia Chu as he walked toward the electric motors.
"Okay." Xia Chu had made her choice.
...
「In the Cyber World, inside Lin Qi's workshop.」
Lin Qi's state had changed in the span of a second. The most obvious difference was his clothes.
The words "Mo University Robot Fighting" were printed on his clothes.
Before returning to the Cyber World, Lin Qi had quickly washed off the Zombie blood and changed into some clothes from the neighboring Robot Fighting Club.
'I'll need to be more careful passing through the Door from now on. If I get into a fight in the Doomsday World like I did this time, I definitely can't wear the same clothes back.'
'Good thing there's no surveillance in the workshop, or I would have been exposed.'
Lin Qi took off the clothes and tossed them directly into the workshop's ultra-high-temperature waste disposal unit.
He couldn't keep those clothes.
Lin Qi also made a mental note: from now on, the first thing he'd do upon arriving in the Doomsday World was change his clothes.
His clothes from the Cyber World couldn't be damaged; he had to wear them back.
'Back in the Doomsday World, I'm less than halfway done modifying the Mecha components. The materials are too shoddy. The hydraulic transmission is barely functional, but I have to hand-build each of the electric motors from scratch.'
'Next, I need to look up data on M-Class Mechas. I'll have to pick a suitable model to replicate. Designing one from scratch would be a waste of time.'
'Other than that, I only managed to absorb three Crimson Crystals this trip. Luckily, I returned to the workshop today, so I was able to bring one back by keeping it in my mouth. This way, it won't slow down my body's advancement to Extraordinary First Tier.'
For now, Lin Qi's plans for the Doomsday World were proceeding in an orderly fashion.
It was the developments in the Cyber World that gave Lin Qi a nagging headache.
The Assassin Alliance, Greenfield City, Lin Xin, Red Fruit City...
According to the intelligence King Arthur had revealed during the last Highest Level meeting, Red Fruit City wasn't nearly as stable as it seemed.
Lin Qi even knew that Liu's Heavy Industries was also being targeted—the watchful eyes of the Mercenaries outside the Weapon Research Institute were proof enough.
Sitting in his workshop, Lin Qi contemplated his situation while absorbing the Crimson Crystal in his mouth.
「In the blink of an eye, morning arrived.」
The Crimson Crystal finished absorbing, and Lin Qi got dressed.
As he stepped out of his workshop, he saw that the door to his dad's workshop next door was still locked.
'Looks like Dad took on a big job. Maybe a full-body Prosthetic Implantation. He's still not done with it.'
When he got to the first floor, Lin Qi saw Lin Xin, who also looked as if she hadn't slept all night.
"Remember to upgrade to the Black Gold Member," Lin Qi reminded her.
Lin Xin didn't say a word, simply raising her hand.
A bracelet bearing the logo of the Intercontinental Stability Trauma Emergency Company was on her wrist.
Lin Qi raised an eyebrow slightly. 'Since when is my sister so obedient?'
'She's pretty efficient.'
"I have to go to the company for something. When Dad finishes his current job, have him contact me. I'll be back at the Prosthetic Clinic by this afternoon at the latest."
Without waiting for Lin Xin's reply, Lin Qi walked out the door and boarded a flying vehicle.
Destination: the Red Fruit City Weapon Research Institute.
The M-Class Mecha data Lin Qi needed could only be found by accessing the institute's network.
After arriving on the institute's rooftop and exiting the flying vehicle, Lin Qi looked around.
For the first time—the very first time since he started working at the Weapon Research Institute—he hadn't run into Liu Xuan here.
According to the company's system, today was Lin Qi's day off.