"Hehe, having money is a wonderful thing. With money, you can visit a beauty salon, replace all your aging parts, and give yourself a brand-new look."
The heavy truck sneered.
"You!"
The unmanned surveying machine was so furious that it immediately wanted to ram into the heavy truck.
"Shut up! A Demon God is coming—hide!"
At that moment, the voice of the mining base echoed, filled with urgency.
What?!
Hearing this, the robots, including the heavy truck, rushed into the mining base, disappearing into its inner space in an instant.
The mining base immediately fused with the surrounding mountains, camouflaging itself as if it had always been part of the terrain. Even its energy signature was completely concealed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A second later, two or three Demon Gods flew over from the distance and landed on the island. Their powerful Divine Senses swept across the entire area, probing every inch as if trying to penetrate the very essence of the land.
Yet, no matter how they scanned, they could not detect the existence of the mining base or the robots hiding within.
"Strange… I sensed a robot flying around here earlier. Why did it suddenly disappear?" one of the Demon Gods muttered, frowning in confusion.
"Perhaps they hid elsewhere. You know how cunning those robots are, even though they're not particularly strong," another Demon God replied in a low voice.
"Damn those machines! They're like locusts, swarming across every land and stripping it of its ores. And now, they even dare to invade our territory!"
One of the Demon Gods gritted his teeth in anger.
"Even though these machines were created by the Chaos City Lord, that doesn't mean we should tolerate their lawlessness. If we find them, we'll tear them apart immediately!"
"Exactly! This is not Chaos City's territory—we can't let them run wild here!"
"Let's move on. If they're not here, they must have gone somewhere else. We can't let them slip away!"
The three Demon Gods spoke among themselves before swiftly departing. Since no robots were found, there was no reason to waste time in such a remote place.
Even though the island was rich in minerals, the Demon Gods had no use for them. Only the Machine Race could properly utilize such resources. But even so, they would never allow outsiders to take what belonged to their domain.
Before long, the Demon Gods vanished into the distance.
Days passed.
The heavy truck and the other robots carefully monitored their surroundings. Once they confirmed that no Demon Gods remained nearby, they finally deactivated their stealth mode.
"Fortunately, Father God's blessing kept us hidden from those Demon Gods," the mining base said, sighing in relief.
Indeed, this was the constant danger of land reclamation. Within the influence of Chaos City, no Demon God dared to harm the Machine Race.
But beyond Chaos City's reach, the situation was entirely different. The outer territories were ruled by powerful Demon Gods who considered them sacred grounds, forbidden to outsiders.
Any foreign presence was immediately expelled—or worse, annihilated.
Countless robots had perished in the attempt to reclaim land. Yet despite the risks, countless more followed in their footsteps, lured by the immense rewards.
If a land reclamation project was successful, it could bring unimaginable wealth overnight. The risks were high, but the rewards made it worth it.
"Damn it! Those Demon Gods! These ores are useless to them, yet they bully us like this!" The unmanned surveying machine jumped up and down in frustration.
"Exactly! What's wrong with taking a few ores? They trouble us all day long! If they dared to step into Chaos City, our Machine Race would crush those bastards instantly!"
The drilling machine gritted its teeth.
"If I were a combat robot, I would fight them to the death! Let them know the power of the Machine Race!" the excavator shouted.
"Stop bragging and get to work. This place is no longer safe. Dig up all the remaining ore, and then we'll return. After this job, we won't need to take such risks for hundreds of years."
The mining base's voice was firm.
"Understood! Let's finish this!"
The robots nodded. They knew time was limited. The Demon Gods might return at any moment, so they had to act fast.
As quickly as possible, they completed their mining operations and prepared to leave.
After all, the Chaos World was vast, and the number of Demon Gods was limited. It was unlikely they would randomly encounter another powerful one anytime soon.
Clatter!
In the blink of an eye, six months passed.
The robots had burrowed deep into the island, extracting every valuable ore hidden beneath the surface. Nearly all the minerals had been excavated and stored in the mining base's warehouse.
"Alright, the warehouse is full. We can teleport back to Chaos City now," the mining base announced.
Rumble!
A Spatial Teleportation Array activated within the warehouse, creating ripples in the void. A bright white light flickered, illuminating the entire base.
In the next instant, the ores stored in the warehouse began disappearing.
They were transmitted through the chaotic void, jumping from one spatial node to another at incredible speed.
However, due to the vast size of the Chaos World, each spatial jump was limited to 100,000 light-years. Until further technological breakthroughs were made, this distance could not be increased.
To counter this limitation, Brain Zero devised a solution—building Spatial Teleportation Stations across the chaotic void, turning mining bases into relay nodes.
It functioned like a massive train system, allowing resources to be teleported across immense distances.
After thousands of jumps, no matter how far the destination, materials could eventually reach Chaos City.
Of course, establishing such a complex teleportation network required an astronomical amount of resources and time. But after millions of years of development, the Machine Race successfully constructed an extensive, dense network of Spatial Teleportation Stations, all centered around Chaos City.
Still, each teleportation consumed an enormous amount of energy. If the minerals being transported weren't valuable enough, it was more cost-efficient for the robots to carry them back manually.
Didi!
At that moment, the mining base's Chaos Chip received a notification.
Transaction successful. Funds received.
"Hahaha! The money has arrived! Let's go!"
The mining base laughed heartily.
"Yes! Time to head back!"
The robots cheered in excitement. Finally, they could leave this dangerous place. After this haul, they wouldn't have to worry about resources for centuries.
This was the allure of land reclamation. Risky, but immensely profitable.