"A robot? Pretty cool, but you need to calm down a bit."
Although somewhat surprised by Svarog's intelligence, Fu Zhu still chose to pull out the shield he had crafted earlier from his inventory, just to be safe.
After all, being out and about without a shield felt as insecure as going commando.
However, the moment Fu Zhu took out the shield, Svarog suddenly attacked. The energy cannon, already charged and waiting in its palm, instantly fired at Fu Zhu.
Fu Zhu hastily brought the shield up in front of him, blocking the blast by a hair's breadth.
A rather displeased expression appeared on Fu Zhu's face from behind the shield. "Tin can, I just told you to calm down. I haven't even attacked, yet you struck first. Isn't that a bit rude?"
Clara, hiding behind Svarog, panicked when she saw the two suddenly start fighting. She quickly tugged at the hem of Svarog's coat, pleading.
"Mr. Svarog, this big brother doesn't seem to have bad intentions. Could you please calm down?"
Svarog maintained his posture, palm aimed at Fu Zhu, and answered Clara in a voice so cold it betrayed no hint of emotion.
"Clara, that was my automatic defense mechanism. My system assessment results tell me this man is very dangerous. Hide yourself well."
"While I'm flattered your assessment system rates me so highly, I'm still a little unhappy..."
Fu Zhu raised his hand and threw an Ender Pearl directly towards Clara. Svarog's gaze immediately focused on the flying pearl.
But in such a short time, its system couldn't possibly analyze the Ender Pearl. To be safe, it chose to yank Clara aside, dodging the Ender Pearl's trajectory, then raised its hand to attack Fu Zhu.
Yet, by the time Svarog had secured Clara and turned back, Fu Zhu had vanished from before it.
"Judging by your appearance, you're a highly intelligent robot. But even the highest intelligence can't beat the simple yet brutal mechanics of Redstone tech, you know."
Fu Zhu's voice suddenly came from behind them. Svarog and Clara were both startled. The human and robot hastily turned around, only to see Fu Zhu standing not far behind them, fiddling with something on a wooden cube in front of him.
Just as Svarog was about to attack, its gaze fell upon the red traces extending from Fu Zhu's feet all the way to its own body.
Before Svarog could analyze the red lines, Fu Zhu pulled a stone lever from the workbench, placed it on the ground, and glanced up at Svarog and Clara.
"It's too late to notice now."
Click.
The instant Fu Zhu pulled the stone lever, the Redstone line briefly lit up. Simultaneously, Svarog's scarlet mono-eye instantly went dark. Its massive mechanical body, accompanied by a shutdown sound, completely ceased all movement, standing frozen in place like a statue.
"Mr. Svarog?"
Seeing Svarog unresponsive, Clara panicked. She reached out with her small, fair hands and tugged hard at the coat draped over Svarog, but there was absolutely no reaction.
"You..."
Clara had just turned her head, about to ask Fu Zhu what he had done, when a large hand pinched her soft, pale cheek.
Fu Zhu pinched Clara's cheek, looking her over, and found this little girl unexpectedly cute.
"Little girl, what's your name?"
"Clara..."
Clara didn't dare resist, letting Fu Zhu knead her small face, but tears couldn't help but well up in the corners of her eyes like little pearls.
"Crying? You'll have to compensate me even if you cry, you know."
Fu Zhu huffed slightly and gave her little face a slightly harder pinch, bringing some much-needed color to Clara's unnaturally pale cheeks, before releasing her face with satisfaction.
"Regardless, you attacked me first. I was just passing through. If you hadn't attacked, maybe I would have apologized. But things are different now. Clara, you don't want anything bad to happen to this tin can, do you?"
Clara sniffled, nodding her little head vigorously. She had always relied on Mr. Svarog, already seeing him as family, like a father figure. It was impossible for her to abandon Svarog at a time like this.
"B-Big brother... are you saying Mr. Svarog isn't dead?"
Fu Zhu gave her a smile. "Hard to say. Who knows, maybe I'll get interested in its parts and decide to dismantle it?"
In his previous life, he had died young due to a terminal illness, never getting the chance to experience the various wonders of life.
Now that he miraculously had a chance to live again, he just wanted to live well, to experience all the beauty life had to offer. Anyone who tried to kill him wouldn't receive his kindness or mercy.
Hearing Fu Zhu talk about dismantling Svarog, the blush Fu Zhu had pinched onto Clara's small face instantly drained away, leaving her deathly pale. She shook her head frantically.
"No, no! Big brother, please don't dismantle Mr. Svarog, okay? He's Clara's precious family... Clara doesn't want to lose Mr. Svarog."
"Then it depends on your performance. Let's go, take me inside."
Fu Zhu scooped Clara up with his right arm, while his left hand grabbed Svarog's arm, heading towards the small villa behind them.
Thanks to Steve's constitution, his strength had become terrifyingly immense; he could lift objects weighing several tons with ease.
It was a bit unfortunate that his attack power was limited and didn't increase with his arm strength, but Fu Zhu was already quite satisfied with this.
Fu Zhu brought Clara and Svarog into their house. The decoration of this small villa was quite nice, with a Western style, which was quite rare underground.
If this were in Belobog city proper, it would likely be the residence of a noble.
Fu Zhu sat down in an empty spot in the main hall. The moment he let go, Clara scampered away and vanished.
However, he didn't bother going after Clara. With Svarog in his hands, judging by the little girl's attitude just now, she definitely wouldn't abandon Svarog.
Fu Zhu sat there in the hall, surveying everything in the room, planning to see if anything resembled items from MC in appearance. Perhaps he could convert some good things.
Before he could spot anything useful, Clara returned from another direction carrying a cup of hot water. Tentatively, yet very respectfully, she stood on her tiptoes to place it on the table in front of Fu Zhu.
"Big brother, please drink some water..."
"I didn't expect you to be so sensible."
Fu Zhu glanced at Clara approvingly but didn't drink the hot water she offered, even though it looked perfectly clear, apparently without any additives.
Until he obtained Milk, he wouldn't eat or drink anything given to him by outsiders!