Reverence for the Unknown

Xiao Bai hastily prepared to shut down the Absorption process, unwilling to let the Main Control Chip burn out. He didn't know if his soul would survive if the chip was completely destroyed.
But suddenly, he saw a wispy, gaseous substance slowly being absorbed from the green light.
"Damn it, I'm going all out with you!"
Xiao Bai suddenly steeled himself, subconsciously gritting his teeth as he ignored the flashing red warnings and stubbornly persisted.
Warning! Chip 1 has been incinerated...
Warning! Chip 2 has been incinerated...
Warning! More than half of the Chipset has been damaged...
Warning! The Main Control System is at risk of collapse...
Warning... Warning...
Xiao Bai continued to grit his teeth and endure until only one chip remained. Only then did the panel display the notification:
Unknown Mystical Substance 1 has been absorbed.
Accompanying this message, the massive corpse before him sudd enly shattered with a thunderous roar, as if ignited by some invisible flame. Its form rapidly disintegrated into layers of fine black ash, drifting toward the previously impenetrable transparent boundary, and then vanished into the pitch-black Void Realm.
"Fuck..."
Xiao Bai cursed under his breath and quickly glanced at the "Processing Power" section of the performance parameters:
Processing Power: 5 (1)
He then looked at the Brain-in-a-Box, which had turned into a box of sludge and was emitting wisps of smoke. It looked like it was almost done cooking—just add some chili powder, Sichuan peppercorns, and cilantro, and it would be ready to serve.
"Damn, I almost lost my mind... No, wait, I did lose my mind. Why else would I have tried to fight that thing head-on?"
"My whole life has been like walking on thin ice. Why did I suddenly become so reckless? Was it spurred by that inexplicable fear in my heart?"
"And why did absorbing that thing burn my chips? If it weren't for my decent processing power and the Brain-in-a-Box, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it at all..."
He asked three "whys" in a row, then glanced at the performance parameters again. He noticed that as the temperature dropped, the processing power contributed by the Brain-in-a-Box was rapidly recovering.
This gave him a slight sense of relief. At least he hadn't become a "brain-dead" fool.
He then opened his storage space and found the substance he had just absorbed.
The icon was simply a '?' symbol, and the description read: "A mysterious substance beyond the scope of comprehension."
That was all. It wasn't a basic material, nor a component.
Below the brief description was a small line of text:
"Approach the unknown with reverence."
When Xiao Bai saw this, he couldn't help but pause, a flicker of that instinctive fear from before rising in his heart.
He quickly steadied himself, muttering to himself:
"This thing is truly extraordinary. Even though I don't know how to use it yet, I'll keep it for now."
"Good thing I gritted my teeth and got rid of that Precious Thing back then. Otherwise, with the two Paradises fused, having this thing in my home would be a constant source of trouble..."
As he spoke, he suddenly felt something prick his knee, only to be repelled by his Biological Armor.
Looking down, he saw the mutants below spitting saliva and throwing pebbles at him.
They were even more agitated than before, their constant hissing and snarling making it seem as if he had desecrated their ancestral graves.
Xiao Bai's anger flared. He immediately equipped all four newly acquired missile launchers, strapping them to his shoulders and legs, ready to vent his frustration on these insolent brats.
However, he soon realized that with the Main Control Chip mostly destroyed, the automatic targeting and trajectory calculation functions were gone. His 'hands' seemed to have lost their memory, unable to fight autonomously.
"Damn it, now neither my brain nor my hands work..."
Although the Brain-in-a-Box's processing power was gradually recovering, it provided little assistance to the Mech's combat systems. Its primary function was data analysis, making it effective for tasks like scanning and absorption.
Fortunately, the missiles developed by the Lost Civilization were highly intelligent. Even without fire control, a flurry of targeting reticles materialized before Xiao Bai's eyes, indicating that the missiles had automatically locked onto the enemies below and were awaiting the firing command.
"Fire all missiles!"
The four missile compartments, resembling shipping containers, snapped open their lids. Two hundred biological missiles erupted from within, streaking in all directions and leaving long, slender trails of flame in their wake, like a queen of the night blooming in mid-air.
The missiles swooped down with a roar, precisely targeting every enemy, and ignited a fiery spectacle across the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the thunderous explosions subsided, the once-boisterous Paradise fell into a deathly silence.
"Though we burned through quite a few materials, they proved quite effective. Truly worthy of being called the Lost Legacy."
Xiao Bai nodded, surveying the pockmarked landscape beneath him.
He then looked up at the cluster of one-kneed mecha nearby and flew over.
"Don't disappoint me now. At least give me some computational chips or something. Otherwise, I'll have to apply for a disability certificate."

Computational Chip 1 absorbed.
Xiao Bai retrieved the final Computational Chip he needed from a kneeling Light Mecha and quickly installed it.
Seeing the Processing Power parameter return to its original state of 200 (2000), the Comprehensive Autonomous Combat Module resumed operation. With his mind and hands functioning again, he finally felt a sense of relief.
"Phew~ That's better. No need to apply for a disability certificate after all."
"Thank goodness the Maintenance Mechanical Arm could repair my motherboard. And it's a good thing the absorbed Computational Chips became a special type of universal part that can be directly swapped in without compatibility issues."
"But this Lost Civilization's chip technology is pretty underwhelming, huh? Even after installing the same number of chips, the Processing Power hasn't increased at all?"
After his earlier harrowing experi ence, Xiao Bai had come to deeply appreciate the importance of Processing Power. However, his Mecha only had a fixed number of chip interfaces. Without finding more advanced chips, 200 points seemed to be the current limit for his Mecha's Processing Power.
"Normally, 200 points should be enough. The more computationally intensive functions can be handled by the Brain-in-a-Box, but I'm worried about encountering extreme situations like today's again..."
"Let's keep searching. This massive Lost Civilization can't have only this handful of chips, right? Otherwise, how would the Big Guy be controlled?"
With that, he glanced at the Brain-in-a-Box's status again.
After cooling down, the sludge inside had re-solidified into a brain-like shape, though it was less round than before, its form now difficult to describe.
The distribution of surface grooves had also changed slightly, faintly outlining what seemed like mysterious symbols. A faint purple glow still emanated from the surface, giving it an eerie appearance.
Yet its computational performance remained unchanged, the smartphone showed no abnormalities, and all internal data was preserved intact.
Several wispy, nerve-like strands had also emerged, attaching themselves to the edges of the box like some kind of 'interface'.

Chapter end