But giving up, Li Cunxu was reluctant.

After all, credit points were hard to come by.

Don't be fooled by how easily a hundred credit points seemed to come; that was due to the rewards from the freshman list. Without that, Li Cunxu would have to complete tasks for at least six months to accumulate enough.

"Xiaoyi, the strategy seems hopeless. Do you think I should give up on it?"

Li Cunxu inquired of the smartest person among them.

Xiaoruan pondered for a moment, "There might still be hope. I suggest monitoring for a while longer; circumstances might change."

At this time, demolition robots covered the ground, searching for Li Cunxu. Among every hundred demolition robots, there was one bronze-level with a radar scanner.

Li Cunxu wasn't too worried, having hidden in a deeply dug tunnel, lined with electronic shielding fabric of the same material as electronic shield clothing.

The demolition robots couldn't find him.

After five days, failing to locate Li Cunxu within the secret realm, they retreated and returned to their normal routine.

Construction robots by day, demolition robots by night.

After seven days, Li Cunxu only then released Xiaoruan's clone to scout if it was safe above.

Xiaoruan suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Master, look quickly, the Iron Slimes weren't wiped out; they're actually being fed."

The construction robots, running over a tire mark on the road, placed the I-beams from their shoulders and deliberately rolled them towards a group of feeding Iron Slimes.

Li Cunxu noticed there were many Iron Slimes everywhere.

The proliferation rate of Iron Slimes seemed slow among the various Slime species, but in truth, it was the fastest proliferating Slime.

However, Iron Slime proliferation required sufficient iron, and Li Cunxu didn't have mines at home. The iron ore the Miner Slime dug up was just small iron ore, which limited the proliferation of Iron Slimes.

As long as there's enough iron, an Iron Slime with homogeneous splitting talents can split into fifty small Iron Slimes in a day.

The next day, each of those fifty Iron Slimes can split into another fifty.

Fifty times fifty equals two thousand five hundred.

That's only three days.

This is the terrifying proliferation capability of Iron Slimes.

The scrapyard in Mechanical City was also an excellent breeding ground for Iron Slimes. Why didn't their numbers increase?

Most of the scrapyard was under the control of gangs formed by Scrap Kids. While Iron Slimes consume mechanical scrap parts, Scrap Kids also need these parts, leading to an irreconcilable conflict between them.

Scrap Kids consciously kill Iron Slimes.

Iron Slimes only know to harden and charge, and their bodies are very cumbersome. In the junkyards, Scrap Kids possess surprisingly nimble footwork, easily dealing with Iron Slimes, these iron turtles, which only know to retract and charge.

A quick maneuver around the back and a swift kick turns an Iron Slime into a football.

Come night, demolition robots didn't attack Iron Slimes either; instead, they tossed the bodies of dismantled companions to be consumed by the Slimes.

"I understand why normal construction robots didn't target Iron Slimes, but why didn't the aggressive demolition robots attack them either; instead, they coexist peacefully?"

Xiaoruan explained the puzzle to Li Cunxu.

"I think the demolition robots are doing it for this reason."

Following the direction Xiaoruan indicated, Li Cunxu saw a demolition robot bending over to pick up leftover iron blocks the Iron Slimes couldn't fully absorb.

"So that's it, for the iron blocks."

Under the deliberate feeding by the demolition robots, the Iron Slime population expanded at an exaggerated speed.

Xiaoruan said, "The original purpose of raiding the secret realm seems to have been achieved. It appears irrelevant whether the Secret Realm of Mechanical Demolition is even conquered now."

"Oh! It really seems so," Li Cunxu exclaimed joyfully.

The initial goal of raiding the secret realm was to find a secret place to proliferate the Slime numbers and allow Xiaoruan to collect more attribute taxes.

Now, even without conquering the secret realm, that aim has been achieved.

"It seems there is no need to raid it."

"Yes, and I can achieve the raid if I want to," Xiaoruan confidently stated.

The sinkhole passage leading to the underground city had bronze demolition robots acting as guards, and they allowed just one type of creature to pass — the Iron Slime.

Xiaoruan's clone could mimic Iron Slimes, infiltrate the underground city, and poison the Mechanical Mother.

Poison the Mechanical Mother, and the demolition robots become rootless water; as Xiaoruan keeps bombarding, rootless water eventually evaporates under the sun.

Once the raid succeeds, there'll be metal mines at home providing a steady supply of weaponry to the Mechanical Pupil.

Li Cunxu contemplated, "There's no need to complicate matters, abandon the secret realm."

Xiaoruan agreed as well.

Raiding the Secret Realm of Mechanical Demolition, the Mechanical Mother was crucial but not the most critical link; the key element was the one manipulating the demolition robots behind the scenes.

Both Li Cunxu and Xiaoruan realized someone was controlling the demolition robots.

Evidence one: Iron Slimes could coexist peacefully with all the raging and mindless demolition robots at night.

Evidence two: After demolishing city buildings every day, demolition robots start brawling, during which a few get promoted to bronze rank through combat, and by dawn, they enter the underground city. This clearly indicates someone behind the scene is training soldiers, then collecting the trained troops.

… There are numerous other pieces of evidence.

Li Cunxu didn't want to raid anymore, partly because of some apprehension toward the person manipulating the demolition robots.

Originally, it was the Mechanical God Sect of the Crowned Evil God who wrested this secret realm from Shendu and infected the construction robots, turning them into demolition robots.

The individual behind controlling the demolition robots is undoubtedly deeply connected with the Mechanical God Sect.

Moreover, the initial aim had been fulfilled, so risking one's life to explore what cards the adversary holds was unnecessary.

Before leaving the Secret Realm of Mechanical Demolition, Xiaoruan stumbled upon a good fortune.

An Iron Slime injected with a Mutation Needle mutated into a Metal Slime.

Metal Slimes can digest a variety of metals and distinguish different metals from an alloy part.

It has two skills.

The first is Metal Decomposition, a gold trait.

It can quickly decompose various metals within alloys.

The second is Metal Armor.

This skill is quite interesting.

Like a Constant Light Armor, it's a growth skill.

By absorbing various metals, it enhances the defense strength of the Metal Armor.

Metal Armor skills require investment; the more metals absorbed and the more diverse the metal types, the stronger the defense.

However, the Metal Armor, despite the investment, still can't match the Constant Light Armor.

The rate at which Metal Armor absorbs metals is like a snail's pace; the growth period is simply too long, which is why only older beast pets apply it in battle.

There is a way to increase the absorption speed of metals for Metal Armor, which is through skill proficiency. The higher the skill proficiency, the faster the metal absorption.

With Xiaoruan collecting skill experience taxes from Metal Slimes, Metal Armor proficiency isn't a worry, meaning that the slow growth period of Metal Armor won't be an issue for Xiaoruan.

"With two growth defense skills, Xiaoruan, you're getting tougher and tougher. How about you switch roles with the Mechanical Pupil, you become the tank, and it becomes the Mage?"

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