Perhaps by inspiration, or a sudden moment of clarity, it looked at the gem that shone like an energy source on its chest, took it off, and threw it into the sky.
The gem shattered, breaking into countless fragments that rained down upon the planet.
It was like a downpour.
The specks of light that fell to the ground, combined with metal, created one kin of light after another.
They emerged from the ground one by one, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
Seeing beings similar to itself appear, the strange feeling in Light’s heart disappeared.
This was the birth of the mechanical lifeform race.
In truth, there were many omitted details in the process of birth that Light did not recount, because it remembered that Lin Feng had asked it to be brief.
After its kin were born, Light naturally became the controller.
Because they were all created by Light's special energy.
With companions, Light began to build the network.
They communicated and interacted through their unique network.
They began to build that metal planet.
Another million years passed, and the metal planet was covered with metal cities.
On this planet, technology had developed to an unimaginable extent.
Weapon systems, analysis systems, exploration systems, and maintenance systems, all powered by the collective strength of the race.
The life and technological development of the entire race became increasingly perfect and rapid.
And at this time, the mechanical lifeform race ushered in a catastrophe.
This catastrophe was not caused by external forces or a third party, but rather an issue that had existed internally, which finally erupted.
That is, the large gem Light had used to create its kin seemed to be Light's energy source.
After this energy was sent out to create kin, Light lost its continuous energy supply.
And those kin that were created also had the same problem.
In the third million years that followed, their energy continuously waned, and their companions kept decreasing.
Creation, communication, and the use of existing technology all consumed energy.
Tens of thousands of years later, the first mechanical lifeform to exhaust all its energy fell, forever.
Its fall gave all its kin a new term: death...
In the time that followed, kin fell one after another.
With the number of companions drastically reduced, Light decided to lead all its kin to find a new energy supply.
This search took another several million years.
Thanks to the inherent advantages of mechanical lifeforms, they traveled through the universe in search.
They found countless types of energy, but none could completely replace the original energy that gave birth to Light.
The most suitable was only the energy refined from an exceedingly rare metal ore.
And this ore was so rare it was despair-inducing, and even more despairing was that the energy that could replenish mechanical lifeforms, refined from this ore, was even scarcer!
This way, the disappearance of kin was somewhat alleviated, but it was merely a drop in the ocean, unable to prevent the entire race from heading towards extinction.
Misfortune never comes alone.
The mechanical lifeform race’s extensive presence in the universe, predictably, attracted some unwelcome attention.
Their unique technology and unimaginably destructive weapons smelled of money and power to others.
They chose war to subdue the mechanical lifeform race.
"Over this long period, our kin have dwindled from an initial three hundred forty-five million to just ten thousand..."
In thirty-five million years, from over three hundred million kin, down to just over ten thousand.
And these ten thousand or so were now gathered on this planet, inside this metal mountain peak...
Light spoke, leading Lin Feng into the metal mountain.
Inside, it was not a scene of metal cities as imagined, but resembled a super-sized factory.
Visible everywhere were metal devices used to refine energy, operating quietly. Lin Feng could see rivers of thin red energy converging from the devices into containers.
Scarcely any.
And here, there were also motionless kin, suspended on metal booms high in the air.
"Those are kin whose energy is close to depletion. They are in a low-power standby mode and can only be communicated with through the network."
Light pointed to the motionless kin and said.
Lin Feng couldn't help but ask.
"You can't create new kin anymore?"
"If there were more kin, wouldn't it be possible to continue searching for energy."
Light shook its head, then pointed to the gem on its forehead.
"The probability of finding new energy is too low."
"Under these circumstances, even creating more kin will not change the current situation."
"My energy is also no longer sufficient to create a large number of kin..."
Light looked at its kin, and for the first time, a human-like melancholy appeared in its eyes.
"For over twenty million years, we have not found suitable, sufficient energy. The probability is infinitely close to zero."
"And over these years, we have also sought other ways to survive, but the result is what you see now..."
"I realize now that the strange feeling I had when creating kin, in human terms, is called loneliness..."
A sense of gloom emanated from Light's eyes.
Loneliness, the loneliness of a race with only one member, the loneliness of being alone for millions of years.
"I will not dwell on those words. What follows should clear most of your doubts, leader..."
Light's emotions were not complete; it only felt melancholy for a few seconds before returning to normal.
Having passed this stage, Light continued to narrate the story.
Even if hope was slim, the mechanical lifeform race still wanted to survive.
According to their mechanical structure, this desire should not have appeared, but survival was not just a desire; it was an incomprehensible and indescribable character etched into the soul of every lifeform.
Of course, Lin Feng did not know if mechanical lifeforms had souls.
The mechanical lifeform race did not give up on their search for energy, continuing to search and continuing to war.
And just a few hundred years ago, they encountered Jin. Henry.
Jin. Henry promised to provide the mechanical lifeform race with the energy ore they could use.
It was Jin. Henry’s good fortune that on a planet he happened to choose, there was a large amount of ore from which mechanical lifeforms could extract energy.
And this planet was now their main planet.
To continue surviving, Light agreed to Jin. Henry’s demand to control the mechanical lifeform race.
However, a contract was set to regulate both parties.
Jin. Henry would provide living space in the ore-rich area and unlimited mining rights.
In return, Light would provide protection, assistance, and modifications to Jin. Henry’s body.