Niko was also staring at the painting, with long white hair and an unusually familiar face.

Aside from the difference in dress, everything seemed to match the presence they had encountered in the bar before.

"The tavernkeeper?" Nauda said uncertainly.

But then, she bowed her head, "The man in this picture is really exactly like the tavernkeeper!" ”

Niko didn't speak, because he thought so too.

After a pause, he said, "It's not exactly the same, it's that they might just be one person." The reason why we came to Skye Island was because he guided us all the way. ”

Nauda recalled, nodded, "Seems like this." ”

"So, Skye Island is his?"

"This tower should be the very heart of the complex." "So, perhaps. ”

"And what is his purpose?" Nauda wondered, "Is it just for us to come here?" ”

There was also some confusion in Niko's eyes.

"Or maybe we think it's safer here, so let's take refuge here for a while?" She said.

After a pause, she made an observation, "No. Let's go find those two gnomes? I don't think they look like bad guys. ”

"Let's go to other places first, see if there's any other information." Nico said.

They turned around and tried to open the door to the office, which slowly opened with the sound of branches.

However, to Niko's and Nauda's consternation, behind the door was no longer the corridor they had just entered, but a spiraling staircase that led to nowhere.

Niko is confident in his memory, so there is no doubt that this should be a problem with this place.

"Is there something wrong with my memory?" Nauda said with some uncertainty, "Not when we came in."

"There's nothing wrong with your memory."

Niko grabbed Nauda's wrist, who hadn't figured out the situation, and pulled her down the spiraling staircase.

The staircase was dimly lit because it had no windows, but there were oil lamps on either side, flickering lights illuminating the path beneath their feet, but it was impossible to see where it leads.

Niko was calm now, but there were ripples in his heart.

He had fantasized countless times about finding the Isle of Skye, and had imagined the troubles he would encounter on his way to find the Isle of Skye.

But he never imagined that he would land on Sky Island so soon.

Climb aboard this miracle that was exhausted by countless people a few years ago

To prove his uncle's innocence, he gathers a lot of information about Skye.

Some people say that the Isle of Skye contains treasures that rival the riches of the country.

It is also said that the Isle of Sky is the abode of the gods, and if you can reach the Isle of Sky, you can become a messenger of the gods.

Others say that it is a land of eternal life, and that anyone who lands on the island can attain eternity.

Niko didn't know where the news came from, and he didn't quite believe it.

However, what he does know is that if he can get to Skye, he will definitely get something.

At the very least, if we can know the secrets that make such a huge island float, it will definitely be a huge leap for human civilization.

He could now be sure that Sky Island might not be something that exists naturally, but something that exists.

Along the way, Niko observed the traces that the years had left in various parts of the castle, and this place was definitely not something left in the last ten years, but a hundred years to come.

Therefore, it can also be ruled out that after the advent of the era of airships, someone boarded the airship and took it for himself.

Such a castle could not have been built by airboat transporting building materials.

Soon, they saw a light that was not part of the lamp.

The narrow staircase began to widen, and they came to a doorless porch.

The sight behind the porch made Niko and Nauda stand in distraction.

At that moment, they even thought that they had crossed an era and had come to the future.

Because everything in front of me is too sci-fi.

It's a large factory building that can even park two A380s.

There are a lot of boxy machines in the area, with wires as thick as water pipes plugged into them, and on the wires, a halo of energy transmission flickers.

It is a supercomputer of neuronal parallel network technology derived from artificial human neuron technology.

The advantage over ordinary computers is that the computing operation of this technology does not generate much heat, because it is not electrified, which means that the computing power can be stacked infinitely.

This is not the same lab that White and the others have been to, but another construction plant, much larger than the one, used to build some large machinery, which also belongs to Tony.

The most striking thing is the huge machinery in the middle of the factory.

The humanoid structure, about eight meters tall, with its curved feet, its angular and rigid structure, its perfect body proportions, and the unknown weapons it carries, everything is imbued with a mechanical beauty.

Niko could swear that it was the most beautiful mechanical creation he had ever seen in his life, not one of them.

No engineer would remain calm when they see something like this.

Even if it doesn't move, just sitting here and looking at it makes you feel happy.

If this thing could actually move, Niko couldn't even imagine how powerful it was.

He couldn't imagine how much torque a diesel engine had to be to drive such a big guy.

It's a mecha, but apparently, Niko didn't have the concept of a mecha in his time.

He distracted himself to the mech's side and reached out to touch its shell.

His brain began to work rapidly, using the information gathered by the naked eye to try to disassemble the mech, and began to understand the design concept and structure of the mech.

The recurved feet are supposed to make this machine run faster, jump higher, have more powerful explosive power, and take into account the stability of the ground, and the wolf is also similar to the anti-foot.

In addition to this, he saw something deeper, and he saw several major joints such as the knees of the machine.

Whether such a humanoid machine can move or not, the movement structure of the knees and other joints is extremely important.

He saw a special design that closely resembled the structure of a human knee.

To sum it up in words, Niko thinks it should be called a "biomimetic structure".

His face was a little ruddy, and there was an empty boat yard near his house, so he had seen a lot of mechanical structures.

But the technology contained in all those machines is not as good as one-ten-thousandth of this mechanical creation.

There is at least a generational difference of hundreds of years between the two!

This is the creation of the future, Niko thought to himself.

There is no doubt that in this day and age, no existence can create such a miracle!

Or, it is the technology of a more advanced and developed civilization that is independent of human civilization.

"Click~"

At this moment, a voice from the top of the mecha interrupted his thoughts.

He slowly raised his head, accompanied by a sound similar to a gushing of gas.

The position of the chest of the mechanical creature slowly opened, and a half-hundred-year-old man with gray hair, but who looked to be in his fifties in shape and mental state, was lying in it - it should be the control cabin of the mechanical creature.

He jumped out of the cockpit and stepped onto the shelf on the side of the mechanical creation, opening the head of the mechanical creation, frowning slightly, as if thinking about something, completely oblivious to their presence.

Then he looked down at Niko again.

"Hand me the arm on your right."

Niko reacted, and he subconsciously looked around, and then saw a mechanical artifact that looked like an "arm" on the table beside him.

He picked it up and handed it to him.

Tony took the arm and pressed it against his wrist, which opened and wrapped his arm inside.

Then, he reached into the mechanical arm, as if he was fixing something, but Niko couldn't see it from this angle.

As time passed, Niko felt that he could not remain silent like this, so he said, "Did you have a problem?" ”

Tony looked at Niko below, a playful look on his face, "What, do you want to help me?" ”

"No, I'm just asking, I know that this kind of technology is far from what I can understand." Nico said.

"You're self-aware." Tony said.

"Inside this mecha, it has a human-like brain, it has its own ability to think, process and judge, and it can even speak and communicate with you.

In a sense, it should be considered a kind of life. ”

Tony knew the background of Niko's time, so he didn't use any jargon or anything like neurons, just explained in words he could understand.

He closed the lid of the mech's head.

The mecha's eyes suddenly lit up with a faint glow.

"Mark—the dragon hunter." Tony spoke to the mech.

A human voice suddenly came from inside the mecha.

"Yes, Master."

"Turn on the self-test." He said.

The mecha immediately responded.

"The airframe self-test was initiated, the state system was intact, the flight system was intact, the navigation system was intact, the flight stability system was corrected, the weapon system was perfected, and the power system was charged to 76 percent

After the self-inspection of the airframe has been completed, the overall perfection of the airframe is 89 percent, and it has complete combat capability. ”

Not to mention having complete intelligence, that is, not having intelligence, such a machine is absolutely advanced for people in the 21st century.

Not to mention the fact that this is the end of the nineteenth century, when the second industrial revolution has just begun.

Neither Niko nor Nauda could not describe their feelings in words at the moment, and this kind of shock that seemed to transcend the times could not be shared with anyone.

"Mechanical. Life. Niko whispered the concept Tony had given, "Isn't it a power that only gods can possess to create life?" ”

Tony chuckled.

"Science is the process of usurping the power of the gods and replacing them."

(End of chapter)