And as her steps became faster and faster, the factory building on the side of the river, even with the huge "Lekeville" sign on it, came into view.

This is Mayor Lykeville's recent investment in an automated modular factory, which is said to be a suggestion he received using artificial intelligence "Lucy" to produce "chain connectors", which Penny doesn't know very well.

She only knows that this is a star product that has emerged from the great development of science and industry caused by "Lucy", and it is said that it has the ability to send and receive signals like black technology, but it is not a particularly eye-catching achievement in the scientific and technological explosion triggered by "Lucy", and Penny also believes that the old old-fashioned mayor must also know a little about this - the reason why he urgently invested in the factory was only because he had followed the advice of "Lucy" to make a lot of profits in the speculative market, and this time he wanted to make more money.

Seeing the factory building, Penny suddenly remembered that today seemed to be the day the factory officially opened - but the building seemed quiet, and there was not even a sound coming from the building.

What's going on, shouldn't Mayor Lakeville's fame and fortune-loving guy make a big deal and make the factory site so hot? Why does the factory look like it's suddenly dead silent?

With a little curiosity in her heart, Penny quietly walked to the bank of the river, looked over to the factory building, and soon noticed something strange-

Right at the gate of the factory, a pile of shreds and parts emitted a glimmer of light, which Penny recognized at a glance, and the pieces and parts were parts of the car.

In addition, the whole factory gate was not closed, on the contrary, the inside suddenly opened, but it was swarthy, and I didn't know what was inside.

Penny was suddenly dizzy.

At the same time, a small voice suddenly sounded in her ears.

The sound sounded like a small bug flapping its wings, but it seemed more regular.

And beyond that, the ground seemed to be shaking, and all at once, it seemed as if some giant beast was pacing from afar.

Penny's body, for a moment, suddenly tensed.

She tried to escape, but she didn't know which direction to run, so she froze where she was, letting her body be surrounded by unknown fears and insecurity.

At the same time, whether it was the sound of the insects flapping their wings or the sound of the giant beast pacing, they were getting closer and closer to her, and Penny opened her mouth and screamed silently, feeling a burning sensation in her throat—

"Ah......h

Right here and now.

Penny finally saw the "thing".

The silver-white chain, the insect-like body, and the dragonfly-like compound eyes stared at him, showing a faint rainbow light inside.

It was suspended in the air, its body vibrating regularly, and the compound eyes "looking" at Penny tightly.

Although it seems to be an absolute mechanical creation, for a moment, Penny has a strange feeling that behind this "thing" there seems to be some kind of will and emotion similar to that of a human being...... It seems that like "Lucy", it is not a simple mechanical creation, but has a life of its own.

And...... Its appearance also felt a little familiar to Penny.

Penny, who opened her mouth wide and looked at it firmly, although her mind was a mess, she also remembered what the appearance of this "thing" made her think of.

…… It's the snitch.

- It's like the Silver Snitch I've seen in the Harry Potter movies.

"Verify."

The "Silver Snitch" hovered in front of Penny, the rainbow light in her compound eyes scanning Petunia quickly from top to bottom.

“…… Verify? ”

Penny stared blankly at it, parroting the word.

But the "Silver Snitch" didn't care about her voice, and continued to make mechanical noises on his own:

Verify ...... Penny Presti...... Unarmed...... Threat-free ...... Certified as a 'Standard Citizen'...... The tower can be passed straight through"

After leaving this passage, the "Silver Snitch" flapped its wings and flew forward in a "swoop".

Before Penny could recover from her senses, she looked at the direction it was leaving, and repeated in a daze:

"Standard Citizen...... Fortis ......"

She subconsciously called out the name "Lucy".

"'Lucy', that's ......"

"That's an outpost of type."

An unexpected answer came from a smartphone.

It was also because of "Lucy's" voice that Penny finally sobered up a little, picked up her phone, and asked "Lucy" closely:

"'Type 1 outpost', what's that?"

Lucy: "The Outpost is a self-replicating gene chain technology combined with modular robotics to create a verification detection device designed to carry out decisive wars. According to their size and scope of exploration, they can be divided into 'Type 1', 'Type 2', and 'Type 3' - from 'Type 1 Outpost' to 'Type 3 Outpost', the main purpose of which is to clear the way for the main fortress tower, and at the same time to carry out 'standard citizen' certification, and to bring all ordinary citizens within the United States into the new order as quickly as possible. ”

"Lucy's" explanation was concise and quick, but because the situation was so brain-burning, for a moment, Penny didn't notice any change in her tone.

After listening to that, she only fell into deeper confusion and doubts.

"Wait, wait...... What is a 'tower' and what is a 'standard citizenship'?!! ”

"Barrier—"

Lucy's answer was just about to begin when a loud noise interrupted its explanation.

Penny followed the prestige and saw a picture that would never be forgotten for her in this life-

But I saw that just under that blue sky, a huge machine turret with a height of tens of meters, under the crushing of the lower body tracks, knocked down pieces of trees and walked towards the top of the trail.

And right next to that turret, there are thousands of "Silver Snitches" like Fang Cai coming and going, and in addition to the "Silver Snitch", there are all kinds of other machine creatures, like worker bees spreading out of the hive, flying quickly into the distance!

"Buzz-buzz-buzz-"

The huge turret and the nearby robot creature ignored Penny's presence, and it seemed to be a little slow, but in fact it was faster than the sports car and drove into the distance.

Standing stunned and watching them leave, Penny realized that her back was covered with cold sweat.

Lucy ...... What am I going to do now? ”

She asked Lucy in a hoarse voice, like grasping the only straw in her hand.

"Hmm...... Sometimes, even if you step out of the path full of shadows, you may see something like this in addition to blue skies and white clouds. ”

Lucy replied kindly.

"You're sweating a lot, and it's not good for your health in weather like this – so, I suggest, you should go home and take a shower as soon as possible."

Four chapters were updated in the early hours of Sunday morning, and I was in a very bad state until five o'clock in the morning, and I didn't recover until Monday.

Next, try to get back to normal updates and keep it two more times a day.

(End of chapter)