I! Cleaner!

"Alright."

Leaning on the attentive service of the dead spirit technician, Ryan squinted toward the distant docks bustling with ships and proactively called for a halt after successfully breaking through the encirclement,

"If we go any further, it might draw attention, so let's park the powered armor here. Thanks for your help this time."

"..."

*I really didn't want to help with this... but did I have a choice?*

Watching as the Duke flipped out of the cockpit, the unfortunate Golden Retriever bit back his words repeatedly, eventually choosing to comply. He resignedly adjusted the controls, preparing to head back, but then...

"Wait, don't take the powered armor back."

"Huh?"

"The battery of the powered armor... I mean the energy module, is useful to me. Help me remove it."

"But... without the energy module, I won't be able to drive the powered armor back. How will I return?"

"By boat, isn't the dock just over there?"

"..."

"What's the matter? Is there a problem?"

"No... nothing..."

Facing the unreasonable request from his Duke, the Golden Retriever subordinate internally sighed, resigning himself to the situation. He flipped a couple of switches and opened the energy compartment of the powered armor.

Then, amid the all-too-familiar creaking sound, he clambered out of the cockpit with difficulty, standing helplessly aside, watching his Duke pry loose the energy module from the powered armor.

"Hmm... There's a bit of energy fluid left, but thanks anyway."

"You... you're welcome..."

Nodding dryly, he answered the Duke's polite thanks as Steven Laine patted his empty pockets. Somewhat embarrassedly, he asked,

"Um... Duke, could you perhaps... lend me some money?"

"Huh?"

"Before the mission, I was taking a nap in the barracks and didn't expect to be coaxed... brought here by you, so I didn't carry any money. Could you lend me some, so I can hire a carriage at the dock to go back home?"

"This... alright then..."

Though he didn't have much money himself either, Ryan glanced at the pitiful Golden Retriever in front of him and then at the energy module on the ground, which cost at least ten thousand Gold Wheels. He didn't have the heart to refuse the request, reluctantly calling for Young Ha to toss his wallet over.

*Hmm... but most of my salary is kept by Anna, only leaving me with essential expenses. Plus, I've stockpiled a fair amount of supplies in the Mirror World, leaving just 4 Silver Wheels and 9 Copper Wheels in my possession...*

"How about you don't hire a carriage?"

After inspecting his deflated wallet, Ryan tentatively suggested,

"Since the dock is right there, we could just take a boat back to the Capital City, and then change to public carriages twice to get to the city center."

"That... that could work..."

"Then take this. You don't need to repay the money!"

Seeing the Golden Retriever didn't insist on hiring a carriage, Ryan, a bit embarrassed to refuse due to his financial struggle, felt slightly relieved as he counted out 7 Copper Wheels and handed them over. Smiling, he advised,

"The standard cabin ticket on the passenger ship costs 3 Copper Wheels. Ride all the way to Bunk River Dock, then switch to the old town line public carriage, which runs every 60 minutes. Spend 3 Copper Wheels to ride to the end, and you'll reach the city center of the Capital City. You can hire a dockside carriage from there, with payment settled afterward. You can also get off one stop early if you're heading to Ryan Manor, which will save you 1 Copper Wheel. You just need to walk to the next stop at Wesmin Church and spend 2 Copper Wheels for the carriage along Church Street, also reaching Redwood Street, perfectly within the 7 Copper Wheels."

"..."

Facing the Duke's meticulously calculated travel expenses and even a money-saving guide, the Golden Retriever took the Copper Wheels, his nose tingling slightly at the thought of the foul-smelling stench in the lower-class cabin.

...

"Th-Thank you..."

After gratefully thanking the Duke for his generosity, the teary-eyed Golden Retriever clutched his precious 7 Copper Wheels and stumbled away. Meanwhile, Ryan carried the battery down the path to a secluded spot, retrieving a black security-grade case containing the Atifei-128.

The round connector... it also needed a round socket...

After fumbling around the energy module of the powered armor and locating the pipeline bound in the slot, Ryan detached the pipe from the module and, following the method taught by Atifei-128 earlier, unscrewed the protective bolt and secured it to the socket on the back of the security-grade case.

Soon, accompanied by a light buzz, the black matte case vibrated slightly, and countless densely packed, hair-thin connecting rods inside began to move in a peculiar yet orderly high-speed motion.

"Thank you for awakening me, Dad."

"..."

"Uh... you better call me Mr. Leon..."

Listening to Atifei-128's pleasant childlike voice, Ryan, somewhat embarrassed, scratched his nose and corrected her,

*"I was just kidding earlier, alright?"*

Upon hearing Ryan's words through the copper tube, the densely packed gear groups inside the security-grade case rapidly spun at a special rhythm, then drove thousands of connecting rods and lock slot devices to knock briefly on the center sphere full of fine holes, delivering the information.

After the core sphere twisted twice, it reversed and performed a similar operation, driving the dense gear group in normal rotation and using the hammer set to knock on the copper tube, simulating the voice of a little human girl, responding,

"Although I determined that you didn't seem to be joking before, since you have a request, I am willing to comply, Mr. Lyon."

"..."

*Was that 'computation' just now? What in the world is this thing's principle?*

Seeing the Atifei-128 accepting and understanding his words in less than a second and giving a corresponding response, Ryan couldn't help but curiously ask,

"How do you actually speak? What are all these parts inside the case for?"

"The reason I can speak is quite simple. As a biological entity with a relatively simple vocal organ structure, 60-80 sounds is the limit for an ordinary human, whereas the scale recorded by a single gear in my gear set far exceeds this number.

The text content is relatively more complex. Your human language can be roughly categorized into four major types: ideographic, syllabic, phonetic, and symbolic, with traits interchangeable. If designated as 1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, there are about 15 typical comprehensive language models.

Each language model typically has between 250,000 and 670,000 valuable words, with commonly used vocabulary shrinking to between 3,000 and 11,000 due to individual and regional differences. Tone, voice, and corresponding emotions must also be considered.

So, even though the process has been greatly simplified, to output corresponding characters in conversation with accompanying emotions to accurately express my meaning, it requires activating fifteen auxiliary gear sets and thirty to one hundred ten short arc levers each time..."

"Alright, alright, don't explain the rest. Let's pretend I never asked this question."

After trying hard to comprehend without success, Ryan wisely made peace with himself, giving up on pondering how she could speak and instead asked his most pressing question.

"Atiefie, let me ask you."

Taking out the large box issued by the bureau and placing Atifei-128 inside, Ryan used the Cursed Silver to form a dagger and dug a hole in the box, attaching the speaking and listening copper tubes before inquiring,

"What's the situation with the Crolock Kingdom? What's going on with the Gemini Sub-bureau of the Purification Bureau? Do you have any connection with the Aquarius Director?"