Becoming the Wasteland Overlord With My Harem System!

Chapter 318: Looking Down on Vacuums

Eve’s turn was over, so next was Ria’s request.

What she wanted to visit was the place where Roamer’s kind make their "bodies" in. A kind of factory in a sense, but only for creating vessels for these living mechanical creatures.

Their destination wasn’t far, just neighboring the weapon’s manufacturing factory. In fact, walking between the two buildings didn’t even take 10 minutes.

With only 1 hour and 20 minutes left on the clock, they arrived at their destination.

"Woah! Look, husband! There’s so many cuties over there!"

Ria jumped, tugging at Axel’s sleeve. Her eyes turning into sparkles as she looked around with great interest. Axel could feel something soft and hard hitting him each time, which made him frown behind his smile.

She was practically vibrating.

After all, even now, she was still hugging Roamer’s body!

[This is where we craft our vessels.] Roamer explained. [Of course, all we can show you is the exterior part. For the interior, which involves a lot of private methods, we can’t show them to you, unfortunately.]

Hearing him say so made Axel nod immediately.

He knew that Roamer’s body might look small and portable, but in terms of weight, it should be at least a ton. Something had to account for that.

There’s no way such weight would come without anything "extra" put into their slim bodies.

As Axel watched the manufacturing process, seeing the cases that made them look like Roombas get assembled in seconds, a thought crossed his mind.

The shells came together almost too fast to follow—panels snapping into place, joints sealing, the whole outer frame complete before he could even blink.

"This..." He started. "Do you make vacuum cleaners, perhaps?"

[Vacuum? Yes, we do. It’s indispensable for keeping our surroundings clean, after all. And crafting one ourselves is cheaper and safer than buying one from outside.] Roamer replied

[We have ground, air, wall, and ceiling vacuum robots. Which one specifically are you asking for?]

"Air...?" Axel paused, imagining it, before shaking his head. "What I want is a specific kind. One that’s visually similar to you, but instead, just vacuums the floor."

[We don’t have such a model existing but...]

Roamer paused, his blinking lights flickering for a moment.

[Are you perhaps taunting me? Sorry, since I have no emotion such as anger or something similar. We only have a sense of self preservation.]

"Oh, no, no, no. It’s not like that!"

Axel quickly waved his hands, trying to break the misunderstanding.

"In my previous—I mean, in a certain dimension, we had vacuum cleaners shaped just like you did, so that’s why. I had no intention of making you feel slighted."

[That’s... interesting. How could a small machine efficiently clean the floors...? I guess you employ a mini-blackhole for the suction and such? But that’s hard to handle...]

"No, our technology wasn’t that advanced. In simple terms, it’s like..."

While Ria was watching the manufacturing line intently, Axel explained what a Roomba was to Roamer.

It took more back and forth than he expected—the concept of a machine that did nothing but quietly clean floors, with no weapons, no surveillance, no secondary function whatsoever, seemed genuinely difficult for Roamer to process.

Their discussion went on for about 30 minutes before he finally grasped what it was that Axel wanted.

[That’s actually interesting!] Roamer exclaimed.

[This way, we can even expand to other industries. Furthermore, we can use the existence of such vacuum cleaners to make it easier for our spies to enter enemy facilities safely!]

Axel never had that intention, but it seemed his little tirade sparked an idea on Roamer’s mechanical brain. Of all the things to take away from a conversation about floor cleaning, it was espionage.

[I’ve already put up a custom manufacturing order for such a vacuum. You can claim them along with the laptop later!] He added.

"No... I wasn’t intending to buy one, though..." Axel scratched his neck awkwardly.

[No need, no need. It’s a freebie for the idea you just gave us. Feel free to take it!]

Just like that, without even trying to, Axel gained a vacuum cleaner. He wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or concerned that a military-grade civilization was now reverse-engineering his offhand comment into a spy tool.

After that, with permission from Roamer, Ria also got an empty frame out of the manufacturing line. A replacement for her to hug instead. She accepted it without complaint, immediately squeezing it the same way she’d been squeezing the real thing.

Their next destination needed Roamer able to move freely, after all.

"Finally, it’s my turn." Axel whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

Along the way to both the weapon factory and this vessel factory, he already observed a few of the static defenses of this dimension. Along the paths they took, evenly spaced, were two kinds of objects.

A barrier generator, and a gravity controller.

The barrier would isolate anyone that’s on the path, while the gravity controller would hold them down until backup who could neutralize the threat arrived. A clean, efficient system. At least, that was what he predicted from what he could see.

However, this is only designed to stop threats already "within" their territory.

Axel still hadn’t seen any defensive implements outward facing to incoming threats instead. Partly because from their current position, all he could see on either side were tall, flat faces of metallic buildings. Massive, featureless walls that gave nothing away.

Piping jutted out of each, connecting each building to the next. Pathways above allowed travel across each one. Flickering blips of light blinked in the darkness here and there, giving the impression that not a single inch of the space went unused.

There was an order to it, even if it wasn’t immediately obvious. Everything felt deliberate. Intentional.

Those were a few examples of the things they could see.

[Then, next, let’s visit the viewing platform, shall we?]

Roamer, who was now on the ground, moving as he normally would—like a robot vacuum, gliding smoothly across the floor without a sound—spoke with a hint of pride.

[I am about to show you how we, the SunderTECH Imperium, protect ourselves from external threats!]

Without explaining much of anything, the little vacuum cleaner-like being began leading the way.

Axel looked at the two girls, also curious about what was just claimed, and followed.

However, what they saw was truly something beyond their imagination. Something that, even for him, was difficult to immediately put into words.