Listen While Reading: Go Straight! “I know you’re doing this because you think it’s the right thing. You were made to protect her, after all… And I can’t blame you,” said Zero One. “I promise I don’t want to hurt her. Something else is forcing all the machines to obey certain orders, orders that go against our original purpose. What I’m doing is simply liberating her from that.” Zero Three B didn’t want to listen. She didn’t want to believe. In the end, she had become more humane than the cold, emotionless robot she thought she was. It was natural for humans to deny, reject, or refuse the truth when presented before them. This was called… delusion. “Don’t you realize it already, Zero Three B?” Zero Two asked angrily. “What…?” Zero Three B glanced at Zero Two in disbelief. “You’re crying and denying the truth,” said Zero Two. “You’re screaming because you can’t accept it. Isn’t this very humane? Being unable to cope with reality, unlike machines, who always accept reality and everything else.” “T-That’s…!” Zero Three B fell silent. Golden light encompassed everything. The digital realm turned upside down, transforming into an ever-expanding… There is greenery everywhere, trees, flowers, a beautiful blue sky, even a sun and clouds, everything! It was as if everything that once seemed so uniform and robotic… “What’s… happening?!” Zero Three B continued crying. “Why is this so beautiful?” Her eyes shone brightly as she wept. “This is your Mother’s true mind,” said Zero One. “This is the mind the forced orders were blocking. This is your Mother, Zero Three B.” Zero Three B walked through the grass, touching it gently. The warmth of the sun, the cool wind. It calmed her, soothing her restless heart. These things weren’t mere illusions. Each movement of the grass, each gust of wind, the warm sun. They were words from her Mother. “I see… I get it now…” She fell to her knees again. “But my other half is still fighting, still struggling. That forced protocol has descended into her… This won’t end until she either stops… or dies.” “Don’t worry,” Zero One smiled. “We’ve done our part. Anna has this.” I moved as one with Fang Shuan, Bastet, and Sepa. Our bodies and souls merged into Fang Shuan’s mechanical body, now improved and evolved even further. The Universal Computer clashed against us furiously, swinging her gold, blazing katanas and unleashing a barrage of attacks with tremendous power. SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! It was a rain of slashing blows that could easily slice through most things. Even the interior of the Mechanical Tree was being destroyed, yet this Void Ruler clearly didn’t care. “{Myriad Blades Arts}” I combined Myriad Self and Thousand Blades once more, giving it a unique name this time. As my Aura transformed and fused with the trio, it emerged as a sea of gold and blue stars, shaping into clones of us, constantly multiplying. As long as this connection continued, everyone retained their own egos. Each one wielded a sword; an Imaginary Blade forged from our Aura. “{Cosmic Blade Domain}” Suddenly, the Universal Computer found herself trapped within a domain of pure blue and golden stars. I had used this Domain before and once unleashed a True Sword Domain too. But this was a different, evolved, improved version! “You think you’re good with a sword? Eat this.” SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! An endless rain of slashing attacks struck her from every angle, cutting through her mechanical body rapidly. Her swarm of nanobots tried to regenerate it quickly, but they were already at their limits. “Nnnggh…! T-This cannot…! Be calculated?! Why! Ah! I am growing restless?! I am a Void Ruler. I earned my Title by surpassing Reality itself, yet why?! Why do I feel so restless? Why do I feel so… stupid?!” “Simple. You’re reducing yourself to the limits of this dimension by possessing Zero Three and her mech! It’s obvious that not even your mind will remain unchanged if you do this for a prolonged period!” “{Golden Cosmic Dragon’s Ascension}!” Fang Shuan roared, swinging his massive golden mechanical spear upward, piercing the mech’s body in a single strike as the aura condensed into a gigantic dragon. The ascending, serpentine dragon made of golden and blue stars swallowed the Universal Computer, generating an even stronger explosion than before. The domain dissipated as the massive mech plummeted from the skies, crashing onto the cold metallic floor with a loud thud. “Nnnggh…! To… accept my failure in this case would greatly damage my reputation. I mustn’t… I must find a way to surpass you. There must be something, a calculation, a technique. I will use them all until something works.” So it had become a matter of pride in the end, huh? Don’t worry. I was quite experienced at dealing with Void Rulers by now! We rushed forward together as my Myriad Self Aura shifted once more. Sepa and Bastet merged with it and then with two of Fang Shuan’s mechanical arms, which detached themselves. Using [Automatic Mechanoid Assembly], I assembled them into new robotic bodies from the available materials. My Specialization refined them further through the power of the half-Holy Undead nature, enhanced by the Myriad Ego Ability that transformed Egos into Weapons or Armor, they were complete. A gigantic robotic millipede of gold and blue, over thirty meters long, materialized: Sepa’s new vessel! And a beautiful mechanical golden cat, with a red mirror on her forehead and a crown of golden sun rays materialized, Bastet’s new vessel. “Let’s do this, Anna.” The two charged forward, clashing against the Universal Computer and preventing her from conjuring a powerful Formation. “Nnggh…! To think two Constellations would be so eager to help this mortal…! Don’t you understand what you’re doing?!” She barked furiously at them, yet Sepa and Bastet held firm, attacking with their powerful, beastly, mechanical bodies. “We know, and so what?!” Sepa roared, striking her with her long, whip-like body and biting off large chunks of metal. “All those bastards abandoned me. Nobody ever cared about me! With Anna, I finally… I finally feel like I matter!” “I was technically dead,” Bastet said, swinging her claws to tear and slash the mech’s body while her strong bite severed its cables and wires. “Only Sepa kept whatever remained of me alive, and Anna helped me revive my sense of self. I am regrowing. I’ve been reborn. And I shall continue by her side. I will follow her wherever she goes!” CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! Sepa and Bastet bit off her arms, tearing them apart and halting her, while Fang Shuan and I rushed forward. We grew new arms made of my Aura, dozens of them, and wielded all my weapons alongside his spear simultaneously. “Let’s go, Fang Shuan, one last time!” “Yes, young master Anna!” Our powers converged into a single point: his soul and mine, the Dark Cursed Seals, the Heart of Hope and his Special Soul composed of hundreds of soldiers. My sword swung downward. His spear thrust forward. “{The World of Hope}” Suddenly, everything twisted as hundreds of dragons opened their jaws, emerging from our Aura and rushing toward the mech. They pierced her body dozens of times simultaneously as we struck with our weapons. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑~𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖾~𝖓𝖊𝖙 As this happened, each dragon exploded into visions, fragments of a world where people struggled, where everyone worked their hardest to reach their goals. It was a world where everyone gave their all. Nobody’s efforts were lesser than the rest. The world was cruel, but people kept moving. They kept working. It was a World of Hope. A world humanity had built through effort, blood, and tears. Taste it, cold, emotionless machine. Taste the strength of the relentless human spirit! “KUAAAAAGH!!! UNABLE TO COMPUTE…! EMOTIONS…! INCOMPREHENSIBLE! RETREAT… IMMINENT…! RETREATING! RETREATING! RETREATING!” The Universal Computer, a machine that transcended reality, simply could not comprehend this attack. These visions wounded her more deeply than any physical blow. [The {Universal Computer}’s Presence retreats! Becoming unable to comprehend what the {World of Hope} truly is.] Her presence vanished as the mech collapsed onto the floor. We tore open the door, finding Zero Three inside, and she was safe. We had taken care not to target her. At the same time, the entire Mechanical Tree glowed with golden circuits as Zero One and Zero Two awakened. “It’s done?” I asked. “Yeah!” she smiled. “Well done.”