Chapter 32: The Reason for Battle (Part 2)
"Ying, Lin, I plan to cooperate with the Northern Dwarf and restart the Divine Mechanism production line."
Several years ago, at the Jetram Star Domain Void Base, after the Divine Mechanism siblings, who had traveled through the Star Gate to reunite with their master, had experienced the initial joy of reunion, they heard Joshua speak in a firm tone: "I feel that, in this era of approaching crisis, Mycroft should not rely solely on the remnants of the Era of Radiance. Some technologies from other worlds, or even existing ones, must also be developed—otherwise, if the Radiant Civilization failed, we will surely fail as well."
"Divine Mechanisms are not some extremely profound technology like the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, but they are a very ingenious and meticulous design. They can be said to be the collective wisdom explosion of the Carlis people at that time, further localized by the joint efforts of several Mycroft races. I think, if Divine Mechanisms can be mass-produced and popularized, the strength of the vast majority of people in the Mycroft World might take a leap, just like I did back then."
Saying this, Joshua still looked somewhat regretful. He stood in the central control room hall of the Dreadnought-class battleship, gazing at the void beyond the bridge, and spoke calmly: "I should have started doing this earlier... but along the way, there were too many things I encountered and needed to do, so this plan kept getting delayed... Not anymore."
Ying remembered it very clearly. She also remembered the feeling in her heart at that time.
—Back then, when I heard those words, the emotion that surged within me was bitterness.
Jealousy? How could it be? It wasn't that kind of feeling... The fear of having my unique identity taken away? That wasn't it either, not something so shallow...
At that time, the Divine Mechanism couldn't quite sort out her feelings, but now, after careful thought, she realized it was a mix of bittersweetness that her master had only now realized 'my weapon is this strong,' along with the resentment of being overlooked before—overall, it was a sigh in the face of something overwhelmingly powerful.
Lin remembered it very clearly. He also remembered the feeling in his heart at that time.
—What's this? I'm just your weapon... Why say so much?
At that time, the Divine Mechanism only wanted to spread his hands and make a helpless expression. Because his master was so powerful, wise, and gifted, if he thought it was good, then it naturally was good. As a Divine Mechanism, what could he say? Say no?
—I will only agree with you and carry out your will. Even if you have become so powerful that you no longer need to look down at the countless beings on the earth, I will still faithfully serve you on this earth that you have perhaps already forgotten.
Between heaven and earth, a fierce wind howled. Gale-force winds exceeding two hundred kilometers per hour, mixed with hail and dazzling lightning, fell from the sky like countless blades, spears, axes, and halberds. In the pitch-black cloudy sky, the faint glow of runic arrays from another world could be seen flickering.
At this moment, on the seawall of Sea Dragon City, a slightly overweight middle-aged man and his wife had already entered the mana engine control room of the seawall before the arrival of an even more violent weather assault. Amidst the impact that seemed about to tear the entire building apart, making the multi-layered reinforced windows rattle and threaten to shatter at any moment, the man input the security key with what was probably the fastest hand speed of his life, confirmed the status of the entire mana station, and decisively shut down most of its functions. The woman, who also worked here, was doing the same thing. The two worked together in tacit understanding, like dancing a waltz together at a ball in their early years.
"Whew... Finally done!"
After finishing all this, the middle-aged man let out a long sigh. He almost collapsed onto the control panel, unwilling to move. "This way, the impact of the tide on the seawall will be minimized, and there's no need to worry about a breach... As long as the waves don't exceed the limit, Sea Dragon City will be safe."
Beside him, the woman was also unable to move... Having run all the way from the city, moving through the wind and rain, dodging potential threats from magical beasts, and finally performing a feat of extreme operation in the control room... The exhausted woman rolled her eyes and looked at the still pitch-black sky—no, wait.
She could see two shining azure lights breaking through the heavy darkness, illuminating the dim clouds. The light called Order dispelled the previous oppressive atmosphere, causing the middle-aged couple, who were staring wide-eyed at this scene, to breathe freely and feel a sense of calm in their hearts.
The azure light bands dragged long tails of flame, flying like meteors.
Memories returned to the past.
"I really look forward to you learning everything I teach and becoming like me... Not just in Mycroft, but for all individuals in the multiverse who yearn for Order, this is my hope."
That was not long ago, words spoken by the master before he left the Jetram Star Domain and headed for the Starry World.
Joshua was in the void at the time, in human form, with his back to his Divine Mechanisms, gazing at the distant starry river and darkness. His slightly proud laughter could be heard: "Haha, I'm not being modest. I know this requirement is a bit too difficult—after all, not everyone can be like me. If there were even a few hundred or thousand 'Joshuas' in this Multiverse Star River, I really don't think the Evil God invasion would be much of a problem."
"Unfortunately, there aren't, so we have to settle for the next best thing."
—Yes. The master's words were absolutely correct... If there were a few hundred or thousand beings like the master in this world, what in this world could possibly trouble them?
If they didn't end up challenging and fighting each other, then certainly nothing.
At a speed exceeding three thousand meters per second, the atmosphere turned into a barrier as hard as steel. But the two azure lights easily broke through it, like falling stars from beyond the sky, carrying intense heat. Their aftermath evaporated the icy sea, leaving a conspicuous slash mark across the turbulent ocean surface.
Above the sea, clouds and mist billowed. The wind and frost of the polar regions, mixed with thunder and lightning, converged into ice and thunder, striking like artillery fire, covering the sky and earth like a rain of ice and lightning.
But with powerful sword aura and axe light leaping from the azure glow, all incoming attacks were cut down, not even scratching their surface.
Past memories surfaced.
"But here's the question—my Divine Mechanisms."
The humanoid warrior turned his head. Beneath that shell, something more magnificent manifested in the mortal world. He touched the heads of the siblings and spoke softly: "Do you want to become beings like me?"
"To give everything, to burn your life and soul... Even if only a little, do you truly want to follow in my footsteps?"
At that time, Ying gazed into her master's eyes.
At that time, Lin gazed into his master's eyes.
I...
I...
"Buzz——————Buzz!!!"
An excessively heavy and prolonged buzzing sound rose from the depths of the sea. Realizing that none of its previous attacks had worked, the Ultimate Being's anger began to surge. In the distance, the sea, which had been frozen into an ice island, shattered and churned. Ice layers tens of kilometers long rose and fell in the surging tide. A tide of magical power, enough to shake heaven, earth, time, and space, and swallow both the sky and the sea, erupted from the depths of the seabed, enveloping the entire sea area within hundreds of miles.
Although the area around Sea Dragon City was a subtropical region, usually the warm home of sea dragons, it was now as cold and dry as the northernmost Sea of Bewilderment. The sound of different gases in the air freezing and turning into liquid could even be heard.
At the center of the frozen sea, a massive vortex appeared. Ice fog at minus two hundred degrees Celsius began to spread. In the center of the vortex was a giant spiral shell as tall as a thirty-story building. It broke through the fog and appeared between the sea and the sky. Azure magical crystals, like countless eyes, covered every part of its shell.
The moment it appeared, all the magical power in the vicinity was dominated by it. All elements except water and ice were expelled. Gale-force winds, ice tides, and suffocating extreme cold pressed in, combining into a terrifying magical impact dozens of times more powerful than the Ultimate-rank Grand Magic 'Frost-Eroded Sky,' striking directly at the two incomparably small azure figures.
—The answer, of course, is that I can.
I can.
It has been a very, very long time since I last fought alongside you, master—Ying had said at that time.
I was once disappointed because I couldn't fight alongside you, master—Lin had said at that time.
—No, I am still disappointed now. I still look forward to it, even now.
So, we have been training and working hard all along... Perhaps with little effect, occasionally feeling disheartened and giving up, but that is only temporary. In places where no one can see, we are always striving... so as not to be left behind.
But perhaps, because we are truly slow and not very smart... we can never catch up, and then we never catch up.
"Master, you only need to think to get answers, only need to work hard to get results. That is the highest talent in this world. They all like to say you don't like to think and always act impulsively, but since you already know the outcome of all choices, why think? Why not choose the most suitable method and start acting directly?"
We know this very well.
We have always known it.
Facing the pressing tide of ice and frost, the two streams of light only let out barely audible laughter, as crisp as wind chimes stirred by the breeze. At that moment, one could clearly see, beneath the azure glow, a silver thread elegantly dancing in the freezing storm, and a hazy black dot rapidly shuttling through the glacial waves. They easily dodged most of the attacks from the Ultimate Being, then merged into two arcs, combining together, bringing a storm of light called 'radiance' to this pitch-black world.
The sword and axe intersected. The intense heat from the dazzling flash briefly illuminated the surroundings. Two completely different yet fundamentally similar concepts—'Vibration' and 'Cutting'—touched each other, creating a force far greater than themselves. Some fine material particles were torn apart. A reaction akin to nuclear fission did not trigger a chain explosion but was stably controlled, transforming into a blazing white blade of light, charging head-on into the tide of ice and frost.
The ice tide was enormous. It included icebergs hundreds of meters high, hurled up by giant waves and carried by impacts exceeding two hundred meters per second. Because of its immense size, when the combined light blade of sword and axe passed through it, it was not torn apart immediately but punched a neatly shaped hole. The extreme heat spread from that hole as a center, instantly vaporizing the iceberg.
—Size does not need to be larger than the enemy; energy does not need to be greater than the enemy. It only needs to be more concentrated, more condensed, and more pure.
Facing a 'powerful enemy,' the fastest way for 'oneself, who is neither strong nor weak' to win is not to grow faster than the enemy, but to concentrate one's existing power and strike at the enemy's weakest point.
In an instant, the torrential ice tide was pierced by the light blade. Arcs of electricity leaped around it, coiling like dragons and snakes, bringing the smell of ionized air to the atmosphere. It nimbly turned in the air, dodging bolts of lightning controlled by the Ultimate Spiral Shell, freezing frost, and even the purest magical restraints—everything was dodged, cut through. Soon, the Ultimate Being, born only a few hours ago, having just passed through the death of its new life and gained some combat memories from its inheritance, was confused by this elegant battle dance. For a moment, it lost track of the light blade.
Undoubtedly, this was the prelude to death.
Because the light of sword and axe had already struck in tandem.
The final memory fragment flashed by.
"Being slow just means being slow, not that you can't do it. Ying, Lin, you are artificial intelligences after all, made from my bones and derived from my blood. You were created, originally, to serve as a power stabilizer outside my brain and soul, ensuring I could bear the extra power brought by the Divine Mechanism—so if my soul, my brain, and even my flesh and blood body could bear that power, your role would be very small."
Hearing this, the Divine Mechanisms fell into an unspeakable silence. The siblings lowered their heads, not daring to meet their master's gaze.
But a hand, neither warm nor cold, grasped both of theirs.
"But what does that matter?"
Joshua's laughter could be heard: "You are my family."
"As long as I am here, if you don't want to fight, no one can ever force you to. But if you want to fight, I will do my utmost to teach you, to tell you everything I know. There will be no secrets."
"Listen well, Ying and Lin."
They could feel a powerful force being transmitted through the tightly clasped hands... It was not forcibly elevating them but granting some essence... It was a design, a blueprint, a system... that could reach the future.
"Being a bit slow is not a problem at all. Not being able to fight independently is not a problem at all. I am strong; I have ten thousand ways to solve these problems that trouble you."
In their eyes, dense data began to emerge, page after page, table after table. These data swept through like a storm, finally lurking in the deepest part of their souls... A system. A true system. No longer the original test version that needed to be consumed and combined with the body to function for scanning, but a mature, even complete system.
"This thing is essentially not something particularly powerful. It is a net that teaches you how to fish. Don't shortsightedly see it as a 'fish' that simply increases strength. It allows you to have answers when you think and results when you work hard. It lets you see the progress bar slowly but steadily growing when you endure hardship. A system is that simple. It can be a cheat tool or a tool to record growth."
"Take it well, and then go become me... No, you don't need to become me."
The hand left, the voice faded away, but the last words remained in the hearts of the Divine Mechanisms.
"Go become the you that you want to be."
—Crack—
The sound of a shell breaking resounded through heaven and earth. The icy wind that had been sweeping across the seas stopped in an instant. The turbulent ocean no longer had the force to drive it. Even the lightning in the pitch-black clouds dissipated in an instant.
A streak of light, like an obvious straight line in the night sky, struck the enemy's weakest point at the most opportune moment with the most powerful momentum—it aimed at the part of the Ultimate Spiral Shell not covered by its armor, then plunged straight into it at over fifty times the speed of sound. The impact it carried, combined with the terrifying energy fluctuations of the light blade itself, immediately shattered the fragile part of the shell.
Then came the explosion.
Boom—The high-temperature impact evaporated the seawater, causing a bowl-shaped cloud of water vapor to expand to nearly a kilometer high in one second. The next instant was the eruption. As the sky was stained with a cold hue by the purple-blue blood, a blue-purple mushroom cloud slowly rose, shooting straight up to over four thousand meters!
Boom!!
A second explosion could be seen within the mushroom cloud. Inside the dense magical cloud, two spiral streams of silver-black light chased an ice-blue core. They caught up to it and struck fiercely from both sides.
Within the troposphere, a magnificent two-colored ring-shaped shockwave spread, tearing apart the pitch-black clouds and allowing sunlight to return to the earth.
At the center of the ring-shaped shockwave, atop the mushroom cloud, the two Divine Mechanisms in azure armor hovered in the high sky. The silver-haired girl dispersed her giant sword into energy particles, while the black-haired boy turned his giant axe into a fading shadow.
They looked up at the sky. Deep wounds could be seen on their armor... The technique of using the combined sword and axe to trigger a prolonged fission explosion was a somewhat dangerous skill for them, who, with the assistance of their armor, possessed Ultimate-rank strength. But after this battle, they would surely be able to grasp their own path more accurately and gradually grow stronger on their own path.
"Mortals, or rather, ordinary beings, trying to catch up to naturally outstanding heroes probably looks as awkward (langbei) as we do now..."
Withdrawing her weapon, Ying couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. She murmured to herself: "But how can we give up? If we continue moving forward, even if the distance grows wider, it is at least 'pursuit.' But if we give up, even for a moment, it is merely being 'left behind.'"
"Lin!"
Sentimentality lasted only a moment. Soon, Ying regained her previous decisive demeanor. The Divine Mechanism lady, who once didn't even know common sense, had now become a warrior capable of standing on her own. She said softly: "Our mission is complete. How is Black doing?"
"She's fine. Over there were just some simple plague creatures, already eliminated by her. Black is now patrolling around the Western Mountain area. If she finds any Ultimate Beings, she will notify other strong ones to support. We don't need to worry."
Lin was constantly in contact with other allied units. After a brief pause, he continued: "The transfer situation in the Mycroft World is good. With the support of the Dominant Will of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground and Nostradamus, all teleportation gates are very stable. Now, over ninety percent of the women and children have entered the Sanctuary World. Only combatants and some staff who wish to stay behind remain."
"Don't worry. The acquaintances in Moldavia will be taken care of by Xiao Guang's main body."
Hearing this, Ying also breathed a sigh of relief: "Good... That's good."
Saying this, she couldn't help but look up at the sky again.
At some possible position in the distant space-time.
—This time, while you are away, we can also fulfill our responsibilities, fighting for ourselves and for this world.
Even if only a little... to follow in your footsteps.
That is our reason for battle.