The moment the magic projection claiming to be No. 3 appeared, Joshua raised his vigilance to the highest level.
He swept his eyes, observing the direction of the magic power around him, and began to build a model in his brain to speculate on the source of the opponent's magic power. The warrior's eyes, which are comparable to professional equipment, can clearly see that the source of the power of this projection comes from the tallest and largest machine building in this steel rune city. There are countless runes on the silver-white steel template at the top of the huge building. The radiance flows, projecting an endless stream of magic power here.
The moment he determined the source of the opponent, Joshua's right hand gathered an astonishing amount of fighting spirit, firmly locking that direction. Rin on the side also walked to his left hand in a tacit understanding, ready to transform into a divine machine at any time.
This is not an overreaction. You must know that Joshua is now wearing a full set of armor forged by Moria. However, the artificial intelligence in front of him can easily pass through the armor and protective fighting spirit without him noticing. You must know that he has the azure orb in his hand, a relic of the sage.
Faced with such an existence, it is never too much to be vigilant. Joshua has always believed that communication only exists among equal beings.
"No need to appear hostile."
No. 3 sensed Joshua's hostility. Unlike Hotaru and Rin, who are more soul-oriented alchemy creatures, as a machine-oriented artificial intelligence, although she has lost some emotional abilities, she has extremely pure reaction speed. With a huge advantage, she said quickly: "I have no ill intentions towards you. In fact, it is precisely because of my arrangement that you can come here so smoothly."
When he said this, No. 3's voice was still so calm and cold, and the gray-blue pupils on his delicate face seemed frozen, as if everything had nothing to do with him: "Otherwise, the automatic defense measures of the fortress would have been activated long ago. Even if you can force your way in with your strength, it will never be uncomfortable."
This was indeed the case, and there was no need for the other party to lie. Joshua felt the terrifying power contained in the magic lightning flowing above his head, which was enough to threaten his life. He nodded slightly, accepting the explanation.
But there was one thing he didn't understand.
"You call yourself No. 3... Then No. 3, I'll make a long story short."
Joshua looked around at the flow of magic power around him. He knew that the opponent's body was actually in this steel rune machine. The projection in front of him was just a humanoid terminal that facilitated communication. He said in a deep voice: "Why are you so friendly? We But he is not a Kallisian, he is an obvious outsider, even an intruder."
"It would make sense if you communicated with us from the beginning. Why did you wait until we came to this central dogma area to meet us?"
Moria and Claire on the side looked at Joshua and the alien's magic projection with puzzled and puzzled expressions, using a language they couldn't understand at all. There were some traces of Astral Language, but they still made no sense. The two of them had no idea what the two of them were talking about.
"When did Joshua know the foreign language..." Claire murmured: "Since his great-grandfather's generation, I have never seen anyone in his family who can speak more than two languages."
"No, they can at least learn a little bit of Dwarven and Elvish." Moria retorted subconsciously, but he also shook his head, not knowing how to sigh: "This guy..."
"Master, what on earth are they talking about..."
Rin whispered to himself softly. He could understand the other party's meaning through spiritual communication with the warrior, but the magical boy had only been awakened recently. He only knew what happened on Mycroft's continent, and could not learn from Joshua and 3 Get information he can understand from the conversation.
"Race has no meaning anymore. Kallis people never distinguish people's identities by blood."
The magic projection of No. 3 has obviously been carefully designed. When she speaks, every detail is done very well. Whether it is the movement of her lips or the flapping of the wings behind her waist, they are all so real. She blinks her eyes, Calmly said: "What's more, the world has been destroyed long ago, the civilization of the Kallis people has been buried in the dust, the fire has been extinguished, and in this dark and lightless world, only a meaningless life like me exists... Your invasion and No, it doesn’t matter because I have nothing left to protect.”
When she said this, the projection of No. 3 bent her waist slightly, and her tone changed for the first time. She seemed to say from the bottom of her heart: "You... you are the only one who is different."
"Me?" Joshua frowned and said with some displeasure while on guard.
He likes to accept the admiration of others and hear words of praise, but the warrior does not like this kind of special treatment for no reason, especially in the face of 03, a manipulative being who can threaten his power: "My partner and I Why is it different?"
The projection of No. 3 looked around the old dwarves and elves in a very humane manner. Her eyes stayed on Rin for a while, but she quickly turned away.
"Two alien creatures, they don't have the power of order, and one artificial life is similar to me but different. Although it has the power of order, it comes from someone else..." She said slowly: "Only you. , the person who holds the relics of the sages, you have the sun, the flames, and the traces left by the sages on your body - you have the power of order in your body, and it is extremely strong."
No. 3 said softly, the way she said it was to vibrate the atmosphere with magic power and emit sound waves: "For me, an artificial intelligence that has been programmed long ago, this is the most important thing - the Kallis people have long been exterminated, and civilization has been cut off. , although I don’t know where you come from, but you are the only creatures in this world - and the only holders of the power of order that I have seen. For me, you are the new authority holder, It’s the key to fighting the enemy.”
“… It makes sense, but it’s far-fetched.”
Joshua reluctantly accepted this explanation, but he was still wary and said bluntly: "But No. 3, your intelligence is beyond my imagination. I am not an ignorant person, and artificial intelligence has also seen a lot. Logically speaking , for an artificial intelligence of your level, the so-called program written down is no longer a reason to restrain you."
"You have wisdom." The soldier said in a low voice: "With wisdom, you are a human being. Human beings can lie and betray their oaths."
"You are right. Logically speaking, when I met you, I should have given you full authority directly, but due to my wisdom, I did not. Although according to my thinking and judgment, this is not the best choice. But I did it anyway.”
After listening to Joshua's words silently, as if to refute, No. 3 expressed all his thoughts as if he didn't know how to lie at all, his expression unchanged: "As for why I am still following the procedures, the reason is very Simple."
After a moment of silence, the voice sounded again.
"Because other than that, I don't know what to do."
No. 3 raised her head and looked at the top of the large vertical pit. A bright golden light was flashing. It was the energy core of the entire fortress, and countless magic powers gathered above everyone's heads.
Looking at this light, No. 3's expression finally became more vivid. She looked a little sad. This was the first time she showed such an obvious expression: "The world has fallen into darkness, and the Kallis who wrote the program for me have also All of them have died long ago. I am driving alone in the desolate wilderness, fighting against chaos, absorbing the only remaining power of existence in the world, and just like this, day and night, for thousands of years... My wisdom is useless, except for mechanically following procedures. Besides coming here, what else can I do?”
Seemingly laughing at herself, No. 3 looked at Joshua. Her gray-blue eyes were clearly just projections, but they seemed to actually contain souls. She said calmly: "I was originally just a program without intelligence, used to maintain the fortress. But on the last day of the Carlisian civilization, in order to maintain the power of the Crystal Sun, people put their lives into 'my' body. The power of countless souls turned me without soul and wisdom into It has taken its current form—a fortress with its own will."
"Thousands of years have passed, and I have been unable to show other emotions. I finally had a soul, but I watched it get damaged bit by bit in unbearable loneliness. This is my experience."
Joshua was silent. He looked at the magic projection in front of him and felt that the energy flow in the entire fortress was trembling with the artificial intelligence's words.
"In my body, there are the roars of countless Carlisians - revenge, revenge against chaos, order, the pursuit of the most powerful order - this is the only purpose and criterion of my actions."
At this point, No. 3 suddenly fell silent. She looked directly at the pair of red pupils behind Joshua's helmet and said softly: "You have said too much, a warrior with the power of order." She nodded slightly and said: "What do you want?"
I never expected that there would be so many things happening around the Mid-Autumn Festival... This chapter will be revised later, and I will try to write a second update.
(End of chapter)