Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 353 Mechanical Fragment No. 04

"..."

Accompanied by sighs, countless people throughout the city felt overwhelmed by this subtle yet immense tremor.

This is because countless computer cases and mechanical devices throughout the city have been affected by some mysterious force, and have begun to operate with a roar, with huge data flows flowing in a way that exceeds the limits.

As the operation of mechanical fragment 03 ceased, this massive amount of data began to rapidly enter the brains of every living person in Zero City—that is, it entered the real-world environment of Zero City.

At this moment, even Han Su and the others, who were being bombarded by endless information, were suddenly startled.

He did indeed meet Miss Ai as he wished and obtained information about her. However, Miss Ai's true nature and purpose far exceeded his expectations. At this moment, she had already made a choice that was consistent with her logic and identity.

At this moment, what she seemed most interested in was actually herself, or rather, the shadow of the emperor that clung to her.

This crucial reason enabled her to break through certain limitations.

Previously, Miss Ai only influenced the world through various information, but now, her massive data has entered Zero City and begun to take over the city's physical defenses.

Unable to distinguish whether it was a hallucination or reality, the entire city was in disarray, with countless fine and intricate data lines extending from their heads, intertwining like a bundle of hideous, delicate tentacles.

These tentacles emerged from outside the party through the windows, wrapping around everyone in strands and patches.

It coiled around Han Su, and also around the black briefcase in Han Su's hand.

She was, after all, just a machine, a crazy and obsessive machine that had destroyed the world countless times. But now, in her calculations, she saw the probability of success, so she made her decision without hesitation.

Kill all living beings on the scene, lure out the Fifth Calamity, and then seize control of the Emperor's vessel.

To the people of the pre-solar era, she was an utterly loyal machine; but to the people of this era, she was the most terrifying being. Because she didn't consider anyone in this era as human, but merely an anomaly.

You can delete it at will!

What does she need?

Han Su, under this intense crisis, suddenly realized what was happening.

Are they the mechanical fragments from my box?

Normally, these mechanical fragments are kept in this mysterious old box, unnoticed by anyone, even though he has to carry this old box at all times because of his drifting fate.

But it did work. At least for now, the mechanical fragments remained safely with him until this moment, when Miss Ai's reckless erosion and counterattack finally put the box at risk.

"broken!"

At that moment, Han Su suddenly realized an extremely terrifying problem.

At this moment, facing this crazy Miss Ai, I am not worried at all. Or rather, on this path of life, I am not worried about anything I do.

This time, I can return to the castle at any time.

The castle's mechanics dictate that it has a certain "surplus," which means that for every two escape attempts, one can return to the castle ahead of schedule.

Once you activate the mechanical fragments, the blink will arrive ahead of schedule, and you will be able to escape this life path.

The conversation with Miss Ai and the hunt for nobles were all based on this foundation.

But he did not expect that Miss Ai would show such a strong desire for "himself". This desire made her not only appear to talk to him, but in a way, she even gambled on this place and descended to this place in her true form.

This action gave Han Su a very ominous feeling.

This is the kind of mistake that Miss Ai, as a machine, is most likely to make!

She only acts based on data; if she believes the probability on paper meets the criteria for action, she will act without hesitation.

As a human being, I understand that humans are born with the ability to conceal data.

"What you think is the boundary!"

Without a second thought, he suddenly recited the zero-sequence cipher spell number 03.
With a wave of his hand, a barrier appeared in front of him, blocking Miss Ai's all-encompassing and intrusive attacks.

At the same moment, Lu Neng and Chen Ji with the pot lid appeared in the same flash and stood beside him, chanting the same incantation.

Number 03 is the best defensive cipher spell, but it can only block one side. Miss Ai's intrusion, however, is all-pervasive. The two of them reacted the fastest, flashing to Han Su's side and together they built a perfect defense.

Protect the briefcase that Han Su had hidden behind his back.

On the other side, Lü Xiaoba was a beat slower to react, but he was brave enough.

In a flash, he burst into curses, then grabbed a chair and smashed it at the data cable dangling in the air.

But it only made it halfway up the mountain before being swept aside by the wriggling data cable, smashing countless pieces of furniture and decorations.

His irritable demeanor was so unbearable to look at by the noble lady in the purple dress.

But for some reason, I felt that this guy was really fierce, so fierce that he had a strange, pure quality that made people want to take a second look.

"Back off!"

Amidst Miss Ai's frantic intrusion, another figure suddenly appeared. Li Manman's eyes had turned a strange white, exactly the same as the ability Han Su once possessed in his right eye, only much stronger than Han Su's back then.

This paleness possessed an extremely mysterious power, which directly blocked Miss Ai's frenzied invasion.

The Pale Authority can dissolve everything, yet it can also combine everything. It can break through limitations, allowing human consciousness to invade physical objects. Even the ancient bronze civilization relied on the power of the Pale when it broke the boundary between flesh and machine.

This characteristic also gives Li Manman the potential to truly slow down or stop Miss Ai.

"Sizzle..."

Miss Ai clearly had no intention of getting entangled with anyone. After being blocked from this intrusion, she immediately mobilized even stronger forces, seemingly with a sense of desperate gamble, and launched them all at the blocking position formed by Han Su, Lu Neng, and the three with the pot lid.

She even calculated the force of each strike, using just the right amount to break through the blocker's defenses.

But Han Su, facing her offensive, now had a deep look in his eyes.

The more he felt Miss Ai's relentless pursuit of him, the more certain he became of his suspicions.

Miss Ai, you've been tricked.

As he thought this, he quickly channeled his mental energy into the briefcase, stopping the operation of mechanical fragment No. 03.

The lingering effects of time's departure are rapidly fading away.

Sure enough, as the No. 03 mechanical fragment stopped operating, before Miss Ai's attack even reached Han Su and his companions' blocking position, a very clear, deep voice suddenly came from outside the city into the party:
"Ms. Angel of Destruction, we have been inviting you for ten years, but you have not shown up."

"I never expected that I would have to resort to this method to see you in the end!"

"..."

The voice seemed to possess some kind of magic, instantly startling everyone in Zero City, or rather, countless people within the power of this banquet.

Those who still had the strength immediately struggled to turn their heads and look over, including the surging data cable of Miss Ai.

The next moment, his pupils contracted sharply, and his expression turned to shock.

The spiritual energy surging around Zero City has been driven away like a mystery, and the cessation of operation of Mechanical Fragment 03 is also causing the city to rapidly reconnect with reality.

At this moment, spiritual forces merged, and everyone in the city suddenly saw that there were already thirty-six figures dressed in bright red sacrificial robes standing outside the city to block their way.

The thirty-six blocking positions completely isolated Zero City.

Not only the other people in Zero City, but also Miss Ai, whose true form was in Zero City at this moment.

Moreover, their sudden appearance can only be explained by one thing: these people had already set off when Zero City was conducting its own time-deprivation.

Just as Miss Ai had been hiding in Zero City, waiting for an opportunity to strike, these people outside the city must have been mobilized from all over the world to rush here before everything inside Zero City began to happen.

Han Su's concerns were confirmed.

The two nobles in Zero City claimed they were there to capture Miss Ai's consciousness, but these two young nobles actually had no such ability.

The capture of Miss Ai's consciousness was real, but these two nobles were merely bait, serving only a location-finding function. The one who truly carried out this mission was the Guardians of the World Organization, who were waiting in the wings...

Han Su intuitively guessed this, and immediately realized that there must be something else that he didn't know about.

The person who guards the world must have some information that is beyond their comprehension.

Miss Ai ultimately fell into the trap precisely because of this lack of information.

But who has such great abilities to scheme against this world-destroying machine?

"Sizzle..." As Han Su was quickly thinking about this question, he saw countless chaotic signals intertwining and spinning on the screens hanging high around the party. This was Miss Ai rapidly gathering intelligence about the area around the city.

She is a machine, and for her, the way to gather intelligence is through all the cameras, sensors, and manipulated human eyes within Zero City that she can use.

These signals are converging on Zero City, but to the average person, all they see on the screen is static.

"The will of bronze will live on forever in the reflection of the world!"

Han Su suddenly raised his hand and wiped it, chanting a secret incantation, using the power of copper to re-sort out these signals.

The next moment, several clear faces popped up on those screens.

Everyone saw that behind the thirty-six high priests in crimson robes, several people were standing on the roof of an abandoned building, calmly looking up at Zero City. Among them, the face of a thin man in prison clothes immediately caught Han Su's attention.

A sudden, inexplicable flutter in my heart: 'Is it him?'

"Now that you're here, don't leave!"

The one who spoke was the one standing at the very front of the group; he was wearing a Zhongshan suit and had a somber expression.

At this moment, Zero City seemed to be in an uproar, with countless scattered data overflowing from all directions. However, the thirty-six red-robed high priests around Zero City each possessed the third stage level.

It can be said that none of them who entered would be a match that Han Su and his group could contend with.

But now, the thirty-six people are willing to disperse and work together to prevent every bit of data from escaping or being leaked.

That was Miss Ai, trapped in Zero City, and also their prey.

The elderly man in the Zhongshan suit sighed softly, "Two thousand years have passed, and we have always wanted to have a proper chat with you!"

"Please!"

"..."

He appeared calm, but in reality, he was quite anxious and unwilling to waste a single moment.

After saying hello, he immediately raised his hand and recited a spell.

Meanwhile, in Zero City, Miss Ai's vast thoughts were becoming chaotic, something Han Su had yet to figure out.

Even though Miss Ai is trapped in a city, she is invisible and traceless. She can be as large as covering an entire city or as small as shrinking into a tiny mail tray. It is almost impossible for outsiders to capture her true consciousness.

What should these guardians of the world do?
The answer came the very next second when the beeping sound suddenly rang out.

"That is……"

Han Su immediately glanced at his briefcase.

I initially thought the mechanical fragments in my box had been activated, but I immediately realized it wasn't.

Right beside me, a mechanical fragment was activated, but it wasn't mine, which means...

He was slightly startled and turned to look at Lu Neng beside him.

Having arrived at this point in his life, the message he conveyed to Wei Lan was to do his utmost to find the mechanical fragments. This task was originally given to Lu Neng and Lü Xiaoba, but they ended up here instead…

Sure enough, as soon as Lu Neng saw Han Su turn his head to look at him, he nodded and said, "I received the message from the model. I was originally going to track down mechanical fragment No. 04."

"The advantage is that I wasn't far away and got close to the coordinates, but the disadvantage is that I immediately saw those two arrogant guys ostentatiously taking something from that city."

"So, without even conducting an investigation, they tracked down the two of them."

"so……"

Han Su was shocked and his gaze swept towards the two nobles: "The No. 04 mechanical fragment is on them?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Just as Han Su's gaze fell upon them, a voice suddenly burst into laughter.

It was that count in the white suit.

He had just been completely dismembered, and the pot-headed Chen Ji had taken care of all the people parasitized by the freak species.

However, the troublesome thing about the terrifying species is that they are extremely difficult to kill completely. Han Su and the others knew that he had not completely annihilated his consciousness, but they had no way to deal with him. He also knew how terrifying Han Su and the others were, and he never dared to revive his consciousness.

Only then did it suddenly revive from the body of a Zero City administrative official, bursting into a loud laugh: "The Guardians have arrived..."

"You will all die eventually!"

His gaze was fixed on Han Su, filled with hatred: "No matter who you are, you will die here!"

In his frenzied outburst, he manipulated the official's hand, waving it rapidly to draw a mysterious symbol. The next moment, his spiritual power rippled outwards.

A series of crashing sounds came from afar. Suddenly, after several doors, a box with two human legs came running towards him. He rushed up to it, grabbed it, and then opened it with hostility.

At this moment, after repeatedly being thwarted, his face was full of venting.

This is the real weapon he brought, but he hadn't had a chance to use it until now...

Then, in the next instant, his expression suddenly became unusually blank.

He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, and when he looked into the box again, his expression went beyond blankness; it also showed a hint of panic.

The box was empty except for a dusty gray playing card with a clown making a heart shape on it.

"?"

This time, not only was he stunned, but Han Su was also momentarily dumbfounded.

Then his gaze slowly turned to Lu Neng.

Lu Neng also looked at Han Su with surprise: "You didn't think that I followed them all the way and did nothing but play the piano, did you?"

"I..."

Looking at that matter-of-fact face, Han Su even had the urge to strangle him.

This guy is truly a freak in our castle squad, embodying both reliability and unreliability. His reliability lies in his initiative and his unpredictable nature, completing the mission before the person in question even realizes it.

The unreliable part is...

You got such an important thing, and you can still keep it to yourself?

Where is the stuff?

"..."

"I knew that once you found out, I wouldn't be able to keep the things..."

Lu Neng also looked frustrated and hesitated. He quickly drew a triangular talisman with his palm, then reached in, as if his palm had entered another space.

The next moment, he withdrew his hand and saw that there was now an exquisite and intricate mechanical fragment with an unusual beauty in his hand. Judging from its appearance alone, Han Su was certain that this was mechanical fragment number 04.

It is much smaller than other mechanical fragments, but its unique style of creation cannot be imitated.

Most importantly, this mechanical fragment has been remotely activated, with a tiny gear on it spinning rapidly, causing hazy, sand-like particles to continuously appear in the surrounding air.

"Hey!"

Miss Ai seemed to have sensed the aura of the mechanical fragment as well, and suddenly her attack became even more ferocious, but it was blocked by Li Manman. Countless data cables flew wildly in the air, but inexplicably, the speed of this flight was slowing down and was getting stuck.

"Is this mechanical fragment also used to extract time?"

"No!"

Sensing the changes around him, Han Su quickly made a judgment: "Its function is similar to the Sands of Time from the Song-Chu era..."

"...It's freezing time!"

"..."

He immediately understood the thoughts of the Guardians outside. They wanted to use the mechanical fragment to freeze the entire Zero City, thereby capturing Miss Ai and everyone in the city.

If Lu Neng hadn't accidentally stolen this mechanical fragment, they would have already fallen completely into the Shou Shiren's scheme.

(End of this chapter)