Why can't humans do it too?

This was also the first anomaly that Riku noticed when he discovered that only the Shubi All-in-One Gai appeared in front of him. These guys always acted in groups without any purpose... Why is this one acting alone?

"The connection was severed?" Repeating Riku's words, Sur asked curiously, "Why was the connection severed? Does that mean it can be reconnected?"

"According to her, there were several logical errors when analyzing the unique human language called 'heart,' so it was abandoned. I don't really understand the specifics. I have no idea what she meant by 'heart,'" Riku sighed more and more heavily.

"Hmm... So you just picked up a Machine Race member like that?" Su'er felt like she completely understood. "Then you made a profit, didn't you? This is a Machine Race member, even if it claims to be abandoned, its power is still far superior to most races. Why do you look so worried?"

Chapter 228 Riku and Shubi

Although he looked worried, Su Er felt that the white-haired man's sigh had a hint of... well, a happy kind of trouble.

Those once gray, lifeless eyes, seemingly devoid of any hope, now possessed a tangible light. It wasn't just about simply surviving, as had been emphasized in the past; they were now more vibrant, brimming with hope.

The gloomy Riku that Ke'er and Su'er had tried so hard to achieve but always failed now seemed to have finally come alive, truly alive.

Even though Riku was talking about how the Machine Race named Shubi made a lot of mistakes when she first appeared in order to hide, and how it gave him a headache just to talk about it, Sull noticed that Riku himself probably didn't realize that when he recalled the mistakes Shubi made when she first appeared, the corners of his mouth were slightly curved upwards.

These subtle expressions would never have appeared on the man who had kept himself so tightly guarded a few years ago.

So Sull thinks that Riku was ultimately changed by that machine named Shubi, right?

"The first time we met, he directly asked me to have reproductive acts, and even said that I could indulge my desires and ravage her at will... What's most infuriating is that he said the same thing when he came over after Ke'er, which caused me to get a good scolding from Ke'er..." Like an old man reminiscing about his youth, Riku was still recounting the jokes that happened during that time in fits and starts. It seemed like he was complaining, but Suer noticed that the corners of this guy's mouth seemed to be getting wider and wider.

"Hmm... so she lived with you for two years but still couldn't find the heart she was looking for?" Suer asked, somewhat puzzled.

Judging from Riku's reaction, he thought that the two of them, one human and one machine, had already found each other.

"...While that's true, why are you laughing so strangely?" Riku was somewhat speechless. He was clearly describing how embarrassing and dangerous his situation was, but this guy seemed to have no sense of it at all.

“The heart, self, soul of the Machine Race… who knows what such illusory and unpredictable things really look like?” Riku sighed and said, “What’s with that expression?”

"Ah, I was just thinking about a question," Suer said, genuinely speechless, "Will all these powerful beings eventually become philosophers? Or is this the natural direction in which life will develop once we no longer have to worry about survival?"

"Philosophy?"

"Hmm, let's not talk about that. So, you and Miss Shubi have been going on expeditions together for the past two years? I heard from Ke'er that you changed your expedition mode after Miss Shubi appeared, and started doing expeditions as a duo."

"The mobility of the machine races far surpasses that of human strength. With Shubi's help, we can always travel to distant places at the fastest speed to explore, and everyone avoids the danger of sacrifice. Not only that, you can also go to the cave entrance above the mountain to take a look. Thanks to Shubi's help, we can now use a telescope to observe the war movements of other races from a very distant place."

Whether it was Sull's imagination or not, Riku became more talkative when talking about the contributions Shubi had made to the settlement over the past two years. The white-haired man went on to ramble on about how much help Shubi had given him in creating mechanical tools without any spirits.

As for Sull... he readily offered compliments, but not long after, Riku suddenly fell silent, and even the smile on his lips faded considerably.

"What's wrong?" Suer asked, somewhat curious.

“Actually, there was another reason why Shubi first appeared... that was to forcibly take me away from the settlement,” Riku said calmly, making Sull suddenly realize, “The reason was those two girls outside, Miss Hinko and Miss Jibril, who came back with you.”

“…Just call them Hinco and Jibril,” Sull casually remarked, but then caught the information in Riku’s words: “You’ve met Shubi before? She’s been keeping an eye on you?”

“At first I didn’t remember either, but eventually I recalled it from her fragments of words,” Riku’s voice grew lower and lower. “I’ve seen her before… when I was thirteen, when my parents and the small village where I grew up were completely destroyed by the aftermath of some kind of racial war… on that day, I saw her… Shubi, falling from the sky, standing on the high slope looking at me…”

“Xinke and Jibril will be watching this side, so you don’t need to worry about her hearing anything you say,” Suer suddenly said.

“Ah, thank you, but there’s no need for such caution,” Riku looked up and gave a grateful smile before continuing, “You probably already know what happened to me after that, so I won’t repeat it.”

“Hmm,” Suer nodded.

After leaving the ruins of the village where he grew up, Riku encountered the village where Cole was fleeing, and then, in the body of a thirteen-year-old boy, he led everyone on their journey to this day.

"I thought it was just a chance glance back then, but I never expected that from that moment on, Shubi would follow me closely, and even her desire to seek the meaning of the heart was because of me..." Even Riku himself found this fact quite strange, and he chuckled as he spoke of it.

"Doesn't that mean all the changes and developments in the settlement over the years have been under the watchful eyes of the Machine Race?" Suer felt a little horrified.

“Yes, although we’ve known for a long time that human settlements can be easily detected by other races at any time, it’s a different story when they’re established right under our noses from the very beginning,” Riku couldn’t help but smile wryly. “Fortunately, Shubi has already broken off from the connector, otherwise it would be a real headache and we wouldn’t know what to do.”

"...So Shubi wanted to forcibly take you away from the settlement because she was afraid you would be in danger?" Having not been led astray by Riku, Sue finally returned to the place the white-haired man had wanted to casually take her away from, "Because Shinko...no, should I say Jibril is someone she can't defeat?"

"Well, according to what she said when she first appeared, the Winged Race is quite capricious and bloodthirsty. She tried to hide herself as soon as she saw them from a distance, and then wanted to take me away as soon as she realized that the Winged Race had left." Riku's expression became complicated when he talked about Shubi's initial thoughts. He probably had doubts about it himself.

Chapter 229 Riku's Plan

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk."

"...Could you please stop making such strange noises?" Riku looked speechlessly at the guy who was shaking his head and sighing about something.

“Strange? Not strange at all,” Sur said, not only continuing his chorus but also clapping his hands in admiration. “I never expected that you could attract a Machine Race at the age of thirteen. Riku, you’re much more capable than I thought.”

“…What do you mean?” Riku asked, his eyes, which had been shining brightly, now rolled back into dead fish eyes. He seemed not to understand, but Sull judged that the man was pretending to be stupid.

"Of course it's because of what happened between you two," Suer said bluntly. "She's fallen for you, hasn't she?"

"Pfft! Cough cough cough! Don't talk nonsense!"

Although he had a premonition, Riku still felt his face suddenly burning when Sull actually said it. The white-haired man lunged to the side to cover Sull's mouth, but unfortunately, a well-trained guy dodged it a step ahead.

"No matter how you look at it, it's all because of love, right?"

"No matter how you look at it, it's because she wants to know the answer to her question, right? And don't just say 'I love you' all the time!"

Liku's voice, which had suddenly risen, dropped sharply as Suer put his index finger to his lips and pointed towards the outside of the cave. Despicable!

After a little playful scuffle, although he received two friendly punches from Riku, Sull felt gratified. When he last came back, Riku said that he had become much more cheerful. However, in Sull's opinion, Riku had also become more cheerful now. At least, the Sull who used to be so full of bitterness and resentment would never have smiled as happily as he does now... Did that machine race change him?

There's nothing wrong with that.

"...Can machine races have children?"

After a bit of playful fighting, the two sat on the ground, both lost in thought, in silence, until Suer suddenly broke the silence with his voice.

"Cough cough cough cough cough!!"

The coughing was even more intense than before. Riku, who was far more innocent than Sull, who had a past life experience, was completely overwhelmed by the question. He tried to maintain his dignity with a poker face, but he broke down on the spot.

"Just curious," Sur explained, patting Riku on the back with a serious expression, but what he really wanted to ask was...

It cannot be said. It cannot be said.

"Let's get down to business! Tell me what's happened to you these past two years! Don't just make me talk!" Riku said, selectively omitting a segment of memory, as he forcefully elbowed Sul in the ribs.

"It's an adventure that's practically a mythical epic! I even took some photos, let me show you!" Sul couldn't help but feel proud when he talked about it. He even took out a stack of photos from his bag, ready to brag about them.

"Let me think we can start with the marine species..."

Compared to Riku's monotonous expedition and his stories with the Machine Race, Sull's experiences were much richer, especially with the colorful illustrations in the photos, which made it even more interesting. From the deepest seabed to the power of the Fantasy Race connecting the sea and the sky, the ocean of elves, and the appearance of the God Race, Sull talked about many, many things.

Unlike last time, this time even though they had been talking for a long time, no one else came to disturb them until the very end.

"So you've found the answer that the forging god Okan spoke of?" Riku asked excitedly, equally curious and eager for the answer.

"Ah, found it." Although he found it, Suer didn't know how to say it, and even his previous excitement suddenly turned cold.

Perhaps noticing Sull's conflicted and troubled state of mind, Riku patted Sull on the shoulder, stood up, and gestured for Sull to follow him.

"...What is this?" Sur asked curiously, staring at the huge, yellowed map that Riku had taken out and spread out on the table.

He recognized it at a glance as a map showing the outline of the entire continent, but it was much more detailed than the map from a few years ago. In addition to the ever-present latest distribution map of various races and the main battlegrounds, there were also new small, circular symbols scattered across the continent.

“Ah, a plan, I think it’s the most perfect plan,” Riku turned his head to look at Sull with an expectant smile, looking away from the map. “Let’s create new rules, Sull.”

"Abandon the hope that the war will one day end, which will never come. Use our strength to end this foolish war."

“You know what, Sull,” Riku’s voice became incredibly light, “this world has never changed…it has always been the simplest game.”

Without responding, Sull simply watched Riku, who was completely absorbed in his story, as the white-haired man continued to expound on his grand ambitions.

“What we need to do is not follow the unruly game of pursuing the Star Grail that the gods love, but instead create the rules we want,” Riku said as he walked around to the opposite side of Sul, as if to embrace the whole world. He bent his arms and leaned slightly on the table, his two arms forming an arc that covered the small circular symbols.

"...How can you do that?" Suer asked calmly. "How do you plan to defeat the God of War?"

Anyone who wants to end this endless war cannot get past a huge obstacle: the god-like beings who feed on war—Altheus.

It's incredibly ironic that two beings who are nothing more than weak monkeys in the eyes of other races are hiding in a dark cave, plotting how to defeat the strongest being in the world.

Before Sull could even begin to grapple with how to reveal his plans to Riku, Riku preemptively recounted the plans he and Shubi had devised over the past two years, which secretly brought Sull a great sense of relief.

"Do you remember the information you once told me?" Instead of explaining directly, Riku brought up the information that Sull had brought back in the past, "All the divine species were born in the Elf Corridor, including the God of War who would grow stronger without limit as long as there was war."

"Yes."

"If that's the case, then it means that the power of the Elf Corridor will always be greater than the power of the God of War. Just as the divine species cannot create a stone that it cannot lift, the power of 1 can never create the existence of 2. Moreover, the key called the Star Cup, which leads to the throne of the One God, is also in the Elf Corridor. So what we need to do is very simple."

Riku picked up the chess piece that was placed aside and slammed it heavily into the center of the map, his voice becoming incredibly firm.

"It will pierce through the entire planet, shatter the entire Elf Corridor, and unleash the full power that even the God of War cannot match!!"

Chapter 230 Flaw

Sull had thought his plan was an almost impossible delusion, but now, hearing Riku's plan, he was still ashamed of his own audacity. Did this man really know what he was talking about?

Pierce through this planet beneath our feet?

It's important to understand that this planet, inhabited by all races, has endured countless wars since countless years ago. Although it appears damaged on the surface, it has survived relatively intact. Even those beings at the very top, who are directly conceptual avatars, have not been destroyed in their battles. To penetrate such a solid and sturdy planet, one must release the full power of the hidden Elven Corridor within it...

"...Leaving aside how everyone will survive under such immense power after breaking through the planet and the Elf Corridor, how do you even plan to break through this planet?" Instead of blindly denying it, Suer calmly countered.

“This is what we’ll rely on,” Riku said, bending down to pull a large box from under the bed. It was filled with creations that had a very distinct machine-like style. Each one was a sphere about the size of a palm, with a red shell and a blue ring around it. “We call it the Passage Rules.”

As he spoke, Liku tossed a round ball into Suer's hand.

"...Use it to pierce through a planet?" He weighed the sphere in his hand, his words full of distrust. It wasn't that Suer looked down on Riku, but this thing was just too unreliable.

“Of course, it’s not about achieving the goal directly. Look at this,” Riku said with a smile, waving his hand and gesturing for Suer to come to the unfolded map. His finger landed on a small dot marked as a large circle in the middle of the entire continent. “Just like the lens of a telescope, these rules of conduct have the function of distortion and convergence, which can distort the direction of all other forces to directly downwards.”