Warhammer 40: Saviors Emerging from the Bottom

The scorching rays penetrated the wall, melting a large hole in the wall of Xiao Yi's bedroom.

Fortunately, no one else was around, otherwise this move could have easily injured friendly forces.

Looking at the masterpiece on the wall, B-59 subconsciously wanted to nod to show his satisfaction with the new body, but the Casterland mech, which didn't even have a neck, couldn't do that.

"What are you doing?"

Xiao Yi's tone was tinged with helplessness. A hole in the wall was nothing to him; what truly left him speechless was B-59's act of firing without any warning.

The Casterland Fighter, also known as the Casterland Automaton, is actually semi-automatic despite having the word "automatic" in its name.

Only when the data craftsmen of the Cult of Machines insert the corresponding doctrine chip and activate the combat protocol will the Casteran mech react accordingly; otherwise, it is just a big metal shell that simply follows its master around blankly.

Because of the existence of the Machine Soul, some Casterland mechs will automatically counterattack and protect their masters even without the Doctrine Chip being inserted, but this is rare.

The B-59's sudden firing in a non-combat state could very likely be interpreted as a malfunction.

Fortunately, Friedrich had already left, otherwise Xiao Yi would have had to waste brain cells explaining everything that had just happened.

Due to the Iron Man (AI) rebellion, the Human Empire forbids anyone from bestowing independent thought upon robots for any reason. Once B-59 is discovered to possess independent thought, it will face the danger of forced destruction.

Xiao Yi will also go from being a hero who saves the Bakda Nest City to a heretic in the eyes of the Mechanicus.

Therefore, in front of outsiders, B-59 must pretend to be a true Castellan fighter pilot and not show any possibility of having independent thinking.

B-59, with her somewhat low emotional intelligence, failed to grasp the meaning behind Xiao Yi's words, treating it merely as a simple question. A mechanical, synthesized voice, devoid of any emotion, echoed in the bedroom: "Test the weapon's power."

B-59's face, devoid of features, revealed no expression, yet for some reason Xiao Yi could clearly sense his sincerity. With no other option, he could only repeat his inner worries.

"Okay, I'll be careful. What about the hole in the wall? Do you need me to patch it up for you?"

"No need, I'll do it myself."

Xiao Yi gently waved the excess materials in the corner, and they obediently flew towards the location of the cave, as if they had received some inviolable command.

The hard steel was kneaded and shaped in the air, eventually filling the gap.

Having finished all this, Xiao Yi turned to B-59 and asked a question that had been on his mind: "I've always been curious whether you're artificial intelligence or a sentient machine spirit?"

After thinking for a moment, the other party replied, "It's both, and it's neither. In order to protect the test subjects in various emergencies, the manufacturers installed a semi-finished AI control device on us. While this can improve our ability to solve complex problems, it cannot give us emotions."

"Initially, I was just like an ordinary machine soldier, silently executing the instructions engraved in the underlying code. But as time went by, I gradually gained consciousness. This should be what you call the machine soul. It combined with the unfinished AI control device to give birth to the final me. Strictly speaking, I should be considered a hybrid."

"Hybrid? What do you mean by hybrid? What's going on with your database?"

"It's roughly the same idea. Don't worry about it. For weapons that only need to fight, the correct use of words is not important at all."

The emotionless, mechanical synthesized voice disappeared, and a very passionate voice came from B-59's loudspeaker: "Assisting you in completing your mission, defeating five evil beings who are trying to enslave humanity, and leading humanity to the next golden age is the meaning of my creation."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi instantly lost the desire to continue the conversation.

Saying "saving humanity" is easy, but actually doing it is...

Ah, it would be better to aspire to go to Nurgle Garden and follow in the footsteps of the benevolent father.

This instantly reduces the difficulty of the mission by four-fifths, and Tzeentch might even go to great lengths to help him just to have some fun.

Well, if it's pure love, Slaanesh might even help.

The thought of this possibility made Xiao Yi feel terrible. He tried to calm himself down and forcefully suppressed the nausea in his chest.

"Saving the world must be done step by step. Our primary goal now is to first rescue Bakda Hive from the incompetent governor, and then further save the entire Far East region."

After saying this, Xiao Yi slumped back into his chair. The busyness of the past few days had made him temporarily forget the cruel truth of this world. But then B-59 came up again, and his body, which was already tired from manufacturing Casterland mechs, felt even more exhausted.

"Please don't speak for now, I want to rest."

B-59 did not respond; it simply stood there silently, vigilant for any potential enemies that might appear.

The quiet environment gradually calmed Xiao Yi's chaotic thoughts. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Charles's voice came from outside the door, waking him up.

"The armory is on fire?"

Seeing Charles push open the door and enter with an anxious expression, Xiao Yi's drowsiness vanished instantly.

"What did you say?"

"An incendiary bomb in the corner of the armory suddenly exploded and set half of the warehouse on fire. Although we organized manpower to carry out rescue operations in time, a considerable amount of equipment was completely destroyed."

This equipment was so hard to collect!

Xiao Yi felt as if his heart was bleeding. He jumped up from his seat and ran towards the door.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the bedroom door, he looked at B-59, who was standing there silently, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

What if Friedrich suddenly turns around and gives it a full check-up while I'm not around?

It's unlikely. Since the next test has been scheduled for 15 hours from now, he shouldn't suddenly appear here.

Recalling Friedrich's expression when he received the experimental data, Xiao Yi's last bit of worry completely disappeared. Urged by Charles, he closed the door and left the room.

The bedroom fell silent again. B-59 adjusted its position, facing the bedroom door directly, and then entered standby mode, disabling all additional functions that were not needed for the time being, except for the alarm system.

This is the experience it has gained from surviving in the bottom nest for so many years; only in this way can it reduce energy consumption and survive for a longer period of time.

A few minutes later, a strange noise came from outside the bedroom.

"That guy has left the bedroom; now is the perfect time to make our move."

"Brother, why don't we go back? If we're discovered, we'll die a terrible death."

A crisp slap sounded from outside the door.

"You piece of trash! It's too late to quit. According to military regulations, destroying an armory is punishable by death. If you want to survive, there's only one way: take action and eliminate that despicable outsider."

"Brigadier General Lancelot has promised me that if we can bring this person to him, he will grant us noble status. You good-for-nothing, you'd better think this through—it's noble status!"

"Slater, you haven't picked the lock yet?"

"Almost there, almost there." With the click of the lock cylinder contact device, the door to Xiao Yi's bedroom slowly opened a crack.