After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

The synthetic doll nodded and just looked at Yang Hao.

She sensed Yang Hao's curiosity about her, but more than that, she judged that Yang Hao's curiosity might stem from what he learned from books and databases... that men have sexual desire or possessiveness towards beautiful females?

If a normal female were to realize this, she might show disgust? But Elena was more concerned with what kind of help she could gain for Eden by simply handing over her body.

The synthetic doll assessed whether Yang Hao's value was equal to or exceeded its own. Due to a lack of intelligence, Elena could only focus on the fact that the army had handled the demon army with ease. She judged that the country called the "United Nation" must occupy a pivotal position on the continent of Elusia. Relatively speaking, the only valuable trade goods in Eden were probably the three core items: "artificial bodies," "artificial magic," and "magic networks."

One's own body has little value compared to the three core commodities. If one were to trade their body, perhaps Eden could escape its current predicament, and the seeds could contribute to the revival of Eden in a more stable environment... But is that really a good thing?

Elena frowned. Insufficient information could easily lead to misjudgment; there was no need to make a decision now… perhaps it was best to wait and see what the other side's progress was like before making a decision?

Just as the synthetic doll had mentally planned more than ten responses to Yang Hao's questions, and how to negotiate to increase its bargaining power—Yang Hao's curious question finally slipped out:

"Ms. Elena, are you... a unique case of a being born of self-awareness entirely from a machine, rather than a life born from the union of two people?"

Yang Hao's question not only stunned the Edenian, but even the elves beside him showed an extremely helpless expression.

The elf reached out and pinched Yang Hao's side hard. The black dragon tilted its head, looking completely bewildered. Elena, too, couldn't understand why Yang Hao would ask such a question under these circumstances.

So she could only tilt her head and give this confused reply:

"Confused...Can't understand?"

"Please take this as my curiosity. After all, I am really curious whether you are a life form born entirely from machines? Your attitude and behavior, which are completely different from any natural life form, make me feel that there is something unusual about you."

Yang Hao responded with a smile.

"Compared to a human, everything you do is more like a cold [machine]—this is not to say I have any opinion about you, I'm just asking about a possibility. If this possibility is confirmed, perhaps some individuals within our country called [Golems] or [Golems] could also develop their own personalities like you. To be frank, this is a very important issue for our country."

"Surprised. So those were golems?"

Yes. Is there a problem?

Yang Hao knew that Elena was surprised by the machine gun Golem and grenade launcher Golem that were on the battlefield at the time, so he directly confirmed their identities.

Faced with Yang Hao's affirmation, Elena gave only an extremely strange answer:

"Shocking. There are still survivors from the former subordinate races of Eden? Judging from the pressure of the crashed area, it should be impossible for any survivors to exist, but... were they really subordinate races we created back then, and not newly born creatures from the continent of Elusia?"

"You mean Golem?"

“Denial. I mean, the Listeners.”

Upon hearing Elena's words, Yang Hao's smile froze.

He thought Elena was referring to Golems! He meant that on the floating continent, besides Elena, who was a [synthetic doll], there were also intelligent Golems!

But he didn't expect Elena to suddenly change the subject, referring to Naruja, who was actually a member of the Ling tribe!

And then again... the subordinate races you created back then? Wait a minute...

Has your technology advanced to the point where you can specifically "customize" races that excel at certain tasks?

Everyone on Yang Hao's side fell silent.

Elena also looked at Yang Hao in silence.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally Yang Hao spoke up, "Let's put this matter aside for now." Anyway, Elena had just proven in her own way that she was indeed a mechanical life form, so let's talk about something more important now.

He took a sip of water, and Elena imitated his movements, learning the etiquette on the ground in her own way. Then, Yang Hao took a deep breath and said:

“Let’s talk about demons. But before that, we might need to share our intelligence—given the urgency of the situation, I think it’s most appropriate for the Kingdom of Eden to provide intelligence first.”

"Agreed. But we have a question: Are there no demons left on the surface?"

"In the north, we've heard there's an Ice Calamity at work, causing the northern ice plains to shift with its movements. Besides that, in the south, there's a country embroiled in a civil war where a suspected high-level demon is active. That's all the demonic signs we know of for now."

"Question... Can we conclude that the surface is currently in a period of war?"

"That's one way to put it. However, it's very peaceful within our United Nations."

"...learn."

After ensuring the safety of the surface, Elena relaxed—although she still appeared indifferent, Yang Hao could sense from the focus of her questions that her mood was gradually improving.

How amazing... Is this what mechanical declaration is? On the surface, it seems cold and devoid of any human touch, but if you observe it carefully, you can still feel the charm of mechanical declaration.

Yang Hao felt somewhat embarrassed by his current mindset. Having obtained the information he wanted, Elena efficiently explained everything about the Kingdom of Eden to Yang Hao.

Yang Hao listened attentively. Meanwhile, far away in the Roman Empire, the effects of the arrival of the [Floating Continent] were intensifying.

The people in the old Catholic area of ​​the parish believe this is another manifestation of the divine power of the God of Light. They believe it is the end of the world. Even now, everyone is kneeling and kowtowing towards the place where the continent has fallen, begging the God of Light to have mercy and give them the right to live.

The situation on the Protestant side is not much better than on the Old Church side. On one hand, the witch has come forward to prove that the continent is not a "divine punishment" but simply a "phenomenon." On the other hand, the saintess has developed more doubts about the God of Light.

If Saint Cecilia once blindly followed the God of Light, believing that the God of Light wanted her to fight Peter because He wanted believers to choose the most suitable path for mortals, then Cecilia's faith has long since been fractured by the manual she holds.

She was doubting whether the "god" mentioned in the manual she firmly believed in actually referred to the God of Light. If so, what kind of being was she worshipping?

She wondered, if the God of Light was truly the benevolent god of the Land of Light as described in the canon, why would he allow his followers to burn, kill, and plunder at will?

She wondered, if the God of Light truly cared about his followers, why would he allow them to suffer from hunger instead of demonstrating his divine power to help them through their difficulties?

...If the God of Light is truly the god she believes in, why would he behave so poorly?

The heart of the former fanatic had begun to crack. She suddenly realized a problem:

Why was she allowed to move freely after becoming a "saint"? Even allowed to sulk and isolate herself underground?

If the "Saintess" truly exists only to provide pure faith, how could she possibly wield such powerful divine magic without any followers?

Cecilia silently looked down at the manual in her hands.

She couldn't understand it. But that didn't stop her from noticing the problem.

Beside her, the Night Witch looked down at the terrified people below who were resuming their work, and at the undead people in the distance, separated by cliffs and earthen slopes:

"Fortunately, we dug up the ground in advance, creating a road between the Protestant-controlled area and the southern physical plane with cliffs—three-meter-high cliffs that are an insurmountable trench for those undead. In this way, we can wait for them to die on their own before making any further plans."

"..."

"Cecilia?"

“...I just find it very strange.” Cecilia shook her head blankly. “The actions of the God of Light are completely different from what I learned in the manual.”

"After all, your manual is the oldest version—back then, the God of Light might not have become a god yet, and he might have just taken the manual of a similar god and used it."

"Then where does the divine power I'm using actually come from?"

Cecilia slowly summoned divine power in her hands. Looking at the silvery-white light, the Night Witch simply shook her head and said, "In short, this is not the divine power of the God of Light."

"...So, have I given all my faith of the past twenty years to a robber?"

The saintess's bewilderment only elicited a wry smile from the Night Witch:

"It's better to wake up now than to have your faith in a robber for the next forty or fifty years. Don't run away like I did, Cecilia."

"..."

She let out a deep sigh.

Meanwhile, in the capital of the Roman Empire.

Corruption and depravity reached their peak after the appearance of the floating continent.

Chapter 5: Roman's Despair, and Three Questions with the 8K Artificial Magic Reactor

April 7th was a day when, for the average Roman, it was just another ordinary, difficult period following war and famine.

When they saw a massive landmass descend from the sky, grazing the northern forests and finally plunging into the western ocean, everyone was stunned by the appearance of this colossal creature. Under the guidance of those with ulterior motives, a rumor called the "Doomsday Prophecy" began to spread throughout the Roman Empire at an incredible speed, in conjunction with the current state of the undead population.

The Isgardians swore it wasn't them—because they were busy fighting off the hordes of undead and had no spare resources to waste on spreading rumors in other parts of the Roman Empire, especially in heavily guarded areas.

Hutod Khan's army was also completely bewildered: after marching south with the Great Khan, they hadn't even realized why there were millions of fearless peasant soldiers blocking their way in Roman territory, nor had they recovered from the shock of the continent that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Naturally, they wouldn't spread rumors; after all, they remembered they needed to secure a foothold and rest.

Therefore, these rumors could only have been fabricated by the Romans themselves. Considering the extreme instability of the Roman people's morale at present, General Dreschka tentatively judged that they were probably the work of some unknown believers of the God of Light.

"But don't those idiots realize we still have a chance to defend our territory?!"

Even after making his judgment, General Dreschka was still incredibly angry.

He slammed his fist on the table, creating a spiderweb-like crack in the stone square table. He was so angry that his eyebrows began to twist, but in the end, looking at the containers around him that contained important information, he couldn't decide whether to smash it or just sit there. In the end, he could only get up angrily, smoking a cigarette and pacing back and forth in the room, thinking of a solution.

General Dreschuka was not a competent politician, but as a soldier and as a general, he was acutely aware of the importance of discipline to a region, and even more so of the key to ensuring the smooth progress of the war by having control over the people.

Right now, the important thing is not to figure out who is spreading the rumors.

The important thing is how to deal with this rumor and then do everything possible to calm the local people down.

At least give them hope of working, instead of turning them into monstrous creatures who want to sleep with every woman they see before the end of the world!

After much deliberation, General Dreschka concluded that under these special circumstances, severe punishment was unavoidable.

"Lieutenant! Come in! I need to deliver an order!"

First and foremost, of course, is the severe punishment for those who spread despair. In the Roman Empire's military manual, deserters are subject to at least twenty lashes, but for General Dreschka, in this particular situation, lashes are simply meaningless.

After all, it is common knowledge that humans are creatures who, even if destined to die, seek to delay it. Therefore, what General Dreschka wanted to do was to directly execute all those who spread rumors and sow despair, forcing the currently desperate Romans to temporarily calm down through bloody deaths.

Following this, a large-scale brainwashing propaganda campaign naturally ensued. After all, the collapse of that continent didn't seem to have caused much of an impact on the continent of Elusia. There were rumors of brief earthquakes and tsunamis along the coastal areas on that side, but for Roman, these effects were not significant...

In this situation, as long as it is confirmed through strict means that the world will not enter the apocalypse, nor will it collapse due to the sudden fall of a mere continent... combining one's own military strength, it should not be a problem to at least ensure the complete stability of the people within one's jurisdiction.

However, General Dreschuka could at most ensure the stability of the people in his own jurisdiction. He could only ensure stability in his own territory under strict rationing; he did not have the capacity to help the Romans in other places to stabilize.

On one hand, General Dreschka bore the crucial responsibility of preventing the invasion of Ysgard and a potential counterattack from the undead. On the other hand, he also needed to use this time to cultivate the land and replenish his army's food supplies. His manpower was extremely scarce; he barely had enough for himself, so how could he possibly use it to help other nobles?

But if those nobles don't help, and their homes are destroyed, their own rear won't be in a good place either.

Moreover, they don't even know what's going on with the bomb called "Royal Capital" right behind them.

General Dreschka sighed heavily. After ordering his messengers to relay his orders to various places, he decided to send someone to the capital to gather intelligence himself.

Because he had a premonition.

The situation in the capital will only get worse.

............

General Dreschka was extremely efficient. His soldiers strictly followed his orders, executing all those who spread doomsday rumors while rewarding civilians who maintained discipline in the face of danger.

The military district was already implementing a rationing system. After General Dereshka’s new order was delivered, a stark contrast emerged between the executed rumor-mongers and the steadfast individuals who received double the food rations. Combined with people’s sensitivity to surprise and their instinct to struggle to survive as long as they could, the citizens of the military district quickly restored order.

Although morale remains low, at least in General Dreschka's eyes, they have become "rough diamonds" that can barely be brainwashed and regain confidence in the military region.

"Immediately proclaim that the continent was merely an anomaly—that nothing more has appeared in our skies, that everything is safe here, and that the inhabitants should distract themselves with their work," General Dreschka said. "In addition, have our soldiers maintain an air of confidence as much as possible—don't give the inhabitants any doubts, even if it means lying; just answer their questions."