I am a mindless machine.

The answer is imagination.

Since they are a race that can create anything imaginable, then it means that they certainly cannot create anything beyond the limits of imagination, right?

Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company in the 19th century, once told this story: "I asked my customers what kind of transportation they needed, and almost all of them immediately replied that they needed a faster horse!"

Before seeing it, they simply couldn't imagine that such a thing existed. Because they couldn't imagine it, they couldn't create it.

However, on the other hand, as long as they can see and imagine that higher realm, they can create it perfectly in an almost instantaneous moment!

Ronnie felt his brain was about to explode with countless inspirations, just like when he fought that forest elf woman. Power surged through his body! He was in superb condition!

This is the capital of the goblin race, and now all the goblins have evacuated, meaning he has virtually unlimited resources at his disposal. Even better, no matter how much he improves, he's confident that the girl currently his enemy will catch up at an unimaginable speed.

Even if he were to momentarily lose focus, get stuck, or his opponent were to tire of playing around and cease suppressing their power, he, having already abandoned his defense, would undoubtedly be doomed. And for him, currently the strongest genius among the goblins, to die in such a place would have unimaginable consequences.

But so what?

For him (the creator), what could be a better situation (creative environment)?

If he doesn't dedicate himself to creating something in such a rare and exceptional environment, he might never have such a good opportunity again in his lifetime!

"You clever thief, if you can even imitate the infinity I'm about to create, then give it a try!!"

Ronnie gripped the weapon in his hand, revealing an exaggeratedly arrogant smile, and roared out this cry from the depths of his soul.

Chapter 51 This is a battle for geniuses

"Is Lady Yu... really alright...?"

Hidden in the shadows, following Yun You's instructions, a secret weapon that had never shown itself to anyone. Xi Yang frowned slightly, speaking with some concern.

Although she possesses unparalleled talent in illusion magic, when it comes to physical combat... she's a complete novice.

Yes, she had already tried it at Yunyou's suggestion back in the Riku settlement. Any human (even a woman) of slightly stronger strength could easily pin her to the ground; she was unbelievably weak, a disgrace to the vampire race. In data terms, her fighting talent was probably -1000, and all those extra attribute points were put into illusion magic.

However, the setting sun now allows her to clearly see the battle scene. Regardless of whether she can react in time, she can now accurately grasp whatever is happening in the entire city—because she has meticulously laid out her barrier in every corner of this underground space.

Although she could only roughly set up a barrier with sensing capabilities due to insufficient energy (any more would cause her trouble), this level of barrier was sufficient for spectating the battle.

As long as the focus is on those two people, even a combat idiot like the girl can easily understand the current battle situation.

The previously one-sided battle situation has changed.

...

...

".......!"

In an instant, the girl changed her movement commands, stopping her supersonic speed as if she had pressed a freeze button.

However, she couldn't control every single strand of hair; a few strands still drifted forward uncontrollably due to inertia.

Her long, silvery-white hair shimmered and shone under the bright lights still emanating from the surrounding rock walls, but even this couldn't completely escape the intense heat of the concentrated, bluish-purple flames, instantly melting a few strands. Yun You's eyes widened, the information flowing within them like a rushing stream—as if it were about to transform into a vast galaxy entirely composed of information!

With composure, she flawlessly mimicked Ronnie's actions with her long knife, performing a motion imitation on the iron block on the ground in units of 0.001 seconds.

She then created a makeshift main cannon that was originally only possible on massive carriers like aerial fleets. Although its creation principle was probably quite different from that of the goblin race, if we only consider power, she was confident that with the combined capabilities of four different machine types, she could definitely surpass the original design.

The pitch-black muzzle, at the cost of its own collapse, suddenly unleashed its attack—the condensed spirit cannon was now imbued with the attribute of high temperature. Under Yun You's control, it fiercely burned away everything in its path, attacking Ronnie with unstoppable momentum and speed.

However, at this moment, Ronnie's next creation was already finished. His silvery eyes seemed to be burning with flames, and his confident and arrogant smile never left his lips for a moment.

Then, he vanished from Yun You's sight. The artillery barrage shot straight through the countless buildings behind him, instantly vaporizing them—buildings so small they couldn't even form molten iron.

Yun You stared wide-eyed at Ronnie's creation, inwardly marveling. He had indeed broken through that seemingly intangible boundary, reaching a higher realm, even subtly surpassing the divine realm.

"[Observation] The enemy has reversed the operation of the turrets originally used for launching attacks, gaining the ability to move in the air."

Yes, the principle is exactly the same as that of flight by the mechs. However, this is generally impossible for goblins. Their fragile bodies cannot withstand this near-light-speed movement. In countless spatial explosions, their flesh and bones would be torn apart, and their bodies would disintegrate due to the excessive pressure. This is why goblins only dare to use this technology on airships.

But Ronnie has now accomplished what should have been impossible; he has imprinted an ability that strengthens himself, enabling him to cope with such high pressure—though still somewhat rudimentary, he is currently modifying it with lightning speed. Yun You is certain that if he continues to linger in the same spot, what he will face later will be incredibly outrageous.

With a sigh of relief, Yun You finally broke her initial promise to limit herself and unfolded the wings belonging to the Mecha race on her back. There was no other way; the techniques her opponent was using weren't affecting her but rather Ronnie himself, making it impossible for her to analyze or imitate them.

Just as Sunset had predicted, the tide of battle had indeed turned. Although it seemed no different from the beginning, with Ronnie unleashing new skills and her quickly mimicking them—the initiative that should have been in her hands had shifted.

Ronnie's imagination was now running wild, reaching an unparalleled level. If Yun You didn't retaliate with the same intensity immediately, he might take advantage of this rare moment of relaxation to conjure up a warship capable of breaching her defenses on the spot. Yun You had no doubt that Ronnie could do such a thing; he absolutely could!

Actually, it's quite simple for Yun You to break the current situation: just release the suppressed energy of the Skywing-level being. Even a genius can be annihilated with absolute power before they fully mature, resulting in a fatal blow.

However, doing that would render everything meaningless.

Feeling a long-lost surge of emotion in her chest, Yun You smiled happily.

Her petite figure soared into the sky, the longsword still in her hand—she hadn't chosen to materialize the cannon barrel capable of unleashing [Pseudo-Scripture? Dragon's Roar]. But this level of combat was far from enough to make her disregard the rules. Rather, only this level of battle could fulfill her initial requirement: to give her a sense of excitement.

Memories from the previous world flooded her mind; fragments of her experience of crushing most computer experts at a young age flashed before her eyes.

You say you're a genius?

—That's quite a coincidence, actually it's me too.

Thinking this, Yun You created a weapon that surpassed previous methods of flight, leaving behind a trail of blue and white elven remains, and charged toward Ronnie with his sword.

Entanglement, entanglement, fusion, and reinforcement—by constantly surpassing and surpassing again, the girl relentlessly overturns her previous limits and reaches a new height.

Ronnie isn't the only one challenging himself to reach his peak on the spot!

End of Chapter Fifty-Two

ended.

Yun You thought to herself, and then, as she jumped, she glanced at the battlefield between the two.

...I never imagined it would actually escalate to this extent.

The factories that once floated in every corner are now not just collapsed, but piles of scrap metal that aren't even parts anymore, and they're emitting an eerie color. That's the result of the extensive engraving of runes, proof that they've been completely used.

Of the iron in this capital city—nearly ten million tons of various iron materials—only half remained. During this battle, Ronnie created thousands of unique weapons, each one an improvement upon the previous one.

He even managed to reassemble countless pieces of weaponry that Yun You thought were destroyed along the way, actually creating a warship. That caused Yun You a lot of trouble.

But that's the limit.

Yun You put away her weapon, summoned the white hooded robe she was becoming increasingly familiar with, put it on, and with a light flick of her sleeves, took small steps over the reinforced iron block that was at a temperature of over 2000 degrees Celsius, and walked forward.

Then, it stopped in front of the man who had collapsed to one knee from utter exhaustion, only able to stay upright by holding the greatsword, which was now only half its original length, in his right hand. The man's silver-white hair, which was originally composed of True Silver Spirit that could increase his spiritual energy, had now turned a rusty dark red due to overuse.

"Ha ha......."

The man was panting heavily, trying to keep his head up and refusing to lower it. His fierce eyes seemed to be roaring silently, and his aura had reached an unprecedented height. His surging imagination had no end in sight.

Even so, Yunyou understood that he could not stand up again.

His inspiration hadn't reached its limit—but his body couldn't keep up.

In fact, he should have collapsed halfway through the battle. The body of a goblin should not be able to withstand this level of combat for an extended period of time. As the strongest among the goblins, he was generally regarded by his fellow goblins as having unlimited stamina. He once stayed in an experimental factory alone for two months without sleep to create something, and he managed to hold on until the end by relying on his infinitely crafted mental and physical recovery spells.

However, battles at this level are different. Their strategies, intuition, execution, and enhancement levels are nearly identical. Therefore, the rate at which these two fight is essentially no different from that of a normal person fighting.

Even if Yunyou suppressed her energy to the level of a goblin, her body was still a genuine machine... and for someone like Ronnie, a mortal, to compete with a machine in terms of durability, the result was self-evident.

So Yunyou is still standing, while Ronnie... can't stand up.

"[Praise] You are very strong, the strongest person I have ever met so far." Yun You came up to Ronnie and sincerely praised him like this. "At the same time, you have also taught me a lot. Thank you."

Although the sense of crisis she felt during this battle was far less intense than when she fought Godorn in Yelenochini, that was because Godorn had the entire vampire race's trump card behind him.

In terms of strength and willpower alone, Godorn is far inferior to Ronnie.

While Godorn possessed the will to sacrifice himself for his entire race if necessary, it was precisely this sense of responsibility that limited his progress. Although he held control over Yelenochini and the vast energy of countless vampires, he dared not use this power for experimentation on his own. After all, it was virtually limitless power; there was ample room to waste in developing any kind of magic. He feared that he would drag his entire race down because of his own actions.

But Ronnie was different. He put himself first in his life, not because he intended to abandon his responsibilities as the leader of the goblin race, but because he understood (felt) what the best choice was. Therefore, he was able to become stronger at will, turning everything that should have been a shackle into his own power.

"You...aren't you going to kill me?"

Ronnie gasped for breath and said in a weak, low voice.

"Tell me," the girl said softly, "I never intended to kill you from the beginning. As I said before, I just wanted to fight you (play games)." A rare, kind smile appeared on her usually expressionless face, as if she were scolding a naive child. Her voice rose slightly, "If you have to kill your opponent after you win, then in the long run, won't you never find anyone to play with again?"

"...What kind of twisted logic is this, belonging to the strong? Do you even understand the state of this world?" Ronnie stared wide-eyed at the pretty girl standing before him, as if he were seeing a rare species. Even though he was crouching, the girl was only slightly taller than him, so it was eye-to-eye. "In a world like this, only the strong like you have the leisure to play around, huh? Someone like me..."

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing that he had always been the one joking around. So, somewhat awkwardly, he changed his words, saying, "For races like goblins, and those below them, just surviving is a struggle, you know."

"I understand that, of course. In this kind of world, my way of thinking should be considered an anomaly."

Yun You nodded. During her months-long journey, accompanied by the setting sun, she had examined the world from a different perspective. Towns easily destroyed by the roars of the dragon spirits, orc settlements fighting each other for territory and food sources, forest elves who, despite encountering the fantasy species capable of taking all life, still devoted the entire city's resources to building defensive magic in an attempt to fight for a sliver of hope... In the midst of such a great war, the humanity that blossomed, both good and bad, was simply too much to bear.

The girl's emotions, which had only recently begun to revive, still couldn't quite grasp these things. Basically, anything unrelated to her, even the destruction of a race, wouldn't bother her much; at most, she'd feel a slight pang. But she understood that in this world of mutual slaughter, it would be difficult for her to find anything she liked.

—In this limited world, the only way to enjoy yourself is to indulge in killing each other.

But she just couldn't like that kind of thing. It was like idiots wasting their time.

This is so boring.

During her journey, she couldn't help but think to herself, "Compared to this tedious killing, teasing the silly little girl... even the sunset is much more interesting. I really don't understand why those gods are so enthusiastic about this kind of boring war (game)."

This is why she went from casually helping out at the beginning to now seriously considering the feasibility of Riku's battle plan and which aspects could be modified.

The girl didn't know what the world after the great war, before the void arrived, was like—a world not depicted in the original work. But no matter how she thought about it, it would definitely be much more interesting than this utterly boring world she was in now, right?

So, for this secondary objective, she decided to try to end this great battle.

"【Answer】So wouldn't it be enough to just change the entire world?"

The girl declared in a lighthearted tone, "I'm not an outcast. If you insist on thinking that way, then I'll rewrite the entire rule and classify you all as outcasts. That way, I'll be a normal person."

This world isn't for someone like me (the player), so I'll recklessly mold it into the kind of game I like.

"—Hahaha, what a brilliant, self-centered remark! I'm completely defeated by you, woman. Too bad you're not my type, otherwise I might have fallen for you!"

After a deep silence, Ronnie burst into laughter.

Feeling his consciousness gradually slipping away from his body, his body, pushed to its limits, could no longer remain conscious, and his eyelids drooped heavily. With his last strength, in a proud and confident tone, he said:

"Then I'll look forward to the next game. Next time, I won't lose so easily...!"