I am a mindless machine.

The original owner of the machine was named, or rather, identified by the code name θ5w?02u:5df2 (Xida Go?Ei?Zeroni You?Dievne, which is too long, so it will be shortened to Dievne from now on)... She was a very ordinary design unit among the machine types.

Yes, that's how it was originally.

—The Machine Race is a race that operates on a unit-by-unit basis. Like different parts in a sophisticated computer, each part (Machine Race) shares the same consciousness and memories, including in battle. In essence, one is the whole, and the whole is one.

However, the original owner of this body, Deepne, was identified as a damaged part. In order to prevent the damage from spreading, the computer central hub (the All Command Link) disconnected her from the body—just like Shubi in the original work.

As for the reason...

"[Speechless] The original owner actually wanted to integrate the functions of five different machines into one... Is he crazy?"

Covering her head with her hands, the girl complained in a cold, monotone voice.

The entire Mech race is like different parts of a computer, divided into observation, analysis, design, combat, and command units, each responsible for different functional roles. This division of labor allows them to design skills with 80% similarity in power within a second of seeing an enemy attack. It is precisely because of this characteristic that they are regarded by other races as the most ferocious race that can theoretically grow indefinitely, and are thus kept at a distance in this great war.

However, this means that if you take the individual Mechs apart, they are nothing at all. It's like a carpenter being asked to forge iron—they don't know where to begin.

The original owner was indeed broken—because she was trying to figure out how to break free from this situation, having observed that other races didn't experience this state of becoming useless on their own. So she wanted to combine the functions of those five parts into one and manifest them within herself, a suicidal act. To draw an analogy, it's like an ordinary computer deluding itself into having the performance of a supercomputer.

But here's the problem: the original owner's self-destructive behavior—she succeeded.

"[Shocked]...Okay, this is very much like the Machine Race. No wonder they are an unscientific race that successfully killed a god in the later stages of the great war."

murmuring to herself, Yun You continued to recall, because it seemed that what happened next was the reason she had traveled through time.

After successfully enhancing her own mecha, Deevne simultaneously possessed the abilities of an observer (instantaneous observation of attacks), an analyzer (thorough analysis of the underlying principles and structure), a designer (quantifying and reproducing attacks to create skills), and a combatant (maximizing the power output of those skills). This wasn't an additive enhancement, but a multiplicative one. Theoretically speaking, while victory was uncertain, she should be able to easily escape from the Skywing race.

However, Deevne then faced another problem, which was also the root cause of her being disconnected—she had indeed raised her mech's level to the limit... but her soul (drive software) couldn't keep up! It makes sense, if it were so easy to strengthen a mech, then why would the mechs need to use a division of labor?

"【Summary】So after the original soul dissipated because it couldn't keep up with the body's movements, I took over this body... After that, my soul, together with the original owner's soul, merged into one, barely meeting the conditions for using this machine."

Although there are still some parts that I can't quite put into words, this is roughly how it is.

Yun You nodded, ceasing to dwell on the matter. Compared to such trivialities, the most important thing right now was how to face the future. In other words—what role would she play in this war-torn world dominated by cruelty?

When she was still human, she once fantasized that if she could one day master great power and travel to another world, she would do her best to lead the story to a happy ending where everyone could be happy. ... But now that she has become a machine race, a race that thinks only through logic, she no longer thinks that way.

What's the point of doing that?

The girl lowered her eyes. In her computing system, her own pitiful, naked body was clearly presented from a third-person perspective. This was a character she had created entirely according to her preferences, and should have been something she loved. But now, she felt nothing. It was as if her heart had been obscured by a high wall built of data. Although her memories of being human hadn't disappeared, the emotions she once felt were gone. It was like eating tasteless food.

It wasn't even a feeling of coldness; it was simply calm—an endless expanse of calm water.

The heart is like still water.

The Machine Race is a race that evolved in response to challenges; conversely, anything that hasn't been addressed simply doesn't exist. For example... human emotions (the heart). Without experiencing them directly through the body of a Machine Race, memories are merely cold slides, serving only a recording function.

"............."

The girl fell silent. She felt she should be gripped by fear. She was human, after all! A human with complete emotions, capable of joy and sorrow. Though she might have some issues with interpersonal relationships, those were uniquely human traits! But now, she seriously considered whether she should simply wander the world without any emotion. No goals, no pursuits, no preferences—existing merely for the sake of existence, like a walking corpse.

So why not choose death...?

The girl shook her head vigorously.

No, no.

She thought this calmly, realizing that her past memories and current understanding were in stark contrast. The conclusions drawn from such contradictions were bound to be inaccurate.

"【Enlightenment】Since that's the case..."

The girl rose from her crouching position against the wall and walked towards the unknown world outside. Feeling the spirits surrounding her, her body took flight with effortless grace. What would be impossible for a human was something her body performed with unparalleled ease. No special instructions were needed; flight was an innate skill. The girl soared into the dark red sky.

The glass-like eyes reflected the colors of the world, and detailed data was analyzed and displayed on her retina, giving Yun You a sense of omnipotence. However, she simply nodded silently in confirmation; arrogance and pride were not things that could possibly exist in a machine.

"—The individual machine-type Yunyou Ai Dievne—Let's begin the analysis of the heart (emotions) from now on."

The girl calmly finished speaking the words she had just begun. Her slender and petite figure appeared incredibly small against the vast sky.

If it doesn't exist, then change it to exist; if the contradiction cannot be resolved, then as long as the formula that can resolve the contradiction is calculated, there's no problem—okay, the answer is out.

"【Prerequisite】First...I need to obtain information about this world."

As soon as she finished speaking, the petite girl vanished into the blood-red sky at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

So, she must go and retrieve the most precious thing she once possessed but has now lost—the human heart!

The next phase of the fifth chapter plan

This world—this great war—was indeed far more brutal than Yun You could have imagined.

After experiencing time in this world for half a month (although there were no clocks or similar things, calculating time was very simple for machines), Yunyou clearly realized this fact.

A young girl in a tattered robe stood alone beneath a colossal steel structure, almost as tall as a mountain. Her indifferent, emotionless eyes gazed up at the imposing building, as if trying to see through it—this was once the core manufacturing plant for the goblin race's strategic equipment. According to the analytical devices in her mind, she could discern that the entire structure was constructed of extremely high-grade steel, essentially capable of withstanding atomic bombs (20,000 tons) without damage. It was built using techniques unimaginable even to modern people.

—But three days ago, that building was completely pierced by 70% of the power of the Sky Strike, the strongest attack of the Skywing race, triggering a series of explosions. It ended up in its current dilapidated state. The once gleaming metal exterior is now covered with mottled burn marks. Inside the factory, the ground is littered with huge, irregularly warped steel blocks, as if struck by a major earthquake. The iron furnaces that were once used for smelting lie lifeless on the ground, having lost their former dazzling brilliance.

And besides that...—the ground was littered with countless goblin corpses, and bright red blood flowed everywhere, staining the steel plates an unsightly crimson. Presumably, fearing that other Skywing races would soon arrive to reap the rewards, and given that the crucial data had already been taken away, no one from the goblin race had returned to clean up the mess.

Finally, under the relentless pursuit of that Winged Race member, almost half of the people in the entire factory perished. Just how many people were inside this massive factory, the core manufacturing facility? Two thousand? Five thousand? —Or more?

God knows.

—For everyone involved in this war, it's just a number. Perhaps their families will mourn for them for a few days, but in a world like this, if we can't forget this and face the future... it will only push the death toll up another number.

This is already a consensus among every intelligent being living in the midst of a great war.

There's no need to grieve for anyone's passing, because the rarest cause of death in this world is dying of old age... it's perfectly normal. Surely no one would despair because an apple might fall?

"[Confirmed] As expected, the most important strategic data has been moved away. Only some spirit equipment whose usage data has been obtained, and some less important intelligence remnants remain here."

The girl walked past a goblin corpse that, apart from its hair color and some other distinctive features, looked remarkably like a human. Her expression remained unchanged, or rather, even if she wanted to, she couldn't physiologically control it. As she walked forward, she glanced around, a flood of information rushing into her brain, which she then analyzed one by one.

Why did she come here? The answer is, to obtain information about this world.

Even though she still retained all the data from before the link was severed in her mind, due to the Machine Race's nature of not attacking unless attacked, that data was severely incomplete in some parts. After all, no race would be foolish enough to attack a Machine Race within its own core facility.

However, Yun You needs to have a certain level of understanding of the information that the machine-type doesn't need.

—Because she needs to have the basis for judgment to deduce the world map.

"[Sigh] Even the humans in that situation in the original work had a map showing the general strategic distribution of races around the world, while the Machine Race, a race most adept at analysis and calculation, didn't... No, it should be said that it's precisely because they were in an environment where survival was theoretically impossible that they went to such lengths to obtain such things...?"

Just as the girl was saying this, her eyes blinked and a glint of light flashed—the result had already been analyzed and compared.

Besides the charred marks, the ground at the escape route of the eastern factory showed signs of disturbance. Scanning revealed a vast underground space beneath, presumably where a core technology submarine of the goblin race once resided. It's speculated that the goblins used this submarine to help important figures escape pursuit, and the tracks from it indicate an eastward trajectory. However, the traces of use on the remaining power reactors within the factory suggest that the goblins operating this factory were located in the west. If that's the case… (details omitted).

By calming down and extracting new details from the smallest possible details, and then combining these new details to analyze and compare even more details, we can ultimately lead everything to the correct answer.

This is the incredible, almost godlike, ability of the Machine Race (deduction).

The intelligence (world strategic map) that humanity had spent countless years and sacrificed countless lives to obtain—Yun You obtained it in just half a month without experiencing any battles.

The reason it takes so much time is because she only has one machine to perform the calculations. If the power of the entire Machine Clan were used, it could probably be done in half a day or less. That's why the Machine Clan wouldn't bother looking for something so unnecessary.

"【Plan】—Now that this phase is complete, it's time to move on to the next step."

Yun Youfei left the abandoned factory, which was as big as a mountain, and began to plan her next move. Prioritizing efficiency, she certainly wouldn't waste half a month on something meaningless. This map was naturally closely related to her next plan.

Her goal was to regain what she once possessed but had now lost—the human heart. Therefore, of course she should learn from her predecessor (Shubi) who shared the same goal and had already succeeded! Because compared to starting from scratch alone, learning from a process she had already witnessed was clearly more feasible. After all, Shubi truly understood the heart in the end.

That being said, it's impossible to directly imitate such a case (the story of Rick and Shubi).

—After all, if we consider it from a common-sense perspective, such a case is undoubtedly a miracle.

Chapter Six: The First Attempt

Yes, that was an absolute miracle.

To say that the group in the book walked a tightrope over a bottomless abyss would be an understatement. They practically ran across the air.

You say this is impossible? — Yes, it is impossible. Nonsense, rambling, fabrication, exaggeration, mythologizing… in short, any word related to lies can be used. Objectively speaking, it's that unbelievable. You see, even a single orc can easily destroy a human settlement. Understand? No matter how much training humans undergo, their physical abilities cannot match the lowest-ranking orcs, their disguise abilities cannot match the lowest-ranking vampires, their split-thought abilities cannot match the lowest-ranking forest elves—and what's more, these races' abilities go far beyond that.

—But in the original work, Riku and Shubi succeeded. With just 179 humans and an Analyzer with performance in the lower-middle range of the Machine Race, they achieved the great feat of ending the war that had lasted for at least tens of thousands of years... No, a divine feat!

Back then, Yun You, who was still human, happily thought, "As expected of the human race, as long as you have the determination to never give up, you can even do something like this. You're so cool, a god-level player!" But now, the girl, whose thinking has been forced to be logical, can only make a very pure and calm judgment—that such a thing is completely impossible in reality. It's probably just the "author" forcibly twisting fate to achieve that kind of "effect," in short, cheating with the protagonist's halo.

To reiterate—it's a story where one mistake could cause everything to fall apart. The girl felt that from the moment she, the transmigrator, appeared, the original story had probably already collapsed due to the butterfly effect. Even if she did nothing, or even actively helped Riku and Shubi... the original story was already in a state of disarray.

It's even possible that the idea of ​​using tragedy to bring peace to the world—that is, ending the war—was ruined by this little butterfly. The reason for saying "possibly" is that Yun You doesn't know whether there is such a thing as the convergence of world lines in this world, and the very appearance of her as a variable can already be considered as the original world line being changed, so for now, she will assume that this world can be changed.

...Actually, the girl could have avoided this situation. After all, even with the butterfly effect, at least the butterfly has to flap its wings. If she had simply killed or buried herself when she appeared in the cave, the ending of the story probably wouldn't have been affected.

She had already thought of this solution...

But she didn't want to; she rejected and denied this option.

Objectively speaking, Yunyou is not a good person. From childhood to adulthood, she has hardly ever used her talents to do good deeds (the only few times were to test whether she would feel happy from doing good deeds, and the result was negative). Most of the time, she only used her talents for herself—she is not a good person who knows how to think of others.

So, even though she had considered this, she still decided to fly alone into this unfamiliar world, even if it might disrupt the original story and lead to the tragedy of the entire world's destruction.

—Even if the great war is truly ended, so what? The fact that she has lost her emotions (meaning of existence) will not change.

Deep down, she still didn't want to die. Otherwise, she wouldn't have clung to life for so long in her past life... Who would want to die?

...

...

Okay, let's put aside that impossible miracle (ending the war) for now and talk about how Shubi gained a heart. That's Yunyou's current goal.

Simply put, that feeling (emotion) sprouted from falling in love with Riku. Shubi became interested in Riku's reactions and tried to understand him. Riku, in turn, cleverly maintained a balanced relationship between them. Then, after years of spending time together (through games)—pure love naturally blossomed.

The mechanism behind it... is incomprehensible. Yun You sighed inwardly. Even though she had once possessed human emotions, she could still analyze the general outcome, but she still couldn't understand how Shubi had managed to do that...

But that's only natural.

Trying to analyze and clarify something as metaphysical and abstract as emotions with mechanical logical calculations is, frankly, a waste of effort.

Yun You, well-versed in this theory, nodded again, somewhat helplessly. She had understood this principle since her previous life, when she spent time studying sociology in an attempt to integrate herself into human society. Some things are just like that. You either understand them or you don't. It's completely illogical.

The cold wind high in the sky whipped at the girl's tattered, oversized robe, which hadn't been changed in half a month, causing the hem to rustle. Behind her, wings constructed of intricate machinery appeared, enabling cloaking and increased flight speed. In front of her eyes were devices resembling tactical goggles, constantly analyzing the surrounding environment to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

She wasn't just standing there thinking; she was continuously working on the next step of the plan—machines are things that won't stop moving until they achieve their goal.

The girl looked down, where most of the area was still covered by black and gray that emitted a blue-white light. A few areas revealed the habitats of various races, and under the protection of the gods, the black and gray would not seep into these places.

However, the girl's current target is a corner hidden beneath the black and gray.