That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

In fact, Hall speculated that the number of humans in this world might not even exceed 10,000, while according to the original work, the total number of humans who responded to Rick's call on the continent of Lucia was less than 8000.

“Now that Skynet has been launched, it’s about time to begin executing Sleep.” Hall murmured.

······

"Waaaaah~"

“Azriel...everyone…”

"They were all killed in battle..."

Jibril, whose body had transformed from a teenage girl into a young girl, knelt on the ground, sobbing and stomping her foot: "Damn it! Azriel, if you're not dead, I'll kill you with my own hands! I finally got this chance!"

"Finally, I can die in battle!"

"Remember this!"

Jibril held back her tears and muttered angrily.

The Skywing race are elite soldiers created by the God of War. They are born of war and die because of war. This is the greatest glory of the Skywing race.

Chapter 253 Body

The city of Zion is three thousand meters underground, at its lowest level.

The subspace portal opened, and Hall stepped out first, followed by Yuki, a petite girl dressed in a blue and black sailor uniform. Her small face and delicate features appeared overly cold, and her eyes lacked any emotion.

As the girl gazed at Hall's retreating figure, something seemed to burst forth from the depths of her eyes.

Yuki gripped her sleeves tightly, her brows furrowed slightly, puzzled by the error in the logic.

However, such errors in the operating logic might have been very rare ten years ago, but now almost all connectors have received similar error reports.

This is proof that you are about to have a heart.

Before Hall lay a vast and expansive underground space, with a metal dome and floor that stretched as far as the eye could see. From a great distance, countless pipes were neatly arranged, extending to a pyramid-shaped building, the top of which was a mechanical throne.

Hall stepped onto the stairs and came to the throne, gently touching the armrest.

YUKI reached out her little hand and tugged at Hall's sleeve from behind.

Sensing a faint response, Hall turned his head in confusion and saw Yuki's hesitant gaze, like a frightened little animal, wanting to say something but unable to speak.

"what happened?"

YUKI shook her head and whispered, "I don't know, I just feel like I want to do it."

"You approached me without my command, so it seems you have a pretty good understanding of what the heart is."

Is this the heart?

"There are many kinds of hearts: love, friendship, family affection. Everything is based on the empathy that humans possess, at least from a human perspective. I don't know what kind of feelings you have for me. The way you look right now seems to be that you are worried about me."

“There’s an error in the operating logic,” YUKI said softly, lowering her eyes.

Hall smiled and ruffled her hair: "Don't worry, the virtual reality space has become unstable."

YUKI nodded.

"We both know very well what caused this effect, so I must [go into eternal sleep]."

The so-called "eternal slumber" is to communicate with the gods trapped in the virtual reality world, decide which gods to keep, which gods to seal, and which gods to destroy.

The process is similar to how Bean Dad Holheim communicated with the Philosopher's Stone within his body.

To put it more bluntly, the virtual reality space created by the machine is equivalent to a hard drive. While human consciousness is generally fine, deities are like large files, with a limited capacity.

Hall has to decide which file to delete, which file to compress, which file to repair, and which file to run.

YUKI pursed her lips and nodded again.

"Although there are risks, they are nothing compared to my previous experiences, and even if I am in a long sleep, I can still be with you."

Hall sat on the throne, one hand supporting his cheek as he slowly closed his eyes.

YUKI stared blankly at Hall's face, reaching out her small hand to gently stroke it, feeling the temperature so different from that of a machine.

She didn't know how to react; an incredibly strong impulse, exceeding all logical processes, arose within her.

I don't know when it started, but the world seems to have gained warmth, and mechanical ways of thinking have changed.

As the overall commander of the Connector, she possesses computational abilities that surpass all other Connectors. It is precisely because of this that her process of learning about the heart from Hall is all the slower.

Hall had taught her many things over the years, the most important of which was imitation—using perspective-taking to perform calculations.

This minimal imitation has now evolved into learning.

“This is the heart, this is the feeling called worry.” YUKI’s thin lips parted slightly.

······

Mind splitting is a basic skill for alchemists in the Type-Moon world, and Hall had long since mastered it. The moment his consciousness entered the virtual reality world, it split into hundreds of parts, arriving in a world above the clouds to converse with different gods.

All that could be seen was a boundless sea of ​​pure white clouds. At intervals, one could see towering stone pillar platforms, each a small world inhabited by deities who had activated the power of pseudo-divine essence.

Hall's figure appeared on all the platforms simultaneously.

"Hello, Moon Goddess."

"Thank you for your assistance, Goddess of Victory."

"I have come for peace, God of Goo Goo."

"Your majesty amazes me, Zeus."

"I need your wisdom, the wellspring of wisdom."

"Don't you want to leave this world, you little man in a bottle?"

······

boom!

Hibernation pods popped out from the bottom of the pyramid-shaped building. After the lids opened, Hall, dressed in a black robe, slowly stood up and examined his body. His height and appearance were no different from the "himself" sleeping on the pyramid, but he had some machine-type components on his joints and head.

This is a temporary clone created using machine-generated technology, controlled by a portion of Hall's mind.

Of course, Hall had no intention of changing his body. The android's body was fine; even if it was modified, it could be restored to its genetic makeup and be no different from a pure human.

The bodies of the Machine Race can only be used in this world; otherwise, they might be reduced to scrap metal in the next world due to differences in truth.

This is a disposable item created solely for the convenience of action. Of course, as the highest-grade machine clone, Hall can unleash even greater power than the combat body.

YUKI stood quietly to one side, waiting.

With a slight thought, Hall created a black robe to wrap around his body, making him appear as if he were in outer space, with only his chin and bare feet exposed, solemn and mysterious.

This was a deliberately designed image by Hall to facilitate communication with the outside world.

"How long has it been since I went into a long sleep?"

"345621 seconds."

"Four days, what happened during that time?"

"Zion has accepted over 3000 humans, and the Forest Elf's plenipotentiary representative, Sink Nielbaren, wishes to visit you. They have been waiting in Zion for 94513 seconds."

Forest spirits? What are they doing here?

This question lingered in Hall's mind for less than a second before he roughly understood it.

A power capable of changing the world order has suddenly emerged. Other races might have to consider whether to make contact with it for the time being.

The goblin and forest elf are mortal enemies; even if they can't obtain the Star Grail, they will still destroy each other.

With the emergence of a strong human faction, whoever wins them over first will benefit from that faction's power.

"what?"

Hall glanced at YUKI and was stunned. The girl in front of him was no longer a girl on the outside but a machine on the inside; she had a complete body.

"YUKI, your body?"

YUKI nodded: "As expected, I couldn't hide it from Master's eyes. This is just my personal judgment. Right now, my body is as fragile as a human's, and I can only use the minimum amount of power."

"By following Master, other races will inevitably mistakenly believe that humans have become vassals of the Machine Race when they come into contact with you, thus concealing the fact that humans possess hearts."

Indeed, and because Hall can use the power of the Machine Race, he basically doesn't need Yuki's assistance.

Making contact with the forest elves would be a good way to conceal one's human characteristics.

YUKI added, "Also, this body already possesses all the physiological functions of a human female. If you don't mind, could you please ask Master and me to carry out the work of perpetuating the genetic material?"

Why are you doing this to me too?!

Hall was both amused and exasperated: "My body is mechanical now."

"It doesn't matter, I think it will speed up the analysis of the heart."

"Don't rush, I will personally teach you after the [Long Sleep] ends."

"clear."

Chapter 254 Declaration of War

Sink Nielbaren, the full agent of the Forest Elfs, sat in a high-rise conference room in Zion City, leaning against the side glass, sipping red tea and overlooking the streets below, his light purple eyes revealing an unpredictable smile.

"Is this what humans are?"

"Zero magical adaptability, no orcish physique, no special abilities whatsoever—what's the difference between him and a monkey? He's not even as good as those gophers..."

"It is precisely this kind of race that received assistance from the machine race."

"Could there be some secret hidden inside?"

"No, the machine race is the most incomprehensible life form in the world. Although they possess intelligence and follow the most basic survival instincts, they have no emotions or desires. They are machines, and it is not surprising what decisions they make."

"In fact, the races they choose to cooperate with are more advantageous to us."

Below is what is considered the busiest central area of ​​Zion, but you can only see passersby occasionally; the number of humans remaining is far too small.

She spent the entire day in the city. Because of her special status, even though she was allowed to enter as a guest, she could not move freely in Zion and could not make contact with any humans without permission.

Yuki warned that crossing the line would be considered an attack and the perpetrator would be executed on the spot.