Millennium Witch

When did we become a couple?

Yvette glanced at her but didn't deny it, silently watching the elder continue brewing tea.

Take out a rough metal cup, put in moldy tea leaves and some not-so-clean cold water from the bucket, and the tea is ready.

Looking at the cup pushed in front of her, Yvette didn't touch it, but instead glanced to the side.

As a relatively new mechanical puppet, Bingyu appeared to have the ability to drink water, and she directly downed the cold tea brewed from the moldy tea leaves in one gulp.

"I can't keep this mouth anymore..." Yvette thought, then looked at the Grand Elder opposite her.

Unlike Bingyu, the Grand Elder's head only had a camera; the rest was just an empty metal plate, with even the speakers on his shoulders.

Under Yvette's watchful gaze, the Grand Elder, like a tea master, solemnly picked up the cup with both hands and poured the tea over a spot on his head where there was nothing—and unsurprisingly, it all spilled onto his chest.

But the elder seemed completely unaffected, putting down his cup and saying with a satisfied tone, "Ah, it's been so long since I've had this tea. It's still so sweet and delicious. No wonder it's one of the most popular drinks in human civilization."

What did you drink? It's so sweet and delicious, doesn't your conscience hurt to tell me...?

Yvette thought expressionlessly, if she were a psychiatrist, she could probably diagnose the Elder with cyberpsychosis on the spot right now. This is just too outrageous.

But since they had already tried so hard, in order to maintain etiquette, Yvette still sighed, picked up the teacup, and pretended to drink tea. In fact, the moment she drank, a tiny white tentacle extended from her fingertip and swallowed most of the strange liquid in the cup.

She thought, "I can't keep these tentacles either."

Chapter 50 The Sanctuary

After finishing her tea, Bingyu seemed to remember her original purpose and asked to use the sanctuary to recharge her motorcycle.

The elder readily agreed and immediately got up to lead the way. Yvette, who was already full of curiosity about the mysterious sanctuary, naturally followed behind and arrived at another part of the Puppet Town together.

This time it wasn't a container apartment, but a cathedral left over from the early civilization period in the town.

The walls here are rough and mottled, with sections collapsed, bearing the marks of time, but the overall framework remains remarkably sturdy thanks to the meticulous maintenance of the puppets. The vegetation around the church is meticulously trimmed, and even the iconic obsidian bricks at the entrance are polished to a glossy black, reflecting the sunlight softly.

Stepping into the church, the spacious main hall was exceptionally quiet, with light filtering through the stained-glass windows, which were mostly broken, making every speck of dust sparkle.

Above the central circular shrine, a massive pixelated cube statue stood silently. Looking at this iconic symbol, Yvette instantly understood the former church's origins.

Temple of the Mind!

This is a well-known religion from the early civilization period, originating from Silver Mirror Continent. One of its tenets is "the flesh and blood are weak, and the machine ascends." After the apocalypse, it became a sanctuary for mechanical puppets to worship the mechanical god, which is quite fitting in style.

However, Yvette knew very little about the religion of the Origin Civilization, only that the Temple of Mind and "Sky Technology" had an ambiguous relationship, with the former suspected to be secretly funded by the latter. If she had another chance to enter a dream, she might search for relevant information.

Besides the cube statue left by the Temple of Mind, there is also a female mechanical puppet dressed in a black nun's habit in the church. It is very human-like, but compared to the girlish style of Ice Rain, this nun has a more mature temperament, and the outline of her chest under the nun's habit is more obvious.

Although she knew that the outline must be a white body or a metal breastplate underneath, Yvette couldn't help but take a few more glances. She wondered how such a highly anthropomorphic and perfectly intact mechanical puppet could have been picked up from a garbage dump like the Grand Elder.

Could it be that the God of Machines controls a puppet production line from the past, which is why he is able to create such a highly anthropomorphic new puppet?

"Two guests, this is Sister Sunflower from our sanctuary. Miss Sunflower, these are Miss Yvette and Miss Ice Rain, two guests who have come from afar and wish to borrow the sanctuary to request that God recharge their vehicle."

“No problem, God of Machines above, I will help you.” Miss Sunflower gave a perfectly timed smile, turned and went to a corner room, where she brought out a box.

Yvette looked at it and found it was a portable metal case with a faint glow and obvious multi-functional ports; it was essentially a large power bank.

She thought, no wonder Bingyu said that every kingdom has a sanctuary. Besides making all sorts of prayers to the God of Machines, the most important function of the sanctuary must be providing energy, right? It's roughly equivalent to the mechanical puppets' main dining hall. Otherwise, given the size and development of these puppet towns, they simply couldn't obtain their own energy for survival.

But where does the sanctuary's energy come from? Is it from an elemental reactor? From underground magic wires? Or some other method?

Thinking about this, an idea gradually formed in her mind.

She intends to stay here for a while to observe and understand more closely how this puppet town operates, and to learn about the mysterious mechanical god.

……

After Yvette requested to stay here temporarily, the Grand Elder gladly agreed, but stated that he could not make the decision alone and needed to convene a meeting with the other councilors of the kingdom.

Bingyu also took the opportunity to make the exact same request, but her reason was that if she wanted to explore the nearby ruined city of Agasher, a safe and stable puppet kingdom would be the perfect base. Besides, she had already reported this to the gods before coming to Black Tide Continent.

So, after the approval was granted by the Kingdom Council, Yvette and Ice Rain were allowed to live here permanently. However, as outsiders, they could not live in the container apartment and had to find suitable rooms to live in from the ruins of the town themselves.

Yvette had no objection to this, of course; she could stay in the campervan directly. Bingyu, on the other hand, shyly asked if she could stay in the campervan with him, but after being ruthlessly rejected, she had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

……

As evening approached, the sky transitioned into a deep cyan, not yet fully settling into inky blue.

Yvette was looking around the ruined town when she suddenly heard the roar of an engine, accompanied by a low vortex sound, coming from afar.

She looked up and saw a large flying vehicle whizzing past in the sky, which was fragmented by the ruins and dense tree canopy, before landing on a small, relatively flat clearing near the church.

She immediately went over and saw the vehicle's hatch open. The nun she had seen earlier was deftly unloading several energy storage boxes that shimmered with a ghostly blue light from inside the spaceship and neatly stacking them at her feet. At the same time, she carefully returned several similar boxes whose surfaces had dimmed and seemed to have run out of energy.

"It's like delivering a package..." Yvette walked over and said, "Let me help you."

“Thank you, Miss Yvette, but no, it’s my duty as a nun,” Miss Sunflower said with a smile, politely declining.

Ivy nodded without saying anything more, her gaze falling on the huge cargo spaceship. She noticed that it still bore the embossed logo of the Rift Group, its silvery-white color now noticeably yellowed.

"It's such a simple way of realizing it," she thought. "Judging from the current situation, the God of Machines is not a god in the usual sense. At least not a true god like the one in the Radiant Continent who established a divine kingdom and possessed supreme power. Instead, it seems more like a super AI that survived the apocalypse."

But the elder said that the God of Machines gave the mechanical puppets souls. How did that happen?

It not only solved the problem of the origin of the soul, but also the problem of the mind core being unable to serve as a carrier of the soul.

What if we open the brains of these mechanical golems and find a normal human brain inside... Hmm, that would be a bit too horrifying, but it's not impossible. However, I can observe them here for a while longer, and there will always be a chance to verify it... Yvette made a bold guess.

By this time, the nun had finished moving all the energy storage boxes, and the transport ship was actually a talking, non-humanoid mechanical being. After exchanging greetings and praising the great mechanical god, the transport ship took off and disappeared into the distant horizon. The nun wiped non-existent sweat from her brow, a satisfied smile on her face.

Yvette observed her smile and noticed that it was different from the businesslike smile she had shown before. This smile was more genuine, as if she really enjoyed her duties as a nun.

“Miss Sunflower, you seem to really enjoy being a nun?” Yvette asked quietly.

“Yes, no one would refuse to serve God,” the nun nodded with a smile.

"Can you answer one question for me?" Yvette asked again.

"what is the problem?"

Why do the machine race all wish they could become human?

"do not know."

"Don't know?" Yvette was a little surprised. She had originally thought that the nun would say it was because human civilization was so glorious that it inspired worship, or that humans were the creators and it was normal to imitate them.

“It seems to be an instinct we are born with. If we want the answer, perhaps we can only ask the great god of machines,” the nun said.

“Then can you ask God?” Yvette asked again.

“Well…” The nun looked troubled. “God doesn’t answer every question. If you encounter difficulties, you can seek God’s help, but it’s best not to bother Him with this kind of question. He might not even answer you… If you really want to know, Miss Yvette, you might as well try praying to God yourself.”

"Alright," Yvette sighed inwardly.

She definitely wouldn't contact the God of Machines; who knows what the God of Machines' attitude is towards human survivors... What if she's exposed and then subjected to heavy firepower?

Furthermore, she strongly suspected that the God of Machines might have a way to resurrect humanity. After all, even an organization like the "Society for the Survival of Civilization" existed before the apocalypse, so there must have been other private or official methods for overcoming tribulations, such as underground human gene banks. But it did nothing, and this in itself might imply its attitude.

Chapter 51 Clues

Later that evening, Yvette saw mechanical puppets coming to the sanctuary to pray, wanting to confide some problems to God.

The nun was transporting the energy storage box to the warehouse. When she asked it to wait a moment, it obediently sat on a church bench, holding a long, dark object in its hand.

Yvette was curious about the prayer, but not wanting the mechanical god to notice, she planned to observe from a distance. However, after seeing what the mechanical puppet was holding, she couldn't help but come over and ask, "What's wrong? Can you tell me?"

"Oh, you're that traveler from out of town?" The mechanical puppet noticed Yvette's human-like appearance and said in a surprised tone.

"Hmm, you haven't seen me yet?"

“Yes, when you and the other lady arrived, I was doing archaeological research and couldn’t make it.” The mechanical puppet bowed. “My name is ‘Film Roll,’ and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I am Yvette Losivia.” Yvette nodded in return.

This mechanical puppet called "Film Roll" is similar to most of the machines in the village. It looks like it was dug out of the garbage mountain on the scrap metal avenue in the Blackwater district of Ish City. Its body is not flexible and is full of stitches, so it looks a bit strained when it does some human-like movements, such as bending over and bowing.

"Going back to your question, what I really wanted to ask was, what exactly is this stick-like thing found in the ruins?" The film showed Yvette the object in its hand. Although it was completely dark, Yvette could roughly figure out what it was from its structure.

This should be a toothbrush, and the material is most likely "fungal plastic," which is an organic synthetic material developed by Lintui Biotechnology.

The film continued, "Actually, I basically knew what this was, but after my neighbor 'Furball' saw it, he insisted that it must be a human 'door key' used to open door locks. But I said, how is that possible? Human door locks have very small keyholes, how could something so big fit in? Furball insisted that it could fit in, and almost broke it."

“So what do you think this is?” Yvette asked.

"I bet this is the legendary 'ear pick'! I've seen portraits of humans, painted by an artist, and I noticed that the size of a human ear canal is just right to fit this thing in! And look at this little stick, it has some fine hairs, right? It must be for cleaning ears!"

The film roll sounded a little smug, and asked as if it wanted to take credit, "Well, Miss Yvette, don't you think my point of view is much more correct than the fur ball's?"

“A wonderful guess. I think the gods will be on your side too.” Yvette couldn’t help but smile, her eyes gentle.

"Right, right!" The film was delighted, then seemed captivated by Yvette's beautiful smile. After a moment of stunned silence, it said, "Speaking of which, Miss Yvette, you truly live up to your reputation. How come you look so human? Um, if I may be so bold as to ask, do you have any cultivation experience you could impart to me..."

As they were talking, the nun slowly approached.

After overhearing their conversation, the nun said to the film, "You can't do that, Mr. Film. Have you forgotten? Spiritual practice requires personal enlightenment. You can never become a true human being by relying on others to teach you."

"Ah, I forgot," the film roll said blankly.

“Alright, I have opened the ‘door’. You can go and pray to God now,” the nun said.

Following the nun's gaze, Yvette looked at the shrine beneath the central cube statue. The shrine was currently activated, with two small metal doors opening to reveal a glimpse of the weathered, old machinery inside.

Yvette stared at the object for a while, and then she roughly understood what it was.

Goodness, this is a signal base station from several centuries ago. Since it's still usable, it must have been repaired and maintained.

Meanwhile, next to the shrine was a multi-functional cable. After physically connecting one of the data cables to itself, the film immediately bowed its head, clasped its hands together, and entered a motionless state of prayer, like a statue.

Five minutes later, the process was over. Yvette hesitated for a moment, then abandoned the idea of ​​using her hacking abilities. While this could allow her to trace the location of the Machine God through the network, it would also expose her. Before she had a sufficient understanding of the Machine Race, she wouldn't do anything to alert them.

Then, after watching the film roll, Yvette unplugged the data cable from her body and asked, "What did God answer you?"

"God said that this needs to be explored by oneself..." The film's tone was still full of confusion. It pondered for a while and looked at the two people beside it with doubt, "Miss Yvette, Miss Sunflower, you are both at a higher level than me. Why do you think God doesn't just answer me directly?"

“There must be a deeper meaning to why God doesn’t tell you directly. Perhaps He wants you to focus on the process of finding the answer, which is more valuable than the result,” the nun said after thinking for a moment.

"I see, no wonder it's a god." The film immediately believed it.

I think the God of Machines is just too lazy to answer such a boring question... Yvette doesn't think so at all.

Perhaps because deep down she is still the same delivery guy named Li You who works in crowdsourcing, the mechanical god that appears in her mind right now is a mentally exhausted online customer service representative who has to deal with all sorts of ridiculous problems every day.

It seems being a god isn't so easy after all...

……

At night, the lights in Puppet Town come on, giving it a lively and bustling atmosphere.

Just as Yvette was about to wander around to other places, she saw a magical girl named Bingyu with short, ice-blue hair and a delicate, cute face emerge from a nearby alley, panting as she said, "Hey, kind lady, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you for ages."

Yvette watched her panting and strongly suspected it was part of human cultivation, then asked, "What is it?"

"The Elder invited us to his house for dinner," Bingyu said.

Yvette immediately thought of the cup of tea made with moldy tea leaves and dirty water that morning in the container apartment.

But in the end, she didn't refuse, because she also had something she wanted to ask the Grand Elder for help with.

After a while, they arrived at the container apartment. In the container belonging to the Grand Elder, Yvette saw the Grand Elder, who had already set out a table. There were some plates on the table, and surprisingly, there were quite a few berries on them. Some of them were obviously spoiled, but others looked like they had just been picked that day.

However, this is definitely not the staple food for mechanical puppets. After glancing at it a few times, Yvette saw the energy storage box hidden under the small table and roughly understood what the elder meant.

The table is powered by a magic wire underneath, and the table simulates human eating, achieving both material and spiritual benefits.

After they were seated, during the meal, Yvette suddenly said, "Elder, may I ask you a question?"

“Miss Yvette, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I will answer them to the best of my knowledge,” the elder said immediately.

“Have you ever seen a blonde girl in the last one or two hundred years?” Yvette asked.

During their conversations, she learned that the Grand Elder had awakened in some ruins approximately 170 years ago.

It initially lived in the Black Tide Kingdom of Silver Mirror Continent for 120 years in a daze, when it suddenly had a whimsical idea to venture out into the vast world outside, filled with mutated creatures, dangerous yet mysterious, just like Ice Rain is now.

Unlike the three kingdoms of Sky Dome, Ember Scar, and Rift Sky, among the four kingdoms, only the Black Tide Kingdom originated from Black Tide Continent. Later, due to a divine decree, it moved its mother kingdom to Silver Mirror Continent. Therefore, compared to the other kingdoms, the citizens of the Black Tide Kingdom have a greater desire to travel.

Then, the young elder, armed with simple defensive weapons, set off, choosing the scattered kingdoms across the three continents as safe havens.

It traveled far and wide for more than 20 years, from Silver Mirror Continent to Emerald Continent, and finally returned to its ancestral homeland, Black Tide Continent, where it established the present-day Black Tide Kingdom, Agash Branch.

With such a long life experience, Yvette thought that if Rosalind had ever returned to the End of the World, the Grand Elder might have heard of it.

"A blonde girl?" the elder asked, puzzled. "Speaking of blonde girls, I have indeed seen quite a few in my life. I wonder which one Miss Yvette is referring to?"