Chapter 72: Players’ Baffling Behavior

When someone approaches a gate, what are they thinking? Why is it closed? How can it be opened? Those are the thoughts of ordinary people. But when Seele and Bronya reached the gate of the robot settlement, they realized these were the thoughts of reasonable people. As they looked up at the three striking poses on the gate, all the words they had prepared boiled down to one question:

"What are you doing?"

Stelle stood atop the gate, her eyes gazing deeply at them: "The world is on the verge of destruction. I'm trying to stand at the highest point to look up at this calamity."

Forget whether the world was actually ending—Stelle was clearly looking down, yet she claimed to be looking up! Seele didn't even know how to respond to that.

March 7th, feeling a bit embarrassed, explained, "Uh… I noticed there wasn't anyone around, and the two of them seemed to be having fun, so I joined them. I have to admit, standing up here is pretty fun."

Pei Guang added, "Why don't you try it too?"

Seele and Bronya had come with serious matters in mind. There was no way they would be fooled by such a simple invitation.

Yet, seeing Pei Guang and Stelle extend their hands, the two took a deep breath and each grabbed a hand, pulling themselves up.

"Ah~~~"

"Ah~~~"

Whether it was psychological or not, the moment Seele and Bronya climbed up and cautiously stood on the ledge, staring down at the ground, their hearts began to race.

The gate wasn't that high, but they were constantly worried about slipping and falling.

Pei Guang, noticing their shaky stance, spoke up: "If you only focus on your feet, you'll only feel fear. Let's focus on the distance. Our enemies are the stars and the vast sea!"

Stelle chimed in, "Exactly! So what if you can't stand steady? Worst case, you fall and climb back up."

Pei Guang mused, "Though something's missing… We should hang a boss's head right in the middle—a blood sacrifice! Blood sacrifice!!!"

Stelle joined in, "Blood sacrifice!!!"

March 7th protested, "Ew, no blood everywhere! Can't we hang something nice instead?"

Pei Guang paused to think. "You're right. Then how about you stand in the middle? To me, you're the prettiest thing there is."

Stelle agreed, "That's right! Let's have our cutest, most beautiful, most stunning March stand in the center."

Pei Guang and Stelle, one on each side, crouched slightly, raising their hands in a dramatic gesture as if directing everyone's gaze to March 7th. At first, March 7th felt a little shy, but seeing as no one else was around, she quickly embraced the moment with confidence.

She planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, looking every bit as proud as Pei Guang and Stelle!

At that moment, Bronya had an epiphany. She imitated Pei Guang's words, focusing her gaze into the distance.

Let go of your fear, focus on the horizon. Yes! What was she so afraid of? If her mother had simply made a mistake, she would correct her. If her mother was being controlled, she would free her. And if her mother was no longer the person she once knew, then she would sacrifice her to the Stellarons if that's what it took!

Don't focus on what's beneath your feet—look to the future. At that moment, Bronya gazed at Pei Guang and Stelle, recalling Dan Heng's advice: as long as your goal is clear, follow Pei Guang, and you won't have to think too hard.

What was beautiful in this world? Delicious sausages? Pretty clothes?

No, no—it was humanity. It was the spirit of preservation that had resisted the cold for 700 years in Belobog. It was the will passed down by the Supreme Guardians through generations.

"For Belobog!!!"

Pei Guang was having fun, but when Bronya suddenly shouted, he felt like he couldn't be left behind. But what should he shout?

"Haiyaa~~!!"

As he cheered excitedly, Pei Guang began to wiggle his body atop the gate.

With his movement, the gate started to shake. But all five of them were already experienced in standing steady, so a little shaking wouldn't knock them down easily.

Watching Pei Guang howl with joy, Stelle felt the need to shout something too: "Rules! They are made to be broken!"

With "breaking" in mind, she pulled out a bat and began to furiously knock on March 7th's ice shield. Fortunately, March 7th was quick to cast a protective ice barrier. While Stelle's strikes caused visual effects, they did no damage.

March 7th, exasperated, said, "If you're going to hit something, hit something else! If you keep this up, I'll show you what I'm made of."

Stelle shouted back, "Break it! Break them!!!"

March 7th, frustrated, began to shake the gate even more, "Let's see if you can keep your balance now!"

As the gate trembled under the pressure, and with the ghostly cries of her companions ringing out, Seele began to seriously contemplate the situation. After some thought, she pulled out her scythe and declared, "Disappear among the sea of butterflies!!!"

Initially, Bronya had been firmly resolute, inspired by her newfound clarity. But when she came to her senses, she found her companions had all seemingly lost their minds.

Bronya said nervously, "What... what's gotten into you? Don't do this, I'm starting to get scared!"

It wasn't just Bronya who felt uneasy. Hearing the eerie howling, even Svarog opened the gate from the inside to check what was happening. But when it saw Pei Guang screaming on top of the gate, Stelle smashing ice blocks, March 7th shaking the gate, and Seele swinging her scythe wildly, Svarog's system crashed.

Svarog calmly recorded: "Data logged and backed up multiple times. Log code: Outsiders' Bizarre Behavior."

The poor gate, having endured decades of wear and tear, had survived assaults by vandals, fended off malfunctioning robots, and now carried the weight of five individuals. But this was its limit.

For a gate, born to be a gate, it had done everything it possibly could. But now, with the constant shaking, it could no longer bear the weight of the five people.

It… collapsed.

With a loud crash, followed by five simultaneous cries, the group was flung into the air.

As March 7th flew through the sky, a gentle breeze brushed against her face, and for a brief moment, she felt an inexplicable sense of tranquility. Her ice powers usually protected her in times of danger, like during a fall, automatically activating to shield her.

But in that instant, she chose to stop her body's natural protective reflexes and instead closed her eyes.

"You said… you'd catch me. I trust you..."

Her memory flashed back to the scene from two days ago, when they had leaped together aboard the Astral Express. Though the time spent airborne was short, it was long enough for March 7th to recall all the experiences they had shared over the past few days.

"It's only been a few days, but it feels like it's been months, maybe even much longer..."

March 7th crossed her arms over her chest, eyes shut. Whatever the outcome, this time, she wouldn't use her ice powers to protect herself.

After what felt like either an eternity or a mere instant, March 7th felt warmth beneath her. She instinctively opened her eyes and turned her head, only to find Pei Guang lying on the ground beneath her, looking up and saying, "So heavy~~."

"?" March 7th playfully flicked his forehead. "Who are you calling heavy? I'll give you one more chance to phrase that better!"

Meanwhile, Seele had landed gracefully on the ground, holding Bronya in a princess carry. "Good thing I reacted quickly!" she remarked.

Bronya quickly scrambled out of Seele's arms, embarrassed. "Thank you!"

Seele accepted Bronya's gratitude with calm composure.

As for Stelle? Her situation was a bit awkward. When Svarog detected danger, it had quickly calculated who needed assistance. After its precise calculations, it determined that Stelle was the only one who required catching. However, there was a problem—Stelle had flown in the opposite direction, far out of Svarog's reach.

In the end, Stelle was the unlucky one... Though, technically, the most unfortunate was Pei Guang, who had ended up catching March 7th, only to take a tumble himself.

After recording and backing up Pei Guang and his group's bizarre behavior, Svarog finally turned to Pei Guang and asked, "What business do you have here?"

Svarog couldn't believe that Pei Guang had come all the way here just to engage in bizarre behavior on top of the gate. Based on its calculations, Pei Guang's actions were always purposeful, aimed toward a final objective. It finally concluded that Pei Guang hadn't come here just to mess with the gate.

After hearing Svarog's question, Stelle, who had been thrown to the ground, grabbed a nearby trash can and dragged it over. "We caught a robot. It was on a mission to protect the city, and we found it really touching, so we brought it here for you to check out."

Stelle opened the trash can, revealing a small robot inside. Svarog fell silent.

The little robot inside the trash can was begging for mercy.

"Spare me… Please…"

"I'm sorry, Rivet Town…"

Pei Guang and March 7th had also gotten up by now and walked over. Pei Guang asked, "This robot is interesting. It even seems to have developed the desire to read. Could it have gained self-awareness?"

Svarog quickly completed its calculations and responded, "No. Autonomous machines connected to the network regularly purge information noise from their core modules. The probability of an individual developing self-awareness outside of control is approximately 0.12%. For those not connected to the network, the probability increases to 3.23%."

"Reminder: This probability is a theoretical estimate. No actual cases have been recorded in the past 700 years within the Underworld."

Pei Guang shrugged, "Hey, a 3% chance isn't nothing. Who knows? Maybe this year, you'll hit the jackpot and this little guy will turn out to be something special. I think it's unique, so I'm leaving it with you. It's too risky to just put it back."

Svarog processed the information and then asked Pei Guang, "Would you like to format this unit's core storage? After formatting, the unit can be integrated into the base's network for unified management. The unit has already developed logical noise. Formatting will reduce the risk of operational failure due to overload. If not formatted, there may be unpredictable risks in the future."

March 7th, curious, asked, "What kind of risks could this little guy pose?"

Svarog remained silent, but Pei Guang answered, "The risk is significant. If it evolves into a sentient machine and sparks a machine crisis, this entire planet—and several surrounding star systems—could be wiped out by intelligent machines."

March 7th blinked in disbelief. "Huh?"

Pei Guang continued, "But that's just one possibility. Alternatively, its future might hinge on whether it can hold out for 251 seconds."

Stelle, puzzled, asked, "251 seconds? What's that supposed to mean?"

Pei Guang recalled, "It's the time needed for a humanoid machine on a certain planet to instantly calculate and create the most powerful weapon in its memory while transmitting its 'heart' data."