Xiao You: I Can't Get In! There's No Way I Can Get In!

"Why do I have a feeling that Miss Schrödinger is trying to get close to you, Liu Bai?"

"That's just your imagination," Liu Bai denied outright.

However, Rita clearly had more to say, "Lady Bianka, you were traveling with Miss Champollion, did you discover something amiss?"

"Huh? What does that mean?" Bianka paused, but seeing Rita's serious expression, she started to think. "Hmm... it seems like there's a hint of that..."

"Infectiousness," Liu Bai reminded him from the side.

"Yes! That's right. When we were preparing to attack the underground base, Miss Champollion didn't act like an archaeologist at all."

After Liu Bai's reminder, Bianka immediately remembered.

"When that guy was giving his pre-battle mobilization speech, he reminded me a bit of Bishop Otto, and the way he dealt with problems had a hint of an officer's manner."

"... Do you know what you're saying?"

Rita's smile, which had initially only noticed that something was off about Champollion, froze slightly.

In combat, Bianka's intuition is absolutely reliable—it's an innate talent.

Therefore, if the other party really is Otto... no, even assuming he's someone who's barely comparable to Otto, he's still someone they can't handle.

"... I hope she means us no harm."

Rita thought for a moment and then abandoned her prepared surveillance plan, even though she knew that this hope was just wishful thinking—the other party certainly didn't want to get on the ship for no reason.

Then, Rita glanced at the air next to Bianka with a strange look. "Guardian Spirit, you sensed it all along?"

"That's right, but there are some things I can't say—that's my rule. After all, you are the main characters on stage, while I'm just a backstage staff member."

Rita nodded in understanding, and felt much more at ease.

Since Liu Bai knows, if something really happens, he will definitely notify the two of them... although Rita would rather nothing ever happens.

"Tsk, why does it feel like there are more and more weirdos on this ship?" Bianka said unhappily. "How about we kick that guy off the ship?"

"From any perspective, this isn't a wise choice," Liu Bai complained. "Besides, aren't the two young ladies being protected by guardian spirits the most abnormal ones?"

"... Ah, I can't argue with that."

Now that you mention it, it does seem to be true.

"Let's skip this topic for now. Besides the newcomers, there's something else."

Rita took out two items—the holy Durandal and a crystal-like gem.

"Captain Shakespeare said that as the new master, it should be you who merges them—incidentally, Miss Schrödinger deduced that since the Crystals of Reason is essentially a strong artificial intelligence, it is very likely that there will be significant changes once it merges with Durandal."

"Significant changes?"

Bianka believes in everything except superstition.

It's rare for her to encounter something she can understand, and when her stubborn streak kicks in, she really wants to see what a "significant" change looks like.

How do I use it?

"They'll blend together after a while if they're stuck together," Rita replied simply.

Bianka nodded, immediately drew Durandal, and pressed the Crystals of Reason onto the sword. After only five or six seconds, a blinding light flashed, and the Crystals of Reason in Bianka's hand disappeared completely.

And Durandal...

"..."

Bianka released her grip, looking at the thing in front of her with an expression of complete incomprehension once again.

"Waaaaah~ I'm so sad. I just changed my clothes, and you don't recognize me, Miss."

Having grown wings and a single eye, and with its sword blade drastically reduced in size, Durandal covered its single eye with its wings and began to whine and pretend to cry.

"Ugh... how disgusting—I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

Bianka looked away—the thing in front of her looked incredibly disgusting at first glance.

Although she's not someone who prioritizes looks, she's still a girl, okay?

"This change is far too drastic... I hope Schrödinger can relearn how to use adjectives."

If Schrödinger had told her that Durandal was originally quite beautiful, would turn out like this, she definitely wouldn't have been so reckless.

"Really~ I am Durandal ~ If you think my name is too long, you can call me Little You."

"..."

This guy has left Bianka and Rita speechless.

However, it was clear that Liu Bai couldn't communicate with this sword, so Rita, who had the best social skills, sorted out her thoughts and said, "... It can drive the soul steel to transform autonomously, so you shouldn't be a so-called 'relic'—not a standard weapon from Previous Era, right?"

"Hmm... that's true... of course I can't be some kind of Previous Era standard weapon."

Durandal's eyes revealed human-like emotions such as "guilt" and "pride".

"But then again, I never had any connection with you humans to begin with."

As soon as he finished speaking, Durandal's one eye was filled with an expression of complete guilt.

Clearly, he let something slip.

"Oh? Then I'd like to trouble you Durandal, to tell me about your past experiences."

Liu Bai suddenly spoke up.

Even Bianka could hear the displeasure in Liu Bai's voice, and at the same time, Little You panicked instantly.

"Hey—something's invading me!"

Chapter 97 Little You: I can't get in! There's no way I can get in!

"Huh? What is this thing?! It's energy that I can't analyze at all!"

Durandal's voice had completely lost its previous liveliness; her panicked tone was clearly audible to everyone.

"Guardian Spirit?" Bianka was slightly taken aback. Considering Liu Bai's unfriendly tone earlier, it was clear that Liu Bai was targeting this sword.

"Lady Bianka, there must be a reason why the Guardian Spirit is here." Rita stopped Bianka, who was about to say something, and gestured for her to continue reading.

"Come on, Little You, explain your past properly."

"Huh? What's that sound? Where is it coming from?"

Little You seemed to have just heard Liu Bai's voice.

"What's going on?" Bianka, somewhat confused.

"Because the properties of Soul Steel are very compatible with me, as long as I go in, Little You, as a Soul Steel weapon, will naturally be able to hear my voice."

"Go in... you want to possess Little You?"

"What are you talking about? No matter what, it's strong artificial intelligence, and it already has its own intelligence."

Although I couldn't understand what the other person and my young lady were saying, it meant that nothing serious would happen to me?

But what is this energy that's invading its body?!

"Oh... so you mean scare it?" Rita tilted her head.

But something's not right. It's obvious that Liu Bai has already possessed him.

"No, I mean, I can destroy its AI and then possess it—my ability to hack into objects goes beyond just possession."

The initial ability to cause trouble was only two.

— To manipulate objects out of thin air, or to apply debuffs to people or things.

While the latter is not as complex as a true curse, it is undoubtedly a very practical method—like now.

The ability to possess directly suppressed Durandal's control over her own internal affairs, which meant that the part that was out of control was no longer part of Little You. Therefore, Liu Bai could possess that part.

Then... barring any unforeseen circumstances, Liu Bai simply needs to proceed step by step, using the portion he has occupied to "counterattack" Little You's core.

"Don't, don't say such scary things!"

For Little You, destroying her own intelligence is equivalent to beheading in the human world.

"It's just something that happened in the past! I'll talk! I'll talk, okay?! Just get out of my body right now!"

"Hehe."

"... Okay, alright, this story begins with the Previous Era. It was a long, long time ago, long enough that Chukotka and Alaska were still connected, and the Mu Continent had not yet sunk into the depths of the Mariana Trench."

Little You's very first sentence made Rita and Bianka realize how much time had passed.

"Back then, a group of people created me on their own, and I have to thank them for giving me enough intelligence—but to be honest, they were a very boring group of people."

Little You's voice clearly contained more complaints than nostalgia.

"They seem to belong to some ascetic society, and they study a technology called 'combat' day and night. They also intend for me to learn these things. To be precise, because of my inherent superhuman computing ability, they want me to learn a technology that is difficult for ordinary people to master."

A club that practices asceticism and studies combat techniques day and night, possessing such technical capabilities, is undoubtedly Moth Chasers to Fire.

"What technology?" Rita asked curiously.

"Hmm... By manipulating microscopic particles, we can change the structure and physical properties of objects, such as creating vacuum faults in objects... At first, I was like a primary school student learning to write, constantly practicing and solidifying the results into my own hardware structure."

Under strong artificial intelligence, Soul Steel can change its structure to a great extent.

For example, Imaginary Archive and Purging Thunder. Although Imaginary Archive borrowed some of the Herrscher of Reason's abilities, Raven's Purging Thunder can genuinely change its form.

"In the complete version of me, five of the seven basic control units are solidified in this way."

"It's those seven crystals, isn't it?" Liu Bai chimed in. "This behavior sounds amazing, but it's actually machine learning."

"That's right. Day after day, after billions and hundreds of billions of simulations, the arduous 'machine learning' was finally completed." Little You's tone was somewhat reminiscent of the past.

"In the full version, I truly had the ability to alter macroscopic properties by manipulating microscopic particles... However, it was at that moment that I felt one of the most deadly emotions of you humans—boredom."

"Huh? Bored?"

Little You's words made Bianka frown.

What kind of reason is that?

"They're an ascetic group; they live like tools... How can people like that care about my thoughts and feelings, or my future?"

"Um... is this really something a sword should be considering?"

Bianka's lips twitched; that was quite a bizarre reason.

"Um... strictly speaking, isn't Little You Xiaoyou a weapon-like supercomputer?"

Rita no longer addressed Little You as "adult"—compared to Bianka, who listened to the story in a dull manner, Rita felt as if she could guess what was going to happen next.

"Since that's the case... could it be that you, Little You, are..."

"That's right! After figuring this out, I simply closed my eyes and went to sleep!"

Little You's eyes were full of pride—which turned into pain the next moment.

"Don't come in! It's going to break! If you keep doing this, my smart module is really going to break down!"

Clearly, the disgruntled Liu Bai launched another attack on Little You.

"Sleep?"

"It's just turned off." Liu Bai's indifferent voice answered Bianka's question.

"That's it. If I lock my front door, I can sleep as long as I want, right? Unlike you humans, you won't starve to death if you don't eat—in your eyes, I should be like a computer that has crashed and stopped responding, right?"

Little You said dryly.

"However, I'm not really going to commit suicide or become withdrawn... I did leave some conditions for awakening, but... um..."

"Only?"

Even Bianka sensed something was wrong.

"Um... my first thought was to sleep for a hundred years..."

I'll kill you, you bastard!

"This is really bad! What is that energy?! It can't get in! No matter how you try, it can't get in!?"

Little You let out another mournful cry.

"What happened in the last hundred years...?" Ignoring Little You's cries of anguish, Bianka pondered for a moment, chin in hand. Even for her, this question wasn't difficult. "Could it be..."