Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

"Agreed."

The Yamisei Sisters complained about Xiu Er with ugly expressions.

The two sat back to back on the sand, their faces full of utter disbelief at life. Their Astral Dresses were tattered as well. At present, Xiu Er was the only one capable of beating them into such a state.

Xiu Er had returned to the ground by then and walked over to the two of them.

He took in their bedraggled appearance.

Analysis complete

Xiu Er had now acquired Binder, El Re'em, and El Kanaph, yet he was not in a particularly good mood.

There was no other reason.

After deflecting the Yamisei Sisters' full-force attack, Xiu Er had suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a problem with his Armed Traffic Control.

After briefly saying goodbye to the Yamisei Sisters, Xiu Er teleported all three of them back to the city. He then immediately found a hotel, rented a room, and shut himself inside.

Only then did he formally begin a self-inspection of his body.

After a thorough examination, he discovered that it had not been caused by the defensive attack. The Yamisei Sisters' attack could not have affected his armaments in the first place. The true reason was that he had pushed his output power to its maximum.

The armaments could not withstand the Dimensional Energy output at full power. The system had only modified and enhanced his body; it had not touched his armaments in the slightest.

That also meant that the armament versions originally developed by his Ex-Machina self had fallen behind his body. It was time to upgrade them.

Compared to Spirit Energy, Dimensional Energy possessed greater strength and purity. Its defining trait was simple: there was an abundance of it.

His armaments had nearly burst apart after being flooded with that energy.

"Looks like it's time to update these armaments."

With things having come to this, Xiu Er began a self-upgrade that would take quite some time.

Since he did not know where to begin, he could only grope his way forward little by little. After all, before coming into contact with Dimensional Energy, there could not possibly have been any information on this type of energy in the Ex-Machina database he originally possessed.

And so, during the time Xiu Er was upgrading himself, the outside world once again lost all trace of him.

Just like that, a week passed.

During Xiu Er's self-upgrade, Shido had not stopped moving forward either.

Ever since he had been forced to carry out that strategy mission and successfully Sealed Princess Tohka, he had barely had any time to settle down.

Kotori had once again issued him his next instruction.

Go win over Hermit.

Faced with something like this, Shido was actually a little reluctant.

He had asked whether there was any other way to help the Spirits, but the answer he received was...

There was only this one method.

Looking at the little girl being pursued by AST on the screen, Shido felt that if he went to win her over, his conscience would condemn him fiercely.

He did not want to see those Spirits treated like that, and he truly wanted to help them. But why did there have to be only this method?!

Shido felt like crying without tears. He could only secretly complain in his heart to vent his dissatisfaction.

And that so-called professional team had nearly gotten him killed when he had interacted with Tohka before.

Still, complaints were complaints. If there really was only this one method, Shido would not hesitate. To save the Spirits, he was willing to do it.

Meanwhile.

At that moment, Isaac had raised headquarters security to the utmost limit. For that, he had even ordered Ellen to remain ready for battle at all times.

It was not that he was being overly cautious.

He was simply afraid that guy might choose to blow up the building outright just to contact Sister.

Blowing up the building alone would not have been a big deal, but the other party's whereabouts were unknown. What if he blew it up while Isaac was still in the company? Wouldn't that mean dying for no clear reason at all?

As for transporting Sister elsewhere and relocating her.

To be honest, Isaac felt that method would not work. Given the other party's intelligence-gathering ability to find Spirits at any time, he believed that if he really did that...

The moment the transport plane carrying Sister left, it would immediately be hijacked by the Spirit Hunter. That would also spare him from encountering any danger to his life himself.

But his current plans all revolved around her. If she were taken away by the Spirit Hunter, the plans he had prepared for so long would absolutely go to waste.

Thus, he had no idea how long this state would last.

In any case, over the past few days, nothing unusual had occurred apart from a hurricane suddenly appearing over the ocean. The various factions initially concluded that the two Berserkers had once again clashed with each other, so no one paid it any mind.

But Isaac did not think so.

It had to be that guy. That guy had definitely gone after the Berserkers. He was surely going to beat them to their knees and copy their abilities!

Ellen, who was helping organize documents nearby, looked speechlessly at the director. Although she also felt Isaac's concerns were entirely reasonable and understandable, judging from his current mental state...

Ellen seriously doubted whether Isaac could still properly handle documents and files. Maybe the remaining work would end up being dumped on her again.

Wasn't that really what her job was like?

Even so, that was no reason for Isaac to casually toss the documents he was supposed to review onto her.

But she did not know how to comfort him either, lest her comfort produce the opposite effect. Ellen could only wait quietly for Isaac to recover on his own.

And all of this was seen clearly by the room's surveillance cameras.

The footage provided by the cameras was shared with Xiu Er's eyes. By then, he had already hacked into DEM Company headquarters' network and obtained every surveillance feed immediately.

Even the cameras on all the computers had automatically activated without their operators noticing.

In an instant, Xiu Er learned everything happening throughout the entire building.

His goal was to find the Spirit imprisoned here—Sister Nia Honjou.

The second confirmed Spirit to appear in the world, she had been defeated and captured by Ellen several years ago. Ever since she had been brought to DEM Company, Isaac had tortured her to this day.

Xiu Er had now conducted a simple carpet search of the entire building and easily found the room where Nia was being held.

However, judging from the footage, Nia's condition was probably not good.

This time, Xiu Er chose to infiltrate.

After learning the coordinates of Nia's room, Xiu Er activated One-Way Street. As he opened a Space Gate into Nia's room, he also replaced the footage from every surveillance camera in that room.

After stepping out of the passage, he was greeted by the sight of a Spirit girl covered in wounds, wearing tattered clothes, and looking utterly miserable.

Episode 16: The Future Within the Prophecy

As though she had noticed someone approaching, the Spirit girl Nia barely turned her head.

Because he was using his armaments, Xiu Er was currently appearing before Nia in his original form—the Ex-Machina style.

Other than the fact that he was an outsider to this world, which had to remain absolutely secret, he did not choose to hide anything from Nia.

There was no other reason. Nia's Angel possessed the strongest intelligence-gathering ability among all Spirits.

Her Angel—Codex of the Whispers—could obtain all information related to the past. She could search her Angel for any existing data, excluding that of the Origin Spirit, and it also possessed a certain degree of future observation ability.

Furthermore, Nia could use the pen that came with her Astral Dress to write upon the Angel's blank pages, allowing what she wrote to become reality through "Future Record."

Unfortunately, the greater the change to the future, the more Spirit Power it required, so Nia could not alter too much of the future.

Therefore, in Xiu Er's view, there was no need to disguise himself, because Nia would see through everything with her prophecy anyway.

When Nia saw who had come, Xiu Er saw what seemed like light appear in her originally lifeless teal eyes.

There was not the slightest hint of surprise, only a gaze brimming with interest in something novel.

She pushed up her battered body and hurried over to Xiu Er in just a few strides.

Before Xiu Er could say anything, Nia's hands began wandering all over his body. With that expression, she looked exactly like a female pervert.

"So this is a stoic mechanical girl? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I've drawn similar themes before, but seeing one in person still feels incredibly novel."

Nia's eyes openly examined every mechanical structure of Xiu Er's body, and Xiu Er could even directly sense the curiosity in her gaze.

Looking at the Spirit Miss before him, who acted so familiar with him, Xiu Er could vaguely see her smooth skin beneath that thin Sister uniform while she was so close to him.

Fortunately, Nia was not particularly well-endowed. Otherwise, Xiu Er could not imagine how much of an impact that outfit would have had.

For this, Xiu Er felt tired in a rare moment.

But this also showed that Nia had learned through her Angel that Xiu Er would come looking for her.

Then she probably already knew his purpose as well.

Seeing that Xiu Er maintained that indifferent expression no matter how she fiddled with him, without the slightest emotional fluctuation...

"So you really are stoic. Even after I've gone this far, your expression hasn't changed even a bit."

So she merely wanted to see another expression from him.

Nia's behavior left Xiu Er speechless.

Then Nia's eyes drifted behind Xiu Er, toward those two tail-like tubes...

But just as Nia reached out to touch those two "tails," Xiu Er swiftly stepped back, and the two "tails" slipped away from before her eyes.

"Oh my~"

Xiu Er did not give Nia the chance to say anything further and immediately cut in to explain his purpose.

"Announcement: Nia Honjou, this unit can take you out of here. The price is merely that you show this unit your Angel's abilities."

"And then copy it, right?"

Xiu Er did not refute Nia's added remark. He merely looked quietly at her and waited for her reply.

Then he watched Nia put on an act of seriously considering it when she was not actually considering it at all.

"Deal."

The answer was obvious. Nia Honjou agreed to Xiu Er's request.

Who was she kidding? How could she possibly not want to escape this place? If it were not for her lack of offensive ability, she would have long since found a way to flee.

With that said.

Xiu Er did not waste any time. He opened another Space Gate and brought himself and Nia back to the room he had used for his self-upgrade some time ago.

"This ability is really convenient."

Nia exclaimed with shining eyes. Having personally experienced this method of spatial transfer once, how should she put it? It felt unreal.

She had escaped just like that, so easily? Escaped from the place that had imprisoned her for years?

Looking at the plain hotel room before her, Nia fell into a brief daze.

She was almost beginning to wonder whether she was dreaming.

Until a hand appeared in her field of vision.

"Reminder: Come back to your senses. No matter how much you doubt it, I have indeed brought you out."

"...Thank you."

At that moment, Nia straightened her posture and expressed her gratitude to Xiu Er.

"Reminder: There is no need for thanks. Do not forget the deal between us."

"Eh, so impatient? That won't win a lady's heart, you know."

Nia crossed her arms, her face filled with dissatisfaction.

"Rebuttal: You old lady should stop pretending to be a young girl." Xiu Er said something excessive in an utterly calm tone.

"Pff, cough..."

Nia had sunk!