Ex-Machina in Dimensional Travel Chapter 7

Natsumi resigned herself to fate and closed her eyes, waiting for him to kill her.

But...

Ten seconds passed...

Twenty seconds passed...

Hm?

The pain she had expected never came. The only things she could feel now were her tense breathing and the pain from the wound in her abdomen.

Then Natsumi curiously cracked open one eye and saw Xiu Er's glowing mechanical eyes staring at her.

An eerie silence fell between them.

Until...

"Analysis complete."

Huh?

Analysis?

Hearing his words, Natsumi could not understand what had happened.

Then she saw what came next.

"Codex Opening—Pseudo-Codex—Fake Demoness—"

Golden energy appeared around Xiu Er, gathering before him from different directions. When the light faded, something Natsumi found incomparably familiar appeared before her eyes.

Her eyes widened, and she sat up despite the pain coursing through her body.

When she clearly saw that the item in his hand was indeed the familiar object—her Angel, Fake Demoness—her worldview suffered a devastating blow.

"Ahaha... Could I be dreaming?"

In the end, Natsumi fled from reality.

Transforming into a Human! Did It Transform? Like a Transformation

Looking at the unconscious Natsumi before him, Xiu Er naturally would not simply leave her there.

After all, he was the culprit behind her miserable state. Since his objective had already been achieved, he did not mind handling the aftermath and taking Natsumi somewhere safe.

He had long known AST's exact location and knew that they were about to storm this mall.

Knowing how those people treated Spirits, Xiu Er naturally could not truly abandon the utterly defenseless Natsumi.

When AST arrived, they found nothing but traces of a battle on the ground.

Xiu Er's database contained no medical knowledge or treatment-related armaments. Looking at Natsumi in his arms, covered in injuries, he still felt a faint trace of guilt.

She was clearly quite pretty, so why was she so insecure? As expected, the harm domestic violence and bullying caused to a child's growth was immeasurable!

Downloading all medical knowledge from the internet was an extremely easy task for a Ex-Machina. Human brains might forget or blur relevant memories, but Ex-Machina would not.

Now, the only way Xiu Er could make it up to Natsumi was by treating her.

Not much time had passed since the Spatial Tremor alarm ended, and there was not a single person on the streets yet. Xiu Er carried Natsumi into a hospital.

After finding the necessary medicine and treating Natsumi's wounds, all that remained was to leave the rest to her Spirit constitution to recover on its own.

After settling Natsumi down, Xiu Er took out the armament he had just obtained.

"Codex Opening—Pseudo-Codex—Fake Demoness—"

Natsumi's Angel had originally been a broom with a star-shaped pendant.

Mm, it certainly had the feel of a witch.

Holding Fake Demoness, Xiu Er used its ability on himself.

The mechanical parts on Xiu Er's body disappeared.

His previously expressionless face also became vivid. He could now make all sorts of expressions!

His amber-like eyes darted about with lively energy!

At this moment, judging by appearance alone, Xiu Er looked exactly like an energetic and adorable human girl, utterly different from his previous lifeless robotic appearance.

Of course, that was only on the surface...

Because the truth was that this effect merely wrapped Xiu Er in a layer of "skin." Beneath it was still the mechanical body of a Ex-Machina.

He pinched his chin and muttered to himself.

"Can it only reach this level...?"

Although the result differed somewhat greatly from his previous calculations, it was still barely acceptable.

It turned out that the effects of the pseudo-Fake Demoness in Xiu Er's hands were far inferior to the original.

The ability of Natsumi's Angel, Fake Demoness, was to transform living or nonliving things into whatever form she desired. It could truly turn something into another species, even transforming organic matter into inorganic matter.

Xiu Er's pseudo-Fake Demoness could indeed transform things. Feeling his body, which had become soft again, Xiu Er was rather satisfied.

Unfortunately, this state could only be maintained while Fake Demoness was continuously in use, though he could still maintain the form even when attacked.

Furthermore, although his body had been disguised as flesh, damage to those supposedly vital organs would not affect Xiu Er. Even if his so-called fleshly parts were pierced through, it would still have no effect on him as a Ex-Machina, and he could recover.

Once he used another armament, however, it would affect Fake Demoness's function, automatically causing the disguise to collapse and reverting him to his original appearance.

Or rather, if Xiu Er wanted to use another armament, he would "burst through" this outer layer of "skin."

Fortunately, Fake Demoness itself could also change shape. Xiu Er could turn it into an accessory and wear it on his body, so it did not take up any space during daily use.

"Come to think of it, I'm a person in a costume now too."

After understanding the effects of his pseudo-Fake Demoness, Xiu Er did not complain.

After all, while the Ex-Machina themselves also had disguise-type "armaments" such as Optical Camouflage, Angels like Fake Demoness, which could truly alter an object's nature, were ultimately the superior choice for disguise.

Still, the copied effect was passable. At least it gave him a layer of skin, making it more real than the "illusion" of Optical Camouflage.

Now he could walk openly down the streets. That was a good thing.

He transformed Fake Demoness into a hairpin and wore it on his head, then cast the excess thoughts from his mind.

Now, Xiu Er needed to consider his next move.

Several days later—

Xiu Er held a cup of milk tea, his face troubled as he looked at the young couple before him.

The purple-haired girl pointed directly at Xiu Er, her voice filled with righteous indignation.

Meanwhile, the blue-haired boy held the girl's hand, trying to pull her away.

Unfortunately, whether because the girl was too strong or the boy was too weak, neither of them moved an inch...

"It's you! What are you doing here!?"

"Tohka, what are you doing?"

Compared to the girl who was clearly filled with hostility, the boy attempting to drag his girlfriend away wore a forced smile as he apologized to Xiu Er.

"Sorry, little sister. She just mistook you for someone else. She didn't mean to target you."

"No, Shido, you have to believe me! She's that person from that day!"

Naturally, the dispute attracted the attention of passersby.

Under the gazes of the crowd, Shido felt so embarrassed that his toes could dig out a three-bedroom apartment.

He naturally knew who Tohka meant by "that person."

But no matter how he looked at her, the little sister before him was unquestionably human. How could she possibly be that terrifying robot?

"Hey, what do you think is going on?"

"No idea. Maybe a relationship dispute."

"Wow, what a pervert. That little sister doesn't even look old enough, does she? The guy looks so decent, but he's actually trash."

"Should we call the police?"

Shido heard the whispers of the passersby.

Please, if you're going to whisper, could you keep it down? I can hear every word you're saying!

Shido complained inwardly.

He felt that if he did not do something soon, he would definitely die a social death.

Xiu Er naturally heard those words as well. Do not let his unchanged expression fool you; he was merely relying on his excellent expression control to hold himself together.

The irritation of being approached by Tohka vanished at once. Watching Shido's embarrassment, he was already laughing wildly inside.

Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.

But he had to hold it in. He could not show it. Luckily, he was currently a Ex-Machina and had temporarily shut down his expression system. Otherwise, he really might not have been able to contain himself.

In the end, the incident only began to wind down after Shido exerted every ounce of strength he had to drag Tohka away.

As for what would happen between the two afterward, that was no longer Xiu Er's concern.

This incident provided Xiu Er with all the amusement he needed for the day, but he had other things to do. Running into Shido and Tohka had merely been a small interlude.

Xiu Er finished his milk tea and casually tossed it away. The empty cup flew in a perfect arc into the trash can beside the street.

The nearby young men erupted in exclamations.

Worst Spirit

Tokisaki Kurumi, one of the Spirits in Date A Live, was known as the Worst Spirit. Because of a certain trait, she did not resist the act of killing.

And this Spirit was Xiu Er's next "prey."

A time-related ability—if he could copy it, even if it was an imitation, it could not be too bad, right?

He simply did not know whether an ability of that level could be copied successfully.

Based on information online, Xiu Er directly obtained every piece of information related to Tokisaki Kurumi—her family circumstances, her address, even which schools she had attended before.

It could be said that Kurumi had been doxxed by Xiu Er without even knowing it.

The traits of the Ex-Machina made them like fish in water in this era of modern technology. Whatever Xiu Er wanted to do, as long as it involved the internet or machinery, came easily to him.

Searching for every detail of a person's information was simply too easy for him.

In just one second, Xiu Er could obtain all of someone's personal information online.

And now, he stood outside Kurumi's home and rang the doorbell.

Ding-dong~

No one?

Seeing that there was no sound from inside, Xiu Er pressed the doorbell again.

Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~

Still, no one came to open the door.

Could she not be home?

After confirming that no one was coming to open the door, Xiu Er shifted his gaze to the lock in front of him.

Analysis alone would not affect the disguise, and after only one glance, Xiu Er understood the internal structure of the lock.

He removed Fake Demoness, which had transformed into a hairpin atop his head, and held it before the lock.