The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

The disaster caused by the spatial fluctuations of an elf girl's manifestation is known to the world as a Spatial Tremor.

As such, Spatial Tremors are almost always tied to an elf's appearance.

That said, elves can actually control their manifestation to avoid triggering a Spatial Tremor.

Upon detecting the Spatial Tremor, Xiu Er flew directly toward that location without a moment's pause.

Then came the scene before her now.

"You... are you here to kill me too?"

Gazing at the mechanical being before her, utterly devoid of life, the armored girl had no idea what it was. But given her recent experiences, she instinctively posed the question to this individual who seemed capable of communication.

The mechanical eyes, betraying no emotion, locked onto the armored girl, making her feel inexplicably uneasy. Before the other party could even respond to her question, she had already developed hostility toward it.

"I..." Xiu Er started to speak, then paused abruptly, swallowing the unfinished sentence back down. After quickly weighing her words, she spoke again:

"[Negation.] This unit has no mission to eliminate unknown lifeforms. However, it does hold a mission to assess the danger of unknown lifeforms."

Xiu Er's utterly emotionless words reached the armored girl's ears.

"I see..."

Hearing this, the armored girl lowered her weapon, her eyes dimming slightly.

"So you're the same as them."

In an instant, the girl snapped her head up, crushed the rubble beneath her feet, and launched forward at astonishing speed, gripping her weapon as she charged straight at the target above.

If they were enemies, there was no need to give them the first move. Seize the initiative, defeat them quickly.

Just like before—drive those people away.

Facing the armored girl's sudden violent assault, Xiu Er hid a tense heart beneath her expressionless face.

The true measure of her strength was about to be revealed.

In the blink of an eye, the armored girl closed the distance between them, swinging her greatsword without hesitation, aiming directly at her target's body.

"-[Codex Opening]-[No Passage]-"

Just as the weapon was about to make contact with Xiu Er, a golden shield materialized out of thin air, blocking the heavy, powerful strike.

Although most of the impact from the collision between the greatsword and the shield was absorbed by unknown effects, residual force still bypassed the shield's defense, causing the rubble beneath Xiu Er's feet to give way and collapse.

Thus, both of them fell into the ruins below...

Chapter 2: Your Weapon, Quite Smooth

After the two fell into the ruins, the scene quickly fell into silence.

Yet within seconds, two consecutive dull thuds rang out, and the once-quiet ruins were torn open by two figures bursting forth one after another.

One figure shot out from the rubble, charging straight into the sky. A purple figure followed closely, flying out from the same opening and pursuing the target ahead.

Xiu Er flew ahead, dodging the sword qi coming from behind.

The armored girl followed tightly behind—using spiritual power to fly was a skill common to all elves.

One after another, purple sword qi flew from the greatsword the girl swung continuously, heading straight for the figure far ahead.

These attacks, though swift, had no possibility of changing trajectory, and were naturally dodged easily by the agile Xiu Er.

Moreover, from the very start of the battle, Xiu Er's analysis of this elf girl had already begun quietly.

The sound of greatsword clashing against shield rang out repeatedly. Every time the armored girl caught up and launched an attack, Xiu Er would promptly summon the golden shield to block it.

As each attack was either evaded or effortlessly blocked, a growing sense of irritation gradually rose within the girl's heart.

Facing this situation of constant shield defense, what was Xiu Er's energy consumption like?

The answer was: no sign of consumption at all.

Dimensional Energy.

When the system merged with her body, it replaced the elf within Xiu Er, becoming the fuel for her skills.

And according to the knowledge provided by the system, Dimensional Energy permeates the entire world. Simply put, energy was the last thing she would lack.

Plentiful! More potent! Pollution-free!

Although for the Mecha-Kai species, Disboard's elf energy was also nearly inexhaustible, quickly replenished after consumption, the "waste" produced during its use was as hazardous as nuclear waste.

In contrast, the Dimensional Energy provided by the latter system, while achieving the same effect, not only offered near-infinite reserves that instantly filled any consumption gap but was also truly safe, clean, pollution-free energy.

Xiu Er had no desire to turn her surroundings into a Life Forbidden Zone contaminated by "nuclear waste" while recklessly expending energy.

"Hah!"

The armored girl seized another opportunity, charging forward with her greatsword raised.

The blade slammed into the golden shield. No matter the attack, it was all blocked by Xiu Er's all-directional barrier.

With nearly limitless energy, Xiu Er was confident she could keep this up indefinitely.

Throughout this prolonged battle, Xiu Er had not counterattacked even once, allowing the armored girl to attack freely.

Seeing that her attacks were completely ineffective, and that her opponent had never once retaliated...

This sudden realization that she might have misjudged the other's motives left the armored girl feeling a twinge of guilt, while also entertaining the thought of simply ditching him and leaving.

But just as she moved to act on that idea, Xiu Er's objective had already been reached.

"Analysis complete."

"What?"

The armored girl had no idea what was happening; she didn't understand what the iron block before her meant.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Speed Violation]-"

Though this armament was a laser-based attack weapon, it could also enhance the user's speed by increasing energy output.

Originally, using Spirit Energy would generate large amounts of Spirit Residue to pollute the environment, but now that Xiu Er was using Dimensional Energy, she no longer had to worry about that problem.

Xiu Er's speed suddenly spiked, catching the armored girl off guard and making her lose track of her target.

Turning around, she saw Xiu Er again, floating high behind her.

Only this time, Xiu Er held an object in her hand that was all too familiar.

"How... is this?!"

The armored girl's eyes went wide, her face full of disbelief as she stared at the item in Xiu Er's hand.

Throughout the battle, Xiu Er had been analyzing the armored girl every moment, and just now, she had completed the analysis.

At that instant, her earlier questions were answered, and the conclusion left her quite satisfied.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Gokurokugai]-"

Golden energy gathered around Xiu Er, converging from different directions into her hand. The energy coalesced more and more until it solidified, taking the shape of a comically oversized greatsword in her grasp.

Then, the golden light dissipated, revealing the weapon beneath.

A weapon identical to the greatsword in the armored girl's hand.

The girl stared at the weapon in his hand, her expression one of utter disbelief.

"This... how can it be?"

The cold warrior from earlier in the fight instantly broke character, the shock of the situation overwhelming her so much that she forgot she was still in combat.

Losing focus in battle was a major taboo, and this wasn't even mere distraction.

Yet Xiu Er didn't take the opportunity to attack.

She simply admired the greatsword in her hand with great delight, though her face remained as frozen and expressionless as ever.

'So I really can replicate these spirits' angels. Too bad the armaments from "Analysis Replication" can only be [Pseudo-Codex].'

Tapping the blade a few times with her fingers, Xiu Er nodded and retracted the armament with satisfaction.

Since her goal was achieved, there was no reason to keep wasting time with the other party.

Even in her joy, Xiu Er didn't forget to maintain her "persona."

"[Confirmed] Mission complete. Beginning return."

With that, Xiu Er acted like a truly emotionless machine, ignoring the dumbfounded spirit girl.

Combined with her utterly cold delivery and that icy expression, the armored girl felt insulted—not only was she being dismissed, but her lifelong companion weapon had been stolen.

Just as she was about to leave, Xiu Er couldn't resist sneaking a peek at the spirit girl's state.

And then she saw it: the girl was staring at her with a look of deep resentment.

That gaze, like a cuckolded spouse, genuinely caught Xiu Er off guard.

She hadn't really done anything, had she?

Ah, whatever.

The fight—or rather, the destruction unilaterally caused by the armored girl—had collapsed all the surrounding buildings.

Well, the people of this world had maxed out their construction skills, rebuilding houses at lightning speed.

"..."

Finally, detecting the spatial fluctuations emanating from the girl, Xiu Er understood what that meant and, out of habit, waved goodbye as she left.

After making a "bye-bye~" gesture, she instantly kicked her speed into high gear during the girl's moment of confusion, vanishing from sight.

"..."

Though she had no idea what a normal person would think of an emotionless robot waving goodbye.

It was plain to see that the armored girl's resentment was already condensing into black mist, ready to spill over.

And so, in a foul mood, she returned to the Boundary.

Once the armored girl disappeared, Xiu Er relaxed and finally took a moment to observe her surroundings.

Then, her gaze fixed on a certain direction in the sky, a stream of data flashing through her eyes.

"-[Codex Opening]-[One-Way Street]-"

A golden passage suddenly split open in the air behind Xiu Er. Unlike the [Golden Gate] of dimensional passages, this was a [Space Breaker] developed by the Mecha-Kai species to counter other races' displacement abilities, allowing them to instantly move to a location like other races' powers or technology.

Then, Xiu Er looked again at the sparse remaining cover on the ground nearby, said nothing, and slowly retreated into the passage behind her.

Until the passage closed, aside from the ruins around them bearing witness to their battle, no trace remained.

As for the people who only dared to poke their heads out from cover after she left—that was no longer her concern.

Chapter 3: After the Event

After passing through the Space Gate created by [One-Way Street], Xiu Er arrived somewhere far from the Spatial Tremor.

This place wouldn't be affected by the Spatial Tremor, so there were no alarms. The people here were still going about their usual business, each busy with their own affairs.

The exit was in a small alley in some city. Few people passed through here; aside from some petty thugs, basically no one came.

Xiu Er was still as she had been before—no clothing covering her, her entire mechanical structure making it obvious at a glance that she wasn't human.

If she walked down the street, she'd definitely be the most eye-catching person around.

To avoid causing further trouble, Xiu Er had no choice but to hide here, sneaking through the city using these nearly deserted paths.

Since she had been soul-transmigrated before, becoming a Mecha-Kai naturally meant she had no valuables on her.

You might say, dismantle parts of herself and sell them for money?

Haha, just kidding.

Fortunately, anyone who often reads fanfiction knows for sure.

In a situation like this—penniless in an anime world—what's the fastest way to make money?

That's right.