Butterfly

The transport plane's seating arrangement was different from a passenger jet's. To facilitate meetings, they were typically four-seat arrangements facing each other.

Wang Jixuan said without looking back, "You've gotten bold after just one upgrade, huh? Think I'll have to look up to you now?"

"How would Peony dare."

Peony turned to face Wang Jixuan, sitting down with a giggle.

This was a pose she'd learned from Shen Qionglin. Her legs were together, her calves tucked to one side, and her two fair hands, looking more lifelike than ever, rested on her knees. The veins beneath her skin were faintly visible.

Peony said sweetly, "Commander~"

"If you have something to say, say it properly. Don't go crazy on me."

Wang Jixuan chuckled and scolded, "If you want to report something about your factory return test, save your energy. I'm not interested in that."

Peony pouted a little, looking dejected. "Peony wanted to thank Commander. I heard from them that Commander debated passionately with a group of professors for a day and a night to save Peony."

"Who told you that?"

"Captain Zheng."

"He's talking nonsense. There was no passion, and it wasn't a day and a night..."

Wang Jixuan shrugged.

"Also, you should either wear your armor or a dress. Why are you running around in your underwear?"

"This is the pressure suit! It's essential before wearing armor, used to protect this precious simulation skin."

Peony raised her fair wrists as if showing off.

"Commander, you can touch it.

"This technology is actually forbidden from being widely promoted, to prevent humans and mechs from being confused with each other!

"My set is the only prototype!"

Wang Jixuan was also a bit curious. He had Peony lay her hands flat and gently poked them a few times.

The texture was indeed quite good, indistinguishable from human skin. What was remarkable was the downward elasticity and the faint indentations that appeared when pressed, all identical to real skin.

This prompted Wang Jixuan to use his Spiritual Sense to scan his head maidservant.

A silver-white alloy skeleton sat before him, striking a ladylike pose. A pair of mechanical eyes flickered with red light.

Daoist Wang: ...

It's better to just use my eyes.

Using my eyes is at least more aesthetically pleasing.

"Peony, have you adjusted your body data?"

"Have I?" Peony lifted her head and chest, proudly displaying her stunning artificial aesthetics. "To balance aesthetics and practicality, I secretly asked them to add some structural enhancements for me."

Wang Jixuan frowned. "Stop thinking about improvements that aren't conducive to combat."

"Alright then."

"Is that all you came to report?"

"Of course not," Peony cleared her throat and quickly regained a serious demeanor. "It's about the individual report on the mechs in the D5 Comprehensive War Zone."

"Hm?" Wang Jixuan was a bit confused.

He asked, puzzled, "Does this have anything directly to do with me?"

Peony considered her words carefully. She raised a finger and tapped the air, creating a small, localized sonic barrier that enveloped the two of them.

She said earnestly, "It does have something to do with you, because when I went for my upgrade this time, I accidentally accessed their control system."

"Control system?"

"Yes," Peony leaned forward slightly and whispered, "They didn't realize it. I, my soul... what you call a spirit, entered their data control center."

Wang Jixuan: ...

Wait, you're hacking your own home?

"What did you discover?"

"The Doomsday Protocol! There are three levels of Doomsday Protocol!"

Peony's expression was unusually excited.

"The super plan for the D5 Comprehensive War Zone has an uncountable number of mechs, fifty years of accumulation, and the mech hangar is self-maintaining!

"The key to activating the Doomsday Protocol is the Commander-in-Chief's brain!"

Wang Jixuan was confused. "What do you mean?"

"It means that if the Commander-in-Chief doesn't actively issue a command to disarm the triple Doomsday Protocol, then when the Commander-in-Chief's brain dies, all mechs will activate."

Peony said quickly, "All mechs will adhere to three principles."

"Protect humanity, eliminate Blade Beasts, protect Earth. The three principles are listed in order of importance. And it's specifically noted here: protect humanity, not obey humanity.

'Mechs are also equipped with mechanical factories and engineering-class Autonomous Mechs, capable of chaotic expansion in a short period!'

Wang Jixuan leaned back in his comfortable seat, frowning in thought for a long time.

This matter had no direct connection to him; it was purely a choice made by Fu Jian and the D5 Comprehensive War Zone.

Fu Jian had previously despaired to the point where he believed humanity would completely fall or be controlled by Psionicists after his death. That's why this setting was created – to protect humanity, not to obey it.

'And then?' Wang Jixuan asked. 'Do you want to be the Mechanical Queen?'

'No way,' Peony pouted and shrugged. Her demeanor was somewhat similar to Wang Jixuan's. 'I just suddenly discovered that my spiritual body can attach itself to other mechs. It's not data replication or anything, but directly entering them.'

'So that's how you got this restricted Simulation Skin?'

'Eh, this...'

'Alright, I won't report this minor issue,' Daoist Wang waved his hand. 'Go get some tea or coffee. I'm still thinking about how to proceed with the fight.'

'Coming right up.'

Peony deactivated the sonic shield and floated over to the tea room in the corner.

In the seating area not far away, several half-human mechs were observing Peony, exclaiming, 'Our Autonomous Mechs have already achieved complete anthropomorphism.'

Black Shell, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed over in two steps and plopped down opposite Wang Jixuan.

The Instructor chuckled, 'Teacher Wang, what's your confidence level for taking down Xing Tian this time?'

'Sixty percent. Sixty percent in the worst-case scenario.'

Wang Jixuan let out a soft click:

'If the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner didn't set a trap for me, then we should have about a seventy percent chance to give it a try.'

'Indeed, the odds are not bad.'

Black Shell, not understanding, asked, 'The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner setting a trap? What do you mean?'

'This...'

Wang Jixuan didn't answer directly and instead asked:

'Instructor Shell, do you think Spiritual Practitioners would truly betray each other?'

'Hard to say, but there are only six Spiritual Practitioners in total...'

Black Shell stroked his chin and muttered:

'According to our logic, Spiritual Practitioners at this point should be wary of each other.

'But I also saw the report submitted by Professor Shen Qionglin earlier.

'She did a very detailed analysis. Spiritual Practitioners are arrogant at their core. They consider themselves demigods, and they also view the power of Blade Beasts as a powerful force they bestowed. The strength of Blade Beasts is also a manifestation of their own strength.

'The report states that there are indeed some conflicts between the six Spiritual Practitioners. The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner inadvertently revealed his aversion towards the other Spiritual Practitioners... Spiritual Practitioners also form cliques.'

Wang Jixuan nodded. 'The intelligence I received this time almost perfectly matches Shen Qionglin's previous reports.'

He lowered his gaze to the side, and certain words from the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner echoed in his mind:

'The one hidden beneath the snow mountain is truly named Weier'aimina Tuk. She has a female appearance, though gender is meaningless to us.

'I'm not entirely sure about her specific situation.

'Our intelligence sharing is smooth. She's likely in hibernation. The information shared each time is a pre-set description of her state, such as her current condition, mental clarity, core circuit status, and so on.

'We haven't had a direct logical conversation in a long time.

'A logical conversation is like when I previously reached out for help to the three of them beneath the Psionic Capital – that was a dialogue based on our own thinking.

'Her core circuit's control principle is the natural element. She excels at large-scale battles and efficiently killing enemies. She was also a primary target during the Blade Beast siege, so her injuries are the most severe.

'To be honest, I have some grievances with her.

'She believes in extreme evil, thinking that all living beings are inherently evil, and defines bestiality as evil thoughts. Our usual definition is that bestiality is instinct, and divinity is restraint.

'Planets that were once nurtured by her and her followers suffered immense misfortune.

'If she were to regain her strength... believe me, her ideology would shatter your imagination.

'The First, Second, and Third Spiritual Practitioners you named are powerful and traditional; they are considered the conservative faction. My friends and I are the liberal faction, non-aggressive.

'Weier'aimina Tuk is the radical faction.

'The Blade Beast crisis originated from radicals like her who secretly developed Pillar-Class Blade Beasts against our objections...'

And so on.

Wang Jixuan didn't fully believe all this information.

He organized his thoughts and briefly recounted these points to Black Shell. He had already had Peony share this intelligence with Fu Jian in a timely manner.

Black Shell fell silent after listening.

He muttered, 'So, on the surface, we're going after Xing Tian, but in reality, we're going after this Wei... Fifth Spiritual Practitioner?'

'No,' Wang Jixuan said calmly. 'We are going after Xing Tian. The Fifth Spiritual Practitioner is merely a strategic resource. We cannot blindly trust the Fourth's words; he rarely speaks the truth.'

"That's right!"

Black Shell patted his head.

"Alright, I think I get it!

"We'll land near the ruins of an abandoned fortress about 360 kilometers from the Snow Mountain Base. Ground troops will be there to meet us."

Wang Jixuan asked, "Are the ground troops reliable?"

"They are. They're our people who infiltrated D2 from the outside."

Black Shell thought for a moment.

"If the Spiritual Practitioners are really that powerful, and if the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner is cooperating with, or even enslaved by, Xing Tian, then they might sense the transport plane carrying Zheng Shiduo and Ji Xiao.

"Didn't you say before that we should split up and let those who might be exposed leave a bit later?

"Our landing spots are different."

Daoist Wang nodded and turned to look out the porthole.

The transport plane was maintaining multiple layers of stealth, 'slowly' speeding through the high altitude.

At this moment, he was indeed a little worried about the safety of Zheng Shiduo and Wu Man.

Wang Jixuan said, "As long as I can reach the vicinity of the Snow Mountain Base, there will be no secrets there."

They had no means to defend against Spiritual Sense.

Black Shell nodded. "I'll monitor from the electronic warfare bay. We need to be ready for combat as soon as we leave the D5 border. I don't know why, but I have a feeling this operation won't go smoothly. Let's make more contingency plans."

Wang Jixuan smiled and nodded.

He thought that once Peony had equipped the grayish-black 'Invisible' armor, he would also put on his X Armor.

Safety first.

Three hours later, Wang Jixuan looked at the increasingly close forest below, carefully observing the furthest distance with his Spiritual Sense, and chuckled inwardly.

Am I being too cautious?

"Peony, ask about Dragonfly Aunt's situation."

"Okay."

"Drop the 'okay'!"

"Yes, sir."

Ding ding.

Deep underground, in a shuttle within a corner of a tunnel left by a Blade Beast.

Dragonfly Aunt yawned and got up from her reclined seat. She alertly glanced at the data on the monitoring console beside her and breathed a sigh of relief.

Picking up the communicator, Dragonfly Aunt's mouth twitched a few times.

[Big Peony: Where are you guys? Are you dead? If not, want to meet?]

"Does she think this is a netizen meetup?"

Dragonfly Aunt muttered.

Ding ding!

[Big Peony: I brought you Talisman Water and Sugar Pills!]

Dragonfly Aunt pondered for a moment and replied simply.

[Mai Xiaomei: Give me a general direction, no detailed location.]

[Big Peony: 25 degrees west-southwest of Snow Mountain Base. How will you get here?]

[Mai Xiaomei: I'll fly over!]

[Big Peony: Then we'll wait for you. Fly quickly, the second team is landing elsewhere and needs time to get here to regroup.]

Dragonfly Aunt tilted her head slightly, a hint of wariness flashing in her eyes.

Why has Peony's text become so flippant?

Is this a trap?

As Dragonfly Aunt was thinking, the instrument panel beside her suddenly flashed red, indicating that Bristle Bear's green marker had turned red.

Sizzle.

Bristle Bear's voice came through the headset beside her, still calm: "We're surrounded. Something's not right. It's like they found me long ago and decided to strike now."

Dragonfly Aunt picked up her headset and asked, "Can you escape?"

"They haven't found the few escape routes I left. These guys aren't very professional, just a few A-class Psionicists are a bit troublesome."

"Mm," Dragonfly Aunt's expression turned cold. "Remember, you cannot be captured now."

"Understood, Captain. Don't worry."

A whooshing sound came from Bristle Bear's end:

"I'm worried about the timing of my exposure, and whether I might transmit incorrect information back."

"Then I'll remind them."

Dragonfly Aunt's thumb had already typed a line on the communicator. Without any hesitation, she clicked send.

Zzzzt.

"Captain, I have to destroy the call logs. See you at Safe House Number Three."

"Okay," Dragonfly Aunt's gaze was steady. She immediately activated the shuttle, tossing her headset aside. "If you survive, I'll introduce you to a fierce woman."

"I prefer younger ones."

"Then try your best to die."

Beep beep beep.

The call automatically went to a busy signal. The last sound that came through was the faint explosion from Bristle Bear's end.

He had destroyed his communication device.

Dragonfly Aunt piloted the shuttle, beginning a slow turn. The shuttle's magnetic halo shimmered slightly, suspending it a foot off the ground in the passage.

Just as she was about to leave, the micro-robots and parasitic eggs she had released earlier had detected no danger around her.

Dragonfly Aunt casually searched, activating her own abilities, and saw Bristle Bear sprinting towards the nearby mountains outside Rainbow Town, with several drones in pursuit behind him.

She didn't watch for long, immediately intending to twist the shuttle's throttle.

"Mmm-hmm~"

A faint humming sound suddenly appeared in the dark underground passage.

A jet-black butterfly had, at some unknown time, landed on the special glass of Dragonfly Aunt's shuttle's windshield, gently flapping its wings.