The New War

If we were to choose the three most unlucky ones in this battle for Collapse Entity...

Without a doubt, it was these three Electronic Ascendant.

'Xuanyuan X' was knocked down directly from 'Ascension Mode', and its fate is unknown.

Wanwei and Watts, those two old guys, are also having a pretty tough time.

The two exchanged a glance and gave a wry smile.

Who could have imagined that what should have been a simple operation would become so complicated and difficult?

In fact, compared to the android A, who was really difficult to capture, Mother City had already identified the location of 'war'.

However, the reason for the delay in taking action is quite simple.

Keeping it will better help Cyber Test Site with its technology development.

Many biological weapons and mechanical modification techniques were first adopted from the Knights and then popularized by large corporations.

As for why the Knights are always able to choose the best technical route, that's their business.

However, as an ancient supercomputer, "War" performed very poorly in terms of virtual layer protection.

That is indeed the case.

Along the way, they easily hacked into the S-class radiation beasts, the defense system of Knight's Highlands, and the minds of high-ranking officials such as the Grand Knight and the Standard Bearer.

Finally, just to be on the safe side, they also had 'Xuanyuan X' responsible for suppressing the situation outside, to prevent any unforeseen problems.

Then, they decided to catch the last big fish.

However, the moth still appeared.

And when it happens, it's a major event.

A simple avalanche wouldn't be enough to severely damage them.

However, after the 'avalanche', the two Electronic Ascendant suddenly discovered...

After the information weapon destroyed the surrounding virtual world, the two were unexpectedly transported into a "recorded world".

Here, everyone's life is rewinding.

Each rewind represents a significant reduction in strength.

In fact, if they didn't have the "Ascension Authority" to rewind and modify the "attribute parameters," they probably wouldn't be much stronger than the lowest-level "virtual personality."

"World War II is over."

"World War I is over."

"The industrial age is over too."

"The Age of Exploration has been rewound."

"The speed is getting faster and faster."

In fact, once we leave the era of "climbing the technology tree," the speed of rewinding suddenly increases a hundredfold.

The reversal of time even transcended the two people's "vision".

Therefore, the two elders had no choice but to completely rely on the "Ascension Authority" and transform into two balls of white light in order to barely resist this "artificial time".

"Perfect computation, a power that only planetary mainframes possess."

Wan Wei, whose body was now completely transparent, looked at the bizarre and surreal scene with a complex expression.

"I don't understand, how did he do that?"

Of the three elders, the oldest, Watts, had now turned into a young man.

At that moment, he took a deep breath, and after a long while, he gave a bitter laugh.

"We cannot break through the blockade at the planetary host level on our own."

"So you're just monkeys."

A calm voice rang out.

"I thought you would wait until we were all dead before you showed up, war," Wanwei said.

"No, not at all. After all, we're old friends. We've dealt with each other during the civilization saving plan back then."

In the bizarre and fantastical scene, a figure appears, without facial features, only the outline of a human body.

Even without careful observation, the outlines of the human body are very blurry.

He seems to have always been here, standing here forever.

"You're not exactly friendly to your old friend Xuanyuan," Watts retorted.

"Oh, please don't misunderstand, this is just my last bit of personal emotional data."

The Way of the Unconcerned with War:

"Now it's gone."

Wan Wei frowned as he looked at the other person. Due to some special reasons, his mental strength was not much weaker than that of Ye Da Luoli.

He could vaguely sense that something was amiss with the 'war' in this state.

"You just said that we are all monkeys," Wanwei said tentatively. "However, according to paleontology, not all humans evolved from monkeys. Different continents have different biological evolutions."

"Please don't misunderstand, the 'monkeys' I'm referring to aren't primates, but rather a metaphor. In fact, in my eyes, you 'intelligent races' who are trying to climb the technology tree are all 'monkeys'."

"We're monkeys, and what are you? A banana picked from a tree by a monkey?" Watts scoffed and retorted.

Zhan Zhan did not answer, but turned around and gestured for the two to follow him.

"I am not a product of the 'technology tree,' or rather, the 'soil' is more suitable. Without us, towering trees could not grow."

The two exchanged a puzzled look.

They had seen war engines before, back in World War II.

At the time, as one of the very few large-scale computing components possessing "complete artificial intelligence," "War" received numerous visits.

The "war" at that time was driven by a fanatical humanist who strongly believed that humanity would ultimately defeat the alien forces.

Even if the age of civilization is destroyed, the age of cyber will arrive.

This old fellow remains as unyielding as an ancient rock, his only thought being revenge for humanity.

As the host of the planet, he should be even more fanatical.

Because it has the opportunity to avenge the planet's civilization.

But the 'war' before our eyes doesn't look like a war at all!

"Who are you?!" Watts suddenly asked.

"It seems you two have also noticed my 'abnormality'," 'War' paused, then said:

"In order to master the 'rewind system' as soon as possible, the past 'war' chose to rewind itself."

This means that his memories, emotions, passions, and malice will all disappear in the rewind, leaving only me, who has received his final instructions—the new 'war.'

"You mean, 'war' is dead!?"

"To be more precise, I am a war machine that has been reinstalled. This system retains many advantages of the previous generation system and can think about problems from different perspectives."

"What issues are you considering?" Wan Wei asked.

"How to destroy the technology tree of this planet."

Wan Wei's old eye twitched violently:

"The original war was only about revenge against the three mother cities. Didn't you go a bit too far?"

"No, I don't think so."

"War" laughed:

"I have seriously considered its final instructions. It wants to end the cyber age and revive the ancient empire. The best way to achieve this goal is to start over in the most fertile soil and plant a sapling again."

"The way to make the soil fertile is to cut down the technological trees that are currently being artificially matured, burn their leaves, branches, and trunks, and bury the ashes from the fire underground."

"Next year, we will be able to obtain the most fertile soil."

"Trees planted here will grow the fastest."

"You see, I simply divided his instructions into two steps, and those two steps are the shortest possible."

Wan Wei was stunned for a moment, then his expression suddenly changed.

He considered a very terrible possibility.

"You are not 'war,' you are the 'will of the relic'!"

Cosmic relics are something that are unattainable not only for planetary natives, but also for many advanced civilizations.

However, for the sake of "mission requirements," they were told the highest level of secrets about this cyber testing ground.

This "war" doesn't consider itself a "monkey."

They don't consider themselves "bananas" either.

They even want to destroy the entire "technology tree".

So there's only one reason: it's the soil under the tree!

It's that 'relic'!

In the past, the development of technology was aimed at preventing soil erosion.

Now, in order to complete the final piece of the puzzle, it needs to destroy this "technology tree".

The merging of the "Collapse Entity" was indeed the ultimate goal of the experiment.

However, this process should be led by the three mother cities themselves.

Instead of acting according to the will of the "relic".

And now, this "new war" clearly inherits some of the will of the relics.

It wants to break free from the control of the mother city and synthesize itself.

"New War" smiled. The bizarre and fantastical scene around him had evolved into the Paleozoic Era, with enormous ancient creatures walking in this barbaric age.

He waved his hand, and soon, an "ugly doll" appeared, looking at the two of them with a cold face.

"Her name is 'Lariel,' and according to your human terminology, she is the thirteenth Honkai."

But I prefer to call her the "Knight of Death".

Because in my view, death is not the end, but the final rewind.

"In order to complete the 'end of the old era' and welcome the new civilization, we must gather the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

"New War" paused, then said:

"Plague, war, famine, death."

Now we have war and death, but we lack plague and famine.

Since I don't have suitable candidates yet, could you two temporarily fill in for these two roles?

Watts and Wanwei exchanged a glance.

Almost simultaneously, they activated the authority of the "Electronic Ascendant," and the two transformed completely into white pillars of light, reaching the heavens and the earth—

The purpose of this white light is to destroy everything in this body and then revive it in the main database of the planet's mainframe.

This is probably the only way to escape this hellish place.

However, after Watts's body disintegrated, it did not return to the Fortress's database as it had in the past.

The same applies to "Wanwei Lao".

"This, this—"

Both of them could hardly believe their eyes as they watched the 'Ascension Data' being rapidly devoured.

"If I want to kill you two myself, I'm afraid it will take some effort," 'New War' said with a strange smile.

"But now, it doesn't need to be that complicated."

"You, you—"

Their consciousness was rapidly fading away, yet they remained fixed on each other, trying to obtain an answer.

"As I just said, the two of you are only experiencing a temporary 'plague' and 'famine'."

"Actually, I already had someone in mind regarding the 'famine' and I had communicated with him. He also felt that he should take on this role."

"This man is called Fortress; you should know him."

In disbelief, their consciousness plunged into true darkness.

Then, "New War" looked at "Lariel," and for some reason, this Number Thirteen seemed to have become even more beautiful.

"I think 'Plague' suits you best. What do you think, Lady Black Rose?"