Mechanical Kingdom

Lowering the car window, Ivette sat in the driver's seat and quietly looked at the puppet girl below and beside her. There was neither sorrow nor joy in her dark red eyes, nor any intention of giving a response.

For a moment, an awkward silence spread. After waiting a while, the puppet girl spoke again, somewhat stiffly. "Um... Miss Good Samaritan, could you give me a ride?"

"Answer a few questions, and I'll agree." Ivette's voice was cool and steady, devoid of emotion.

Her silence just now had actually been an attempt to hack in, but surprisingly, there were no ports on the girl's body. She did not know whether they had been shut down or damaged, but in any case, there had been no opportunity for intrusion.

Then she could only try verbal communication. She had no idea what attitude this Mechanical Puppet, which seemed to have developed self-awareness, held toward humans.

"Alright." The puppet girl nodded readily.

"Where are the human survivors?" Ivette asked.

"Humans? Haven't they been extinct for a long time? Where would there be any survivors?" The puppet girl looked confused. "Don't you know that?"

"I was previously on a very remote island, cut off from the world." Ivette selectively revealed part of the truth.

"I see." The puppet girl believed her without the slightest suspicion.

Seeing the puppet girl's natural expression, Ivette narrowed her eyes. She could not tell whether the other party was simply too skilled at concealing her emotions, or had failed to notice that a living human stood right before her.

She decided to test her. "What do you think I am?"

"Another machine person, of course." The puppet girl's tone was utterly matter-of-fact, even carrying a hint of Is that even worth asking?

"Don't you think I look a lot like a human?"

"Aren't you pretty much the same as me?" The puppet girl tilted her head at Ivette, examined her carefully for a few moments, then said, "Mm, you do look a bit like one. That's amazing. I wish I could look that human too."

Judging from her tone, looking like a human was actually a good thing? Ivette was puzzled, but she had no intention of admitting anything directly.

It seemed that the Mechanical Puppets were creating an entirely new civilization. Revealing her identity as a human would only invite unnecessary trouble.

She asked again, "Why call yourselves the Mechanical Race? What about the term Mechanical Puppet?"

"Isn't that our ancient name?" The puppet girl tilted her head the other way in confusion. "Call us whatever you like."

"You said you came from Silver Mirror Continent. How did you cross the sea?"

"I prayed to the god at a Sanctum, and the god ordered an envoy from the Void Tear Kingdom to send me to Black Tide Continent."

"The god... which one?"

"The great Mechanical God, of course. How could you not know that? Have you never received a divine oracle?" Suspicion entered the puppet girl's voice.

"...The island where I lived was too remote."

"Oh, you poor miss." The puppet girl's tone gained a trace of pity. "But it's alright. With my help, you'll soon return to the god's embrace."

"...Next question. Introduce yourself."

"My name is Bingyu. I'm a citizen of the Sky Kingdom and a free traveler."

"Sky Kingdom? That's one of your countries?"

"Yes." Bingyu nodded.

"Are there other countries?"

"As far as I know, there are only the Black Tide Kingdom, Ember Trace Kingdom, and Void Tear Kingdom. This is my first time leaving Silver Mirror Continent, so I don't know much about other places."

Ivette immediately fell silent, deep in thought.

The Black Tide Kingdom, Ember Trace Kingdom, Void Tear Kingdom, and the Sky Kingdom that the puppet girl Bingyu belonged to clearly drew their names from Black Tide Company, Ember Trace Chemical Industry, Void Tear Group, and Sky Dome Technology of the Origin Civilization.

Unlike the other four super-corporations, these four all had businesses related to Mechanical Puppets, Magitech Soldiers, or Mind Cores. Among them, Sky Dome Technology and Void Tear Group had been the strongest, while Black Tide Company and Ember Trace Chemical Industry had ranked behind them.

Could it be that the Mechanical Puppets left behind by those four super-corporations after the apocalypse had developed intelligence over the long years, then used their respective manufacturers to form social bonds?

In a sense, was this the Mechanical Race's "national identity"?

Wait, perhaps it had not happened after the apocalypse after all...

Suddenly, Ivette remembered the second expedition into Abyss Base more than two hundred years ago. Through documents in the computer room, she had seen journal messages left by maintenance staff. They had explicitly recorded that the Firefly Core, the main control AI of Abyss Base, had shown signs of having "come alive."

In other words, cases of awakened intelligence had already existed before the apocalypse!

At the time, she had suspected that the Firefly Core had mutated. But now, it seemed possible that it had truly developed self-awareness!

And under those circumstances, given that Mutation Factors could infect machines during the apocalypse, how had these Mechanical Puppets endured the apocalypse and survived until now?

Was it merely luck? Coincidence?

Or perhaps, as the final winners, the Mechanical Race had also played some subtle role in humanity's apocalypse?

"Hey, beautiful Miss Good Samaritan, do you have any more questions?" Seeing Ivette seated in the car with her delicate brows tightly furrowed, apparently lost in thought, the puppet girl finally could not help waving a hand after waiting several minutes.

Returning from her thoughts, Ivette glanced at Bingyu and said, "Get in."

"Oh! Thank you, kind person." Bingyu immediately climbed in, even remembering to fasten the seat belt in the passenger seat for herself.

Under Bingyu's guidance, the RV started up and slowly headed in a certain direction. After traveling around two kilometers, Ivette saw a small vehicle parked beside the abandoned road.

It was a motorcycle, weathered by the elements and covered in welding marks and patches. It was clearly pieced together from countless discarded parts.

Although Ivette could directly charge the motorcycle's energy storage panel and replenish its depleted elements, she did not want to expose that ability. Instead, she let Bingyu tie the motorcycle to the roof of the RV herself.

Then she returned to the car and asked, "What is this Sanctum you mentioned? Where is it?"

"It's a place to pray to the great Mechanical God for help. Every kingdom has one." Bingyu answered as though it were obvious. "Before I came to Black Tide Continent, I prayed there too. The god said there was a kingdom near this area, so I could go there to resupply after landing. It's just south of the Agasha City Ruins."

"A kingdom... how many people does one usually have?"

"I don't know. Our Sky Kingdom has quite a lot of people, more than a thousand." Bingyu shook her head. "Other kingdoms have far fewer, some only two or three hundred. But I don't know Black Tide Continent well. I only know that there are believers of the god here too, probably just a few hundred."

More than a thousand? Two or three hundred?

Ivette was somewhat surprised. During their conversation, she had imagined the Mechanical Kingdoms as a silicon-based civilization rising from the wastelands. Given just a little time to develop, they would soon sweep through the Mutated Creatures and march into space...

Yet a kingdom only had this many people? How was that any different from a village?

No, it was actually worse than a village, wasn't it?

Driving the RV toward the nearest Mechanical Kingdom, they traveled about four or five kilometers before the outline of a small town made of ruined walls emerged on the horizon ahead. Between those abandoned buildings, several slowly moving figures gradually came into view.

Only after getting closer could she see clearly that every one of those shuffling figures was a crude, outdated puppet. Their shells were covered in welding scars and riveted patches, their magitech wiring twisted and exposed, their heavy energy storage panels rusty and mottled. Their joints creaked under unbearable strain, and every step carried the sluggish exhaustion of something on the verge of collapse.

"Hello, may I ask where this is?" Ivette remained in the driver's seat and did not rush to get out, while Bingyu had already gotten down and enthusiastically greeted them.

Then an old puppet approached, its outer casing shattered and huge cracks spreading across its lens like a spiderweb. It happily said through an outdated speaker, "This is the Agasha Branch Kingdom of the Black Tide Kingdom. Hello, travelers from afar."

As expected, puppets bearing the Black Tide Company logo would form connections through that bond, Ivette thought. She just did not know whether brand discrimination would arise because of it—such as puppets from the four major super-corporations being considered nobler, while off-brand puppets from small and medium-sized companies suffered abuse.

Then, seeing that there were not many puppets in these Mechanical Kingdoms—only a few dozen or so—and that they seemed friendly, she judged the danger to be low and got out of the vehicle as well.

But the instant she stepped down, she discovered that every puppet's gaze had been drawn to her like iron to a magnet, locking firmly onto her without moving.