The Mechanical Kingdom

Ivette lowered the car window. Sitting in the driver's seat, she quietly observed the puppet girl below. Her dark red eyes held neither joy nor sorrow, and she showed no intention of responding.

An awkward silence filled the air for a moment. The puppet girl waited a beat before speaking again, her voice slightly stiff, "Um... kind lady, could you possibly give me a ride?"

"Answer a few questions, and I'll agree," Ivette's voice was clear and steady, betraying no emotion.

Her silence just now had been an attempt to hack into the puppet. To her surprise, the girl had no discernible receiving ports. Whether they were disabled or broken, Ivette had no chance to infiltrate her.

So, she'd have to resort to verbal communication. She wondered what attitude this mechanical puppet, which seemed to possess self-awareness, held towards humans.

"Okay," the puppet girl agreed with a nod.

"Where are the human survivors?" Ivette asked.

"Humans? Aren't they long extinct? Where would any survivors be?" The puppet girl looked confused. "You... you don't know?"

"I was on a very remote island, isolated from the world," Ivette selectively revealed a portion of the truth.

"I see," the puppet girl believed her without a doubt.

Observing the puppet girl's natural expression, Ivette narrowed her eyes, unsure if the girl was exceptionally skilled at hiding her emotions or simply hadn't noticed a living person right in front of her.

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

"Another mecha," the puppet girl replied matter-of-factly, with a hint of "Why are you even asking?" in her tone.

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

"Aren't you similar to me?" The puppet girl tilted her head, scrutinizing Ivette for a moment. "Hmm, you do look a bit alike. That's amazing. I wish I could be this similar too."

From the puppet's tone, it seemed mimicking humans was a good thing? Ivette was puzzled but didn't plan to admit anything directly.

It appeared the mechanical puppets were forging a new civilization. Revealing her human identity would only invite unnecessary trouble.

She asked again, "Why are you called the Mechanical Race? And what about the term 'Mechanical Puppet'?"

"Isn't that our ancient name?" The puppet girl tilted her head to the other side, confused. "Whatever you like."

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

"I prayed to the god at the Holy Temple, and the god commanded an envoy from the Void Tear Kingdom to send me to Black Tide Continent."

"God... which one?"

"The great Mechanical God. How do you not even know this? Haven't you received a divine oracle?" The puppet girl's tone held a trace of doubt.

"...My island was too remote."

"Oh, poor lady," the puppet girl's tone softened with a hint of pity. "But it's okay. With my help, you'll soon return to God's embrace."

"...Next question. Introduce yourself."

"My name is Bingyu. I am a citizen of the Sky Kingdom, a free traveler."

"Sky Kingdom? Is that your country?"

"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 fell silent upon hearing this, lost in thought.

The Black Tide Kingdom, Ember Trace Kingdom, Void Tear Kingdom, and this puppet girl named Bingyu's Sky Kingdom – these clearly took their names from the Origin Civilization's Black Tide Company, Ember Trace Chemical Industry, Void Tear Group, and Sky Dome Technology.

And unlike the other four super-corporations, these four companies all had businesses related to mechanical puppets, magic mecha, or core intelligences. Among them, Sky Dome Technology and Void Tear Group were the strongest, followed by Black Tide Company and Ember Trace Chemical Industry.

Could it be that the mechanical puppets left behind by the four super-corporations after the apocalypse had developed intelligence over the long passage of time and constructed social bonds through their respective manufacturing companies?

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

Wait, it might not have been after the apocalypse...

Suddenly, Ivette recalled her second exploration of the Abyss Base over two hundred years ago. Through files in the machine room, she had read log messages from a maintenance worker. It clearly recorded that the main control intelligence of the Abyss Base, the Firefly core, had displayed a "living" aspect.

In other words, the phenomenon of intelligence awakening had already occurred before the apocalypse!

At the time, she suspected the Firefly core had mutated, but now it seemed it might have truly developed self-awareness!

Under these circumstances, given that it was known that mutated factors could infect machines during the apocalypse, how did these mechanical puppets survive the apocalypse and reach the present day smoothly?

Pure luck? Coincidence?

Or, as the ultimate victors, did the Mechanical Race play some subtle role in the human apocalypse?

"Hey, beautiful kind lady, do you have any more questions?" Seeing Ivette sitting in the car, her brows furrowed in deep thought, the puppet girl couldn't help but wave her hand after waiting for several minutes.

Snapping out of her reverie, Ivette glanced at Bingyu and said, "Get in."

"Oh! Thank you, kind person." Bingyu immediately got in, not forgetting to buckle her seatbelt in the passenger seat.

Guided by Bingyu, the RV started and slowly drove in a certain direction. After driving for about two kilometers, Ivette spotted a small car parked on the side of a deserted road.

It was a motorcycle, looking weather-beaten and covered in welding marks and patches, clearly a patchwork of countless discarded parts.

Although Ivette could directly charge the motorcycle's energy storage board and replenish its depleted energy, she didn't want to expose this ability. Instead, she let Bingyu tie the motorcycle to the roof of the RV herself.

Then she returned to the RV and asked, "What is this 'Holy Hall' you speak of? And where is it?"

"It's a place where we pray to the great Mechanical God for help. Every kingdom has one," Bingyu replied matter-of-factly. "I prayed before coming to the Black Tide Continent, and the God said there was a kingdom near this region. I could resupply there once I landed, just south of the 'Agasha City Ruins'."

"Kingdoms... how many people do they usually have?"

"I don't know. Our Sky Kingdom has quite a few people, over a thousand." Bingyu shook her head. "Other kingdoms have very few, some only have two or three hundred people. But I don't know about the Black Tide Continent. I only know there are believers of the God here too, maybe only a few hundred people."

Over a thousand? Two or three hundred?

Ivette was a bit surprised. In their previous conversation, she had imagined the Mechanical Kingdoms as burgeoning silicon-based civilizations rising from the wasteland, ready to sweep away mutated creatures and venture into space with just a little development time...

And yet, a kingdom only had this few people? What was the difference between that and a village?

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

Driving the RV towards the nearest Mechanical Kingdom, after about four or five kilometers of travel, a silhouette of a small town composed of broken walls and ruins emerged on the horizon. And between these abandoned structures, slow-moving figures gradually became visible.

As they got closer, Ivette could see clearly that the figures stumbling along were, without exception, crude, old Mechanical Puppets. Their bodies were covered in welding scars and riveted patches, their magic conduits twisted and exposed, their heavy energy storage boards rusty, and their joints creaked under an unbearable burden, each step betraying a near-death sluggishness and exhaustion.

"Hello, may I ask where this is?" Ivette, still in the driver's seat, saw Bingyu had already gotten out and was enthusiastically greeting them.

Then, an old Mechanical Puppet with a cracked outer shell and a lens webbed with huge cracks walked over. Speaking through its old loudspeaker, it happily said, "This is the Agasha Branch Kingdom of the Black Tide Kingdom. Hello there, esteemed guests from afar."

So, the Mechanical Puppets with the Black Tide Company logo do connect through that tie, Ivette thought. I wonder if there's brand discrimination, like if the four super-corporation brands are considered more noble, and smaller companies' off-brand puppets are treated with contempt.

Then, seeing that the number of Mechanical Puppets in these Mechanical Kingdoms wasn't large, perhaps only a few dozen, and that their attitude was very friendly, she judged the danger level to be low and got out of the car.

But unexpectedly, the moment she got out, she realized that all the Mechanical Puppets' gazes were locked onto her as if drawn by a magnet, unmoving.