The Sanctuary

After finishing their tea, Bingyu, as if remembering her original purpose, requested to borrow the holy temple there to recharge her motorcycle.

The Great Elder readily agreed and immediately got up to lead the way. Ivette, who had long been curious about the mysterious holy temple, naturally followed behind, arriving at another part of the puppet town.

This time, it wasn't a container apartment, but a great cathedral left behind by the Origin Civilization.

The walls here were rough and mottled, partially collapsed, showing traces of age and erosion. However, the overall framework, under the meticulous maintenance of the puppets, remained incredibly sturdy. The vegetation around the church was impeccably trimmed, and even the iconic obsidian square bricks at the entrance were polished to a gleaming black, faintly reflecting the sky's light.

Stepping into the church, the spacious main hall was exceptionally quiet. Light filtered through the largely shattered stained-glass windows, illuminating every speck of dust that danced in the air.

Above the central circular shrine stood a colossal pixelated cube statue, erect and silent. Seeing this highly representative symbol, Ivette instantly understood the affiliation of this former church.

The Mind Temple!

This was a famous religion from the Origin Civilization, originating from the Silver Mirror Continent. One of its tenets was "Flesh is weak, ascend through machinery." After the apocalypse, it became a holy temple for mechanical puppets to worship the Mechanical God, which was quite fitting in terms of style.

However, Ivette knew very little about the religions of the Origin Civilization. She only knew that the Mind Temple had an unclear relationship with Sky Dome Technology, with suspicions that the former was secretly funded by the latter. If she had another chance to enter a dream, she might search for related information.

Besides the cube statue left by the Mind Temple, there was also a female mechanical puppet inside the church, dressed in a black nun's habit. Her level of anthropomorphism was very high. While Bingyu had a girlish style, this nun had a more mature aura, and the outline of her chest beneath the habit was more pronounced.

Even knowing that beneath the robes would be a white internal structure or metal chest armor, Ivette couldn't help but steal a few more glances. She wondered how such a highly anthropomorphic and well-preserved mechanical puppet, unlike the junk-pile finds of the Great Elder, came to be.

Did the Mechanical God possess a production line from the past, allowing it to create these new, highly anthropomorphic puppets?

"Two guests, this is our temple's nun, Miss Sunflower. Miss Sunflower, these are Miss Ivette and Miss Bingyu, two guests who have traveled from afar. They wish to borrow the temple to request the God to recharge their vehicle."

"No problem. The Mechanical God is above, and I will provide assistance." Miss Sunflower offered a perfectly fitting smile, then turned and went to a room in the corner, from which she brought out a box.

Ivette looked at it and saw a portable metal case. The case glowed with a faint light and had obvious multi-functional interfaces; it was essentially a large power bank.

She thought, no wonder Bingyu said every kingdom would have a holy temple. Besides various prayers to the Mechanical God, the most important function of a holy temple was likely to provide energy, essentially a large cafeteria for mechanical puppets. Otherwise, given the scale and development of these puppet towns, they wouldn't be able to obtain survival energy independently.

But where did the holy temple's energy come from? Did it have a reaction furnace? Underground magic conduits? Or some other method?

As she thought about this, an idea gradually formed in her mind.

She wanted to stay here for a while to observe and understand the operation of this puppet town in more detail, and to learn about the mysterious Mechanical God.

When Ivette applied to stay there temporarily, the Great Elder happily agreed. However, it stated that it couldn't make the decision alone and needed to convene a meeting with other kingdom representatives.

Bingyu took the opportunity to make the exact same request. Her reason was to explore the nearby ruined city of Agasha, and a safe and stable puppet kingdom would be the perfect base. Moreover, she had already reported this matter to the divine before coming to the Black Tide Continent.

Thus, after the kingdom council's approval, both Ivette and Bingyu were allowed to reside there long-term. However, as outsiders, they could not live in the container apartments and had to find suitable rooms themselves from the town's ruins.

Ivette had no objections, as she could simply live in her mobile home. Bingyu, however, shyly asked if she could stay in the vehicle with Ivette. After being heartlessly rejected, she left dejectedly.

In the evening, the sky transitioned to a deep cyan, not yet fully sinking into navy blue.

Ivette was observing the ruined town when she suddenly heard the low, swirling roar of an engine approaching from a distance.

She looked up and saw a large aerial vehicle, cutting through the sky fragmented by ruined buildings and dense tree canopies. It swooshed past and landed on a relatively flat open space near the holy temple.

She immediately walked over and saw the vehicle's hatch open. The nun she had seen earlier was nimbly unloading several storage boxes, glowing with a faint blue light, from inside the ship and stacking them neatly at her feet. Simultaneously, she carefully placed several similar boxes back, their surfaces dim and seemingly depleted of energy.

It's like delivering packages... Ivette walked over and said, "Let me help you."

"Thank you, Miss Ivette, but it's not necessary. This is my duty as a nun," Miss Sunflower politely declined with a smile.

Ivette nodded and said nothing further. Her gaze fell upon the massive cargo spaceship, noticing an embossed logo of the Void Tear Group on its surface. The silver-white color had now noticeably yellowed.

What a simple method of implementation, she thought. The Mechanical God, as it appeared now, was probably not a god in the conventional sense, at least not a true god like those on the Radiant Continent who established divine kingdoms and possessed supreme power. Instead, it was more like a super AI that survived the apocalypse.

But the Great Elder said the Mechanical God had given souls to the mechanical puppets. How was that achieved?

Did it not only solve the source of souls but also the problem of the mind core being difficult to use as a soul carrier?

What if, upon opening the minds of these mechanical puppets, she found a normal human brain inside... Well, that would be a bit too horrifying, but not impossible. However, she could observe here for a longer period, and there would eventually be opportunities to verify it... Ivette speculated boldly.

By this time, the nun had finished unloading all the storage boxes. The transport spaceship, it turned out, was also a non-humanoid mechanical being that could speak. After exchanging greetings and jointly praising the great Mechanical God, the transport spaceship lifted off and disappeared into the distant horizon. The nun, meanwhile, wiped away nonexistent sweat from her brow, a satisfied smile on her face.

Ivette observed her smile and noticed that it was more genuine than the business-like smile she had displayed earlier, as if she truly enjoyed her duties as a nun.

"Miss Sunflower, you seem to really like your work as a nun?" Ivette asked calmly.

"Yes, who wouldn't want to serve the God?" the nun nodded with a smile.

"Can you answer one question for me?" Ivette asked again.

"What question?"

"Why do mechanical beings all wish to become human?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Ivette was somewhat surprised. She had expected the nun to say it was because human civilization was too glorious, leading to worship, or perhaps that humans were creators, making imitation normal.

"It seems to be an innate instinct. If you want an answer, perhaps only by asking the great Mechanical God can you find it," the nun said.

"Can you ask the God then?" Ivette asked again.

"This..." the nun showed a troubled expression. "The God doesn't answer all questions. If you encounter difficulties, you can find the God, but for questions like this, it's best not to disturb Him. He may not reply... If you really want to know, Miss Ivette, why don't you try praying to the God yourself?"

"Alright," Ivette sighed inwardly.

She definitely wouldn't contact the Mechanical God. Who knew what attitude the Mechanical God had towards human survivors... What if, upon exposure, she was met with intense firepower?

Besides, she strongly suspected that the Mechanical God might have a way to revive humans. After all, before the apocalypse, even organizations like the "Civilization Preservation Society" existed, so there were certainly other private or official means of surviving cataclysmic events, such as human gene banks hidden underground. But it had done nothing, and that fact itself might imply its attitude.