Soul-Machine Synchronization

Yu Xiao felt his heartbeat slow for a beat!

"The Demon Scorpion's system... has come to life?"

He could feel a powerful pull from the depths of the data space. It was a vortex that Yu Xiao, as a machine soul, couldn't resist!

After hesitating for a moment, Yu Xiao decided to keep descending!

The surroundings began to change gradually. The orderly blue slowly turned dark red, and rows upon rows of lengthy code floated through the cramped space like corpses in the water.

[Where exactly is this place]

[No feeling in my body]

[I'm not a machine, I'm not!]

[My sister is in danger. I have to fight...]

[Why are you just watching, big sister?]

Among these commands, which the system had classified as garbage, Yu Xiao saw the struggle of a "human mind"!

Information like this had nearly filled the entire depths of the space!

After descending for a while longer, Yu Xiao finally reached the very bottom. Here, he saw the source of all this absurdity.

It was a delicate body. Charred, peeling skin fluttered around her like ash, while the girl herself stood motionless, like a statue.

As Yu Xiao brushed aside the surrounding clutter of information, he slowly approached the girl. Only when he was a step away did he notice a faint glimmer still inside her.

The tiny white glow was like a flame on the verge of going out in the wind. It looked as though it might vanish at any moment.

[Damaged machine soul detected. Absorb it?]

When this system prompt appeared, Yu Xiao's outstretched hand suddenly stopped in midair!

Wait, a damaged machine soul?

Had he read that right?

Could this girl also be a transmigrator!?

The sudden system prompt stirred up a storm in Yu Xiao's mind!

Looking at the faint glimmer before him, an inexplicable sorrow welled up inside Yu Xiao.

It was this sorrow that ultimately made him choose.

[Absorbing machine soul...]

The white flame was like an ethereal star. It passed straight through the girl's stone-like body and slowly drifted into Yu Xiao's "heart."

In an instant, a warm current swept through all of Yu Xiao's senses. He felt as though he, now a torrent of data, had grown a little "stronger."

[New machine soul ability acquired: Soul-Machine Synchronization]

[Soul-Machine Synchronization: For a limited time, break through the wall of reality and imbue a mech with the power of a machine soul, temporarily pushing its performance beyond its theoretical limits]

Just as Yu Xiao had expected, he had indeed gained another strange ability.

[Abnormal fluctuations eliminated. Infiltration complete. Ejecting machine soul...]

Before Yu Xiao could think any further, he saw the girl's original "body" turn into countless ashes that scattered and vanished into the air. The dark red depths around them also returned to blue.

The next second, Yu Xiao's primary consciousness returned to the Cobra mech.

[Warning: neural synchronization forcibly disconnected!]

Poison Scorpion cried out on the spot!

"Impossible!"

As the holographic synchronization panel went dark before her, Poison Scorpion froze instinctively.

The system couldn't have forcibly severed her neural synchronization!

The Demon Scorpion was a mech only she could pilot. Even if the other party had completed the infiltration and issued a command to disconnect synchronization, they still needed her approval to confirm that final command!

But now, she no longer had control of the mech.

Perhaps she never would again.

"What did you do to the Demon Scorpion?!"

Poison Scorpion couldn't spare a thought for how to counterattack. The only thing on her mind was demanding an explanation!

Facing two mechs, once Poison Scorpion lost control of the Demon Scorpion, she had no chance of fighting back.

"You opened every connection port yourself. What do you think we did?" Bai Ying found the look of disbelief on her face increasingly amusing. "What, did you have some secret trick up your sleeve for a last-ditch comeback?"

"I'm giving you thirty seconds. Get in the escape pod and eject from the Demon Scorpion now, or we'll throw you out ourselves. The timer starts now!"

Hearing Bai Ying imitate her earlier threat, Poison Scorpion instinctively clenched her fists tight!

But just as Poison Scorpion herself had said, people had to know how to assess a situation, bend when necessary, and stand firm when they could.

After hesitating for only a second, Poison Scorpion quickly climbed into the escape pod and activated the ejection sequence!

Staying alive mattered more than anything.

[Escape pod ejected. Escape pods remaining: 0]

"A mech designed for two pilots, but with only one control station and one escape pod. Is that because of the machine soul...?"

Watching the escape pod fly toward the distant plain, Yu Xiao couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He could sense that the damaged machine soul he had just absorbed had completely fused with him, but he still didn't understand why it had been in that state.

"What did she do to the machine soul?"

"Is something wrong?" As if sensing Yu Xiao's worry, Bai Ying spoke directly into the empty cockpit.

"It's nothing urgent. We can analyze it after we get back to base." Yu Xiao didn't want to linger in the Silent Graveyard any longer. "Let's head out now and find somewhere remote for you to interrogate Gao Tianzhi."

"No need."

Bai Ying's reply took Yu Xiao by surprise.

"We've taken control of two third-generation mechs. We should head back to base and get you upgraded first, in case another roadblock shows up."

"Are you serious?" Yu Xiao could hardly believe those words had come from Bai Ying. Given her personality, she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd stripped Gao Tianzhi of a layer of skin.

"Even though I don't think much of the Cobra, the Demon Scorpion is a top-tier mech, without question. I don't want... I don't want to waste any more time because of Gao Tianzhi." Bai Ying sounded as if she were trying to convince herself. "We've got the parts for your upgrade, and I've avenged myself on Poison Scorpion. That's enough..."

If Yu Xiao could have looked in a mirror just then, he would surely have seen the smile of a proud father on his face.

"...Why aren't you saying anything?"

Thump!

When Bai Ying's red pupils suddenly narrowed, Yu Xiao almost had a heart attack.

"You're right. Let's head back to Xuanse Cangqiong now, before anything else goes wrong." Though Bai Ying's expression had startled Yu Xiao, it didn't stop him from composing himself in an instant.

"Phew..." Bai Ying let out a breath so softly that only she could hear it. "Then let's move. Go!"

The three towering mechs formed a line and marched in unison toward the coast beyond the high wall.

When the sound of the waves rang in Yu Xiao's ears once more, he looked back at the Silent Graveyard, now a scene of utter devastation.

There was nothing "silent" about it, nor was it a "graveyard" where mechs could rest in peace.

The damp sea breeze swept across the three battle-scarred mechs. Yu Xiao suddenly turned his gaze back to the boundless sea.

"The wind... has shifted."