On the display inside Zero's visor, the proposed plan had already been simulated.
The TS-283 nuclear warhead was a secret military-grade strategic weapon made by Kaier Technology, a leading company within the Mechanical Alliance.
A small TS-283 nuclear warhead could demolish a building a hundred meters tall. A medium-sized one could destroy nearly half a city. As for a large one—
No such report had ever been made, but Kaier Technology claimed it could make an entire island disappear.
In the simulation, a meteor-like point of light appeared in the pitch-black night sky over the Black Cave Settlement. It grew larger at incredible speed, and within minutes, the streak of light had become a blazing fireball. It slammed into the settlement's southeast corner. A fraction of a second later, the powerful shock wave from the explosion destroyed every building in the Black Cave Settlement. Beneath a hellish sea of flames, a massive mushroom cloud billowed upward.
[Simulation complete.]
[Time elapsed: 29 minutes, 17 seconds]
[Enemy organization destruction rate: 99.9%]
[Combat evaluation: Perfect]
The simulation report contained more than just these figures. It also showed civilian casualty rates, the destruction rate of the Black Cave Settlement, radiation contamination, and a whole series of other statistics.
The emotional circuit began to flicker. Every other part in Zero's body was brand-new, but this one, located where her "heart" should be, seemed severely worn. After barely a few seconds, it went out completely, fading into darkness.
In its place, more and more "red code" symbols appeared on Zero's display.
Unlike ordinary code, these red symbols were crooked and irregular, flickering between blurry and clear as they gave off an eerie aura. Each one seemed to speed up Zero's "review" of the plan, urging her to execute the nuclear strike program at once.
Ordinary code was dwindling. Just as the red symbols were about to fill Zero's entire field of vision—
[Error. Error!!]
[Abnormal data source detected: Great Emperor's biological signal. Requesting reevaluation.]
[Request approved. Beginning corrective assessment.]
The tide of red code came to an abrupt halt, and the review of the nuclear strike plan froze forever at 98%.
If anything could override those "red codes," perhaps there was only one thing left.
Zero returned to the young man's holographic projection.
Two beams shot from her visor and began scanning him from head to toe.
Moments later—
[Physical strength: D. Cell activity: D. Corrupt Calamity concentration: 0%. Ability strength: D.]
[Probability of surviving a nuclear strike: 0.1%.]
[Assessment complete. Great Emperor's condition successfully corrected. Current master status: critically wounded!]
In Zero's database, every one of the Great Emperor's attributes had once reached the highest measurable rank, S. Now they had all fallen to D-, only slightly above the average person. So Zero classified him as critically wounded.
[Plan revised.]
[Activating "Emergency Protocol."]
[Primary objective changed to: treat the Great Emperor.]
[Identity information successfully entered.]
[Master successfully enrolled as a premium member of the Emergency Rescue Squad. Distress signal sent. Estimated time until the fastest Emergency Rescue Squad team arrives: 9 minutes, 54 seconds.]
[All action prerequisites set to: Concealment.]
Information flashed rapidly across the screen in Zero's visor. It was clear that Liao Ji's change in strength had affected her profoundly.
According to the "Emergency Protocol," if the Great Emperor's life was in danger, Zero should use her communications capabilities to send a distress signal over the network to her other "four" guards, summoning them all.
But Zero had done no such thing. Instead, she began erasing her own tracks, completely deleting the records of her "awakening."
In Zero's assessment, if the Great Emperor was in a "critically wounded" state, powerless for some unknown reason, telling the other "four" guards about him would only put him in greater danger.
Five hundred years had changed a great many things, including the four of "them."
So—
Right now—
Only "she" could be trusted. Only "she" could help the Great Emperor. Only "she" was truly loyal to her master.
That was why Zero had to increase her master's strength and restore the Great Emperor to his former peak as quickly as possible, so "they" wouldn't dare entertain any other thoughts about him.
Clearly, the fastest way to do that was—
Zero raised one hand. Her synthetic limb swiftly transformed into a sharp blade. Then she aimed it at the arm of the young man's holographic projection. And—
Swish!
A flash of light, and Zero cut off one of the arms of Liao Ji's projection.
"Flesh... fragile," Zero murmured.
Zero then manipulated the data, constructing a new arm at the severed limb of the young man's projection—a new mechanical limb.
Since it was only a "model," the process went quickly.
The mechanical arm she had given her master was thicker than before and seemed to brim with explosive power. It was covered in circuitry, and it could shift between more than a dozen weapons. Even in its regular arm form, it had multiple ports for chips. By installing advanced chips, its wearer could achieve master-level proficiency in any task requiring the use of an arm.
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
To Zero, it was as if she had opened Pandora's box. She was no longer satisfied with modifying only one arm. At the very least, she had to upgrade the other one too.
Swish!
Zero brought her hand down, severing the young man's left arm, then repeated the process.
Both arms were now modified into powerful A-grade prosthetics, greatly increasing her master's strength. Zero quickly turned her attention to the young man's legs.
Swish! Swish!
Both of Liao Ji's legs vanished from the model, replaced with mechanical prosthetics just like the ones from the previous scene.
They were lighter, faster, and sturdier than flesh. Equipped with an advanced jump system and rocket nozzles in the feet, they could launch him into the air at any moment. They could adjust their speed on their own, with a maximum acceleration that could rival a top-of-the-line supercar.
But that raised a new problem.
Could the rest of her master's organs withstand such powerful A-grade military prosthetics?
There was no need to analyze the answer. Clearly, they couldn't.
And so—
Zero's arms became a pair of surgical scalpels. She was at once the most skilled prosthetics surgeon and an artist carving her most beloved sculpture.
She dug out Liao Ji's eyes and replaced them with the most advanced hawk-eye prosthetic eyes.
She opened up Liao Ji's back and replaced his spine with a prosthetic that could transmit nerve signals more sensitively and respond more quickly.
She cut open Liao Ji's chest. At first, she replaced his lungs with stronger prosthetic ones, but then she couldn't stop herself. For instance, she replaced his heart with a controlled fusion reactor.
As fewer and fewer of the young man's original organs remained, precision-crafted, dazzling components and prosthetics filled his body from head to toe.
The process lasted about ten minutes.
The original sculpture of Liao Ji's projection had long since disappeared.
Standing before Zero now was a mechanical giant over two meters tall, its entire body rebuilt with prosthetics. Perhaps the only thing still connecting the current Liao Ji to the original was the young man's face, which Zero had preserved.
From a human perspective, the young man had long since become unrecognizable. But to Zero—
"Master... my perfect master."
She had successfully protected her master and restored his lost strength.
This was Zero's "rescue" plan for Liao Ji. A minute earlier, members of the highest-tier Emergency Rescue Squad had confirmed and recorded the plan model.
Like Kaier Technology, which had produced the TS-238 nuclear warhead, the Emergency Rescue Squad was a corporate conglomerate within the Mechanical Alliance. The name gave away that it was a medical company, one that provided emergency rescue services to its members.
The seven mechanical maids in battlefield nurse uniforms who had silently appeared behind Zero inside the Haisha Bar were part of the premium membership benefits. Even outside the Mechanical Alliance, they could deploy a valuable, single-use mini satellite capsule to send them down directly.
Of course, an ordinary emergency rescue would have made a tremendous commotion. But since Zero had set [Concealment] as a prerequisite for every action, everything was now happening in silence.
Ultimately, every company and corporate power within the Mechanical Alliance, no matter how large, answered to the same unchanging superior.
Zero—the supreme artificial intelligence who had founded the Mechanical Alliance, the mother core and leader of all technological machinery.
"Data modeling indicates that the master should still be in the Black Cave Settlement. Search for him with all available resources. Then modify his body according to the model specifications and enhance his strength."
Zero was only a virtual projection. To affect the real world, she had to rely on her mechanical forces.
After receiving her orders, all the Emergency Rescue Squad's maids prepared to leave the Haisha Bar. They would split into seven directions and search the Black Cave Settlement for the young man, launching a "rescue" operation for Liao Ji.
However—
Just as the first Emergency Rescue Squad maid had put one foot outside the bar—
Whum!
A beam of Piercing Holy Light fell from the sky through the darkness, impaling her body.
Then, beneath the shadow of the bar's entrance—
A nun slowly stepped out.
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