The general turned sideways, gazed at him, and said:
"It was all for survival-we willingly fell into this Hell seven thousand years ago to escape the enormous crisis that was coming-but the changes that followed exceeded our calculations-the Main Universe did not meet its destruction-instead, more and more living beings have joined the armies of that Calamity-"
The figure with the mechanical face rose to his feet, staring fixedly at his leader, and said:
"You made contact with-that Calamity?!"
The general's expression remained indifferent. "The current Agent of that Calamity contacted me of his own accord-he promised us the right to survive-this Hell will inevitably be breached-and when that happens, there will be nowhere left for us to live-rather than suffer inevitable destruction-we might as well join them now-in exchange for the continuation of our people-"
The mechanical face trembled, a rare occurrence, and the numbers flowing within it kept flickering an unsettled red.
"Do Dragon Head and the others know?"
The general raised his head and said:
"They do not need to know-for now, it is only you and me-Scholar-"
The numbers on the mechanical face named Scholar fluctuated as he let out a low, hoarse burst of noise, evidently running comprehensive calculations and personality assessments on this sudden revelation.
"This is betrayal-leader-this is betrayal-"
The general abruptly turned back, his eyes glowing red, and said:
"No, this is the spark that will keep our civilization alive."
Scholar said nothing more.
But he should have known long ago that granting supreme authority to the leader of the Machine Intelligence Civilization's first and most radical expeditionary fleet was inherently a gamble. They had lived apart from their people, and even though they had ultimately returned to the main body of the Machine Intelligence Civilization, they had already developed their own