Judging by Ye Yan's clothes, he did not look like one of the vagrants who had recently arrived at the Mechanical Settlement, much less someone from Boulder Town.
Svarog was an ancient relic of the old world, an automated control unit left over from the era of the Geomarrow Trailblaze Expedition. Unlike most machines, which had no intelligence and only followed commands, he possessed complex reasoning abilities.
Clara had always firmly believed that Svarog respected only rational judgment.
Until today, when Clara saw Svarog become like this for the first time:
"Accessing database... obstructed. Reassessing target status... assessment failed! Assessment failed! Threat index..."
Listening to Svarog repeat those lines over and over, Clara looked back at Ye Yan, whose face was the very picture of innocence.
"Sigh..." Ye Yan helplessly took a sip of milk tea. Seeing Svarog like this, he almost wanted to give him an upgrade too.
A single laser cannon blast was not satisfying enough. At the very least, rapid fire like a machine gun would have some kick.
Come to think of it, Ye Yan really was quite suited to joining the Mechanical Settlement. Not only could he repair things, but he could also improve on them.
Most importantly, he could hand out drinks to everyone.
Unfortunately, Svarog's database had no record of someone like him. Combined with his silent appearance in the Mechanical Settlement just now, it really was easy to classify him as an extremely high-risk individual.
He had not thought things through. He had never expected Svarog to be so wary of him.
That hurt, bro.
Seeing Ye Yan suddenly look heartbroken, Clara was stunned too. Had she said something wrong?
No, Mr. Svarog was what mattered most right now! Family had to come first!
Looking at Svarog behind her, malfunctioning so badly that he was emitting black smoke, Clara grew a little panicked and cast Ye Yan a pleading look.
"Hmm..." Ye Yan understood immediately. It seemed an Emanator-level energy reading was still too much of a shock for Svarog and had nearly wrecked him.
He had not even come into conflict with Svarog. Just the energy leaking from his body had made him crash.
After helping Clara fix Svarog with a few simple repairs and clearing up the misunderstanding, Ye Yan thoughtfully offered him a bottle of milk tea.
"Huh? Big brother... I don't think Mr. Svarog can drink that."
"Assessment system rebooting... reboot successful. Converting variables... variable one: Clara... variable two: the outsider's motives."
"Reassessing target... threat index subsiding. Will not pose a danger to Clara. Annihilation mode canceled."
Svarog's red mechanical eye examined the black-haired man before him anew. "Assessment results updated: you... will be an exception. Revising previous calculations. Communicate amicably with the outsider and fight for the [Preservation] of the Underworld."
He had been rash just now. He had put Clara first, yet had completely failed to consider her safety or her thoughts before recklessly attacking the target.
Seeing the misunderstanding resolved, Clara breathed a sigh of relief too.
She had sensed no hostility from Ye Yan. And judging by Mr. Svarog's condition just now, if the other person really were an irredeemable villain, he would have torn Svarog to pieces right in front of Clara long ago.
Clara did not even dare imagine that scene.
"Mr. Svarog treated you like that, big brother. Aren't you angry...?"
Standing between the man and the machine, Clara turned her head from side to side to look at them.
"Miss Clara, as far as I'm concerned... robots and humans are no different. I can sense the bond between you two. You clearly share no blood ties, yet you have feelings for each other like [family]."
Boss Svarog had a nickname: Family Man.
Clara listened very attentively beside them. Svarog looked at Clara, and Ye Yan looked at Svarog.
The three formed a strange closed loop.
Ye Yan spoke first. "Miss Clara, you must be very curious about why I know so much about you two, right?"
Before Clara could answer, Ye Yan spread his hands, and holy light shone on his face once more.
How strange. The Underworld had sunlight too?
"Of course it's because of the Aeon of [Eternity]!"
Ye Yan began pursuing his true purpose: he had come to spread the virtues of [Eternity]!
He would start with the Underworld. Yesterday, he had already shown Gepard the power of [Eternity]. Today, his targets were Clara and Svarog.
Clara aside, Ye Yan's actual target was Svarog. It was this fellow's fault for being so stubborn in his thinking. The moment the Stellaron was mentioned, his danger index doubled.
If he did nothing, Dan Heng and the others would have to spend more time giving Svarog a beating later, which would not be good for either side.
It was decided. Today, he, Ye Yan, would help Svarog properly [Trailblaze] his database!
Hmm... this sort of thing was best left to a professional Data Bank administrator.
Seeing the Silvermane Guards slander them like this, Stelle and her two companions appeared in person to speak for themselves. Quite a few guards jumped in fright when people suddenly materialized in the middle of the area.
If they did not come out and explain now, the misunderstanding would only grow.
Unfortunately, Bronya righteously stripped them of their rights to speak and act. They would only get a chance to defend themselves when the tribunal held their trial.
Naturally, Stelle and the others would not agree. With Ye Yan's blessing, they could turn invisible again at any time.
Seeing that negotiations had failed, and with the Silvermane Guards closing in, the three turned invisible again.
The Silvermane Guards, who had been about to act only to find their enemies vanishing into thin air: ???
"Where did they go?"
Before the guards could react, Dan Heng led the other two in a retreat to a distant spot, where they began discussing their next plan.
"What do we do? They won't listen to a word we say," March 7th said worriedly, before complaining about the Supreme Guardian again.
Her attitude had changed so fast that they could not react.
Had no one taught her how to treat guests?!
"Leaving that aside, have you reached Teacher Ye Yan?"
"No. The messages show he's read them, but he hasn't replied," Dan Heng said truthfully. It seemed Ye Yan had noticed something early on and left the Administrative District ahead of them.
Where he had gone was a question.
"Whoa... he can't have gone back to the snowfield where we landed, right?! How would that be any different from being a wild man?"
"Spread the word. Ye Yan is the legendary wild man of Belobog."
"Come on, this isn't the time for jokes. Does anyone have a plan?"
"Quiet. I'm thinking."
Stelle closed her eyes, and scenes from yesterday's leisure time flashed through her mind.
She had either been rummaging through trash cans or having pillow fights with March 7th...
"I've got it. We can hide in trash cans." Inspiration struck Stelle, and she thought this was an excellent idea.
"Don't explain yet. Let me guess... you're going to say that if we hide in trash cans, there might be a chance we'll meet the Aeon of [Eternity], right?"
Stelle nodded. Why make the atmosphere so tense? A journey of [Trailblaze] was better taken easy.
"Report!!!"
Another Silvermane Guard came running over in a panic, successfully drawing everyone's attention with that shout.
"B-bad news, Lady Bronya! Th-that blue-haired criminal ran into the Fragmentum!"
"...Charging into the Fragmentum on his own. I wonder if he's overconfident or courting death." Bronya gave a cold scoff, and Pela added from beside her:
"The sudden appearance of those three accomplices may have been intended to draw our attention so the main culprit could slip into the Fragmentum... if that conjecture is correct, they may have entered the Fragmentum by now too."
"Should we report them as missing or dead?"
"..."
Bronya fell into thought, her mind taking her back to Kliperburg a little earlier, before the sun had risen.
Captain Gepard had sent a report last night. With the assistance of two visitors from beyond the sky, the Fragmentum Monsters on the front lines of the Restricted Zone had now been completely annihilated.
Yet only a few minutes after that, Cocolia had found her and told her that these outsiders had come to infiltrate Belobog and incite a rebellion.
Captain Gepard was upright and incorruptible. It would be no exaggeration to call him Belobog's iron wall. There was no possibility that he would falsify a military report, unless the outsiders had forged the message.
Looking at the familiar handwriting, Bronya dismissed her doubts, only to find herself caught in a dilemma.
At that moment, Cocolia noticed Bronya's predicament and told her a story.
It concerned a being as renowned as the Amber Lord... yet guilty of every evil imaginable.
An Aeon named Yite, who presided over the Path of [Eternity].
Legend had it that countless lives had vanished because of Their appearance... only through death could one reach true [Eternity].
Wherever They went, living beings were plunged into misery. Their followers were even more deranged, invading numerous planets and forcing the people living there to believe in [Eternity]. If you did not do as they said, only death awaited you.
Unfortunately, these visitors from another world were subjects of the Aeon of [Eternity]. They had set their sights on Belobog and intended to uproot its seven-hundred-year faith in [Preservation], replacing it with irreversible [Eternity]!
Cocolia spoke with such impassioned fervor that Bronya was rather surprised. She had never expected her mother to be so full of energy, speaking with such feeling and expression.
Although her cool face showed little emotional fluctuation, a trace of doubt flashed through Bronya's mind. But Cocolia was, after all, the mother who had raised her. What reason did she have not to believe her family?
Had Ye Yan or March 7th been here, they probably would have made a snide remark on the spot.
The wicked History Fictionologists were at it again.