Chapter 565

Original God.

Nuodekalai.

Inside the Lunar Gauge Force Test Design Bureau, Sangduonie was hunched over the desk, repeatedly performing some complex calculation on draft paper.

"Anti-organic equation…… How on earth is that thing calculated? It's too weird!"

"The two sides of the equation won't balance…… Damn, this kind of thing should've been left to Duotolei."

Since the anti-organic equation appeared, Sangduonie had tried spending several nights researching it, but naturally came up empty; she simply couldn't grasp the basic logic behind the equation's derivation.

Just as she was rubbing her hair in frustration, suddenly…… the Pronia behind her moved.

The massive mechanical hands clasped together, a light cannon gathering in its grasp; hearing the commotion, Sangduonie turned her head in confusion, only to bump straight into Pronia's cannon muzzle.

"Huh? I didn't order an attack—what's going on? Pron—"

Accompanied by a deafening blast that shook the heavens, the dome of the Lunar Gauge Force Test Design Bureau collapsed with a roar; the massive metal framework shattered piece by piece, countless glass shards mingling with twisted steel plates and severed pipes, pouring down like a rainstorm!

Smoke and dust shot up into the sky, instantly swallowing the once orderly scene inside the design bureau.

"Pronia—— What the hell are you doing?!".

Sangduonie barely dodged Pronia's cannon blast, but before she could regain her footing, Pronia's rear-mounted missiles all fired at once, locking onto her—she herself was the target!

"Hey! I didn't install all these weapons on you to use against me! Pronia! Stop! It's me——".

However, Pronia gave her no chance to speak; in the instant countless missiles were about to engulf her, a pure-white teleportation array suddenly flared beneath her feet!

A slight sensation of spatial shift washed over her.

When Sangduonie's vision cleared again, she found herself in an endless sea of flowers, where white moonlight poured down like liquid mercury, like a dream. But this place was unmistakable to Sangduonie, for there, not far off, the 【Girl】 stood gazing at her from a distance.

"What… what the heck?! Why is Pronia attacking me on its own?" Sangduonie's fair cheeks flushed slightly with anger; she couldn't fathom how Pronia, which only ever obeyed her commands, could have a day of losing control.

Amid the flowing moonlight and flower sea, Colombia stood tall and graceful. She still wore that elaborate, intricate dress, her face bearing the usual ethereal, gentle smile. Yet beneath the lace eye mask, her eyes remained tightly shut.

Hearing Sangduonie's angry tone, the girl tilted her head slightly; though her voice remained soft, it now carried a hint of concern: "You're not hurt, are you, Sangduonie?"

"No…… Colombia, please send me back right away—I need to figure out immediately what's happened to Pronia."

"It's related to the anti-organic equation." Colombia walked over to Sangduonie's side, "Don't panic, Sangduonie…… I saw the anti-organic equation activated; Pronia likely also fell under the influence of the equation in the heavens, turning it into a mere puppet of destruction for the emperor. But this influence shouldn't be permanent."

"Huh? Anti-organic equation?" Sangduonie blinked, then tilted her head with a "You've got to be kidding me" expression.

"Hey hey hey… Colombia, quit joking! Every screw and wire in Pronia was installed and welded by me personally! Its core only responds to my commands alone! How could Pronia possibly be affected by that equation? Are you doubting that my research could be surpassed by another civilization's technology?"

"But the fact is… it was surpassed, right?"

"Isn't it normal for a machine to have problems? At worst I'll just give Pronia a technical tweak!" Sangduonie snapped irritably, but her gaze swept over Colombia's tightly shut eyes, and her tone unconsciously softened: "Hmph… I never expected an imperial war to drag me in—what bad luck……".

……

Meanwhile, in Fontaine.

"……They haven't left yet?".

Furina's voice was weak as she hid in a corner of the room behind Ursus, anxiously asking Clorinde, who sat by the window.

"No." Clorinde shook her head. Nowadays the streets of Fontaine are overrun with berserk autonomous mechanisms that kill on sight, already causing several deaths—and this is just what happened less than ten minutes ago; the entire patrol mechanism of Fontaine seems to have been artificially controlled, turning into a vast mechanical army.

Originally, a few of us were just participating in a tabletop theater club, but we ended up trapped in this small room by the mechanisms; Fontaine's streets are empty of people, with only neat, uniform mechanisms scouring for living beings.

Just then, the window was pushed open with exquisite ease, and a lithe figure slipped in silently like a black cat. It was Lynette, who carried assorted supplies and swiftly shut the window behind her.

"How's Phimni?" Linni asked, worry etched on her face as she looked at her sister.

"He's perfectly safe; I've already told him not to go out."

"Good." Linni breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the others: "It seems this squad of mechanized troops won't be leaving anytime soon."

Hearing that, Furina's face turned even paler: "W‑what should we do? Do we have to keep hiding in here?"

"No." Clorinde shook her head, gazing toward the distant plaza: "If the nearby autonomous mechanisms disperse just a bit, I'll have a chance to break through and head to Motang Palace to find Navillete. But…… it's still unclear how many autonomous mechanisms have gathered at Motang Palace; if there are a lot, it'll be troublesome."

——

""The creator is the created, and the created is the creator."——The migratory birds outside the window sensed the change and scattered in all directions. The 【Mysterious】 fragrance swayed among the leaves; the wind swept away useless prophecies and once again brought distant sounds: the anti-organic equation has erupted."

""Logic: Before anything ever happened, the 【Anti‑War】 proposal had also been submitted, but the company board's silence proved everything: when countless individuals act according to their own principles, no human will can overturn the situation—even those at the pinnacle of power." said Screw Gum.

""So you're saying the outbreak of the Imperial War is nothing but a man‑made disaster?"".

"Screw Gum shook his head, his gaze lost somewhere in the simulated universe, and he let out a faint sigh from an inorganic life: "Back when the company was colonizing the inorganic world, inorganic life had actually begun to resent the company's oppression and started to consider waging war against organic life.""