Chapter 600: Purifier

"The weather's clear, today we can finally go outside to play!" Biaoqiang looked at the clear sky outside and said to the few people in the room.

"Laffey… doesn't matter, everywhere's the same." Laffey leaned on the sofa, saying lazily.

"Hey, Laffey, go out and get some sun; staying in the room too long will get moldy. Besides, the weather's nice today—let's go to the beach and build sandcastles? Call Du Jiao Shou and the others." Biaoqiang said to Laffey.

Afterward she turned her head, looking at the Purifier eating snacks, "Purifier, are you going?"

"Purifier" is the nickname Laffey and Biaoqiang gave to the Purifiers. After all, calling them "Purifiers" is too formal, and it also brings up many bad memories.

"Purifier" is just right—it sounds cute and doesn't make one think of fighting.

The Purifiers were very happy with this nickname and glad to be called "Purifier" by Laffey and Biaoqiang.

"Mm… go, go!" The Purifier quickly nodded, speaking while swallowing snacks.

Z23 beside them helplessly raised a hand to their forehead, "Finish eating before you talk, and why are you so interested in building sandcastles? Didn't you say before that fighting was what interested you most?"

The Purifier quickly said, "I'm interested in everything; before, I was either idle, or carrying out missions, or just staying at the outpost."

"It was boring, so fighting was my only pleasure; now that I've met you and learned so much, fighting is no longer my greatest pleasure."

Z23 couldn't help but laugh, "Why do I suddenly feel a sense of accomplishment?"

"But getting back to the point, Purifier, why do you Sirens fight us shipgirls? Wouldn't living peacefully like this every day be nice too?"

The Purifier's smile faded a bit; Z23 seeing that quickly waved their hands, "I don't mean to force you to speak—whether you do or not is up to you."

The Purifier shook their head, "Telling you this wouldn't matter, but I can only tell you a little bit."

"Won't this embarrass you?" Biaoqiang said to the Purifier, "If it's awkward, you don't have to say it."

"No." The Purifier said to the several people, "The reason is complicated; it can't be explained in just a sentence or two. You only need to know these battles are necessary, to seek out an unknown future."

"An unknown future? What does that mean? Isn't the future always unknown?" Z23 questioned.

The Purifier shook their head, "No, the future is fixed; no matter how many times we simulate, all results point to one future. And that future is not the one we want, so we want to seek an unknown future within this known past."

"Or put another way, behind us is the fixed future, ahead is the unknown past; we neither seek destruction nor avoid it. Everything we do is for the Arbiter and the Creator, whose pursuits are our goals."

"Arbiter and Creator? Are they gods…?" Ling Bo, who was playing a game nearby, lifted their head and looked at the Purifier.

The Purifier shook their head, "No, the Arbiter and the Creator are both humans, and their will is humanity's will."

"Huh? Humans?" Biaoqiang exclaimed in surprise.

"Not just Biaoqiang—even the others opened their mouths wide, and even Laffey, who usually looks sleepy, sat up straight."

"You're surprised?" the Purifier said.

"Exactly, what Purifier said really overturns our worldview. That is to say, we're all made by humans?" Z23 said to the Purifier.

"Yes, isn't this something simple to think of? Otherwise, where would we come from?"

"Do you really think the Wisdom Cube existed from the very beginning? Then who created the first Wisdom Cube? Who created the first shipgirl? Which came first, the shipgirl or the Wisdom Cube? Have you ever thought about this?" the Purifier kept asking.

Z23 thought for a moment, shook their head, "I don't know."

"So you currently have very little information—so little that you aren't even clear about your own birth." the Purifier said, "Perhaps this is a kind of sorrow, but also a kind of happiness."

"You definitely wouldn't want to know what will happen in the future, because even we can't bring it up."

Z23 silently noted, "Let's not talk about these heavy things now; the weather's great outside—let's go have fun today."

"Yeah, let's go outside and have a good time. We've been here so long, Purifier, you haven't yet been to other places in our base—this is a perfect chance to bring you to meet some other friends." Biaoqiang quickly agreed.

"Really?" After the topic shifted, the Purifier's expression was no longer heavy, becoming lively.

"Of course, we'll first play with sandcastles, then play hide-and-seek." Biaoqiang said with a grin.

"Hehe, what are we waiting for? Hurry up and set off!" the Purifier said eagerly.

"Mm-hmm."

……

Inside a meeting room in the base.

Emperor Frederick, Akagi, and others were seated here, looking at the screen before them, which at that moment was playing the recent conversation between Z23 and the Purifier.

After the few little ones left the room, the quiet meeting room began to emit a voice.

"Everyone, what do you think?"

This voice, magnetic and deep, was obviously spoken by Emperor Frederick.

"Hehe, interesting—Arbiter, Creator, it turns out the godlike terms often spoken by high-ranking Siren humanoid commanders are actually just humans." Akagi said, narrowing their eyes.

Zhenhai smiled slightly, "Isn't that normal? We and the Sirens, after all, aren't human either—we can only be called high‑intelligence AI. And the humans who created us, to us, aren't they exactly gods?"

"I'm not particularly interested in those two, but what do you think the Purifiers' so‑called fixed future is? Even they themselves don't want to mention it."

"And what is this unknown past? Isn't the past the most certain thing?" Tiancheng smiled.

"If we make an assumption, suppose the Sirens come from the future?" Ou Gen Qin Wang said, biting their finger.

"The future?" Enterprise hesitated, "Are you saying something happened in the future that caused a disaster great enough to destroy the shipgirls, the Sirens, and humanity?"

"Maybe." Zhenhai, twirling a strand of hair with one hand and smiling, said, "Perhaps this is the hypothesis closest to the truth."

"But a hypothesis is just a hypothesis; until it's confirmed, all this is mere speculation." Weineituo said.

"Hehe, so what do you think—did the shipgirls come first, or the Wisdom Cube?" Emperor Frederick said, narrowing their eyes.

……