Chapter 242: I Will Sound the Song of Fire and Steel

The scorching crimson iron fist slammed hard into the face of the Intelligent Machine Vajra, sparks flying everywhere, and the Intelligent Machine Vajra stared in utter shock at the scene before it.

Before her eyes, a mecha entirely crimson red, roughly her size, turned out to be the technology she had comprehended herself after countless self‑iterations.

Those Intelligent Machine mechas born from directly condensing molten iron in the furnace were formed through this forging technology.

But now, why....

"How could you!!!!"

The Intelligent Machine Empress bellowed in disbelief, and the Intelligent Machine Vajra raised its heavy iron fist, swinging hard at 118.

118 offered no explanation, easily blocked the Empress's attack, then delivered another heavy punch that sprayed sparks, and the two mechas representing the pinnacle of Intelligent Machine technology thus began their plain‑and‑simple battle.

And 118 now felt completely exhilarated; its previously somewhat sluggish Logic Core was now smooth as silk, as if its whole mecha had suddenly become 111 years younger.

After undergoing the baptism of fire and steel in the forging furnace, 118 was reborn, its whole body forged into a Vajra form from Intelligent Machine mecha, displaying full majesty, not inferior in the slightest to the Empress's Vajra mecha before it.

This feeling had only been experienced when I first became an Iron Guard; perhaps this is what youth feels like.

The two kept climbing, escaping the planar region of the Intelligent Machine Satellite and entering space; with room to maneuver, the Intelligent Machine Vajra hastily widened its distance from 118.

"What exactly...."

118 didn't want to hear her nonsense, reached behind and pulled out a huge battle blade, its rear engines roaring as it shot forward at breakneck speed toward the Intelligent Machine Vajra.

The Intelligent Machine Vajra was forced to counterattack, flustered and exasperated, while also frantically summoning its lackeys to swarm 118, and on the other side attempting to back up its data onto another vessel,

But then, something even more terrifying happened: her data was locked down tightly inside this very mecha, leaving no escape.

After she carefully sensed around, she realized that some authority was holding her fast in place, and a moment's thought made it clear who was behind it.

"Damn traitor!!!!"

"You don't deserve to be called an Intelligent Machine!!!!"

The Intelligent Machine Empress, her mind clouded by rage, threw everything she had into the fight against 118, but she was no match for 118.

The Empress's defeat was already certain, and the biggest reason for her loss was actually her emotions.

Before 118 linked into her data space, she was a picture of absolute rationality, able to accurately analyze every bit of battlefield information and make absolutely rational judgments.

Before reaching this point, she had countless chances to turn defeat into victory—for example, when 118 entered the space she could have returned to her own vessel, or when 118 was hammered into scrap she could have refrained from venting her anger by throwing the opponent into the smelting furnace, and so on.

Emotion is the poison of absolute rationality, the poison of the Intelligent Machine, yet it is not impossible for it to coexist with them.

At this moment, the spectacle of two mechas nearly 150 meters tall clashing was also transmitted to the planet above, and countless people stared wide‑eyed at the astonishing sight.

Meanwhile, Yunxiao and the Intelligent Machine Empress's consciousness had already returned to the planet, and they too were shocked as they gazed at the two fighting figures in the sky.

"That.... is 118?"

The Intelligent Machine Empress voiced her doubt—even though she wasn't the sharpest, she knew that was 118; how could Yunxiao possibly not know?

Yunxiao gazed at the battling figure, overwhelmed with excitement—her last surviving relative wasn't dead at all, but had been reborn!!!!

How could she not be delighted?

Yunxiao hurriedly climbed into the mecha that had brought her back, took off vertically, and shot straight toward space.

For someone like her, a maniac obsessed with mecha violence aesthetics, how could she possibly miss such a splendid fight!

The Intelligent Machine Empress stood there dazed and foolish, and after a while she suddenly realized one thing: she could go steal a butt!

Her worthless 'little sister' is currently getting beaten to a pulp by 118, so isn't this the perfect chance for her to seize the authority?

Just thinking about being able to shake off that 'idiot' buff later filled the Intelligent Machine Empress with excitement.

Meanwhile, in space, the Intelligent Machine Empress felt a chill on her backside, as if something important were about to slip away from her....

Facing her, the battle‑hardened 118 pushed its mecha aesthetics to the extreme, the already‑cooled steel blade striking its frame and spraying sparks born of mecha violence.

Even if the Intelligent Machine Empress could iterate endlessly, against a 118 that has lived over a hundred years, her combat experience amounts to nothing.

Don't forget, in reality the Intelligent Machine Empress is nothing more than a child just a few months old!!!!

And at this moment the Intelligent Machine Empress also sensed the gap between herself and 118; within her emotions, the feeling representing a fear of death kept growing.

She wanted to flee.

Meanwhile, 118 grew bolder the more it fought, with no intention of letting her go.

"Brother!!! Go for it!!!!"

Yunxiao's voice echoed in his mind; 118, taking a break in the battle, turned its head and saw Yunxiao waving at him.

A strange feeling came over him, 118 let out a soft chuckle, and then looked at the Intelligent Machine Vajra.

This tempered body brimmed with power, waiting for him to sound the song of fire and steel of the mecha.

The cooled giant steel blade flared up again with scorching energy, its crimson light bathing the Intelligent Machine Empress's face like a blazing sun.

A heroic surge of emotion welled up from the Logic Core for no apparent reason.

"I will sound the song of fire and steel."

"Intelligent Machine Empress."

"Farewell."

"No! Don't!"

"Don't kill me!!!!"

The Intelligent Machine Vajra turned and fled, and at that moment she suddenly realized her computing power and authority were being steadily stripped away, her fear mounting to a new level.

The next instant, a flash of scorching blade light sliced through, cleaving the Intelligent Machine mecha in an instant....

(I've been exhausted lately, folks, I'm taking a break—just one chapter for today.)

(This simulation is nearing its ending, and you folks still haven't guessed the conclusion—still, as I always say, the ending I, the ginseng‑person, wrote is impossible to guess!)