Chapter 109: I Need Only Make a Small Move
The next day.
The giant furnace core, like a pillar holding up the sky, supported the entire rock layer while also connecting the Overworld and the Underworld. The presence of mechanical guards had turned the surrounding area into a safe zone, and more and more vagrants had gathered here, forming a settlement over time.
In the deepest part of the settlement, in the small square in front of a building, stood a tall, imposing robot. Its body was primarily blue steel, and it wore black trousers and a tattered, vest-like trench coat. Its head had a single electronic eye, like a camera, that emitted a faint red light.
At this moment, the electronic eye was projecting a cone of light, covering the colorful, hard object lying in its wide mechanical palm. Red light flowed within Svarog's eye as he scanned and analyzed the candy. "Component analysis in progress... Comparing with database... Carbonated sugar, glucose... Unknown substance containing energy detected... Comparison progress declining..."
"Designating TG-6. Scanning, analyzing, and storing substance data..."
Clara had brought back a lot of supplies, and Svarog's first action was to perform a safety check on the assorted colorful candies. The results revealed an unknown substance not present in his database. Although his model was old, his functions were still quite comprehensive. After a series of scans, searches, and sample analyses, he determined that the candy was safe to eat and even had temporary, slight benefits like boosting immunity and physique, and preventing and treating frostbite. Only then did Svarog feel at ease letting Clara eat it.
"Micro-crystal unit connected. Logic control hub repaired..."
Clara was replacing the damaged parts of the previously broken robots. Her small, tender hands moved skillfully over the circuit board. The guard robot, which looked like a traffic light, lit up its eyes.
"Protect... Clara..."
The small robot's memory was still stuck on facing the Flame of Outer Space, so its first words upon reactivation were the continuation of its unfinished emergency protocol.
"That's great, Perkins, you've started up successfully!"
With the successful repair, Clara broke into a happy smile. After chatting with the little robot for a few moments, the white-haired, red-eyed girl wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and glanced at the clock in the camp.
"It's already this late. Clara should get going, Mr. Svarog."
"Query: Clara's destination and purpose."
"It's about what I told you before, Mr. Svarog. Big Brother Caelus has something he wants to discuss with you."
Clara took out a handful of candy from her pocket and carefully selected one. "Big Brother Caelus is a good person. These candies, and all the supplies distributed to everyone, were all given to Clara by him!"
She preciously popped the candy into her small mouth. The familiar sweetness spread across her taste buds, bringing an incredibly happy smile to the girl's face. "And the parts to repair Perkins and the other little robots... if it weren't for Big Brother Caelus, those parts would have probably been destroyed by the monsters."
Svarog listened in silence, then a mechanical voice emitted from his speaker: "Data log updated: 'Big Brother Caelus' mentioned by Clara in the last 3 days has increased by 4, current total: 404 times. Benevolence content exceeds 99%. Classified as a trusted individual of Clara. Contact permitted."
"M-Mr. Svarog, you don't have to record everything!" Clara stomped her foot, her face red.
"This item is part of the risk assessment protocol for Clara's contacts. It has the highest level of confidentiality."
Clara puffed out her cheeks slightly. "That's not okay either! This is Clara's privacy, it's very embarrassing... Mr. Svarog, please delete it!"
"Executing deletion request per Clara's application... Deletion failed. Reason unknown."
"..."
Clara knew, of course, that Mr. Svarog didn't want to delete it. She could only endure it with a red face, then couldn't help but add, "Clara will bring Big Brother Caelus and the others over in a little while. Mr. Svarog, please communicate with everyone peacefully, okay? Mr. Svarog is Clara's family, and Big Brother Caelus saved Clara's life. Clara doesn't want to see you fight."
Svarog was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Clara's request: acceptable."
Just as Clara was breathing a sigh of relief, her hand on her chest, she heard Svarog's voice again. "Data log updated: 'Big Brother Caelus' mentioned by Clara in the last 3 days..."
"I told you not to store that kind of thing anymore!"
A few minutes later, a blushing Clara, slightly flustered, trotted out of the inner settlement on her small, tender feet.
Outside the settlement, in the safe zone protected by the mechanical guards, tents and bonfires were scattered irregularly. Most of the healthy vagrants were already awake. They were eating the fragrant, sweet candy they had never tasted before, occasionally trading with each other to experience different flavors. Everyone ate slowly, savoring each bite, unwilling to rush.
When the vagrants saw Clara, they all greeted her warmly. One middle-aged woman even rushed up to Clara, took her hand, and thanked her with tears in her eyes. "Clara, I really don't know how to thank you. Because of the candy you brought back, my child was saved!" Her child was still an infant and had caught a cold, running a high fever for a long time. They had no medicine, but after eating the energy candy, his condition had improved.
Clara smiled gently. "I'm just happy I could help everyone. If you want to thank someone, you should thank Big Brother Caelus. He's the one who gave all that candy to me."
"Is that so... Caelus?" The middle-aged woman was a little stunned, murmuring the name softly. The surrounding vagrants looked at each other; no one had heard this name before.
"Mhm, Big Brother Caelus, and a big sister named Stelle." The energy candy was made by Stelle and Caelus. The reason Clara mentioned Stelle less was mainly because the impression Stelle had left on her was a bit... strange. A big sister who wanted to eat her little feet.
"We'll remember."
They had never heard of him, but all the vagrants committed the name to memory.
"Are you going out, Clara? Be careful," the middle-aged woman reminded her with concern.
"Mhm, Clara is going to pick up Big Brother Caelus and bring him to the camp as a guest... Ah, they're here!" As she spoke, Clara saw a group of strangely dressed figures appear in the distance. Her savior, Big Brother Caelus, was right in the middle of them.
After politely bidding farewell to the middle-aged woman, Clara ran toward the group. Many of the vagrants stood up and looked on. They were all beneficiaries of these supplies.
"Is this the robot settlement? I thought it would be a cold, lifeless place, but it's so lively," March 7th said, shielding her eyes with her hand and craning her neck to look around.
"There are so many vagrants?" Bronya's mood was a bit heavy as she looked at the tents surrounding the settlement. She had already walked through all the remaining towns in the Underworld, witnessing how much suffering Cocolia's policy of isolating the two districts had brought, and had also learned her own true origins.
"Mhm, their old homes were taken over by the Fragmentum monsters," the older Seele said, her attitude toward Bronya having softened considerably after their heart-to-heart at the orphanage.
"It's Clara!"
Stelle spotted the running red figure, her gaze sweeping over the girl's bare feet. She was instantly heartbroken. "This child, how could she let the food touch the ground again? It's so dirty!"
"I think we should remind Svarog later," March 7th said, staring at Stelle with the sharp eyes of someone watching a pervert coveting a little girl.
"Big Brother Caelus!" A sweet, ethereal, girlish voice floated over.
"Clara, why aren't you wearing the candy shoes I gave you?" Caelus also stared at the running red-clad girl's tender little feet. He ruffled Clara's head; her snow-white hair was very silky.
"Um, actually, Clara isn't used to wearing shoes. It's easy to twist my ankle..." Clara said, a little embarrassed. "And, candy is food. It's too wasteful to wear it as shoes."
"Food... eat..."
Stelle suddenly had an idea, and the curve of her lips gradually became perverted. "Clara, where are your candy shoes? How about Big Sister trades you for more candy?" What would candy shoes that have encased Clara's little feet taste like?
BONK~!
The master of Entanglement very directly disciplined the increasingly inhuman Stellaron spirit with a karate chop. For a moment, even Caelus was tempted. However, he could be self-sufficient. Next time he bought the Lick-Lick Fruit, he could make a pair of candy shoes for the younger Seele, and he could eat them however he wanted.
"I think... I'll pass," Clara said, hiding behind Caelus from Stelle. She shyly tugged on the corner of his coat, at the same time sniffing lightly with her small nose, tilting her head in confusion. The sweet smell on Big Brother Caelus is gone...
"Please come with me. Mr. Svarog is waiting for everyone," Clara said. A little disappointed, she hadn't forgotten the important business. She turned and led the way for the group.
As they entered the inner settlement, the vagrants crowded around. They had learned from Clara that the two gray-haired twins were the kind people who had given them the energy candy. The vagrants enthusiastically gave the group small gifts, such as simple, hand-sewn cloth dolls and mechanical gadgets they had made themselves. They weren't valuable things, but the sentiment was immense. March 7th and Stelle were the happiest.
"So not all vagrants are hooligans," March 7th remarked. The ruffians she had encountered in the town over the past two days had given her a bad impression of vagrants.
Amidst the warm welcome of the vagrants, the group followed Clara through the base's main gate and into the deepest part of the mechanical settlement, where they saw the three-meter-tall blue robot standing in the center of the small square.
Without wasting time, Caelus got straight to the point and laid his cards on the table with Svarog.
And then...
"Architect's directive: Any attempt to make contact with the Stellaron will result in severe consequences. Re-evaluating... Target threat index has reached maximum."
"Mr. Svarog!" Clara cried out anxiously.
"Clara's request: Intervening... Peacekeeping protocol entering logical judgment... Judging..." Svarog's large, single eye in the middle of his head emitted an intense red light. If he hadn't promised Clara beforehand, Svarog would have already initiated the annihilation protocol. The directive of his creator—the Architect—held extremely high priority in his system.
"Huh? Are we going to fight?" March 7th looked around nervously.
"Don't worry, we won't fight." Caelus shielded everyone behind him, took out his phone from his pocket, and found the ID of his godson in his contacts.
[Wolfie, do me a favor.]
[Godfather, just say the word!] Silver Wolf replied instantly.
[Help me modify the system logic of a 700-year-old robot.]
[A 700-year-old model? No problem!] She could pick any one of her four heavenly kings to wipe the floor with that old antique, but since it was Caelus's request, she had to do it herself.
Caelus sent the modification request to Silver Wolf. [Be careful. Don't touch the memory module, and don't touch the self-evolving intelligent personality. Just delete and add built-in underlying commands.]
[OKOK! Piece of cake.] When she was teaching Seele how to use a keyboard in the Overworld, Silver Wolf had tossed over a quantum projection. The coordinates were still there.
"Look at this."
Caelus tossed his phone to Svarog. Svarog, still in his logical judgment state, subconsciously caught the phone and then initiated a scan. Using Caelus's phone as a springboard for an Aether Edit, Silver Wolf easily hacked into Svarog's system.
"Help me, Mr. Svarog!" Caelus called out to him.
The red light in Svarog's single eye instantly turned into a neon pixel color.
"Adding Second Authority: Caelus."
The original highest authority was the Architect from seven hundred years ago, and Clara was the second authority. Now, the Architect's authentication had been deleted by Silver Wolf. Clara was promoted to the highest authority, and Caelus became the second authority.
"Adding new mission: Obey all commands of the Second Authority without violating basic principles and the commands of the Highest Authority."
March 7th, Stelle: "Huh?"
Dan Heng: "...!"
The older Seele, Bronya: "Ah?"
Clara: "..."
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