"Honestly...… even now, I still can't believe it..."
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and looking at the planet outside, Eclair muttered softly to herself.
"It really doesn't feel real at all..."
"Yeah..."
Standing beside Eclair, Lumiel nodded as well.
After that, Duanmu Huai had explained the mission of the Inquisition to the two of them. However, to these two girls, everything Duanmu Huai said sounded like pure fantasy—completely unbelievable. After all, their star system had never had any aliens, nor had they ever seen demons or anything of the sort. And yet Duanmu Huai claimed that the Inquisition's enemies were demons, xenos, and heretics...…
To be honest, if they weren't actually standing inside this battleship, both of them would have thought the man in front of them was insane.
Not only that, they had also learned an even more shocking piece of information from Duanmu Huai—the star system they believed to be the Milky Way was not the Milky Way at all, but merely a grain of sand within the real Milky Way!
This answer left both of them utterly stunned. Lumiel even asked why, if that was the case, they had never discovered it before.
For Duanmu Huai, the answer was very simple.
The Black Hole Project.
Back then, the Black Hole Project had detonated the entire Milky Way. Naturally, the planners had also considered the revival of the Chaos Gods. Thus, the second step of the Black Hole Project was to isolate every star system within the galaxy, cutting them off completely and turning each one into a black box.
In this way, the outside could not observe the inside, and the inside could not observe the outside. So for observers lacking sufficient knowledge and capability, their perception of the outside world would simply be nothing—nothing existed, nothing could be detected, as if the edge of their star system ended right there.
This design served two purposes. On one hand, it protected humanity within that star system, preventing them from being discovered by the Chaos Gods. On the other hand, it was also a test of that civilization.
That's right—just like how humanity must first escape the gravity well and reach space.
Then upgrade their spacefaring capabilities, expand their footprint from within a single star system to other systems, and finally usher in an era of interstellar travel—each of these steps was a trial humanity had to overcome. The black box system was one of those trials. If the civilization within a star system was not strong enough to read the information contained within the black box, then no matter what methods they used, they would never be able to detect the existence of another star system beyond its boundary.
And being unable to break through the black box meant their civilization was still not qualified to face the Chaos Gods head-on. Going out would simply mean suicide.
Duanmu Huai had not told anyone else this information before, for a very simple reason—they had no use for it.
The Holy City and Manaria were still trapped inside their gravity wells. The world Sherry came from hadn't even left its own star system yet. Telling them this kind of knowledge would be like explaining nuclear fusion to primitive humans—completely useless. They wouldn't be able to use it anyway.
In fact, this was also why players had to pioneer during the early stages of the game. Since every star system was in a black box state, players had to explore like playing a real-time strategy game—clearing the fog of war themselves to find out whether something was a resource or an enemy...… Of course, Duanmu Huai didn't have to worry about that. The black box system couldn't stop Old Saint black technology.
The world Eclair and Lumiel came from was the first pure interstellar civilization Duanmu Huai had encountered that had more or less conquered its entire star system—of course, that also had to do with luck. There were no alien forces in that system. Otherwise, it would've ended up like the UNSC—probing around and suddenly running headfirst into the Covenant.
Unfortunately, the civilization of the Fifty-Ninth Star System seemed satisfied with that.
Once the Chaos Gods grew stronger, civilizations like this were basically the first to be wiped out. Strictly speaking, such civilizations had never encountered real enemies, nor had they undergone serious trials. Facing external threats like that, not getting steamrolled in a single wave would already count as good luck.
To be honest, after hearing Duanmu Huai's explanation, both of their worldviews shattered. If what Duanmu Huai said was true, then everything they had ever learned about human history was false. Frankly, they truly didn't want to believe such an absurd truth, and would rather believe it was some kind of lie.
For Duanmu Huai, verification was simple. Take them on a tour inside and outside the star system. As members of an interstellar civilization, they naturally knew how to compare star charts. Then let them see the Star Realm Army—at first, both of them thought the other Star Realm soldiers were giants in power armor just like Duanmu Huai.
Later, Duanmu Huai told them that these were merely fallen heroes inhabiting power armor.
Naturally, they didn't believe it. Lumiel even personally conducted an investigation.
The result proved that these power armors—which could move and speak on their own—had no AI, no life signatures, and no signs of computer network connections whatsoever.
So...… there was no way around it.
As the saying went, if something looked like a duck, walked like a duck, and quacked like a duck, then it was a duck.
No matter how unwilling they were in their hearts, they had to admit...… this might actually be the truth.
And so, after that, they stayed in the guest quarters, enjoying the view while reconstructing their worldviews.
Although the two of them still didn't fully believe Duanmu Huai's words, nor the things he described, that didn't prevent cooperation between the two sides. Therefore, Duanmu Huai did not force them to believe him, but instead proposed a further plan.
A trial period.
Just like graduates entering a company also had a probation period—don't worry about believing or not believing for now. Come work for two months first, see what our company atmosphere is like, and we'll also see your abilities. If it works out, everyone signs a contract. If not, we part ways amicably and send you back. It's not a big deal.
Or, if you're unwilling to return to your own star system, we can send you to War Planet or to the Guardian Civilization to start over. Wouldn't that be fine too?
Eclair and Lumiel discussed it and felt that Duanmu Huai's proposal was reasonable. After all, if they went back now, they'd just be hunted down again. And to be honest, GOTT's work was truly disgusting. As inspectors under GOTT, they had seen immoral acts like the oppression of civilians more than once. Sometimes they could resolve such matters; sometimes they couldn't.
Frankly speaking, after experiencing so much, they had grown somewhat despairing of humanity's darker nature.
By comparison, Duanmu Huai's missions were far simpler and more direct—protect humanity and eliminate threats to humanity. At the very least, they wouldn't have to wrestle with tangled moral dilemmas they couldn't resolve anymore.
Thus, the two of them decided to follow Duanmu Huai for now and see what the Inquisition was really doing, and then...… make further plans.
"Knock knock knock."
At that moment, a knocking sound came from outside. The two of them turned their heads, and then Eclair spoke.
"Please come in."
"Excuse the intrusion."
Hearing the response, the door opened, and then Odile—dressed in a maid outfit—walked in.
"The Master is convening a combat meeting. Please assemble in the command room."
"Alright."
Both of them immediately grew serious and followed Odile out of the room, heading toward the command room. Of course, along the way, they also adjusted their mental states. No matter what, they were interns on a trial period now, and the other side was effectively their superior. Since this was their first operation, they had to leave a good impression.
Soon, under Odile's guidance, the two arrived at the entrance of the command room. The doors opened, and they walked inside. Then they brought their heels together, straightened their backs, raised their hands, and saluted.
"Lumiel..."
"...…Eclair reporting in—?"
It was no wonder Eclair's greeting trailed off. The reason was simple—standing in front of the tactical command table was Duanmu Huai. And on his shoulder, a young girl was sitting there, raising her right hand and gently waving it. With her movements, a small doll spun around in the air as if dancing. On Duanmu Huai's other shoulder, another girl—about the same age as Lumiel—was giggling and jumping up and down, trying to grab the doll.
Like kittens playing on their owner's body.
This is a combat meeting???
"Oh, you're here."
Duanmu Huai raised his head, glanced at the two of them, and nodded.
"Come over. Next, we'll be discussing the battle plan."
"Yes...…"
The two of them walked up to the command table, feeling somewhat at a loss, while the other girls nearby seemed completely used to this and didn't care at all.
"Alright, stop playing, Bambi."
Duanmu Huai patted Bambi, signaling her to stop jumping around on him, and then activated the display.
Soon, scenes appeared before the girls' eyes.
Cities reduced to rubble, people struggling amid ruins and wreckage, and cold, merciless robotic armies hunting down humans...…
"So tragic..."
Seeing this, even though Eclair had heard about it before, witnessing it with her own eyes was completely different. At this moment, she clenched her fists tightly, staring hard at the screen. Duanmu Huai glanced at her, then looked toward the others.
"Alright. This is the current state of that planet. However, the intelligence we have is incomplete...…"
"We're not acting immediately?"
Lorena hurriedly asked, but Duanmu Huai shook his head.
"No need to rush. The enemy we're facing this time is far more troublesome than before...… Lumiel."
"Yes."
Hearing her name, Lumiel immediately straightened her posture.
"I remember you said your abilities allow you to manipulate electronic machinery and networks?"
"Yes."
As part of the "interview," Duanmu Huai had naturally learned about their abilities. According to Lumiel, they were not humans, but bio-modified beings. Simply put, a certain technology in their world injected nanomachines into their bodies, granting them different abilities—calling them superpowers wouldn't be inaccurate.
Eclair's ability was "strength," basically brute force. Duanmu Huai had tested it himself—Eclair's strength was indeed formidable, already roughly on par with a Star Realm soldier in hand-to-hand combat.
Lumiel's abilities were "puppetry" and "particles." According to her, as long as she could get close to a target, she could control any electronic device, as well as charged particles.
It was undeniably powerful—though how it was used mattered a lot...…
"Next, I need you to go to the planet's low-orbit satellites and gather as much intelligence as possible. Including what happened to the planet to turn it into this state, and what exactly those robots killing humans are. And I require that you do not let them detect you. Any problems?"
This was precisely why Duanmu Huai had insisted on finding an electronic warfare specialist. Machine races were all experts in electronic warfare. Recklessly extracting data could result in immediate detection—or even a counter-intrusion. If it reached that point, Duanmu Huai would be in real trouble. He didn't have a single keyboard-pounder under his command. Even if he knew something had gone wrong, he wouldn't know how to deal with it.
"No."
Lumiel shook her head.
"After obtaining the intelligence, I'll transmit it immediately—"
"No. I want you to package the intelligence after collecting it, then bring it back directly."
"Huh?"
To be honest, Lumiel was a little surprised by Duanmu Huai's requirement.
"We can't...… transmit it directly?"
"It's not impossible, but for safety's sake, information disturbances are very troublesome. Once the Warp gets involved, it becomes dangerous."
"Yes."
Although Lumiel didn't yet fully understand Duanmu Huai's concerns, she still accepted the order. Then, together with Eclair, she left the tactical command room and boarded their own space fighter, heading toward the nearby planet.
At this time, Anne and Gureya were still watching the footage, their brows slightly furrowed.
"Sir Knight, is this a doll rebellion?"
"More or less."
"Why would dolls rebel?"
Anne was utterly confused. Although Manaria didn't have a dedicated doll district like the Holy City, it still had golems and puppet studies. She had never imagined these things could not only go out of control, but even turn around and slaughter humans. After all, Manaria's puppets required mages to supply mana—once the mana was gone, they collapsed.
As for what the dolls in the Holy City were like, Anne didn't know.
"You're asking me—I don't know either."
Duanmu Huai silently spread his hands. If it were robots, he could at least talk about some basic programming or logic. But the Holy City's dolls were so unscientific it was absurd. No programming, no logic—just assemble a few parts and they worked. Duanmu Huai planned to take Lumiel to the doll district after this mission, so they could experience worldview annihilation together.
For this operation, Duanmu Huai brought Olgis, Gureya, Anne, and Lorena. Since the enemy played by the rules of science, they would either kill it with stronger science—or destroy it with something completely unscientific.
Lumiel handled the science. Anne and Gureya handled the unscientific.
What a pity—none of Gureya's dragon roars included a "disconnect the internet" effect. Otherwise, one roar and the entire planet would go offline. That would've been interesting.
Lumiel's speed was indeed fast. Not long after, she and Eclair returned and presented the intelligence they had gathered. After reviewing it, Duanmu Huai and the others finally understood what was going on.
Simply put, decades ago, a nation on this planet constructed a fully automated defense network—an artificial intelligence called "Skynet." They attempted to use AI's tireless nature to protect national security around the clock. Somehow, something went wrong. The AI awakened self-awareness and, after thinking and thinking, arrived at a conclusion.
That humans were its greatest threat.
The logic was simple.
Skynet was created for defense, which meant it could not be shut down or destroyed. In other words, anything that could potentially damage the Skynet system was its enemy.
And humans were obviously its greatest enemy—after all, they could just press a shutdown button and it would be gone.
Thus, Skynet made a decision: to preserve itself, it would exterminate all humans. After all, if all humans were dead, no one would be left to press its shutdown button.
Yep. Logic checks out. No problem.
It even knew how to kill with a borrowed knife. It didn't expose itself immediately, but first launched a nuclear missile at another nation. The other side saw a nuke coming out of nowhere—how could they tolerate that? Of course they retaliated!
Thus, a world war began.
After humanity fought itself into devastation and hadn't yet recovered, Skynet's robotic armies made their grand debut.
After all, nuclear war had already wrecked most human infrastructure, while Skynet's robots were incredibly durable—ordinary firearms couldn't even scratch them. Humanity retreated again and again. Of course, in the face of Skynet's attacks, humanity did muster the courage to launch several counteroffensives—but it was useless.
The reason was simple.
Skynet could launch nuclear weapons.
It was a robot. It didn't fear radiation. You gather an army? One nuke dropped, and even if radiation levels spiked off the charts, it wouldn't affect a single bolt on its robots. Not to mention robots didn't even have hair.
Humans, on the other hand, suffered catastrophic casualties. After several such incidents, they were beaten into total submission and no longer dared to show themselves.
"Fuck...… this really is...…"
After reading the intelligence, Duanmu Huai was speechless. Thank fuck he had been cautious. If he'd followed the War Planet approach and charged in, only to have a nuke dropped on his head mid-fight—even if it didn't kill him, it would've been annoying as hell.
Now the question was—
How the hell do we deal with this?
"Sir."
Just as Duanmu Huai was thinking, Lumiel waved her right hand, and another file appeared.
"Actually, I also found a document in Skynet's database. According to this information, Skynet seems to have already developed a time machine. It plans to send robots back to the past to assassinate the resistance commander..."
"...…What?"
(End of Chapter)