The Werebeasts, having members exposed to Black Ash like Ren, predictably tested the Dwarves.
The Dwarves, seeing the situation revealed, remained surprisingly calm and composed.
They had E-Bomb, which gave them a bold edge, so they naturally did not fear the Werebeasts ranked 14th.
This caused conflicts to erupt, slowly escalating from minor skirmishes to something larger.
But Werebeasts exposed to Black Ash were not to be trifled with; whenever they caught a Dwarf Race, they would kill immediately.
The conflict gradually intensified.
At this moment, Ren finally encountered the Ex-Machina units—integrated machines of their Race capable of data sharing, damage analysis, and replication.
Even the Flügel Race avoided provoking this race when gathered together.
"Warning. Unable to analyze Race. Race ranking is very high. Entering defense mode."
The Ex-Machina instantly assumed defensive stances.
Ren guessed that any attack he made would be instantly blocked and possibly copied and thrown back at him.
Ren took a deep breath.
"I am a ghost. I am not here to fight."
"Language analysis: 20% probability of lying. Preliminary judgment: low likelihood of falsehood. Contact permitted, but cannot trust."
The Ex-Machina quickly reached a consensus.
The male Ex-Machina would approach him, while the others formed an attack network.
Ren didn't waste time.
He threw the recorded intelligence to the Ex-Machina, then looked at them directly.
"This is information about the Werebeasts and Dwarves. We will predict the outcome. Whoever is correct will have the other side agree to two terms. I wager the reason your creators abandoned you as a stake."
The male Ex-Machina made no objections.
They absorbed the intelligence, and all Ex-Machina began analyzing the data instantly.
"Ghost, I am willing to bet with you," the male Ex-Machina said.
They couldn't see through Ren's identity, which intrigued them—they wanted to uncover it.
Many races were recorded in their database, yet this person yielded no extractable information.
"Here is the location," Ren said, showing a map with exact coordinates.
"One-way passage," the male Ex-Machina noted, and led Ren to the spot, with several other Ex-Machina following.
In the distance, Werebeasts and Dwarves were in fierce conflict.
The Ex-Machina began recording data, analyzing it, estimating win rates, and determining results.
"Considering combat alone, Werebeasts have a 47% chance of victory. But if Dwarves use E-Bomb, Werebeasts' chance drops to 0%. This war will end in a Dwarf Race's victory," the male Ex-Machina analyzed.
"Fine. I predict the Werebeasts will retreat from the continent under the threat of E-Bomb," Ren offered his prediction.
"Question: not defeat, but retreat?" the male Ex-Machina asked, stating his doubt.
"Mm, they're running away." Ren nodded.
"The bet stands. Begin monitoring." The Ex-Machina silently left an observation point here and started watching the battle between both sides.
After leaving, the Ex-Machina agreed with Ren to fulfill the bet at this location once it was over.
Ren breathed a sigh of relief. He knew the Ex-Machina agreed to the contest because it couldn't perceive his true race.
It thought he was a missing race in the database and only accepted the bet to gather information about him.
Ren also understood why there was no direct battle. The opponent probably hadn't calculated the odds of victory. Without knowledge of each other's information, predicting the outcome was impossible.
All of this was thanks to Black Ash. It was both a death charm and a protective amulet. With it, many tasks became much easier.
This wasn't something mere shared strength could achieve. In the end, in this world, the key was never to reveal humanity's existence—unless he became strong enough to crush even Old Deus, which was clearly impossible.
Black Ash's corruption was worse than he imagined. Soon, his body would likely completely decay. But Ren didn't care.
The war simulation had shocked him. If Jibril hadn't played this game, he might have continued living peacefully on his own.
Then he turned to the Flügel race.
"Child Jibril, so cute. It's a shame she would return to normal once the Rite of Restoration is used." Azril circled around Jibril, eyes sparkling.
Jibril didn't respond. She didn't even open her eyes, clearly unwilling to pay attention to Azril.
"Damn monkey, what did you do to make little Jibril exhausted and turn into a child?" Azril's expression turned terrifying. She was determined to make the monkey pay.
"The battle of the weak. I will go back and restore my strength, and you'll understand all of this directly." Jibril kept recalling Ren's words. She wanted to understand why the God of War said that, and whether what Ren said could really be done.
A month had passed since Ren and the Ex-Machina made their bet. The bet finally reached its outcome. Under the threat of E-Bomb, the Werebeast Race withdrew, relocating the entire race to a small island.
The Ex-Machina, monitoring the entire battlefield, couldn't believe it. They hadn't expected Ren's prediction to be correct. Now, the database even marked the Ghost as a high-risk target.
Ren arrived at the agreed location. The Ex-Machinas had been waiting for a long time.
"Statistically, Werebeast Race shouldn't be retreating this quickly. Why?" the male Ex-Machina asked, confused.
"Can you tell me your name?" Ren didn't answer the question directly.
"My call sign is Einzig."
"Einzig, not everything in existence can be reduced to mere numbers. The heart cannot be predicted by probability. Living beings have emotions and desires. Which emotion or desire will control them is unknown," Ren explained earnestly. These Ex-Machina, having lost their creator, could no longer find meaning in existence.
"What is a heart?"
This time, it wasn't just Einzig speaking. All the Ex-Machina present spoke at once, desperate to understand.
Their databases stored vast amounts of information, but even after processing it, they could not comprehend why their creator had abandoned them.
Nor could they understand what a heart truly was. They simply didn't have the capability, and any analysis only led to contradictory conclusions.
"You've lost to me. From now on, act with me as your target. I will also help you understand what a heart is," Ren said, smiling at the assembled Ex-Machina.
The Ex-Machina fell silent for a long moment, clearly running a series of calculations. Finally, they reached a conclusion.
"Very well. The Ex-Machina will serve you. Ex-Machina will become your tools," Einzig said.
"Good. Then let's end this war." Ren looked at the blood-red sky, determined to make it blue again. Then he began setting traps for the Dwarf Race, acting in the shadows as a ghost.
"Schwi, it seems that guy has succeeded," Riku said, smiling at the intelligence relayed by the ghost.
"We haven't asked his name yet," Schwi replied.
"We are ghosts. Only the final step remains. We must give it our all," Riku said, his body wrapped in bandages, on the verge of collapse.
The situation unfolded exactly as they had predicted. The Werebeast Race withdrew from the continent.
The Dwarf Race began moving their E-Bomb. The Elf Race also brought out their trump cards, vowing to teach their enemies a lesson.
And all of this was achieved without a single ghost being sacrificed.
Ren alone guided the Werebeast Race to retreat, redirected the Dwarf Race's targets toward the Elf Race and the Flügel Race, and negotiated with the Elf Race, achieving excellent results.
**********
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