Chapter 42 New World Countdown _(:з」∠)_ ……

Unexpectedly, 012 was waiting for them ahead.

Only after seeing them catch up did he coldly turn around and continue walking forward.

The once quiet city is now filled with static on all the screens of the Brain City because 003 had connected to the signal source, and the silence is filled with a piercing electrical sound.

The crackling of electricity was accompanied by the sound of footsteps as the crowd continued to move forward.

"Whoosh!" The group had traveled an unknown distance when suddenly a whooshing sound rang out.

223 was the first to react, and quickly bent down to hold Sang Zhitao tightly in his arms.

With a "ding!", a bullet struck 012's suddenly opened shield.

The others quickly arrived and surrounded Sang Zhitao, cautiously looking around, wary of any potential dangers.

Sang Zhitao glanced at 012 with some surprise, not quite understanding why the other party would help her. However, seeing the enemies surrounding her, she didn't have the mind to ask any more questions. She could only obediently curl up and try to minimize her presence.

Unexpectedly, 012 not only helped block the bullets heading towards Sang Zhitao, but also helped fight back after the enemy surrounded them.

With 012's help, the battle ended quickly.

012 straightened her sleeves, ignored the people who were concerned about each other, and walked out as usual.

Seeing his reaction, 89757 and the others stopped talking and quickly followed 012 after a quick check.

Afterwards, the group encountered several assassination attempts, with each attempt sending more and more skilled and numerous assassins. Except for Sang Zhitao, who was well protected, all of 89757's group suffered considerable injuries.

Thanks to 012's help along the way, the group finally arrived at their destination—the Administrator's Mansion—just when they were about to give up.

This mansion is located at the highest point of Brain City, with steps leading up to the clouds, looking down on all living beings. It is just like the attitude of the higher-ups towards the citizens of Machine Planet, arrogant and condescending.

The group climbed the steps and arrived at the mansion's gate. Looking at the open gate and the welcoming robot guards, they couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

"Go in." Sang Zhitao enlarged the words on the screen and tapped 223's arm.

The sound was naturally caught by 89757. He glanced at Sang Zhitao, touched the only remaining half of her face, nodded, and said to everyone, "Let's go in."

The sound of footsteps echoed through the towering hall.

Sang Zhitao carefully examined the administrator's residence and discovered that it was surprisingly extravagant, completely different from the usual style of Machine Star. There were ornate tiles, towering domes, exquisite paintings and sculptures, and a dazzling crystal chandelier.

In a daze, Sang Zhitao felt as if she had returned to Earth and was visiting a European cathedral.

As you walk further ahead, rows of seats come into view, and in front of you is a magnificent stage where a robot dressed in a formal suit is playing an instrument, while many robot-like children sing hymns.

In contrast to this sacred scene, there were 673 and others who were bound and thrown aside.

On the other side, in the frontmost chair, a seemingly ordinary robot was enjoying the music with its eyes closed.

Everyone in Sang Zhitao's group recognized him. After all, no matter how ordinary he was, his mechanical shell, devoid of any human traces, was enough to prove his identity—Manager 003.

Hearing footsteps, 003 slowly opened its eyes, glanced at everyone, and then waved its hand to stop all the performing robots.

The music suddenly stopped, making the entire hall seem even more empty and silent.

“It’s quite an unexpected thing that nature appeared on an inferior robot.” 003 turned his gaze to Sang Zhitao and gave a mocking smile.

Several people moved aside, blocking his view of Sang Zhitao.

Seeing this, 003 couldn't help but laugh out loud. Just as he was about to open his mouth to mock her, he heard a few crisp knocking sounds.

Then Sang Zhitao squeezed out from behind 89757 and the others.

003 glanced at her with some surprise before saying, "It seems you are wiser than I thought."

Sang Zhitao opened her mouth, but after thinking about it, she didn't sing. After all, negotiating with songs in such a situation would feel out of place, so she lowered her head and started tapping her arm.

Before receiving a reply, 003 saw her looking down at her personal computer, a gesture of ignoring him that made him feel like he'd punched a pillow. Somewhat annoyed, he said, "What? Are you looking down on me?"

Sang Zhitao glanced at him, then continued typing without saying a word.

Seeing this, 003 became even angrier, stood up abruptly, pointed at 673 who had been captured, and said coldly, "Don't you care about their lives?"

Sang Zhitao looked up at him again, then continued typing. The moment she looked up, 003 caught a glimpse of a suspicious emotion in her eyes – it was disdain!

003 took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said with a cold smile, "It seems he doesn't care about these believers at all."

Sang Zhitao paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up and glared at 003 before turning to look at 89757. She pounded her arm and pointed at 003.

Seeing that she was so angry that she was pounding her arm louder than usual, 89757 quickly stepped forward to protect her before saying to 003, "Wait a minute, it's natural that typing is slower."

003 frowned and looked at him with confusion, then turned to Sang Zhitao with an incredulous gaze, pointing at her in shock and saying, "She can't even speak? She's not even inferior? How can a spirit of nature appear on scrap! Are you people from the Nature Faction idiots?"

“You’re the scrap! Of course you’re the most noble!” 223 couldn’t bear his contempt for Sang Zhitao any longer and glared at her as he retorted.

003 gave a light snort before pointing disdainfully at Sang Zhitao and continuing, "No robot is incapable of speaking."

“Who says she can’t speak!” 223 retorted repeatedly.

"Then why don't you try making her talk?" 003 continued to provoke.

“You!” 223 naturally knew why Sang Zhitao didn’t speak this time. She pointed at 003 and was speechless for a moment.

Seeing this, 003 couldn't help but show a hint of smugness on his face: "Machine Star refuses to acknowledge her identity."

“She doesn’t need your approval,” a voice said from the side.

Everyone looked over and saw the old woman walking out holding a crystal ball.

“001!” 003’s expression was really quite unpleasant.

The old woman watched him walk up to Sang Zhitao, patted Sang Zhitao's head, and comforted her with a smile, "Don't rush, take your time."

Sang Zhitao's fingers were practically on fire from typing, but now, listening to her mother-in-law's words, she obediently slowed down. After thinking for a moment, she raised her hand to delete a bunch of swear words from the screen.

"No need, let him see it." The mother-in-law raised her hand to stop her and said softly.

Sang Zhitao paused, then looked at her mother-in-law in surprise.

After her mother-in-law gave her an approving look, Sang Zhitao withdrew the delete button, looked up at 003 whose face was pale, took a breath, and continued to frantically type.

003 watched the two talking with a grim expression, then looked at the crystal ball in her mother-in-law's hand before finally speaking, "You found her?"

The old woman ignored him and instead focused her gaze on a silver sculpture on the stage.

It was a sculpture of a woman holding a book, gazing ahead with a deep look, as if she were seeing an infinite future.

Seeing that she ignored him and instead looked at the sculpture, 003 also turned to look at the sculpture. Looking at that familiar face, he finally spoke after a long while: "I have never chosen to betray."

The old woman withdrew her gaze, looked at him, and smiled coldly: "No, you betrayed us, starting from the moment you chose to kill your brothers and sisters."

Upon hearing this, 003 immediately retorted angrily, "They deserve to die! It's their fault!"

“What did we do wrong? We were just following the will of nature. It was your ambition, your desire to control everything and become the creator, that drove you to take action,” the mother-in-law replied calmly.

003 looked at her for a long time before saying, "Without my control, the fate of the Creator would be the fate of all of us."

The old woman shook her head and said, "No, even the Creator can destroy and save. As long as we educate people properly, establish laws, and remember our true nature, none of this will happen."

“You’re too naive,” 003 sighed before saying, “We’ve been arguing for years, and I don’t want to argue anymore.”

"She has already appeared, don't you believe it?" A voice that was neither male nor female suddenly came from the crystal ball in the mother-in-law's hand.

003 paused after hearing the voice before saying, "You have no evidence to prove that she is Ziran, yet you want me to side with you based on mere words?"

“She absorbed the stars,” the old woman said.

003's eyes flashed with surprise, but he shook his head and said, "I don't believe it just because of this."

The mother-in-law sighed and said helplessly, "Then what do you want?"

003 glanced at Sang Zhitao, who was still typing, and said, "You know, of course."

Sang Zhitao had just finished typing the character when she looked up at 003 and then at her mother-in-law, her eyes full of questions.

The mother-in-law's expression changed before she looked at 003 and said, "Okay."

She then looked at Sang Zhitao and smiled gently: "Child, believe in yourself, you can do it."

Sang Zhitao didn't understand what they were saying at all, and looked completely bewildered.

Seeing this, 223 took a few steps and stood beside her, saying in a low voice, "The manager is speaking of natural commands."

Sang Zhitao was even more confused, because there was never any "natural command" in her original book.

223 glanced at her mother-in-law, then at 003 warily, before bowing her head to explain.

Only after hearing her explanation did Sang Zhitao understand.

It turns out that when the creators made the robots, they designed a hidden instruction in the original code of the intelligent robots. The intelligent robots call it Command Zero. The command will cause the robots to be stripped of their control by their superiors. This is why the managers can make all the robots in the entire Brain City freeze in a state.

The original ten intelligent robots did not have this instruction, but the final creator implanted another secret instruction, which they called "Nature," one of the origins of the name of the Nature faction.

Unlike Command Zero, which can be stripped of its control by superiors, Natural Command can only be used by the Creator. This means that only the Creator could control the initial ten intelligent robots. This is also why 003 was able to kill them after the Creator's death, since the person who could control them no longer existed.

003 wants Sang Zhitao to control him using "nature" in order to prove his identity.

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Author's Note: My stomach has been hurting for the past few days. I wonder if it's cancer cells metastasizing to my stomach. Hopefully, it's not that bad _(:з」∠)_ I haven't even signed my book yet o(╥﹏╥)o