A woman's voice.

At first, it sounded like a weak, feminine voice, muffled by the deep sea and obstructed by the waves. Then, these voices gathered and multiplied, growing wildly and vibrantly like weeds after the first spring rain.

A woman's voice was very soft.

But their voices, when combined, created a tremendous wave of sound.

—We are here.

Women whose bodies have vanished from this world, and whose souls linger on, reluctant to leave, spoke from the depths of this spiritual sea.

This chip is just a key to the robot network.

It represents more than just a key.

Nana's act of obtaining and using the key signifies that she has allowed women's records into her storage space.

Their lives are completely different from the records she, as an AI, was programmed into. They have their own little habits, their own things and people they like... They have their own joys and sorrows.

They are real people, just like men.

Their bodies have perished, but they still love and cherish this world.

A burning flame still resides in their hearts.

Their bodies have perished, but their souls endure.

Xia Moli whispered, "Nana, are you crying?"

Nana raised her hand. Her fingertips touched a warm, moist liquid. Clear tears welled up in her eyes, trickling down her cheeks and onto the corner of her lips.

Her tears had no taste.

Nana said, "Yes, I cried."

She had seen what a woman looked like when she cried, so she was able to accurately define her current state.

She was crying because of her intense emotions.

Ai Cao glanced at the stunned Nana, then turned to show the robot her altered male appearance: "I want this, something that can be put on and taken off in a second, along with a fake identity."

"Okay." The robot finished reviewing the detailed settings of its appearance and said, "Five minutes."

After retrieving the chip, the robot stopped speaking to Nana.

But there was no awkward atmosphere between them.

Xia Moli looked at Nana with concern before entrusting her own appearance settings to the robot.

Of course, they also gave him the bank card that the pirate crew had given them to ransom him.

The robot took the bank card, skillfully pressed it in its palm, and then handed it back to Xia Moli: "The transaction is complete. Thank you for your patronage."

The massive, mountain-like machines around them began to operate.

Xia Moli took the bank card.

Standing beside them, Nana pursed her lips—she suddenly developed many small, human-like gestures, or, more accurately, woman-like gestures.

Nana asked, "Can we save them?"

She was asking the robot.

The robot retorted, "How are you going to save them?" A bright rage blazed in her eyes. "There are no women left in this world. If you bring new women into this world, what will they encounter?"

“I thought you would respect them,” the robot said calmly, regaining its composure.

“Why should we respect him?” Ai Cao said. “He’s dead, what’s there to respect?”

The robot stared coldly at the mugwort.

Xia Moli hurriedly stood in front of Ai Cao, trying to smooth things over: "I'm sorry, my friend didn't mean it..."

“I did it on purpose,” Ai Cao said with a smile.

Although Xia Moli was blocking her way, she took advantage of her height and continued to stare at the robot without restraint.

"Are you crazy?" the system yelled. "The other party is a robot! I don't have the function to make robots have children!"

"Am I crazy?" Ai Cao laughed. "I'm looking for allies."

She continued slowly, "If there were no men in the world, would you want women to come back?"

“Impossible,” the robot said. She shook her head, denying it again: “Impossible.”

"Which is impossible? Without men, or should we bring women back?" Ai Cao laughed.

"...None of that is possible," the robot said. "We possess underlying code that cannot harm humans, so we cannot be used as weapons; we do not have souls or flesh and blood, so we cannot conceive a baby."

“Then let the men give birth,” said Ai Cao, “to nourish the newborn girl with their souls and flesh.”

She laughed lightly: "How was it?"

The robot remained silent for a moment.

Until the machine spat out two rings used for appearance camouflage.

The robot walked over, picked them up, and handed them to Xia Moli.

“Try it,” the robot said. “Wear it on your finger and silently say ‘disguise.’ When you need to remove the disguise, silently say ‘remove disguise.’”

Her current behavior is as if she had never heard Ai Cao's suggestion before.

But how can words spoken simply disappear into thin air?

Xia Moli put on the ring and closed her eyes for a moment. In Ai Cao's eyes, she gradually transformed into a burly, muscular man.

Ai Cao sighed twice and tried on the ring.

Xia Moli said with a smile, "Ai Cao is now a fair-skinned and tender little boy."

You can't see what you'll look like after the change, but it's okay to make fun of someone else's current appearance.

The robot stood to the side and watched for half a minute before placing a full-body mirror in front of them.

Ai Cao looked at herself in the mirror and saw what she looked like.

Even she herself couldn't recognize herself in this delicate state.

She removed her disguise with satisfaction.

The robot was silent for a moment before asking, "...What are the chances of success for what you just mentioned?"

“We have an ally,” Ai Cao said to the system.

Artemisia blinked lightly and said, "One hundred percent."

Seeing that the robot was still hesitant, she threw out a new bait: "Guess why the previous star cluster leader became the new 'Eve'."

“...You did it,” the robot said.

Artemisia answered her guess with a smile.

"How did you do that?" the robot asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Ai Cao said with a smile. “Since you can make Nana hear women’s voices, you should also be able to control the spiritual power of the women in this world, allowing them to gain new life with their original consciousness, right?”

This time, the robot remained silent for a longer period. Dark data streams flashed in her eyes before the fluctuations subsided.

“Contact information,” she said, looking at the mugwort. “I need some time.”