Chapter Twenty-Five
Lady ran through the snow, using her sense of magic to evade the monsters.
She kept looking up to check her location, but inexplicably, she was getting further and further away from the church she was supposed to go to.
I don't know why, but I was subconsciously avoiding that church. I didn't even know why; in my current way of thinking, it seemed like that place was a forbidden zone for me.
This thought pattern is quite rigid because it excludes emotions, including some inappropriate ones. With fear, trust, and other emotions gone, one can only think within a fixed framework.
In such situations, she is unable to do what she wants, because it seems that in her own judgment, there is a place she shouldn't go and cannot go.
Her own thought patterns were leading her to a strange, inexplicable place. Lady felt fear, because in this feeling, she clearly sensed that she had completely changed.
Indifference and detachment from everything indicate a willingness to make optimal judgments and choices in order to protect oneself.
The root cause was that, just a moment ago, a large, inexplicable mass of magical energy appeared in the direction of the church. Its appearance and disappearance in an instant caused hundreds of other groups of magical energy to vanish as well.
Based on my current thought process, that area is judged to be high-risk. It's dangerous enough that I would instinctively avoid it.
But this won't do. She promised the little spider she would go over there and check on things. There must still be a child there, and she needed to protect that child.
But her body simply wouldn't obey her commands, and she tried to switch back. However, once she recovered, her ability to use her body became extremely poor, making even normal sprinting difficult.
Her original purpose in creating this thing was to divide herself into normal and emergency situations. It seems she was created not just to be used as a weapon. She had seen many alchemical dolls used as weapons, those whose weapons alone carried over a hundred pounds of steel and were created solely for killing.
However, I have feelings of fear and apprehension, which are not conducive to fighting.
Finally, Lady leaned against the wall of the street and slowly slid down to sit on the ground.
She wept softly, because she felt utterly useless.
What exactly am I? Am I an alchemical puppet?
But if it's an alchemical puppet, shouldn't it be the kind of puppet that can do many things? But I'm completely useless. I don't even understand what I am yet.
She recalled those memories once more, clearly knowing what she had actually experienced and what had been instilled in her. These two types of memories were specifically separated in her mind, and she could accurately distinguish one from another through her own consciousness. Sometimes, when she recalled them, she felt as if she were in a vast library.
The vast library contained books that were memories stored deep within her mind, hidden away and rarely surfacing. Therefore, she needed to rummage through this library of memories, searching for things she already knew.
This feeling was very strange, and what was even stranger was that she had absolutely no idea of her exact origins.
This one part is the only one that is completely missing in her memory. This gap cannot be filled.
She only knew that she was an alchemical doll, but she knew the precise definition of that: a functional doll created through alchemy.
What is its own function?
I don't know, I feel like I can't do anything. The only fighting power I can rely on is the sword in my left hand. It's a weapon made of alchemical materials, and there's almost nothing it can't cut.
But now even the knife in her left hand has been taken away; the guy who bought her arm is nowhere to be found. There hasn't been a trace of him since.
Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps.
Almost instantly, she sprang into the air, stretched out in mid-air, and landed ready to fight. This pre-choreographed sequence of movements required no thought during execution; her body moved simply by thinking.
She gripped the dagger tightly in her hand, lowered her body, and waited to see what kind of creature appeared before her.
The alchemical matrix within her body began to operate once more, channeling the energy stored within her to her entire being. She felt her body mechanically entering a preparation process, and when it ended, she would be able to unleash a lightning-fast attack.
In the heavy snow, she watched from afar as the figure appeared before her. It was something wrapped in a robe.
That was the man in black robes who had bought her arm.
It evaded the spider's pursuit last time, seemingly possessing ample experience in avoiding detection. Few can evade a spider's tracking.
Because it has almost no characteristics of a living being, no heartbeat, not even temperature, it just exists there.
It slowly took off its hat and looked at Lady from afar.
"I thought you were destroyed too, and I was just about to leave." It began to speak, but the voice it made was indeed very strange: "Fortunately, I'm trapped. Otherwise, I probably would have missed it again."
Because it was the sound of metal striking metal, the last time Ark heard it, it seemed to have used some method to make its voice sound more like a human's. But this time, it used its original voice.
It was a sound produced entirely by hammering, a purely mechanical sound.
This is not surprising at all, because under the hat is a hard metal helmet. You can't see the face inside, or rather, there isn't a face inside at all.
In a typical storyline, the latter is clearly more likely. And here, there's no intention to make exceptions; it's definitely not considered human.
Lady paused, noticing the number marked in red on the helmet.
It was a long string of numbers, recorded there to indicate that it was an alchemical doll that had officially come off the production line, produced in Nidra.
However, it was slashed with a knife, cutting a line through the middle of the number.
This usually means that it's scrapped and can be discarded.
“My name is Abandoned Child.” Seeing that Lady did not answer, it spoke first: “As you can see, I am also an alchemical doll.”
"What is this?" Lady looked at its mechanical body and suddenly felt a little strange.
The energy flow throughout this thing is strange. It should be following a set path, but it's currently in a chaotic state. The fact that it hasn't exploded yet is strange in itself.
But it seems that this thing not only didn't explode, but was actually quite stable.
“I was a defective product. During the carving of the alchemical patterns, several pieces of metal were misaligned. After functioning, many of my bodies were blown apart, severely damaged beyond repair. I underwent simple modifications, was removed from the combat sequence, and added to the production sequence for repair, where I was assigned a number.” The Discarded Child spoke softly, then put his hat back on. “A few years ago, I just passed my service life and was discarded. That’s why I call myself this; it seems more human-like, doesn’t it?”
Lady paused, looking at it, and suddenly realized that this guy seemed to be different from normal alchemical dolls as well.
Those things shouldn't be able to communicate. Even if they can give orders, it doesn't mean they can chat.
Creating a talking doll requires writing a lot of content, which is a very complex undertaking. As for the dolls that can think for themselves, Lady currently only knows herself, and she doesn't know why.
"I know you want to ask why I've become like this." It slowly walked over and handed over a box.
It had been wearing this box since the beginning, but Lady hadn't seen it because the robe was too big.
"I don't know either." It knelt down and unbuttoned the top. Inside was a normal human left arm.
However, upon closer inspection, one can see alchemical patterns on it. This isn't a real arm; it's just so realistically made that it's almost indistinguishable from a real one. It's even as soft as a human hand.
Lady slowly switched back to normal conversation mode, staring blankly at the hand.
"This is..." she asked, looking at the object with a hint of surprise.
Even without looking at the model number, it's clear that this is an interface that fits her arm perfectly. Even the alchemical patterns on it match.
“This is an arm I found in the lab. I was trying to find my creator.” Abandoned Child looked at Lady and said, “His lab was so big that even after he was wanted, it wasn’t completely searched immediately. This is an accessory from one of the most successful models that I’ve been searching for in there for a long time.”
"Father is wanted by the police?"
“It broke many laws, including murder. Murder is just a minor offense; you shouldn’t know more, but it was a deeply sinful guy, someone whose sins even death cannot atone for.” The abandoned child looked at Lady’s severed arm and said, “Was that the knife that was attached to it before?”
Lady nodded; she had always remembered that the knife should have been her possession.
"But did you take it off and check the serial number? Judging from its serial number, that's my weapon." The abandoned child rolled up its sleeve, revealing an object at the front of its arm that was much wider than a normal person's. It opened its hand, and the knife sprang out from its palm.
"Is that so...? Then why...?"
“That was the only officially issued weapon your father, and probably my creator, could obtain. The original design for this type of alchemical doll was as a high-level guard. But due to my installation error, they changed my purpose. However, during the correction, someone made a mistake and failed to remove the hidden projectile blades from this doll model. It discovered this and took me away, even though I was already scrapped,” the abandoned child said. “After you were produced, it should have received its bounty, and to enhance your combat capabilities, it equipped you with this thing.”
Lady didn't say anything more, but she felt a tightness in her chest.
She didn't know what Nidra was; all she knew about Nidra was pure material data.
The people there seemed rather strange in some ways; they seemed to be hunting down his father. And his father didn't seem to be a kind person either, as he had indeed done many unforgivable things.
How many alchemical puppets like myself are there? Or what exactly is the Nedra doing right now? Those cities that were the first to start researching machinery seem to be a bit out of touch with this world.
The abandoned child explained patiently, looking up at the snowflakes, he hesitated for a moment and said.
“This isn’t the place to talk. If you don’t mind, could you come with me to my lodging here?” Qi Zi paused and said, “I can install this arm for you, but I don’t have a full set of tools with me. This isn’t easy; I need enough tools to do it.”
Because there are still wandering monsters here, it's still unclear why these creatures, which should be outside the city, are here.
Their presence in inappropriate places only causes trouble. A lot of trouble, especially with the snow. People freezing in the snow have no time for stories.
"But I urgently need to help a friend right now." Lady looked at it and counted very seriously, "Can I go later? I still have things to do right now."
Lady was about to agree immediately, because she desperately wanted that arm. Her left arm had always been a source of deep regret; if it wasn't resolved, she would forever be severing ties with humanity and forever be categorized as a monster.
“You’re not carrying any weapons.” It glanced at the short sword in her hand. “That’s not the kind of weapon we should be using. It doesn’t fit our fighting style.”
Before Lady could even ask, she saw the guy put one hand on his neck, take off his robe, and reveal his entire body, which was made of metal.
To Lady's astonishment, the creature began to transform. Its parts began to spread outwards, and its original humanoid form turned into a huge, fragmented cube.
"This is also one of the uses of my model of armor. Originally, the space inside was enough to accommodate one person." Its voice was still the same metallic mechanical tone from the other side: "I'm sorry, I don't carry any extra weapons either. So I can only ask you to use me as combat armor for the time being. I can't guarantee the performance. After all, I am an obsolete piece of junk, so naturally I can't guarantee what level of capability I can achieve."
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