Strange Voyage: Summoning the Fourth Disaster.

Chapter 806 The meaning of life

"Mayfly? Are you alright?"

Seeing the other person lost in thought and talking to themselves, Wei Yu asked a question.

But the mayfly, having regained its senses, immediately asked him a serious question.

"Wei Yu, what do you think is the meaning of my existence?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yu was taken aback, wondering why he suddenly asked such a philosophical question.

However, he still thought about it seriously for a moment.

significance……

In the game "Spirit Candle," your purpose is to add a special side quest to the player's exploration journey...

Although this was Wei Yu's first thought, it was clear that, whether for the sake of advancing the game mission or for his own perspective, he could not possibly answer the other party's question in this way.

But... there is no standard answer to the question of the meaning of life.

Therefore, Wei Yu didn't know how to answer.

"I don't know... You'll probably have to find out for yourself."

The mayfly remained silent for a long time.

“You’re right… I need to search.” The mayfly looked up. “But searching takes time, a lot more time.”

Yes, although they destroyed a number of Mechhives during this period and obtained phlogiston from them, increasing the mayflies' remaining time.

But that's still not enough.

Whether it was traveling, fighting, or even fusing other materials, a lot of time was consumed.

This amount of time is undoubtedly a drop in the ocean when it comes to answering the grand question of "finding the meaning of life".

With that in mind, the two continued on their way.

The drizzle explores, while the mayfly begins to follow the last instructions its father left it, starting to search for the meaning of its existence...

……

Some people are searching for the meaning of life, while others seem to have already found it and are beginning to strive for it.

There was a bang.

As the two destroyed yet another Devourer Hive, a mutilated Devourer alien body suddenly emerged from the hive. It had a human face and stared intently at the two in front of it.

"Ah... so it's you who are destroying the stronghold I've worked so hard to build... how annoying..."

"But it doesn't matter... Whether you are flesh and blood or steel, you will eventually become part of my research results..."

“Come on, walk this way. If you want to end all this, you have to come to my base.”

"We can learn something from this..."

"I will prove to my teacher... that only by fusing flesh and steel can the greatest sublimation be achieved!"

His voice held a hidden madness as he pointed out a direction to the two of them.

After saying that, the half of the machine-devouring alien's body quickly decayed and turned to ashes.

"What the hell..."

"Could this guy be that Bedavan guy?"

Teacher? Who is his teacher? That flesh and blood incantation Xiu Li?
So this guy came here to create the Dead Machine Jungle in order to prove his ideas to that Shuri?

Looking at everything that was happening before her eyes, Wei Yu's thoughts raced, quickly connecting all the clues into a single line, and she also figured out the cause and effect of the matter.

However, whether the facts are as he guessed remains to be verified.

"This is……"

Wei Yu quickly noticed something in front of her.

Where the half-dead alien had died, a strange mechanical lower half remained.

It seemed to be a fusion of flesh and machine; runes shimmered on the metallic mechanical armor plates, connecting with the hard shell and spreading out blood vessels, presenting an extremely eerie texture.

[Crimson Mechanical Half-Body]

[Description: A lower body that blends flesh and machinery; it appears to be an unfinished work.]

Wei Yu was extremely surprised. It seemed that the mastermind behind the Dead Machine Jungle, Bedavin, was not just talking, but had already begun to put his words into action.

This thing actually looks quite convincing...

However, before Wei Yu could look away, the mayfly beside her suddenly spoke up.

“I might try to fuse with this lower body,” Ephemeral said, looking at Wei Yu. “But I don’t know if I should do it; it might cause you trouble.”

"You want to merge with it?!" Wei Yu exclaimed in surprise. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Are you sure you're confident? This thing looks sinister. I don't want you to turn evil later..."

"I'm not sure what will happen, and I don't know either," the mayfly honestly told the truth. "That's why I said this might cause you trouble."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yu frowned.

Mayflies possess formidable abilities once they awaken their self-awareness. They can devour special materials to undergo a certain degree of "evolution" and acquire unique powers.

However, this also consumes the mayfly's limited remaining energy, and the amount consumed is not small.

Furthermore, mayflies have not attempted to fuse with this strange creature, so whether they can succeed remains to be seen.

Perhaps... increasing the mayfly's remaining energy might increase the chances of fusion?
No… perhaps what he should be considering more is whether or not he should allow the mayflies to fuse…

Thinking of this, Wei Yu suddenly remembered the question he had just asked her, so after a moment of silence, she spoke up.

"...Aren't you looking for the meaning of your existence?"

"Then perhaps you should try making a decision on your own first."

"Don't worry about it causing me any trouble, I'll handle it."

After listening to Wei Yu's words.

The mayfly's flashlight-like eyes flickered slightly, its gaze fixed on the crimson mechanical half-body in front of it.

Wow...

Some of the remaining blood vessels in the Crimson Mech's half-body rotted, causing the runes on the Crimson Mech's half-body to begin to dim.

It's clear that it's impossible to boost the mayfly's energy and bring it back.

They don't even have much time left to make a choice.

Fortunately, the mayfly seemed to have made a decision at this moment.

“Wei Yu, I want to help you, so… I want to give it a try.”

Without hesitation, the mayfly stepped forward.

Upon hearing his words, Wei Yu was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the mayfly would attempt this for such a purpose.

But he doesn't have time to think about that right now.

Because the mayfly in front of them had already fused with the scarlet mechanical half of its body in time...

A bright light emanated from his chest, slowly enveloping the crimson mechanical body.

Before long, the crimson mechanical half of its body was merged into the mayfly's body and disappeared without a trace.

But soon, strange things happened.

Seemingly due to some unusual conflict during the fusion, the mayfly's body suddenly began to twitch, and the light in its eyes kept flashing.

This made Wei Yu's heart jump into her throat.

But... unexpectedly, this anomaly ended quickly and didn't cause much anxiety for long.

With a whoosh, the spider-shaped mechanical legs that had been supporting the mayfly fell off, and in its place came a pair of agile, scarlet mechanical half-bodies.

At the same time, the mayfly's face also changed slightly; some hard shells clung to its face, making it look as if it were wearing a half-face mask. "I succeeded."

The mayfly glanced at its own body and then spoke calmly.

But Wei Yu could sense his joy, so she smiled and agreed, then asked him how he felt.

"...So, what abilities has this thing given you?"

"Speed ​​and regeneration, and... the ability to integrate with other materials."

The mayfly gave a concise explanation.

There's also an ignition point...

The aura it exudes now is significantly stronger than before... its strength should be around that of Feng Huo.

Wei Yu thought to herself, no longer dwelling on the issue. She would find a monster to test it on later and then she would know the specific improvement and power.

"...How did you feel just now? Did you have any insights?" Wei Yu asked.

The mayfly pondered for a moment: "It's strange. I considered the ease of success and also imagined the unpleasant scene of failure... Then, I hesitated. I couldn't be sure what I wanted to choose."

"This feeling... is very strange."

The mayfly's past memories are like a line.

The previous instruction connects to the next instruction, and there is a process in between, but he never needs to consider whether the instruction is successful or not, because success or failure is the result of executing the instruction.

But just now, he seemed to sense that his future was like a river with tributaries suddenly branching out, and he vaguely saw the scenery inside, but he couldn't actually touch it.

Thus, the trajectory of his life seemed to take a turn for the worse, with uncertain fluctuations...

Upon hearing this, Wei Yu smiled, stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and didn't say anything more.

Sometimes, true feelings cannot be expressed or described through language.

“Let’s go find him,” Ephemeral said, clenching his fist as if eager to try. “I can help you more now.”

Whether it was the effect of that crimson mechanical half-body or not, the mayfly at this moment was like a teenager going through puberty, his strength had greatly increased, making him impulsive and eager to prove something...

"Don't rush." ​​Wei Yu noticed his change and patiently said, "Let's memorize the direction first, and then go destroy the other Mechhives to seize the fuel... After all, you don't have much time left."

If that guy tells them to go, they'll rush there immediately. Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?

Besides, the mayfly had just fused with half of the crimson mechanical body and consumed a lot of energy, so going directly to fight him would be a real disadvantage.

Upon hearing this, the mayfly calmed down, or perhaps its former rationality returned, and it followed behind Wei Yu.

……

With the help of the mayfly, which possessed a scarlet mechanical half-body.

The work of cleaning the beehives became much easier with the light rain.

The mayfly was right. His speed had indeed been greatly improved, and he had gained a self-regenerative ability that could be applied to his body, making him exceptionally powerful.

Ordinary machine-eating aliens can't withstand much damage from it, and the mini-bosses guarding the machine-eating hive are not difficult for it either. Its only weakness is that its attack capabilities are somewhat weak.

But this level of combat power is already sufficient. At the very end, all that's needed is for Wei Yu to use Gray Soul to destroy the hive.

The two then discovered an arm inside the destroyed machine-eating hive...

This time, without hesitation, the mayfly fused with the arm and gained new attack capabilities.

"Mayfly, you're too impulsive."

Wei Yu couldn't help but say.

"Don't worry, I'm very confident," the mayfly said with great assurance.

"Really?" Wei Yu glanced at his remaining time with a hint of helplessness: "How much energy do you have left?"

Upon hearing this, the mayfly realized that because he had just merged with this arm, he didn't have much energy left.

"There's a lot of phlogiston here. If you had absorbed some before fusing it, you would have had a better chance of success."

Wei Yu expressed his thoughts. He didn't mean that the other party shouldn't have merged with him, but he just thought that the other party had been a bit impulsive.

But he quickly smiled again: "However, I feel that you are a real person now."

The mayfly quickly understood Wei Yu's thoughts.

He didn't refute it, but began to think about it.

Perhaps due to the fusion with half of the Crimson Mech, he was sometimes unable to maintain the composure he had when he was in his full Mech form.

But this undoubtedly gave him some completely new experiences.

"I understand." Mayfly nodded. "Thank you, Light Rain."

……

The mayfly became even stronger after fusing with flesh and blood; this arm was unpredictable and could extend and retract at will.

With the "psychic field" of his other mechanical arm, he could even kill the monster in front of him with a mere flick of his wrist.

The two men's sweep became even more efficient.

[Time Remaining: 5 hours and 11 minutes]

Seeing that there was plenty of time left, Wei Yu nodded in satisfaction.

"Let's go... it's time to find that Bedavan."

The two finally set off in the direction that had been indicated earlier.

The outer beehives have been almost completely cleared out by them, and both Wei Yu and Fu You, as players, have reaped a rich harvest.

The only regret is that they did not find a core that mayflies could use.

However, Wei Yu guessed that the core of it should be in the hands of that Bedavin.

To Wei Yu's surprise, the mayfly seemed completely unconcerned...

A sudden appearance of giant thorns interrupted Wei Yu's thoughts.

Looking at the dense thickets of thorns blocking her way, which resembled giant jungle trees, Wei Yu felt a headache coming on.

Fortunately, the mayfly acted quickly, using its mental power to easily clear away the thorns and reveal a path before them.

After walking for a while, the space in front of them finally opened up.

The ground was covered with steel flooring, inscribed with spells, which seemed out of place with the surrounding environment.

And in the center of this area.

A long, thin, multi-armed humanoid figure, shrouded in a pale red mist of blood, sat on a huge chair, seemingly waiting for the two to arrive.

"Ah, it's finally here..."

"Mayfly! Mayfly..."

"If it weren't for you, this special little mayfly, I would have lost my patience long ago."

"The fact that flesh and blood can be fused with incantated machinery so easily is truly exciting..."

He paused at this point, then suddenly sighed.

"pity……"

"I wish you had shown up sooner."

"If you could appear before the professor, he would probably show more respect for my research ideas..."

After saying this, his gaze fell on Wei Yu, who was standing to the side.

"As for you..."

"Then they are true heretics!"

(End of this chapter)