The Infinite World of Weapon Girls

Even with only one leg, even with its current precarious existence, the fiddler crab must still carry out its predetermined mission—its duty to protect.

Neither the left nor the right pincers had the energy to transform and retract.

Maintaining this posture, it struggled to straighten its remaining mechanical limb, dragging its massive, completely collapsed body towards where it had come from—the wall of confinement—in the breeze, in the light rain, and under the gray sky.

'Boom boom boom...'

The building had completely collapsed, and the rubble and ruins covering it crumbled down as the building moved.

Even with its last ounce of strength, the fiddler crab could only drag its mechanical limb a mere twenty meters before freezing in place, forever lying prone on the desolate ground… The wall of confinement was still a considerable distance away, but it could never reach it again.

"Automatic turret fiddler crabs, invented and created by humans, have also been given the heavy responsibility of protecting the city..."

The old ruin hunter's words, along with what she had just discovered while infiltrating the other two fiddler crabs, made Tina understand many things at once.

"Thirty years ago, they were the guardians of this city."

One day, a bacterial weapon destroyed the entire city, and the fiddler crab remained completely unaware. However, due to pre-established commands and AI, it could only continue to guard the containment wall and defend against the enemy.

…Through wind, sun, snow, and rain, 30 years have passed.

The young girl, Tina, spoke softly as she approached the fiddler crab's corpse. Its front, blasted by the electromagnetic cannon, was largely destroyed, exposing the intricate internal machinery and parts—the very fruits of human ingenuity—most of which had been utterly obliterated.

"In their instruction set—"

① We must defend the wall of blockade.

②Unless it violates the first priority, destroy any hostile targets that enter the quarantine zone.

③Unless it violates the first or second priority, when the target's faction cannot be determined, the target should be eliminated under the premise of protecting national security…

Kuroiwa Shu didn't understand why Tina was suddenly telling him all this, but she still voiced her thoughts.

"Then they're just robots..."

Yes, it's just a machine.

Even if the fiddler crab uses its last ounce of strength to climb back up the wall, it's merely a human-set AI priority for the machine, not a reflection of the fiddler crab's deep love for the city.

But what is Tina anyway?!

Has the human soul taken over control of AI?

But why do I feel so clearly that even my own AI is being moved? Unconsciously, it reveals the kind of emotion that touches human behavior.

(Same as 'Planet Dream - Snow Sphere')

"I'm a robot too."

"Ah...?" Black Rock Shooter was surprised.

Tina approached the dead fiddler crab, stroked its cold, metallic silver shell, and even stuck her head out to rest against it for a while.

"This time, in the name of the robot... I will not harm my fellow fiddler crabs."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Hei Yanshu never got over the fact that Tina came to save him.

She hated the refrigerator to the core because it gave her the illusion that she was actually not strong at all.

They sat shoulder to shoulder on a large rock.

In just two seconds, the usually aloof Black Rock stole glances at Tina's beautiful profile four or five times, unable to make up his mind, and even reached out to pinch the girl's fair and moist cheek.

"Ouch (it hurts)..."

Tina frowned, turned her face to the side, and glared at Hei Yanshu, who seemed to be addicted to pinching her, with slightly angry eyes.

"I've never seen such a realistic... and beautiful robot... But if it really is a robot, will its lifespan be... very long?"

Because ordinary people believe that robots can live indefinitely by simply replacing new parts, and that they can also transplant memories and change bodies. If memory storage is unlimited and does not need to be formatted, then even true 'immortality' can be achieved.

"I'd like to see your personal information, and in exchange, I'll show you mine."

Hei Yanshu is very concerned about lifespan.

She cared about it very much; she even felt that the setting of deducting 12 years from her lifespan was simply a joke.

Tina also cares about lifespan.

There's no point in hiding this kind of thing.

Therefore, they shared their personal information panel with Black Rock without any hesitation.

"...Nine years?!"

Unconsciously, Kuroiwa muttered again, "No wonder he's a coward."

This meant that any mission failure would result in elimination—a lifespan reduction of 9 years. This shocked Black Rock, who usually disregarded everything, because…

"Where's Xiao Shu?"

"Um...no, can I not look?"

"Of course not. How can you not even keep your promise to a robot?"

"This...this is your own fault."

The wristwatch reflected a beam of light onto the void.

"Black Rock Shu"

"Remaining lifespan: 12300 years"

"ability:

Petrochemical defense (S)

Rock Cannon (S)

Rock Sword (S)

Melee Mastery LV8 (S)

"Skill:

Burst Shotgun (A+)

Photon shower (S-)

Blade Kill (S-)

Blue Feather Transformation (S+)

BB Genocide (Sealed) (???)

[No specific attributes are specified; all ratings below are category ratings, with a standard initial value of 10.]

"Vitality: 710"

"Destructive power: 1200"

"Charm: 18" (same below)

Intelligence: 14 (Extremely difficult to increase)

"Soul Power: 6" (Extremely difficult to increase)

……

"???"

After seeing the lifespan, Tina lost all interest in reading further and abruptly turned her gaze back.

This mentality is the same as a single person angrily shouting "The social life is exploding!" Are you sure this guy didn't have some kind of secret deal with the "God" (a derogatory term for a powerful figure)?

"...Do they know?"

Black Rock also has a curious side, especially when it comes to a special robot like Tina who exists in a way that defies common sense.

"?" Tina was confused.

"Exactly, the fact that you're a robot."

"Um...I know."

"That's strange. You... our team captain seems to care about you a lot... I don't understand, why would she like a robot?"

"..."

"Can robots have crushes?"

“I think…” Tina nodded, her childhood image involuntarily appearing in her mind, “I think… I know who my sweetheart is.”

"Is that the captain?"

Tina was confused, not understanding what Black Rock was up to, so she couldn't help but explain:

"...How could that be? But why do you keep asking her? Seul-yu and I are just friends."

Hei Yan glanced at his eyes.

Tina followed her gaze and looked behind her, then froze, because behind her stood Yuri, who seemed at a loss, and... Lee Seul-ok, who had arrived without saying hello and then inexplicably left?

"Huh?... Yuri, when...did you guys get here...?"

Watching Lee Seul-ok's increasingly smaller and frail figure disappear, Tina couldn't help but ask again, "Seul-ok... why did she leave?"

How is Yuri supposed to explain this?

He went first and said in a rather irritable tone:

"It's all because of you."

Then, she added, "Seul-yu has already guessed that Hoshino Yumemi is there. Let's go back to the rooftop planetarium."

.........

...

...

...

— [Well, this lifespan isn't the same as that lifespan; it's a bargaining chip for becoming stronger, so over ten thousand years is a potential stock… What kind of potential stock? Hehe, as for the reason, I'll just make it up and explain later.]