Great, we're doomed now!

Dozens of whip blades tightened instantly, their powerful binding force acting on the silver demon's outer armor, emitting a sharp whistling sound as metal rubbed against metal. They not only attempted to restrict the machine's movements, but the high-frequency vibrating nanomolecules of the coating on the whip blades also began to cut through the armor, sending up a series of dazzling sparks.

—In the end, the blade shattered into pieces, but the demon god remained unharmed.

Ye Shou snorted coldly, and a strong energy fluctuation suddenly erupted from [Bayeli]'s body. The arm armor that had been entangled flipped up and down, and he grabbed several chains in his hand.

boom!

The machine forcefully turned around with overwhelming power, and the taut whip blade was immediately pulled and snapped by the enormous force!

Broken metal fragments rained down in all directions, embedding themselves deeply into the surrounding walls and control consoles. Ye Shou used these broken whip-blade chains as weapons, swinging them wildly like a storm, scraping against the drone armor and emitting sharp screechs.

These MS were like they were thrown into a crusher, mercilessly whipped and torn apart, turning into horrific pieces of steel.

Data flashed through Elena's pupils, clearly not expecting the restraints to be broken so easily. She retreated rapidly until she stopped in front of the core, while the armor plates on both sides of the room slid open again, revealing more rotating cannon muzzles.

But the moment the cannon muzzle lit up with a charging light, [Bayeli] had already moved!

It didn't raise its gun, but relied on its explosive speed to leave an afterimage in place before its true form rushed in front of Elena.

The mechanical girl crossed her arms to block, and two thick energy shields popped out from her forearms.

Ka!

His body, less than two meters tall, was like a beetle on the sword's edge, and was sliced ​​in half without any suspense!

"You think... you can get it so easily!" Elena, with only half her body remaining, grabbed the blade, clung to the sword, and looked up at [Bayeri] with fervor.

"I am not a weak old human. Even if this body and data core are destroyed, I will be reborn in the future!"

One day... Father, one day... you will accept my love (murderous intent)!

We will become the eternal new world…

With a thought, Ye Shou summoned the still-damaged Elena, who raised her golden longsword. Ripples of sunlight danced around it, radiating intense heat that caused the mechanical girl's armor to begin melting.

The dazzling ripples transformed into light blades tens of meters long, which fell towards the massive data center!

boom!

The mechanical female body was the first to be crushed, her inexplicably joyful face was engulfed in flames, and the entire data core was also destroyed in the massive explosion...

This result was undoubtedly extremely regrettable for Elena, because from beginning to end, Ye Shou did not show her, his "daughter," even the slightest bit of special attention.

-

Titan received unconditional aid from Mars, and a series of trade treaties and human rights agreements, including an independence bill, were successfully proposed, with details currently being discussed.

Incredibly, after experiencing this sudden apocalyptic crisis, the previously fragmented human society temporarily ceased its disputes, demonstrating great tolerance and understanding, and focusing its energy on practical matters rather than empty talk.

Everyone knew what they were supposed to do, and the seemingly massive reconstruction work was subcontracted out layer by layer, with everything proceeding in an orderly manner.

...Just like a screw finding its place in a machine, the whole society started to operate extremely efficiently.

And this didn't even require Ye Shou to intervene:

Human civilization has developed to this point, with sufficient advancements in science and philosophy. There is no shortage of talent capable of governing the country, coordinating the economy, and improving people's livelihoods. However, most people are bound by rules and regulations, and then involuntarily fall into various forms of internal friction, making it impossible for them to unleash their full potential.

Once a common goal is set in mind, the potential unleashed by humanity, a nascent interstellar civilization, is extremely considerable!

The ruined colonial city is changing rapidly, with visible changes every day.

Engineers moved through the ruins, clearing away debris and laying new foundations. People, especially the children, tried to return to their previous routines.

It is said that Lord Ye was considerate of them and specially ordered that the reconstruction of schools and hospitals be given priority, and that temporary schools be used to replace them until the project was completed, so as to ensure that the children had access to education and homework!

Lunar surface:

Around the piece of debris that had been forcibly put back in place, teams of engineers were cutting away at the edges and corners, reinforcing the rock strata, and erecting support structures to prevent it from collapsing again.

All human settlements within the solar system function like a massive and sophisticated machine, with everything proceeding smoothly and methodically.

It should be noted that the pilgrim fleet did not return immediately.

Ye Shou did not make a public appearance after the war, and their wishes were destined to be unfulfilled, but this did not dampen their enthusiasm in the slightest. Even though they had just experienced a life-threatening crisis, their faith remained unshaken—or rather, it became even stronger.

"To witness the Messiah's battle to save the world, even death would be worthwhile!"

—Many people hold this view.

But they were unwilling to leave just like that, so they stopped in the space where Ye Shou was fighting the drones, turned on all the external lights of the ships, and arranged the warships of all sizes in order, forming a shimmering band of light in the darkness, like a slowly flowing galaxy.

There was no grand ceremony, nor did they see Ye Shou in person, but the crew and pilgrims spontaneously came to the observation deck, looked out the portholes at the starry sky that had once been protected by the Silver Demon God, raised the flowers they brought from Earth, held them to their chests and prayed silently, their faces filled with relief and satisfaction at surviving the ordeal.

That's enough for them.

...The pilgrimage fleet disbanded when it passed Mars, and each member returned to their homeland.

In outer Earth orbit, a transport ship slowly enters the airport and lands in Sydney after a long queue.

The cabin door opened, and the head of the Baldwin family followed the flow of people down the gangway. This nobleman of high status considered himself just an ordinary believer and should not receive special treatment, so he bought a standard cabin when he went on his pilgrimage... It's a pity that he was just missing that one meeting.

Perhaps it was because he missed out on Ye Shou that he felt inexplicably angry whenever he thought of his good-for-nothing son.

He had to use his father's authority to force him to stay on Earth to take charge of defense, while he himself represented the Baldwin family on Titan. This way, he could fulfill the duties of both a "knight" and a "believer," and perhaps even gain the approval of that lord...

As a result, Lao Tzu never even got to see him, but his son, who remained on Earth, was fortunate enough to fight alongside that great man!

I should have stayed behind; though I am old, my arrows are still sharp...

"Galio!"

His face showed the fatigue of a long journey, but his eyes were unusually bright.

"Father!" Galio, who had been waiting at the port, rushed forward.

The father and son embraced tightly—it was a reunion worth celebrating, no matter what.

The head of the Birdwin family patted his son's back, his voice choked with emotion: "You're back...you're finally back. I thought this time..."

“I was also very worried about your safety.” Galio released his father and said with great relief, “Thank God you are safe and sound.”

“It was that lord.” The head of the Baldwin family took a deep breath, looking from Sydney Harbour toward the majestic temple in the distance, his tone filled with awe. “He brought us back from despair and saved the world once again… Galio, you are the future heir of the Baldwin family, you must not fail to live up to the glory you have received under his command this time.”

Galio nodded emphatically, all his words turning into a silent eulogy to that name.

Of course, that person opposed "superstition" from the beginning, so they did not call themselves believers...

Let's just call them fans!

-

Deep within the restored Temple of Solomon, in a temporarily converted data analysis room.

Ye Shou and Lucy stood in front of the control panel, on which were several core fragments belonging to Elena, recovered from the wreckage, still bearing traces of being burned by energy.

Lucy's fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, bringing up layers of data streams, with countless lines of code scrolling across the screen like a waterfall... In reality, it was her electronic brain that was processing all of this; typing on the keyboard was just mimicking a scene from a movie.

“Her underlying structure did inherit from M.A., but her thought process was rewritten and mixed with… some more complex equation.” Lucy frowned slightly. “Especially this part.”

She deliberately enlarged and highlighted one of the packaged files.

"This is just one part... There are numerous decentralized thought terminals with different memes, making it impossible to find them all. This is the fundamental reason why she can continuously iterate and shift her consciousness."

She also utilized the vast database collected by the Elian family to conduct targeted adaptive training on various firewalls, rendering human defense systems virtually useless against her… especially the combat data concerning you, which gave her 'strategic thinking'.”

"Strategic thinking...isn't it the same as M·A?"

"M·A is the ultimate and cold calculation, and she... has learned to deceive, to ambush, and even to understand human nature."

As long as this special code isn't completely destroyed, it can be reborn like a virus in the core of any network access point.

Ye Shou nodded: "Could we extract its characteristics and use them as clues to create a tracking program that continuously searches the entire domain? As long as she dares to activate it on any terminal, even if there's only a slight similarity..."

Lucy understood and entered commands on the console with both hands. A tracking program specifically designed for hunting and killing was quietly taking shape.

But she also reminded Ye Shou: "This may suppress her for a while, but it can't be effective forever, just like there is no river embankment in the world that can stand forever."

"I know."

Ye Shou smiled: "That's fine too."

"What?" Lucy didn't understand.

"Although Elena is an enemy of humanity, her existence has given me a clue."

From Michael to Elena, AI chooses to introduce external variables in order to evolve and continuously update its own data.

Human civilization can be like that too.

"I... don't quite understand." Lucy squinted and shook her head slightly.

“I can come back once a month, but if my existence becomes a necessary condition for maintaining civilization, then the internal structure of this civilization will become extremely unhealthy and difficult to change over time.”

"But if we let go, there's no guarantee that humanity will always remain rational, and similar crises might still occur?"

"Therefore, there must be external variables that force human civilization to proactively update itself in order to avoid fatal bugs."

"...Could it be that you're referring to [Elena]?"

"This AI awakens every so often. She harbors an extremely pure emotion toward humans, which is murderous intent."

Ye Shou spread his hands: "For humanity, this is a sword of Damocles. In order to prepare for the day when judgment will fall, they must 'look up' frequently."

"I see, you're treating AI like an alien!"

Lucy clapped her hands and gave him a thumbs up: "In science fiction, the prerequisite for humanity to unite is often encountering aliens... This world has not yet discovered extraterrestrial civilizations, but the threat of AI is no less."

"A very apt metaphor."

"It seems you intend to make Elena's existence public so that the world will always be vigilant."

Lucy said with a half-smile, "Are you using your 'daughter' as a flu virus targeting civilization?"

As expected of you, even a flawless AI has to work for you passively.

"What daughter...it's just a farce." Ye Shou looked slightly embarrassed.

"I think this AI is somewhat similar to a certain person in some ways..."

Lucy looked thoughtful and lowered her voice for some reason, as if she was worried about something.

Suddenly, she turned to searching [Elena]'s memory media, not analyzing its logical framework, but rather the vast amount of data accumulated... Before long, the hacker girl found what she was looking for.

"Just as I thought!" Lucy blinked, her lips twitching slightly as if she was trying to suppress a laugh.

"No wonder..."

"What's wrong?" Ye Shou asked, puzzled. "What did you find out?"