Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

However, Ashlee was different from her after all.

She was not human, and she didn't even try to hide this fact. The white gauze only covered her limbs a little, without disguising the parts that had been cut off as flesh and replaced with machines. It was as if she was openly admitting that she was just a tool, a mechanical doll named Ashlee.

"The flow of prayer words is not normal."

"Zizhuozi?" Ella turned her head and looked at the face that looked like the person she cared about. "Can you directly feel the presence of Zizhuozi?"

"Well, this is a function that was included in the original design. It is also an ability that every mechanical puppet has. It allows them to connect to the network and immerse their consciousness in the sea of ​​the world. They are all like rising and falling bubbles."

"Mechanical puppet... I thought you were a human who had undergone cybernetics due to an accident."

"Perhaps, this is how this body was originally created?"

Although she was talking about her own affairs, Ashlee did not show any more emotions. She was still inorganic, like a porcelain doll with a beautiful face.

"Perhaps, this body originally belonged to a girl, and the body was cloned. During the countless mass productions, an optimization method was discovered, so the father cut off the limbs and half of the body, and modified the inside to operate with maximum efficiency. Ashe doesn't know what the internal structure of Ashe is. It's like a black box that no one has ever opened. Before it is opened, it will always be just a black box. The inside can be regarded as filled with candy, or as an ordinary empty box."

Obviously "Aishe" is also a self-referencing term, but when she said it, it made people feel that she was not talking about herself, but about someone else named "Aisheline".

There is an indescribable sense of separation.

"Uh." Lunicia couldn't help but frown after hearing this. "If it's true, then that 'father' is really an unforgivable villain... Let's not talk about this for now. Anyway, is that the headquarters of the Iron Leviathan?"

"Ashe's opinion is no."

"Ah, isn't it?"

"That is a high-density Zizang connection point. It looks like something is accessing the Zizang network at that location and performing a series of operations through the Zizang network without encryption. It seems that the other party does not think there is any need for encryption unless there is a need for a Zizang network war. In other words, they are not aware of our existence."

"Uh-huh."

Lunicia and Ella nodded together.

Of course, the two of them knew nothing about this, so they couldn't say a word and could only patiently listen to Ashlee's explanation.

"That high-density prayer point is moving quickly. In addition, although the scale of the prayer point is huge, it is not at the level of being regarded as a headquarters. Therefore, it is judged that it is likely to be an elite puppet of the Iron Leviathan, carrying out a mission."

"Hmm... Although, what does that have to do with the headquarters?"

Lunicia nodded seriously again, but it was obvious that she still didn't understand the key point.

"The headquarters is probably farther away, at least outside the detection range of this machine. It may be like this elite puppet, who did not do much work on shielding, but out of habit, he instinctively concealed his whereabouts when operating the prayer network, so it is impossible to directly determine the approximate location of the headquarters from the flow of prayers."

"so……"

After the word "directly" was mentioned, both Lunicia and Ella probably understood what Ashlee meant.

"Ashe's opinion is that we can capture the Iron Leviathan Elite and use it as a source of intelligence to obtain the location of the Iron Leviathan's main camp from the enemy. What to do after that will depend on the subsequent situation and Luna's thoughts. Is this okay? Luna, do you think this plan is acceptable? Does it make you feel better?"

"Well, thanks, Ash."

It was like seeing the beautiful and cold Iron Flower who didn't recognize her when they first met. Lunicia couldn't help but smile, and there was a tenderness in her smile that was hard to conceal.

If there is a female knight who is overflowing with concern or love, it must be someone like Lunicea.

"If the elite puppet is moving, can we tell where it is heading?" Ella pondered for a moment, then asked, "If we can, we can ambush it at its destination and wait to intercept it."

Ashlee replied, "It is unrealistic to intercept it halfway. Its speed is too fast, so there is no possibility for us to intercept it. However, its destination has been calculated, and it is not far from here."

"Not far?"

Lunicia took out a map from her waist bag and spread it out in front of Ashethelin, who then climbed up with her delicate fingers made of black iron and drew a circle on the slightly yellowed parchment map.

There is a sign with the name "Great Forest of Lafkai".

……

"The Great Rafkai Forest? I heard it was big, but I didn't expect it to be this big..."

After entering the forest, Roy von Ivanov divided the team and asked a small group of people to stay outside the forest to guard the horses and prepare for the response, and then the others dismounted and walked with him. Riding in such a forest is not a wise move, and if something really happened, they can choose to leave the principle and escape with the prepared horses.

"Is this your first time here, Master?"

"Hey, don't call me Master." Roy waved his hand at the accompanying deputy general. He seemed to dislike the title of Master very much. "I haven't been in Twek since I was 18. Before that, my father never took me out hunting. It's impossible for me to be in a place like this."

"Haha, that's true. Your Highness doesn't like hunting at all."

"Even so, he still refused to tear down the garden and use it for other things. Tsk, it's such a large area."

While chatting casually, Roy looked around the forest.

More than 70% of the land in Mariai is covered by forests. It is more accurate to say that places like the Ekstof Plain are rare. It is said that the founding monarch of the Gunasalan Kingdom used a large-scale shaping magic to burn an entire forest to ashes, and the burned forest later became the present plains.

Even so, the size of the Lafkai Forest is one of the largest in Mariai.

Although it is close to the capital, the Ivanov family has never thought of developing this forest. After all, this is a family that is content with the status quo in their blood, so it is not surprising that they would adopt such a policy. Earlier, when this was still the capital of the Kingdom of Nasalan, the magicians who gathered in the royal city seemed to choose this place as a place for meditation and practice, so they did not develop or cut down trees here, but instead used various means to help the scale of this forest grow.

Bizarrely shaped mushrooms are scattered among the tree roots and fallen leaves, looking densely packed. Some are plain and featureless, either white or brown; some are extremely large, like a small umbrella; and some are like stars fallen to the ground, with bright and rare colors, either red or purple, dazzling the eyes - if you are skilled enough, you will be able to distinguish the edible ones and those with special effects, and you can fill your stomach without even hunting exotic species. If you are not skilled enough, you will just pick those that just look plain in color, and you might die on the spot before you take a few steps.

Vines are entwined around the branches, and dead leaves are spread all over the soles of your feet. Listen with your ears, feel with your nose, or open your mouth and take a deep breath - you can easily feel the presence of a breath, the breath of life.

However, if there were people who were really familiar with the forests and countryside, such as druids or rangers, they would be able to discover the weirdness in it.

The taste was different from what they knew in the distant past.

The group had to set up lamps to let the artificial light cover the marching team. Even though it was still daytime, the brightness here was no different from that of night. Even though it was still daytime, it could still be called deep night here. If those artificial lights were removed, I'm afraid all I could see would be my own five fingers, and I wouldn't be able to see the people in front of me, nor the people who would come after me.

"This place is really..."

"It's uncomfortable, isn't it?"

The staff officer next to Roy couldn't help but grin, it seemed that he had heard of this forest before.

"Ah, I didn't expect there would be such a large base in a place like this."

Roy nodded. Although he was a confident and strong man and did not think that there was anything in the forest that could threaten him, he still needed to be responsible for the results of the battle and his subordinates.

"That is why the base in the Rafkai Great Forest is one of the bases with the most frequent personnel changes."

"This forest is a good place for mages." A mage consultant from another security contractor gestured a few times, "Including the strongholds in this forest, several important strongholds are basically locations where people can find ways to directly bombard the capital. No wonder those people would attack these locations."

“Was it mapped?”

Roy pondered, feeling that things would not be that simple.

Even he himself only understood the layout of the strongholds after taking over the defense of the capital, but "Natya's Legacy" was able to grasp the situation almost accurately just by mapping...

Is this really possible?

Chapter 12: The Collision of Chess Pieces (Part 1)

"There shouldn't be any alien species here."

"Of course there is."

"Ha... That's right, I shouldn't say such rude things."

From time to time, rustling sounds would be heard from both sides of the forest. With only a simple path underfoot and darkness everywhere except for the lantern lights, these occasional noises would always make people suddenly nervous, creepy, and with their hair standing on end. Even though it was winter, cold sweats would still drip down their sides.

Roy was not worried.

He was somewhat confident in his perception ability. If an alien species really appeared, he would not be completely ignorant of it. As for ordinary wild beasts, he had never taken them seriously. This was a joke. If the elite soldiers among these soldiers could not even deal with wild beasts, then Roy might as well dismiss them all on the spot and go find "Natya's Legacy" to fight.

If there really was someone who could hide from him and lurk at such a distance without anyone knowing, then there were two possibilities. One was that he was a type that specialized in hiding himself, and the other was that he was so powerful that he could block Roy's sense of danger. If it was the former, then it would not necessarily be difficult to deal with. If it was the latter, then Roy did not think there was anything to worry about.

After all, no matter whether he is worried or not, there is a high probability that he will be the only one who survives in the end, so it is better not to worry.

Aliens are different from traditional beasts and monsters. If possible, almost no one in this world is willing to mention their existence.

Beasts and monsters in the traditional sense are basically life forms that have appeared since the Third Calendar and have survived to the present day. They compete with intelligent races, the former devouring the latter and the latter taming the former. As a member of the surging stream of life in this world, they share the sky, the earth and the ocean with intelligent races.

But different species.

It was not until the end of the fifth calendar and the beginning of the sixth calendar that this existence, along with "natural disasters", appeared in the eyes of the world.

Scholars still have no consensus on the cause of the emergence of alien species. Although "alien scholars" and "natural disaster scholars" have been registered as new sub-items of "professionals" because they can mobilize the power of alien species and natural disasters, their research on alien species and natural disasters themselves is still difficult to progress.

In the final analysis, whether alien species or natural disasters, they all originate from the pollution and influence of divine disasters, and the divine disasters themselves have surpassed the wisdom of mortals and entered the realm that once belonged to the twelve gods. Just as humans have a superficial understanding of natural disasters: dangerous, horrifying, mass death, unpredictable, and difficult to resist, humans do not have more in-depth understanding of alien species: deformed, distorted, polluted, powerful, bloodthirsty, and dangerous.

If possible, Roy would rather the alien species that might exist in the forest take a bite of "Natya's Legacy" instead of causing trouble for them.

"We have been marching for half a day and are almost reaching the border of that stronghold."

By the light of the fire, Roy looked at the detailed map in his hand.

Unlike ordinary maps sold within the territory of Mariai, this map is a detailed strategic map that only commanders within the Principality's Army are authorized to use. Not only is it more precise and detailed, but it also has a more accurate scale and includes various detailed routes that are impossible to find on ordinary maps. It also marks the locations of various landmarks, resource points, and military facilities. Through this map, the commanders of the Principality's Army can easily grasp their own location, analyze the next move, and gain advantage through geographical advantages.

According to this map, they will be within the reconnaissance range of that stronghold in a short distance at most.

During this half-day rapid march, Roy and his soldiers did not encounter any enemies at all - wild beasts, alien species, or soldiers from the "Legacy of Natya", as if they had all disappeared from the forest, leaving only a few insects to indicate that this place existed as a normal world.

Turning around, Roy gave an order to the messenger: "Pass it down, everyone equip themselves with night vision goggles, and then deploy in a siege formation centered on the combat target location, and open the short-distance communication terminal."

This strange silence made him more cautious. Roy didn't think the other party could arrange a great wizard in a stronghold that had just been taken. At the very least, Roy didn't think they could come up with an anti-magic field to make night vision and communication magic ineffective. Therefore, Roy chose to pursue stability, gave up more convenient spells, and instead adopted the so-called mechanical technology from the north and east.

If the Legacy of Natya's magic tricks made it difficult to use communication and night vision magic, the battle would immediately fall into chaos. If, as a price, the Legacy of Natya itself could no longer use such magic, then the situation could go in either side's favor. If the Legacy of Natya still retained communication and night vision capabilities, then they could easily deal a fatal blow to Roy's troops.

Roy von Ivanov naturally did not want to take such a risk.

The soldiers he brought this time were all elites picked out after layers of selection. After a period of training, their coordination and organization had all improved to a very excellent level. In addition, with a period of special training for night battles and forest combat, the entire large force was deployed to the designated position almost silently in a short while, like a giant net spread out into the forest.

After putting on the headset and testing it briefly, Roy did not show any aversion to this novelty. After using it for a period of time, he appreciated this convenient device. If it were not for the cost and maintenance issues, he felt that this could compete with magic and become a common thing in daily life.

"The battle begins."

Following this command, the encirclement with the stronghold as the center began to tighten steadily. The heavy infantry, archers, mage troops, and rear guard troops were divided into countless teams and gradually advanced in four waves. After all, they could not make themselves silent, but they could blend their movements into the howling north wind, reducing the noise to a minimum.

Without any obstruction or discovery, the team had quietly advanced to the direction where they could see the stronghold.

"call……"

Roy could clearly hear his deputy's heavy breathing. He was obviously quite nervous, as if the overly quiet environment had put a lot of pressure on him. After a moment, he asked, "Do you think it's a little too quiet?"

"Yes, there was no sound coming from that stronghold over there. I only heard the footsteps of the soldiers."

"I seem to have heard... um... some faint strange noises."

"What? What did you hear, sir?"

"It seems to be coming from a farther direction, not here...ah, stop moving forward, I can see it now."

Putting the telescope on his eye socket, Roy frowned and observed the fortress that he regarded as his destination.

The more he looked, the tighter his brows furrowed, until a deep wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows without him noticing.

The fortress, which should have been bustling with people, was silent and dark. If it weren't for the night vision goggles, Roy wouldn't have been able to see what was going on there. But because he could see the fortress's current state, he wouldn't have frowned so deeply.

The corpses were skewered on spear tips, and the blood-stained spears were densely packed around the fortress like a jungle, forming a barrier of spears, flesh, blood, and thorns.

Those corpses were all wearing the armor of the Principality Army, which was in tatters, with dried blood and missing heads. If one wanted to find out, it would not be difficult to find the whereabouts of those heads. Looking up at the fortress's solid walls, countless heads were densely nailed to the parapets, hung on the gatehouses, and impaled on crossbows and flagpoles. Those heads had their eyes gouged out, their ears and noses gouged out, and their scalps and lips cut off, as if only five bloody black holes were left. With expressions of horror, they howled silently at Roy and his soldiers.

Roy felt his scalp tingling as if he understood something.

"Everyone, alert! Switch from plan one to plan four! We've been ambushed!"

He no longer cared about hiding or ambushing, and had to shout loudly on the communication channel.

This scene was also beyond the soldiers' expectations. They were all veteran soldiers, and had seen many bloody and broken limbs, but this scene, which seemed to have been fished out of a bloody prison, did not shock them. Of course, their long-standing execution ability made them act immediately after hearing the order, and they readjusted the formation according to the instructions Roy sent down layer by layer.

Just as they took their first steps——

“Ah ...

A howling sounded out of nowhere.

There was no origin, no end. It was not loud, nor shrill. It was not sharp, nor dull. It was neither male nor female. This extremely sad, terrifying, and bizarre sound seemed to come from the bottom of my heart, and yet it seemed to disappear in my heart. It was clearly a sound, but it melted into my heart like blood. The sound was like the screams of countless mouths overlapping together. Its presence was so strong, and its impact was so severe that even the most battle-hardened soldiers began to slow down, tremble, and could not help feeling fear.

This slowed down their pace in changing their formation!

"Ugh!"

In the corner of the queue, a soldier was knocked to the ground by something that jumped out from the darkness of the woods. The severe pain from the gap in his armor made him scream. Even so, the pain made his fear retreat. He almost instinctively gave up the sword in his hand, pulled out a dagger from his waist, and stabbed the black shadow that pounced on him. The black shadow soon lost its strength and was kicked aside by the soldier.

Just before he could catch his breath, more dark shadows pounced on him from all directions. Before he could swing his weapon or scream, he was torn into bloody pieces of flesh and internal organs with a "swish" sound.

This scene not only happened here, but also happened in every corner of the team. More and more soldiers suffered the same fate. Before they could see what was attacking them, they were torn into pieces and died on the spot. Originally, this level of surprise attack was not enough to cause such a large loss, but the first wave of howling made most of the soldiers lose the initiative. Mistakes fell like dominoes, and finally the battle line was in chaos.

——We were ambushed!

Roy shook his head vigorously and quickly recovered from his bad condition. Then he realized what had happened. However, at this moment, many soldiers had been killed in the first wave of raids. He glanced at his accompanying wizard and found that he was still in a state of unconsciousness caused by fear. He punched him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground twice. Then he shook his head and barely got up from the ground with a nosebleed.

This punch directly shattered the fear in his heart and brought him back to reality.

"Pass the order! Have the priest troops release the Beacon of Hope!"

Roy's almost roaring voice echoed in the other party's ears. He no longer had the time to leisurely give orders.