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Chapter 482: The Imprisoned Goddess

“As a human, I would like to know what happened and am willing to listen to your explanation,” said Xia Fei solemnly as he appeared in front of the robots.

“Human!”

“A human!”

These robots did not attack Xia Fei, instead immediately scattering. Some of them hid behind the equipment and poked their heads out to look at him uneasily, fear and bashfulness in their eyes.

*Thump!*

That robot weeping on the floor immediately hugged Xia Fei’s leg and affectionately snuggled it.

On Xia Fei’s shoulder, Furball had a look of disdain. He discovered that these robots knew how to kiss up even more than he did. However, Furball had no idea that from the moment of their creation, robots were implanted with a system which made them extremely affectionate toward humans and that this behavior was not feigned.

The large robot backed up two steps; after which, he focused and stood up, neither hiding nor acting particularly affectionate.

“You’re not afraid of robots?”

Xia Fei shook his head. “In my view, robots are also humans and aren’t very different. If someone has to be afraid, you should be afraid of me.”

The robots were all astonished.

“Robots are also humans...” They repeatedly muttered these words as they looked gratefully at Xia Fei.

“I am Hami, the guardian of the tower of technology.” The large robot paused for a moment before continuing. “I’m very happy to meet a human who doesn’t fear or hate us, robots. However, this isn’t a good place to talk; let’s go up first.”

Xia Fei nodded in agreement.

This robot leader called Hami had his subordinates turn on the anti-surveillance equipment, seemingly to prevent the robots in the other tower from sensing anything. After this, he led Xia Fei to the elevator, which took them straight to the highest floor. The other robots remained on the second floor, nervously standing guard.

The top floor of the tower was arranged very much like an office. Several ultra-clear video cameras displayed the area around the tower on the screens. While seated here, Hami could observe a wide area around the Accursed Tower.

Hami somewhat nervously asked Xia Fei to sit down. “My apologies. We robots subsist on energy, so we have no food or water to treat you with.”

Xia Fei smiled and waved his hands. “There’s no need to be so polite. I just want to know about the Hawks and everything concerning the robots.”

Hami sighed like a human. “This is a very long and complicated story.”

Xia Fei lit a cigarette. “It’s fine. I have time.”

Hami curiously looked at Xia Fei. This human was very different from the ones in his memories. Not only did he hold no hostility toward robots, his action and tone of voice clearly showed his deep understanding of them.

“Could I ask why you hold no hostility toward us, robots?”

Xia Fei smiled, took out Little Pod from his spatial ring, and gently placed him on the table. “This is Pod. I found him while I was exploring. At the time, many crazed robots surrounded me and tried attacking me, but he did everything in his power to try and save me, even almost dying at the hands of his kind.

“After that, Pod became my companion and friend. It’s also when I learned that the robots massacred the humans because of an order from the Sentinel Goddess, and not all robots were willing to carry out this order. Today, I heard you bring up the Hawks, giving me even more understanding that not all robots are evil. Some of them are still willing to protect humans and be our friends. I presume that you are one of them.”

Hami seemed very agitated. A sensor needle emerged from his finger, which he inserted into an indent on Pod’s chest so that he could perform a full-body inspection of Pod.

“The robots living in the tower of technology are all the best experts in repair and medical treatment. Let me see what happened to your little friend.”

Several seconds later, Hami removed his needle as if he had been struck by electricity, and his face darkened.

“What’s wrong with Pod?” asked Xia Fei anxiously.

“This...” Hami hesitated for a long while before finally replying, “The Sentinel Goddess shut him off.”

“The Sentinel Goddess? She’s still alive?” Xia Fei was shocked.

Hami nodded. “The Sentinel Goddess is truly still alive. Alas, she’s much weaker than she used to be in the past. Can you tell me at what place and at what time Pod became like this?”

“It happened about three months ago, just when I was about to enter Terminus Star Region.”

Hami said, “I understand now. The Sentinel Goddess’s current signal range only covers Blood Candle, Terminus, and the Hidden Realm. Almost immediately after your personal robot entered Terminus, he linked with the Sentinel Goddess and received her order to enter hibernation.”

Xia Fei sternly said, “First, Pod is in hibernation, not dead. Second, as long as I can find the Sentinel Goddess, I can reactivate Pod. Did I get that right?”

Hami nervously replied, “The Goddess is no ordinary robot. She—”

Before he could finish, an invisible energy suddenly took control of Hami. He froze for a moment, apparently communicating with some unseen entity!

A few moments later, Hami returned to normal, saying in disbelief, “The Sentinel Goddess just told me that she wants to see you?!”

Xia Fei was even more surprised than the robot before him was. “I don’t know her.”

“She... seems to know you, though...”

...

The Sentinel Goddess’s sudden message interrupted the conversation between Xia Fei and Hami, and the room fell silent.

“Xia Fei, this might be a trap set by the robots. The Sentinel Goddess was the mainframe computer who ordered the human’s annihilation. You can’t trust her!” said Phantom anxiously. Even Furball was rather uneasy.

Xia Fei hesitated. He naturally knew what the Sentinel Goddess had done, but she was the only one who could revive Pod.

Smiling, Xia Fei told Hami, “There’s no rush to meet the Sentinel Goddess. First, tell me about the Hawks.”

Hami had a very complicated expression, his metal components displaying his emotions to such fine details that it felt like one could see what he was thinking from his metal face.

Hami stood in a daze for a while, seemingly asking the Sentinel Goddess for her opinion.

“Robots have the ability to think and feel independently.”

“I know.”

“After the Sentinel Goddess gave her order, the vast majority of robots chose to execute the order faithfully. The Sentinel Goddess possesses the highest authority among robots. From a certain perspective, she’s the robots’ highest commander, not the humans.

“An army made of countless robots exterminated mankind. Robots like us, who were unwilling to execute the order, were labeled as rebels and were imprisoned by the other robots. Pod was one of these rebels.”

Hami spoke with pain and grief in his voice, still feeling anger and sorrow over that gruesome period in history.

“The Goddess was very tolerant and didn’t punish the robots who refused her order. She simply restricted our movements so that we couldn’t stop the massacre. The Goddess said that we refused her order because we had evolved, not because we were mutineers. She even felt very gratified by our actions.

“However, for some reason, despite our tearful implorations, we couldn’t move the Goddess. She insisted on wiping humanity from the star map while seemingly suffering from some indescribable sorrow.

“The rebels were all captured, and no one was left to stop the march of the robot army. Within several months, the powerful army turned human civilization into ruins.

“The operation was executed very quickly. The Sentinel Goddess emphasized that the army should complete the purge as quickly as possible. She seemed very worried, hoping that the human civilization could be wiped out as quickly as possible.

“In the war, the resistance the humans put up was insignificant. Some people quietly left their homes, advancing into unknown parts of the universe. When the war was over, the Goddess didn’t dispatch the army to search for those who had fled. She took us past Terminus, past Blood Candle, and ultimately to an unknown part of space. The Goddess called this part of space the Hidden Realm.

“Many robots took up life in the Hidden Realm, silently rebuilding their homes, but not even the Goddess expected for some robots to start a revolution.”

Xia Fei sighed. Throwing away his cigarette butt, he lit another. Though he had not seen with his two eyes how that war had led to the destruction of the ancient civilization, he could easily imagine how tragic that war was from Hami’s grim recount.

There were many suspicious points in the story. Why did the Sentinel Goddess not kill the rebel robots? Why did she let the humans escape? Of course, the greatest question of all was why the guardian of humanity had decided to become its butcher.

Waving his hand, Xia Fei told Hami to continue speaking.

“After the war, some of us decided to set up a civilization of robots. They believed that since the humans who used to order the robots had been destroyed, the robots had every reason to own their part of space and become their independent race in the universe, no longer under the control of anyone. After all, while we are machines, we can also feel and think.

“Another group of robots believed that robots have always existed for the sake of humans and that we shouldn’t exist on our own in the universe. The former are the Hawks, while the latter are the Doves, which we are members of.”

Xia Fei bitterly smiled. “You destroyed ancient mankind. In reality, you already are independent.”

“It’s not like that!” Hami frantically refuted. “After the war’s end, the Sentinel Goddess removed her control over everything. The majority of robots felt remorse over what they had done. If not for the Goddess’s order, the robots would’ve never attacked the humans.”

“So the mastermind is the Sentinel Goddess?” Xia Fei asked.

“That’s also not the case. I believe that the Goddess has her difficulties. She destroyed human civilization because she had no other choice. She still loves humans.”

Xia Fei chuckled. “Do you still think your words are logical?”

The large robot appeared to be in pain, his AI analysis system rapidly operating. She loved humans yet destroyed humans. This was truly contradictory, and Hami was immersed in the logical contradiction.

A few moments later, the AI analysis system, unable to make sense of this logic, decided to temporarily shut down, causing Hami to stir from his daze.

“As one of the eyewitnesses, I’ve told you everything I know. As for whether you want to meet the Goddess or not, that is your decision.”

After thinking it over, Xia Fei asked, “Where is the Sentinel Goddess?”

“She’s imprisoned somewhere in the Hidden Realm.”

“Imprisoned?” Xia Fei asked in shock. “The Sentinel Goddess is imprisoned?”