The Imprisoned Goddess
"As a human, I want to know what happened in the past, and I'm willing to listen to your explanation," Xia Fei suddenly appeared in front of the robots and sternly said.
"A human!"
"A human!"
These robots did not attack Xia Fei. Instead, they scattered and peeked out from behind their machines, uneasily looking at him, their eyes tinged with fear and bashfulness.
* Thump! *
That sobbing robot on the ground hugged Xia Fei's thigh in an extremely intimate manner.
On Xia Fei's shoulder, Furball had a look of disdain. He realized that these robots were even better at putting on an act than he was. However, Furball did not understand that robots were innately implanted with a system that made them extremely close to humans.
The big robot took two steps back, and then he forced himself to stand. He did not try to hide or get close to Xia Fei.
"You're not afraid of us robots?"
Xia Fei shook his head. "In my view, robots are also people, no different from humans. In terms of fear, you should be the ones afraid of me."
All the robots were startled upon hearing this.
Androids are humans too … This phrase was repeated over and over again in their mouths as they looked at Xia Fei with eyes filled with gratitude.
"I'm Hami, the guardian of the Tower of Technology." The big robot paused for a moment before saying, "I'm very happy that there are finally humans who don't fear or hate us robots, but this isn't the place to talk. Let's go up and talk."
Xia Fei nodded in agreement.
The robot leader called Hami had his subordinates turn on the anti-detection equipment, apparently to prevent the robots on the other tower from noticing. He then led Xia Fei into an elevator, going straight to the top floor of the tower. The other robots remained where they were, nervously standing guard.
The top floor of the tower was set up like an office, and several ultra-high-definition cameras were broadcasting images of the tower's surroundings to a screen. Hami could see the vast area around the Accursed Tower from his seat.
Hami nervously invited Xia Fei to sit down. "My apologies, but we robots rely on energy to survive, so we don't have any food or water to serve you."
Xia Fei smiled and waved his hand. "There's no need to be so polite. I want to know everything about the Eagle Faction and robots."
Hami sighed like a human elder. "It's 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 what he remembered. Not only did he not have any malice toward robots, but his actions and words clearly showed that he understood robots very well.
"Can I ask why you don't dislike robots?"
Xia Fei smiled as he took out the little robot Lil Pea from his spatial ring and gently placed it on the table. "This is Lil Pea. I found him during one of my expeditions. Back then, a lot of crazed robots were about to surround and attack me, but he did everything he could to save my life, almost getting killed by his own kind."
"From then on, Lil Pea became my companion and friend. It was also then that I learned that the robots' massacre of humans was an order from the Sentinel Goddess, and that not all robots were willing to carry out this order. Today, when I heard you talk about the Eagle Faction, I learned that not all robots are evil. Some are still willing to protect humans and be their friends. I think you're one of them."
Hami was clearly very excited. He extended a probe from his finger and inserted it into a notch on Lil Pea's chest, beginning to analyze Lil Pea's entire body.
"The robots living in the Tower of Technology are all top-class maintenance and medical robots. I've come to see what happened to your friend."
Several seconds later, Hami pulled out the probe as if he had been electrocuted, his face dark and gloomy.
"What's wrong with Lil Pea?" Xia Fei anxiously asked.
"It's …" Hami hesitated for a long time before saying, "The Sentinel Goddess shut him down."
"The Sentinel Goddess? She's still alive? "Xia Fei was shocked.
Hami nodded. "The Sentinel Goddess truly is still alive, but alas, she's much weaker than before. I would like to know when and where your robot Lil Pea suddenly became like this."
"It was around three months ago, when we were about to enter the Terminus Star Region."
Hami said, "That explains it. The Sentinel Goddess can only communicate with Blood Candle, Terminus, and the Hidden Realm. As soon as your personal robot reached Terminus and established a connection with the Sentinel Goddess, the Goddess ordered it to enter hibernation."
Xia Fei sternly said, "First, Lil Pea is in hibernation and not dead. Second, as long as we can find the Sentinel Goddess, Lil Pea can recover. Am I right? "
Hami nervously said, "The Goddess isn't an ordinary robot. She —"
Before he could finish, an invisible energy took control of Hami, causing him to freeze as if he was communicating with someone that no one else could see!
A few moments later, Hami regained his composure and asked in disbelief, "The Sentinel Goddess just told me that she wants to see you?!"
Xia Fei was even more shocked. "I don't know her."
"But she … seems to know you …"
…
The Sentinel Goddess's sudden message interrupted Xia Fei's conversation with Hami, and the room fell silent.
"Xia Fei, this might be a trick of the robots. The Sentinel Goddess was the main computer that ordered the destruction of humanity. You can't trust her!" Phantom nervously said. Even Furball appeared uneasy.
Xia Fei hesitated. He naturally knew what the Sentinel Goddess had done, but she was also the only person who could revive Lil Pea.
Smiling, Xia Fei said to Hami, "There's no rush to see the Sentinel Goddess. First, tell me about the Eagle Faction."
Hami's expression was very complicated. The expressions of these metal components were extremely subtle, allowing one to feel what he was thinking from this metal face.
Hami froze for a while, apparently seeking the Sentinel Goddess's opinion.
"Robots have independent thoughts and feelings."
"I know."
"After the Sentinel Goddess gave the order, the vast majority of robots loyally carried it out. The Sentinel Goddess has the highest authority in the robot system. From a certain perspective, the Goddess is the highest commander of the robots, not the humans.
"An army of countless robots launched a bloodbath against human civilization, and we robots who were unwilling to carry out their orders were collectively called traitors and imprisoned by the other robots. Your robot companion, Lil Pea, was one of these traitors."
Hami's words were very sorrowful, filled with anger and sorrow over this bloody history.
"The Goddess was very forgiving. She did not punish us robots for refusing her orders, only restricting our movements so that we wouldn't disrupt the massacre. According to the Goddess, the traitors refused her orders because they had evolved, not because they were rebellious. She even felt very gratified by our actions.
"But for some reason, no matter how much we begged, we were unable to move the Goddess. She insisted on wiping humans off the star map. It was as if she had some unspeakable difficulty.
"All the traitors were captured, and no one could stop the robot army. In just a few months, the powerful army reduced the once flourishing human civilization to ruins.
"The operation proceeded very quickly. Under the Sentinel Goddess's strong command, the army completed the purge in the shortest amount of time possible. The Goddess seemed to be extremely anxious, hoping that the destruction of human civilization would take as little time as possible.
"In the war, the human resistance was negligible, and some people quietly left their homes, venturing into the unknown universe. When the war was over, the Goddess did not send an army to search for those who fled. She took us through the danger zone, through Blood Candle, and finally to a galaxy no one had ever been to before. The Goddess called this galaxy the Hidden Realm.
"A large number of robots lived in the Hidden Realm and silently rebuilt their homes, but the Goddess could not have imagined that a robot revolution would unfold."
Xia Fei exhaled, tossed aside the cigarette butt, and lit another one. Although he had not personally witnessed the war that had led to the destruction of the ancient civilization, it was not hard to tell from Hami's somber narration just how bitter it had been.
There were many suspicious points. Why had the Sentinel Goddess not killed the traitor robots? Why had she allowed those humans to escape? Of course, the greatest question was why this former Protector of humanity had become a slaughterer of humanity.
Waving his hand, Xia Fei indicated for Hami to continue.
"A portion of the robots attempted to establish a robot civilization after the war. They believed that since the humans who had always controlled the robots were dead, the robots had a reason to have their own galaxy, to exist as an independent race in the universe, no longer under anyone's control. After all, our bodies are machines, but we also have emotions and consciousness.
"The other portion of the robots believed that robots had always existed because of the existence of humans and should not exist independently in the universe. The former were the hawks, while the latter were us, the doves."
Xia Fei bitterly smiled. "The ancient humans were already destroyed because of you. In truth, you're already independent."
"It's not like that!" Hami hurriedly said. "After the war ended, the Sentinel Goddess removed her control over everyone, and the majority of the robots were filled with regret for what they had done. If not for the Goddess's orders, the robots would never have attacked humans."
"Then the main culprit is the Sentinel Goddess?" Xia Fei asked.
"That's not it. I believe that the Goddess has her own difficulties. She had no choice but to destroy human civilization. She still loves humans."
Xia Fei chuckled. "Don't you think that your words are illogical?"
The large robot appeared to be in great pain, its AI analysis system rapidly operating. Loving humans and destroying them truly was a contradictory statement. Hami was caught up in this logical conflict, unable to extricate himself.
A few moments later, the AI system temporarily suppressed the illogical conflict, and Hami came back to his senses.
"As someone who personally experienced this matter, I've told you everything I know. As for whether you want to see the Goddess, that's up to you."
After some thought, Xia Fei asked, "Where is the Sentinel Goddess?"
"She's imprisoned in a certain Hidden Realm."
"Imprisoned?" Xia Fei was stunned. "The Sentinel Goddess has been imprisoned?"
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