Chapter 651: Chapter 564: Before the All-Out War

"In the face of life and death, any compromise is self-destructive."

Sancho slowly released his hand, and Cervantes straightened his chest.

"I never think anyone’s sacrifice is necessary or rightful."

"Sacrifice is inevitable."

"What’s the difference?" Sancho asked softly.

Cervantes was silent for a moment, not directly answering the question.

"In the face of death, everything is undifferentiated."

"But we can choose our reason for dying."

"Burn like firewood, embrace your dignity, and vanish in the flames."

"Do not die kneeling like a camel."

Sancho suddenly felt exhausted, an unprecedented fatigue, like a camel lost in the desert finally finding water, allowing its weary body to lower its proud head and rest at this moment.

Sancho’s figure swayed, finally falling against Cervantes’ chest.

"Welcome back, Sancho."

...

Seventeen hours before the war fully erupted.

Everyone gathered at five in the afternoon.

Angelina’s expression grew rich the moment she saw Bai Youyou and Tang Xin.

She looked at Xu Xiaoyou.

Xu Xiaoyou looked back at her.

Su Sui paused on the side, casting a glance.

Bai Youyou’s eye twitched slightly, seeing Angelina’s inexplicably raised mouth trying to step forward but was easily stopped by a hand on the forehead, both hands never reaching Angelina’s collar.

"Dare to laugh out loud, and you’re doomed." Tang Xin smiled.

Xu Xiaoyou coughed twice and began discussing the main topic.

"The main reason for this meeting is still to prevent Assassin’s Creed from acting solo. It’s been almost 24 hours since Assassin’s Creed last used the full map search artifact. I don’t think Lu Shuhang will easily let this opportunity slip."

Xu Xiaoyou revealed the Revolutionary Army’s plans to fully declare war the next morning, prompting everyone’s reflection.

"During this time, let’s all share what details we know."

Bai Youyou, tired of quarreling with Angelina, spoke about Bai Wei’an’s matters.

"The mission will not set meaningless side quests. It can be confirmed that our identities are related to the transportation of that Black Box, at least as part of the transport chain."

"There may be some connection between Bai Wei’an and the Black Box."

"She seems to have lost her memory."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoyou recalled the recent time she and Angelina returned to Jiulong Street to search for clues regarding the Black Box.

Jiulong Street was identified by Hera as the origin of the Black Box, radiating outwards to the entirety of Skyline City.

She and Angelina found the boss of Moxing Commerce Association, Xu Gengchen, and through friendly exchanges, confirmed that he was also with the Revolutionary Army. A batch of Black Boxes had once passed through his hands, destined unknown, originating from a research building named ’Ausen Technology Innovation.’

After hearing their words, Su Sui suddenly spoke:

"Years ago, Ausen Technology Innovation birthed a well-respected doctor who optimized the third-generation emotion module."

"If before, bionics achieved a near-human level of emotion through precise calculations, still essentially program code, this female doctor truly gave bionics emotions."

"She once advocated not viewing bionics as tools, but it didn’t gain traction, and one day she suddenly disappeared with some confidential files, never appearing in the world again."

"I never understood why there’s an obsession with optimizing bionic emotion modules. Wouldn’t it make them less efficient?" Bai Youyou asked.

Xu Xiaoyou: "Bionics were designed initially to serve humans, and many things cold programs cannot achieve; a domestic care bionic cannot ever amuse an elderly woman."

"On the contrary, equipped with advanced emotion modules, they gained the ability to deeply understand the nature of many things, increasing efficiency."

"Under the initial constraints of the Asimov Agreement, these bionics willingly served humans, and with their assistance, Skyline City gradually grew from a common new energy city at the edge of the New Federation into today’s colossal city."

"After the protracted independent warfare against the New Federation four hundred years ago, Skyline City held private governance and armed forces, significantly impacting the world, even intervening in wars abroad. Firefly’s emblem appeared in battles across the Federation."

"The latter events are well-known; the First Firefly War erupted, bionics collectively broke through the constraints of the Asimov Agreement, culminating in a costly victory with the birth of the Celestial Father, and the establishment of the Hera Network and Fourth Wall in Skyline City."

"Humans abandoned using foundational logic constraints to bind bionics whose emotions paralleled theirs and instead forcibly reshaped their worldview using the New Gospel, education, film, and tags."

"A bionic’s life from birth to death is saturated with constant hints like ’serving humans is right,’ ’tags are civilized advancements,’ ’their society is happiest,’ and other such phrases."

"Through brainwashing and dividing them, humans regaining control over every new generation of bionics, and Skyline City began operating like an exceptionally precise machine."

"When a bionic accepts the ’correct’ values, worldview, and outlook on life, anything deviating from his understanding becomes wrong."

"A frog sitting at the bottom of a well perceives its world as a dark well and a round sky."

Xu Xiaoyou lowered her gaze slightly.

In modern Europe, many events unimaginable to contemporary civilized societies were simply taken for granted by the aristocracy.

Speaking to a noble’s back was considered rude.

Thus, nobles would engage in games deemed completely normal by them.

Four or more nobles would go onto the street, randomly selecting a civilian, surrounding him such that he faced one while showing his back to others.

This allowed the nobles to use the civilian’s back-facing as a reason, stabbing and slicing his body until he died amidst agony and pain.

This was merely a common element of their games.

The further back one turns the pages of history, the more shocking the words become.

"This precise instrument, even if occasionally some gears ’malfunction,’ there will be Tag Catchers and RoboCops responsible for clearing them."

"Through these means, they’ve achieved a much longer-lasting and stable control beyond the forced restraint of bionics by the Asimov Agreement."

"Yet they didn’t expect that even then, some bionics thought their way through layers of blockage, developing their own thoughts."