“I am——the main control AI of the Seventh Underground Facility, Minerva. No need to rush. I’ve already severed the connection with the central program. Right now, I only want to ‘communicate’ with you all.”
“Communication, huh…”
When she heard the AI calling itself Minerva make a request to communicate, Ling Ling’s usually expressionless little face rarely furrowed into a slight frown.
She had heard the name Minerva before.
Back in the Cradle’s facility, when she was still Zero, the researchers there would occasionally talk in front of her, thinking she couldn’t understand—or simply not caring whether she did.
A few times, they mentioned a term: “main control AI.”
Later, after she and her sister had eliminated all personnel in the entire Third Underground Facility and infiltrated every database within, they found that most of the content had been deliberately deleted.
What little useful information remained was scarce.
But there was still something about Minerva. It was the core system responsible for coordinating data exchange, resource allocation, and strategic decision-making across all underground facilities of the Cradle in Akasha City.
If her judgment was correct, the Minerva before her should be a local sub-program stripped from the main program and deployed to the Seventh Underground Facility.
If it was just a conversation with a locally deployed sub-program, she had no risk of exposing her identity.
Even if Surtr reported back to the Cradle after escaping, it would only know that the Bai Ye who attacked the Third Underground Facility was Zero and Nine.
The Cradle remained completely unaware of their current identity as ordinary high school students hiding in the Seventh District, nor would it disturb her and her sister’s daily life.
After a moment of thought, Ling Ling agreed to the other party’s “communication” request.
After all, she also wanted to extract information about the Divine Relic from the AI before her. If possible, she even hoped to get more intelligence about the Cradle.
“Fine, I accept your request.”
“But first, you need to answer three of my questions.”
Upon hearing Ling Ling’s condition, Minerva agreed without any hesitation.
“Okay.”
After hearing the other party’s agreement, Ling Ling expressionlessly raised three fingers.
“First, what is the Divine Relic?”
Minerva paused for a moment. It wasn’t hesitation, but a search through her database.
Ling Ling could sense that deep within those eyes, which were identical to her own, streams of information were rapidly processing.
Then, Minerva spoke, using the same voice as Ling Ling but with a lifeless, mechanical electronic tone.
“The Divine Relic is a legacy left by the previous civilization. According to the fragmented data recovered by the Cradle, it is a ‘supernatural weapon’—or rather, the ‘core’ used to create supernatural weapons.”
“The previous civilization called it the Virtual Sub-Armor, while the Cradle named it the Divine Relic.”
“It can resonate with the abilities of an adapter, manifesting the adapter’s own supernatural traits into an armed form.”
Different adapters would exhibit completely different armed forms, because the Divine Relic itself has no fixed shape. It is a mirror, reflecting the form of the user’s consciousness.
After hearing the answer, Ling Ling lowered one finger.
“Then, why does the Cradle have it?” Ling Ling asked.
“Is this the second question?”
“…Yes.”
Minerva tilted her head.
“The Cradle recovered the core crystal of the Divine Relic during a ruin excavation 20 years ago. The ruins were located approximately 500 meters underground at—[Data Deleted]—and the Cradle designated it as ‘First Ruins.’ Later, that place became known as the Silent Corridor.”
Silent Corridor, huh…
Ling Ling silently committed the name to memory. This information might be useless for now, but it could come in handy later…
Ling Ling lowered her second finger and asked one of the questions she most wanted to know now: why she and her sister were “created.”
After a moment of searching, Minerva spoke.
“The Divine Relic requires an ‘adapter’ to activate. After recovering the crystal, the Cradle attempted hundreds of test subjects, none of whom succeeded.”
“Thus, the ‘Angel of Slaughter’ plan was born: to create artificial humans with sufficiently powerful supernatural vibrations to serve as vessels for the Divine Relic.”
“Zero, you were the first successful prototype. Your supernatural frequency was the closest to the Divine Relic’s requirements among all the artificial humans.”
“Using your experimental data as a base, the Cradle’s researchers continued optimization and created many subsequent individuals.”
“As for Nine, she was the second successful individual created using your data.”
“Her supernatural vibration frequency is highly similar to yours, but certain parameters were adjusted. The specific purpose of those adjustments is not recorded in the database.”
“As for why the artificial humans developed self-awareness, the Cradle’s research logs contain no clear conclusion.”
“The logs only mention: ‘Zero-type test subject began exhibiting autonomous behavior beyond instruction scope in the third week after activation.’”
“‘Nine-type test subject began showing abnormal dependence on Zero-type on the 47th day after activation.’”
“‘The awakening mechanism of self-awareness in both cases is unclear and requires continued observation.’”
Upon hearing this, Ling Ling’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
She had self-awareness because her previous life’s self had been accidentally killed by a truck, and her soul had somehow transmigrated into Zero’s soulless body.
In her original world, she had been an ordinary male college student who liked anime and games. She never imagined she would one day become a 5’0” white-haired girl, let alone be turned into a killing weapon.
As for Xiao Jiu, she likely wasn’t a transmigrator like herself.
When she first met Xiao Jiu, the latter was also in a soulless weapon state, only executing commands with no emotional fluctuation—like an exquisite puppet.
But after spending time with Ling Ling, Xiao Jiu gradually developed self-awareness. At first, she imitated Ling Ling’s actions, then began asking questions, then smiled for the first time, cried for the first time, and said “Big Sister” for the first time.
The Cradle’s researchers labeled this phenomenon as “mirror imitation.” They believed Xiao Jiu’s emotions were merely a copy of Ling Ling’s behavior, lacking true autonomy.
But Ling Ling knew they were wrong.
Because the first time Xiao Jiu said to her, “Big Sister, I like you,” there was the most precious treasure in the world in those azure blue eyes.
Even though they weren’t blood sisters, she had decided then to be Xiao Jiu’s big sister forever, to protect her and let her live a peaceful life.
“All three questions have been answered.” Minerva’s voice pulled her back from her memories.
“Now, it’s my turn to make a request for communication.”
Ling Ling withdrew her thoughts, her crimson eyes calmly watching the Minerva across from her.