“Mas-master… A Mech Servant recognizing a master? That’s impossible, absolutely impossible! Mech Servants are the last line of defense for this world. They are supposed to be heartless, cruel… devoid of emotion.”
“They should never obey anyone. Their only purpose should be to hunt monsters.” 𝘪𝑎.
“No, no, no, no! There’s another possibility – the prophecy, the prophecy! Yes, haha, the prophecy is true… You are the one, the one chosen by the prophecy!”
The tattered old man seemed to have completely descended into madness. Communication with Renji was futile. In his overly excited flailing, Renji noticed a large gash in the old man’s abdomen, caused by a blunt object.
The wound, crudely covered with a piece of cloth, was now torn open due to the old man’s movements, bleeding profusely. In this world’s conditions, it was tantamount to a death sentence.
“Cough, cough, cough… If it’s you… maybe you can take this… please, go and save my settlement. Go there, and you’ll find your answers.”
As the old man spoke, he was constantly coughing, with blood foaming at his mouth. Using his last bit of strength, he shakily pulled out a blood-stained sheepskin map from his chest. Then, as if he could hold on no longer, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Afterward, something miraculous happened. The lifeless body of the old man started to disintegrate into sand. In a matter of seconds, like a collapsing sandcastle, the sand spread across the ground, eventually blending into the barren land.
At the same time, Renji turned to look at the corpse of the Terror Beast killed by 86. Whether it was Miasma monster or Miasma humans, their forms after death were the same – turning into sand that either blew away with the wind or sank into the ground, leaving no trace.
Clearly, this was the fate of the natives in Dream Zero upon death.
After all, they were just strings of virtual data.
Renji looked down at the blood-stained map that the old man had desperately handed him.
Much of the map was obscured by bloodstains, but fortunately, with 86’s help in restoration and comparison, Renji discovered that the area he was currently in was called
-The Witch’s Territory-
According to the map, the settlement mentioned by the old man is about fifteen kilometers to the southwest of their current location. Additionally, there are only two other notable markings on the map, aside from the terrain. One of them, marked by a glaring, large black circle, is a church to the north.
Renji looked at the position of the black circle on the map, which encircled a building with a cross. Strangely enough, even though it was clearly a church, combining the old man’s words about “all Mech Servants being killed by the witches” and the name of this region, the black circle likely represented the witch’s lair.
‘In the game, this would be akin to a regional boss…’
Aside from “the witch” another term that frequently appeared in the old man’s words before his death was “Mech Servant”
Mech Servant, a mechanical maid.
Looking at the old man’s reaction, it was apparent that he wasn’t seeing 86 for the first time. On the contrary, it seemed like he had encountered many of them, “many times.”
‘So, are there many maids like 86 in this world? And do they exist to combat Tainted Miasma, as indicated by the old man’s description of them as “the last line of defense for this world”?’
‘But this is curious. This is Zero’s dream, and maids like 86, referred to as ‘sisters,’ should be under the control of Zero, their ‘big sister’ Doesn’t that mean Zero is fighting against herself’
Moreover, the term “last line of defense” is usually used in extremely grim situations. Assuming there are countless 86-
like fighters, how powerful must the “witch” be to annihilate these combat machines?
‘Lastly, there’s the “prophecy.”‘
Initially, Renji thought the prophecy mentioned by the old man referred to the Ashen Emperor, a kind of “waking mechanism” in Zero’s dream? After all, he was the only one who could make these Mech Servants recognize a master.
But when the old man later said he was “the one chosen by the prophecy,” Renji realized that this prophecy did not originate from Zero.
After all, Zero would never use the term “chosen” for the Ashen Emperor.
‘So… The witch, the Mech Servant, and… the prophecy’
These three pieces of information, gleaned from the old man, are the directions for Renji’s further investigation. After taking a deep breath, Renji stored the map and, accompanied by the maid, headed towards the old man’s settlement as indicated on the map.
The other party told him that there he would find the answers he sought. Although it was highly likely a ruse to lure him there, as the saying goes, the master does not care.
What Renji, as the master, cared about more right now was…
“86, do you have a good way to cover these ten or so kilometers?” The young man looked at the seemingly endless barren land, rubbing his temples in frustration.
In Dream Zero, time corresponds one-to-one with reality and possesses a strong sense of realism. If they were to actually walk there, just dealing with the Tainted corpses they encountered along the way would waste a lot of their time.
Fortunately, the versatile 86 provided a solution. The maid nodded her head and then, to Renji’s astonishment, began to rapidly transform like a Transformer. In just a few blinks, the mechanical maid had disappeared, replaced by a brand new sea-blue motorcycle in front of Renji.
The cool sense of technology and sleek aerodynamic design, with twelve acceleration tubes at the back of the motorcycle, were irresistible. No man could refuse such a motorcycle. Without a second thought, Renji immediately got on it. The screen at the front of the motorcycle lit up automatically, showing Renji various functions of the motorcycle, including a weapon system capable of deploying machine guns and floating cannons.
“86, can you implement this feature in reality?”
[*Sob sob*. I’m sorry master. My physical form in reality is not perfect and cannot perform similar operations yet]
[*Ready and eager*. But if the master just wants to ride 86, then I believe this function is unnecessary. 86 can also satisfy the master’s *various riding needs*]
Seemingly expressing its excitement, the blue glow of the motorcycle flickered continuously. 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ
“…”
Renji felt that he really needed to keep 86 away from Eileen in the future, otherwise, his well-behaved maid might turn into a chatterbox of ‘saucy’ remarks.
As Renji twisted the throttle, the motorcycle’s azure light instantly brightened. With a buzzing roar, the motorcycle carrying Renji turned into a streak of blue lightning, speeding through the dark red world.
.𝒎