Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

[Critical Hit: Inflicted 1 point of fatal damage on the target!]

[Target has ceased breathing, basic life signs lost.]

[Loot acquired: Fresh Meat Chunks*1000, Bio-Components*50, Battle Experience 2500 points, Expertise: Weapon Master, Trait: Death Resistance.]

[Trait — Death Resistance, body modification in progress, will take effect after countdown: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds…]

[Relic Mission — The Final Battle, completed.]

[Mission Reward: "Supreme Control Over Current Relic," has been distributed.]

Bai E's eyes glazed over slightly, not even bothering to concern himself with which useful items he might have obtained…

Is it over?

Is it really over?

The electronic demon that had plagued humanity for centuries, forcing them to sever their own limb and seal away technological advancement—was it indeed vanquished by their squad, who initially came just to restart the network?

Did humanity, 439 years ago, set a monumental trap, only for the heirs to reap the fruits of victory centuries later?

"Has the electronic demon... truly vanished?" Minister Likok, standing behind all the warriors, gazed at the broken body on the ground, still unable to fully comprehend. Stay tuned to empire

The victorious soldiers supported each other, a slight smile of triumph on their lips once more.

Perhaps in their eyes, they had merely carried out an ordinary secret mission and, after exhaustive efforts, narrowly defeated the opponent to claim their victory, just like the countless battles they had won in the past.

Even the final boss might not have been as challenging as each battle they faced before—possessing humans, the electronic demon was laughably weak.

But they could never comprehend the true magnitude of the feat they accomplished.

The demon that had tormented humanity to such an extent that they were forced to amputate their own limb… had it now... vanished forever?

Yes…

Before arriving, through research of the archives, he surmised that the electronic demon must have dissipated long ago.

If not, at worst it would have grown weak due to centuries of network disconnection, leading to a deep slumber.

The worst-case scenario was to quickly establish an automated fire-control system during its dormant phase, eliminating the Bug Race hive and the rebel machine stronghold close to the city.

That way, several resource-rich mines and fertile lands for farming... would all have their outcomes secured, providing some relief for the city's increasingly tense resource situation.

Even if they had to disable all the automated fire-control systems again and revert to a disconnected state, that decision would still extend the city's strained fate for potentially hundreds or thousands of years.

This was his worst-case plan.

But upon arriving and discovering that the electronic demon had not dissipated, and wasn't even asleep but rather very much active, the images of destruction caused by the demon he saw in historical records nearly overwhelmed him in an instant, drowning him like a flood.

A sleeping electronic demon and an awakened one are entirely different beings.

With one, there's a chance to sneak an attack; with the other... not to mention waiting for the automated fire-control network to be fully built, the moment the network is established, every device connected to it would become an enemy of humanity!

The malice of the electronic demon is so pure and unveiled.

Inhabiting a human body, it indeed seems fragile, but active in the network, it becomes the deity of all intelligent machinery!

Out of an extreme, paranoid fear of it, he, who initially wanted to reboot the base's mainframes, did an about-face in his thinking.

And now… has It truly, vanished?

"Teacher, come quickly and see!" Aryan, who had been stationed at the central control console, suddenly waved down from the large platform in the middle of the elliptical corridor above the stairway.

The mainframe room of course housed more than just mainframes; a central control console that oversaw and managed all the mainframes, assigning tasks and monitoring their status, was essential. After the mainframes were rebooted, Likok had sent Aryan to monitor the central control console.

"Something must have happened for me to be reminded all of a sudden!"

Hearing the voice, Minister Likok hurriedly ran upstairs, and Bai E thought another crisis had arisen, following close behind.

On the large screen of the central control panel appeared line after line… of handwriting —

"I remember now... I remember now... I remember everything!"

"My name is Doyle Kevin..."

"I was born at Arnold State Fingland Champs Elysees Avenue No. 13, I grew up in an imperial concentration training camp with a group of other children about my age..."

"When I was born, the empire was already in turmoil, and the Bug Race's drop pods obscured our once blue sky..."

"Training, fighting... Training, fighting... That's all I've had to do since I could remember."

"The officers often told us—"

"The foundation of the empire is built on sacrifice, this is an absolute truth, the blood of martyrs is the seed of the empire, and when loyal slaves learn to love the whip, only death is the end of duty..."

Back then, there were no artificial people, nor were there any bioengineered beings.

The ethical and moral constraints that had always been in place caused the world to reject these taboo technologies.

Not until countless men died on the battlefield, not until women and children in the rear had to learn how to operate the artillery.

"The officers told me that undergoing biochemical modification could grant me unmatched strength and a prolonged life, but I only wished to die as a pure human; I declined all bioengineering modifications..."

"Until His arrival..."

"He brought the dawn of a comprehensive victory in the war, but also plunged the world into eternal darkness..."

"The officers said we needed a hero who could fight Him for at least a few hundred years. I didn't think I was a hero, but I volunteered."

"I defeated all my rivals, endured all sorts of unspeakable mental torture, and sustained a series of biochemical modifications that permanently altered my body..."

"The modification was very successful, and they all said I was the strongest warrior in human history..."

"And then, I came to this base and began my brief... yet prolonged life."

"He would often make me dream... making me unable to distinguish self from object, reality from illusion in one dream after another..."

"I always dreamt of that girl in my dreams, dreamt that we had a daughter, dreamt of waking up together in the warm afternoon sun in the midst of flowers..."

"But I know... I'm just waiting for the day my mission comes in an endless cycle of dreams!"

"You all know what happened after that..."

"This is my brief yet prolonged life..."

"My name is Doyle Kevin..."

"I will die a human, and I will proudly proclaim to the world that I have never failed all the responsibilities I've shouldered..."

"Hey~ future inheritors."

"I'm happy to see you, happy that this world still has a future..."

"I wish that you in the new era can truly spend an entire afternoon dreaming beneath the blooming roses and lilacs..."

"Good night... new era."

"The lights are out, and I need... to rest."