Naturally, Aiden didn't think someone was making a fire there. Not to mention he was the only human, even those mechanical lifeforms or androids imitating humans probably didn't need fire to keep warm.
"It looks like a battle happened over there." Aiden thought that was the only possibility.
After hesitating for a moment, Aiden still decided to go and take a look, thinking it wouldn't hurt to get a preview of the mechanical lifeforms in this world, even if what he'd end up seeing might just be a "corpse."
As soon as the thought came to mind, Aiden acted on it and started running toward the direction where the smoke pillar was rising.
However, this run turned out to be a journey of one or two kilometers. He hadn't expected it to be so far. After crossing several sand dunes in a row, he finally saw the place where the smoke was coming from. There were even sparks flashing in the area, unusually bright in the dark night, allowing him to vaguely see a massive mechanical wreckage.
When he was about a hundred meters away from the wreckage, Aiden stopped and drew the exclusive automatic pistol for mechanics.
The Gun God, Flash.
An epic weapon capable of strengthening G-series mechanical units.
But he didn't summon G1-Corona. He only held the gun and slowly approached the wreckage.
Even though he was walking, it didn't take long to cover the hundred meters. Under the illumination of the pod's firelight, he could already see what the wreckage looked like.
It was an astonishingly large robot. Just one finger was as thick as his waist, not to mention its body, which was as big as a bus, and its head, which was like that of an off-road vehicle.
Standing before the robot, he looked as small as an ant.
However, although the robot was massive, it posed no danger now, as it was covered in wounds. With the help of the firelight and other lights, one could see that its chest seemed to have a huge hole blasted out by artillery, exposing internal components that were still burning.
The pungent smell of burning was coming from inside its body.
But Aiden knew these wounds weren't fatal. Its fatal wound was on its head, the off-road-like head had been split in two by something unknown. At what looked like the neck, only a thin layer of metal remained, which was barely holding the split head in place.
Aiden estimated, unless he used sword energy, he couldn't possibly achieve such a clean split with a single strike.
'Maybe Sephiroth could do it. His sword is long enough,' Aiden suddenly thought.
Shaking his head to clear away the stray thoughts, Aiden circled the robot once, trying to find some clues. Like the footprints of the "person" who had killed this robot.
Unfortunately, the place he was in was a desert, and any footprints would be quickly erased by the wind and sand. After searching carefully for a while, Aiden found nothing.
'Forget it. Even if I found the footprints, it's probably already gone.' Aiden shook his head and thought.
He didn't know what to call those mechanical lifeforms, so he could only use "it" to refer to them.
After standing there for a while longer, Aiden decided to leave. The smell here was unbearable. He had to find a place downwind to camp.
Grabbing a handful of sand to check the wind direction, Aiden began walking in the direction the wind was blowing from. But he hadn't gone far when his foot suddenly stepped on something, making him stumble and almost fall.
Turning back to look, and following his gaze, the firelight also illuminated the area. He saw that the place he had just stepped on had a "human" leg sticking out.
Of course, he knew this definitely wasn't a human leg, because he was the only human.
'Looks like it's an android. A rebel left behind by the base?' Aiden knew that the orbital base had left many androids on Blue Star, and most of them, used as tools to test combat data, were not within the recovery range at all.
But even if they had been abandoned, these androids left behind on Blue Star still kept fighting, killing mechanical lifeforms on the planet, and had even formed rebel camps similar to human settlements.
'I wonder which one this is… But thinking about it, the androids left on the planet were mostly grunts who didn't even have code names in the game.' Aiden looked at the leg and began to ponder.
Then he stepped forward, grabbed the leg, and pulled the android out of the sand.
But the moment he pulled her out, Aiden couldn't stay calm, because the android was female. And possibly due to intense combat, her clothing was severely damaged, only covering the private parts. And since she was wearing a skirt, when he pulled her out, the already tattered skirt rubbed against the sand and got lifted, revealing a glimpse of pure white under the light.
"Cough cough."
Although Aiden could be considered experienced now, he still couldn't help coughing at the sight. But remembering she was an android, his imagination quickly cooled down.
He wasn't sure if androids needed to breathe, so he couldn't judge whether she was alive by checking for rising and falling of the chest. Still, he reached out to check her pulse.
Sure enough, no pulse at all.
Aiden suddenly wanted to laugh, laughing at himself for being a bit dumb. How could an android possibly have a pulse?
With a sigh, Aiden's gaze continued upward from the android woman's abdomen. But when he saw the long blade tightly gripped in her hand, he froze.
'No way, this is... the Virtuous Contract?'
The Virtuous Contract, only combat-model YoRHa androids used this weapon. It belonged to the category of short swords.
Though the weapon in the android's hand only resembled the Virtuous Contract and looked a bit shorter, Aiden was still stunned. The android before him actually belonged to the YoRHa unit.
But the system had said there were still half a month left until the new YoRHa squad would drop onto Blue Star. And the remaining YoRHa models on Blue Star… seemed to only include...
Thinking of this, Aiden suddenly leaned down, and sure enough, the android in front of him had long silver hair. Though her face was covered in dust, it was still stunningly beautiful, much like the 2B lady from the game.
But she definitely wasn't 2B. After multiple descent operations, there had been no remains of her mechanical body left on Blue Star. As a main combat model of the YoRHa unit, the B-type androids were valuable enough to be recovered.
So if she wasn't 2B, she could only be the prototype YoRHa model.
'The only YoRHa model still on Blue Star and targeting mechanical life for extermination is her. But she doesn't only hate mechanical life, she also hates the androids in the orbital base, including her commander, and even… the humans who supposedly disappeared but are rumored to be on the moon base.'
Aiden hesitated, because he was human.
By now, of course, he had recognized who this YoRHa model android in front of him was.
Prototype YoRHa, A2.
The only survivor from the first batch of A-type YoRHa androids deployed in battle.
Also the one who swore to destroy all mechanical life, the orbital base androids and commanders, and the "humans" on the moon base, A2.
'What should I do? Kill her? Or…'
All kinds of thoughts flashed through Aiden's mind. Instinctively, he raised his gun to eliminate this potentially dangerous being.
But he hesitated, after all, it was A2.
In the game, he liked her even more than the 2B lady.
He wavered, his index finger resting on the trigger, but after thinking a bit more, he moved it away.
He still couldn't pull the trigger. So he lowered the gun.
But just as he did, the female android suddenly let out a moan, followed by a long inhalation, and then her chest began rising and falling like a human's.
'Androids… really can breathe!' That thought suddenly popped into Aiden's mind.
"Help me."
While Aiden was still lost in thought, A2 opened her eyes. Even though she was an android, there was an unmistakable will to survive in her cloudy blue eyes, something that didn't match her identity.
She couldn't die yet. Her wish hadn't been fulfilled. Although to an android, a "wish" was more like a program error, she truly didn't want to die. She still hadn't avenged her comrades. She… still had to live on for them.
So when she saw Aiden, covered in a windbreaker, and presumably of the same kind, she instinctively reached out for help.
Aiden didn't respond immediately. He was still thinking and also stunned by A2's will to live.
Of course, it was normal. Without such a strong survival instinct, A2 would've been eliminated long ago in repeated pursuits.
"Help me." Seeing the other android unmoved, A2 spoke again, using the last of her strength to stretch out her hand toward Aiden.
But Aiden was still deep in thought, as if he hadn't seen or heard anything.
Seeing no reaction from Aiden, A2 slowly withdrew her hand, even letting out a self-deprecating smile like a human, then closed her eyes.
But just as she had drawn her hand halfway back, it was suddenly grabbed tightly.
A2 opened her eyes. Her hand was now tightly held by her kind, and she heard him speak in a low voice, "Hello! Nice to meet you!"
A2 didn't really understand the full meaning of those words. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Me too."
Then Aiden pulled her up and carried her on his back.
In fact, although A2 had won this battle with great difficulty, the damage she had sustained wasn't that serious. But she had accumulated too many injuries over the years and lacked effective professional repairs. After the battle, something malfunctioned inside her, and she entered a shutdown state. Only when Aiden pulled her out of the sand did she reboot.
"The magnetic field here is being interfered with. I can't tell which way is out. Do you know how to get out of the desert?" A2 was heavy, close to 150kg, but with Aiden's current physique, it was no burden to carry her. He walked a few steps while asking.
Rebooted A2 was incredibly weak, like a human seriously ill. She barely raised her hand and pointed in a direction, then closed her eyes again.
Aiden looked toward the direction she pointed, it happened to match the one he had planned to go earlier. Feeling lucky, he asked again, "Are you familiar with this area?"
"Mm." A2 gave a short answer.
"That giant robot… was it you who took it down?" Aiden asked again, though it was obvious.
"Mm." A2 still gave just a word.
"You're amazing."
"Mm."
"Don't just say 'mm' to everything. Can you say an actual sentence?"
"Mm."
"…Fine. I once read a book from somewhere in the East. It said, if someone saves your life, you must become their wife. So… will you be my wife?"
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