Heroic Spirit: I, Shinji, have tried my best.

After venting his anger at the tables, chairs and bookshelves, Riku returned to his previous indifferent look... It's not that he is heartless, but he has to close his emotions to live in this world.

If he, the leader, collapsed at this moment, then the thousands of people below would become confused, and his companions who had sacrificed before would not want this to happen.

Slowly leaning down, he brushed aside the wood chips and began to sort out the pages that had fallen to the ground...

There is no doubt that he is a genius. He became the leader of the tribe when he was 13 years old and expanded the tribe to two thousand people in five years.

Other tribes of the same size had hundreds of deaths each year, but their death toll in these five years was only 48... but even such a result was quite astonishing for a teenager.

He himself was always worried about the death of his companions, and remembered the names of every deceased person, always reminding himself not to act on impulse and not to let down the sacrifices of his companions...

"Is it really necessary for humans to survive in this world?"

At the same time, Kroni led Nonna to a tree covered with small crystals... that was the symbol of each of her deceased companions, and now Nonna was holding one in her hand...

There were still tears in her big purple eyes, but she didn't really hate Riku. It was just that this sudden bad news was too much of a blow to a little girl like her.

Cloni stood aside, a trace of pity flashed across her face, and she patted her back gently, hoping to give her more comfort.

"Let's hang it up..."

"…Um."

Nonna nodded, and just as the two of them were about to hang up the small crystal with heavy hearts, the ground suddenly shook, and the crystals on the tree began to shake violently...

"Is this... an enemy attack!?"

The sudden vibration startled everyone. They picked up their weapons and looked towards the cave entrance vigilantly, while women and children hid in secluded places skillfully... This is the law of survival of human beings or the weak.

Upon hearing the sound, Riku also ran out quickly, rushing all the way to the front of the crowd. When he walked out of the cave, his pupils instantly shrank into pinholes!

Mecha-Machina!

Looking at the huge muzzle on the opponent's arm, Riku couldn't think of any possibility of a head-on confrontation. He frantically searched in his mind how to lead more people to escape from the opponent's clutches.

At the same time, his heart was also in turmoil... Why would a race that never actively participated in the war attack them? And since there was one here, it was very likely that the opponent's [Connector] was also nearby...

Riku was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that Iwan, who was supposed to be dead, was standing next to him.

Of course, the other side won’t care about these.

When Hubie saw the target appear, he immediately put away the gun barrel on his arm.

Beside her, two relatively strong adult humans collapsed to the ground. A small area of ​​ground in front of them turned into scorched earth, and white smoke was still slowly rising... It was obvious that they were just frightened.

"The target... has appeared."

"Riku! Run, they're targeting you!"

"?"

When Riku heard that the other party was targeting him, he didn't react for a moment. What was there for a small human like him to be searching for?

But this is also good news. As long as they know the other party's intentions, they still have hope of survival!

"I'm sorry... Riku..."

“…Ivan!?”

When he saw a familiar face walking towards him, the white-haired boy was confused again. The situation now seemed to be a little complicated.

"Okay, okay... We have come from afar, so why don't you invite us in to sit down? Or do you prefer to speak with force first?"

Shinji walked past Iwan and Shubi, stroked his hair with one hand, and walked towards the shabby cave in front of him as if no one was around. When Shubi saw this, he followed him.

Riku couldn't stop this move, but at least the information he got now was pretty much the same:

First, the man who showed up later was the leader. Second, the other party had no intention of killing them for the time being. Finally...

Riku turned his head and glanced at Iwan who looked troubled... He would not have revealed the intelligence of the base unless the other party used some force majeure interrogation method, which means that the other party may have mastered a considerable part of their intelligence.

[I hope I can survive this disaster today...]

……

In this hidden cave beneath the surface, humans dug out spaces of varying sizes to form a base of some size.

Now, the first "foreigner" has arrived here...

In a simple room, Shinji and Riku sat opposite each other at a long table. Both of them were shrewd in calculations and neither of them gave in to the other in terms of momentum.

And Hubie sat in the middle like a mascot, observing the confrontation between the two humans from left to right, with a look of curiosity in his big mechanical eyes...

"I wonder what business you have with a tiny human like me?"

"…If this is your catchphrase, I don't agree with it, but first you have to understand that I am also a human being."

“…So who is this person?”

Riku did not question Shinji's words, but still turned his gaze to Shubi. Even though he looked quite cute, that could not hide the fact that he was an absolute war machine.

"This is an acquaintance of mine who has been acting with me."

"…This is not funny. Although I am not very talented, I still know some information about the Ex-Machinas. I think other Nexus entities have surrounded this place."

Riku's tone was calm and certain, but what he didn't expect was that Shinji knew nothing at all, so he could hardly understand what he was saying.

【What does this mean…Did I say something wrong?】

When Riku was confused, Shubi, who was sitting next to him, explained:

"Shuby has been disconnected from the [Link] and is now following Shinji to search for the special energy called [Heart]..."

[So there is only one…]

Riku propped up his face with his hands and looked back at Shinji.

Although there was no evidence, he could only believe this explanation for now, so the question shifted to the man in front of him:

In this extremely dangerous world, why would the other party be wandering around in strange clothes, and be able to attract an abandoned [Ex-Machina] to follow...

"If your target is me, can you let me hear your requirements? Maybe there will be better options..."

"It's nothing, actually..."

Compared to the other party's cautious words and actions, Shinji seemed more casual. After changing to a more comfortable posture, he supported his chin with his left hand and quietly looked at the white-haired boy opposite.

"I just want to see if there is still a future for humans in this world... From the current situation, it seems that there are still capable people among humans."

"…So you are here to find out why humans haven't become extinct yet?"

"That may not be the way you put it, but it's correct if you understand it that way..."

As he spoke, Shinji raised his finger and tapped the desktop lightly.

The next moment, white circuit-like lines covered the table. Riku, who was sitting opposite him, sat up instantly and stared at the glowing wooden table in front of him in disbelief:

"Magic! Can humans use magic?!"

"No... This is quite different from the magic you are familiar with, and we call it magic."

"Who...are you?"

"As you can see, I don't actually belong to your world, so I am the only one who can master these things. However, I also discovered that the powers of both sides seem to have many similarities. Maybe you can learn them too!"

"..."

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you said.”

"is it hard?"

"I guess you have also imagined a peaceful world without foreign wars, right? Well, I came from that world... I came here without any expectations, to this war-torn world..."

"..."

Riku felt that he could no longer handle the current situation with his current knowledge... The other party's mystery was far beyond his imagination.

Regardless of whether what the other party said was true or false, he found it difficult to sort out the current situation, so he could only take care of the present, put everything aside and go straight to the most important issue:

"Finally, I have two questions. First, are you currently hostile to humans? Second, what do you want to gain from me?"

Shinji saw that the other party quickly recovered from the shock and analyzed the situation with a clear goal. At this moment, he had to look up to him.

"If this is your question now, then my answer is: first, I have no intention of harming the human group for the time being, and second, I came to you to see if you are worthy of my sympathy... But now I have changed my mind."

Riku's breathing stagnated, because he saw a strange smile suddenly appear on the other party's face... This smile he had only seen on the faces of those monsters who enjoyed fighting...

"…You don't need my sympathy, but I'm planning to do something big, but I'm still short of a partner…"

"The big thing you're talking about is..."

Shinji leaned forward and lowered the bass line as if whispering:

"Don't you think... those gods who sit on high seats are a little redundant..."

"!"

Riku couldn't hide the shock on his face, but then he gave a bitter smile:

"Even so, what can we weak humans do..."

"How would you know if you don't try? I don't believe that people like you only care about surviving. Or do you think you are satisfied with this life of running around every day?"

Riku hunched his body and lowered his head on the table, like a poor man who was forced into a desperate situation...

But Shinji, who has been through it all, knows very well that a weak person with some talent, after experiencing a series of oppressions such as social oppression, the death of relatives and friends, confusion about the future, and the cruelty of enemies, will often give rise to two extremes.

One type of person will become increasingly timid, and their talent will gradually be buried, and in the end, they will even be worse than an ordinary person;

The other type of people are often driven by a series of extreme emotions such as hatred, grief, and unwillingness to give birth to something called ambition.

"…It's a little late today, maybe we can discuss this matter tomorrow."

Shinji didn't say anything, and he didn't even need to look at the other person's face. Just from the words that didn't reveal any emotion, he could tell...the other person was obviously the second type of person.