"This cannot be allowed any longer, Edna!" Bastian slammed the metal workbench, making the surgical equipment on top of it vibrate loudly. He was beyond annoyed upon hearing Valerius's explanation. Aris was now being detained by them in a closed room. "The signal from her head keeps radiating," Bastian said again. "Every second we let her stay like that, we are simply inviting the entire Vexxos fleet to drop bombs on our roof!" Edna did not immediately answer. She was staring at the monitor screen displaying the graph of Elara's neural circuits overlapping with Vexxos's red code. "Two hours, Bastian. That is the maximum estimated time before this neural encryption permanently locks her original personality," Edna said while still staring at the monitor screen. "If we do not act now, the Elara we know will truly vanish, replaced by their combat algorithms." "Then what else are you

"One small mistake, Aris, and I will ensure you will never be able to see the sunlight again," growled Bastian, his voice low yet full of threat. The hum from the low-frequency transmitter machine filled Edna's narrow medical room. Blue neon light reflected on the sweat dampening Aris's brow. The Vexxos technician was trembling violently, not just because of the cold from the steam surgical tool, but because the tip of Bastian's large machete was pressed right against his jugular. "You guys are crazy... this is a suicidal act," Aris whispered hoarsely. "The chip has its own consciousness. Once you touch its protective layer, it will consider it an act of sabotage." "Shut up and do your job!" snapped Edna. She held the surgical laser with a steady hand, although her face looked very pale. "Valerius, hold this induction cable. Grimbolt, synchronize her heartbeat with your backup power flow. We start in

A blinding blue light exploded from Empress Elara's neck. The high-frequency humming sound that was deafening earlier suddenly changed into a soft click sound. That very second, Elara's body which was rampaging with monster-like strength suddenly went limp, the steam rifle in her hand fell to the floor with an echoing clang. "Mother!" shouted Valerius, his voice breaking in the midst of the suffocating ozone smoke cloud. Elara fell face down, but before her body hit the floor, Grimbolt had moved. His giant arms caught the empress's body with a gentleness that contrasted with his scarred steel chassis. "Status: Subject's heartbeat returned to normal rhythm. Neuro-flare activity... ceased," reported Grimbolt. "Traitor Chip has been permanently deactivated." Edna slumped into her work chair, her hand holding the control lever trembling violently. "It worked... by

"Do you think breaking into Sector Zero and Sector Seven last year was a victory, Valerius?"Bastian's voice boomed and echoed off the walls of the workshop which was now functioning as an emergency strategy room. The giant-built foreman slammed the map table until rust dust flew into the air.Across the table, Valerius leaned against an iron pillar. Ten months in Grind Valley had changed him a lot. The twelve-year-old boy who used to tremble and always hid behind machine legs had now disappeared.At the age of thirteen, Valerius had grown taller. His jaw was sharper, his shoulders broader due to constant physical training, and his blue eyes were now as sharp as a knife's edge.Even his voice, which used to often squeak when panicked, now sounded deeper and more stable due to puberty.His hands very skillfully and fluidly twirled a combat dagger between his fingers. It had become a new habit he did while thinking."We managed to bring Mother back, Bastian. We kidnapped the Head of the

"This is not a hardware problem at all, Valerius. His steel body is in the most perfect condition I've ever seen." Edna's tired voice broke the silence inside the medical workshop. In front of them, Grimbolt sat frozen on the repair platform with dozens of diagnostic cables attached to the back of his neck. The robot's yellow optics blinked very dimly in hibernation mode. After the attack, they immediately brought Grimbolt to the workshop to find out what happened to the Sentinel robot. Valerius stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his jaw hardened. "Then why did he freeze on the battlefield, Edna? He almost let that Scrap-Hound tear his own neck." Edna rotated her monitor screen toward Valerius. Thousands of lines of red code collided with each other on the screen. "Because this is a software conflict, Kid," answered Edna softly. Edna took off her mag