2026-05-09 17:25:29Valerius's body shot through the air like an arrow released from a giant bow. The roaring hot wind inside the cave swept his face, carrying the scent of rock dust and the burnt smell of burning cables.
"Hold the pipe, Valerius! On the left!" roared Edna through the communicator attached to his jacket.
"I'm trying, Edna! The wind is too strong!" Valerius shouted back.
Right as gravity began to pull him down, Valerius's hand snatche
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CHAPTER 86: STRANGER
Elara began to move. Her eyelids vibrated softly before finally opening completely. Her clear blue eyes now no longer emitted that horrifying red laser light. Those eyes looked clean, calm, but... empty.Elara blinked several times, staring at the workshop ceiling filled with steam pipes. She tried to sit up, and Valerius swiftly helped her rest her back on the pillow."Mother... can you hear me?" Valerius asked with tears starting to well up in his eyes. "It's me. Valerius. Your son."Elara rotated her head slowly, staring at Valerius for quite a long time, as if studying every line on the boy's face. However, there was no warm smile that used to always welcome Valerius."Valerius?" Elara repeated the name with a very soft voice, but her tone was flat, as if spelling a word she was hearing for the first time."Yes, Mother! It's me!" Valerius grabbed his mother's hand, kissing it
CHAPTER 85: AWAKENING
A blinding blue light exploded from Empress Elara's neck. The high-frequency humming sound that was deafening earlier suddenly changed into a softclicksound.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
CHAPTER 84: DEFENSE PROTOCOL
"Let him go, Mother! It's me, Valerius!" Valerius tried to get closer, but Cogs immediately dove and held his jacket with his beak."Don't get closer, Golden Boy! She will break your neck before you even have a chance to say her name!" shrieked Cogs in panic. "Grim! Use the magnetic locking protocol!""Brain damage risk increased to forty percent!" replied Grimbolt then was forced to drop himself to the floor to release Elara from his back.Elara rolled smoothly and immediately got up. She saw Bastian's makeshift steam rifle lying on the floor. With reflex speed impossible for a normal human, she snatched the weapon."Wait, don't!" shouted Edna who seemed to know the next action Elara would take.Elara did not aim at Valerius. The program inside her head was far more cunning. Her red eyes locked onto the most crucial target in the room, which was the main steam reactor that provi
CHAPTER 83: HYDRAULIC STRENGTH
"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
CHAPTER 82: THE CHIOCE
"The existence of Empress Elara as a free individual is my primary mission," Grimbolt continued. "If memory is the price to be paid to sever the Vexxos chains, then strategically, it is an acceptable loss compared to the total loss of the subject. Life is the foundation; memory is just data."Valerius released his mother's hand and walked toward Elara, staring into those hollow blue eyes. He brought his face closer, hoping for even a slight glint of recognition, a tiny contraction in those pupils when seeing her son."Mother?" whispered Valerius. "Mother, it's me. Valerius. Do you remember when we sat in the palace garden? Do you remember the song you sang when I was afraid of storms?"Elara remained silent. She did not even blink. The red light at the back of her neck pulsed faster and faster, as if the chip inside were mocking Valerius's efforts."Look at her, Valerius," Edna said softly from behin
CHAPTER 81: THE PRINCE'S CHOICE
"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
