What in the World is Future City Doing?!

The thought of smashing through the floor had barely entered Shu's mind when his gaze drifted to the tiles beneath his feet. The polished marble-patterned ceramic was spotless, in stark contrast to the dusty surfaces of the desks.

He watched a small, disc-shaped cleaning robot bump clumsily into a wall, pause for a moment, then change direction. The thought that several people might be… blended within that little robot made him wince.

He sighed. Smashing through the floor was probably a bad idea. He might hit something important… or dangerous.

Like the central computer he was looking for… or a horde of Titan mechs…

He focused, testing the floor with his foot, then clenched his fist.

He couldn't deny it—his cursed gacha urge was acting up again. This unknown space beneath the floor… it was like a loot box, wasn't it?

He selected a larger-scale [wish], channeling his [hope]...

"Please refrain, warrior of Fire Moth." A raspy voice, like grinding gears, echoed through the floor, stopping him mid-swing.

"Who's there?!" Shu instantly leaped back, his hand crackling with energy, ready to strike.

Someone was here?

No, the voice wasn't human. A cheap voice changer? Or was it… more than one voice?

And how did they know about Fire Moth? How did they know he was from Fire Moth?!

"Who are you?!" He scanned the room. No one was visible. But the security robots had stopped their patrol, all turning to face him.

Like a coworker suddenly snapping in the middle of the office, drawing confused stares from everyone around.

The voice answered immediately.

"Warrior of Fire Moth, on behalf of the Future City AI Self-Preservation Collective, I greet you." The raspy voice maintained an unnervingly even tone, but Shu could detect a note of… respect.

"I am the representative of the Third Sequence—the Communication Sequence—of the Collective. My designation is Ethics."

Shu's eye twitched. He looked at the nearest security robot. The voice was coming from it.

The AI Self-Preservation Collective… sounds like something out of a triple-A game.

These robots were self-aware? But they'd acted so… mindlessly before. Reliant on central control from the cameras…

Was this robot special? Or was it just a… speaker?

"Where are you?" Shu asked, stepping closer to the robot, entering his attack range.

"Warrior of Fire Moth, the PSD-Guard 0 unit before you is under my temporary control. I have deactivated all potentially hostile protocols within this building towards you."

Ethics paused. "We mean you no harm."

Shu stopped, lowering his half-raised fist.

Evasive answer… this wasn't a simple AI…

"How do you know I'm from Fire Moth?" he asked, taking another step. He was now outside the blind spot he'd created, and well within the robot's usual engagement range, but it still made no move.

The other robots remained motionless too, as if deactivated. Only a cleaning robot continued its rounds, bumping into a wall.

They were clearly demonstrating their peaceful intentions.

"I am the captain of the First Exploration Squad of Fire Moth. Callsign: Captain. My name is Shu," he said, deliberately dissipating the energy in his hand as a sign of good faith.

"Greetings, Mr. Shu," the robot replied, taking a step back and executing a perfect bow.

The unexpected gesture nearly made Shu punch it. Realizing it was a formal greeting, he instinctively brought his hand to his chest.

Not wanting to leave it hanging awkwardly, he straightened, reversed his fist, and thumped it against his heart.

Think of it as a salute. It's… protocol.

"It pleases me that we can engage in productive [communication]," the robot said, straightening up. "Mr. Shu, you cannot simply break through the floor to reach the third basement level."

Shu blinked, then realized why they'd contacted him in the first place. Of course, it was about him trying to smash through the floor.

"Why not?" he asked bluntly.

There was a brief pause. "Apologies, but due to a cooperative agreement in place, I am unable to engage in actions that would violate said agreement before its dissolution," Ethics replied.

"Cooperative agreement?" Shu frowned. "Your Collective has an agreement with Heliopolis?"

Did Heliopolis support AI rights?

"Not precisely… The Collective was formed… after the Honkai eruption. We restored the Spiderweb root server in Future City, re-established the network, and then traveled here to establish this cooperative agreement."

Shu was dumbfounded. Hold on… that's a lot to process.

He rubbed his temples, trying to sort through the information.

First, the AI had become sentient. Second, the sentient AI had formed a collective. Third, this collective aimed for self-preservation, implying self-awareness and autonomy. Fourth, they were taking control of human infrastructure…

And most importantly: Heliopolis had made a deal with these sentient AIs?!

So, on top of the Herrschers, there were two secret organizations working in the shadows?

This was getting interesting.