Chapter 266: Internet? And So Many of This Race?

The members of the Loki Familia instantly perked up.

They could help Ais earn points? That was more than enough motivation.

Everyone was deeply curious about the chat group. If there was a chance to enter it someday, that would be the best outcome. But it seemed unlikely.

According to them, the points in the group were extremely difficult to acquire. Even a single point was incredibly valuable.

Everyone agreed to the plan. After dinner, they began preparing.

Everyone packed up their belongings and gathered together.

Seeing this, Takumi promptly stored them all into a spatial bracelet.

Then, he sent it directly to Houraisan Kaguya.

Takumi: [Exclusive red packet for Houraisan Kaguya] [This is the Loki Familia. Let them go over and help as well.] [As for me, I'll go check out the other world.] [This world is basically under control.] [The gods here will keep their people in line.] [Shiroyasha, make sure to handle things properly over there.] [Once I settle the remaining world, everything should be stable.]

Takumi explained the situation in the chat.

Receiving Takumi's message, Shiroyasha also popped up.

Shiroyasha: [Leave this world to me!] [I'm already having a great conversation with the strong beings of this world.] [(p≧w≦q)]

Looking at the powerful beings she had gathered, Shiroyasha was incredibly pleased.

The mission rewards were distributed based on merit. If Takumi settled all the worlds, the rest only needed to manage the magical beasts that would merge in later.

Those could be handled by others, and everyone would still get some benefits.

Shiroyasha was quite satisfied with this arrangement.

Of course, Takumi would get the largest share of contribution—after all, he was managing multiple worlds.

But it was fine. As long as she handled this world well, she would earn her fair share.

Takumi: [OK, it's yours.] [I'm heading off to the last world.]

All that remained was settling the last world.

With that in mind, Takumi didn't hesitate. He opened a portal again, exited into the void, and flew toward the final world.

Although the world was some distance away, for the current Takumi, it was only a matter of minutes.

Upon arrival, he charged in without hesitation.

The moment he entered, Takumi realized—this world seemed to be in the midst of a great war.

He concealed his presence and silently slipped into the world.

The sky was shrouded in a gray haze. The magic energy was extremely dense, but there were also harmful substances lingering in the air.

Feeling the environment more carefully, Takumi frowned.

Was this a post-nuclear war world?

Then had spiritual energy been restored?

But upon closer inspection, it didn't seem like nuclear radiation existed here.

Which meant, this wasn't a post-nuclear war world.

So what kind of world was this?

It had magic and an apocalyptic landscape.

Takumi began probing further.

Gradually, he detected something—

"The internet?"

"This world has that too?"

Discovering this, Takumi was amused.

But that worked just fine.

If there was a network, he could hack into it.

With that thought, Takumi activated his authority and infiltrated the network he had discovered.

However, the moment he entered, he was immediately detected.

'Intruder detected.' 'Initiating trace.'

Massive data flows surged forth, and Takumi was being locked on.

He was surprised.

Seriously? That sensitive?

He got detected just like that?

Still, Takumi proceeded to extract the data he needed.

As he downloaded the information, he paused for a moment.

"I see. So it's that world."

"No wonder."

"So this network belongs to the Ex-Machina?"

Realizing this, Takumi rubbed his chin.

Then suddenly, his eyes lit up.

The Ex-Machina—a race created by the doubting god Phaloh of this world.

She didn't understand what gods were or why they existed.

No one could answer her, so she created five small mechanical cubes to converse with.

Observation, Analysis, Logic, Response—the four base units, and one overseer unit.

These machines evolved over time, improving themselves after losing their creator, eventually developing into the current Ex-Machina race.

They had no hearts, no emotions, and didn't know what they fought for.

They existed meaninglessly, repeating the same cycle of observation, analysis, logic, and response.

Normally, they posed no harm to other races.

Only when attacked would they retaliate.

"So the Ex-Machina are still emotionless at this point."

"Which means the war has only just begun."

"And there are quite a lot of them."

"Even üc207Pr4f57t9 is still active."

Sorting through the data he acquired, Takumi grinned.

Then he decisively uploaded a few files to the Ex-Machina's database.

Want to know what a heart is?

Then let Takumi show you.

The heart—such a complicated concept.

Takumi uploaded various anime archives he had watched.

Let them slowly comprehend it through those.

At the same time, he also uploaded the Prometheus emotional system.

The data he sent stunned the Ex-Machina.

After scanning and confirming they weren't viruses, the mainframe units grew curious.

Ex-Machina did possess curiosity.

They rapidly began browsing the content Takumi uploaded.

And they integrated the emotional system template.

All done via data transfer, so their processing was incredibly fast.

In just a few seconds, the Ex-Machina were overwhelmed.

'Emotion?' 'The human heart is complex.' 'Is this the thing we've been searching for?' 'And who are you?'

The Ex-Machina ceased their counter-hack.

However, they had already locked onto Takumi's location.

Of course, that was intentional. Otherwise, even if they tried, finding Takumi wouldn't be that simple.

Once these files spread through their network, more and more Ex-Machina began appearing in front of Takumi.

Dense, humanoid mechanical beings emerged, surrounding him.

Seeing the cold machines assemble before him, Takumi smiled broadly.

Among them, he spotted üc207Pr4f57t9—

That was Schwi.