Honkai, but Behind the Scenes

"Huh, hey, hey? What the hell is this? Inexplicable energy!"

Xiao Du's voice no longer held its previous tone; everyone could hear the panic in him.

"Sir Guardian Angel?" Bianka was a little stunned. 

Combined with Tian Shi's hostile tone earlier, it was obvious that Tian Shi was targeting this sword.

"Lady Bianka, Sir Guardian Angel must have a reason." Rita grabbed Bianka, who was about to speak, and gestured for her to continue listening.

"Come on, Xiao Du, explain your past carefully."

"Huh? What's that sound? Where's it coming from?"

Xiao Du seemed to hear Tian Shi's voice.

"What's happening?" Bianka was a little confused.

"Because Soul Steel's characteristics are very compatible with me, as long as I enter Xiao Du, which is a Soul Steel weapon, you'll naturally be able to hear my voice."

"Enter... Are you going to possess Xiao Du?"

"What are you talking about? After all, he's a powerful artificial intelligence and has his own intelligence."

Although I don't understand what the other party and my lady are saying, does this mean nothing serious will happen to me? But what is this energy invading his body?

"Oh... so you want to scare him?" Rita tilted her head. 

But isn't that true? It was obvious Tian Shi had already possessed him.

"No, I mean I can destroy his artificial intelligence and then possess him. Possession isn't the only ability I have to invade objects."

Initially, Trouble Maker only had two abilities: manipulating objects from nothing, or applying certain disadvantages to people or objects. 

While the latter isn't as complex as a genuine curse, it's undoubtedly a very practical method, as seen now. 

The Trouble Maker ability directly inhibited Durandal's (Xiao Du's) self-control, making the uncontrolled part no longer truly a part of him. 

Thus, Tian Shi could possess that portion. And then... if no accidents occurred, Tian Shi would simply follow the steps to "counterattack" Xiao Du's core with the part he occupied.

"No, don't say such terrible things!"

For Xiao Du, destroying one's own intelligence is equivalent to beheading a human.

"It's just something from the past! I'm telling you! Isn't that enough? Get out of my body right now!!"

"Haha."

"Well, this story begins with the ancient civilization. A very, very long time ago, Yucatán and Alaska were still connected, and the continent of Mu hadn't sunk to the depths of the Mariana Trench." 

Xiao Du's first sentence made Rita and Bianka realize just how much time had passed.

"Back then, a group of people was responsible for creating me. I should thank them for giving me enough wisdom, but, to be honest, they were a very boring group of people." 

In Xiao Du's voice, there were obviously more complaints than nostalgia.

"They seemed to belong to an ascetic society and studied the technology called 'combat' day and night. They also wanted me to learn these things. To be precise, because of my inherent supercomputing ability, they hoped I could learn a technology difficult for mortals to master." 

An ascetic society studying combat technology day and night, with such technical power, was undoubtedly the Fire Moth.

"What technology?" Rita asked curiously.

"Hmm... by manipulating microscopic particles, I can change the structure and physical properties of objects, like creating vacuum faults... In the beginning, I was like a primary school student learning calligraphy, constantly practicing and consolidating the results into my own hardware structure." 

Soul Steel, under the condition of a strong artificial intelligence, can change its own structure within a wide range. 

For example, Void Archives and the Seven Thunders of Retribution, while Void Archives borrowed some of the Herrscher of Reason's abilities, Raven's Seven Thunders of Retribution can indeed change its own form.

"In my complete version, five of the seven basic control units solidified in this way."

"They are the seven crystals," Tian Shi took over. 

"Although this behavior sounds incredible, it's actually machine learning."

"Yes, day after day, after tens of billions, hundreds of billions of simulation calculations, the arduous 'machine learning' was finally completed," Xiao Du's tone was a little reluctant. 

"My complete version truly has the ability to alter macroscopic properties by manipulating microscopic particles... However, it was at that moment that I felt the most lethal emotion for you humans: boredom."

"Eh? Boredom?" Xiao Du's words made Bianka frown. 

What kind of reason is that? "

They're just an ascetic society. 

They treat themselves like tools... Tell me, how could those people care about my thoughts and my future?"

"Uh... Is this really something a sword should consider?"

Bianka's mouth twitched, and this reason was truly strange. 

"Uh... Strictly speaking, His Excellency Xiao Du is a supercomputer in the form of a weapon, right?" 

Rita no longer called Xiao Du "adult"; compared to Bianka, who listened to the story in a bored manner, Rita felt as if she had guessed what would happen next. 

"Given that... could it be that His Excellency Xiao Du..."

"That's right! After realizing it, I simply closed my eyes and went to sleep!" 

Xiao Du's eyes were filled with pride, and the next moment, they transformed into pain. 

"Don't come in! I'm going to break! If you keep this up, my intelligent module is really going to break!" 

Obviously, the unhappy Tian Shi attacked Xiao Du again.

"Sleep?"

"He's simply shutting down," Tian Shi's cold voice answered Bianka's doubts.

"That's it. If I lock the door, can't I sleep as much as I want? I'm not like you humans, who starve if you don't eat. For you, I should be inert, like a frozen computer, right?" 

Xiao Du said dryly. 

"But I really don't want to commit suicide or lock myself away... I still left some conditions for waking up, but... eh..."

"Only?" This time, even Bianka felt that something was wrong.

"Uh... my first thought was to sleep for a hundred years..."

"I'll kill you, you bastard!"

"He's really going to break! What kind of energy is that?! He can't get in! No matter how he tries, he can't get in!" Xiao Du groaned again. 

"One hundred years... what happened?" 

Ignoring Xiao Du's lament, Bianka held her chin and thought for a moment. 

This question wasn't difficult even for her. "Could it be..."

"I'm afraid the pre-civilization was destroyed, right?" 

Rita said bluntly that this type of weapon had begun to be manufactured, and it was evident that the war against Honkai had reached a critical point.

"That is to say, His Excellency Xiao Du is already a deserter of the previous civilization, right? As for why Sir Guardian Angel is so angry... Obviously, Sir Guardian Angel should also have existed in the previous civilization." 

Now, both Rita and Bianka understood why Tian Shi was so annoyed with Durandal (Xiao Du). 

If this happened to them, this weapon would definitely have to be remade.

"But the pre-civilization might have run out of time at that point," Rita sighed. 

If the previous civilization had had the time and energy to create a second one, perhaps they could understand Xiao Du's problem. 

After all, a strong artificial intelligence already has its own personality and intelligence. 

Even if subjected to the same learning, it might not end up like Xiao Du, who completely lacks a sense of responsibility. 

Furthermore, Xiao Du "went offline" after the experiment's success, which proves this is a viable path. 

If the previous civilization still had time and energy, it definitely wouldn't stop there.

"This behavior is really excessive." Rita concluded. Bianka naturally agreed with this.

"There are even more outrageous things," Tian Shi said with disdain. 

"Come on, Xiao Du, continue."

"Mmmm..." I always feel like I'll be killed if I keep talking like this...

"If you don't speak, you'll be killed now. You can choose for yourself." 

Tian Shi had almost completely invaded Durandal (Xiao Du), so Xiao Du's thoughts couldn't be hidden from Tian Shi.

"Well, just as you said, the previous civilization was destroyed after I woke up. The desolate earth bored me even more, so I kept sleeping, but this time the conditions are not at all extreme! As long as there's someone to chat with all the time, no problem!"

"And then what?" Bianka asked, hands on her hips. This condition, indeed, was not excessive.

"Then, upon waking, I was surrounded by a group of primitive people... It was so disgusting, I taught them a lesson and then looked for a safer place to continue sleeping..."

"What are the conditions this time?"

"Um, well... If there isn't a cute girl to talk to me, I won't get up anymore."

"Bad boy." After a moment of silence, Bianka said mercilessly.

"I'm a sword!"

"And a bad-taste sword... How can it not work if there isn't a cute girl?"

"I'm just positioning myself precisely!" Xiao Du still wanted to object.

"Now you understand how unreliable this sword is," Tian Shi's voice came from the sword.

"Wuwuwu! I told you, you can get off me! Wuwuwu...! I'm not clean anymore..."

"But, then again, this sword is truly unparalleled in terms of performance, and its single-point penetration capability may not be much inferior to that of the Llave de Dios Fenghuang Down." 

Although the function of changing molecular arrangement is just a sentence, it actually manifests an extremely terrifying cutting ability on "matter." 

"Although his character isn't very good, there's no need to spoil him; to put it bluntly, he didn't receive a good enough education back then." 

Although he wasn't happy, Tian Shi still understood the situation clearly.

"I'll beat him up if necessary, and scold him if necessary. If he dares to fight back, he can come to me. If that doesn't work, I can temporarily replace his function." 

That said, after all, Tian Shi couldn't accompany Bianka all the time. 

On the other hand, Durandal (the sword) and Bianka (the person) have good compatibility.

"I will definitely change my ways and be a good sword!" 

Durandal (Xiao Du) raised his wings, as if swearing to the heavens. 

Although after the story from a moment ago, his image had plummeted. 

Furthermore, his current appearance is truly difficult to compliment... Tian Shi is increasingly aware of the need for armed doll technology.

"Actually, this guy is essentially a criminal of bad taste... I understand, I'll correct his bad character in the future." 

Bianka seemed completely disillusioned; after all, Rowland's story was a household name for Valkyries, and Durandal (the sword) was Rowland's sword. 

Just thinking about the fact that this sword recognized Rowland as its master because she was a child... that would be a dream completely shattered.

"Eh... But it's becoming more and more confusing why we're traveling like this." Bianka sighed a little tiredly. "Sir Guardian Angel, I always feel that there are more and more things out of our control..."

"Otto isn't a god, and he can't even be considered to have a perfect plan." Tian Shi chuckled. 

"The villain boss can be extremely intelligent, but he can't be as kind-hearted as a saint and never make mistakes... Don't think Otto is too omnipotent."

"Villain boss?... that's really a disrespectful term." Rita chuckled. 

Her attitude towards Otto seemed to have changed little. 

"Who's the hero then? You, Sir Guardian Angel?"

"This question is really hard to answer... If I had to say, I hope I am." 

Although Tian Shi seemed to be answering, he actually avoided the question. 

"But I understand your uneasiness, Bianka... Is this your first time interacting with various types of people, Bianka?"

"Mmm..." Bianka showed an irrefutable expression. Indeed, this was her first non-combat related mission.

"This is the complexity of being human. Everyone has their own unique ideas and positions; this is something even Otto can't calculate." Tian Shi again thought of Reanna's story. 

There was no doubt that her initial motive for betrayal was simply to protect these energetic and vibrant girls in front of him.

"So, people are contradictory and unpredictable. Didn't you understand that well from Miss Ragna?"

"Hmm... why are you acting like a teacher?" 

Bianka complained, but it was obvious that Bianka had taken Tian Shi's words seriously; after all, there was no need to explain Ragna's position in Bianka's heart. 

Rita also showed a gentle smile at that moment.

[Compatibility between Rita and Bianka +10%]

Although Bianka felt she only understood half...

"I need to improve my literary level. To be honest, I was a teacher for a while." 

Tian Shi looked at Bianka's expression and couldn't help but sigh. 

"To be objective, Bianka, you are truly the dumbest student I've ever taught."

"What do you mean by that! Besides! I'm not your student!"