Rinne’s mind teemed with questions.
Did all witches who worshiped Farosa bear these dark patterns? What effect did they have? Could they be washed off? She hadn’t seen anything like that on Pan Ruiyi before.
As far as Rinne could think, there was probably only one other witch at headquarters who would be willing to bare her stomach for Rinne to see.
Rinne sneaked off to find 102.
was striding along the path to the New Blanket Fortress to collect taxes and was intercepted by Rinne halfway, who quietly pulled her aside where no one else was.
"Show me your stomach," Rinne said earnestly.
"See my tummy?" 102 didn’t understand but still unzipped her protective suit from the top down.
When she was halfway unzipped, it popped out, and Rinne couldn’t help but swallow as she stared at 102’s impeccable cup shape.
Immediately afterward, she felt an overwhelming killing intent behind her and turned to see 101 standing at the corner of the corridor!
"No! That’s enough!" Rinne thought to herself this was bad news and quickly steadied 102 by the shoulders, helping her zip back up.
"Hm?" 102 didn’t quite get it; wasn’t it to get some fresh air? And now it was all stuffed back in again.
102’s gaze passed over Rinne’s shoulder and saw 101, then casually walked over to find her sister.
"Sister~" 102 hugged 101.
"Don’t hang out with her anymore," 101 pushed 102 away, "She’s a baddie."
Rinne wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Behind 101, the Shilou Maru was holstered, a peerless divine weapon not to be taken lightly. 101 looked much like 102 but was significantly more slender.
Hmm, the Nestor Corporation Witch Department...
In fact, Rinne had no connections to them. The thought that they all secretly worshipped Farosa filled Rinne with surprise and wonder.
The sensation that the group gave to Rinne was only tension, they represented the deepest secrets of Nestor Corporation.
Then came the biggest question of all.
If Rinne did not wish to serve the Witch Goddess, how would she manage when the Witch Goddess woke up?
If she stayed here, she would probably be killed silently and unnoticed. Yet, running away would be too shameful.
"Where are you, Mr. Web Monitor?" Rinne sent a message to Xu Yang.
"I was wondering where you had run off to, I’m over at the Synthetic Human Intelligence Laboratory." Xu Yang messaged back, "Come over here."
This laboratory was located on the research floor of Nestor Headquarters, and synthetic human technology was an important project for Nestor Corporation, which was now undergoing organized optimization and development.
Rinne rushed over upon hearing the news. The lab spanned a vast area, with different working groups dedicated to overcoming a variety of challenges.
In the simulation testing zone, Rinne saw a vast glass-enclosed area with several synthetic humans, researchers, obstacles, and high-resolution imaging equipment. Miyazato Kazama was near the control console, adjusting settings and creating scenarios. It looked as though she had transformed the testing zone into a fiery scene resembling a collapsed office with complex terrain and numerous targets.
Several other scientists were remotely connected, sending debugging documents to Miyazato Kazama, enabling her to continuously optimize the artificial intelligence model on site.
It seemed they were developing Nestor Corporation’s own synthetic human intelligence solution!
A thought struck Rinne. Did this mean that Nestor Corporation was no longer dependent on Taro Tanaka’s flawed designs?
That would truly be good news. Once free of the Tanaka plans, Nestor Corporation would be able to develop synthetic humans truly suitable for companionship and assistance for humans. Rinne was also very much looking forward to this.
"So, you’re optimizing the intelligence of the synthetic humans now?" Rinne glanced at the code files entered on the screen and then ventured to ask.
"Calling them ’humans’ isn’t exactly precise," Xu Yang beckoned her over.
Suddenly, a sleek mechanical dog emerged from a metal cage beside them!
Rinne’s eyes lit up at the sight of the mechanical dog.
Cool! This mechanical dog looked significantly different from traditional dogs, devoid of any fur, with a square head, its body entirely comprised of sturdy metal with visible mechanical joints, drive shafts, hydraulic rods, and battery compartments. Bulletproof metal armor was additionally mounted at key positions, giving it a strikingly technological appearance. Its every move was like a techno spirit, embodying the beauty of mechanical technology and the agility of animal instinct.
It turned to face Rinne, and its concealed scanner quickly started to check her status, but the anti-scan implants on Rinne blocked the signal, preventing it from learning more about her.
Deeming Rinne a threat, the mechanical dog hunkered down, readying itself to pounce, extending metal blades from its paws and raising a small 25mm cannon from its back.
"Wow woah—wow woah—" Rinne exaggerated her movements, slowly backing away.
The mechanical dog waited until Rinne was out of the alert range before swiftly returning to standby mode, sitting neatly and retracting the cannon back into its weapon bay.
"So it’s mechanical dogs now?" Rinne observed, "Not some kind of synthetic human girlfriends?"
"According to market research," Xu Yang nodded, "many people are not interested in romance these days. A lifelong mechanical dog companion is the new trend. A faithful mechanical dog accompanying a person from youth to old age, assisting in daily life, offering companionship, protection, caretaking, and performing various auxiliary tasks, is more economical than finding a partner, and will be cost-effective once it hits the market, with the youth model priced at about ten thousand."
Before Xu Yang could give a command to pacify, Rinne used her hacking skills to launch a sneak attack on the mechanical dog, eliciting a synthetic bark. Since the cybersecurity module was linked to the Helis Sea System, it now detected Rinne’s intrusion.
Xu Yang smiled inwardly, his attention always divided, monitoring the Helis Sea. Noticing Rinne’s antics, he slightly engaged in technical countermeasures, causing the mechanical dog’s network module keys to change and regenerate at breakneck speed, faster than Rinne could manage to breach despite the heat on her forehead.