The delicate machinery began to make a slight click, and two diamond-shaped crystals that emitted light floated out of a storage tank next to it, hovering in front of Diana. The light curtain projected by the crystals swept across her body like a net. In this brief moment, Diana's memory returned to many years ago, to the days when she was a guard at the Viplanton Observatory.

At that time, life was much simpler than it is now, and a machine didn’t need to think about so many questions.

A mechanical handle with a sharp tip came to the top of the repair tank and accurately pried open the access cover of Diana's abdomen. The old brass core ticked in the mechanical cabin. The magic center and the mental core wrapped in the protective layer emitted a slight blue light in the gel-like buffer substance. Under the personal control of Ophelia Norton, the tools configured in the repair tank began to carefully deal with this body that was already very different from the original factory settings. Diana heard the voice of the corps leader coming from above again.

"It may take a little while, there are a lot of components inside your body that have been seriously beyond the limit of use, and there are many... not so standardized modifications and repairs that, while barely make you move as usual, have put a lot of your core devices into great pressure. Now, relax, I'm going to transfer your energy flow to the outside and remove your magic center."

"These non-standard transformations and repairs have kept me alive to this day. Without them, I might have died a century ago." Diana whispered.

A brief sense of dizziness came at the moment when the magic center was removed, and it quickly dissipated due to the connection of external energy. She blinked and heard Ophelia Norton's voice coming into her ears: "...'live' and 'dead', ordinary Iron Man soldiers rarely use these words on themselves, even if it is a model like you that is specifically for the civilian market. You are now very similar to a human, Diana."

"...This is probably a side effect of getting out of the Iron Man network," Diana said slowly. She could feel the tools were dismantling her body into parts little by little, but this did not cause any pain. Her perception system has automatically switched to maintenance mode. The "perception" generated when the bionic tissue is cut is turning into pure data flowing into the core of the mind. "I don't know whether this change is good or bad."

"It's up to you," Ophelia chuckled, "I'm curious, what it feels like to leave the Iron Man network? Since the birth of Iron Man, there has been few precedents like you, even if there are occasional individuals who have disconnected the internet, I have never had the chance to ask about these from them."

"...There was chaos and confusion in the early stage, and the lack of direct and clear instructions, which caused the body's operating efficiency to be reduced to the lowest point. In most cases, only the instinct to maintain its own survival. I was driven by this instinct and the only command of "escape from disaster" for hundreds of years," Diana frankly told her once nominal "superior commander" that she had never told outsiders. "After contact with humans, the situation began to change.... Those humans were not my superior nodes, but their rescue gave me a reason to... help them do something. At first, I thought this was also a kind of 'command', but I don't know when, I realized that this was my own 'will'..."

"The central connection will be released and reset," the system prompt sound suddenly came from next to the repair slot, "Start cutting."

A strange "numbness" poured into the core of the mind. The next moment, Diana lost her perception of her entire body. She seemed to have become an unconscious soul, lying on this cold mechanical platform, while maintaining her only sober thinking, but her visual and auditory modules were still running. She could still see the dark red "eyes" directly above and hear the soft voice of Ophelia Norton.

"It seems that those humans have changed you a lot, Diana."

"...You also remember... not quite the same as what I recorded in my initial data," Diana said, finding her voice coming from a synthetic device in the room. "I felt this way when I saw the interaction carrier of Veronica last time. You are not very similar to Ophelia Norton as I know, but I don't know how to describe this difference. As an ordinary iron soldier, I only contacted your will in the mental network back then. Maybe I am not qualified to make this judgment..."

"Your judgment is accurate, Diana," Ophelia's voice seemed to pause for a moment. "We have all experienced something that, after seven centuries of change, it is difficult for soldiers and generals to stay the same."

Diana didn't speak for a moment, but just silently felt the data flowing in the only normal core of the mind. These data constituted her "personality". As His Highness Ophelia said, she is really "like a human", so suddenly she became nervous like a human: "My mind core, and the data stored in it..."

"Your mental core is not in good condition, but the damage can be said to be milder than other places. I will adjust it, but don't worry, I won't move anything inside," Ophelia said in a gentle tone, with a gentleness in her voice that I don't know if it's an illusion. "Diana's data are your memories and life. I may understand the meaning of these data better than you."

Ophelia's words seemed to have a deep meaning, especially when she talked about "memory and life", this feeling was particularly obvious, but Diana couldn't guess and could not think of what kind of feelings were buried here. She just suddenly felt sleepy. It was a dormant countdown that was not under her control. She knew that the adjustment of the core of the mind had begun.

"Now start, you will enter dormant until the body completely recovers and restarts," Ophelia's voice came from above, sounding a little far away. "Are there any special requirements before entering dormant?"

"...Please keep that steel plate on the protective compartment on my left torso," Diana whispered, "that was what they left when they first tried to repair my body, and I wanted to keep it as a memory."

"Okay, I will keep it to sleep now. Soldier, have a good dream. After waking up, there is a brand new life waiting for you."

...

In the deep control hall, Ophelia Norton, sitting on the golden throne, fell on Gao Wen: "Diana's condition was worse than I expected. I was surprised that a regular Iron Man soldier like her could run until today when there were so many failures in the body. At the same time, he was also surprised that the various 'wonderful solutions' that the Tifeng people had come up with to maintain such a body."

"You seem to value her very much," Gao Wen said with some surprise. "I don't think every damaged iron soldier will be repaired by you personally, right?"

"Diana's situation is very complicated. Her body has undergone a lot of non-standard modification and repair. It is difficult for the conventional automatic repair process to repair her without causing secondary damage... No, as you said, I attach great importance to her."

"Why?"

"...A person has become a machine, and a machine that once was gradually becoming a human. I don't know how to describe this, but Diana's existence reminded me of myself. Although our situation is completely different, I think...we are all proving the blurry boundary between 'human' and 'machine'," Ophelia's voice sounded quite emotional, "Can you understand my awkward thought?"

"I understand more than you think." Gao Wen laughed. As a satellite spirit, no one knows better this sense of blur and misalignment in self-cognition than him. At the same time, he also feels a little bit emotional. This was a few years ago. He really didn't expect that he would discuss this kind of cyber issue with an ancient artificial intelligence here... What about the sword and magic that was said to be?

"What are you thinking?" Ophelia noticed the subtle changes in Gao Wen's expression and couldn't help but feel curious.

"Nothing," Gao Wen waved his hand, and then he looked serious, "I came to see you in person this time, and there is something very special."

"It's a special thing? And you need to come to the deep underground in person..." Ophelia on the throne moved her body slightly, and her face showed a curious look. Obviously, her body is no longer the "works-rushing product" used on the first day of the meeting, and her head is no longer solid (I regretfully lost the qualification to compete with Rebecca for the first iron head of Loren). "It seems that this matter is of great significance, and it is related to you personally. Please tell me. I am very happy that I can get the trust of you."

Gao Wen nodded: "First of all, I have to confirm that one thing your iron soldier should not be influenced by gods and is not part of the 'thinking trend', right?"

"Of course," Ophelia immediately gave a positive reply, "Iron Man Soldiers are not humans. Even an iron man like Diana, who already has a 'heart' like a human, cannot become a part of the 'thought'. I have repeatedly verified this."

"So that is to say, the Iron Man soldiers entering space will not stimulate the mortal gods," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, "and it will not lead to the eventual disobedience early."

"...What do you want to do?" Ophelia's tone became particularly serious. She seemed to have vaguely guessed what Gao Wen wanted to do, but she didn't dare to confirm for a while.

"You should know that there is a legacy of a setter in space." Gao Wen exhaled softly.

"Yes, and the news about this is gradually no longer a secret between the top leaders of the alliance. The ancient dragons in Tallond have witnessed with their own eyes the scene of the space facilities left above our planet when the Settler left behind. Although due to the influence of some unknown technology, we mortals living on the surface seem to be unable to see those huge structures. In addition, I also know that the sentry is the weapon left by the Settler when you destroy it yourself."

"Yes, this news was still something I released, it's all true," Gao Wen nodded slightly, "Then have you ever thought... that you can get close to those 'legacy' located in space?"

Ophelia's expression changed again: "You mean..."

"You should know that part of the Settler's legacy is under my control, but the long years have put these over-service space stations on the verge of downtime. Recently, I'm trying to restart and repair them," Gowen said of his plan. "After the Talash meeting is over, this restoration will begin."

"You want my Ironman Corps to participate?" Ophelia confirmed again very seriously.

"Yes," Gao Wen affirmed Ophelia's speculation. "When the last time he treks to the southwest of the mainland, Byron discovered a track elevator that could send people from the surface to the orbital space station. I have successfully restarted this passage and the corresponding area in the space station, but if I want the entire space station to come alive, I need more people. The Dragon Clan and Siren have accepted my invitation, but I think... this is not enough."

"...If so, the Iron Man Corps is indeed a good choice," Ophelia nodded slightly. The thinking matrix quickly calmed her a little excited mood, and replaced it with calm thinking. "And considering the special environment in space, my Iron Man may even be more suitable for this job than the dragon. But then again, look at your appearance...you seem to be planning to make this matter public?"

"...Millions of people witnessed the appearance of Sentinel cruisers on the battlefield. Then they saw with their own eyes the wreckage falling from space scattered on the wasteland of Gondor. After that, the research on sentinel wreckage will inevitably be carried out on a large scale," Gao Wen exhaled softly, "Some things have come to a time when they have to be made public. Continue to hide them, which is very likely to lead to unstable changes in the mortal thoughts, so we must establish a correct understanding of the concept of "setter" among a large number of people as soon as possible.

"Although mortals cannot step into the starry sky now, at least we have to avoid them establishing a wrong concept of things in the starry sky."

Ophelia listened quietly to Gao Wen's words, and then she spoke softly: "Confronting thoughts is like a competition. If correct knowledge and reason cannot occupy people's hearts first, then ignorance and blindness will take root. I understand what you mean, and the Iron Man Corps will respond to your call at any time."

"Well, there is no need to react like this," Gao Wen was a little awkward in the face of Ophelia's attitude. "Although the Deep Blue Well is indeed protected by Cecil in terms of the situation, you are the master of the Iron Man Corps here. I think we should deal with it as an equal friend."

"A friend..." The exquisite "doll" on the throne slowly laughed, "Okay, then your loyal friend will respond to your call at any time."

...

In Cecil City, in the prayer hall of the Cathedral of Light, Veronica, who stood in front of the pulpit, slowly opened her eyes.

A ray of light passed through her eyes, and the misty holy light slowly floated beside the "saint princess". The sacred glory was as always, making her look full of holy spirit, but it was a little bit unclothed. The feeling of not being close to the world but not being maintained for too long. A smile appeared on her face. This smile quickly diluted Veronica's feeling that was not like the world, making her look full of vitality.

He let out a gentle breath and sorted out the priest's skirt. Veronica ended her prayer today. She picked up the platinum scepter next to her, and a sounding cheerful voice rang out next to her: "You look very happy today, Saint."

Veronica looked in the voice and saw an intern nun in charge of cleaning the church smiling and greeting her. She knew this girl, who had just graduated from church school this year and was a lively and cheerful child. She dreamed of becoming an armed nun who spreads the gospel. Although she was defeated during the last test due to poor physical fitness tests and staff skills, she seemed to have signed up for the winter nun selection in the newly renovated Holy Light Church, which is quite common for such energetic young people.

Veronica laughed: "Is it obvious?"

The petite intern nun honestly replied: "It's a bit. It's rare to see you laugh like this. Although you always laugh, your usual smile is different from before."

"I'm really happy." Veronica smiled, then reached out and rubbed the hair of the apprentice nun in front of her. While the latter was a little stunned, she was also stunned for a moment. Although she had always shown herself as approachable and gentle and amiable image in the church, it seemed that this was the first time she had acted like this.

This is not like the usual "saint princess" who is always dignified and quiet and introverted.

But it looks like the "Ophelia" who was still alive seven hundred years ago.
Chapter completed!