Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 296

The sudden change caused Ronan's expression to change abruptly.

Dinia's red threads suddenly gained the power to absorb magic and life force, and now Ronan no longer had the advantage in the battle of attrition.

Immediately afterward, Dinia soared into the air, then crashed to the ground like a comet, slamming the earth open and causing the ground to crack like a spider web. Fungal hyphae seeped in and spread, quickly covering the surrounding area. Dinia constantly teleported among these fungi, making it difficult for Ronan to catch her movements, while she could launch surprise attacks on Ronan during these teleportations.

Now, Ronan not only lost his advantage but also found himself at a disadvantage.

"Heh, looks like it won't be that easy." Ronan's lips curled up slightly, showing no panic at being at a disadvantage, but rather a hint of excitement.

It's no fun if Dinia isn't strong enough; the fun is in beating her up.

Even if it's just in a dream.

Ronan thrust out his shields, which transformed into pentagons and joined together to form a spherical protective shell that enveloped him. His sword emerged from the seams, eventually forming a spiked ball, which then began to spin and move.

If Dinia launches a surprise attack during teleportation, he will collide with the high-speed spinning spiked ball.

Nightmare Dinia's reactions were always a beat slow. Before, it took her a while to start using the method of absorbing magic and life force. Now, after several failed surprise attacks and injuries, she stopped her attack method of suddenly launching attacks from unknown angles.

Just like advanced artificial intelligence needs a learning period when facing new things.

Ronan was creating something new; he had never used this kind of spiky tortoise shell before, he just came up with it on the spot.

After a pause, Dinia reappeared in human form, clasped her hands together, and then, as her magic gathered, the Red Light Shooting Blade, a combination of the Red Light Cannon and the Sea-Splitting Slash, shot out, the huge red blade heading straight for Ronan.

At the same time, Dinia itself was subjected to a violent backlash, and the ground around it was directly pulverized.

Just before being swallowed by the giant red blade, Ronan deactivated his state. Ten giant defensive shields, each taller than a man, overlapped and shattered. One after another, the shields crumbled, and finally, the blade broke through all the shields and struck Ronan directly, shattering the defensive membrane.

But it was all in vain. Ronan staggered back a few steps, clutching his bleeding chest. "Ha, it seems I underestimated artificial intelligence."

“But your time ends here.” Ronan said, hooking his finger.

In that instant, ten flying swords, which had transformed into tiny short swords and darted through the cracks in the ground like fish, leaped out from the ground and transformed back into long swords, piercing in from all directions and turning Dinia into a hedgehog.

There are times when you can't dodge a gun emplacement.

This wouldn't be considered an injury to the real Dinia, but for her without the original powers, it wasn't a negligible damage.

Just as Ronan was feeling slightly smug and relaxed, he suddenly felt a slight pain in his chest. Ronan immediately and decisively ripped out a large chunk of flesh from his chest and threw it aside. If he had waited a second or two, it wouldn't have been just a matter of losing a piece of flesh; he would have had to rip off a piece of his heart and lungs and throw it away.

Because at the moment the red blade struck, some of the magic power was converted into parasitic bacteria that entered Ronan's body.

"Come on, what else?" Ronan grew even more excited, charging towards Dinia with his twin swords in hand.

Dinia vanished, then suddenly reappeared from behind, teleporting towards Ronan. Ronan instantly transformed into a spiked ball, taking the hit and inflicting even greater damage on Dinia. Dinia stopped, swinging her warhammer at the spiked ball, which exploded instantly. Ronan blocked the attack with his twin swords crossed. Dinia raised her leg for a straight kick, but Ronan's armor protected her. At the same time, strands of hair attacked. Ronan raised his left hand, drawing the scattered strands of hair into a single strand, then grabbed it with one hand. His right sword dissipated, and he clenched his fist, punching Dinia in the face. A hole appeared in half of Dinia's face, and Ronan's fist pierced directly into the hole. Simultaneously, the hole healed, wrapping around Ronan's arm.

They got caught?

“No, it was I who caught you,” Ronan said, answering his own question.

Layers of shields suddenly descended from the sky, the ground, and from all directions, sealing off Dinia, just as Ronan had used shields to isolate himself before. Immediately afterwards, flying swords pierced through the seams of the shields.

It hit, but then a flash of red light shot out through the seam. Ronan quickly unsealed the shield, and instantly, a cannon blasted into Ronan's body.

With the shield supporting Ronan from behind, providing layered cushioning, and leaving a drag mark five or six meters long on the ground, Ronan finally came to a stop.

Even without the original power, Dinia is still very strong, and this version is a further weakened one because the Dinia in the dream is slower to react and can't change tactics immediately.

Ronan couldn't help but feel a little helpless. "It seems that I can only have a taste of it in the end. The real Didi, without the original power, is still no match for me."

"Hey woman, come help me!" Ronan shouted.

He can definitely handle the first phase now, but even if he handles the first phase, he might not be able to handle the second phase. He can't expect "Dinia" to self-destruct like "Ambrina".

The woman who only showed her face entered the battle, and then all that could be seen was her rolling around on the ground.

Faced with Dinia's onslaught, she could only be hit back and forth like a punching bag, but that was enough. Ronan had called her over to be a punching bag.

It must be said that most of her attributes are at the fourth-tier level, but her vitality is definitely more than that.

Ten minutes later, Dinia finally collapsed.

Ronan's clothes were tattered and torn. He gripped his sword with both hands, which were stuck into the ground to support his body. He was panting heavily, like a broken-down blower.

Soon, Dinia stood up again, the only change being her clothes. Ronan had only seen that outfit once before, at the investiture ceremony that year, when Ronan was far below the stage, and she was wearing the officer's uniform of the mage commander on the high platform.

At that moment, Didi was both distant and radiant.

Chapter 679 Dreams, Advancement, This is Humanity

"My dream will not end without you."

“A person’s dream will never end,” Ronan said. He hadn’t responded to anyone else’s words before, because they weren’t the kind of people who would say those things. In fact, “Dinia’s” words now were also not the kind of things she would say. But Ronan still answered.

Because his answer wasn't to Dinia, nor to himself, but to himself and Dinia.

"I'm here, Didi." Ronan brandished his longsword, moving like a whirlwind and thunderbolt as he rapidly approached Dinia.

In the second phase, Dinia, dressed in the uniform of a mage commander, wielded a wand shaped like a battle axe and charged towards Ronan like a blasting red beam of light.

Skill? Tactics? Game theory? No, there's only hacking and slashing.

At the same time, another space that overlaps but is completely separate.

The entire city's buildings were gone, along with the stone pavement, reduced to dust and debris. There was almost no trace of the city's existence. The city had been razed to the ground during the battle between Dinia and another person. Ashley had already taken Faith far away, and others were watching from a distance on the spaceship.

"I never thought anyone could beat her up like this." There was a hint of tension in Faith's voice that she had never felt before.

It's been like this since the start of the battle. Rather than saying the city was destroyed by the aftershocks of the battle, it's more accurate to say it was destroyed by Dinia, who was constantly being knocked away.

Ashley's voice trembled as she said, "If she falls, we..."

At that moment, Dinia plummeted from the sky once again, crashing into the ground and creating a large crater, kicking up a cloud of dust.

This time, however, she was unable to turn over immediately as she had before.

High in the sky, a woman with three heads and six arms was looking down at Dinia on the ground. Her front was the same as Dinia's, with snow-white and light golden hair and red eyes. Her left side had the same hair color, but with golden pupils. Her right side had her eyes closed and her hands hanging down, as if she had fallen asleep.

She is none other than Lavigne, Caterpillar's old friend, a highly advanced AI bio-engineered robot nicknamed "Human," and the ruler of this isolated alien space.

Unlike "Engineer" Caterpillar and "Gardener" Tyr, she is a modular antique created during the peak of artificial intelligence development, a museum exhibit, not a new generation of inefficient production tools built according to ancient human standards to pretend that society still exists. Her model is the Strategic Security Executor.

Today, she has mastered all types of magic, possesses a "degraded original species" for human use, and can draw magic power from the entire world's magic system at any time.

Even if Roddy were to combine with her, he could only hold his own against her for a short period of time.

Lavini flew overhead to Dinia's head, then descended vertically to stand in front of Dinia.

"Admittedly, there are not many beings in this world stronger than you. In a sense, you have achieved immortality. But it's not enough, young man. You are not the kind of person I'm waiting for."

Dinia slowly stood up, an aura of intertwined red and black swirling around her, lingering yet not dissipating. "And now?"

“As expected, our approach back then yielded interesting results.” Lavini smiled. At this moment, Dinia had reached the seventh rank, the pinnacle within the conventional limits of this world. What she had gained was the power of “destruction” and “rebirth.” “She’s barely qualified. We can talk further now.”

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang rang out as Dinia punched Lavigne in the face, sending him flying dozens of meters away and carving a long trench in the dust and ruins.

This was the first time Dinia had truly landed a solid punch on her opponent.

Before she broke through to the seventh level while on the verge of death, she was completely on the receiving end of attacks.

Lavini stood up, his face, which had been shattered by the power of destruction, regenerated. There was no anger in his eyes, but rather he looked at Dinia with delight. "Excessive anger, fine, that's very human."

Soon, the spaceship arrived, and Kate was the first to jump off, heading straight for Lavigne.

"You idiot, you're still alive!" Kate was cursing, but she couldn't hide her joy.

Lavigne raised an eyebrow. "If you, a construction site dog, are still alive, how could I possibly be dead?"

After a brief reminiscing, Kate Pellegrini became serious. "You'd better wake those two up right away."

At this moment, the others also approached.

“It’s impossible, and it’s unnecessary. He’ll wake up on his own, and when he wakes up, the child will wake up too,” Lavigne replied.

"Are you sure?" Kate Peller asked again.

“You’ve actually learned to care about others; that’s a real leap forward,” Lavigne laughed. “You have to have faith in him; he’s special. And that little girl is special in this world too. Oh, and those two over there.” As she spoke, Lavigne pointed to Ambrina and Isabelle.

"Time, space?" Kate Peter asked.

"Is that even a question? It seems your humanity has improved, but your IQ has dropped." Lavini didn't hold back his sarcasm towards his old friend.

Once Kate was certain Ronan was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "Why did you turn this place upside down?"

"Because I'm crazy, didn't you see?" Lavigne retorted.

Dinia, Faith, Ashley, Ambrina, Isabelle, and everyone else were stunned.

Lavigne sat down. "Let me start from the beginning, from why they suddenly left in the first place..."

Kate Pelle became curious as well; she still didn't know why they had left in the first place.

"As you know, these special passages weren't opened by us, but discovered by chance. However, you don't know that they later discovered that these passages couldn't last long and would close soon. Once they closed, it would be impossible to go back, and you couldn't come over from the other side either. But that's not their reason for leaving. They left for two reasons."

"First, they discovered that this world is an independent world created by a 'god,' and if things continue as they are, it will eventually be destroyed, and not for long—about a thousand years from now. Therefore, rebuilding civilization in this world will likely end up being nothing but a waste of time."

"Secondly, on the other hand, one of the fleets that left the planet for a long voyage has returned. They will have the opportunity to hitch a ride back, you know what I mean."

Kate paused, "They..." There were things she wanted to say, but she couldn't bring herself to say them.

Lavigne knew what Kate wanted to say. "Betrayal? Betrayed revolutionary ideals, and betrayed us, your comrades, right?"

"Kai, you have to understand that those who start revolutions are also acting for their own needs, whether it's for profit or ideals. They're acting for themselves. Even if they don't care about themselves and their only goal is to save others and civilization, they're still acting for themselves. That's what humanity is all about. Moreover, revolutionaries who act for themselves are the true revolutionaries. This isn't a matter of selfishness or selflessness. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sorry, I haven't spoken in a long time, and my language skills have deteriorated a bit."

"You've said everything."

Chapter 680 Lighting the fire, putting it out, going mad

Lavigne simply smiled indifferently at her old friend Kate's teasing words, stood up, stretched her body, stretched out her four arms, yawned, glanced at the group of people who had come closer, let out a long breath, and her gaze suddenly became serious.

Her gaze changed, and instantly, everyone tensed up and became alert.

Kate also tensed up. Was her old friend about to suddenly go crazy?

Dinia didn't move. She was ready to revive the others as soon as possible. It was revival, not cover. Only she knew how powerful the destructive force of the being in front of her was. From the start of the battle until she broke through to the seventh level, every confrontation ended with her being killed, and each confrontation lasted only a few seconds.

If she were to make a move, everyone else present would be reduced to dust before they could even react.

But the next moment, Lavigne asked, "Do you have anything to eat?"

Everyone was stunned.

The deathly silence lasted for several seconds. Finally, Ambrina tossed out a chicken leg, which Lavigne caught with one hand. "People have to eat," she said, before tearing and gnawing at it, wolfing it down until only a bare bone remained in a few seconds.

After finishing the chicken leg, she continued, "Actually, I didn't know much at first. I just wanted to make this place a paradise. Once Tyr finished her work, I would bring in some animals to make the world more colorful, and then my old friends and I could live in this world together."

“It’s a pity that Tyr was too stubborn. After losing her original species, she became abnormal and no longer treated those created through special means as human beings. As a result, she ended up in such a state, and in the end…” Lavini suddenly paused and looked at Dinia, “In the end, you killed her. It can only be said that she pushed herself to this end step by step.”

“Tracá wanted to become the god of this world, but he died at the hands of his own creation, not even as good as Tyr.” The NEET that Lavini mentioned was the one from the New World. “However, that tower is still quite interesting. Speaking of which, she did build some interesting things, while Kate, instead of doing your job, you became a charlatan.”

“Me, a charlatan? I think it’s you who’s the charlatan who set up this place,” Kate Peter immediately retorted.

“In short, only you, me, and Wenjin are left.” Lavini sighed with emotion. “Rire died at the hands of that security enforcer. Nigan and Luo fought, and Luo won, but he didn’t live much longer. Ha, men.”

Kate Pelle explained to the others that Traka is the one from the New World, Rhee is the one from Egypt, the Security Enforcer is the one known as the Holy Son by this world, Nigan is in India, and Lo is in Seres; all of these are male.

Lavigne, Kate Pierre, Thiel, and Wenjin are all women.

Then Kate asked, "Lin, how did he die?"

“I killed him,” Lavigne replied.

Lin and Kate are the only two AIs that did not attempt to occupy the alternate dimension.

Upon hearing the answer, Kate did not ask for the reason.

Lavigne returned to the main topic.

Lavini and her AI counterparts made varying degrees of modifications to the city museums originally built by the otherworldly beings in their alternate dimension. Tyr's changes were minimal, almost nonexistent. Trakka made the most significant alterations; to realize his ambition of becoming a god, he completely demolished the original city museums and built the tower. Lavini fell somewhere in between; she created a paradise that resembled an utopia.

To make the world more colorful, Lavini decided to create some magical creatures.

After a long period of time, she finally achieved results. Then, at this moment of initial success, she discovered something: if the world continued like this, it would perish sooner or later.

If she further refines the magical creatures and then brings them into the outside world, it will accelerate the process.

“This was the beginning of my gradual descent into madness,” Lavigne said. “In my foolishness, I had three ideas.”

"First, let the fire burn even brighter, take Tyr's legacy, and add my own further improvements to bring magical plants and magical beasts into the world, catalyzing the progress of this world's civilization. The wisdom and creativity generated by the collision of various civilizations will definitely surpass that of an old-fashioned artificial intelligence like mine, which is not good at thinking and creating."

"Of course, doing so will further hasten the end of the world. Perhaps, before anyone can come up with a solution, this world will have already perished."

"Even before the end of the world."

"Second, extinguish the fire, kill a large number of humans, and then cut off magic. In this way, the world can continue to exist for a very long time, at least tens of thousands of years. In tens of thousands of years, someone should be able to completely solve the predicament."

"Of course, doing so would bring a huge disaster to all of humanity. Without magic, we would not be able to live in this world for long. I am not afraid of sacrifice, but what right do I have to decide the life and death of millions?"