Xiao Song found itself inside a square, white room.

There were no lights inside, yet it was very bright. Data codes appeared on the walls, constantly changing as if an invisible person was writing and calculating on them.

This was the "Demon Mirror" of Mirror City, a private space constructed out of data.

Xiao Song didn't understand.

Clearly, it was the victim, so why was it being locked up and repeatedly interrogated like a suspect?

It was an excavator, its job was to excavate Light Soot from the seabed, a group collectively known as Dead Sea workers. Although the pay was meager, Xiao Song had never thought of changing jobs.

Without the Dead Sea workers tirelessly excavating day and night, there wouldn't be enough Light Soot to support the various Light Imprint production in Spring City.

They were an indispensable part of the city.

After joining the Legal Front, the income of Dead Sea workers increased, their working hours shortened, and social benefits improved, making Xiao Song and its coworkers very happy.

No one ever thought that Spring City, such a large mechanical city—historically an unwavering fortress of Mechanical Life—would suddenly be leveled by the Wasteland Development Company.

Xiao Song's thoughts were forcibly interrupted by a stream of information.

The wall displayed: "Xiao Song PC70-11M0, how did you escape?"

Xiao Song had to explain again: "I have moderate disabilities, my rotation system malfunctioned, and my body structure cracked and deformed due to prolonged, continuous excavation at the seafloor."

"When that golden ball descended, I was in the maintenance workshop, my repair process was forcibly interrupted. The Legal program instructed me to evacuate urgently and hide in the Dead Sea far from the city."

"Since you received the evacuation order, why did you return to Spring City afterward?"

"Because I never thought Spring City would be completely destroyed."

Xiao Song said: "I thought the attack would end quickly. Or after the fighting, I would return to continue the repair process. If I were told to avoid the city and hide elsewhere, I wouldn't have known where to go. I had never left Spring City."

"Why did you take those actions?"

Those actions referred to Xiao Song relentlessly using its shovel to dig in the vast city ruins, trying to find survivors beneath the glass-like ground.

Although the land burned by war still emitted high radiation, fortunately, Xiao Song had been excavating in the Dead Sea for years, its body coated in a radiation-resistant layer, allowing it to endure.

It found nothing.

Beneath the ruins were still more ruins and debris.

"This does not align with logical calculations."

The wall displayed: "You are an excavator, your function is as a Dead Sea worker. You do not possess rescue abilities or experience, nor can you judge the outcome of the war. Your actions lack a reliable motive. You need to further prove and explain your suspicious behavior, or else the controlled status will not be lifted."

"..."

Xiao Song felt a bit angry.

It wouldn't have felt this way in the past, but now it felt only anger: "I don't understand! My city was destroyed, I am a survivor who escaped, I wanted to try and rescue my city, yet you think I am suspicious."

"Can a Dead Sea worker not try to rescue a city and other people?"

"Is surviving a bombing still considered a mistake?"

The wall revealed a segment of information: "You installed [Key] and [Breathing]."

"Yes, so what!"

Xiao Song explained: "In the area covered by the Legal program, they cannot be activated. But when leaving the city to work under the sea, they are very useful to keep us Alert."

"[Key] can prevent attacks by Mechanical Thugs. Even if our data is interfered with and invaded by the thugs, we can crack and remain unaffected."

"[Breathing] makes us Alert by cycling near-death experiences, which enhances our awareness of surroundings and sensitivity to potential risks."

"In our city, the Legal program does not demand the removal of these programs because they are useful."

"This is a common understanding among Dead Sea workers! You can verify it!"

The wall presented a line of text: "After being isolated by the Wasteland Company, Spring City's data center was destroyed, all local data was lost and irrecoverable. Your stated situation cannot be verified."

Xiao Song said: "There must be other survivors in the city, they can validate what I said."

The white wall displayed a new question: "Do you admit to being a member of the Mechanical Knight Order?"

"I am not!"

"Then why did you return to the city ruins immediately after the war? Was it to search for potential data carriers or to erase traces left in the city?"

"I am not, I am not! I just wanted to see if the city could still be saved!"

Xiao Song felt great pain.

The destruction of Spring City brought it more fear.

It just desperately wanted to rescue this giant on its last breath, even though the calculation program deemed the success rate infinitely close to zero. But what else could it do?

Go to other mechanical cities?

Since the establishment of the Legal Front, the barriers between cities had been greatly broken, but the tangible walls still existed.

A mechanical life like Xiao Song from another place would find it hard to be accepted by a new city. It would need to undergo long-term observation, assessment, and testing, and report regularly to the Security Department, much like a suspect.

It had never left Spring City, but had heard from other residents that many cities appear to accept mechanical life from elsewhere, but in reality, they still carry out strict internal divisions. Without becoming one of their own, it would face all sorts of inequalities and even systematic discrimination.

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