The Robot Settlement was one of the very few places that hadn't been swallowed by the Fragmentum.
And that was because an ancient machine from a bygone era had been standing guard here all this time.
Svarog.
Known in the Underworld as Boss Svarog.
It was he who guarded the area near the only route leading to the Overworld.
If one wanted to reach the Overworld, passing through the Robot Settlement was unavoidable.
Just like the final boss at the end of a dungeon—
Svarog was the Underworld's ultimate gatekeeper.
The plan began.
With the speed of Evan and Seele, the two of them quickly crossed Rivet Town.
Evan's earlier carpet-bombing with the Throne of the Moonlight had significantly quieted things down.
At the very least, while passing through, they didn't encounter any of those irritating Fragmentum monsters.
Before long—
accompanied by Seele's swift movements and Evan chasing from behind,
they reached their destination.
This—
was the Robot Settlement of the Underworld.
At some point, Evan had already moved ahead of Seele.
Before them stretched a vast expanse of snow-covered land, cutting across their path.
The Robot Settlement.
"So this is the Robot Settlement…"
If he hadn't seen it in person, Evan might've thought it was just a small area like in the game.
But standing here himself, he realized—
the settlement was far larger than it looked.
The outer perimeter was filled with tents.
A rough estimate suggested that the population here was no smaller than Boulder Town—
possibly even larger.
When Rivet Town fell into crisis, some people evacuated to Boulder Town.
Others, however, took a different route and ended up here.
Seele nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, this is the Robot Settlement."
"But… the atmosphere feels a bit off."
"Let's go ask around first. Hopefully nothing weird's going on."
As she spoke, Seele walked toward the settlement.
"Gah-gah!"
"Gah-gah!"
"Who goes there?!"
The moment Evan and Seele stepped into the settlement's boundary, two small machines—barely half a person's height—appeared in front of them.
Their structure was rather interesting.
Evan instinctively activated analysis.
From the inside out, he thoroughly dissected the machines' construction.
"Old-era machinery… I didn't expect these to still be operational."
"Hm?"
"There's even a string of corporate code inside some of the components."
"Looks like these were part of the aid supplies the Company sent seven hundred years ago."
"This is the Robot Settlement—Boss Svarog's territory."
"Outsiders, state your identities!"
As Evan was still observing, more voices rang out.
Several scavengers quickly surrounded them.
They were holding weapons left behind by the Silvermane Guards, their gazes filled with caution.
"Wait—don't misunderstand! We're not—"
Seele was just about to explain—
when Evan's eyes suddenly lit up.
The moment he stepped in, he'd already noticed a white-haired girl in red, wandering barefoot nearby.
Now that they were surrounded, the girl looked over nervously.
Clara.
The true core figure behind the Robot Settlement.
Even Svarog took her opinions into consideration.
She was also Hook's friend, and could even be considered an honorary member of the Mole Gang.
As for the other "honorary members"—
well, that would be Evan himself, plus the yet-to-arrive Stellaron girl, March 7th, and Dan Heng.
"So… this is Boss Svarog's territory, huh…"
With the enhancement of the Herrscher of Reason authority, combined with the blessing of that big mechanical eye—
though Evan wasn't at Emanator level yet,
he now had an oversized "charger" supplying him constantly.
Which meant—
he was terrifyingly strong right now.
An Aeon glancing at you didn't automatically make you an Emanator.
Continuous Path energy supply was the real key.
"Hey!"
"Clara!"
"Yeah—you, the little girl over there!"
The small machines and the armed scavengers all froze.
"…Do you want to see what it looks like when stars are shattered?"
...
At the edge of the snowfield, Clara tilted her head curiously as she looked over.
She saw several little machines surrounding a blue-haired big sister and a black-haired big brother.
And that black-haired big brother had just called out her name.
Curious, Clara walked over.
What she saw next made her eyes widen.
Two Thrones of the Moonlight materialized beside Evan.
Their cannon muzzles pointed straight toward the core of the Robot Settlement.
Cross that bridge—
and you'd reach Svarog's location.
Imaginary Energy surged violently through the air.
At any moment, the cannons could fire straight at the gate.
"Don't!"
"Don't fire! Please don't fire!"
"Don't hurt them—they don't mean any harm!"
Barefoot, Clara ran across the snow toward Evan.
She spread her arms wide, standing in front of everyone.
Beside Evan, Seele stared at him in disbelief.
Hey—this is seriously not honorable combat!
You're even threatening a little girl?!
"Relax. I'm just scaring Svarog."
"They're not even charged."
Evan smiled faintly.
"Let's go. The door's open."
As he spoke, Evan casually lifted Clara with one hand—
and walked straight toward the central area.
As he went, he complained calmly,
"Clara… you really should lose a bit of weight."
(PS: Good night! See you tomorrow! Please send flowers!)
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