"Can't answer that, can you?"
Looking at the silent Adam before him, Xia Yu crossed his legs and spoke with a proud expression.
"You, who claim to fully understand the essence of humanity, why can't you answer? The essence of struggle you mentioned is the essence of all life. So, what is the essence that belongs uniquely to humans?"
"Please enlighten me."
At this moment, Adam finally lowered his proud head. Faced with Xia Yu's questioning, he suddenly realized that the philosophy he deeply identified with was actually so laughable. No wonder the human laughed after hearing his words.
He had gone wrong from the very beginning. What he thought was the essence of humanity turned out to be the essence of all life. So, what was the essence unique to humans?
Although Adam didn't know why Xia Yu was telling him all this, he understood that Xia Yu would definitely enlighten him; otherwise, the other party wouldn't have said so much to him.
If his body hadn't been unable to move, he would have wanted to lie directly on the ground and look up at the human before him to express his current feelings.
Seeing that Adam had finally lowered his posture, Xia Yu continued.
"The biggest difference between humans and animals is emotion and cognition. Although it can't be said that animals don't have emotions, human emotions are more complex and volatile."
"Furthermore, rather than saying you want to explore the essence of humanity, it's more accurate to say you want to pursue the emotions that Machine Lifeforms do not have."
Adam nodded silently, thinking along the lines of Xia Yu's words. What he pursued was indeed emotion, as it was an essence that Machine Lifeforms did not possess.
He didn't understand it, which was why he pursued and pondered it so fanatically.
"Do you want to obtain true emotions? Or rather, do you want to become human?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present changed their expressions. If the one saying this wasn't a human, the Android side would have surely torn them into pieces. But since it was a human, then the human must have his own plans.
Adam was filled with surprise and disbelief. Although Eve was also surprised, he didn't think that much; he was never good at thinking.
"You... You are willing to teach us how to obtain emotions?"
Adam didn't say teach them to 'become human' because he knew that Machine Lifeforms were fundamentally different from humans, so becoming human completely was out of the question. Obtaining emotions was enough.
"That's right. And if you ask me, your younger brother is more human than you. His emotions are much richer than yours; he admires you and loves you." Xia Yu glanced at the two brothers and spoke casually.
Hearing this, Adam looked at Eve in surprise, and Eve was also dumbfounded.
Eve immediately wanted to retort. In his heart, his brother was always number one; even a human couldn't evaluate his brother like that.
However, Adam waved his hand to tell Eve not to speak. Seeing this, Eve could only turn his head away indignantly like a child.
"I am a bystander, so I see things very clearly. Your brother understands emotions better than you and values them more. If you die, he would make the entire world be buried with you."
"But you are different. If the truth you pursue requires you to give up your life, you would leave your brother behind without hesitation and go to your death alone."
"I saw all this from the battle just now. This is also where you fall short compared to your brother. You don't understand the inner meaning of emotions; you are just blindly pursuing their essence."
Xia Yu wasn't talking nonsense; it was exactly like that in the game. Adam wanted to experience death, so he disconnected from the network to fight 2B alone, ultimately dying after understanding death.
Eve then collapsed. Because his beloved brother died, he also lost his reason to live. In the late stages of the game, he united all the Machine Lifeforms to destroy the world, but was eventually stopped by 2B and 9S and died.
Therefore, he didn't mean to sow discord just now; he was merely stating a scene that might happen in the future.
After hearing Xia Yu's evaluation of the two brothers, Adam couldn't help but fall silent. The other party had seen so much in just a short battle; his wisdom far exceeded Adam's imagination.
To see through everything about the two brothers in just one battle and state it so accurately—humans were far more complex and intelligent than he had imagined.
At this moment, the image of humans in his eyes rose again, to the point where he could hardly see the top.
"Alright, after saying all that, I only have one point. Do you want to follow me?"
"My Lord?!"
As soon as these words came out, before Adam and the other could react, the Androids couldn't sit still anymore.
How could they let Machine Lifeforms follow their creator? This was their glory—how could they let Machine Lifeforms touch it!
"Alright, alright, relax. It's not a big deal. The ones I trust most are still you; they are just hired muscle."
Hearing the word 'trust,' the Androids finally calmed down. That's right, the Human Lord still trusted them most.
And on second thought, if even Machine Lifeforms were won over by the glory of humanity, didn't that further prove the charm of humans?
"Oh... This is truly our honor."
Adam took a deep breath and spoke sincerely. If he hadn't been unable to move, he would have wanted to bow.
"Don't be in a hurry to give thanks; I'm not finished yet."
Xia Yu gestured for 9S to come over. 9S turned his head and saw that the Human Lord was indeed calling him, so he excitedly hurried over.
Once 9S arrived, Xia Yu continued.
"As the saying goes, one must always be on guard against others. Since you've loaded a language plug-in, you should understand the meaning of this sentence. So, I need to add some insurance."
"9S, hack into them, and then transfer the artificial intelligence little red I sent you into their systems."
"Yes, My Lord!"
Hacking into Machine Lifeforms right in front of them while they could only accept it and not resist was a first for 9S as well.
Seeing that Adam was still a bit hesitant, Xia Yu struck while the iron was hot: "'If a man hears the Way in the morning, he may die in the evening without regret.' Since you want to pursue your Way, how can you not pay a price?"
"You are right, My Lord."
This time, Adam even changed his form of address; he was completely won over by Xia Yu.
"Eve, do not resist. Since the Lord is willing to let us follow him, we must show our sincerity."
"Yes, brother."
Eve was very indignant. He couldn't understand why his brother would rather live under someone else's roof just to pursue so-called emotions, but he wouldn't argue with his brother because his brother was everything to him.
Since the targets didn't resist, 9S quickly entered their systems and left behind the data for the artificial intelligence little red.
"Hey, don't just probe my memories!" Eve's face suddenly changed as he shouted at 9S.
Eve's words made everyone look at 9S strangely. 9S's face turned red, and he hurriedly withdrew, explaining in a panic, "I... I was just a little curious."
"Heh, perhaps we can have a deeper exchange. I am also very curious about you Androids. Besides, we are already companions now. Isn't exchange between companions normal?" Adam chuckled and looked at 9S.
"9S, you can't be deceived by a guy like this. You're the one who told me that," 2B suddenly spoke up.
"Ah? Oh..." 9S was stunned and responded somewhat gloomily.
He actually wanted to agree just now because he was truly curious about Machine Lifeforms. But since 2B said so, he let it go.
"Alright, alright. Since these two have joined us, let's go. It's time to head back to the Resistance Army Camp," Xia Yu clapped his hands and said after drawing everyone's attention... Meanwhile, in the boundless network, the figures of two girls in red appeared.
"Adam and Eve have followed the human. I believe they should be destroyed."
"Rejected. Variables are exactly what I look forward to. This helps with evolution."
"The appearance of the human was not in the plan. Change the plan; the moon server does not need to be destroyed for now."
"Agreed. The 'Tower' project is temporarily suspended."
"Follow the human and wait for variables."
One-sentence summary of the two chapters: Xia Yu persuaded Adam and Eve and recruited two Machine Lifeforms.