"It seems negotiations have broken down."
Adam tilted his head and walked towards Takatsuki: "Don't worry, I won't kill you, Human. You are important research material."
No sooner had he spoken than Adam's body instantly transformed into a golden light and rushed towards Takatsuki.
Facing the golden light that assailed him, Takatsuki raised Hestia's Edge in his right hand and suddenly slashed to the side.
An energy shield blocked Takatsuki's blade, but with just a momentary pause, the sharp blade tore through the energy shield's defense, and then tore through Adam's body.
"What!?"
Adam had absolutely not expected his movement to be detected. Even androids couldn't detect his movements before he fully manifested, and with just one strike, his energy shield was torn apart.
Torn from shoulder to waist by a single sword, a large amount of blood spurted out. Adam retreated a few steps, and before Takatsuki's next sword strike could land, he transformed into a golden light and fled to a distant rooftop.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going to study me?"
Takatsuki did not pursue the fleeing Adam. Facing an Adam intent on escaping, even the Rabbit Talisman would be unable to catch up. After all, they were machine lifeforms; as long as they were connected to the network, they could traverse any location with a machine lifeform network at will.
"Hehehe… hehe… hahahaha!"'
The blood on Adam's body flowed back into him as if time were rewinding; connected to the machine lifeform network, he possessed nearly infinite energy.
"Indeed! Humans are truly fascinating beings, I am so interested in them, much more interesting than our boring, fragile creators!"
Adam burst into laughter, then seriously looked at Takatsuki.
"Then, I will also put forth my all to fight you, Human, what is your name."
"Takatsuki."
"Takatsuki, hmph hmph, Takatsuki, a good name indeed, Takatsuki, do you know the meaning of the name Adam."
Adam didn't seem to intend to start fighting immediately, and began to chat idly with Takatsuki.
"It's the name of the first human, isn't it? In myths, it's the first man God created in his own image, and then God used Adam's rib to create the first woman as Adam's companion."
"Exactly! And I am the first lifeform among the machine lifeforms to evolve to this height, so I deservedly bear the name Adam, and my younger brother is naturally the Eve of the new world!"
Adam: "I have always wanted to know why you humans, being of the same kind, love each other and also become hostile to each other. Although you are the same species, there are huge differences."
"I can actually answer that question for you right now."
Takatsuki looked at Adam somewhat speechlessly. Adam was simply deifying the existence of humans in his own mind because he didn't understand them.
"Oh?"
"Because of quantity."
"Quantity?"
"That's right, if you're connected to the machine lifeform network, you should know that your machine lifeforms have only one underlying logic: defeat the enemy. But over thousands of years of learning and evolution, some machine lifeforms have developed differently due to network disconnections or other accidents; some machine lifeforms have formed kingdoms in forests, becoming families; some have settled in secluded corners, forming villages to live together; some have established faiths to form cults and rely on each other; and some merely repeat a certain action for a tiny hobby. These, though still very nascent, are not their differences? Humans have various innate differing factors that lead to different personalities, but what about machine lifeforms? You are clearly all products from the same assembly line, so why do you exhibit such vast differences?"
"This…"
Adam suddenly realized that Takatsuki was right. He knew everything Takatsuki talked about, but he had never thought about it, or rather, from the very beginning, he had placed himself on the same level as the androids, thinking that humans were superior and wanting to pull them down from their pedestal, while those unevolved machine lifeforms were merely his nourishment, not even worthy of his attention.
"Machine lifeforms are merely imitating humans."
"Imitating? How do they imitate? They don't read extensively like you, Adam. This is inevitable, the inevitability of evolution. Humans just walked this path earlier than them."
"Impossible! Compared to machine lifeforms, humans have been completely different since birth. This secret must be hidden within your bodies. I will unearth it bit… by bit…"
"Eve!"
As Adam finished speaking, he suddenly let out a loud shout.
"I'm here! Brother!"
A voice suddenly came from the sky. The androids looked up, and a figure descended from above, crashing towards the direction where Mei and the others were.
For the battle with Adam, Takatsuki had told them to protect Mei, so the three androids did not step forward. Upon seeing Eve descending from the sky, 2B immediately reacted.
"Don't even think about it! Pod, close-range firing mode, gather energy, maximum power!"
Two Pods instantly blocked in front of them, opening their top muzzles and gathering immense energy.
"Fire!"
Two massive energy blasts launched towards Eve.
The huge impact instantly ruined her aerial "sneak attack." Her surrounding energy shield was shattered, and Eve did a backflip, landing on the building where Adam was.
"Sorry, Brother, I failed."
"It's alright, Eve, let's fight side by side. This opponent is a mysterious Human."
Short-haired Eve smiled.
"Yes, as long as I'm with Brother, I can do anything."
"Then, let's go, Eve."
As Adam's words fell, the two swiftly charged towards Takatsuki and the others.
"Don't even think about it!"
The three androids met the charging Eve. A2 rushed forward first, swinging her greatsword and unleashing a massive shockwave towards Eve.
2B also provided cover from the side, swinging her small katana and attacking from the flank.
Both being combat-type androids, A2 was an earlier version of 2B, specialized in close-quarters combat, completely overwhelming 2B in terms of attack power.
"You cannot stop me, I must fulfill Brother's wish."
The moment the two slashed, a massive energy shield erupted from Eve's body.
Compared to Adam, Eve was the core of the machine lifeforms, and the power Eve could unleash was also superior to Adam's.
"Brother's power is my wish, come here! Human!"
Unleashing all her power, Eve instantly broke through the blockade of the three androids and rushed in front of Mei, who was protected behind them, reaching out to grab Mei.
"Don't even think about getting past me, Eve is even stronger than I am. That person is your family, right, Takatsuki? If family is taken away, what kind of emotions will you humans unleash? I'm truly curious."
Adam entangled himself with Takatsuki. After witnessing the offensive power he unleashed, he naturally dared not directly face Takatsuki's attacks. This was also why he sent Eve to the other side; if it were Eve, she would definitely rush up and directly confront Takatsuki.
"Humans always fail to cherish what they can easily obtain. It seems you are indeed very close to humans now, but like humans, you always fail to perceive your own emotions. It seems you need a little help."
"What do you mean."
Adam didn't understand Takatsuki's meaning. Just as he was about to ask for clarification, a crimson lightning bolt illuminated the entire street.