Chapter 1637: Building Goodwill
“Take us around the surrounding area and help us search for any other surviving knights and mages. We’ll give you whatever you want. Magus World has always adhered to the principle of equivalent exchange,” Sein said sincerely to HALL-E.
A Rank Five mage conversing with a robot was an unusual sight. Grethel and Roth watched Sein and HALL-E with curiosity.
However, the two Rank Four mages had likely already noticed that HALL-E possessed a degree of self-awareness, rather than being a mere metal puppet controlled entirely by others.
Mages had seen all manner of strange things. While HALL-E’s intelligence surprised them, Grethel and Roth accepted it fairly quickly.
Faced with Sein’s earnest request, HALL-E lowered its head and pondered in silence for a long while. Sein noticed its eyes flicking about, eventually drifting subtly toward Yuri nearby.
As a robot, HALL-E felt nothing toward Yuri herself. When Sein followed its gaze, he realized that HALL-E was looking at the Burning Flame Unit.
That made sense. Through his interactions with Nexon’s intelligent robots, Sein knew that artificially created technological lifeforms placed great importance on their own “kind”.
Sein gestured for Yuri to come over, then pointed at the Burning Flame Unit she was piloting. “This is also our comrade, Burning Flame. Like you, she’s a robot that gained self-awareness, though she’s more accurately a product of magitech.”
“Our Magus Civilization has always upheld the principle of equality among all forms of life. We believe that robots who awaken to self-awareness are living beings as well. In fact, many of Nexon’s intelligent robots have already joined the Magus Alliance.
“In contrast, the enemy legions we fought earlier came from the Gallant Federation. They exploit robotic power without restraint, suppress intellectual growth, and treat all robots as nothing more than slaves.”
“I hope you’ll lend us your aid. As I said before, we’ll do our best to give you whatever you desire,” Sein said earnestly.
After a brief pause, he added, “This is also for the future of your robotic race.”