Having said this, Moran walked to the place where the small robots were gathering, scepter in hand. A-Ka stopped breathing as thousands of small-scale robots were alerted to his movements at the same time. Seconds later, all of the large robots on standby immediately glowed green, their heads turning toward him.
“As a representative of the Curia, I seek to pay my respects to the man-made god, the omnipotent Father,” Moran said leisurely. Then, he extended the scepter in his hands to its full length, and an apparatus flashing with blue light appeared along its surface.
At this moment, something deep underground seemed to be startled into motion, and the entire city began to shake. A beam of light broke through the clouds, shooting toward the Western District from the tall tower in the distance, and every robotic life-form in the immediate vicinity started closing in on this spot.
“The Curia.” A rich, heavy voice resounded in the Western District. “Sibelius’s human offspring, why have you come here?”
Before anyone could react, Moran slammed the scepter in his hands onto the ground once. “I’ve come to interrogate you,” he said, his voice dropping to a much darker tone.
In the blink of an eye, the place where the scepter made contact with the ground lit up with a lightning strike as an arc of electricity rapidly diffused, sweeping out across the earth. Under the effects of that magnetic power, all of the robots lost their ability to move. An antisignal magnetic field had been activated.
“Let’s go, quickly!” A-Ka urged his companions, hesitating no longer.
Heishi glanced backward as the group took this opportunity to rush into the assembly plant. Under the power of Moran’s staff, all of the mechanical life-forms temporarily failed. The buzzing grew louder and louder as the magnetic field swept through a good portion of the Western District like a tornado. In the midst of it all was Moran, standing at the eye of the storm, head raised to look at the flashing blue lights in the sky as the field did its work.
This was the first time the power of Father and the power of the god of the Faith had communicated, and it was also the last time that would happen. Under the brilliance of that blue light, Father stood unmoved, and its icy voice said, “You have no right to interrogate me. I only obey the commands of the Creator.”
“The Creator is no longer present in this world,” Moran said. “What powers the continued rotation of the Astrolabe is the faith of all of the living creatures on it.”
“Foolish humans,” Father’s voice said. “You must pay the price for this provocation.”
Immediately afterward, the tower released a dispelling windstorm that swirled with unnatural energy. Thousands of flying robots shot forth, drowning the sky as if they were the angry clouds that came before a sudden storm. Moran’s barrier and Father’s magnetic field collided in a series of explosions.
The sounds of battle echoed in the assembly plant. In the hall, the working robots flashed with electric light and stalled. A-Ka brought everyone dashing into the depths of the plant, where he found the halted conveyor belts.
He was still wondering how he would get them to move again when Huixiong said, “There’s no time. Everyone get on! We don’t know how long the pontiff can hold out.”
“Which one?” Feiluo asked as he looked at their options.
The entire room was densely packed with idle conveyor belts. Innumerable boxes were laid neatly on the rubber belts, and for a moment A-Ka doubted himself.
“If it isn’t the leftmost, then it’s the rightmost…” Wrinkles etched his brow as he concentrated.
A-Ka was still staring when Huixiong interrupted. “There’s no more time! Do it as quick as you can!”
“Let’s take a gamble,” Heishi said. “The left.”
Just as everyone climbed onto the conveyor belt, there was another explosion outside, and the machines collectively began to move again. In a short few minutes, the Western District completely returned to normal.
A-Ka was shaken. Even as the conveyor belt sent him into the assembly room, he couldn’t help looking outside, his expression filled with worry. Feiluo pressed him into an empty crate, indicating that he should keep his head down to prevent alerting any guards.
This was a conveyor belt that traveled in the opposite direction—which meant Heishi had bet correctly. They hid in three separate empty crates. Heishi was in the front, to bear the brunt of anything that came their way as they were transported toward the Northern District, while A-Ka and Feiluo were together in the middle, and Huixiong and Shahuang brought up the rear.
A-Ka let out the breath he had been holding, but his worry didn’t leave his heart.
It was evident that Feiluo had also settled some. Leaning against the corner of a large crate, he pulled magnetic explosive bullets from the stash at his waist and loaded them into his firearm.
“Sometimes I admire you,” Feiluo said. “I never understood how you survived.”
A-Ka also sat down cross-legged and pulled out a small device from his bag. He kept his head low as he looked it over, saying, as if to himself, “Am I that rash?”
“A little,” Feiluo said. “You dared to sneak so many of us into the City of Steel without a solid plan.”
“No matter how well laid a plan is, something will always change,” A-Ka said as he smiled. “Somehow, I’ve managed to hold on to my life—I’ve thought I would die plenty of times, but I always escaped safely in the end. I guess I’ll see how far I can push my luck.”
Feiluo didn’t respond immediately, and his index finger hooked around the gun in his hand, twirling it in a circle.
“Is it bravery or recklessness?” he finally said. “I heard that when you found Heishi, you chased him all the way out of Phoenix City.”
With a hint of laughter in his eyes, A-Ka retorted, “Despite thinking I was reckless, you trusted Percy to me?”
“Because your luck has always been pretty good.”
“While your reputation in Phoenix City was pretty bad.”
“Mm, that’s true,” Feiluo said. “I owe them too much. I didn’t tell you that to begin with, and for that, I am sorry. I was afraid that they would torment Percy, so I could only hand him over to you.”
A-Ka nodded. “After we make it back, you should go your own way.”
Feiluo suddenly sank into a prolonged, thoughtful silence. After a long time, he said, “I’m sorry, A-Ka.”
“Huh?” Not seeing where this was coming from, A-Ka asked, “Why?”
“We shouldn’t have let you carry so heavy a burden. Percy said that after entering the City of Steel, you will…sacrifice yourself. Is that true?”
“Mm.” A-Ka thought for a moment before continuing. “It’s possible. If I don’t come back, well, I’ll entrust Heishi to you guys.” When Feiluo gave a bitter smile and shook his head, A-Ka patted his shoulder. “Relax.”
Feiluo raised his eyes, which had grown strained, to look at A-Ka.
“You’ll be okay. The rest of you will make it out alive, because Percy’s dreams didn’t contain your deaths,” A-Ka assured him.
“But you,” Feiluo choked out. “What are you thinking? You clearly know that you’ll be ending your own life, yet you’re still so…so nonchalant.”
A-Ka was silent. He touched the miniature device he was holding in his hand, before he said, “Because I want to change the outcome. I don’t want the world we have now to be the one you all live in. To change that, I’d give up my life, no question. If I can return alive, that’d be even better, but…
“I once heard an old rumor that if a human offers up their life for the Country of Machines, Father’s godly power will take them to the Nucleus of the Astrolabe and let them become one with the Nucleus forever. They’ll be able to watch over this world,” A-Ka said, smiling at Feiluo. “Of course, that’s just a false rumor made up to brainwash humans. They want the humans to lead harsh lives and give up everything for the steel life-forms in power. But there are always things that compel people to care more about changing everything than staying alive.”
Feiluo smiled a little as he looked A-Ka up and down. After a long time, he shook his head and said, “You are the true Son of God.”
“No, Heishi is.” A-Ka chuckled awkwardly. “My destiny is only to aid him. Were it anyone else who found Heishi, they would have done the same as I did.”