Breakfast was meticulously prepared by Minerva; although it still carried the slight clumsiness of a beginner—the edges of the fried eggs were a bit burnt, and the bacon was cooked unevenly—that dedication and effort made up for everything.
Artoria ate with great relish, feeling warm in her stomach, and her mind completely cleared up in this everyday warmth.
After the meal, she didn't immediately rush to the workbench, but instead pulled Minerva along to curl up in the soft sofa in front of the observation window, with the tree diagram from the "Forum"—which condensed the wisdom of countless predecessors—floating before them.
The morning light spilled onto the two of them, reflecting off the dense text and lines on the light screen.
"Xiao Xiao, look," Artoria pointed at the tree diagram, her tone more serious and clear than ever before, "The predecessors gave many directions, which can be roughly divided into two major categories: strengthening oneself, or relying on external equipment."
Minerva snuggled up beside her, her gaze also falling on the diagram, listening carefully.
"Relying on external equipment," Artoria's finger traced across many branches under [Stealth and Evasion] and [Defense and Resistance], "For example, top-tier stealth force fields, phase-folding armor, portable black hole shields, logic-lock AI defense systems... these are indeed very tempting. If they could be built, one could almost ignore the vast majority of conventional attacks, and even have a certain resistance to rule-based attacks."
"However," she changed the subject, her brows slightly furrowed, "they have several fatal problems. First, they are extremely dependent on technical level and resources. I haven't even heard of many of the concepts; the materials, principles, and energy requirements might be astronomical. With my current capabilities and the resources I can mobilize, I'm afraid even getting started would be difficult. Second, there is a risk of being countered, interfered with, or even seized. No matter how powerful the equipment is, it is still an external object. If the enemy has more sophisticated information warfare means, space blockade capabilities, or simply plays wormhole sniping like Morgana or concept strikes like Karl, the equipment might instantly fail, or even become a burden in return. Third..."
She paused, looked at Minerva, a flash of determination in her eyes: "Third, and most importantly. I am taking the path of 'an army of one'; my core is myself, my mental power, and my command and creative abilities. If I rely too heavily on one or a few powerful pieces of external equipment, once the equipment is broken, or if I am not next to the equipment, I will become extremely fragile. This is not what I want. What I want is that, no matter when or where, no matter what kind of enemy I face, I myself possess a certain amount of capital for maneuvering, defending, and even counterattacking."
Minerva nodded gently; she could understand Artoria's thoughts. Entrusting one's safety entirely to external objects indeed did not fit Artoria's independent and autonomous personality, and also ran counter to her original intention of building her own power system.
"So," Artoria's gaze turned to the other side of the tree diagram, those branches belonging to [Survival and Recovery], [Mobility and Evasion], and even parts of [Deterrence and Counterattack] that were more inclined toward self-strengthening, "I am more inclined toward... the path of strengthening myself."
Her finger tapped on several keywords: "Nano-suit modification, bio-mechanical fusion, energy organ implantation, neural reaction acceleration, cellular-level rapid repair... and even, going further, the sublimation of life form."
"This path might have slow results in the early stages, require large investments, and even be... very painful." Artoria's voice lowered, but her gaze did not waver in the slightest, "But the improvements it brings are fundamental; they are integrated into the bloodline and engraved into the soul. A powerful body means faster reactions, stronger resistance to attacks, a higher energy-bearing limit, and longer combat endurance. Excellent recovery ability means being able to quickly return to the battlefield after suffering heavy damage. And the sublimation of life form... if I can be like those gods, possessing a nearly immortal god-body, then 'decapitation' will lose most of its meaning for me."
Minerva held her hand, conveying silent support. She could feel the determination in Artoria's words and also understood the arduousness of this path. Modifying oneself, especially involving fundamental changes to the life form, was by no means easy, and the accompanying risks and pain were unimaginable.
"However," Artoria gripped Minerva's hand back, her tone becoming softer but even more firm, "strengthening myself does not mean I want to become a monster, or abandon the part of me that is a 'person'."
She looked up, gazing at the stars outside the window, complex light flickering in her eyes: "I come from a civilization that might not be as technologically advanced as here, but it equally treasures humanity, emotions, and self-awareness. I became a transmigrator, experienced all this, and worked hard to become stronger; the initial and most important motivation was to save you, Minerva. It was to protect the feelings between us, to protect this hard-won reunion. If, in order to become stronger, I turned myself into a machine with no emotions and only logic, or a god who is high and mighty and indifferent to everything, then what would be the point of all this?"
Her gaze turned back to Minerva's face, clear and firm: "I am still me, Artoria. A 'person' who gets tired, laughs, cries, fights with their life for the one they love, and is happy because of eating delicious food. Strengthening myself is so that I, this 'person', have the ability to protect what I want to protect and live the life I want to live in this crisis-ridden Universe. Not to become another kind of existence and pursue the so-called peak of power."
"So," she summarized, her train of thought becoming clearer, "my choice is: taking self-strengthening as the fundamental direction. But not blindly pursuing power; rather, on the basis of retaining my core as a 'person'—my emotions, my memories, my way of thinking, my values—optimizing and sublimating my body. Making me stronger, more agile, tougher, faster at recovering, longer-lived, and even... possessing immortal characteristics similar to a 'god-body'."
"And in this Universe," Artoria's eyes lit up, "there happens to be a ready-made, already verified feasible path to a 'god-body'!"
Minerva instantly understood what she meant: "You mean... Angel's god-body technology?"
"Not just Angel," Artoria shook her head, "many god-making civilizations in the Super God Universe are actually walking a similar path. Super Gene, god-body, invincible body... although the names and focuses are different, the essence is the ultimate optimization and sublimation of the life form. Angel's technology is particularly mature and systematic in this regard, from the first generation to the fourth, and even the fifth generation mentioned by the teacher... This is a clear ladder that can be used for reference!"
Her tone became excited: "I don't need to copy Angel's god-body technology completely; that might not be entirely suitable for me. But I can study it, understand its principles, its energy operation methods, its combination and application of matter and information... then, combined with my own knowledge system and my powerful mental power traits, walk a unique path of strengthening that belongs to me!"
"For example," she began to give examples, her mind active, "I can draw on the concept of'sacred atoms' in god-body technology, but instead of completely spreading my consciousness, I will use my unique psionic energy to mark and strengthen my own cells and even deeper material structures, making them possess extremely strong resistance to attacks and recovery ability. I can refer to the energy-driven mode, transforming myself into a more efficient energy furnace, not only supporting the operation of the mechanical legion but also strengthening my own attacks and defenses. I can even try to fuse some mechanical structures with myself in a bio-compatible way, gaining additional functional organs or abilities, but the core consciousness and emotions must remain in a pure human form!"
The more she spoke, the more fluent she became, her eyes flickering with the light of a researcher discovering a new continent: "This way, I will possess powerful survival capabilities like a god-body, yet still retain human perception, emotions, and ways of thinking. I will still be injured, feel pain, and get tired, but I will be hard to kill. I will still be able to enjoy delicious food, feel embraces, and experience loving and being loved. This is the'strength' I want!"
Minerva listened quietly, watching Artoria's face, which was glowing because she had found a clear path, and her heart was filled with pride and tenderness. She understood Artoria's persistence and fully supported her choice. No matter what Artoria became, as long as she was still the Artoria who would blush for her, be obsessed with research, and hug her tightly, that would be enough.
"It sounds like a very difficult, but very suitable path for you." Minerva said softly, her fingertips brushing over Artoria's slightly flushed cheeks from excitement, "No matter what you choose or how you do it, I will be by your side."
"Mm!" Artoria nodded vigorously, throwing herself into Minerva's arms, like a little beast that had found its direction, full of motivation, "Then the first step is to study Angel's god-body technology in depth, especially the basic principles! I have to go find Teacher Hexi!"
She said this and was about to get up, but was gently held back by Minerva.
"There's no rush for this moment." Minerva's voice carried a smile and a hint of helplessness, "Your breakfast hasn't even digested yet. Moreover, asking a teacher also requires preparing questions well and clarifying your thoughts. Besides..."
Minerva's gaze drifted toward the direction of the kitchen, where there seemed to be a little trace that hadn't been cleaned up: "Are you sure you want to go see Teacher Hexi with two dark circles under your eyes, messy hair, and... hmm... certain marks on your body?"
Artoria's face turned red in a "swoosh," only then remembering that she had just woken up, hadn't had time to wash up or dress up, and was still wearing loose pajamas, with certain ambiguous red marks on her neck appearing faintly in the morning light... running to see her teacher like this, she would probably be laughed to death.
"Ah! I, I'll go take a shower and change clothes first!" She jumped up in a panic and rushed to the bathroom, leaving behind a string of clattering sounds and Minerva's gentle laughter.
The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom. Minerva stood up and began to tidy up the breakfast tableware, her lips always carrying a shallow, happy curve. She knew that her Artoria had already found her direction; that path might be filled with thorns, but they would walk it together.
And Artoria, under the rinsing of the warm water, found her brain even clearer and more active. She began to plan rapidly: First, systematically learn the basic theory of Angel's god-body technology through Teacher Hexi; second, combine the specific suggestions for self-strengthening from the "Forum" tree diagram to filter out entry points that could potentially be combined with god-body technology; then, utilize the equipment and resources of the Silver Moon Observatory to conduct preliminary theoretical verification and small-scale experiments; at the same time, she could not neglect the planning and design for the hyperion and the mechanical legion; self-strengthening and the development of external power must proceed simultaneously...
A clear path was extending beneath her feet. The goal was clear: using the Super God Universe god-body technology as a blueprint, combined with her own characteristics, to walk a unique path of sublimation that retains humanity and strengthens herself.
She knew this was difficult, might require long-term research, countless failures, and even enduring the pain of modification. But in order to be with Minerva for a long time, and to have the power to protect herself and even others in the future storms, she was willing to try and to challenge it.
"Let's start from today." Artoria dried her body, looked at herself with firm eyes in the mirror, and said softly.
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