What was wrong with 9S? His face showed extreme shock.
He kept saying "impossible" over and over.
As if he had seen some incredible secret, he even plopped down on the ground.
This chaotic behavior, which seemed like a malfunction, made 2B slightly narrow her eyes.
"Wait, I'm fine, I haven't been infected by anything."
9S hurriedly explained, because 2B—no, including everyone else—was giving him hostile looks, fearing he might have been infected by some virus, which could lead to his execution.
"What did you discover?"
2B asked coldly.
"This... this is an incredible discovery! 2B, this thing should be a chunk of flesh from a human body, and this blood, I can't be wrong, it should be human blood."
9S said excitedly, seeming dazed as he continued to examine the congealed red liquid spilled on the ground.
"What do you mean?"
"It means that guy is very likely a human, a human being!"
After 9S excitedly stated this again, 2B seemed unable to comprehend for a moment, tilting her head somewhat blankly.
Or perhaps it was because she understood that she had fallen into confusion.
"Hu... human?"
2B, coming back to her senses, tilted her head again, uttering this word that was both familiar and strange to the YoRHa troops.
Familiar because the YoRHa troops—no, all androids existed and operated around humans.
Serving humans, fighting for humans, reclaiming Earth for humans, clearing machine lifeforms from humanity's homeland.
Humans were the masters of all androids!
That's why it was so familiar.
But it was also strange because since 2B had descended into this world, becoming a member of YoRHa, she had never seen a single human being.
As far as she knew, no one in the entire Bunker's YoRHa personnel had ever seen a human.
No, the Commander had seen them.
"Hu... human?"
"9S, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"How could a human possibly come to the surface to fight?"
The other YoRHa members didn't believe 9S's words at all, and their gazes toward him became dangerous again.
They suspected 9S might have been infected with some new virus, transmitting false intelligence deliberately created by machine lifeforms to achieve some malicious purpose.
"Hey, your looks are getting dangerous."
9S's body involuntarily tensed up.
He could somewhat understand how shocking this discovery was.
The few remaining humans lived on the moon and would almost certainly not risk their lives coming to Earth to fight.
And for hundreds or thousands of years, there had been no report of this; it had always been androids fighting machine lifeforms on the surface.
So what was going on now?
Was this really a human fighting on the surface?
And why keep it secret from YoRHa?
9S couldn't understand. Androids were absolutely loyal to humans, and androids deeply loved humans.
Humans concealing such a truth meant they didn't fully trust androids.
To develop such equipment and weapons completely without the androids' knowledge indicated how strict the secrecy measures were.
So, why would humans not trust androids?
There was only one scenario: androids were not 100% following human orders.
But in 9S's view, this was absolutely impossible.
Yet nothing is 100% certain. What if there had been conflicts between android leadership and humans?
In fact, there were several strange things.
For one, regarding contact with humans, as far as 9S knew, no one in the entire Bunker except the Commander had seen humans.
It seemed like excessive protection of humans, not allowing other androids to make contact.
Looking at it from another angle, could it be that humans were actually being kept in captivity by androids?
Just thinking about this possibility sent chills down 9S's spine.
Perhaps he should hack into the Bunker's main server to see the true situation of the Human Council.
Of course, 9S wasn't stupid enough to voice these suspicions now.
If he did, there would undoubtedly be only one outcome: immediate execution.
He would definitely be considered infected with a virus, a new virus designed to drive a wedge between androids and humans.
So as 9S thought about this, he suddenly felt a chill run up his spine.
Could there be a possibility that he really had been infected with a new virus from the machine lifeforms?
A virus designed specifically to sow discord between androids and humans, leading them to kill each other.
"Alright, everyone continue with the mission."
With 2B's cold words, those members who also suspected something was wrong with 9S fell silent.
Since she, as the captain, hadn't said anything more, obediently following the captain's instructions was the priority.
The group proceeded cautiously into the forest.
Confirming the target's whereabouts wasn't too difficult.
The target had apparently charged straight through, leaving many signs of destruction.
Moreover, the heavy armor had left obvious marks on the ground.
"Hmm, with such heavy armor, the running speed was about fifty kilometers per hour."
9S analyzed, clicking his tongue in amazement.
If the person inside was using brute force to move in such armor, it was unimaginable how terrifyingly strong their body must be—they could easily destroy him with a single punch.
And if the armor itself was powered, it was equally formidable.
Therefore, 9S was more inclined to believe that the ancient-looking armor was power armor.
"Hmm? There seem to be traces of someone else; is the target chasing something?"
Based on some scanned traces, 9S further speculated.
What was the target chasing? Machine lifeforms? Or the ground resistance?
"These footprints?"
"Oh? It looks like it should be the ground resistance then."
9S came forward to look at the footprints 2B had discovered and gave this conclusion.
"It seems the chase stopped here? Fell into a trap?"
The subsequent footprint patterns were no longer so rushed, but steady walking, heading northwest.
"Huh?"
Another discovery: they unexpectedly found traces of fruit being picked and eaten from a fruit tree.
"Tooth marks?"
Not tooth marks from wild animals, but from—a human.
This further proved that the person was human.
After walking along the footprints for another two minutes, 9S immediately signaled everyone to slow down.
The target was not far away!
Placing his hand on the eye mask on his face—which wasn't merely a black cloth patch but a visor disguised as an eye mask with many functions—he could see much farther, being a reconnaissance type.
Direction locked, his vision penetrated through layers of forest cover.
He spotted the target using what looked like an old communication device to talk to someone.
This radio signal was easily hacked and invaded.
Following the direction of the radio signal, 9S observed another target.
Huh?
Was that a YoRHa member?
Suddenly, 9S's expression changed as he looked in another direction—the direction they had come from.
Not good! Enemies approaching!