Chapter 20: Tina’s Instructor

One year ago.

“Little Tina, come here, come here!”

“Instructor, what mission requires Tina’s completion? Please instruct,” Tina stood at attention, giving a perfect military salute.

The instructor, however, waved his hand, smiling openly: “No mission, I just think Little Tina is cute and wanted to chat with you a bit more.”

“Cute? Tina? As a combat weapon devoid of emotion, Tina cannot determine if this statement is praise or criticism.” Her tone remained cold, unable to detect relevant information in her database.

“Of course it’s praise, and I’m praising you by human standards.”

The instructor, dressed in a gray-green military uniform, smiled and patted her head.

“But Instructor, Tina is not human,” she corrected earnestly.

“In my eyes, Little Tina is human,” the instructor’s voice was firm.

“This does not conform to objective facts,” Tina frowned, attempting to refute.

“Is that so… But humans, you know, sometimes even when they know something is wrong, they stubbornly cling to their desires,” the instructor smiled helplessly, knowing that arguing with Tina would only lead to frustration.

Tina tilted her head, thought for a moment, then responded:

“Instructor means that humans disregard facts due to desire? How foolish. But in my opinion, Instructor does not belong to this category of people. Also, why does Instructor always call me ‘Little Tina,’ my designation is Tina.”

“Because you’re so petite,” the instructor chuckled.

“Height?” Tina looked down at herself.

“Not only short in height, but also extremely flat in build, and because you’re a robot as you say, you can’t even use ‘still developing’ as an excuse, haha, isn’t that cute?” The instructor laughed even harder.

Tina was silent for a moment, her tone abruptly chilling:

“Instructor, your previous words have touched upon the realm of human sexual harassment. Would you prefer cannon fire or a laser for lunch?”

The instructor froze, then a smile curved his lips: “Is Little Tina angry?”

“Tina is a semi-mechanical entity, essentially without human emotions. However, your words caused strange interference in the central system, leading Tina to perform an uncalculated action,” she explained earnestly.

“Isn’t that just being angry then?” the instructor smiled, looking at her and speaking in a gentle tone: “In my eyes, Little Tina is no different from other humans; you will slowly develop emotions, you just don’t want to admit it.”

“Is that so… This is a difficult problem for Tina,” she murmured, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes.

“Of course. In this world, questions with answers are the simplest; the hardest are those without.”

The instructor, draped in his overcoat, sat on the steps, his voice growing softer.

“I’m talking a lot today because I’m about to be transferred to a major war – the ‘Beyond War.’ Its scale is unprecedented, only top Exterminators can participate, and the goal is to bring an end to the Bloodkin and Beyond Beasts.”

“Can Tina not go?” she asked.

“It’s too dangerous, and you don’t have the clearance.”

The instructor paused, his expression somewhat melancholic, “I don’t know if I’ll come back, so I wanted to talk more with you. By the way, a cute girl like you can’t afford to be targeted by bad people.”

“Bad people? If instructed, Tina will eliminate them.” Her tone was firm.

“Remember, if you use thermal vision and detect a person identified as a loli-con whose lower body temperature rises…” the instructor said in a joking tone, lowering his voice as he gave the instruction, “Use the most precise sniper rifle, aim for the heat center, and blast it! No, penetrate it!”

“Understood, Tina received.”

However, in that Beyond War.

The instructor, code-named Phantom, did not return. Tina was subsequently transferred to a second-generation instructor.

In the decisive battle against the Bloodkin, leading the Phantom Squad he commanded, he launched a swift, storm-like attack on the enemy, vowing to drag the enemies into hell with him, even in death.

Finally, he collapsed in Little Butterfly’s arms, silently closing his eyes.

And that was also the beginning of his encounter with Evran.