Felix was left utterly speechless by the naming sense of the clever ones. He had originally planned to use simple, functional code names like 1A or 2B. Instead, the Clever had directly adopted the reference appearances of classic two-dimensional heroines and used them as names.
With just a few glances, Felix spotted combinations like Isla Melira, Rem Melira, Misaka Mikoto Melira, Sakurajima Mai Melira.
Not like this. Absolutely not.
He chose not to ask for their specific ID lists. That would only give him a headache. Their names alone were already a problem. If he casually called them by those anime-inspired names, his non-NPC identity might be exposed on the spot. As for their appearances, he could still blame everything on the Clever and her so-called "aesthetic optimization."
After some thought, Felix realized that these details would inevitably surface sooner or later. In that case, it would be better to start by informing the senior members of Tomorrow's Development in advance.
As for their collective designation, he decided on a name that sounded suitably grand.
Himmelswächter (Heaven's Guardians.)
"Master, when will we be able to fight for you across this land?" Asuna01 asked softly, her gaze firm and resolute. At that moment, she already carried the presence of a vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath.
"The horn of war will sound one day," Felix replied calmly. "Before that, you must first grow familiar with this land of Terra. Right now, your minds are filled only with knowledge transmitted by Clever. I hope that in the future, you will walk this land as members of the Melira race, see it with your own eyes, and come to understand what it is you will one day protect."
"Yes," the girls responded in unison.
The following day, Felix summoned all the high-ranking members of Tomorrow's Development. This included senior officials of the Kazdel royal court, captains of professional squads, and members of the strategic planning teams. Under Felix's lead, they entered the restricted industrial zone that normally required special clearance.
As the warehouse doors slowly opened, rows of Melira units stood neatly in formation. After a brief moment of blank confusion, their gazes locked onto the group of nearly a hundred people before them. Their databases already contained identity records. These individuals were allies.
Leaving aside the Melira's reactions, the members of Tomorrow's Development were collectively stunned. Some stared with widened eyes. Others subconsciously tightened their grips on their weapons, their hands trembling ever so slightly.
"Holy crap… tactical dolls?"
"Wait, isn't that a ship girl?"
"You're insane, you even mentioned a ship girl. Isn't that Nikke?"
Once the group fully entered the factory, the players' reactions grew even more intense.
"Holy crap, that's Illya!"
"Rin Tohsaka! My wife!"
"Waaah, Tachibana Kanade! Isla! My angel!"
Several veteran anime fans were instantly moved to tears. Faced with these white-haired mechanical girls, both men and women alike broke down on the spot.
The senior staff of Tomorrow's Development were bewildered by the adventurers' reactions, but their attention quickly shifted to the Melira units themselves. Common sense told them that the weapons mounted on these mechanical beings were anything but decorative.
"This is a mechanical race I spent nearly a year and an enormous amount of resources to create," Felix explained. "They will be an indispensable force in our future development. Their race is called the Melira. Their appearance was designed by Clever, based on collected aesthetic preferences from Terrans and adventurers alike. Their combat capabilities will be demonstrated later in simulation battles."
Loughshinny raised her hand.
Felix nodded.
"Your Highness… these Melira, I feel like they're watching me."
Felix gave a slight nod in response. He turned to the side, and the Melira standing behind him immediately dropped to one knee, bowing in deep devotion.
"Master," they said in unison.
"In truth, each of them is equipped with Clever thinking module," Felix continued. "They are like children who have only just come to know this land."
Mountain spoke cautiously. "So… each of them is like Clever? No, rather… they are living beings?"
"You can understand it that way."
With Felix's permission, the Melira stood back up. After a moment's thought, he added, "They think as we do. Perhaps the only difference is that their form of life is slightly different from that of Terrans."
Hellagur remained silent. He had already given this much thought. He once believed His Highness to be a hero unparalleled in history. Yet even now, Felix continued to surpass his expectations.
To go further still, to accomplish something as monumental as creating an entirely new race.
Yes. This was nothing short of a great achievement.
Although the Meliras did not speak, they were undoubtedly vibrant lives, no different from his own daughters.
They were also warriors. When war arrived, they would charge to the front lines without the slightest hesitation.
With Felix's approval, Asuna01 led the Meliras to the training ground behind the factory. Target dolls were erected, and the Meliras quickly formed a textbook-standard combat formation. Heavy and Defender units stood at the front, guards followed closely behind, while snipers and casters took position at the rear.
"Master, permission to fire?," Asuna's clear voice echoed across the vast training ground.
Felix nodded. "Granted, light 'em up."
In the next instant, every Melira moved in perfect coordination. Brilliant light flared across Melira's heavy shields as thick defensive barriers unfolded. White flames ignited along the guards' weapons as they advanced steadily forward. At the rear, snipers raised their overwhelmingly powerful mechanical rifles and unleashed a relentless barrage upon the targets. The caster squad lifted their staffs, which floated before them as hundreds of fireballs rained down from the sky.
Silence followed. A suffocating, deathly silence.
The high-ranking officers of Tomorrow's Development stood frozen, while the adventurers stared in disbelief. The air was so quiet that even the faintest sound could be heard, including someone nervously swallowing, or worse.
"Your Highness," someone finally asked, "how long can they sustain combat like this?"
"As long as they have energy, the Meliras can continue fighting," Felix replied calmly. "They can acquire nutrition through multiple methods: solar energy, nutrient supplements, and even ordinary food. Anything they consume is broken down into usable energy."
"As expected of His Highness."
The higher-ups of Tomorrow's Development were completely convinced. With such a dramatic increase in combat power, they could only admire their King's extraordinary ability. To create an entirely new race in just one year was far beyond what anyone had imagined. All they could do was bow their heads in awe.
From afar, they offered their most loyal praise to His Highness.
Felix gave a slight nod. "Although Melira is their racial designation, they have never been assigned code names. That matter has been left unresolved until now."
"Kumori."
Kumori paused for a moment before stepping forward. "Your subordinate is present."
"I will leave the task of assigning code names to the Meliras to you."
The woman, who seemed as though she had stepped straight out of history, straightened her posture and accepted the order without hesitation. Behind her, the adventurers responded with an enthusiastic and unified "Yes!"
Their hearts raced with excitement.
So these Android girls did not even have official names or code names yet? Did that mean they could customize them freely?
No, shouldn't they immediately assign their anime and manga names instead?
The players' eyes shone with anticipation, and Felix promptly brought this brief gathering to an end.
Saria and Professor Naumann arrived filled with doubt and left utterly shaken. Saria had never overseen experiments or research of this scale before, yet she had never imagined witnessing the birth of an entirely new race through scientific means. No, perhaps it was not unimaginable after all. Scientists had long been experimenting with species fusion, as seen in incidents like Ifrit's.
But Felix had gone far beyond that. He had created a race of his own.
Saria could not forget the appearance of the Meliras. Though they resembled young girls, the Sankta halos above their heads unmistakably marked their origins. They were like Felix's daughters.
"It's truly breathtaking," Magna Naumann exclaimed. "To assemble an independent race using machinery… perhaps in the near future, the Meliras will not be limited to just a thousand."
"They were created for the purpose of combat," Katia Naumann said thoughtfully. "If His Highness truly wished it, he could even establish a so-called Melira Empire. This race consumes very few resources. It may become extraordinarily powerful in the future."
Saria remained silent, yet she continued to write weekly letters to Kristen in distant Columbia. She knew that this week's letter would contain an unprecedented amount of information.
The high-ranking officers of Tomorrow's Development were deeply moved. Beyond marveling at His Highness's achievements, they carefully considered the role of this newly emerged race, the Meliras. Loughshinny was no exception. Later, she spoke privately with Felix and learned that the Meliras would primarily handle delicate tasks that ordinary residents of the Venus could not easily perform. In peacetime, they would live as members of the fleet. In wartime, they would be fully armed and deployed to the battlefield.
Mountain, Hoederer, Hellagur, and Patriot all praised the decision and nodded in agreement. At present, the landship's main combat forces consisted only of the Lightbearers, Saviadel and the Emperor's Children. Since adventurers were not always stationed aboard the landship, the two legions alone could be overwhelmed in an emergency. With the addition of the Meliras, Tomorrow's Development force would once again see a substantial rise in combat strength.
No one gave much thought to the Meliras' future lives. All that truly mattered was that they were like Terrans, yet would always obey Felix's commands. That alone was enough to put everyone at ease.
After all, Melira's combat capabilities were far too overwhelming. Even operators seasoned by the battlefield felt a lingering sense of fear. If they were ever to encounter such a force head-on, most would likely be crushed before the battle even properly began.
Just as the upper management of Tomorrow Development was still digesting this astonishing revelation, the player community erupted once more.
With the strategy team's promotion, posts about the mechanical race flooded the forums. Veteran players and professionals alike described the sheer terror of the Meliras' combat power, praised their strikingly anime-like appearances, and joked about how their white hair bore an uncanny resemblance to that of YoRHa android girls. Before long, players collectively fell in love with this newly born race created by the King of Dawn.
It had to be said that these girls looked remarkably like characters straight out of anime and manga.
As for their code names, the players already knew the rules. After rounds of heated voting, the results were swiftly finalized.
Asuna01 became Asuna. Yukino01 became Yukino. Kotori01 became Kotori, and so on.
"My King, you are our god!" the players shouted. As these anime heroines reclaimed their names, many were moved to tears. Their King's decision struck directly at their hearts and resonated deeply with their long-held fantasies. What thrilled them even more was that the personalities of the Meliras seemed to align perfectly with the names they were given, an absolute delight for anime fans.
With their names decided, the Meliras began stepping out of the factory and into the city of Kazdel. Like young girls newly acquainted with the world, they tried to reconcile what they saw and heard with the data provided by Clever.
Their rate of learning was astonishing.
Among the thousand Meliras, Asuna served as the Commander-in-Chief. Mash became the Heavy Armor Defender Commander, Artoria the Melee Guard Commander, Yukino the Sniper Commander, and Kotori the Caster Commander. Somehow, it felt slightly off.
Still, the Meliras gradually adapted to their new lives.
They became a striking sight in Kazdel, easily recognizable by their white hair and slightly tilted halos. Adventurers were eager to approach them, but players soon discovered that while the Meliras did possess a favorability system, it was locked, much like certain NPCs. In other words, an individual Melira's favorability could not be increased without first completing her personal quest.
But what kind of personal storylines could members of a newly created race even have? The players felt a touch of frustration, yet the mere presence of anime-like characters walking beside them was already deeply moving.
Felix, meanwhile, had other matters to attend to. He boarded a helicopter with Loughshinny, Shu, and the others to inspect Kazdel's current farmland. The soil there was heavily polluted and unsuitable for cultivation, forcing them to trade soil with Yan. The crops were grown using floating farmland technology from the Dahuang City.
Felix had previously installed automatic movement and rain-avoidance programs into these modules, and they were now proving their worth. Rainfall in Kazdel could carry Originium particles, and crops exposed to it would become dangerously contaminated.
"Shu, I will pass this technology on to you," Felix said softly as he gazed at the active farmland modules in the distance. "Food is the foundation of the people's livelihood. Kazdel's peace and stability owe much to your help. This is my gift of gratitude."
"…Are you thanking me specifically?" Shu tilted her head.
Felix nodded. "What do you need?"
"Hmm…" Shu thought for a moment, her head still tilted. "I want to live on the Venus. The last time I went aboard, I noticed my younger sister eating spicy hot pot every day. It's bad for her stomach. My older sister is drunk all the time, and no one is taking care of her. I'm really worried."
Felix considered this briefly, then nodded.
"Alright."