Upon seeing the robots, Kingo's initially serious expression instantly turned into one of horror.
Now he finally understood why Josh had been so calm.
This man had known about Druig's ability for a long time and had already prepared a countermeasure.
Without a doubt, mindless robots were the perfect counter to Druig's mind control powers.
And once he lost the advantage of mind control, Druig's combat power would drop to the lowest level among the Eternals.
With that, Kingo's plan to use Druig to fight against Josh and escape was immediately crushed.
But now, there was nothing Kingo could do except watch helplessly as his companion walked into danger.
As the footage continued, thin wisps of smoke gradually came into view.
Clearly, there was a village ahead.
That was where Druig had been hiding for the past few centuries.
Brazil in the 1940s and Brazil in the 21st century were almost two completely different countries, aside from their geographical location.
At this time, Brazil was not called the Federative Republic of Brazil but the United States of Brazil, a military-ruled authoritarian government.
In terms of population, 21st century Brazil had 210 million people, making it a major population powerhouse.
However, according to 1945 statistics, Brazil's population was less than 50 million, and the country's industrial, economic, and cultural development was highly uneven. Most of the population was concentrated along the southeastern coast, while the central and western regions were largely uninhabited wilderness.
Many of the future major cities in the central and western regions didn't even exist.
For example, the capital was still Rio de Janeiro, while the future capital, Brasília, was nothing more than barren land.
Manaus was in a similar situation.
In the future, Manaus would become the capital of the state of Amazonas in central Brazil, the eighth largest city in the country with a population of over one million.
But in the 1940s, Manaus was just a small town on a tributary of the Amazon, with a population of barely ten thousand.
However, for centuries, a legend had been passed down in this town—deep within the Amazon rainforest, there was a sacred land.
There, under the guidance of a God, people lived simple, peaceful lives, free from worries or suffering.
In short, it was described as a paradise hidden from the outside world.
Almost everyone in Manaus had heard the legend, but they dismissed it as mere folklore.
Some swore they had been there and seen the so-called God, but every expedition that set out to find this sacred land always returned empty-handed.
What the people of Manaus didn't know was that this place was real.
It was located just over 200 kilometers northwest of the town.
The people there truly lived as described—working at sunrise, resting at sunset, always with gentle smiles on their faces, seemingly free of any concerns.
But the reason no one could ever find this place wasn't because it was hidden.
It was because anyone who discovered it would forget it ever existed.
And the one responsible for this was none other than the "God" in Manaus' legends.
If someone knew the truth, they would realize this place wasn't a paradise—it was a prison where people lost their sense of self.
This was the secluded home of the Eternal, Druig.
And the so-called "God" was him.
The settlement housed around 20,000 people, even more than Manaus itself.
They were all descendants of those who had survived the Battle of Tenochtitlan centuries ago—Spaniards, Tlaxcalans (A/N: a Native American tribe that opposed the Aztecs), and the Aztecs themselves.
But don't be fooled into thinking tens of thousands was a large number.
Tenochtitlan was once the capital of the Aztec Empire, with a population of over 200,000.
After adding in thousands of Spanish invaders and tens of thousands of Tlaxcalan warriors, even after the brutal battle, over 100,000 people had survived.
Yet after centuries, instead of growing, their population had dwindled to just 20,000.
The reason was simple—Druig was not truly a god.
Other than controlling minds, he had no powers at all and never cared about improving their living conditions.
For centuries, the people under his control lived in a primitive, medieval-like state.
Their agriculture barely produced enough food to survive.
Their medical and hygienic conditions were just as primitive.
As an Eternal, Druig didn't need food or water to survive, and even poison couldn't kill him, so environmental conditions meant nothing to him.
But the humans under his control were different.
If they fell seriously ill or suffered grave injuries, they wouldn't receive treatment. Instead, they would simply die "peacefully" under Druig's control.
They were nothing more than his puppets.
Even their marriages and offspring were dictated by Druig's will.
The poor medical conditions led to low birth rates and high infant mortality.
Under such circumstances, it was no surprise that their numbers continued to shrink.
So, Druig's so-called protection was, in reality, the complete suffocation of these people's future. To them, he was never a god but a devil wrapped in divine robes, toying with their minds from above.
As the robots entered the village and saw the numb smiles on the villagers' faces and their mechanical movements, Josh's expression darkened.
Yes, humanity had conflicts, brutal wars, and even slaughtered each other.
But that was humanity's own affair.
However, when an outsider from another species manipulated human actions under the guise of God, that was an entirely different matter.
Having spent years in this world, Josh had already forged an unshakable will as a ruler.
He didn't feel excessive sympathy for the humans under Druig's control.
But as a fellow human, he couldn't help but wonder—what if he were also under Druig's influence?
The thought alone was terrifying.
Someone like Druig should not exist in this world.
"Eliminate Druig at all costs!" Josh raised his hand and issued the kill order through his wrist device to his mechanical army stationed over ten thousand kilometers away.
This time, he had deployed all 100,000 military robots purchased from the "I, Robot" Universe.
Additionally, he had acquired thousands of drones from Yuri to ensure complete surveillance over the entire area.
There would be no escape for Druig.
Even allowing Druig to live one second longer felt like an unacceptable threat.
"No! You can't do that!" Hearing Josh's command, Kingo panicked and tried to stop him.
But Josh ignored him, focusing intently on the holographic feed before him.
The moment the robot army entered the village, the controlled villagers reacted.
However, the robots wasted no time in negotiations.
They raised their taser guns and fired.
Despite being military-grade, most of their weapons were lethal.
But since capturing prisoners was a part of combat, every military robot carried a non-lethal taser gun—perfect for the current situation.
For robots with powerful carrying capacities, equipping extra weapons and increasing their load had no effect on their movement, unlike human soldiers.
One by one, the villagers convulsed and collapsed to the ground under the assault. (TL/N: I thought he would kill everyone—really happy with his decision not to.)
In the center of the village, Druig quickly realized that something was wrong.
Through the minds of the people outside, he saw the robots attacking.
Without hesitation, he commanded the villagers to rush into the storage buildings, grab the hidden weapons, and launch an organized counterattack against the robot army.
Watching the live footage from the robots, Josh suddenly noticed a familiar figure among the resistance.
Who else could it be but Peggy Carter?
Unlike the others wielding firearms that barely scratched the alloy-plated robots, Carter was different.
Though her consciousness was controlled by Druig, her combat instincts remained intact.
Wielding a vibranium shield and sword, she tore through the robot ranks as if walking through an empty field, causing massive damage to Josh's forces.
Josh's expression darkened.
If he converted the damage Carter inflicted on the robots into Earth's current economic terms, she was basically demolishing a skyscraper with each strike.
No matter how rich Josh was, he felt the financial sting.
Not to mention, considering the enhancements she had undergone and the equipment she carried, his investment in Carter was already a massive loss.
This wouldn't do.
Once this was over, he would have to squeeze every ounce of value out of Carter—at dozens of times the original cost.
Despite Carter's impressive performance, the overwhelming numbers of the robot army made it impossible for her to turn the tide.
Meanwhile, hiding in the deepest part of the village, Druig realized this as well.
So, he decisively chose to flee.
Unfortunately for him, as an Eternal who had spent centuries enslaving these humans, he had grown far too accustomed to his high and mighty position.
He had never anticipated a situation like this.
Unlike Josh, he had never prepared any escape plans.
Against an army of 100,000 robots and an airspace saturated with surveillance drones, even in the dense Amazon jungle, his escape was impossible.
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