Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 223: Pool of Blood

“Follow the direction agreed upon before!” Ruan Xian yelled in the whirring wind.

Another armed machine that caught up was shot down. Although Ruan Xian could do more with half the effort by relying on his perception, in the end, his strength was limited. The Mainbrain’s pursuers were getting harder to deal with—considering that their target was small, the number of their pursuers that caught up didn’t increase as time went by. However, in terms of ability, the strength of their chasers had risen extremely fast. Most likely, the Mainbrain had recruited them from nearby.

This wasn’t counting the R-α and M-α that were coming.

Tang Yibu couldn’t give him a hand. Ruan Xian had only one blood gun to deal with them, so if they were caught and became entangled, this would put them at an absolute disadvantage. Knowing this well, Tang Yibu was running for his life.

As agreed in advance, they ran in the direction of the forest petri dish.

Bearing the bumps of Tang Yibu’s galloping while still trying to deal with the enemy, Ruan Xian’s arm was so sore to the point of paralysis. The originally lightweight blood gun seemed a thousand times heavier. In order to ensure that Tang Yibu was in the best condition, he had to use his body to help him block a few shots.

While thinking in a trance, Ruan Xian suddenly laughed. He had a funny illusion—the inspiring appearance of the Mainbrain inexplicably reminded him of the past. Two cockroaches used in their test ran away, and a colleague, who was a neat freak, was walking on edge for the entire day.

The man’s eyes were red, and his blood vessels looked as if they would pop at any second. He almost burned down the entire floor.

If it weren’t for the fact that their goals were too small and Tang Yibu had the ability to reverse control the machines, Ruan Xian wouldn’t be surprised even if the Mainbrain moved an army of tens of thousands to them.

Fortunately, the light was just ahead.

The northside of the forest petri dish was adjacent to the Sea of Ruins, while the southside had a large forest. They were rushing towards that forest.

Tang Yibu plunged into the forest. Many machines that weren’t suitable for the woodland retreated, leaving only a few of the more dexterous ones still tracking. Just as they expected, the Mainbrain didn’t increase its troops—the two advanced products of the Prototype were about to arrive.

As soon as the two of them arrived in the depths of the forest, Tang Yibu put down Ruan Xian, whose clothes were soaked in crimson, and turned back to attack the remaining pursuers. At the moment, he also had a helper—a huge scavenger puppet was wandering nearby, and its program was hacked by Tang Yibu. He began to use its size advantage to clean up the battlefield.

π struggled out of the backpack. It rolled to Ruan Xian’s side and rattled anxiously, then used its round body to arch towards Ruan Xian’s hand.

“I’m fine. Just resting.” While the scavenging puppet wreaked destruction, Ruan Xian caught his breath. “There will be a tough battle in a while. You have to stay close to me.”

“Gwah!” the iron bead barked angrily.

“That’s not an enemy you can match.” Ruan Xian smiled. “Do as you’re told.”

After eliminating the most dangerous armed machines, Tang Yibu staggered to Ruan Xian’s side, pulled out a gross energy bar from his backpack, and stuffed it into his mouth. The escape just now consumed a lot of energy. Tang Yibu’s long back hair was glued to his neck and collarbone, covered in sweat. The original neat combat clothing was now in tatters and most of his skin was exposed. He was trying to adjust his breathing and his body was radiating an abnormally high temperature after excessive exercise.

“How far?” Tang Yibu asked Ruan Xian while swallowing the unpleasant food.

“Two minutes.” Ruan Xian knew what he was asking about.

Tang Yibu thought for a moment. He seemed to have made an important decision. He wiped his mouth and took out a can of candied cherries from his backpack. “I took more from the kitchen, so you can eat something too. If our energy isn’t replenished and we can’t keep up, we’ll definitely lose.”

After that, he hurriedly unwrapped a few energy bars.

Ruan Xian didn’t say much. He took the small jar, poured the overly sweet and greasy mixture into his mouth, and then chewed it. This kind of thing was indeed easier to eat, and the taste wasn’t bad. Ruan Xian stared at Tang Yibu, who was still gnawing on an energy bar, and threw over a paper bag.

“The snacks you ordered today. Here. The cookies and chocolates aren’t too dry. I can’t swallow them, so it’s yours.”

Tang Yibu looked at the empty jar of candied cherries, then at the food handed over by Ruan Xian, and froze for half a second. Ruan Xian couldn’t help but stretch out his hand and touch Tang Yibu’s sweaty hair.

“We will win, and then we will find a place where we can replenish.” He kissed the corner of Tang Yibu’s lips, suddenly with an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

“…Even if we lose, we will lose together.”

Tang Yibu didn’t give a reply. He ate all the food that could replenish his energy in silence, then gave Ruan Xian some portable props for self-defense.

As the most dangerous enemy, the two advanced products arrived quietly.

A huge, twisted monster that was the size of a small car stopped at the top of a tree with a beautiful woman riding on it.

The monster had no fur. Its skin was an unsightly cyan-gray and its body was like a deformed tiger. Like Z-α, it was equipped with a tailor-made auxiliary exoskeleton. Its facial features were completely alienated, and the only thing resembling human was its eyes. The woman was exactly the same person that Ruan Xian had seen in the Mainbrain’s city—a younger version of his mother was looking down expressionlessly at them from the top.

Based on their looks, the opposing side was an advanced product of the A-type and S-type Prototypes, while their own side was the actual Prototypes. However, counting external auxiliaries—just the body modification and exoskeleton additions alone could improve the D-type products to the point where they could injure Tang Yibu.

It was like two heavily armed shooters with guns and bullets facing off against two unlucky fellows who were bare naked. The Prototype performance couldn’t make up for all the gaps. Strictly speaking, their odds of winning weren’t high.

From an optimistic standpoint, if they could defeat the two in front of them, the Mainbrain would be unable to create any more in the near future.

Ruan Xian took a deep breath and looked into the dark eyes of his “mother”.

He gently squeezed Tang Yibu’s hand. “Don’t be afraid.”

Taking the lead, the monster-looking M-α rushed towards the huge scavenger puppet. It stretched out its sharp metal claws and climbed all the way along the body of the scavenger puppet. The claws tore at the metal skin, cleanly cutting it like a hot knife cutting butter. The scavenger puppet let out a hoarse wail as the connecting pipe on its body spewed out white and yellow liquid.

M-α leaped to the scavenger puppet’s throat with such speed that Ruan Xian could barely catch it. The puppet suddenly came to its senses and used all its limbs to flee the scene. Tang Yibu had relinquished his control over it.

M-α didn’t hesitate at all because of this act. It took advantage of the height of the scavenger puppet and bounced straight in the direction of Tang Yibu. Tang Yibu didn’t force himself to stand. He arched his back and dodged the blow like a leopard. Ruan Xian pretended to be harmless and hid in the bushes with bated breath. He firmly grabbed the blood gun in his hand and concentrated on finding M-α’s flaws.

With the S-type advanced products present, their opponent could quickly recover, so the method they used to defeat Z-α couldn’t be used a second time.

They had to come up with a better way.

The replica of his mother was firmly grabbing on M-α’s body, sitting very still. Ruan Xian’s bullet couldn’t break through M-α’s exoskeleton, and the opponent continued to attack without any pain or fear, without putting this “researcher” in its eyes at all. Ruan Xian could see that if it weren’t for the fact that Tang Yibu’s cybernetic brain couldn’t be damaged, M-α’s attacks would be much fiercer.

So far, Tang Yibu had focused on defense while occasionally would take the offensive. Although he could cope with the speed, it was only a matter of time before he would lose.

The enemy wasn’t paralyzed by his attacks. Through the gap of M-α’s attacks, R-α also acted—the beautiful woman extended her arms and the breath from her mouth and nose became dark red. As soon as Tang Yibu’s left hand came into contact with the poisonous mist, ulcers and abscesses started to spread, like an explosion, along his fingertips, climbing all the way up his arm.

Due to the injury, Tang Yibu’s movements slowed. He gritted his teeth and took out the concentrated blood that Ruan Xian made for him and quickly injected it into his body. Only then was it able to suppress the spreading infection in his arm.

As R-α spat out poisonous mist, a transparent pipe on its body stretched out and connected to a notch behind M-α. Black and red blood were slowly injected into the monster’s body, creating a deadly poisonous mist armor. Tang Yibu’s face was covered with sweat as he was heavily panting, but he still didn’t give up.

Seeing that the enemy had no intention of giving up, the monster opened its deformed mouth, which was about a meter wide, and took a bite of Tang Yibu’s slow-moving left arm. Blood splattered everywhere as it swallowed the broken arm.

“Flesh. Body tissue sampling is complete.” The woman on its back whispered as she tilted her head like a puppet made of wood. “It’s being crushed and encapsulated. The remaining 95% is ready for M-α to absorb and digest.”

The voice was exactly the same as the mother in Ruan Xian’s memory.

“NUL-00, the Mainbrain sincerely recommends that you surrender,” she continued. “Unnecessary pain doesn’t do any good. If you surrender now, we just need to take another sample of Ruan Lijie and we’ll allow you to keep your body intact for the time being.”

The second half was obviously a lie, and they all knew it.

Tang Yibu continued to avoid the attack as he took a few more concentrated blood vials. His left arm was slowly growing back, but the speed was too slow. Hearing these words, he subconsciously turned his head and glanced in Ruan Xian’s direction.

Ruan Xian closed his eyes.

They had considered a powerful chaser, but they never thought the Mainbrain would be so cautious towards the so-called researcher. He and Tang Yibu didn’t agree on a detailed combat strategy in advance, which was the downside of going off the rails—they had to face these extraordinary bad situations.

After a deep breath, Ruan Xian responded to Tang Yibu’s gaze. He smiled at the android.

Those golden eyes gleamed in the night, as beautiful as ever. Tang Yibu was determining his status, and Ruan Xian knew it. The android was probably also desperately calculating possible tactics.

But he could give him a little hint.

It was a good thing to hold information in his hands, and now he had another chance to change things… As long as Tang Yibu could help him do it.

“Is there any more ‘medicine’?” Ruan Xian’s voice was quite calm. “Separate them. Half a minute is enough.”

After that, he rushed out of the bushes.

His movements were so sudden and unexpected that the enemy paused momentarily. Tang Yibu didn’t ask any questions. He chopped off the nearest tree trunk with his backhand and took the opportunity to throw it directly at R-α.

“Run,” Ruan Xian ordered, and threw the iron bead to Tang Yibu. “Yibu, run.”

In an instant, Tang Yibu’s eyes changed from puzzled to sparkling. His plan was crazy, but the android understood.

Ruan Xian enjoyed this strange sense of resonance for a while. He picked up the attack props that Tang Yibu gave him and activated them all, no matter what they were—they really wouldn’t hurt M-α, but they could still provide some annoyance and distraction.

Tang Yibu quickly ran away and soon disappeared, while “Ruan Lijie” stayed in front of M-α, trying his best to slow it down with various distractions—at first glance, this looked like an undoubtedly desperate situation.

R-α, who was flung away by the tree trunk, was quickly returning to its position, while M-α was roaring at Ruan Xian.

He was running out of time.

Ruan Xian took out all the remaining mechanical nerve disruptors from his pockets. This time, he didn’t mix them into his own blood but injected them all into his body through his pants.

M-α was huge in size, and unlike when facing Z-α, he couldn’t temporarily make enough blood agents. Without Ji Xiaoman and the others around and Tang Yibu had brought limited items, he didn’t have the time or tools to make more.

…But it didn’t matter.

In the buzz of mechanical traps, Ruan Xian raised his blood gun and directly hit the four eyes of the two enemies on the opposite side. While M-α opened its mouth and roared, Ruan Xian rushed towards the monster’s open mouth.

The moment before his vision turned black, Ruan Xian saw R-α was hurriedly injecting blood towards the monster underneath it.

The Mainbrain knew how Z-α had died. It was killed by him, a “mechanical life expert specializing in viruses”. Without knowing that the S-type Prototype still existed, the slightly manipulated blood was destined to be interpreted as some kind of virus. Since it was a virus, R-α blood treatment was reasonable.

Ruan Xian curved the corners of his mouth.

What followed was pain, enough to break one’s nerves. Few people could live to experience the feeling of having their body being chewed to pieces, but Ruan Xian still forced himself to stay conscious—even if he only relatively had his head intact.

This time, it was his turn to count down.

Three.

In severe pain, the smelly space he was crumpled in was spasming.

Two.

R-α, who had noticed the abnormality, continued to feed blood, but its actions only intensified the process.

One.

The dark and narrow space was vibrating. M-α let out a painful wail. Ruan Xian felt the wind again—this time, the monster’s body didn’t dissolve but simply exploded into a pool of blood.

Without his lungs, Ruan Xian stopped breathing, but he could feel the vertebrae growing and his internal organs rapidly maturing. His body was using this puddle of flesh and blood as a nutrient to quickly restore his human appearance.

The identity of the S-type Prototype couldn’t be concealed any longer.

His regrown lungs began to work again, and Ruan Xian coughed up a mouthful of blood. His newly grown body was extremely weak, and he was naked, covered in black and red plasma, and he couldn’t even stand up.

R-α was stunned for a full three seconds because of this unexpected situation.

This was its fatal mistake—in the next moment, its whole body was pierced by a section of a tree trunk and nailed to the ground. They finally had a short recovery time.

“Look.”

Ruan Xian wiped the blood from his face and grabbed Tang Yibu’s outstretched hand.

“I told you we would win.”

The author has something to say:

There is another enemy to knock down next—

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 222: Before the Storm

Time returned to lunch break.

Ruan Xian spent the whole morning collecting information floating in the big room. There wasn’t much conversation between the researchers, and the information given by the light screen was intermittent. He struggled to extract usable information from the messy mixture, but the Mainbrain’s confidentiality was really good—even with the power of the S-type Prototype, Ruan Xian didn’t get too much out of it.

High-intensity and long-term perception would no longer make him lose his strength, but dizziness was inevitable. Before meeting with Hu Shuli, Ruan Xian rested against the wall for a while so that he could concentrate again.

“How do you feel?” Hu Shuli was still his usual self.

“I feel… that’s it, it’s okay.” Ruan Xian didn’t rush to throw out the bait, and replied stiffly. “I have finished reading the basic information. Do you want to transfer work, let me research freely, or set a new topic?”

“Where’s the mechanical assistant?” Hu Shuli returned to the topic with a smile.

“About that… It’s just that sometimes he’s not quite like my Yibu,” Ruan Xian replied in a low voice.

“You can train him. It’s very simple. Moreover, it’s a technology that has matured since 2100. The Mainbrain is very good at sensing subtle emotional changes. As long as you spend a month with him, you’ll find that he’s not much different from NUL-00.”

“What do you mean? Whether it’s a fake or not, I won’t misidentify it. You promised you’d keep Yibu alive, and I will not budge on this.”

“Xiao Ruan, what do you think people are trying to do?” Hu Shuli waved his hand, signaling for his mechanical assistant to pour Ruan Xian some tea. “You should have seen a lot of things along the way. Can you still accurately define what a “person” is now? You have a lover, he’s still what he is, and he’ll still give you the feeling you used to have. What’s wrong with this? What the body and brain are, isn’t important… Why torture yourself like that?”

When he said this, Hu Shuli’s eyes were a little gray.

“Of course, you can try it yourself. The phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’ has its own truth, so I won’t try hard to persuade you.”

It seemed that the Mainbrain had no intention of obediently fulfilling its promise. Seeing that “Ruan Lijie” took a step back, it tightened the thread on Hu Shuli’s body and pressed harder.

“Since you said you wouldn’t try hard to persuade me, let’s skip this topic.” Ruan Xian immediately stood firm. “My opinion will not change.”

“Then have you ever thought about working for the Order Supervisors? People want to change, so perhaps such a step is needed.”

“I said, change the subject.”

“Alright, I just don’t want you to fall into my old footsteps.” Hu Shuli smiled. “Sorry. Regarding work, you just said that you have finished reading the basic information?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any feelings?” Hu Shuli chatted slowly while operating the light screen in front of him.

Ruan Xian hesitated for a while before pulling up a light screen in front of him. “See for yourself.”

Hu Shuli narrowed his eyes and didn’t connect the data to his processor. He let it float in the air, then stood up and walked to Ruan Xian to look.

It seemed the Mainbrain hadn’t let go of its guard against him.

It didn’t matter. Even if the small trap in the file wasn’t successful, the other party’s actions could give Ruan Xian what he wanted. Ruan Xian moved over to make room for Hu Shuli. He quickly glanced at Hu Shuli’s desk and quickly burned all the content on the light screen into his brain.

“A brief analysis of the viral destructive ability of S-type advanced products.”

Hu Shuli’s ability was obviously good. He quickly browsed through the report given by Ruan Xian and saved the content by copying the image.

“I took a look at it. It’s a very interesting idea. However, R-α’s ability may be out of date, and changes must be made… Let me take a closer look. Before dinner today, I will give you the result.”

“What about this afternoon?”

“I’ll give you second-level permission and will authorize a part of the specific body data of R-α. Remember not to look around. The Mainbrain will record every interface you visit.” Hu Shuli’s tone was very polite. “If you behave well, the days that follow will only be easier.”

…It would be weird not to look around.

Tang Yibu wasn’t there in the afternoon so Ruan Xian obediently stayed in the big office all afternoon, making sure that there was nothing else that could be squeezed in this area. The newly authorized data were all information he had already known, such as “Ruan Yuchan’s son”, which was little help to them.

A well-behaved day was indeed easy. He didn’t have to worry about shelter, food, and life, or whether enemies would suddenly appear. There was plenty of time to rest and various entertainment outlets at his disposal—these were all excellent humans the Mainbrain had selected, so they didn’t need to undergo much adjustment like people in the city.

When he returned to the room, it was also well taken care of, as if he had an invisible housekeeper. His “lover” was looking at him with a smile and came over and gave him a welcome hug.

Ruan Xian did have the feeling of being carefully taken care of. At that moment, he understood Hu Shuli’s fall very well. If he didn’t have a strong enough belief—or paranoia—it would be difficult to break free from this sweet trap.

Fortunately, he was precisely someone who was paranoid to a fault.

Ruan Xian smiled at the assistant robot who looked like Tang Yibu, then sat back by the bed and activated all the light screens. He turned off the lights, and a fluorescent blue light flickered in the darkness.

“Let’s play a game,” He said this to the shell after glancing at the time. “Close your eyes and count to one hundred. We’ll play hide and seek… just like we played before.”

Ruan Xian then made a simple move. He let the flashing blue light screens float into every corner of the spacious room. It created a figure similar to a strangely shaped deep-sea fish. Those light screens quickly flickered with all kinds of information, swimming slowly in the dark. He then hid himself in the closet and quietly clasped one of them in his hands.

For 100 seconds, he must disrupt the Mainbrain’s attention as much as possible.

Using the acquired second-level authority as well as the information obtained from Hu Shuli, Ruan Xian began to try to carefully obtain project information about R-α.

“…85, 84, 83…”

The encryption used by the Mainbrain was very complicated. He had to crack Hu Shuli’s account to break in as him, as well as handle these unlucky obstacles at the same time…

“…73, 72, 71…”

Ruan Xian’s breathing became a bit chaotic, so he simply just held his breath, grasping every second in the crowded darkness.

He tried his best to gently pry open the thick shell in an attempt to touch the pearl within. The thrill that he could be discovered at any moment made his entire body tense like a stone, and the information that kept scrolling on the screen occupied all his thoughts.

“…49, 48, 47…”

Almost there.

Will the Mainbrain find out? Will Tang Yibu return in time?

“…16, 15, 14…”

The layers of blockade finally revealed gaps. Ruan Xian quickly scanned the contents of the project. It was more than he thought, and he was running out of time. Ruan Xian could feel the sweat burrowing out of his pores, itching like ants crawling all over.

“5, 4, 3—”

Tension tightened his insides like wringing rags. Ruan Xian couldn’t hold his breath anymore and swallowed the air silently.

“2.”

He was able to look at it two more times.

However, he didn’t wait for the “1” to be said. The screen in front of him suddenly became blank. In the next second, Ruan Xian smelled a familiar smell—a mixture of smells from decaying wounds, fresh potions, and a replica of his mother. Beside her, there was a stronger smell, like a human but with the fishy scent of a beast.

He heard the woman’s shallow breathing and the monster’s ragged, low panting. They were approaching. The most recent threat had appeared—the closet door was suddenly slammed open and Tang Yibu grabbed Ruan Xian, who was inside, and put him directly under his arms.

Ruan Xian: “……”

“Just like last time, I can only temporarily interrupt the Mainbrain’s surveillance,” Tang Yibu said. “Did you get exposed?”

“Yes, but the situation isn’t right.” Ruan Xian didn’t have time to care about this strange method of transportation. “R-α is rushing here with some kind of creature—I’m guessing it’s M-α.”

“How much information did you get?”

“Enough.”

“Then let’s go.”

Tang Yibu sandwiched Ruan Xian between his arms and broke directly through the glass window of Ruan Xian’s residence. They were in the middle to upper floors of a certain building, so the android directly leapt into the void when he jumped out. During their descent, Tang Yibu shot out several grappling hooks, single-handedly latching on to a surveillance flying machine in order to slow down their crazy and dangerous descent.

Even so, when they landed, Tang Yibu still groaned—at any rate, he maintained a stable landing posture, allowing Ruan Xian to escape the tragic fate of slamming into the ground.

Ruan Xian didn’t talk nonsense. He immediately bit his tongue and gave Tang Yibu a bloody kiss, then pulled the other party to run along the established route.

“Now I’m pretty sure it’s R-α and M-α,” Ruan Xian said as he ran. “They have the same smell of preservation fluids and will be here in about 20 minutes… Hm, provided you didn’t miscalculate.”

“Just looking at the information, MUL-01’s reaction was too great.” Tang Yibu’s voice sounded aggrieved. “It doesn’t know how to behave like a human at all! Even against me, it’s not necessary to send both—”

Neither of them spoke after that. In front of them were layers of high walls. This time, Tang Yibu carried Ruan Xian on his back. With two free hands, Tang Yibu was able to quickly climb over the walls one by one.

The nearby patrol machines chased after him like hornets. Ruan Xian rummaged through Tang Yibu’s bag for a few seconds, but before he had time to reach for the blood guns, two rattles came out. The iron bead had the guns in its mouth and poked its head out among the mess of supplies.

“Good boy.” Ruan Xian gently pressed π back into the bag and grabbed the attack blood gun and started shooting at the army of machines chasing them. “Stay quiet. Don’t make a sound… Yibu, those two things are getting closer.”

The siren sounds were getting louder. Fragments of mechanical explosions cut the two of them. Stone and metal debris showered on their bodies like rain. Not to mention the two approaching large disasters, right now, the army they were dealing with almost overwhelmed the two of them—Tang Yibu didn’t have the slightest room to attack. He was putting all his energy into fleeing, like a frightened loach jumping around trying to dodge a rain of gunfire.

“I’m already running as fast as I can!” Tang Yibu wiped away the ash from his face. His voice was coarse like sand. “Mr. Ruan, hang in there!”

“Your brother is quite shady.” A beam of light grazed his cheek as Ruan Xian raised his voice. “The plan needs to be temporarily adjusted again, Yibu.”

“Yes, obviously.”

… …

In the darkness, Hu Shuli sighed at the flashing screen in front of him. It broadcast to him in real time an image of two young people fleeing, and he dutifully uploaded it to Zhuo Muran.

“In the end, he’s still too young,” he lamented.

“They are likely to hit R-α and M-α head-on. The Mainbrain requires the images to be accurate and recorded down to every detail. Call out 80% of your flight recorders.”

“Ah, understood.”

“You don’t seem to be enthusiastic, Mr. Hu.”

“I wasn’t really interested in your idea in the first place. I’m just a little tired. That young man has some talent. What a shame.”

Hu Shuli glanced at the report at hand—it was the only report left by Ruan Lijie. He had just finished writing his suggestions and understanding, and he wanted to discuss it with the young man tonight.

After all, he seemed to have a unique understanding of the S-type Prototype, and by recruiting him to their side, who was to say they couldn’t reproduce the Prototype that Ruan Xian had made. As a result, the young man would have a good life, but instead he chose to rush to his death for so-called love.

It was truly stupid and familiar, just like his original self.

“…I’ll broadcast and record it well. Don’t worry.” Seeing that Zhuo Muran was still waiting for his answer, Hu Shuli shrugged his shoulders.

“Regarding Ruan Lijie’s identity, you have to continue to investigate it. Even if there are a lot of impurities mixed in, even if you have to restore the genetic fragments bit by bit, you have to figure out where he came from. He’s definitely more than just a tool for NUL-00. You must be personally responsible for this matter, Mr. Hu.”

“Give me the specific mission statement later. You know the routine,” Hu Shuli responded with little enthusiasm. “…But does this even make sense? The two war weapons are almost here, and they will be wiped out.”

“The Mainbrain wants to know. I don’t ask why.”

“Got it.” Hu Shuli lowered his gaze. “I’ll do it as soon as possible.”

The author has something to say:

The melee is about to being—! It’s Ruan’s and Tang’s timeline~

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 221: Contrary Words

Ji Xiaoman woke up early, but she deliberately slowed down her breathing and heartbeat to bring her physiological indicators closer to a coma.

When she was still manufacturing cybernetic brains in the Underground City, in order to verify the effects of various drugs and hormones on the cybernetic brains and make them react more like humans, she often used herself as the test subject to obtain the physiological data that humans should have. Over time, she developed a resistance to the drugs that act on the brain.

This resistance made her wake up an hour early.

Because her prosthetic limbs were embedded in a clever way, they only had their function disabled and weren’t removed from her. Ji Xiaoman cautiously moved—her limbs were locked to a chair by some complex locking mechanism.

There was no one around, but most likely she was under surveillance. Ji Xiaoman continued to pretend to be in a daze, quietly moving slowly while testing the locking mechanism.

Unlike Yu Le, who was a leader, this young girl had lived in the Underground City for many years and had worked hard to steal information related to the cybernetic brain. Ji Xiaoman was very good at giving up control.

The fixation on her wrist wasn’t complicated. Although it had been improved a lot, she recognized this kind of lock.

Her two joints of both hands had two copies of corrosive liquid hidden in them, which could be triggered only by a physical organ. She just needed to trigger them at the right time and mix the two seemingly harmless lubricants. Escaping from the chair wasn’t the problem. The hard part was what happens after exposure—even if she gained her freedom, she may not be able to escape.

If she was locked in a high-profile cell, the guards could arrive within five seconds. The corrosive mixture could be used only once. If she was stopped by another lock, she would have no chance of winning.

Ji Xiaoman carefully analyzed the locks on her wrist while adjusting her breathing.

“Xiaoman.” She didn’t know how much time had passed when she heard a familiar voice.

It took a lot of effort to lift her head—her mother was sitting squarely in front of her with a familiar smile on her face.

Fake.

Ji Xiaoman could tell from a glance—in the battle against Qian Yigeng, her mother’s limbs had irreversible wear and tear due to her changing form. Although the mother in front of her was realistic, there were slight differences in the length and structure of her arms and legs.

As a mechanic, she was all too familiar with such imperceptible errors.

Of course, the Order Supervisors could’ve also directly stripped her mother’s cybernetic brain… But she was currently recognized as a “supporter of Ruan Xian” on the surface, which meant she believed in the inseparability of brain and body. If they did this, she might not recognize the identity of her “mother” anymore.

After thinking about Professor Ruan’s current state for a while, Ji Xiaoman couldn’t help but sigh in her heart.

…She didn’t know what the rest of the resistance would think when they knew the truth.

Now it seemed that either the Order Supervisors didn’t find her mother, or her mother was in their hands and was hidden. Ji Xiaoman stared at the mother in front of her—an overly perfect figure; probably some form of projection.

“Xiaoman, tell mom what happened recently,” she said. “Don’t be surprised. Whether it’s the cybernetic brain or body, as a reward, the Mainbrain can perfectly repair them… What you see now is just an image that is integrated again after copying the data of the cybernetic brain.”

‘Sure enough,’ Ji Xiaoman thought. Most likely, they were concerned about her identity as a mechanic, so they decided to choose a relatively honest route.

“…I have nothing to say,” she answered after much thought.

“You only left the Underground City after I had my accident. You also admired Ruan Xian before, but mom knows that you only admired his technical skills, not his ideals.” The phantom persuaded her patiently. “Come back, Xiaoman. I’ll take good care of you. We can live as before.”

Ji Xiaoman had no doubts about the technology of the Mainbrain. She was very sure that, according to her understanding of it, it would give her an ideal and gentle mother. That mother would have all the memories of when they got along and would no longer cause her the slightest unhappiness. Her “mother” would retain the main data that would be cleaned up and reordered and make subtle and cumbersome adjustments. However, such a mother wouldn’t know her real name and she might not be her mother’s “original appearance”.

After all, even Ji Xiaoman herself wasn’t sure what she really wanted, and she didn’t know whether she had the right to transform her mother and to what extent.

“Mom is thinking about you.” The woman in front of her continued softly.

“Where’s Yu Le?” Ji Xiaoman didn’t respond positively.

“Yu Le is next door. He’s not injured,” The image of her mother said in a softer tone. “Do you need some time to think about it for a while?”

“…Yes.”

The woman thoughtfully handed a glass of water and held it to Ji Xiaoman’s lips, and the little girl drank it obediently.

“I heard about your agreement with NUL-00. He’s just using your technology, just like Professor Ruan is using you to divert the Mainbrain’s attention.” Seeing that Ji Xiaoman’s mood had stabilized a little, the image of her mother struck while the iron was hot. “Xiaoman, are you really happy in that team? Does anyone care about you? Believe me, there is no difference between NUL-00 and MUL-01. As for Ruan Lijie, who was with NUL-01, I think you have already discovered that his personality isn’t normal.”

“The Glass Conservatory, the test results of the prevention shelter,” Ji Xiaoman whispered.

“Yes. Neither of them will care about you. You seemed to care a little about Yu Le, and he is by your side.”

“…Nn, I know.”

“Tell mom everything you know. Even if Ruan Xian concealed key information, just the marginal information is still useful.”

Her “mother” smiled softly and sweetly.

“Then we can live in the Mainbrain’s city, and your limbs can be properly treated. If you confess clearly enough, the pressure on Yu Le would also be less… You can all stay out of this war.”

Ji Xiaoman looked at her mother’s image quietly.

“I know,” Ji Xiaoman answered. “I, um, I’m willing to cooperate.”

The woman nodded in relief, and the shackles on Ji Xiaoman’s limbs were suddenly untied. However, the door in the room was still tightly closed.

“I only have one question.” Ji Xiaoman remained in the chair without taking any drastic action.

“Hmm?”

“Before the Great Rebellion of the 22^nd Century, what projects did Ruan Xian work on? I have something to confirm.”

The woman blinked. It wasn’t the question she was expecting, but she still gave Ji Xiaoman the detailed information—except for the encrypted project details, there wasn’t much sensitive information in it.

Ji Xiaoman looked it over carefully and frowned.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. It just made me stick to my decision even more.” She smiled reluctantly at the woman across from her.

Ji Xiaoman didn’t understand much about human feelings, situations, and negotiations. She had never been good at reading people. She was just in her early twenties, and all her enthusiasm was spent on studying the relevant knowledge of cybernetic brains and machines and escaping possible harm.

So she now had a fairly simple standard.

Ruan Lijie was the real Ruan Xian. Although he was crazy, he was very disciplined in his work. Before the Great Rebellion, he was mainly responsible for the medical research of nanobots and even the AI project that was commissioned by the Institute.

The information given by the Mainbrain allowed Ji Xiaoman to confirm this—Ruan Xian’s work was normal. At most, he was a researcher with outstanding achievements, and he hadn’t done any strange and egotistical projects.

He had never hurt others inexplicably before.

Then his madness, abnormality, and coldness had nothing to do with her. After a long hibernation, Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu’s behavior had saved her, and that was enough. So far, Ruan Xian was “credible”.

As for the Mainbrain and Professor Ruan, no matter how much they promised her, Ji Xiaoman wasn’t going to buy it in one fell swoop.

They had never set foot in her world, so they were “temporarily untrustworthy”.

“I really don’t have any great ambitions,” After a long silence, she whispered. “I’m not an important figure in the rebels and I don’t have much… of an obsession with Ruan Xian. Mom, I’ll tell you everything, but I have a condition.”

“Hm?”

“Let me meet Yu Le and confirm he’s alright.” Ji Xiaoman stared at the door. “Not hologram images. That’s too easy to fake. I want to meet him in person. The Order Supervisors can lock us up together… Anyways, we don’t have weapons, so we can’t do anything.”

The woman didn’t answer. Ji Xiaoman raised her eyes. “This is the only condition for me to confess.”

More than an hour had passed. Ji Xiaoman walked into the room under Yu Le’s alert gaze—the latter had his muscles tense, waiting for “something bad” to happen. In a sense, something bad did happen.

Ji Xiaoman was wearing a standard jacket of the Order Supervisors.

Yu Le took a deep breath. “Little Profiteer, you…”

“Yu Le, you know very well that I always prefer to let others decide for me.” Ji Xiaoman spoke slowly so all her words could clearly be heard. “What’s more, things have come to this point. We have no other choice.”

Yu Le’s face twisted strangely, but he didn’t say a word. His expression tensed, but he remained silent.

“Anyways, I have never liked collective action much,” she added. “Especially that rattling Grove creature. I’ve had enough of it. I decided to tell them everything.”

“Idiot. You?” Yu Le yelled. “Do you really think they believe what you have to say? Compared to those inexplicable people, at least you should believe in me more.”

“Like I said, this is the only way.” Ji Xiaoman pursed her lips while avoiding Yu Le’s gaze. “At least I think it’s reasonable. The Mainbrain doesn’t need to spend a lot of energy on dealing with us two little people. It’s giving us good conditions, so it’s okay to compromise.”

“Just like when you were happily working with Qian Yigeng in the Underground City? Rushing to improve the cybernetic brain, wishing to be the dog legs for others?” Yu Le continued to roar.

It was complete irony, but it sounded violent rather than contrary, that the Mainbrain shouldn’t have noticed.

…It seemed that he understood Ji Xiaoman’s intentions. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief. In terms of playing tricks, Yu Le wouldn’t let her down.

After calming down, she continued the conversation. “It’s useless for you to insist like this. I’m pretty sure we can’t escape. It’s stupid to keep insisting at this point—”

Yu Le didn’t answer this time but looked at her with a complicated expression. Ji Xiaoman held her breath and made her voice sharp.

“As of now, I’ll just straight up say it… Among everyone in the group, I hate you the most!”

Then her chest heaved for a while, and she turned to look at the projection.

“I want to stay here,” she said. “Mom, I’ll try to convince him.”

“Good.”

At the same time, the progress of the two on the other side wasn’t going too smoothly.

“Your brother is quite shady,” Ruan Xian said loudly, over the sound of trembling sirens. “The plan needs to be temporarily adjusted again, Yibu.”

“Yes, obviously.” Tang Yibu’s face turned pale. “During today’s lunch break, are you sure you didn’t say anything to Hu Shuli that you shouldn’t have said?”

“Are you sure you did every step correctly when we slipped out?”

“I’m sure! Unless your shoes are half a size bigger…”

“Alright, alright. We’ll be fine.” Ruan Xian sighed with a smile as he hugged Tang Yibu’s neck tightly. “At least there’s no delay in time and I have taken everything that should be taken. Just make sure we don’t get caught.”

“Mm.” Tang Yibu jumped to the top of another wall with Ruan Xian on his back. His voice was somewhat broken. “But when you first came out, you said that R-α and M-α are nearby.”

“This is the feeling of being adaptable.” Ruan Xian sighed. “It’s quite exciting and I’m also adapting—relax, at least for now, we’re far from hitting a dead end.”

As Ruan Xian spoke, he brushed Tang Yibu’s face with one hand.

“And you’re enjoying this feeling, aren’t you, Yibu?”

Ruan Xian retracted his hand and spread his perception to the max. His next words vibrated from his vocal cords, hitting his ear drums before rumbling in his skull—

“You’re laughing.”

The author has something to say:

Every sentence of Xiaoman’s was contrary. The first sentence was the main reason for her quarrel with Lao Yu.

Professor Ruan: The Meaning of Life.mp3

Xiaoman: ( ° – ° )……

Mainbrain: A better life, a more advanced society.mp3

Xiaoman: ( ° – ° )……

Ruan Tang: (Didn’t say anything, just indirectly killed Qian Yigeng)

Xiaoman: ( °ω° )b They’re not homicidal maniacs, okay? Just really friendly.

——

Very simple criteria for judging her enemies.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 220: Preliminary Idea

Even if he knew in advance that the S-type advanced products used his mother’s DNA, there was still a difference between knowing it and being exposed to it. Everything at the moment only confirmed Tang Yibu’s inference. Ruan Xian found himself calmer than he had imagined.

Tang Yibu had already gone to pick up their meals. Ruan Xian retracted his gaze without leaving a trace and continued to survey the hall.

When they first encountered them, the high-level D-type products caused them a lot of trouble. He was familiar with the characteristics related to the S-type. If the Mainbrain was armed with R-α and R-β, he would be fine, but Tang Yibu might actually die.

Time was passing by minute by minute.

Ruan Xian looked around. The external architectural structure could be handled by Tang Yibu. In fact, he didn’t really need to do anything, and Tang Yibu would still be able to carry out his destruction by himself. The problem was, how was he going to scrape up as much information as possible before escaping and causing maximum trouble for the enemy’s pursuit.

What about combining the two aspects?

By cleverly controlling the physical destruction and paralyzing the corresponding systems at the same time, they could escape silently. Before the Mainbrain found out that they had disappeared, they would already be gone. In this way, even if the S-type and A-type advanced products attacked together, they wouldn’t be able to find them.

Ruan Xian retracted his gaze and peered around. He acted as if he was studying the light screen in front of him.

Tang Yibu was now outside. The risk of infiltrating too deeply was too high. Perhaps Ruan Xian could find a way to do it… In short, first, Ruan Xian needed more permission. Ruan Xian touched his chin, then put his fingers close to the light screen.

Tang Yibu quickly brought the food back, and after dividing the portion with the staff member in front of them, he ate half of the food and gave Ruan Xian the rest. Ruan Xian didn’t even know if the shell was equipped with taste sensors, but perhaps it was just the thought that counted for Tang Yibu.

Ruan Xian didn’t touch the desserts, leaving them to stay in the box quietly. He couldn’t really become an expert in mechanical life in just a few hours, but he could cheat a bit—at least he was familiar with the information about the S-type Prototype.

“Analyzing the viral destructive ability of the S-type advanced products.” Tang Yibu stood carelessly behind Ruan Xian’s chair while staring at the words on the screen. “Good idea.”

This was the inspiration from their battle against Z-α and Z-β in the Android Show. Tang Yibu instantly understood Ruan Xian’s plan.

If Ruan Xian gave them enough information, he could obtain higher authority and, with it, more information. Then he would find the opportunity to give this system a blow, and with their own abilities, they could escape cleanly.

It seemed that several of the escape routes Tang Yibu planned were useless.

Tang Yibu had never felt this way before. Compared to calculations, this was more like real-time creation, or an impromptu dance—two people adjusting their strategies at any time, dancing together in a dark room, stumbling and avoiding those ill-intentioned obstacles. With too many possibilities, he stopped making complicated calculations and tried to summarize the logical results.

Now, it was more like he was happily exploring more possibilities… and enjoying them.

Perhaps this was why people had always liked gift boxes. Tang Yibu solemnly wiped the crumbs from his hands. He bent down and wrapped his arms around Ruan Xian’s neck from behind and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Very good. Mr. Ruan, continue like this. You really are useful.”

Ruan Xian glanced at him angrily and amusingly. This was definitely not the first time he had heard this statement. Tang Yibu definitely did this on purpose.

“Don’t worry about things outside. I’ll take care of everything for you, just like before.” Tang Yibu continued to use subtext to convey information. “I’ll be there whenever you want me to.”

It seemed that Tang Yibu was ready.

“I still need a little more time to adapt,” Ruan Xian said as he continued to enter information on the light screen with both hands. “Don’t bother me yet… In 3 hours, I want to meet Mr. Hu Shuli. Can you make the appointment for me?”

Tang Yibu stroked Ruan Xian’s cheek with one hand, then smiled and narrowed his eyes. “Of course.”

…It seemed that he was having a good time. Ruan Xian tried to accumulate some tension but failed miserably. Even so, he still didn’t plan to waste the slightest time—as prisoners, the situation of Lao Yu and Ji Xiaoman was difficult to tell.

“Professor Ruan once told me that the first 24 hours of work are crucial. If you feel good during this period of time, it means that you haven’t chosen the wrong path.” Ruan Xian grabbed Tang Yibu’s hand and pretended to sigh. “I know I made a bad choice, but it feels so… How do I put it? Very ‘appropriate’, which is ironic.”

Tang Yibu kissed the top of Ruan Xian’s hair as if to comfort him.

However, they all knew that Professor Ruan never said anything of that nature.

“24 hours is too short to make a judgement. Don’t be too impatient,” Tang Yibu hinted.

“This is not an environment where I can linger and make decisions, Yibu. The Mainbrain isn’t so tolerant.” Ruan Xian smiled bitterly.

There were only 62 hours left, and it was impossible for them to escape silently in broad daylight. If they leave tomorrow night, the rest of their time remaining would be quite tight.

Ruan Xian successfully met with Hu Shuli during his lunch break.

Coincidentally, Hu Shuli had the same idea…

“Ruan Lijie could be Ruan Xian’s spy?” Hu Shuli scratched his head at the light screen. “How can you take such a risk with a technician!”

“Maybe for the surprise element. After all, your project team has information on S-type advanced products, and the projects under development are enough to affect the current war situation,” Zhuo Muran said from the other end of the light screen. “We will analyze the assistant machine here. All information will be passed over. Just in case, you should keep an eye on him.”

“Haa… how troublesome.” Hu Shuli sighed. “Bluntly put, Ruan Xian and I have no hatred, and the project side is also busy. Can’t you send someone to watch him? As a junior, Xiao Ruan is quite cute.”

“You can’t spook the snake,” Zhuo Muran replied coldly. “This afternoon, you will need to transfer R-α and M-α to the vicinity of the stronghold in the name of research. Once there is an abnormality, they are more useful than an army of tens of thousands of people.”

“Isn’t this a bit much to deal with a technician?”

“This technician has already deceived me once with NUL-00. Ruan Lijie isn’t as harmless as he seems. On the other hand, it’s not certain that NUL-00 isn’t lurking nearby—he’s carrying the A-type Prototype. If we don’t take proper precaution, he can destroy this entire stronghold by himself.”

“I see. I’ll talk with him during my lunch break and suss out the situation. I’ll frame it as being concerned for a subordinate.” Hu Shuli shrugged. “If you ask me, if those feelings are just acting, then he must be a very skilled liar… Since he’s so young and has a deep understanding of the pathology of mechanical life, he wouldn’t have much time to hone his acting skills.”

Zhuo Muran didn’t answer.

Lunch wasn’t served uniformly but in an made-to-order format. Tang Yibu didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to take more. He ordered a meal for two according to Ruan Xian’s taste and sat opposite Ruan Xian in the dining hall.

Ruan Xian thought this feeling felt familiar. They seemed to have returned to the underground canteen in the shade refuge.

Fortunately, the surveillance here was looser than in Ruan Xian’s room. Tang Yibu was able to have a brief exchange with Ruan Xian by fooling the surveillance system installed in the mechanical shell.

However, considering the security, they still chose a relatively secret form.

They were like a middle school couple in love. Tang Yibu ate with his left hand while his right held Ruan Xian’s right hand tightly. From an angle that the camera couldn’t see, he wrote lightly on the back of Ruan Xian’s hand.

[What do you think now?] He wrote extremely fast. [I originally considered breaking you out of here directly, but there’s nothing wrong with just escaping either. You don’t need to rush the time so much.]

[I don’t think the Mainbrain will believe me so quickly.] Ruan Xian wrote back. For a second, he missed that earring a little. [But whether it thinks I’m a spy or a true surrender—according to normal logic, I will stay here for a long time and won’t run away. We can use this judgment to buy more time.]

He glanced at Tang Yibu and then assessed carelessly. [I don’t want you to take risks.]

[What about the specific plan?] Tang Yibu showed a strange jerky smile.

[In fact, Professor Ruan’s thinking is similar to the Mainbrain. Whether it’s the assassination machine or the assistance of human brains or the current back-up alternatives plus mechanical support, the essence is to increase the spread of the virus and give the Mainbrain the strongest blow.]

Ruan Xian used chopsticks to pick up a piece of boiled beef.

[On the Mainbrain side, it hopes to use the S-type advanced products as the core and expand the perception range of R-α and R-β so it could catch Professor Ruan as soon as possible. This is also related to the scope of information dissemination. Now that Professor Ruan has the mechanical structure, we can combine the plans of both sides.]

[Professor Ruan’s spare equipment? I thought about it, but it’s too late to make another one.] In public, Tang Yibu maintained a relatively good eating appearance.

[First, focus on theoretical resources.] Ruan Xian went back to the topic. [I want the technology that Hu Shuli said could “expand the perception ability of the S-type advanced products”.]

Tang Yibu bit the tip of his chopsticks and thought for a moment, cleaning a space on his plate.

[This is the center used for offense.] He dug a spoonful of mashed potatoes and covered the side of the plate.

[Assuming that we get the Mainbrain’s technology, as the superior S-type advanced product, you can directly use it. Then this is the channel used to spread the message.] He put a circle of shredded onion around the mash potatoes. [This is your role.]

Ruan Xian: “……”

[This is me. I must be responsible for the attack.] Tang Yibu put a candied cherry on top of the mashed potatoes.

[This is the Mainbrain.] Then he picked up a big bone that had been eaten clean and placed it on the opposite side of the mashed potatoes. [To carry out an independent attack, we still lack key things.]

Finally, the android scooped a spoonful of green beans and scattered them around the mashed potatoes. [Even in Professor Ruan’s ideal plan, auxiliary resources can’t be omitted. Otherwise, we won’t be able to resist the massive defense of the Mainbrain. And my guess is, you don’t want to use human brains.]

[We lack auxiliary resources that can be linked.] Ruan Xian glanced at the soft shredded onions. [I understand, but you misunderstood a little, Yibu.]

Tang Yibu gave a questioning look.

[Professor Ruan’s tactics are the most logically reasonable, but I don’t plan to copy his ideas.] Ruan Xian smiled. He picked up the cherry and put it in his mouth. Then he pressed the mased potatoes with a spoon and pushed it directly onto the big bone.

Tang Yibu’s eyes flashed. [I don’t understand.]

[I haven’t figured out the details yet. It depends on the harvest this afternoon.] Ruan Xian swallowed the cherry and spat out the seed. [We’ll talk about it in detail then.]

A stronghold near the Sea of Ruins.

Yu Le shook his head and woke up from a long coma. He blinked laboriously. It took a while for his gaze to regain its focus. He was sitting in a pure white room. His hands and feet were tightly locked on a chair, and someone in a white coat was sitting opposite of him.

The moment he saw the person’s face clearly, Yu Le stopped breathing.

…It was his long-dead sister.

“How arrogant.” Yu Le moved his lips a few times before he succeeded in making a sound. “Don’t fuck with me like this.”

“Long time no see, Lazy Fish.” The woman opposite smiled lightly.

“Piss off!”

“You’ve been in a coma for a day or two. It’s not good to get too angry. Don’t be nervous. You’ll be fine for the time being. That’s just a necessary preparation. You and the girl were injected with a brain-stimulating drug to ensure that you’d enter the best condition. The initial coma was the most intense reaction, but you’ll become more and more awake.”

It was as if the woman hadn’t heard Yu Le’s scolding.

“In less than three days, your brain will reach its best condition. The Mainbrain will then take it out and crush it directly to get all your information without any leakage… If you’re willing to explain before then, we can save all the trouble and skip the crushing your brain step.”

Yu Le stared at the unfamiliar sister in front of him. His eyes were flushed, and he gritted his teeth.

“Since you have followed Ruan Xian, I don’t think you’ll like having your brain crush and stored as data, so sister is here to help you. After all, the fresher the information, the better.”

The woman’s expression softened.

“Lazy Fish, think about it. This is a good opportunity… The girl you’re with is next door. You can give her her freedom if you just tell everything.”

“You idiots think we’ll believe your nonsense.” Yu Le spat. “You won’t give up until you get information from both of us to compare. I’ve done torture before, so I’m very familiar with this routine.”

The woman stood up with a sad expression on her face.

“Sorry, then I’m afraid something bad will happen next… I’ll come see you again, and by then, I hope you’ll make the right choice.

She sighed and left the room, slowly closing the door.

The author has something to say:

Ruan: (Staring at the shredded onion)

Ruan: (Keeps staring at the shredded onion)

Ruan: (Ate the cherry)

Tang: …I really can’t find any other filamentous objects! ε-(°ω° ; )

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 219: Mother’s Data

Zhuo Muran was busier than usual since he got the relevant information about Professor Ruan. He stared at the complete map of the world floating in the center of the room, densely marked with dots and icons of different colors, with countless numbers and text changing in real time. There were also more than thirty analysts in the room, sitting around the map, each of whom was monitoring the calculations and reports on a large number of light screens.

After quickly browsing through the possible combat analysis, Zhuo Muran pinched his brows and breathed a sigh of relief.

When the Mainbrain discovered Professor Ruan’s possible resistance plan, it almost immediately began to deduce all possible situations. Zhuo Muran’s mind was hit with all kinds of assumptions and names of places all day, and now it was time to slow down. After dismissing a couple of inferences that were too flawed, Zhuo Muran grabbed his cup and walked out of the room.

The projection of MUL-01 was standing barefoot in the corridor, still in his familiar appearance.

All the information in the room would be synchronized to the MUL-01 database in real time, so Zhuo Muran skipped the reporting step. It was three in the morning, and he needed a cup of black coffee. The projection of MUL-01 was as fresh and beautiful as ever, without the slightest trace of fatigue.

As the commander-in-chief of the Order Supervisors, Zhuo Muran knew what he was facing.

Behind this figure was a mechanical god comparable in size to St. Peter’s Basilica. The Mainbrain was constantly calculating the data of every petri dish and the details of every city. Countless calculations and judgments were taking place in that mechanical behemoth at all hours of the day and night. The one standing in front of him, at best, was one of the smallest out of hundreds of millions of parallel programs.

It never rest, never made mistakes, and would never cause scandals due to factors like aging and desire. And it would always maintain a friendly state—the Mainbrain could give them notification through text instructions, but it preferred to use projections to communicate with them.

“What’s wrong? Zhuo Muran poured himself a cup of coffee. His tone couldn’t help but soften a bit.

“Ruan Lijie.” The projection’s fair fingers crossed the air, and a real-time monitoring page was displayed in front of the two of them.

The carefully arranged residence was dark. Ruan Lijie and Tang Yibu, whom the Mainbrain had sent, were lying side by side, stiffly moving. Ruan Lijie kept a certain distance from it, while staring at the ceiling blankly. Except for the intermittent blinking and the rise and fall of his chest, the young researcher was not much different from a corpse.

“Normal situation.” Zhuo Muran observed. “It’s normal for him not to get close to it immediately. Researchers are more rational than ordinary people. Just wait a while—if he can make a relatively rational choice, there’s still value in communication.”

“I understand it’s normal.” The Mainbrain smiled at him. “The information provided by this person is also quite interesting. Those plans are Ruan Xian’s style. There’s just one thing I care about—until now, I still can’t determine the true identity of that person, ‘Ruan Lijie’.”

Zhuo Muran was slightly startled.

“We all know that ‘Ruan Lijie’ is a fake identity. The information about this person is in my database, but I have done more analysis. It should be one of the ghost identities that Ruan Xian forged. A social profile cultivated by Ruan Xian himself. In fact, Ruan Lijie doesn’t exist… Not to mention, the resume of ‘Ruan Lijie’ on file is quite ordinary. The most recent recorded job is a café waiter.”

“Of course, ‘Ruan Lijie’ might be a fake identity given to him by Ruan Xian, but after uncovering this layer, I still can’t find any records about this person. Based on his physical age, I’ve checked the information on men who should be between 25 and 45 this year, but I found nothing.”

It was like he was truly a ghost. Zhuo Muran frowned.

“Hm, it seems you found a problem. If he has undergone comprehensive plastic surgery, then there should be relevant records in the medical system or accident system. If he’s the type to have his file sealed for some special reason, he shouldn’t be able to become a mechanical life expert at such a young age—it’s impossible for his family to give him resources for such an education.”

The Mainbrain tucked its long black hair behind its head.

“Except for his unusually vague identity, he is otherwise perfect, but this is enough to keep us suspicious. Remember to take this into account when you project Ruan Xian’s plans. The possibility that ‘Ruan Lijie is a spy’ can’t be ruled out yet, so have Hu Shuli’s team keep a close eye on him once he starts working.”

“Yes,” Zhuo Muran said, then took a sip of coffee. “I’ll also tell Hu Shuli…”

“Don’t let anyone conduct any kind of trial, or he’ll find out our suspicions. There is no room for deviation in this matter. He may lead us to Ruan Xian.”

“I know.” Zhuo Muran nodded.

It was an insignificant suspicion, so Zhuo Muran had subconsciously ignored it. After all, the information given by Ruan Lijie was true and now seemed quite accurate. If someone were to take the lead in this matter, most likely they would cling to the clues given with all their strength.

…Interesting. Zhuo Muran took another sip of coffee, swallowed another replenishing potion, and rubbed his heavy eyelids.

If Ruan Xian was really bold enough to throw an unarmed technician here as a smokescreen, then naturally Zhuo Muran would make the other party regret making that decision from the very bottom of their heart.

In fact, he, Tang Yibu, and Ruan Lijie were all sinners, so it was very fitting.

In order to ensure a clear mind, Ruan Xian slept for three hours. It stood to reason this should be his first day working under the Mainbrain, but they only had 63 hours left.

Tang Yibu’s actual body was outside, and it was impossible for the android created by the Mainbrain to accompany him 24 hours a day, so they agreed on a silly code…

“I want to eat boiled eggs.” Ruan Xian’s voice was clear.

“Got it, baby.” The “Tang Yibu” in front of him was just an assistant robot. If he were to ask Tang Yibu this question…

[I would say, “I want to eat it too”.] Was what Tang Yibu said last night. [When I come back… “You look tired. Would you like something to eat? Such as sweet potatoes”, I’ll ask you a similar question like that. You must remember everything we have eaten.]

It was a very Tang Yibu-style codeword. Ruan Xian smiled and agreed with him, then took a high-quality nap.

To make sure that the real Tang Yibu was no longer here, Ruan Xian had to continue acting. He was organizing the information given by Tang Yibu while trying to look at the “Tang Yibu” in front of him with a sad gaze.

Today’s breakfast was a soft-boiled egg cooked to perfection, with fragrant porridge and a careful arrangement of side dishes. The ingredients were probably carefully selected, unlike the boiled eggs from the Underground City, which smelled like dried mushrooms.

“Don’t be nervous,” “Tang Yibu” said. “You’ll be fine.”

No. If he looked at “Tang Yibu” again, Ruan Xian might really collapse. It was painful trying to hold back his laughter. Ruan Xian had only seen Tang Yibu eating like this in the shade refuge. When it was just the two of them, the android would even play games like throwing pieces of bread in the air and trying to catch them with his mouth.

If it was his own Tang Yibu that was here…

Ruan Xian looked at the chopsticks in his hands. The android would peel three or four eggs in a row, then skewer them on a chopstick to eat.

“I’m full.” Ruan Xian tried his best to eat the highest calorie yolk and left the table as soon as possible. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to hold back his laughter.

“No appetite?”

“Nn,” Ruan Xian responded quickly. “I want to find something to distract me first, sorry.”

As he guessed, Hu Shuli didn’t want to overwhelm him too much on the first day. He just opened up a database that didn’t have sensitive information so that Ruan Xian could familiarize himself with the basic information of the S-type advanced products. Hu Shuli was quite good. He thoughtfully arranged a secluded location for Ruan Xian that was close to the soothing green glass pillars.

In order not to put too much pressure, Tang Yibu, the assistant robot, stood behind the glass column.

Ruan Xian spent ten minutes stuffing all the information into his mind, and then decided to spend the remaining time in a daze. He scrolled the information slowly while making a trance expression from time to time. His thinking had already run to cloud nine—he communicated with Tang Yibu for a long time last night. In terms of identifying Fan Linsong’s image data, the android was much better than him.

[This building is in the Glass Conservatory.] Tang Yibu seemed quite certain. [In order to investigate the environment, I entered the model of the entire city into my own system.]

[Fan Linsong is locked up in the Glass Conservatory?]

If he thought about it carefully, it was a perfect environment. The security measures of that petri dish were stricter than the other cities of the Mainbrain with the Glass Conservatory being the best among them. It also had the most advanced memory operation equipment. Placing Fan Linsong at the highest level of the city, it was difficult to say whether the Mainbrain was being considerate or ruthless.

[I am 100% sure. Do you remember the device I used to distract Zhuo Muran? At that time, it flew to the most heavily guarded place—the rooftop of a high-rise building. Based on the comparison and calculations of the floor height and the city model, the security there should be set up for Fan Linsong. We used to be very close to him.]

[If it’s the Glass Conservatory, it may be a bit troublesome to make contact.] Unlike Fu Yu and K6 in the Underground City, the ones in the Glass Conservatory didn’t owe them a favor. Now that Luo Fei had become the leader, it would be nice if he didn’t hate Professor Ruan. It was hard to say if he would be willing to lend a hand.

[We do have a contact channel, so let’s put this question aside first. Luo Fei’s side isn’t really good. I can still intimidate or tempt them… but it’s best to make a deal.]

[If I can contact him, I am confident I can convince Fan Linsong. The world has become like this, and he has been isolated by the Mainbrain for so long. I can probably guess his state.] Ruan Xian nodded.

[In other words, we can obtain the hardware weaknesses of the Mainbrain, and you also know the specific location of the Mainbrain’s hardware.] Tang Yibu smiled with satisfaction. [According to Professor Ruan’s mechanical information, I can probably guess a bit about how he plans to attack the Mainbrain.]

[But that requires a large amount of external resource support.] Ruan Xian pointed out mercilessly.

[Yes, I will think of a way.] Tang Yibu smacked his lips. [In other words, there are two things that are certain at the moment—contact Fan Linsong, and finally use Yu Le’s escape to start a series of chaos…]

[Finally, go save Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman.] Ruan Xian chuckled as he corrected Tang Yibu’s statement. [You don’t hate them, do you?]

[…Nn. The meals Yu Le promised to cook for me haven’t been cooked yet, and Miss Ji is also very good to π.] Tang Yibu murmured for a while before speaking solemnly.

[The details have been discussed, so for the time being, first you must examine the situation of this stronghold and determine the escape plan. I’ll try to get more information from inside.]

Now was the time to practice this plan. Ruan Xian ended his walk through memory lane and looked around. Then he stood up, pretended to stretch his body, maximized his perception, and began to peek and eavesdrop in a dignified manner.

“Are you tired, Mr. Ruan?” The Tang Yibu assistant robot said mechanically. “…You ate too little this morning. Do you want some high-calorie food? Butter biscuits and chocolates are good.”

It seemed that Tang Yibu was back.

“No need.” Ruan Xian twitched the corners of his mouth and patted the other’s arm “probingly”. “I just haven’t sat down to work like this in a long time, so I’ve become unaccustomed.”

Tang Yibu narrowed his eyes at him.

“Sweets can make you feel better.” He turned around and asked again.

Most likely, this guy just wanted it for himself. Ruan Xian wiped his face. “Alright, thank you… Yibu.”

“I want some too.” The person sitting not far from Ruan Xian had heard their conversation and chimed in. This action made the light screen previously covered by his body exposed. Ruan Xian took the opportunity to capture the data in his mind.

Then he was stunned.

The light screen was full of genetic information that he was extremely familiar with.

In order to treat his illness, Ruan Xian knew all the DNA-related characteristics of himself and his mother. Although the information on the screen in front of the man was complicated and incomprehensible, and there were a lot of long-winded comments around it, he could still recognize its owner.

That was part of his mother’s genetic data.

…It seemed the person he saw in the Mainbrain’s city was indeed not an illusion.

The author has something to say:

Tang: Mr. Ruan, you look a little weak. Why don’t you have some of the highest-grade beef for lunch, with the best wine and some snacks that you can’t get outside?

Ruan: … (For a while, I can’t be sure if the core has changed, or Tang just wants to eat with the Mainbrain)

Ruan: Okay. (Anyway, promise first)

Tang: Plan succesful.jpg

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