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

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 218: Hello

The preparation of the Mainbrain was perfect. An android was quickly sent in to replace the assistant robot. Ruan Xian had never seen such a clean Tang Yibu and couldn’t help but admire him—the one he knew often smelled like dust, blood, smoke, and food. The tips of his hair most of the time were cocked because he didn’t have time to take care of it, and his expression was like a lion sunbathing.

The one in front of him was more like a product display of a humanoid assistant. It had a rich expression and natural movements, but there was still a little deviation from Tang Yibu’s lazy and self-absorbed temperament. To be fair, Ruan Xian thought this thing could fool Lao Yu and even Professor Ruan, but it couldn’t fool him.

To put it mildly—the Mainbrain’s intelligence of what Tang Yibu’s brain was like was so normal that it was unnatural.

Ruan Xian could understand the Mainbrain’s thoughts. Throughout their adventures, just by looking at the results, they were indeed the crazier ones. As far as the current situation was concerned, it seemed that only he knew how… interesting that android was.

He didn’t know why. Obviously, in an extremely dangerous environment, the tension was like a poisonous insect resting on his skin, but Ruan Xian just wanted to laugh He had crawled into bed, buried his face in the blankets as his shoulders shook, sobbing as if he was under heavy pressure.

The “Tang Yibu” provided by the Mainbrain stretched out his hand to the assistant robot and copied all the data into its system. With the assistant robot recalled, Ruan Xian was now the only one left in the room.

Or rather, there were “two” people.

Finally, Ruan Xian erased his smile, raised his head, and looked at the golden eyes in front of him.

He now understood the difference between the genuine and fake very clearly—there was a bit more cunning, curiosity, and inexplicable happiness in those golden eyes.

These strange emotions that weren’t easy to understand made them sparkle.

Unlike when he was in the Glass Conservatory, the one in front of him was a “mechanical shell” in the true sense. The real Tang Yibu was still elsewhere, and in order to not make the Mainbrain suspicious, the shell in front of him was probably still attached to a surveillance system. Ruan Xian quickly calmed down, jumped off the bed, and looked away as if he couldn’t bear it, then poured himself a large glass of water.

When he turned his gaze back to Tang Yibu again, the android had already changed into pajamas and was lying on his side of the bed while patting the edge.

Ruan Xian: “…” He put down the cup in silence and pretended not to see anything.

This was definitely Tang Yibu.

Ruan Xian rubbed his temples and lay down in the vacant position on the bed, keeping a relatively polite distance from the mechanical shell beside him. Both of them were lying upright on the bed, half an arm’s length apart, like two neatly placed corpses.

Tang Yibu had hacked into the assistant robot system, and through the data transfer just now, the implanted virus program was also transferred to the android, but it still didn’t change the fact that this was just a machine. In order to transmit suitable surveillance data to the Mainbrain, Tang Yibu needed images that could be processed…

Besides the android itself, there were plenty of surveillance cameras in every corner of this room. This made it more difficult to falsify the contents of their communications. Ruan Xian decided to provide some relatively static clips to give that guy some materials.

Sure enough, after an hour of silence, Tang Yibu turned over and lay on his side. He remotely manipulated the mechanical version of “himself” and stared at Ruan Xian with burning eyes.

Feeling the awl-style sight, Ruan Xian sighed, turned over, and lay on his side—the two were lying face-to-face; their faces half swallowed by the soft pillow.

“Don’t make a sound. Don’t move. In addition to image monitoring, I suspect that sound, vibration, and other indicators are also being monitored,” Ruan Xian mouthed wordlessly. “Communicate with your mouth.”

“You’re playing a researcher having a breakdown,” Tang Yibu mouthed. “Are you going to hug me and cry?”

“No. I should show my rejection of you as a ‘fake’. It’s too much to deceive myself right away. I should now be in a state of contradiction,” Ruan Xian coldly refused. “At least tonight, you can give the Mainbrain the loop of us playing dead.”

Tang Yibu frowned and expressed disappointment without concealment.

“In addition, the “you” is made by the Mainbrain… I guess in order to avoid trouble, it should have the most basic sensing system, but it’s not too advanced inside. Even if I break its neck, it’s estimated that you can only receive body temperature and heart rate.”

Ruan Xian continued to mend the knife.

“I know. I just checked its hardware,” Tang Yibu said solemnly. “But your body temperature is good enough.”

Ruan Xian choked after getting such an unexpected answer. Ruan Xian suddenly felt that this kind of subconscious speculation was exhausting, so he decided to change the subject. He was a little unsure what Tang Yibu wanted to do—was he planning to use his admiration as he once did to gain dominance again? Or was he expressing his true thoughts openly and honestly?

“It’s been less than two days since we met. Why did you come to find me?”

“Because I regret it.” Tang Yibu blinked. “I regret joining the dispute between the Mainbrain and Professor Ruan too early. I should have chosen to elope with you.”

“…Is this how ‘elope’ is used?”

“I think so,” Tang Yibu said. “So, Mr. Ruan, in order to restore things to their original state as soon as possible, I have decided to get rid of the Mainbrain within 66 hours. Of course, I will need your help with this.”

“…” Ruan Xian slowly lay back on his back, covered his head with the blanket, and was silent for fifteen seconds.

“How did you come up with this time limit?” Fifteen seconds later, Ruan Xian calmly resumed lying on his side.

Tang Yibu took a deep breath and told Ruan Xian about Yu Le’s and Ji Xiaoman’s situation as quickly as possible. Ruan Xian frowned slowly and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

“It’s all intelligence stacking.” After listening, Ruan Xian summed it up mercilessly. “You don’t have a detailed plan?”

“No!” Tang Yibu opened his mouth widely. “I only have a rough outline, just like you.”

For a second, Ruan Xian felt guilty of “did he mislead the person in front of him”.

As if seeing through his thoughts, Tang Yibu rubbed his head on the pillow and continued, “Although I don’t know what your plan is, I can guess the general direction of your information gathering. If we put all the clues together, there’s a high probability that we can perfect a powerful enough strategy.”

“I didn’t act according to previous style. In fact, if we go by the most reasonable logic, I shouldn’t even be here.” Tang Yibu mouthed. “And as ‘Ruan Xian’, you shouldn’t have access to the internal information here. We all know that the safest bet is to choose the safer side. Let Professor Ruan and the Mainbrain kill each other, and we choose the side we want to assist.”

Ruan Xian thought Tang Yibu was right. If they want to choose the safest path, they must act along with the rhythm of Professor Ruan and the Mainbrain. It would be a serious, long, and painful war as they carefully stepped over the footprints of others, fighting to be the oriole stalking the mantis*.

*Referring to the proverb (螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后) The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It basically means watch your back. Don’t pursue a narrow gain while neglecting the greater danger. || In this context, it’s saying the Mainbrain and Professor Ruan are the mantis (seeing each other as the cicada) while Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu watch in the background being the oriole (they are the greater threat).

In this game, everyone was a prisoner of numbers, fighting around a winning rate, trying to keep themselves alive.

…Then the question was… If he jumped out with the intention of overturning the chessboard and pushing the winning percentages aside, even if he took part of the risk and would do anything to keep Tang Yibu free, what would Tang Yibu think?

“Why?” Ruan Xian asked directly without any intention of garnering goodwill from Tang Yibu.

“Because of trouble.” Tang Yibu was as confident as ever. “I want to study you and my feelings for you. This grinding war is impeding it too much—especially MUL-01. If I don’t pay attention, it might really make a move on you.”

“You mean like before? That’s just acting.” Ruan Xian couldn’t help laughing.

“I know it’s acting,” Tang Yibu said nervously. “But when I was in the Sea of Ruins, I deliberately got close to you, and you claimed to like me because of it. The Mainbrain is similar to the core algorithm of my thinking. What if it comes to the same inspiration and uses the same idea to take you away?”

“Oh—”

“And I think we can win.”

“Even if the other party is the Mainbrain?”

“I am its prototype. I think I’m stronger,” Tang Yibu declared proudly. “And you’re my maker. We’re equal on a technical level. In terms of material, we have two Prototypes and an information advantage—the best thing is that if we control the number of participants to a minimum, the difficulty of the Mainbrain’s response is equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.”

“It’s not impossible.” Ruan Xian didn’t respond directly but just smiled. “Why do you think you’re stronger?”

“Well… I now understand a lot about why you gave me that subject in the first place, and I understand quite a bit now. From what I’ve seen along the way, I’m afraid the Mainbrain has never thought about those things.”

Tang Yibu returned a weird smile that was a little jerky.

“In other words, now when I analyze and calculate, I have at least one more angle than it. As long as I catch those blind spots, I can formulate a plan that it won’t be able to calculate.”

Ruan Xian didn’t answer. He gently raised his arm, raised his hand in front of Tang Yibu, and opened his palm slightly. Tang Yibu looked at it suspiciously for a while, then stretched out his hand and lightly gave Ruan Xian a high-five.

As a result, before he could withdraw his hand, Ruan Xian grabbed it tightly and clasped their fingers together.

“Sounds like a pretty good idea.” Ruan Xian’s curved his eyes. “And time is limited, so I don’t seem to have much of a choice.”

Tang Yibu huffed in satisfaction.

“But have you ever thought about it, Yibu? If I had been moved by the Mainbrain, what would happen to you now?”

Tang Yibu shrank his hand in fright, but it was still firmly held by Ruan Xian. He looked at Ruan Xian in shock and a faint panic crossed his eyes.

‘…How surprising,’ Ruan Xian thought. This android, who liked to calculate all possibilities, seemed surprised by the possibility that he proposed.

This was a good sign.

“It’s good to plan well. I can tell you’re having problems right now.” Ruan Xian grabbed the hand and continued to smile. “In my opinion, this requires us to give each other considerable trust. Shhh, I know what you want to say—love is not a substitute for trust.”

Tang Yibu stared at their clasped hands without saying anything.

“But like you said, time is limited.” Ruan Xian continued, “In any case, we must act immediately. In short, we should prepare well first. As for the issue of trust… Let’s take it one step at a time. Even if the plan fails, we aren’t without a way out.”

Things had developed to the present and the risk of everything could still be calculated, but to complete the plan to defeat the Mainbrain, it was impossible for them to stick together all the time and spend energy being wary of each other.

Ruan Xian thought that Tang Yibu had realized this. He was curious about the current thoughts of the android.

“I don’t really trust you.” Sure enough, this was how Tang Yibu responded.

“……”

“But I gradually discovered that I don’t doubt you either,” After a pause, Tang Yibu said bitterly. “Some time ago, I considered a question—my previous method of calculation emotional-related topics seemed to be a bit flawed.”

“Loophole?”

“You see, I don’t know much about your nature. As for you… I don’t know your specific situation. I only know that most humans don’t understand their own nature either.”

Tang Yibu narrowed his golden eyes and relaxed his posture.

“But compared to using human commonalities to calculate your interests and risks and try to guess your thoughts… I think it’s what you actually do that becomes the calculated capital of ‘you as a person’.”

“When those moments come, will you betray me, defend me, or stand idly by? This may be a topic that lacks condition, so I will wait.”

“Wait?”

“Because I don’t want to lose you, I’m willing to wait.” Tang Yibu returned with greater strength, clasping Ruan Xian’s hand. “I won’t do anything to you until those moments come.”

Ruan Xian didn’t speak. He looked into the eyes of the person opposite and felt a sourness in his heart.

“I have tried to calculate it many times before.” Tang Yibu looked away guiltily. “It turns out that if the father in my memory is the result of your deliberate disguise, my understanding of you is quite limited. So far, I have conducted some stats… Now you are the goal I want to save more.”

“So?”

Tang Yibu broke free of Ruan Xian’s hand, and with a turn of his wrist, the two hands changed from fingers intertwined to a standard handshake. The two of them lay stiffly on the bed, holding hands solemnly, as if they had been thrown into amber during a handshake and laid down sideways after they solidified.

“Nice to meet you,” the android whispered.

“…Let’s get along.”

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 217: Before the Reunion

After listening to Tang Yibu’s little plan, Zhong Qing only had contempt and even a trace of pity in his eyes. Tang Yibu looked down at the little boy, who was only as tall as his chest, and bared his teeth in a kind of threatening way.

“Your brain is broken.” Zhong Qing stretched out his arm sympathetically and patted Tang Yibu on the shoulder.

Tang Yibu squatted down, stretched out his hand and grabbed Zhong Qing’s ear, twisting it lightly. “Hurry up and get down to business.”

“You have no love for children!” Zhong Qing screamed exaggeratedly, trying to attract the attention of his peers—unfortunately, A’Qiao sat quietly on the side, using the fainted man as a stool while cleaning her soiled cuffs.

“We’re not the same kind of creature at all.” Tang Yibu patted the box. “Get started.”

Four minutes later, with an expression of extreme dissatisfaction, Zhong Qing ate a memory spray on his face. A’Qiao dragged the man who was unconscious and aligned their bodies in resting positions with their hands crossed.

“Are you leaving?” After this, she turned and looked at Tang Yibu.

“Nn.”

“I’ll tell Fu Yu and K6,” she said as she walked up to Tang Yibu. She eyed Tang Yibu up and down, focused her gaze, and gave a long snort. “This environment… you look a bit familiar.”

Tang Yibu was putting the box back in place, making it appear as if no one had touched it. Hearing this, he turned his face and responded to the other’s gaze.

“Forget it,” she said calmly, looking in a good mood without the helplessness and panic that was once Tiantian-Q2. The girl who used to tremble inside her cell stretched her hand towards Tang Yibu, who frowned but didn’t avoid it.

“I’m familiar with this feeling. You’re related to my past, but I’ve forgotten all about it. Since I chose to erase my memory at that time, there must be a good reason. To be honest, I don’t know if it was an operation error. I still remember a bit of information—to retain the underlying logic, it must have been something beneficial related to my cybernetic brain or the key to my survival.”

A’Qiao tapped Tang Yibu’s face with one hand and ran her fingers across his eyes and mouth. Tang Yibu tasted the strong smell of blood, but it didn’t belong to A’Qiao’s. Tang Yibu glanced at the unlucky guy who was used as a stool for a few minutes and decided not to investigate the origin of the blood.

“Since I’ve shared this valuable information with you as a fellow android, it might be useful to you,” she said. “I wish you the best of luck and come back soon to pick up this troublesome guy. If you break the agreement, I’ll start to hate you.”

Tang Yibu recognized the pattern drawn by the other party—A’Qiao drew a blood-red cross over both his eyes and added a clown-like “smile” on the side of his face.

It was the blood-red smiley faces they had left behind to confuse the public.

The smell of blood was getting stronger.

“You didn’t question my goal of defeating the Mainbrain,” Tang Yibu asked curiously, without erasing the blood on his face.

“Because I have no advice I can provide you. My questioning will not change anything,” she said while buttoning on her gas mask. “They are about to wake up. Go.”

Tang Yibu didn’t bother to continue the conversation. He put on his gas mask and let the blood slowly dry on his face. Before leaving the area, Tang Yibu looked back at the dim space. A’Qiao stood on top of the open land, as quiet as a mannequin used to display costumes in the olden days.

She continued to look in the direction he left, unsure whether she was watching or saying goodbye.

Once born and twice cooked*, the second time was much smoother than the first.

*(一回生二回熟) Idiom referring to the more times people meet, the more familiar they are naturally.

Tang Yibu made sure that he had brought everything. Ruan Xian’s two blood guns were carefully hidden by him. The iron bead was attached to the water bottle and clanged against it at every turn. Tang Yibu’s small belongings were kept safely in his backpack while the structure of Professor Ruan’s counterattack equipment was kept in his mind.

Sneaking in was one thing, and normal contact with Ruan Xian was another.

Ruan Xian’s room was protected by the highest-standard defense system. Although the previous approach was feasible, the efficiency of information transmission was quite low, and there was always a risk of exposure. He had limited time and didn’t have time to dawdle around words with Mr. Ruan.

Tang Yibu sat melancholy behind the base of a certain scanning light scanner in a stronghold. It was slowly rotating its large beam of light constantly.

The sky was already dark. While Tang Yibu played merry-go-round with the light scanner, Ruan Xian had already returned to his room. His nerves had worn thin for the day, and it made his brain hurt. He breathed a long sigh of relief and slowly drank a glass of iced water to calm himself.

A whole day of deceiving others was exciting enough. Added to this, he had to dig up what little information he could find—Ruan Xian recalled the data he read in his mind and ordered the assistant robot to project images of Fan Linsong’s life.

From the images, Fan Linsong seemed to be doing well.

The old man was beautifully dressed and the furnishings in his residence were exquisite. In the video, he was slowly enjoying a hearty breakfast. Except for a little bit of inexplicable numbness in his expression, which made him look ten years older, it was indeed the Fan Linsong that Ruan Xian knew.

But Ruan Xian’s purpose wasn’t this.

The image revealed a corner of the floor-to-ceiling window. Although it was only a flash, Ruan Xian still captured it—he saw the tops of countless buildings, which meant Fan Linsong should be located at the top of a high building. With just the top of the exposed building that was smaller than a grain of rice, it was difficult to distinguish their characteristics.

He could use Fan Linsong’s height, field of vision, and horizon position to briefly estimate. Ruan Xian stared unblinkingly at Fan Linsong, who was still eating, calculating silently in his mind until an uninvited guest broke in.

“Tang Yibu” chose the windowsill. Ruan Xian had to admit that his appearance was quite handsome, but unfortunately, Ruan Xian had no intention of rushing to the window to be his Juliet*. He took a deep breath, slowly closed the images of Fan Linsong, and adjusted his emotions for a few seconds.

*Referencing Romeo and Juliet, written by Shakespeare.

“Yibu,” he called out “affectionately”, missing the real one that liked to hide under the bed.

“You look torn,” the fake said.

“No, just nervous. I’ll never betray you.” Ruan Xian deliberately gave a look of restlessness, and the nerves that had just been relaxed tightened again. He smiled reluctantly at the other party as a thin layer of sweat appeared on his palm.

His own behavior had to be 100% in line with the expectations of the Mainbrain.

Ruan Xian had to admit that the Mainbrain was very good at choosing the terms of the deal. Looking at the loyalty of Hu Shuli and the others, Ruan Xian didn’t think that the price tag offered was just to deceive him. The proposal to ensure Tang Yibu’s survival was quite attractive. He had even seriously considered something similar as an alternative—the goal of the plan was to survive. The difference lay only in the Mainbrain’s degree of surveillance.

Now he must guess the intentions of the Mainbrain correctly in order to anticipate its preconceptions.

Since it was acting as Tang Yibu, Ruan Xian’s “unsuspecting” self had two choices. Either continue to persevere faithfully, wait for enough information, and sacrifice for the so-called righteousness, or be submissive and try to get rid of “Tang Yibu”, and then agree to the Mainbrain’s proposal to completely ensnare his lover after his betrayal.

No matter which he chose, he had to exchange information with this “Tang Yibu” to show loyalty. The key lay in those subtle emotional deviations…

Ruan Xian had never acted like this before, but he had to succeed.

Ruan Xian raised his eyes and looked at the familiar beautiful eyes opposite of him. Needless to say, since they were nestled in the wrong person, they didn’t incite any feeling of beauty for him in the slightest.

Calm down, Ruan Xian told himself.

The core systems of NUL-00 and MUL-01 were the same. They should be like twins, and they all followed the iron rule. Just like all creatures in the world, they all had strong “survival instinct”. As a young and unsociable researcher who was also desperate for love…

Suppressing the surging tension in his stomach, Ruan Xian made a decision.

He decided to choose the one that was closest to reality, and he was confident he could play the scene well. After all, he really thought about giving up defeating the Mainbrain and only protecting Tang Yibu, and now he really had something to hide from the “person” in front of him.

The feeling of toeing the line of death almost opened every pore in Ruan Xian’s body. He took a few deep breaths in front of “Tang Yibu” and spoke.

“I look torn?” Ruan Xian tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Just like Professor Ruan guessed, the Mainbrain is very good at convincing people. Yibu, come here. Let me see your eyes.”

“Tang Yibu” cautiously took two steps forward.

Then he saw the researcher surnamed Ruan’s eyes reddened, and he started to cry. After a short silence, the young researcher wiped away his tears and quickly regained his composure. “I went around their lab today and got some information. They are now strengthening the S-type products to try and break through Professor Ruan’s perceptual camouflage… You must convey this message back.”

“Nn.”

“And…” Ruan Lijie hesitated. “The Mainbrain wants me to be in charge of part of the research. Yibu, can you give me two more days? I want to pretend to agree first to get more information. I know this may sound greedy… But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—”

“Maybe the Mainbrain is deliberately giving you this opportunity.” “Tang Yibu’s” face was expressionless. “You have to think carefully. If you betray…”

“You can enter my room at any time and have the ability to assassinate me.” The young researcher wiped away the tears on his face. “I won’t… I won’t do anything against your will, Yibu.”

It seemed that the induction in the past few days had been somewhat effective, and the sub-program of the Mainbrain had made a judgement.

Ruan Xian was completely thinking about other things. He recalled Tang Yibu’s suffering on the Android Show over and over again and pressed down the surging emotions that were bubbling out. He had done all he could do and could only wait for the Mainbrain’s judgement…

His heart was beating frantically under his ribs, and he didn’t need to hide this.

If the Mainbrain stopped the scene at this moment, if he didn’t hurry to remedy the situation, all he had done up to this point would be washed away. On the other hand, if the Mainbrain continued to play along, things could still turn around.

“I have something else to do this time.” After a long pause, “Tang Yibu” continued.

His nerves continued to tighten and relax. Ruan Xian could almost hear the sound of them snapping. Fortunately, Tang Yibu didn’t come to disrupt the situation this time. Otherwise, he didn’t know if he could hide it—

As a result, before the thought had the chance to completely disappear from his mind, an assistant robot a few steps away suddenly turned slowly and rushed all its surveillance camera on them. The Mainbrain was focusing all its attention on Ruan Xian, so it didn’t notice this strange action for the time being.

Ruan Xian suddenly had a bad premonition.

“What is it?” Ruan Xian immediately tried to grab the Mainbrain’s attention.

“After you left, there was a bottleneck in Professor Ruan’s plan. Although I can help him solve the hardware design, special areas still need experts,” “Tang Yibu” said. “We analyzed the principle of the confidential algorithm you gave me last time, but in terms of software adaptation…”

“To be honest, I haven’t been exposed to many assassination machines before.” Ruan Xian glanced at the suspicious assistant robot from the corner of his eyes. “If it’s about the algorithm that spreads the attack program virally and effectively fights against the Mainbrain’s algorithm, I can help. Yibu, this is an opportunity sent to my door—the Mainbrain has given me a job very similar in nature. I can use its resources to do things for us.”

Ruan Xian threw out two sweet baits by using “assassination machine” and “attack program”.

The fake Tang Yibu sighed softly. “I’ll be watching you.”

You don’t say. The guy you’re pretending to be is probably watching right now. Ruan Xian’s face twisted for a moment, but he tried his best to end the performance.

“Believe me, no matter what, I’ll let you live,” he said rather bitterly.

“Tang Yibu” gave him a soothing smile, leaned forward, and was about to kiss him. The hairs on the back of Ruan Xian’s neck all exploded. He took a deep breath and stopped the other party’s movement in time.

While ordinary people couldn’t see it, with his S-type Prototype, Ruan Xian could tell the assistant robot was stretching its camera lens and quietly moving closer to adjust its focal length.

…Tang Yibu was definitely watching.

“Sorry, Yibu.” Ruan Xian held back his smile while trying to keep his tone sad. “When it’s all over, we’ll kiss then.”

“Tang Yibu” gave him a meaningful look.

“As far as our current hardware conditions are concerned, I need the diffusion model for the most ideal attack program.” The Mainbrain resumed its sitting posture. “We want you to put aside the foundation of established programs and calculate them according to perfect condition.”

“I see.”

The Mainbrain nodded. “Mr. Ruan, it’s time to say goodbye… I hope you won’t make the wrong decision.”

After the Mainbrain left, Ruan Xian ignored the inexplicable and aggrieved peeping of the assistant robot and lay on the bed. Ten minutes later, he pressed the communication device in the room and contacted Hu Shuli.

“I accept the conditions of MUL-01,” Ruan Xian said with great difficulty. “But I have a request.”

“What are your requirements?” Hu Shuli seemed to be in a good mood.

“Since you betrayed the person you love, you know how it feels! I want the Mainbrain to give me a mechanical assistant just like him. Please, I really… I need him by my side now, just like when you pulled me into those doomsday memory…”

“No problem,” Hu Shuli said. “The Mainbrain has considered your needs and will deliver it in an hour.”

Ruan Xian twitched his nose and kept shaking…

When the assistant robot sneaked over, he quietly made an “OK” gesture.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 216: Meeting Ceremony

To be convincing, the most important thing was to remain calm. If Ruan Xian could act confident and maintain the facade that everything was under control, it wouldn’t give rise to suspicion. This was something he was very good at. The difficulty at the moment was how to make full use of the knowledge he didn’t know well enough to convince the expert in front of him.

Just like the deployment of some kind of complex potion, Ruan Xian retained about three parts nervousness and just the right amount of confidence.

At least he wasn’t completely unprepared.

When studying α-092, he was involved in related fields. Since the emergence of such nanobots that could stably replicate themselves, the definition of what an organism was had begun to loosen—they had similar characteristics; ingesting energy from the outside world and abandoning useless residues. After accumulating a certain amount of energy, they would self-replicate, and occasionally there would be errors in their replication. A simple program written inside the machine allowed them to identify their goals and respond appropriately to changes in the environment.

If viruses with only a piece of DNA or RNA could be recognized, then nanobots like these could be said to be a weird new form of life. It was just that this topic was extremely controversial at the time, and it wasn’t Ruan Xian’s responsibility to participate in their debate.

But with this memory in front of him, he could guess the origin of mechanical life.

With careful adjustment, these tiny nanobots could become simple cells and construct their own simple nerve centers. These man-made objects were much thicker than natural cells, and due to the essential differences in composition, their structure was far from that of normal organisms.

For them, reproduction was closer to the essence of individual data exchange. With so many mechanical beings appearing in a short period of time, Ruan Xian was inclined to believe that this was the result of a deliberate arrangement by the Mainbrain.

Ruan Xian sneezed to distract Hu Shuli. He looked around from the corner of his eyes while his ears tried to pick up on everything around him.

“The reproduction of Grove-type R-660 in areas A and C is good. The Grove-type R-219 is normal, but the number shows a slow negative growth trend. According to our preliminary judgment, it’s not suitable to be used to transform the terrain near Country V.”

“The number of Papu T-72 in the Sea of Ruins has increased significantly. It may be because the Grove-type R-660 has been raised in captivity, causing the population to surge… They will breed too fast at this rate, pushing out other small mechanical life.”

“Scavenging puppets, right? I said at the time that the stability of subspecies 72 isn’t very good and their aggressiveness is still too high. They are used to recover the corpses of mechanical life. They shouldn’t be predators but rather be closer to carrion-eating creatures—”

The flow of time slowed down. Ruan Xian could hear the sound of air slowly flowing through his hair. His brain had never been so active before, and this strange stimulation made him want to laugh.

He had a good idea on how to deal with this.

“Specializing in the study of specific viruses to manipulate or destroy the corresponding mechanical races…” Ruan Xian’s voice was steady. “This is my research direction… You use the Mainbrain to uniformly regulate mechanical life, while we can only choose to infect them with viruses. Whether it’s old-school pure data intrusion or bionic tissue infection, I’ve been exposed to them.”

Having said that, he straightened up and looked serious. “I can more or less guess what you’re working on—controlling mechanical life’s reproduction cycle and life so you can rapidly modify specific terrain so it can be used for humans.”

“The Grove-type R-660, known as the iron beads—are mainly distributed in areas where ruins are more concentrated. They autonomously ingest metals, plastics, and other substances that are not easy to handle. They fatten themselves up and coalesce the acquired metals on their shells, then they are hunted by larger mechanical life, like the scavenger puppets—all the Mainbrain then has to do is collect the scavenger puppets regularly and extract the precious metals from their bodies.”

As for the things that couldn’t be recycled, they would be long digested by the iron bead into degradable particles and excreted, which would no longer be harmful to natural organisms.

Compared with manually manufacturing a large number of machines and unifying the command, this approach consumed significantly less energy. It only needed to wait patiently while life continued to develop and the efficiency was relatively high—as long as MUL-01 designed the correct mechanical life and issued the right instructions, the Mainbrain could divert rivers and level mountains, turn a glacier into a wasteland, and a dessert into soil within a few months. 

Perhaps humans really did create a “God” for themselves—a tool that was omniscient and omnipotent.

Hu Shuli looked very focused and had no plans to speak for the time being. Ruan Xian retracted his thoughts, tightened every nerve, and continued to narrate calmly.

“Now you should be aware of the problem. Compared to real life, mechanical life that could replicate itself is far from mature. Species with high IQ are difficult to design, right? Most of the higher mechanical life we’ve come into contact with are modified from living organisms, or special individuals that are artificially mass-produced—eliminating billions of years of evolution isn’t a joke. Even the Mainbrain can’t stabilize these new life forms in less than twenty years.”

“I’ve heard of similar exhortations, and that is indeed the tone of Professor Ruan’s side.” Hu Shuli sighed. “But Xiao Ruan, absolute naturalization is too extreme…”

“I can certainly understand renovating a landfill or a severely polluted area, but you are doing more. The Mainbrain is transforming the world into a special breeding garden for only humans.”

After figuring out Professor Ruan’s character, Ruan Xian knew exactly how to play a rebel.

“I just want to help remove those unnecessary changes. At least I don’t want to give my will to MUL-01 and become a domesticated animal to be raised.” …In fact, if he was entirely honest, he really had no thoughts regarding this battle.

Adding some gestures was good for firing up the atmosphere, but unfortunately, Ruan Xian really lacked experience in this area, so he could only keep his arms crossed.

“Take it easy. How about this. Why not look at the results first?” Hu Shuli knew how to interact with people well. He didn’t butt heads with Ruan Xian. “Xiao Ruan, in fact, we also need someone who thinks like you. This way, we won’t have a problem when wiping out the necessary mechanical life. Many people have expressed that they couldn’t stand it before. Think about it, you can use your abilities to correct excessive transformations and control their numbers so that things don’t get out of hand.”

Hu Shuli patted Ruan Xian on the shoulder.

“I assure you, things aren’t as bad as you think.”

Ruan Xian breathed a sigh of relief. Hu Shuli’s focus was taken away by him, and he also managed to obtain more information…

But naturally, not from Hu Shuli’s incessant explanations. Ruan Xian walked slowly around the huge lab, trying to stuff all the details into his mind. Even if the Mainbrain wanted to use him, it wouldn’t expose real sensitive information to him. He must take the opportunity to get more information. Even if he couldn’t use it in the future, it would still be useful to fool the Mainbrain’s version of Tang Yibu.

“It’s not just mechanical life pathology and control that are studied here.” Ruan Xian suddenly stopped beside a light screen.

Hu Shuli, who was walking in front, stopped his movements and no longer continued explaining Watler-E87’s transformation of the desert area.

“What’s the matter?” He raised his eyebrows.

“I have an impression of what this person designed.” Ruan Xian pointed to the light screen beside him. “The combination of specific mechanical viruses and an S-type product?”

He did have an impression, but it didn’t come from the knowledge reserve of the so-called “mechanical life expert”, but from his own blood—the mechanical structure on the screen looked like α-092-30.

No matter what it was, it must be related to the S-type Prototype.

“It seems that the Mainbrain didn’t misjudge you,” Hu Shuli said with satisfaction. “It’s okay to tell you—that’s our research on the S-type to expand the scope of perception. When this research is completed, the perceptual camouflage of the rebel army will completely fail. No matter where Ruan Xian is hiding, he won’t have much longer to live.”

This was putting pressure on his disguise. Ruan Xian tried to make an ugly look.

“If you’re willing to help us complete this research, you can have access to core technologies, participate in research of the advanced S-type products, and make yourself irreplaceable. The Mainbrain will also allow you to make some requests, such as keeping anyone other than Ruan Xian.”

“Even Yibu?”

“We can change him to… well, a less dangerous body, and then set some safety restrictions in his algorithm. If you agree to this premise and are willing to help the Mainbrain catch Ruan Xian, I think the Mainbrain will agree.”

“Now it seems that the defeat of the rebels is only a matter of time. Tang Yibu will inevitably be eliminated.”

Seeing that Ruan Xian didn’t respond, Hu Shuli struck while the iron was hot. “I’m not going to lie to you. We also know Ruan Xian’s and the rebel’s plan. Pure data virus infection, right? Xiao Ruan, you are still young. Don’t be too impulsive when making decisions.”

Ruan Xian magnified his perception and pinched his palm fiercely. The severe pain made his eye circles a little red.

The effect wasn’t bad.

“I heard that Fan Lin… Teacher Fan was taken by the Mainbrain a long time ago. Is it true?” Ruan Xian “struggled” for a while before he raised his head.

“Fan Linsong is your teacher?”

“…Mm. I want to know his situation. If the Mainbrain is really as good as you say, then teacher should still be alive.”

Hu Shuli’s smile became a lot warmer. “He’s doing well now, but he’s not here.”

“I want to talk to him.”

“No.” Hu Shuli shook his head. “But we can help you confirm some questions that only he knows or provide you with his vitals—Fan Linsong’s DNA is quite thoroughly disguise so we can’t clone him. It’s easy to prove that he’s still alive. A meeting will have to wait until you make a definitive contribution.”

“Give me an image of him eating breakfast. I won’t mistake my own teacher.” It was true he wouldn’t mistake his own deputy.

“Not a problem. After dinner, I’ll send it to your room. That’ll give you enough time to identify the authenticity.”

Ruan Xian carefully imitated a young man’s hesitation while calculating in his mind.

Since the core logic of the Mainbrain hadn’t changed, Fan Linsong could still be considered the main person in charge. Ruan Xian was afraid he had spent too much effort on the hardware—if he wanted to understand the physical weakness of the Mainbrain, this was the breakthrough point.

There was always never enough information, and given his own “handle”, the Mainbrain will feel more at ease.

…It would be nice if someone could help him a bit. He didn’t know when Tang Yibu, who was so stimulated last time, would come again.

He promised that the next time, the thrill would be even greater.

“I understand,” Ruan Xian murmured. “Tell the Mainbrain, about Yibu… I need to think about it again.”

However, Ruan Xian had no idea that the one he was missing at the moment was burying himself in soil.

Zhong Qing had short legs and was unfamiliar with life. When he ran panting to where Tang Yibu was, he bumped into the visitor with a cart.

The man was planning to unload the extra “box” from Yu Le’s car. Seeing someone rushing in, he subconsciously raised a gun in his hand. In the dim light, the two of them stared at each other for a while.

“Report. It’s a child,” the man said cautiously. “I’ve scanned the surroundings. He seemed to have just arrived. I’m not sure if it’s an android. I’ll use the short-term memory elimination spray to deal with him. If it doesn’t work—”

“No, no, no.” Zhong Qing’s voice changed with a bit of fright. “I didn’t mean to. I just came to pee. You continue on. I’ll be leaving now.”

“Is it the enemy? Is it the enemy?” Unlike Zhong Qing, who could see through walls, A’Qiao guessed one step late. She ignored Zhong Qing, who was retreating, and rushed directly in the direction of the man.

The man sharply interrupted the communication and was about to shoot…

In the next second, he was grabbed by a hand covered in mud.

“You missed the ground when you scanned your surroundings.” Tang Yibu spat out the mud in his mouth. “You always forget to scan the ground.”

The man who was grabbed couldn’t say much. The ground scanning tool was used for dangerous machines. Who the hell would guess that, besides rats, there were other living things hiding down there? At least this was something the Mainbrain had never done.

“You’re not… Order Supervisors…”

The man glanced at Tang Yibu’s clothes and his bright smile, which was half covered in mud. “Let me go. I’m just here to collect something—” As he spoke, his hand quietly reached towards his belt.

“Are you looking for this?” Tang Yibu used his other hand to take out a self-detonating bomb. “And your gun, I have unloaded it—you’re a rebel. No, no, no. Don’t be so quick to bite the poison in your mouth. I also know what you’re here for. You were ordered to come pick things up, right?”

“You’re the one…” The man’s face changed. “Are you going to betray, ahem, that one?”

He glanced at the two children and changed the name in time.

“Yes, I am ‘the one’. How weird you would call it betrayal when I have no loyalty to him to begin with.” Tang Yibu shook the mud from his head. “I just want to make sure of a guess—is the thing you want to take this ‘empty box’? Since you’re entrusted to pick up such an important thing, your rank definitely isn’t low. Since I don’t want to break it rashly, tell me what it is.”

As Tang Yibu spoke, he curled his lips. “Your boss doesn’t like sharing plans with me very much, so I can’t help it.”

The man laughed dryly and didn’t speak. Seeing that he was no longer threatening, the two children next to him quickly came over.

“Torture, torture, torture!” A’Qiao’s emotions were inexplicably high.

“Do you have a particularly powerful truth potion?” Zhong Qing started to let his imagination run wild.

“…” It seemed that the rebels may not be so popular. The man squinted at the two little brats weakly.

“You followed me.” Tang Yibu turned his head and got straight to the point. “Was that a free demonstration of your sentry abilities just now? If I hadn’t guessed that someone would come get this, I would’ve been attacked by him.”

His tone of voice was very serious, and his expression faintly revealed a little disgust.

Zhong Qing shrank his neck. “As if you would die that easily.”

“…Do you sound sorry?”

“Shut up!” The man roared. “If you don’t want the Order Supervisors—”

“Before you, I have already tampered with the surveillance here.” Tang Yibu finally turned his attention back to the man. “Can’t you really tell me? Just a little?”

“Can’t.” The man’s dry smile turned into a sneer. “My contact person will become suspicious if I don’t report it within ten minutes. Mr. Tang, if you still want to cooperate with that one, you’d better let me go now—hck!”

Tang Yibu took out a spray bottle from the man’s bag and sprayed it on the man’s face. The man rolled his eyes upwards and fell to the ground, unaware of what had just happened.

“Short-term memory elimination spray.” A’Qiao squatted down and poked the man in the face.

“Zhong Qing.” Tang Yibu’s voice became serious again.

“What!”

“We still have five minutes. Since you’re here, it’s time to prove that you are useful.” Tang Yibu clapped his hands. “Help me see through that box and tell me what’s inside.”

“He said ten minutes. How come it’s now five? Isn’t this supposed to be a secret? I knew you were just pretending to care about me—”

Tang Yibu grinned and shook the short-term memory elimination spray in his hand. “It effectively clears the memory of the last five minutes. There’s still a lot left in it.”

“…I hate you.”

Zhong Qing took off his hat and grumbled.

“Aren’t you with them? Why are you still doing these things?”

“Because I’m going to see the person I love.” Tang Yibu thought for a while. “Last time I was in a rush. This time, I have to prepare some information as a meeting gift.”

“You’re so annoying!” Zhong Qing pulled on his hat.

On the other hand, A’Qiao, seeing that there was no longer any excitement, turned cold and sat on the unconscious man’s stomach. “Don’t we need to kill him?”

“If he died here, it’d be troublesome for Yu Le and the others.” As an android, Tang Yibu was keenly aware of the opponent’s weakness. “When he wakes up, you will tell him—he intended to spray you, but you dodged, and using your skills, you sprayed him back. Five minutes isn’t enough to do anything to the box, and nothing is missing, so the best he can do is check to see if there are any trackers on it.”

A’Qiao’s face wrinkled, but she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

This would save a lot of trouble. Tang Yibu nodded in satisfaction—if these two little ones hadn’t come, he would’ve spent time trying to set up a reasonable “accident”.

“Four minutes left.” Tang Yibu took a deep breath and calculated the time accurately. “Zhong Qing, get started.”

“Hmph.”

“When I finish my trip, I’ll come pick you up.” Tang Yibu smiled. “Don’t worry. This is a deal. I won’t break my promise.”

“What are you going to do?” Zhong Qing walked to the box as he muttered very quietly. “Tell me a general version. I don’t like being kept in the dark—at least give me hope.”

“I decided to find the person I like, kiss him, and give him a hug.” Tang Yibu started listing his steps solemnly. “Then, exchange greeting gifts…”

“Finally, defeat the Mainbrain within 72 hours.”

Kinky Thoughts:

After that papapa? …Or maybe a quickie before then?

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