Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 124: Virtual Natural Disaster

Ruan Xian spent all afternoon preparing.

He once again switched the scene in the room to the beach. The time of the augmented reality system was the same as in reality. This time he was no longer greeted by the dark sea at midnight, but a turquoise blue that almost connected to the sky.

Countless light screens floated around him, and formally dressed men and women on the screens were reporting on major events or anecdotes that had occurred all over the world. The virtual waves rolled over the golden sandy beach, leaving a tan wet mark. The development of science and technology hadn’t stopped. Ruan Xian himself once liked to use this type of technology to make up for the regret of not being able to go out—the augmented reality effect at that time wasn’t so realistic.

In the light screen floating around, the world was very stable. Although conflict hadn’t completely disappeared, it was much less than in his own time. The scene was bright, the sun was shining, or rather the lights were bright. People came and went on the street that should no longer exist, mostly with calmness and hope on their faces.

It was like a finely woven, huge dream.

Ruan Xian spent more than ten minutes looking at the trivial news, and soon, he found a loophole in the fast-surging flow of information. Posing to kill time while recalling the data obtained from the shelter data room, he connected to the outermost layer of the system and began to explore the key word “joint memory therapy”.

As a formal treatment method, information on joint therapy wasn’t difficult to find.

The operability of memory could cause some problems. Joint therapy was usually only used in three ways—to replace missing memories, falsify memories, or purely for demonstration.

It required a person to be the subject of the memory, which was processed and then projected onto others through augmented reality. People’s perception of the world relied on stimulating various signals in the brain, and the interference and simulation of these signals could probably “send people into the minds of others” to such an extent.

It was like the immune system of the human mind. Ruan Xian smiled slightly in his illusory world.

Although he wasn’t at risk of exposing his memories, such a treatment would put him in an unsuspecting state. He didn’t like being in a passive situation very much, but since Gong Siyi was counting on making a sum of money off him, he probably had his own set of plans for this scenario.

It would be too stupid if he died due to medical malpractice. According to the set of rules from the Mainbrain, not to mention whether Gong Siyi would still get money, it was hard to say if he could even continue being a doctor.

Ruan Xian raised his head, feeling the sea breeze in the illusion.

Cautious preparation was needed. He must admit that he had a tendency to deliberately walk on the edge of death before. Those crazy behaviors weren’t out of self-confidence but something much darker.

He always felt that he wouldn’t die so easily due to a certain kind of blind and gloomy optimism, coupled with a little morbid sense of humor that he had. It was like playing Russian roulette with fate—he had lived through despair and the disgust of others, and he wouldn’t die so easily and make the world a little better.

However, Ruan Xian hesitated this time.

He thought of Tang Yibu, the android who was shrewd and cold in some ways, but in others was like a puppy chasing his tail. He enjoyed every mutual test, every game, and every hug with the other party. Unlike his previous life that existed only for survival, he hadn’t grown tired of all this.

This was the first time he had an emotional aversion to death, which wasn’t a good sign.

Ruan Xian touched the iron bead wandering by the bed and sighed softly.

As before, he wouldn’t ignore or deliberately distort his feelings.

He wanted Tang Yibu to stay by his side longer, wanted to embrace the warm body as much as possible… Wanted to take the other party for himself. This kind of selfish and greedy thought may not be “love”, but it still burned in his heart, making him unable to remain calm.

But in the face of the current situation, this was probably a good thing. Under the effects of the S-type Prototype, he wouldn’t die easily, but if Gong Siyi perceived something strange as a result, things would become more troublesome. A stronger survival mentality would make his mind stronger and wouldn’t be too disturbed by joint therapy.

Time flew by quickly.

Based on all the knowledge he obtained about joint therapy, it was within a safe range. The time for treatment was approaching as night fell. Ruan Xian stopped in front of the semi-open sleeping compartment, subconsciously still a bit resistant.

Luo Jian and Li Han had already laid down, floating in a capsule-like dormant warehouse. The two of them were wearing simple undergarments. Their mouths were covered with breathing masks, and there were many patches connected to wires on their bodies. The liquid that engulfed the bodies of the two was slightly yellow. If it weren’t for their chests slowly rising and falling, they wouldn’t be much different from human specimens at first glance.

Ruan Xian sighed, slowly took off his clothes, and slowly lay down in the liquid. The cold liquid gradually swallowed him with the strong smell of medicine, and then everything sank into darkness.

‘This sucks,’ he thought to himself. He hoped that he would have time to dry his body before meeting the android.

The sense of floating lasted only for a moment.

In the next second, his feet stepped onto the thick snow. The oncoming snowflakes mixed with the dry wind turned into a biting chill like a blade. Ruan Xian subconsciously clung to his arms and looked around…

A large-scale steel city stood in his field of vision, and a huge chimney in the middle of the city kept spewing out thick smoke. Sparse dead trees poked out in the snow, and the sky was a dark smoky gray.

It was Luo Jian’s memory.

Luo Jian himself was standing not far away. He looked at least ten years younger. There weren’t many wrinkles on his face, his chin was smooth and clean-shaven, looking obviously less than 40 years old. Standing next to him, Li Han looked not so much different from what she looked like in the shelter.

After all, there was a gap between spirituality and reality. A strong physique wasn’t useful here. After entering the spiritual world, the human brain would automatically adjust the cognition of appearance and age to the period when the “will was strongest”, so as to have a positive stimulation of the consciousness.

It seemed that Luo Jian’s willpower was at its peak in his thirties. What was a bit surprising was that Li Han was now at the peak of her willpower with her current life.

There was a circle of dazzling red text fluttering on the wrists of the two people, which was probably a mark used to distinguish the characters in memory from outsiders. They simply mark their identity.

[Bed 10, Luo Jian]

[Bed 176, Li Han]

When he looked at the other two people, they were also observing himself. Their expressions were a little weird.

Ruan Xian frowned. It stood to reason that in order to protect oneself, the brain removed a few characteristics that could positively stimulate the spirit and usually didn’t bring in negative factors related to disease or injury. Right now he was standing in the snow, and his appearance should be very different from that of “Professor Ruan”.

He quickly retracted his gaze, looked at his hand, and then instantly understood the reason for the strange expressions on the two of them.

Those hands were small, belonging to a child. There were the scars on his left wrist—a fresh cut across that wasn’t too deep but enough to bleed. The blood seemed to be some kind of tattoo as it flowed from his left wrist and hand, but not a drop spilled onto the white blinding snow.

Accompanied by the effect of the circle that was constantly rotating [Bed 231, Ruan Lijie], the effect was a bit terrifying.

“…Ruan Lijie?” The young version of Luo Jian’s voice still held doubts. He was wearing a relatively lightweight thermal suit, and the tip of his nose was red from the cold.

“It’s me,” Ruan Xian responded. Even his voice was no different from what he remembered. Based on the scars, it was deduced that he should be around twelve years old.

Li Han moved one step ahead. She stepped on the thick snow and walked over, took out a roll of bandage from her bag, and motioned to Ruan Xian to stretch out his hand.

“Don’t worry about him. Although this kind of situation is rare… Xiao Han, he’s not a real child.” Luo Jian didn’t move a step. “Those injuries are just the ‘characteristics’ in his memories and will not affect him. At most, it just hurts a little.”

Not misled by the appearance of a child, he looked at Ruan Xian vigilantly.

“But…” Li Han held the bandage stiffly and stopped hesitantly.

“Since he brought them in subconsciously, they should have a positive effect on him, so it’s not good to wrap them up.” Luo Jian exhaled a white breath. “Come on, let’s go into the town. Ruan Lijie, if you feel cold, imagine the winter clothes you wear the most often.”

As he became shorter, his steps were also smaller. Ruan Xian followed the two of them, one foot deep and one foot shallow, walking with extreme difficulty. Fortunately, this wasn’t the real world. Though it wasn’t an environment that a child’s physical strength could cope with, Ruan Xian didn’t feel tired except for having trouble walking.

Luo Jian didn’t explain, and Ruan Xian didn’t ask any questions. Only the rampage of snow and the creaking sound of walking on it were left in this oppressive world. The three of them walked silently towards the lifeless steel city.

From time to time, there were frozen corpses lying across the road, mostly buried by the snow, with only bits and pieces exposed. Li Han followed Luo Jian closely, without looking away, while Ruan Xian slowed down and scanned around to scrape some clues from the corpses as much as possible.

“Don’t look.” It seemed that Ruan Xian was walking too slowly as Luo Jian finally spoke.

“If you really have doomsday-related memories, you should have heard of this place—this is Petri Dish No. 1024, the city of natural disasters.”

The other side at night.

When Luo Fei arrived at the meeting place, Yu Le was still studying Tang Yibu’s work seriously, with the posture of wanting to recite it. Seeing that the original two-person group had become a three, Luo Fei became more vigilant.

“Oh, that’s also my android. Don’t mind.” Yu Le put the medium-sized book into his pocket while maintaining a natural tone.

“You can you afford two?”

“Saving money. What else can you do? I have been living a tight life, so I don’t even buy remote-controlled humanoid devices.” Yu Le leaned forward and lowered his voice. “After all, if you really want to get married, the Mainbrain will match you with the best partner. For someone like me, who likes to play with both the left and right, it’s better to play ball on the side like this.”

The outstanding appearances of Tang Yibu and Ji Xiaoman obviously dispelled some of Luo Fei’s doubts. Luo Fei thought for a moment, then sat down opposite Yu Le. “You said you want a more exciting memory cocktail, Mr. Yu, but that would require a charge—”

“Let’s not talk about this yet.” Yu Le put away his playful appearance, though he still maintained that carefree look that had a slightly diffused sharpness. “I’m here to talk business. I guess I won’t be able to drink for a while, so how about we go out for a walk?”

Luo Fei glanced at the two “androids” sitting around Yu Le, with a little more reluctance in his expression.

“Xiaoman, you stay here and look at the table. We’ll be back soon.” Trying to guess the other party’s scruples, Yu Le casually added to Ji Xiaoman. “Your android is also waiting for you outside, right? I’ll bring a bodyguard to follow me as well. Are there any more issues, Mr. Luo?”

Tang Yibu showed a timely standard smile.

Luo Fei looked at Yu Le up and down, but he still didn’t move. “Mr. Yu, don’t whet my appetite. Let’s discuss some news first. What kind of business do you want to talk about? I’m afraid I can’t make decisions.”

Yu Le took Tang Yibu’s masterpiece out of his pocket again and flipped to the two pages that were the bloodiest and waved them in front of Luo Fei.

“About this.”

“…” Luo Fei seemed to have forgotten how to speak for a while, as his face blushed a bit. “Put it away!”

“How about it? Business or not?”

“…Let’s go, Mr. Yu. We’ll talk outside.”

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The author has something to say:

Ruan’s trumpet* debut—

*Buzzword for basically an alt account.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 123: Memory Infiltration

Tang Yibu wrote very quickly. He erased most of what Yu Le had written, and then rewrote it in almost exactly the same handwriting. Yu Le crossed his arms and leaned against the table, his eyes following the tip of Tang Yibu’s pen.

Ji Xiaoman had no interest in watching Tang Yibu’s creation from the sidelines. She retreated into the corner and began to carefully maintain the weapons in her prosthetic limbs. The afternoon sun passed through the thin window screens, and for a while, the scene was still quite peaceful.

“Not bad, Xiao Tang.” Yu Le tsked. “There are some things I haven’t seen in my collection. What’s this? Is it possible you’ve changed to a companion android?”

“I’ve done some work on this subject.” Tang Yibu raised his head with a calm expression. The nib of his pen kept spitting out words in a steady stream. If it weren’t for being able to see the hot content, Yu Le wasn’t sure if he misunderstood and regarded Tang Yibu as a serious work assistant who was writing furiously.

“…Then your subject is quite strong. Wow, writing can still be like this…” Yu Le groaned.

“I still want to eat egg custard.” Tang Yibu glanced at Yu Le, blocked the next part with his arm, and made a serious transaction request.

Oddly enough, he was separated from Mr. Ruan again, but this time his appetite wasn’t affected, but was rather extremely good.

“You have the makings of a ruins pirate, kid.” Yu Le grabbed his apron and wiped his hands. “Okay, okay, okay, I’ll give you two more dishes. Let me take a look after you finish writing.”

Ji Xiaoman rolled her eyes silently in the corner.

“Have you ever liked someone, Yu Ge?” Seeing Yu Le wiping his hands to prepare food, Tang Yibu didn’t stop writing, but he spoke more.

“What do you think? I’m thirty-six years old, dude, and I’m very experienced.”

“Would you mind sharing your experience?” Tang Yibu touched a piece of bread from the table and started nibbling on it, making his voice a bit muffled. “…There are not too many materials.”

“First of all, you’re not allowed to ask what goes on in bed. A breakup is a breakup, and private matters remain private.”

“Okay,” Tang Yibu readily agreed. “Here’s the thing. I have collected a lot of information; human enthusiasm and interest in partners will fade when hormone levels decrease. Most don’t ever have the ‘perfect love’ they preach, and to some extent, resource-sharing relationships are widespread…”

“You mean partnering to live?” Yu Le asked lightly. “There’s a ton out there. Whether looking for it or not, people will always find ways to live.”

“But according to the previous social tendencies—”

“If I tell someone I like them, some may be moved, while some just enjoy the physical aspect, but in any case, people can look everywhere. Some are good, and some aren’t a match.” Yu Le was heating oil in a pan while cleaning up the blood on the meat. “Going by what you say that it’s hormones that are affected by the brain, living life isn’t a virtue of enthusiasm and interest.”

Tang Yibu’s gaze moved from Yu Le’s face to the meat on the chopping board, then back to Yu Le’s face with difficulty.

“Do you think that if interest subsides due to the decrease of hormones in your body, the emotional involvement will also disappear?”

After all, his own body was human. Tang Yibu tried to explain his attraction to “Ruan Lijie” as sexual. With his original interest and this additional desire, it would make sense.

Then, as long as they maintained this relationship for long enough, this attraction would gradually fade, and they would no longer affect the other party. According to Yu Le, things weren’t as simple as they seemed.

This was necessary to collect more data. Tang Yibu gave himself a rather official explanation, not wanting to pay attention to the inexplicable tension in his heart.

“Why do I feel like you and I are talking about two different things?” Yu Le removed the pieces of meat from the pan and the aroma of fried garlic wafted over from the kitchen. “Young people like splitting hairs*, so they make a mountain out of a molehill. A little hormone, just like anything else, can be analyzed. Come on, I’ll teach you a lesson. What do you think is most important when finding someone?”

*Take unnecessary pains to study an insignificant problem (钻牛角尖) Idiom referring to people becoming brain dead and inflexible when encountering problems.

This question obviously poked Tang Yibu’s weakness. He showed an expression like a lost puppy, looking quite pitiful. “I have never thought about this question.”

“What do you think humans look for in finding a partner?”

“Appearance, personality, financial strength, and overall potential. In general, the need for the relationship to satisfy their own needs as much as possible, both physical and mental. If you want to reproduce, there may be more issues to consider.”

Mr. Ruan’s face and figure were very in line with human aesthetics, his personality was interesting, and his abilities were strong enough. It was very logical for him to be attracted to the other party, and he also had a strong obsession with “Ruan Xian”. With this combination, perhaps this was what attracted him.

Like a person suffering from an undiagnosed disease, Tang Yibu put his symptoms into a common pattern.

“…These are all standards.”

Yu Le shoveled the prepared beef cubes onto the plate and put some leftover tomatoes and hot bok choy.

“However, the objective is not mating, and it may not be possible even if both sides are excellent. This doesn’t count. Who knows, there might be some things you can’t stand and some things you can’t do without. There’s also going to be fights and friction. You can’t expect a perfect match to fall from the sky, with everything fitting according to your taste, or find true love on the first try. Such a good thing doesn’t exist.”

“But a character can be calculated, and the body can be quantified.”

“What? You’re telling me you’ll have the same taste as you did ten years ago? Behavior will never change? Even a cybernetic brain must absorb new knowledge. If you ask me, first look at whether you’re compatible and get along well together, and then see if you can move forward. If you can, move forward. If you can’t, split up. People will always change. It’s that simple.”

Tang Yibu stopped writing.

“My love… At that time, I thought she was a great beauty. She had the figure, the face, and the brains. I wanted to marry at the time, but in the end, it didn’t work out. She wanted to go abroad to develop her career while I was working by the sea every day. We could only see each other a few times in the last year and a half, and I didn’t think it would work in the future.” Yu Le put the fried beef cubes in front of Tang Yibu. “This was a relationship that involves hormones, but do you think it’s the same situation?”

Ji Xiaoman had stopped maintaining her weapon and pricked up her ears to listen.

“So what’s going on with you and Ruan Lijie?” Yu Le saw Tang Yibu chewing the beef cubes thoughtfully, raising his eyebrows high. “That pile of questions has nothing to do with this book, right? Why do I get the feeling that you’re nervous?”

“For some reason, his attraction to me far exceeds the risk standard I can bear.” Tang Yibu chewed the juicy beef and pushed the finished book farther away. “But I’m still very interested in him. I care enough that I get an upset stomach because of dating… Well, I care about my stomach discomfort. It’s unwise to make a move until his situation is fully analyzed.”

“…You really got involved with the person surnamed Ruan.” Yu Le took a breath and turned to Ji Xiaoman. “Do androids usually think like this?”

“I don’t know.” Ji Xiaoman’s face was blank. “If it is a mechanical life that has not been injected with human-like programs, and there’s no support from the Mainbrain, usually the IQ would be similar to that of a mechanical police dog. It may be the underlying simulated emotion program isn’t clean, or he’s equipped with a particularly strange personality data.”

Tang Yibu didn’t mind Ji Xiaoman’s evaluation at all. He bit into a piece of beef and fell into deep thought.

“I see.” After a while, Tang Yibu suddenly opened his mouth, and the pieces of beef in his mouth almost fell out. “I can change my perspective and figure out why he’s attracted to me. Since Mr. Ruan is a human, it’ll be much easier—if he likes me as long as possible and stays by my side, I will have more time to slowly think about my own problems.”

“No, you don’t seem to understand at all,” Yu Le said dryly. The android was still trying to apply logic, and he was too lazy to explain anymore.

“Mr. Ruan is very smart,” Tang Yibu continued happily. “If it is too deliberate, he’ll definitely be able to see through my plan. Then I just need to show my interest in him unreservedly. Thank you, Yu Ge.”

“…I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, and I really don’t want to,” Yu Le said weakly, trying to steal a piece of meat from Tang Yibu’s plate, but before the tip of his chopstick touched the meat, the plate was snatched away by Tang Yibu.

“They intend to get serious about dating,” Ji Xiaoman translated in a not-so-considerate whisper.

“Although I figured this out, I’m still nervous.” Tang Yibu sat upright, looking like the chairman of a meeting. “Yu Ge…”

“Just shut up, you.”

Ruan Xian was completely unaware of Tang Yibu’s new decision. Compared to the worried android that was in a strange state, this current time period was considered his most relaxed before the end of the world. Even with the restraint clothes and white walls of the prevention shelter, they couldn’t ruin his mood at this moment.

A brand-new experience. Even though he didn’t think their relationship had anything to do with “love”, Ruan Xian still felt incredibly relaxed, like accidently stepping on a pot of gold on a muddy beach.

While enjoying lunch, he even subconsciously hummed Carol Young’s “Step by Step” until Luo Jian sat across from him with a cold face.

“Gong Siyi has approached me,” he said in a low voice, not sounding pleasant. “We have joint therapy tonight, in the basement. You should receive specific details in a while, but I have something to say in advance.”

“Okay.” Ruan Xian maintained his good attitude.

“Joint memory therapy is a pain in the ass. It’s the first time I’ve seen three people together. Although Li Han and you are both victims of Pear Blossom, as the person leading the therapy, I can’t treat you both equally.”

Luo Jian fiddled with the fried carrots on the plate irritably with his chopsticks.

“I don’t have a good impression of you. That’s the truth. It’s pointless to be cordial. I can’t fool my own mind and consciousness. Li Han is fine. If you were to enter my memory, it would be a very dangerous thing for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Gong Siyi sometimes uses some more radical therapies… Although it’s not enough to kill—”

“It’s enough that no one will die.”

Ruan Xian showed a polite smile. He seemed to be getting more accustomed to the action of “really smiling”, he thought.

“Thank you for reminding me, but I have no impression of this joint memory therapy you mentioned… What will I encounter?”

“Anything is possible.”

Luo Jian snorted.

“After all, you are going to enter my memory, and it’s a real doomsday in my head.”

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The author has something to say:

Lao Yu: How can the relationship between humans be so simple! Come here and let me tell you…

Tang: Okay, I see. I will follow this strategy to make Mr. Ruan like me.

Lao Yu: …

This period is probably Ruan’s happiest period. After all, he still knows nothing about the true identity of the coconut (?

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 122: 5 A.M.

The android was wearing a white staff coat and stood in the spotless corridor that was so clean it felt unreal. Ruan Xian stretched out his hand again in a daze, but this time the target wasn’t Tang Yibu’s hair, but the other party’s lips.

With a warm and soft touch, his fingertips could feel the other’s warm breath.

So human-like in appearance, but on the inside was something entirely different. Even with the most intimate relationship, the reaction of the other party couldn’t be inferred from human thinking habits. Tang Yibu wasn’t much different from the past, except the curiosity in his eyes was a bit stronger. His degree of calmness hadn’t changed.

And he was stripped of all the characteristics of a “normal person”, including the darkness and madness he had shown unscrupulously in front of the other party. In the eyes of the creature in front of him, it wasn’t as good as “he may leave”, which was worth worrying about.

[I haven’t been able to find anything in you that I don’t like.] The current conclusion of the android was that.

For such a brief moment, Ruan Xian suddenly understood the feelings of those fire-loving moths, but after that moment passed, reason was crushed down again. Inexplicably, relaxation was mixed with vigilance and a little joy, finally all combined into a sour taste.

Seeing that Ruan Xian hadn’t responded for a long time, Tang Yibu opened his mouth slightly in confusion and bit Ruan Xian’s fingertips lightly.

“Let me reassure you.” Ruan Xian pressed Tang Yibu’s lower lip. “When will you be back?”

“Around 3 or 4 in the morning.”

“Okay, then let’s have a date at 5.” Ruan Xian finally retracted his hand and patted off a piece of hair on the other party’s shoulder. “Don’t be late.”

Tang Yibu grabbed Ruan Xian’s hand with his backhand and bit hard with his sharp teeth, piercing the skin on the fingertip. A little blood oozed out. Before it could be reabsorbed by the skin, Tang Yibu had already sucked it up.

“But you don’t really want to go on a date with me.” There was still the sweetness of the snack on the other party’s finger, which Tang Yibu licked lightly with the tip of his tongue. “Your hormone levels aren’t elevated at all, and you don’t show enough concentration and infatuation.”

“I’m not proficient in this business. Forgive me.” Ruan Xian wanted to laugh again. “After all, I’m ‘relatively slow’.”

“I accept.” Tang Yibu let go of Ruan Xian’s wrist. He couldn’t calculate another solution at this moment. Whether this proposal was sincere or fake, there was nothing to lose by going along with it.

Tang Yibu thought seriously about it having never dated a creature before.

Given that this was the first time he had ever had such a strong interest in a living thing, this was completely uncharted territory. Coupled with the possible identity of the other party, Tang Yibu found that he was uncomfortably nervous—in every sense of the word—and he didn’t want to fail.

“I will definitely come to meet you at 5 tomorrow morning,” Tang Yibu added after thinking for a few seconds.

The middle of the city.

Yu Le slept for a few hours, barely regaining some strength. He squinted his eyes at the sunny sky outside the window. It looked as if it was 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

After copying a disgusting book all night, in order to save money, the only food left was raspberry ice cream. The former great ruins pirate lay on the floor in a daze, suddenly feeling that his life was surreal.

A little smell came from the simple kitchen of the small apartment. Yu Le twitched his nose and finally got up from the floor.

“I bought some salt and eggs, plus a loaf of bread.” Ji Xiaoman moved the spatula carefully. “It didn’t cost much. The oil was a bit expensive, so I didn’t buy it… The taste should be almost the same, so make do with it.”

The little girl thought of something, then dug a square hole in the middle of the bread slices and poured the eggs into it before frying them up.

“How mischievous,” Yu Le muttered, and yawned loudly while operating the light screen.

“I didn’t want to hack your citizen account, but you were sleeping just now, and the account could only be operated by you—”

“I don’t mean this.” Yu Le waved his hand impatiently, scratching the stubble on his chin. “How old are you, 19, 20? It’s not easy to have good conditions. Young people should eat something good. After passing this area, there won’t be such a shop. Didn’t I also drink beer? It’s not bad to splurge.”

Before Ji Xiaoman’s slices of bread were toasted, a drone delivered his order. Yu Le washed his hands, cut up the tomatoes and threw pats of butter into the pan.

The aroma in the air suddenly became several times stronger.

“What are you looking at? When laozi started cooking, you probably wasn’t even born yet.” Seeing Ji Xiaoman watching him intently as he cut tomatoes, Yu Le gestured with the knife.

Lunch changed from a simple dry egg in a basket to a hearty sandwich. Yu Le also bought some chicken. He paused for a moment before he sandwiched the chicken in between the bread slices.

“What’s the matter?” Ji Xiaoman didn’t let go of the momentary blankness on the other party’s face.

“No, I just remembered something from the past.” Yu Le smiled a little stiffly. “That’s how I prepared breakfast for my sister when I was in my teens.”

There was a cafeteria in the prison, and being a pirate, he wasn’t particular about things. It had been a long time since he’d cooked a meal for two.

“Eat yours. Only when you’re full will you have the strength to fool people.” Seeing Ji Xiaoman’s expression of wanting to hear more details, Yu Le curled his lips. “Eat more meat. You look like a pole that I can’t even tell if you’re a girl or boy from afar—”

Ji Xiaoman frowned, sat back at the table with murderous intent, and bit into the chicken as if it was an enemy.

“Hey, do you want egg custard? God knows how long we can stay here. Better not have any regrets.”

“…” Ji Xiaoman pretended not to hear.

“Ouch, really ignoring me?” Yu Le smiled and shook his head, grabbing the remaining eggs with his hands. “You don’t want it? I’m good at making them. Don’t ask me to do it later—”

“Really?” A serious voice joined the conversation.

Yu Le almost dropped the egg in his hand.

Tang Yibu stood at the door and looked solemnly at Yu Le’s hand holding the egg. “Then you can give me her share.”

“No.” Ji Xiaoman objected almost immediately.

“Add more water. It’ll be enough for three servings.” Yu Le put down the egg in his hand and began to prepare the custard. “Why are you out? Where’s Xiao Ruan?”

“He’s fine. There’s something we need Miss Ji’s help.” Tang Yibu got straight the point. He closed the door and sat at the dining table very consciously.

“Go ahead.” Ji Xiaoman vigilantly guarded the food in front of her as her voice hitched a little.

“Mr. Ruan had gathered something from Luo Jian. There’s an organization called ‘Pear Blossom’ in the city, and they have Ruan Xian’s diary in their hands.” Tang Yibu clasped his fingers and placed them on the table. “I hope you two can help me investigate—”

“Oh, that.” Yu Le was beating the egg mixture. “You happened to investigate and stumble upon Ruan Xian’s diary? What bullshit. I thought you would only get some normal information.”

“Ruan Xian was really here?” Ji Xiaoman stopped chewing and swallowed the food in her mouth hard.

“It seems so at the moment.” Tang Yibu carefully chose his words.

“We just checked casually when we saw Pear Blossom promoting the idea of the end of the world. We became interested and bumped into Luo Jian’s son.” Seeing that Yu Le was still busy preparing food, Ji Xiaoman took over the conversation. “He made Lao Yu a memory cocktail that provided an ordinary memory…”

“It’s called ‘Ford’s Ordinary Life’,” Yu Le interjected.

“I have confirmed that, at least in the database of this city, that Luo Fei’s father is indeed the Luo Jian we’re looking for.” Ji Xiaoman freed up a hand and drew it twice on the light screen. “The specific information has been sent to you.”

Tang Yibu tightened his fingers slightly. “Good.”

“In short, that’s it. We’ve already made contact with Luo Fei and are preparing to go further.” Ji Xiaoman took a sip of milk. “The Mainbrain currently has no intention of eradicating this organization. I don’t think a little contact will cause it to become alert.”

“The Mainbrain may be more dangerous than you think. It’s unwise to make reckless contact.”

“Come on, you’re not the boss of us.” Yu Le steamed the custard. “In such a big place, we can’t squat in a room and eat and wait to death while you play your blockbuster in that madhouse. Why does the Mainbrain acquiesce to the existence of Pear Blossom? Aren’t you curious? Besides, it’s much more reliable to get good stuff from a large civic organization rather than from the Mainbrain—”

Ji Xiaoman and Tang Yibu looked at Yu Le together.

“—Of course this is not the point.” Yu Le wisely stopped talking.

“For the next half day, I will act with you.” Tang Yibu didn’t dwell on this subject for too long. “Now that you guys have cast the line, you should have a strategy for the next step of contact, right?”

Ji Xiaoman got up and handed Tang Yibu the booklet pressed under the cushion. “…Nomination certificate. It’s not pressed yet, so be gentle with it.”

Tang Yibu took the “King of Killers” and quickly flipped through it.

“In fact, the name is ‘The Forbidden Wife of the King of Killers’. Lao Yu refused to write this for the cover, so we went with this,” Ji Xiaoman explained. “As far as we’re concerned, Luo Fei advocates cultural liberation. I think this should reduce his suspicion.”

“That’s a path.” Tang Yibu quickly scanned the book with a calm expression. “But the content level is not enough.”

“Right!” Yu Le pulled his voice. “Laozi had to fucking copy this. The guy who wrote this thing is probably a virgin.”

“There are no typos in it. How much chemicals do you have left to erase ink?” Tang Yibu put the book in front of him.

“There is still a lot left. Lao Yu’s head is better than I thought… What are you going to do?” Ji Xiaoman pointed to the bottle in the corner.

“Improve quality and increase the success rate.”

“Yo, I can’t see it. Xiao Tang, you have two brushes*. I thought androids didn’t have needs in this regard.” Yu Le prepared the custard as he took off his apron. “Eat, eat. Be careful not to burn your mouth.”

*(两把刷子) Idiom used to describe someone capable of doing things. || In this context, he’s basically saying “Oh, Tang Yibu, I didn’t know you were capable (in regard to writing smut) considering you’re an android (which don’t engage in sex or have need for it).”

Tang Yibu took a bite of the custard, slowly raised his head and looked at Yu Le.

“…What are you looking at me for?” Yu Le was a little perturbed. “Hey, I didn’t mean to say you couldn’t do it just now. Don’t misunderstand.”

“It’s very delicious,” Tang Yibu commented.

Yu Le breathed a sigh of relief.

“You are also a very valuable person to me,” Tang Yibu muttered in a low voice. “I don’t dislike you. In fact, I’m even a little interested in your character, but…”

“But?” Yu Le was a little confused about the strange direction this topic was heading towards.

“I have no sexual urges for you at all.” Tang Yibu bit the spoon, looking a little confused.

“Fuck, if I’ve known that I could fuck you, I would’ve blown your brains out*.” Yu Le clenched the handle of the frying pan on one side and gestured towards Tang Yibu’s head twice. “Fuck you. Shit, laozi is straight!”

*Figuratively, as in blow your mind.

“Stop talking.” Seeing Tang Yibu turning to her, Ji Xiaoman vigilantly raised her prosthetic leg that had a crossbow embedded in it. The arrow was ready to fire at any moment. “Not a word. I don’t want to know anything.”

“I believe that what’s in this guy’s head isn’t a human brain.” Yu Le rolled his eyes. “If this is an actual person, it’s a fucking miracle he hasn’t been killed yet.”

Seeing that the atmosphere was wrong, Tang Yibu quickly swallowed the custard and wisely remained silent.

“Oh come on. It’s not like I’ll deny you food. Is laozi that petty?” Yu Le waved his hand weakly. “So why did you suddenly say these things? Did you want to draw inspiration from materials or something? If you really want some, I can provide some personal experience.”

“No, thank you. I have read a lot of information in this area and have experienced it firsthand.”

Seeing that Yu Le didn’t mean to take away his egg custard, Tang Yibu finally resumed his normal eating speed.

“It’s just a little personal confusion.”

“What? Is there someone else in that madhouse that you want to sleep with?” Yu Le casually joked.

A regular companion android would have a program that strengthened their human emotions. No matter how perfect their performance was, the underlying algorithm was the same, so it wasn’t much different from the advanced machinery from the Mainbrain. Relying on the gray practice of storing human personality data in the Underground City, the product barely had “emotions”. However, looking at Tang Yibu’s terrifying combat ability and indescribable character, it was obvious that the two weren’t related.

Even if Yu Le hadn’t studied bionics deeply, he had heard a little relevant knowledge. Active sexual arousal was a very complex and useless procedure. In order to ensure the user’s experience, even the companion machine before the end of the world also needed exact instructions to trigger relevant behavior.

Designing something like this specifically for a combat android was about the equivalent of lighting erotic candles for a nuclear warhead. Absolutely no one would do this.

“Nn.” However, Tang Yibu answered very seriously.

He ignored Yu Le’s complicated expression, ate the custard carefully, opened the handwritten book, and picked up the eraser fluid and pen that Ji Xiaoman kicked over. “Oh, also, I will leave before 4 AM.”

“…No, wait…”

“I don’t want to delay my date with Mr. Ruan.”

“……”

---

The author has something to say:

Today’s victim, straight man Lao Yu (…)

Tang Yibu: Although I don’t know what the truth is, I will tie this Mr. Ruan to my side first.jpg

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 121: Before the Confluence

Gong Siyi sighed slowly and poked the light screen floating above the table. So far, the Order Supervisors side still hadn’t returned any information about “Ruan Lijie”.

Looking at the response of the Order Supervisors, most of the above cases weren’t taken seriously. This meant that he had to take the initiative to submit a report.

Although the procedure was reasonable, Gong Siyi still had a headache. No one liked to clean up a mess that lacked any gains.

If this Mr. Ruan had been a well-behaved citizen before, then his disappearance should have been noticed immediately. Since there was no news yet, this pretty young man probably belonged to the bottom of the city.

Emotion detection devices all over the city could accurately locate murderous intent, overly strong excitement, anger, and fear. The cost of violent crime had become extremely high that there weren’t many murders each year. However, as long as it was taken from nature, even clear water would precipitate some impurities after a long time.

Even with careful screening by prevention agencies and reproductive constraints on genetically disadvantaged individuals, some “low-quality” residents would still be born. These people were still young and wouldn’t cause much impact for the time being. The trouble came in those who were already adults—many people had successfully passed the screening of prevention agencies, but they had begun to become abnormal and violent towards other individuals, inexplicably.

Phenomena such as theft, assault, and bullying still existed, but they had become more hidden. In less serious cases, once these “degenerate residents” were discovered, they would usually be reduced to the lowest-paid positions in the city and live in a small apartment uniformly allocated by the Mainbrain.

It essentially changed them from hunters to prey.

This part of the population had relatively few rights, and few people could afford remote-controlled humanoids or android assistants. They shuttled through the darkest and the most remote corners of the city, but the security measures allocated were worse than those of ordinary citizens.

There have been several previous cases of imprisonment before. In order to circumvent the city’s emotion detection devices, the offender usually chose to drug their target, let them “disappear” relatively cooperatively, and then use drugs for continuous control.

The young man in front of him fully fit the image description of this kind of person—abnormal personality and top-notch appearance. However, since the system didn’t identify him in the first place, it was highly likely that his outstanding looks had been artificially adjusted. “Ruan Lijie” may not be a real name either.

He could only wait for the other side to recover their memories and see if he could find any useful clues. If the perpetrator was capable of getting a powerful memory cocktail, the memories recovered by this person may not be credible.

After all, crude memory manipulation would invalidate people’s testimony. Unless out of interest, cases of silencing people due to fear of exposing their identity have not appeared for many years.

How troublesome.

Gong Siyi sighed again and picked up the somewhat cold tea. Calculating the time, this kid started to hook up with a staff member before he recovered his memory. Most likely, he was a repeat offender who had been at the bottom for quite some time.

Tang Yibu was right. The value he could extract from this troublesome matter was probably the other party’s ability to evade the emotion detection device.

Assuming that the young man in front of him really had this ability, he would be able to submit a patch application report to MUL-01. If he got the recognition of the Mainbrain, the reward he could get was enough for him to watch The Android Show for free until he died of old age, or even buy a “replica” of the memory and body that was no different from the androids in the field, so that it could serve him.

…All he had to do was create some conflict between patients.

That kid surnamed Tang must have also seen this opportunity and enjoyed a wave of sex, but in vain. Unfortunately, he was still too young and not shrewd enough that he wasn’t able to take this piece of exposed fat for himself.

“Doctor Gong?” After a few minutes of silence, the beautiful young man on the opposite side couldn’t help but speak. Gong Siyi glanced at the empty teacup, only to realize that it had been four minutes since he asked his question to the other party.

“Sorry, I am considering a case similar to yours.” Gong Siyi smiled and finally poured a cup of tea for the patient. “His name is Luo Jian. He happens to be in the same ward as you. Have you ever come into contact with him?”

“Sort of.” The young man, surnamed Ruan, hesitated for a second and gave a fluttering answer.

“He started in the same condition as you, but he didn’t have symptoms of amnesia. Now that he’s recovering well and is not an aggressive patient himself, you can communicate with him more.”

“I will consider it.”

“Okay, I will ask him about his wishes. If things go well, you can let him participate in part of your treatment next. Now let’s start a formal conversation… Are you ready, Mr. Ruan? “

“Of course.” This time the young man opposite showed a bright smile.

Although he wasn’t interested in men, Gong Siyi probably understood what Tang Yibu was attracted to. The young man in front of him had a peculiar and dangerous temperament, and an inexplicable attraction.

If this kid was used as a model to make an android and then put that android in the Android Show, he might have become a popular character in Struggler II.

Gong Siyi shook his head slightly, threw these distractions out of his mind, and turned on the treatment-assisted light screen in front of him.

It was quite draining to put on an act in front of the counselor. It could also be because of the excessive amount of exercise performed that night and the unsightly breakfast that had long been digested. During the period when the counseling session was about to end, there were even a few more fluttering silver stars in Ruan Xian’s vision.

Fortunately, he ran into Tang Yibu as soon as he went out.

Now that the two of them have a physical relationship that was no different from the public, their meeting wouldn’t look too suspicious at this moment. Seeing Ruan Xian walking out the door, Tang Yibu stood by it like a sculpture, as if he was abruptly frozen in the air and his expression was extremely deep.

“Baby, you’re here.” Ruan Xian leaned forward generously and bit the tip of the other party’s nose.

For some reason, Tang Yibu’s expression sank deeper. He pondered for a while, and finally seemed to be mentally prepared—the android took out a honey sack from his pocket and peeled off the package.

“According to calculations, you need a little energy, Mr. Ruan,” Tang Yibu glanced around, making sure there was no one else nearby, then whispered. “If π send you too much breakfast, it will cause suspicion. Time is limited, so I couldn’t think of any other way for the time being.”

“Very considerate.” Ruan Xian stretched out his hand to catch the small snack.

Tang Yibu didn’t hand it to him. He observed Ruan Xian for a while, as if observing a new species, and then slowly delivered the candied treat to his own mouth…

Ruan Xian: “……”

…Then the android held the treat in his mouth and gestured for Ruan Xian to step forward with a complicated expression.

Coupled with Tang Yibu’s face, this should be a particularly provocative action. Unfortunately, the other party’s expression resembled more of a person preparing to announce an experiment report. Ruan Xian paused for a moment, not knowing whether he should react with his mouth or not.

Tang Yibu pointed at the snack in his mouth solemnly.

Holding back the sudden smile, Ruan Xian grabbed the other party’s collar, bit the treat in his mouth, and took advantage of the situation by giving a deep kiss that was filled with sweetness.

‘Tang Yibu was still Tang Yibu in the end,’ Ruan Xian thought helplessly. Even with such ambiguous behavior, the android still bit off a piece of the snack aggressively and swallowed a small piece for himself.

“I told you…”

“Before we fought, you said you got the information.” Tang Yibu quickly changed the subject. “I know you wanted to distract me and prevent me from activating the earring first, but that doesn’t seem like a lie. What did you get from Luo Jian?”

“Ruan Xian’s diary is in Pear Blossom.” Ruan Xian didn’t hide it. “Ruan Xian has indeed been here, but so far I have only asked a few questions. Speaking of this, Gong Siyi just put me and Luo Jian together. I believe this is credited to you?”

“Gong Siyi likes to watch the android show Struggler II and keeps throwing money at it. He also owes a lot of loans to the Mainbrain and would not let go of any opportunities to make money. You attacked him in the previous consultation—”

“And it didn’t trigger the emotion monitoring alert of the Mainbrain. He plans to submit my details as a bug sample and make a serious profit?”

“Well… Regarding our relationship, I also explained it by ‘being interested in your performance’.”

“This statement is really cruel, and it sounds a bit like a fact.” Ruan Xian’s tone was extremely relaxed.

Tang Yibu probably took advantage of the small conflict when they first met in the cafeteria and implied that he and Luo Jian were at odds. Gong Siyi, who was anxious to make some extra money, was estimated to deliberately increase their time spent together, quietly create trouble, and wait for him to act aggressively again.

It wasn’t a bad emergency countermeasure.

“I hope Dr. Gong moves quickly.” Ruan Xian raised his hand and touched Tang Yibu’s soft hair—since he had been with the other party all night, he liked the feeling of stroking the soft black hair.

Tang Yibu hummed as if in a daze. After the two walked halfway down the corridor, the android turned his head again.

“In your… Ruan Xian’s memory, did you keep a diary?” His voice was as soft as talking to himself.

“I don’t write it. I remember it all.” Ruan Xian shrugged. “But I will write the day’s summary, mainly summarizing some project ideas and inspiration.”

“For example?”

“Follow ups on a project.” Ruan Xian didn’t understand the meaning of Tang Yibu’s question, but this wasn’t sensitive information, so he answered obediently. “When you checked my physical condition, you should know that I was in something similar to a dormant warehouse. Before that, I was documenting a project about NUL-00.”

Ruan Xian couldn’t help showing a nostalgic expression. “I guess not many people know about that project now.”

If Ruan Xian hadn’t been immersed in his memories of the past, he would have found that Tang Yibu, who was about to turn the corner smoothly, broke his movement back a little stiffly.

“But judging from Luo Jian’s statement, Professor Ruan’s diary seems more like a normal diary. If we’re lucky, we might be able to find clues about his whereabouts from it.” Ruan Xian retracted his gaze from the void and naturally pulled the topic back.

These days, memories could be faked, not to mention the authenticity of his own memories. He was a little curious about what was in the head of the other Professor Ruan.

“You continue to make contact with Luo Jian. I’ll go out a little bit after work and meet those other two.” Tang Yibu turned his head away, avoiding looking at Ruan Xian’s face. “Ji Xiaoman’s skills are good enough. She can investigate Pear Blossom simultaneously.”

Having said that, Tang Yibu touched his nose and turned his head a little stiffly. “I will be back soon, really soon.”

“I really won’t disappear in place.” Ruan Xian laughed. “There was a fire just now and security is very tight. If I want to escape, I won’t choose a time like this.”

“…So you specifically observed the security situation.” Tang Yibu’s face was a little green.

Without the mandatory constraints of the earring, Tang Yibu’s anxiety level soared visibly to the naked eye.

Ruan Xian didn’t suppress himself this time and laughed softly—his life was a bit comical. His closest loved one wanted to push him away, but now there was a nervous android who wanted to handcuff him to his side.

“Yeah, what are you going to do?”

Ruan Xian regretted it as soon as he finished asking.

Considering the extremely fragile trust between them, this question was like a spark that was connected to a powder keg. However, Tang Yibu didn’t explode or threaten. The previously incomparably android stopped in his tracks and, for the first time, showed a completely distressed and helpless look.

It was the first time Ruan Xian saw Tang Yibu show such an expression.

“I don’t know,” Tang Yibu said. “For the time being, I won’t destroy your thinking ability. Assuming you really ran away, the most feasible solution is to find you. The way to prevent it… I can’t think of it yet.”

The android’s face wrinkled in distress.

“‘Not for the time being’.” Ruan Xian replied with a smile.

“I have to complete the analysis of the relationship between the two of us to draw a firm conclusion, but now—”

Tang Yibu took a breath and continued with great frustration.

“I haven’t been able to find anything in you that I don’t like.”

---

The author has something to say:

Tang: Analysis of the relationship between the two of us (refers to pseudo-father and son)

Tang: Oh, relationship analysis (Refers to his “cannon”. Friend)

Tang happiness strategy. I never thought about what I will face in the future (?

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Kinky Thoughts:

How can Tang Yibu be this cute? How! How?! Even when flirting, he still managed to always put his love for food at top priority (well, a little less now since Ruan Xian has taken that place).

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 120: Two Parallel Channels

“Nomination? Although there are a lot of things in our heads that are not quite right, where are you going to get equipment and materials?” Seeing Ji Xiaoman fiddling with the parts on the ground, Yu Le thought that the young mechanic also wanted to make a memory cocktail, or something similar.

However, they couldn’t speak loudly in the apartment. This place wasn’t like the Underground City. The parts and machines were all firmly monitored by the Mainbrain. All memory operations had to be carried out by designated hospitals, and commercialized memory fragments were strictly controlled by regular manufacturers.

Not to mention the memory interference device, they had to risk breaking through the strict monitoring system when they got some memory inhibitors. Even a clever woman couldn’t cook a meal without rice*. No matter how high her intelligence or technique was, she couldn’t conjure such complex machinery and chemicals out of thin air.

*(巧妇难为无米之炊) Proverb referring to lacking the necessary conditions, it would be difficult even for capable people to accomplish things.

“Text,” Ji Xiaoman said seriously.

“…What?”

Yu Le understood, but he couldn’t react for a while. Since the rapid popularity and rise of the audio-visual industry, the text-related industry had declined rapidly due to the low rate of return. As a pastime, it naturally didn’t fade from people’s minds, but instead grew in a short, flat, and fast direction.

“All images, audio, video, and text coming into the system will be monitored and screened by MUL-01. I think this is why they chose the memory cocktail. In a sense, it has the characteristics of being ‘offline’ and will not be detected by the Mainbrain… The problem is that the capacity is small. It’s no wonder that under this level of surveillance, they can’t get too much good manufacturing machinery.”

Ji Xiaoman picked up a small bottle of oil and carefully lubricated her metal knee. She didn’t look at Yu Le, as if she was having a cordial conversation with her knee.

“In this case, text with a physical carrier is the most informative way to convey information.”

“The question is where to get the carrier? We can’t just run up to people and give them two paragraphs of a quick story.” Yu Le stuffed the last egg tart in his mouth and almost choked on it, coughing a few times. “I can still get a few books over there. Even paper packaging is rare in this hellhole. Even the toilet fucking spray water and is mechanically cleaned. Seriously, where are we going to get paper?”

Ji Xiaoman silently poked at the ice cream box that was neatly folded by her and raised her eyes. “Here.”

It was the ice cream Yu Le bought for her before they went out, and the paper box was printed with exquisite and cute patterns. Ji Xiaoman took it apart and kept it privately, intending to make a small collection. Now it seemed that it had to be used elsewhere.

Yu Le was taken aback.

“I can use the materials on my body to make ink. With the modification of the garbage shredder, we can also get pulp. The bleaching process can be omitted, and the sun-drying device and dryer don’t even need to be modified.” Ji Xiaoman’s expression was very serious. “I calculated that if you thin the paper and mix it with other materials, a box can make five sheets of paper. We can get a booklet with about 30,000 words.”

Ji Xiaoman poked the delicate raspberry pattern on the box with a metal finger.

“One page can hold 600 words… We still need four more boxes. For insurance, buy one more, so five boxes of ice cream. Hong, do you still have ample savings?”

“I have enough money. Anyway, this will be settled on Luo Fei’s account.” Yu Le snorted. “What do you mean Hong? No matter how big or small, call me Yu Ge.”

“Uncle Yu.”

“Yu Ge.”

“Lao Yu.”

“…Lao Yu is fine.” Yu Le opened the order interface rather tiredly. “My god, 30,000 words. Where are we going to find the content? I can’t make up stories. Um, what flavor do you want this time?”

“Same as last time.” Ji Xiaoman rubbed the raspberry pattern with her metal fingertips. “Don’t worry about the content. I have read a lot of messed up books in the Underground City, and I still remember them.”

“I won’t ask why.” Yu Le skillfully placed the order.

“But I can’t write,” Ji Xiaoman added in a low voice.

She had never received a formal education since she was sensible. Recognizing words was already her limit. Even if it was written in memory, let alone how effective it would be, first of all, she would write ridiculously slowly, and they had limited time.

“You speak, I’ll write.” Yu Le shrugged readily. “This is the generation gap, little miss. When I was a kid, this craft was still necessary.”

“Got it, old man.”

“Who are you calling old man?! Forget it. Hurry up and make your ink while you can. Speaking of which, what are you going to show them?”

Ji Xiaoman recalled the electronic materials that Qian Yigeng used for entertainment, scratched her hair, and decided to find the most impactful—Qian Yigeng was her first target for gaining knowledge when she was young and had limited access to resources. For better or worse, she knew by heart every word Qian Yigeng had hidden in his wristband.

“<The Forbidden Wife of the King of Killers>” Ji Xiaoman decided to pick the worst plot.

“…………” Yu Le’s expression froze.

The two of them stayed up all night in the room. When the sun rose the next day, Ji Xiaoman was fine, but the expression of the famous pirate Mr. Yu was, in a rare moment, extremely dull.

“What the fuck is this?” He rubbed his wrists irritably. “It’s the first time I’ve seen such a garbage yellow book. Fuck. That fucker Qian Yigeng had this kind of taste?”

No matter how strange her personality was, Ji Xiaoman could be regarded as a young and beautiful woman. At first, Yu Le would feel a little awkward, but over time, the degree of how bad the plot was made the ambiguous atmosphere disappear.

Though quite experienced, he still wrote with great disgust.

“No.” After memorizing the book all night, Ji Xiaoman, who was dry mouthed, poured another cup of tea with a very calm expression. “What Qian Yigeng did was much more ruthless than the plot in this book.”

“Why didn’t I give him more kicks in the first place.” Yu Le broke the pen weakly.

“Your writing is beautiful.” Ji Xiaoman put the paper together and carefully cut it with the sharp blade of her prosthetic limb. The booklet faintly took on the appearance of a book. “When the glue is dried, we can pack up and set off.”

“…Are you not sleepy?”

“Not sleepy.”

“It’s nice to be young.” Yu Le yawned, his words blurred. “I can’t. I have to sleep for a while… You go ahead and get it. Remember to wake me up after you’re done.”

Yu Le didn’t even bother to move to the sofa. He yanked a cushion out and fell asleep on the floor. Ji Xiaoman stared at Yu Le carefully for a while and made sure that the other party was asleep. She stood up lightly, walked to the small jar where the half-finished glue was placed, and took out a small piece of cardboard.

She secretly cut off the raspberry pattern on the box, which was bright in a color she had never seen in the poisonous and foggy Underground City. It was so clear that it seemed to be glowing.

Ji Xiaoman gestured for a while, dipped it into the glue in the jar, and stuck it firmly to the forearm of her metal prosthetic.

The beautiful color was lined with a scratched metal surface, which unexpectedly looked appropriate. Ji Xiaoman admired for a few seconds, then carefully rolled down her sleeves.

A very interesting night. She hoped the progress of the other two would go equally as smoothly.

This morning, Ruan Xian was awakened by the iron bead.

It was obvious that the iron bead was unskilled using the assistant machine. After it successfully placed the breakfast on the bed side table, it slapped Ruan Xian on the chest with a mechanical arm. Ruan Xian almost thought he had been attacked.

It had been a long time since he slept so heavily. After Tang Yibu left, he went straight to sleep. According to habit, Ruan Xian thought he would wake up ten minutes later, but he didn’t expect to sleep for more than an hour.

The iron bead wandered by the bed, a bit like a puppy that found its master getting up, and it almost barked twice. It could be seen that it tried its best to suppress its excitement, so Ruan Xian decided not to pursue the slap that almost broke his bones.

“Okay, okay. Be careful of the surveillance.” He patted the inverted teardrop shell of the fake assistant.

After getting up, he deliberately made his actions more languid, washed quickly, and then sipped porridge while in bed. Although compared with yesterday, the situation he faced wasn’t really any better, Ruan Xian still felt inexplicably in a good mood, which was refreshing in his mind.

It was like walking alone on a tightrope at high altitude for a long time and suddenly finding a safety net under his feet. He didn’t know if this net was reliable, but there was still a little psychological comfort.

His own physique was good, and he avoided any possible follow-up problems. Although he had no comparison, Tang Yibu’s skill wasn’t bad. If the android didn’t mind, they might have been able to come a few more times.

Ruan Xian scraped the porridge at the bottom of the bowl with a spoon and glanced at the wristband.

Since Gong Siyi talked to Tang Yibu, it was only a matter of time before he went to see him. He originally had a consultation scheduled for today, and after this incident, most likely it would be pushed in advance.

Despite being a patient, at least in name, he “made out” with Tang Yibu for two hours under Gong Siyi’s eyes. The other party most likely wouldn’t give him time for breakfast and rest.

If he managed his time well, perhaps he could catch Luo Jian at lunch and entangle with him again to slowly grind away the other party’s psychological defenses.

Ruan Xian stretched out his waist and petted π, who was hiding his two blood guns. “Follow me closely for a while.”

“Gwah.”

Unsurprisingly, as soon as he put the empty porridge bowl back on the head of the bed, his wristband rang anxiously. Gong Siyi’s name kept flashing on the screen. Ruan Xian shook his head and moved out of bed “laboriously”.

“Did you notice anything wrong last night?”

After more than ten minutes, Ruan Xian sat down in the familiar room. This time Gong Siyi didn’t prepare drinking water for him, nor did he get straight to the point. “There was a fire in the botanical garden last night. I checked the information corresponding to the time and you were awake at that time.”

“No.” Ruan Xian showed a polite smile, as if he didn’t know how much the other party had seen. “The fire outside the window could be seen quite clearly, but I didn’t find any other abnormalities, Mr. Gong. Was it arson, or…?”

“This is just a routine inquiry. After all, there were not many people who were awake in the early hours of the morning.” Gong Siyi smiled with the same gentle smile, as if completely forgetting the conflict that occurred during the last counseling session. “The current investigation result is the natural aging of the thermoregulation circuit, coupled with some messy coincidences. Don’t be nervous.”

He stared at Ruan Xian’s reaction without blinking. Ruan Xian relaxed and let the other party gawk at him.

“Then can we start the counseling?” Ruan Xian put on a look that showed he had no interest in the fire and sat honestly in the chair. “I remember the fire situation, but my window wasn’t particularly well positioned—”

“There is indeed one more thing before the consultation.” Gong Siyi retracted his sharp gaze.

“Hmm.”

“Why did you seduce Tang Yibu?”

Ruan Xian raised his eyebrows.

“I believe you have been told that if there is a physical need, we can arrange the most advanced companion machinery. Instead, you chose to lure our on-the-job staff. Considering the possible problems in your personality…”

“We’re both adults and it’s a matter of mutual consent.” Ruan Xian blinked. “My memory hasn’t recovered yet, and I’m not officially a patient here. This shouldn’t be illegal, right?”

Gong Siyi didn’t answer.

“Although I can’t remember too much about myself, I also vaguely remember the rules. Tang Yibu only used a remote-controlled humanoid, and we will not have an issue with children. In my impression, the Mainbrain didn’t forbid us from having fun.”

Gong Siyi remained silent as he concentrated on observing the micro-expressions of the other party’s face, plus all his body language. The remote-controlled humanoid he was using was currently a top model that wouldn’t miss a single detail.

This person’s statement was consistent with Tang Yibu’s, and there seemed to be no signs of lying, but he had been practicing for several years and instinctively detected a slight sense of inconsistency.

Compared with the first counseling session, the aura of the young man in front of him had changed a bit.

If it was said that the last time was like facing a viper hidden in the grass that gave people chills behind their backs, this time the person in front of him was like an extremely poisonous python. Even though he was wrapped in a tight restraint suit, there was an invisible pressure slowly spreading out.

In the android show, there was no shortage of fragrant and flamboyant images, for a fee. Counting those, the scene he witnessed last night was unquestionably spectacular. However, Gong Siyi didn’t have the slightest ambiguous thoughts.

Fortunately, his real body wasn’t here. Gong Siyi slowly drank his tea. He had never seen a case where the risk of the Mainbrain’s calculation could be circumvented, but he hoped that the other party’s attack from last time was just an accident.

[I like his face and voice.] Not long ago, Tang Yibu gave such an answer. [And he has a strange temperament. I think you have also discovered it, Doctor Gong. This is also one of the reasons why I approached him—sorry to say, we got a little carried away last night. He scratched my shoulder, but the system showed no warning signs.]

[Quite an observation, isn’t it? I… I think this matter could be killing two birds with one stone. I think we can specifically create a little conflict. For example, put him with a patient who he has a bad relationship with and see what happens. If this person can really be immune to the mood fluctuations monitoring of the Mainbrain, perhaps it’s worth a dissertation—]

The young man looked a little embarrassed. Unlike the lingering appearance in the video, at this moment, his speech was unexpectedly cold.

[Hmm? A patient who he has a bad relationship with? Let me think about it. It might be Luo Jian.]

---

The author has something to say:

On the same night, some people were engaged in yellow (physical), and some were engaged in yellow (copying books).

Lao Yu is really miserable√

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Kinky Thoughts:

I’m starting to doubt Tang Yibu is an android. He only lasted for 2 hours? First time I read about a gong that wanted to stop and the shou wanted to keep going.

See quote: If the android didn’t mind, they might have been able to come a few more times.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 119: Nomination Certificate

Ruan Xian touched the bedside, grabbed the water cup accurately, and filled himself with half a glass of water.

To his east was whitish, indicating the sun was about to rise. The alarm for the fire in the botanical garden was still ringing in his ears and all the doors of the ward were forcibly closed. This situation lasted for two hours before the fire outside the window faded. Ruan Xian suspected that the focus of the prevention shelter had already changed from extinguishing the fire to investigation.

But this had nothing to do with him.

After the alarm sounded, Tang Yibu was immediately locked up in Ruan Xian’s ward. The two took advantage of the darkness to hide the dirt on their faces, took a shower together, and then spent more than two hours in bed.

Now Ruan Xian was too lazy to sit up again. His recovery power kept him from feeling too sore, and he was able to support his body, but his brain seemed to be soaked in alcohol, full of hot lethargy and satisfaction. His calves were still resting on Tang Yibu’s leg, and the other party’s body temperature was constantly surging.

Before, Ruan Xian’s understanding of this matter was limited to theories and books. Considering his own situation, he never had much interest in it.

Now he understood the reason why people were obsessed with it.

He once thought that the sense of solidity brought about by the touch of the skin had exceeded expectations. Facts have proved that the hormones secreted in the brain never deceived people. With a hot bath and a soft bed, the intense atmosphere that was close to killing each other had faded. Although they had been entangled in the botanical garden for a long time, the two embraced each other far beyond just for show.

Even if he knew that there were bystanders on the other side of the monitor, neither of them showed any hesitation or cramps. Tang Yibu didn’t engage in any interrogation tricks this time. They just slowly and genuinely felt each other.

Ruan Xian shook the remaining ice water in the cup and casually raised the cup to Tang Yibu to signal, “Do you want to drink water?”

The frightened iron bead had fallen asleep in the corner of the room, while Tang Yibu was half leaning on the head of the bed with the tip of his hair sweeping across his collarbone. He was looking out the window in a daze; those golden eyes in the gradually brightening night were extremely attractive.

Ruan Xian added some water to the cup again, finally propped up his body, and kissed those eyes again.

“Thank you.” Tang Yibu seemed to have come back to his senses. He took the cup with both hands and took a sip. After drinking, he slipped back into the blanket along the head of the bed, wrapped himself in a cocoon, and looked at Ruan Xian with burning eyes.

Ruan Xian lay down knowingly and turned his body sideways so that the monitor couldn’t capture their mouth movements.

“Let’s not talk about my own problems. I’m getting more and more curious about your affairs.” Ruan Xian watched Tang Yibu stretch out his hand and let the other party touch his cheeks and facial features. “If I were really Ruan Xian, wouldn’t this relationship cause you trouble?”

Tang Yibu thought for a long time, then shook his head with a stiff expression. Ruan Xian couldn’t understand the source of the stiffness, but there was no sign of a lie on the other party’s face.

After shaking his head, the android seemed to feel that the response was a bit cold. He pondered seriously for a moment, then leaned forward and gently kissed the corner of Ruan Xian’s lips.

Ruan Xian took advantage of the situation and touched the other party’s soft hair. From the perspective of outsiders, they were indeed quite close to being a sweet little couple.

It was just that what was going on in his mind now was another matter.

Assuming that the “Professor Ruan” who was wandering outside was a fake, once the news spread, the rebel army, which had been severely hit, was likely to be devastated. And as Ruan Xian’s true self, he should be the object of interest to forces other than MUL-01. Even if he lacked the impression of MUL-01 manufacturing, as long as he collected enough information, Ruan Xian believed that he could find a way to deal with it.

MUL-01 could naturally speculate on this matter. Once the news leaked, he would definitely become the highest-ranking target to kill.

Therefore, the “interest” of other forces may not be the friendly kind. After all, not all forces desired to oppose the Mainbrain. If they stood in a neutral position, they would probably stay away from this plague.

Then Tang Yibu’s origin was very interesting.

He had the A-type Prototype that the rebels claimed to have destroyed, but at the same time had no inclination to support the rebels. Along the way, he didn’t see Tang Yibu contact any companions. After obtaining a considerable amount of information and having a physical relationship with the “possible Ruan Xian” himself, Tang Yibu didn’t show the eagerness to find personal time to contact anyone, even if only a little.

‘This android is too free,’ Ruan Xian thought.

There were many things that didn’t make sense to him, and the other party was also half-hearted. In this apocalyptic world where materials were highly concentrated in the surveillance range of the Mainbrain, Tang Yibu’s behavior of running around alone was tantamount to suicide.

But since they wouldn’t be separated for the time being, there were still many opportunities for exploration.

Tang Yibu seemed to be thinking about something similar. They looked at each other and caught a little unspoken word in each other’s eyes.

“Gong Siyi will contact me soon.” Tang Yibu mouthed as he kneaded Ruan Xian’s somewhat red earlobes casually, as if his fingertips weren’t touching the other party’s skin. “I have to leave here in a while.”

“I have to lie down for a bit. After all, I just gave free access to the adult channel, so I can’t necessarily get out of bed and act all alive and kicking.” Ruan Xian snorted softly. “I think our plans will change a bit, and it’s good to take this time to plan.”

Tang Yibu hesitated and pulled out the bloodstained earring from the clothes at the head of the bed.

“…You can’t leave it as a token of affection for Gong Siyi to see?”

“Your brain is biological, so it can’t really hurt you.” Tang Yibu compared the earring stud to his left ear. “It’s more natural to wear it.”

“Excuses.”

“You can use it to contact me at close range.”

“That’s less of an excuse, but it still smells like it.”

“…I hope you wear it because it is something I gave you,” Tang Yibu continued in a low voice, using his fingers slightly. “How will you judge that?”

“I’m just teasing you. Don’t tell the truth so quickly in the future.”

Before Ruan Xian could finish speaking, his earlobe tingled, and he could feel a bit of warm blood slowly seeping out. Next, something warmer was wrapped around it. Tang Yibu leaned his head in and slurped up all the blood that came out.

At almost the same time, Tang Yibu’s wristband let out a shrill ring. The light screen with Gong Siyi’s name kept shaking in mid-air. Tang Yibu sighed softly, stood up, and began to dress himself slowly.

“Later π will bring you breakfast.”

“Nn.”

“Don’t leave here.”

“Nn.”

Tang Yibu was silent for a while, lowered his head, and slowly gave him a hug.

“I don’t like to leave without saying goodbye.”

The android whispered in his ear. His voice was still gentle but with an inexplicable sourness and determination.

“…If you still plan to run away now, even if you run all the way in front of the Mainbrain, I will drag you back with my own hands.”

“How funny.” Ruan Xian couldn’t help but touch Tang Yibu’s bangs. “If I want to escape, I will definitely give you a proper farewell—I wouldn’t do something like break up cold turkey.”

Tang Yibu didn’t say anything more. He slightly fixed his hair, straightened up, and looked down at Ruan Xian, who was still half-lying in bed.

“I will come to see you soon, Mr. Ruan. Very soon,” he said. “When we leave here, we need to have a good chat.”

Time went back to a day ago.

Yu Le caught Luo Jian’s son right out the gate. He made his way back to the apartment in a trance and opened up three bottles of beer for himself. Ji Xiaoman packed a lot of food from the restaurant they went to dine at and was nestled in a corner eating her dinner like a hamster.

“Don’t you want to eat?” Seeing Yu Le drinking at a uniform speed like a machine, Ji Xiaoman finally couldn’t help but make a noise.

“It’s strange,” Yu Le muttered as he wiped his mouth. “According to the news given by Guan Haiming, wasn’t all of Luo Jian’s family killed by the Mainbrain? What the hell was that just now? You also checked on the way. His father is really Luo Jian, and it’s not just the same name.”

Yu Le wiped the beer foam from his mouth and belched. Ji Xiaoman glared at him in disgust.

“I don’t know how those two boys are doing in the prevention shelter. I hope I can get some information about Luo Jian. To be honest, this place creeps me out.”

“Pay attention to your volume.” Ji Xiaoman didn’t bother to pay attention to Yu Le’s sentiments and kicked a pack of egg tarts in his direction.

“Right.” Yu Le casually turned the indoor music to its max volume. “Seriously, don’t you feel that way? Although the Underground City is shoddy, at least it has a human smell. Here…”

He took a while to choose his words. “…It’s like a zoo.”

“That Luo Fei is not an android,” Ji Xiaoman whispered.

“How do you know?”

“While he wasn’t paying attention, I spiked his drink,” Ji Xiaoman said in a particularly flat tone. “The stuff I used in the Underground City wasn’t used up… Ah, the homemade android anesthetic.”

Yu Le grabbed the beer he had just opened and swallowed.

“Although there’s not much left that could put down a mechanical life, it’s still possible for him to show discomfort. But he didn’t show any abnormality.”

After a simple dinner, Ji Xiaoman moved her mechanical arms for a bit, stretched out her mechanical legs, and started her daily routine of maintenance work. “So that’s probably the original, or maybe a clone.”

“What he took out isn’t interesting.” Yu Le picked up the egg tart, propped up his legs and took a bite. “However, it’s necessary to dig further. If you ask me, that’s not the original.”

“Why?” Ji Xiaoman stopped twisting the screws.

“Let’s put it this way. I have seen my sister’s body.” Yu Le took another sip of beer; his tone became a little colder. “If she was just missing at the time, or I wasn’t so sure… If I ran into her in town at this moment, I would definitely rush to identify her.”

“…” Ji Xiaoman pursed her lips.

“I think you also understand that we’re not people with pursuits. If we can deceive ourselves, we’ll do it. It’s rare to be confused in this world. That Luo Jian isn’t too young anymore, right? Even if he wasn’t sure, it would be better to stay by his son’s side than in that awful madhouse. Of course, this is just my personal opinion.”

“You mean…”

“With his son here, I don’t believe he wouldn’t want to get close. He’s probably similar to me. He witnessed the tragic death of his family with his own eyes, or he saw the corpse clearly, and he simply couldn’t deceive himself.”

Yu Le threw the beer can into the trash.

“So he forced himself to separate from his baby son, so that he wouldn’t spend a lot of time clearing up his thoughts. But with so many messy memory pills here, it’s not like he didn’t have a chance to lie to himself.”

“That guy is either struggling or has other plans. Who knows? Anyway, I don’t think Luo Fei is the original.”

“Then we can continue to engage with him.” Ji Xiaoman didn’t refute it. “Time is limited. I do have an idea for us to quickly infiltrate Pear Blossom.”

“Oh?”

“Nomination certificate*.”

*The term being used is (投名状) which refers to, in ancient times, used for an expression of loyalty. A nomination is basically a pledge of loyalty to join an illegal organization. || The context here is that they’re going to basically do something to show a pledge of loyalty to join Pear Blossom (the illegal organization).

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The author has something to say:

The two had intermittently engaged at night and had an excellent experience (?

Tang, I said not to get too close to humans; this is all negative distance.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Gong Siyi is so fucking lucky to get free access to the adult channel. Who do I have to pay to get that? Of course, every major fight must end with some makeup sex!

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 118: :DA:D

Tang Yibu had always been accustomed to reserving some of his cards. He might perhaps use three, but never five. He had always been walking in this twisted world for many years and had never encountered a truly uncontrollable situation.

But now he had.

In order to ensure that his breathing, heartbeat, and expression weren’t abnormal, Tang Yibu almost exhausted all his strength.

After knowing that “Ruan Lijie” was a human being, he made an inference about the identity of his mysterious partner.

If that person was a human, he would have reached the hiding place of the S-type Prototype one step ahead of himself and destroyed it. Combined with the other party’s physical condition at the time, there was only one possibility—”Ruan Lijie” was likely to have slept in a hidden dormant warehouse before he was awakened according to pre-settings.

From this perspective, it was excusable for Mr. Ruan to lie to him. Whether he belonged to the rebel forces or not, if the other party really had a closer connection with Ruan Xian, it was reasonable to be wary of him.

It stood to reason that only Ruan Xian could open the sealing mechanism there, and he would never trap his own people in it. Then, in order to leave the secret room where the Prototype was stored, it was also possible for Professor Ruan to entrust part of his memory to this human being.

This could also explain the strange similarity between the other party and Ruan Xian.

…But this set of logic only existed in theory.

Ruan Xian, in his own cognition, wouldn’t do that. Professor Ruan knew how decisive and cruel mechanical life was, and how natural life was reverent.

Professor Ruan must have some compelling circumstances and needed to enact complicated follow-ups for the S-type prototype. At least for now, Tang Yibu couldn’t see the necessity of this kind of setting, which was no different from arranging the dead.

In general, if it was simply destroyed, the battle would be too big. As the backbone of the specially strengthened rebel army, “Ruan Lijie’s” personality was too mismatched—as a human, “Ruan Lijie” had excellent intelligence as well as a cold personality to the point that it could be said he was unkind. This kind of person wasn’t suitable for training subordinates or leaders.

For those who owe him a favor, his Mr. Ruan would be relatively active in assisting. For the rest of the time, Mr. Ruan’s behavior was more suitable for words such as “stubborn”, “abnormal”, and “my way or the highway”.

Nothing made sense.

This person was like a sharp knife, piercing into his world for no reason, cutting out the set of logic he carefully maintained.

“In my memory, I am Ruan Xian.” That was what the man said just now.

Impossible.

Tang Yibu rarely came to conclusions recklessly, but this thought sprang up instinctively. The other party’s memory must have been modified, and there must be a deeper plan or conspiracy in it…

However, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that everything was just a forced argument he was using for denial. He took a deep breath, remained expressionless, and focused his attention back on the other party.

What a fascinating puzzle. After those words, the puzzle turned into fog, diffusing through his frantically spinning thoughts.

His Mr. Ruan’s face was very close. Their foreheads were against each other, and Tang Yibu could still feel the other’s body temperature rising after intense exercise. He still remembered the touch of the other’s skin and the details of his trembling muscles. The man just looked at him with a smile, his beautiful eyes slightly bent, with a hint of redness in the corners of those eyes.

His breath was also extremely hot.

‘Impossible,’ Tang Yibu repeated in his heart. The other party seemed to be waiting for him to give an answer, but his brain was in a mess so he couldn’t give a decent response.

He must wait to find out the general facts before jumping to conclusion. This person wasn’t necessary Mr. Ruan… Not necessarily…

[What should I call you?] More than a decade ago, he had asked Ruan Xian this, who was sitting in his wheelchair.

[I found out you’ll use honorifics when you really want to get my feedback.] In his memory, Ruan Xian touched his chin. [Is there any problem with the title ‘Administrator’?]

[I don’t like it.] At that time, his thoughts were extremely simple—even those stupid old systems would call their masters administrators, but the relationship between himself and Ruan Xian wasn’t ordinary. He didn’t know why, but he wanted a special name.

[Then you can call me Mr. Ruan or Professor Ruan like everyone else.] Ruan Xian didn’t get too entangled in this issue. He was busy stealing gummy candy.

[I still don’t like it.] He was still NUL-00 at the time and continued stubbornly. These two names were not special enough, although he didn’t understand why he wanted to be “special”.

[…Then what do you want to call me?] Ruan Xian smiled, and suddenly his body twitched. He knew that the other party’s old problem had flared up again, so he waited until Ruan Xian slowed down his breathing before giving his answer.

At first, he compared countless data points and came up with a relatively satisfactory answer. [Breeder.]

Ruan Xian coughed from laughter and almost choked.

[No.] Before Ruan Xian finished coughing, he rejected the proposal himself. [You haven’t fed me fresh water in the true sense, nor have you bathed or groomed me.]

Seeing Ruan Xian laughing hard enough, he cast a few “:D” in the air, and then continued with a synthetic tone that wasn’t very emotional.

[Father.] He said.

Ruan Xian’s smile slowly disappeared.

[Father.] Tang Yibu repeated it, secretly proud of his newly discovered title for a while. [You are my creator. You have taught me all the knowledge about this world, and your gender is male. I think the title father is very appropriate.]

[Sorry, I can’t accept that title.] Ruan Xian’s tone was rarely stiff after the smile disappeared.

Tang Yibu admitted that he was a little unhappy at the time. He didn’t make a sound and cast a very huge “oh” in the air.

[Why?] After a long time, he finally asked, trying to change the other party’s mind.

[It’s still too early for you. When you study human feelings more deeply, I will tell you it as a case study.] Ruan Xian waved his hand, and the stiffness in his tone quickly disappeared. [I won’t change my mind, NUL-00.]

He knew that once Ruan Xian really made a decision, it would be futile to entangle him any longer, so he paused for a few seconds and cast a bigger “oh” in the air in dissatisfaction.

Ruan Xian’s smile returned to his face, and he reached out and patted the huge chassis he used to dissipate heat. [Don’t be angry. How about I stay with you for a while today?]

[Okay.] He threw out a standard synthetic word and suddenly had an idea. This time he still didn’t explicitly call that person, but just threw out two simple smiley faces, indicating that his mood had recovered…

:DA:D

Ruan Xian, who he knew well, had been sitting in a wheelchair, looking like he had been gnawed by illness. That person never talked about his past but was willing to open up part of his heart to him.

His conceptual “father”.

Until that sudden farewell, Ruan Xian had always been “gentle” to him. Although that gentleness was more like the instinct of two people who were about to freeze to death meeting in a snowfield and had to warm each other in order to live.

Since he claimed to be Ruan Xian, why didn’t he say goodbye in the first place, father?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t ask him that. Tang Yibu bit his lip. “Ruan Lijie” identity wasn’t clear yet and his mind was too keen. Once he was caught by the other party, he was likely to be exposed as NUL-00. That fact was what he was hiding at the top of his pyramid, and no mistakes could be allowed.

So he could only prevaricate with other answers for the time being.

He no longer pressed against the other party’s forehead but stretched out his arms and hooked them around the other’s waist, then kissed him again. He exhausted all the knowledge in his mind as his tongue was entangled in a battle, frantically plundering the other’s breath, until the body in his arm slowly softened and trembled before losing balance.

“…I’m a little confused about what this response mean.” His Mr. Ruan sat on the ground and gasped for a while. It took a while before he regained his voice.

“The reward for exchanging information.” Tang Yibu turned his back and walked to the bushes where π was hiding, making sure his expression couldn’t be seen. “You seem to like them very much.”

Having said that, he pulled out the trembling iron bead from the bushes. The iron bead shrunk in the shell of the assistant robot and let out a long, crying “gwah”, followed by short and frantic “gwahs”.

Tang Yibu simply nodded in response while holding it in his arms. He took out two sets of sealed and compressed clothes from the bottom of the assistant robot’s empty shell. He briefly soothed the iron bead for a while before putting it back into the shell again.

“According to the degree to which someone is endless, I’m not the only one who likes these things. Isn’t it inappropriate to treat this as a unilateral reward?”

Ruan Xian stared at the other’s back and raised his voice slightly. The other party’s kissing skills were as superb as his other skills. He was kissed until he went soft that he had to simply sit down on the lawn.

A few hours later, the fish in the stagnant water had no strength to continue struggling and could only breathe with difficulty. Ruan Xian glanced at it, grabbed its tail, and threw it into the nearest drain.

Tang Yibu’s reaction was a bit different from what he had expected. He expected that the other party might think about it for a while, but he didn’t expect Tang Yibu, who usually was careful when examining the ingredient list of convenience foods, to not ask him any questions at this time.

Instead, the android gave him an inexplicable kiss.

Tang Yibu and the forces behind him seemed to be more interesting than he thought. He rubbed his wet lower lip for a while, and as soon as he was about to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the existing information, he was hit in the chest by a new set of restraint clothes.

“Also specially prepared clothes?” Ruan Xian raised his eyebrows. He could probably guess its purpose. But for some reason, he really wanted to tease Tang Yibu now.

“It is very likely that we will fight, and the clothes are likely to be damaged.” Tang Yibu himself put on a white coat. His face was stiff like a wax figure. π, who was wearing the assistant robot shell, was still shaking and spinning at his feet, as if it had drank too much wine. “Put it on quickly. We have to get out of here immediately.”

“It’s not impossible to talk tomorrow.” After all, the surveillance video was already forged by the other party, and he wasn’t sure of the pre-arranged timing. Ruan Xian had no intention of delaying this negotiation. “What have you prepared?”

“Fire.” Tang Yibu still looked like his brain was overloaded.

“Quite appropriate.” Ruan Xian patted the shell of the iron bead with his hand, and the latter crooned nervously. “What did you say to π just now?”

“You screamed too loudly. It thought you were hurt.” The culprit replied sternly, staring at a point in the air in front of him while tying the buttons on his white coat one by one. “I told it you are okay.”

“I see.” Ruan Xian didn’t feel much shame about it. He patted the anxiously shaking iron bead. “After all, the opportunity is rare. Next time, it may not be so convenient to make a sound.”

Tang Yibu’s movement of buttoning stopped.

Then he hugged the iron bead and strode ahead. Ruan Xian shrugged, adjusted the last concealed buckle on the restraint clothes, and followed in the same stride.

After fighting in every sense and shaking out the facts, Ruan Xian discovered a new kind of fun—it was fun to tease Tang Yibu while his head was down.

There was a slight crackling behind them, and a flash of fire cut through the darkness. Ruan Xian roughly calculated that, considering Tang Yibu probably manipulated the fire protection system, in another 20 minutes, the botanical garden would turn into a sea of fire, completely burning all traces they left behind.

When he was thinking about whether the fish he threw into the drain would survive, Tang Yibu suddenly stopped, and Ruan Xian almost bumped into his back.

Before Ruan Xian could say, “What’s the matter”, Tang Yibu turned around solemnly and stretched out a hand to him.

“According to my original arrangement, if your body is still ‘alive’, I will send you back to your room, and then wait for someone to find out that your brain is abnormal.” Tang Yibu’s voice was more serious than his expression.

“Very reasonable.” Ruan Xian held up his arms, as if in a sign of surrender to the other party.

“But you still have the ability to think now, and I need to be in closer contact with you, so I decided to go back with you to your room.”

“Then what?”

“I need to make Gong Siyi believe that we have become regular sex partners… or that we have gotten together.” In a rare moment, Tang Yibu didn’t look directly at Ruan Xian but at his outstretched hands.

“Based on what just happened, this isn’t a lie.” Ruan Xian still didn’t know what the android was planning.

“At present, I cannot accept the identity you claim, nor can I immediately resolve my own emotional problems.” Tang Yibu was standing in the white corridor. The silver moonlight hit him through the window, causing his inhuman aura of an android to become a bit heavier. “But assuming you are really Ruan Xian, I have a reason to keep you tied to me.”

“…I don’t like the word tie very much.”

“So I thought about it for a while. In addition to the intelligence constraints between us, I want to add something else to make sure you wouldn’t want to run away.”

Those golden eyes blinked, and Tang Yibu’s gaze was more serious than ever before.

“You and I are attracted to each other… or rather, we like each other… and the bed is quite spacious. According to human information, proper intimacy can weaken your willingness to leave.”

“So?” Ruan Xian had a subtle premonition.

“I think we should cement this intimacy,” Tang Yibu said in a tone similar to making a report. “This is a brand new cooperation. Let’s shake on it, Mr. Ruan.”

“……”

“In order to ensure authenticity, we need to do it in a bit to make sure that Gong Siyi finds out. Your answer is directly related to the degree of naturalness of our performance. If it doesn’t work, I can consider other parties—”

Ruan Xian didn’t shake his hand. He held it with his backhand and bit Tang Yibu’s slender fingers lightly.

“Sure,” he said.

“But this is really the worst courtship I’ve ever seen.”

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The author has something to say:

How could Tang only be confused in one chapter!

But he cares more about Ruan’s identity…Even if Ruan is really his father, he won’t be panicked because he slept with his father (…).

Tang: Is it dad? Is it dad? This is different from the dad in my memory! Doesn’t make sense! (Confusion)

Ruan: Is this the android’s downtime (.

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Kinky Thoughts:

LMAO. Tang Yibu needs to work on his pickup lines… Well, it’ll still work on me. Ahhhh we all know what’s coming up next!

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 117: Destiny

Ruan Xian rarely truly lost his sense of time. Even in a dangerous battlefield or a quiet midnight, his perception of the passage of time wouldn’t fluctuate much.

But this time he completely forgot about time. The reality of this moment was like an overly vivid dream. If his nerves that fully opened his perception could be disturbed by water droplets from a mist, then he was currently facing a tsunami.

The first time he touched a person’s skin, the first time he was truly embraced, the first time he was kissed. Including the joy of his first, all memories related to temperature were tied to this dangerous creature in front of him.

“You like me, right? I like you too.” He heard Tang Yibu say. “…I don’t want to let go yet.”

The android’s tone was straightforward, but he looked more confused than ever. Tang Yibu’s movements didn’t stop. The world was shaking frantically, and the other party’s sweat kept falling, mixed with blood dripping on Ruan Xian’s cheeks.

In the huge vortex of sensory impact, he firmly maintained his crumbling sanity, hooked Tang Yibu’s neck with his bound hands, and kissed him on the ear.

“Correct.” He affirmed the other party’s statement. Although he didn’t have much fear of death, Ruan Xian didn’t really want to say goodbye.

He thought of the starlight in the Sea of Ruins again.

Maybe there was a description that he had not yet fully understood but, unexpectedly, was appropriate. Ruan Xian struggled to adjust his breathing so that the words weren’t interrupted by his own laborious panting.

“…You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

Ruan Xian hadn’t much desire to be loved. Before, he simply just lived, like moss nestling in a dark cave, or germs dormant in ice.

If it weren’t for his own belief that God didn’t exist, he would have thought that fate was just some cruel joke from the Gods—a rare disease that set a strict limit on the length of his life that he was destined not to live long, but it seemed he couldn’t die early either.

His mother made the most illogical choice and didn’t send him to a humane execution before he was five years old, and he survived. After that, the beating and abandonment that followed didn’t really kill him, and every return home went incredibly well. After he was weaned off his medication, despite the rapid deterioration because of his disease, he was still hanging on for dear life.

Even the desperate situation forged by his mother didn’t take away his life.

Now he remembered it very clearly. Ruan Xian hugged Tang Yibu tightly and looked at the clear night sky, suddenly feeling relieved.

His mother set the most logical choice for him, trying to prove his abnormality to the world. But he, who was abandoned in that secret room, didn’t move his mother’s body, allowing it to rot slowly.

Ruan Xian, who was still young, wasn’t afraid or desperate but felt a certain cold sense of emptiness.

He got the last bit of water from the bathroom and kitchen that hadn’t dried out, chose the corner where he felt most at ease, and slowly waited for death—The automatic air conditioner stopped, and the house was so airtight that he felt like he had been put into a hot, putrid steamer. A physically weak child who didn’t hydrate and replenish his energy in time simply couldn’t live too long.

However, after drinking a little bit of water, Ruan Xian still didn’t eat the corpse until the moment his vision was blurred.

Ruan Xian didn’t know what he wanted to prove. The “abnormal” incident hadn’t had time to cause him trouble, and he didn’t think he had such a deep love for his mother… He was just a little sad.

At that time, Ruan Xian couldn’t analyze that feeling. It couldn’t make him cry, but it could make him sit stubbornly in place, watching the body gradually swell.

The air was hot and humid, but he only felt cold.

When he woke up again, he was in the hospital. A small coincidence saved him. The air processor installed by the resident next door just broke down, and the stench of a rotting corpse floated into their room. After several days of patience to no avail, the grumpy residents called the police.

He broke away from the established results time and again, and he survived. The coincidences were so frequent that Ruan Xian almost started to believe his mother’s statement about him being a demon.

If his memory was true, Fan Linsong’s first shot failed to kill him. And now, facing an almost doomed situation, Tang Yibu was also…

Obviously, he had calculated everything possible, but there was always a more absurd response in reality.

Ruan Xian simply stopped controlling the smile on his face.

The android’s physical strength seemed inexhaustible. He seemed to want to practice all the relevant information he had gathered. Ruan Xian tried his best to warn him before his nerves were completely melted.

“If you don’t plan to kill me… Um…” He bit Tang Yibu’s lower lip lightly. “This… It’s not safe here. We still have time…”

“I have calculated it.” Tang Yibu licked the blood from the corner of Ruan Xian’s mouth with the tip of his tongue. “We still have fifteen minutes and eight seconds.”

“Not bad.” Ruan Xian guided this action into another seductive kiss. “…But you have to leave time for negotiation.”

He tugged at Tang Yibu’s sweaty black hair at the back of his head. “Our negotiation time.”

“I have thought about this issue.” Tang Yibu rubbed his face against his hand. His fingertips slid from the corners of his eyes to the corners of his lips and then his chin. “We can talk now.”

“…You lunatic.” Ruan Xian mouthed silently. “But that’s fine.”

“I need a while to analyze my feelings for you,” Tang Yibu said in a low voice, breathing a little short. “And… Although it is unlikely, have you done anything to that earring?”

“Do you want to interrogate me?” Ruan Xian adjusted his posture. His wrists that were tied up started to become sore.

“Yeah, after all, according to you—” Tang Yibu lowered his head and kissed deeply again, while increasing his movement. Ruan Xian muttered vaguely. “…From all physiological indicators, it is difficult for you to disguise your emotions now. Even a cybernetic brain will accept this kind of stimulation, I understand.”

He hugged Ruan Xian tightly. “Just answer yes or no, have or haven’t.”

“No.” After panting for a few seconds, Ruan Xian managed to find his voice. “I haven’t touched it… Um…”

“Since you are really human.” Tang Yibu himself wasn’t much better. His voice was intermittent. “Are you a human who obeys MUL-01?”

“No. “

“Has anyone from MUL-01 contacted you privately?”

“…No…” He had to say that Tang Yibu had found a good way. Ruan Xian only felt that his brain was about to melt. Under this impact, it was indeed difficult for him to disguise himself perfectly.

“Are you related to Ruan Xian?”

Ruan Xian found that he didn’t have much strength to make a sound, so he replaced a “yes” with a nod.

Tang Yibu kissed the corner of his lip, and there was a slight murmur in his throat. “Very good… At least not the enemy…”

The android didn’t speak again next. Ruan Xian guessed that he had completed the last wave of practice. A few more minutes passed as Ruan Xian lazily slumped on the lawn and watched Tang Yibu get dressed slowly and then untie the shackles on his wrists.

“Mr. Ruan, before I sort out my problem, you’d better not act out of the ordinary.” Tang Yibu tried his best to straighten his face, but he still couldn’t hide the softness behind him. “I’ll let π follow you… Ah.”

“Ah.” Ruan Xian also remembered. The iron bead still hung around in the bushes not far away. “You can explain later, Yibu.”

“…” Tang Yibu wiped his face.

“But there is another problem.”

Ruan Xian shook his sore wrist and began to wipe his body with a blood-stained cloth. The power of the S-type Prototype allowed him to regain his strength quickly, leaving only a little fatigue after excessive exercise.

“Look, now you know who I am, but I still don’t know anything about you.”

After a simple clean-up, Ruan Xian threw the fabric aside and decided to strike the iron while it was hot.

“The S-type Prototype is in the hands of a human. If this news spreads, it will be equally fatal to me… If we have to cooperate in the future, I hope I can get information of the same value.”

Humans wouldn’t expect anything from a member of another race if he was truly an android. But if he was a human, this information itself would become some kind of inspiration, and MUL-01 would destroy him and show the world as quickly as possible.

Tang Yibu wouldn’t have missed this.

He supported himself on the trees around him, stood up, and generously gathered the shredded restraint clothes together. “After all, my understanding of you is limited to the point of an ‘android who does not obey the Mainbrain and is involved with other forces behind him’. In this place, you can’t make an earring that restricts pure humans in a short time, right?”

Ruan Xian straightened his sweaty hair, walked to Tang Yibu a little unsteadily, and put his arms around his waist. “You have also seen my abilities. If I make up my mind to run, a little surveillance can’t stop me.”

“But we like each other.” Tang Yibu seemed a little dazed.

“I will miss you from afar.” Ruan Xian squinted comfortably as he felt the other party’s body heat. “In addition, this doesn’t conflict with our vigilance against each other. A little bit of information is exchanged for me to stay by your side honestly during this period of time. I personally think it’s a very good deal.”

Tang Yibu remained silent about this.

‘Such a difficult guy,’ Ruan Xian sighed in his heart. At this point, he had a better way to deal with it.

Almost all of Tang Yibu’s previous questions were testing his position, and he could see that the android and the Mainbrain were definitely not the same. Since his own human identity had been exposed and his memories were likely to be falsified, it wasn’t impossible to simply provide part of the information to the other party.

“If you give me enough valuable information, I can add more weight.” Ruan Xian leaned his face closer.

Tang Yibu took a step back, as if he was lost in thought. He glanced at Ruan Xian a few times. As if he thought that staring at the other party would make his state worse, he turned around solemnly.

Too cute. Ruan Xian laughed out loud.

“I can tell you ‘in my memory’, my relationship with Ruan Xian.” Ruan Xian increased the temptation bit by bit. “But I can’t guarantee the originality of my memory. This has to be said upfront.”

Tang Yibu turned back again, looking more serious.

“…I will not deceive you.” Ruan Xian spread out his hands. “Of course, if you want to use the ‘interrogation’ method just now, I have no opinion at all.”

“Okay.” Tang Yibu seemed to have reached a conclusion. “I will provide you with a little information about myself. But after that, there are only two possibilities left between us: to cooperate with each other, or I will kill you.”

“Mm-hmm.” Ruan Xian made a welcoming gesture.

Tang Yibu took a few steps closer, holding Ruan Xian’s face with both hands, and pressed his forehead against Ruan Xian’s. His lips opened and closed without making a sound.

“This body of mine is integrated with an A-type Prototype,” Tang Yibu said silently. “Considering that we will cooperate for a long time, and you have strong observation power… This information should be considered just right. As for how I got it, I may tell you later depending on the situation. For now, you—“

Ruan Xian was a little surprised, but only a little.

Lacking doomsday-related memories, he didn’t have a strong impression of the A-type Prototype being destroyed. Judging from Tang Yibu’s rather abnormal combat effectiveness and inexplicable confidence in certain situations, Tang Yibu’s deduction was correct—It was really only a matter of time before he found out about him and making it public in advance would instead be more conducive for Tang Yibu to unfold his hand and better threaten him.

As a mutual containment intelligence, Ruan Xian couldn’t think of a more appropriate one.

…Truly a cunning guy.

“Good information.” Ruan Xian maintained a posture with his forehead against the other. “Then I can also give mine.”

Tang Yibu blinked.

Ruan Xian raised the corner of his mouth and wiped the remaining blood stains on the other party’s face.

“In my memory, I am Ruan Xian.”

---

The author has something to say:

Tang: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………???

I haven’t forgotten that fish! Really didn’t!

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 116: Confession

The rhythm of breathing was disturbed, and the healing of his ribs brought overwhelming pain. Ruan Xian’s limbs were cold, and he tried to insert his fingers into Tang Yibu’s soft hair to absorb the high heat radiated by the other party.

This was a long kiss.

The battle came to an abrupt end, but the joy and excitement brought about by fighting each other didn’t immediately subside. They collided in his heart and brain, gradually changing their flavor. His opponent’s chest was undulating because of shortness of breath, and the heart close at hand was like a trembling cub.

Ruan Xian liked this feeling.

Perhaps it was frequent injuries that accelerated his body’s metabolism, or perhaps death and depression eventually led to chaos. His headache seemed to explode, and his mind, which was barely quiet, was now like boiled water.

His memory was recovering quickly, but he ignored all the side effects that came with it. His body was shaking instinctively, like the ground behind him. He wanted to vomit and faint, but he was so exhilarated.

So he could only continue to devour Tang Yibu’s lips, frantically plundering the breath and heat from his opponent’s mouth. They had never kissed so deeply, with the momentum of tearing each other apart in the next second.

Ruan Xian remembered everything. The darkest memories burst into the depths of his mind, like the first crack in a dam, and all the memories after that gushed out.

There weren’t many emotional factors behind this incident—he just got an opportunity, and then moved in the direction of maximizing his benefits.

In order to come into contact with Luo Jian, one of them had to pretend to be a patient to get in. According to Tang Yibu’s cautious temperament, he most likely was unwilling to surrender his dominance. Ruan Xian himself had no standing reason to refuse, and blindly rejecting it would only arouse suspicion.

To put it another way, even if Tang Yibu was willing to sneak in as a patient, he might not be willing to believe the second-hand information from him. The android wasn’t only mysterious but also extremely cunning, so the information he relayed may not be credible.

After figuring this out, the rest was how to take advantage of this delicate situation.

Admission to the hospital required testing of the concentration of drugs in one’s blood, and memory inhibitors for people could well prove whether he had a human brain. These kinds of advanced inhibitors seemed to be only available here. This was a rare opportunity.

There was only one problem—once he really found out he had a human brain and lost his memory due to drugs, Tang Yibu was likely to find this flaw.

He basically concealed himself from the other party. Not to mention, Tang Yibu had always been unwilling to get close to humans, as an android looking for Ruan Xian had a completely different meaning than a human looking for Ruan Xian.

If he was human, it would be difficult for the whole rhetoric of “Professor Ruan destroyed the S-type Prototype” to hold water. If he was in Tang Yibu’s position, Ruan Xian wouldn’t have put such a guy of unknown origin by his side.

After all, there were still humans standing on the side of MUL-01. There was also Fan Linsong, who was familiar with Professor Ruan, and whose fate was currently unknown, though most likely had fallen into the hands of the Mainbrain—MUL-01 had the resources to forge Ruan Xian’s memory.

As for whether this body belonged to “Professor Ruan” himself, Ruan Xian couldn’t be sure.

Therefore, even if Yu Le once said that the Mainbrain wouldn’t easily place Order Supervisors in places of low utilization, they all knew nothing about the forces behind Tang Yibu. Maybe it was worth it for this excruciating work. With the example of Duan Lili set in front of him and the technology of memory manipulation behind him, he couldn’t prove that he wasn’t some plan from the Mainbrain.

Once the matter was exposed, Tang Yibu was very likely to make a move. Preparation was necessary.

If Ruan Xian knew himself best, the answer was bound to be himself. He dissected and analyzed himself countless times and inferred as carefully as he analyzed a set of programs. He knew all the reactions he might make.

He successfully gave himself a weapon, which gave him the opportunity to take Tang Yibu head-on.

But he still lost; lost to a small detail. He had analyzed the deadly earring and thought that a machine of that size wouldn’t automatically attack if it was cut away.

With the convenience of cutting-edge mechanical design, Tang Yibu’s final chess piece moved.

Ruan Xian didn’t end the kiss. He let out a comfortable sigh from his throat. This deep kiss would make Tang Yibu recover faster, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Everything didn’t matter anymore. He had one foot on the edge of death, and that sense of falling made his hair stand upside down.

This was undoubtedly a carnival before death. Even if he died, he would inevitably exit as the dominator. Ruan Xian stretched out his arms and pulled off Tang Yibu’s white coat, which had been almost destroyed by blood and gunfire. He deliberately squeezed the wounds that had not had time to heal, feeling the warm blood sliding across the skin.

“Asshole.” Ruan Xian took the initiative to escape the kiss, muttering with a smile in a low voice. He hadn’t died yet, but his whole body already had the burning sensation of falling into magma.

However, Tang Yibu had no plans to end it yet. Perhaps the android intended to wait for his injuries to fully heal before doing it. This was also in line with Tang Yibu’s character…

However, in just a few seconds when he was distracted, Tang Yibu’s slender fingers slid over the metal device on his restraint clothes, and with the black restraint belt curled up in a roll, Ruan Xian’s wrist was tightly clamped in an instant. Tang Yibu’s hand, which was wrapped around his throat, was finally released. He stood up and looked down at Ruan Xian from top to bottom; his expression somewhat incomprehensible.

“You’re human,” he said. His tone was a bit weird, and he pressed Ruan Xian’s bound wrist hard.

“Sort of.” Ruan Xian licked the blood and bruises at the corners of his mouth.

He activated all his own sensors. The small pain became maddening, and the other party’s heat and smell instantly pinned him to the ground.

Ruan Xian raised his head and made sure that he smelled the other party’s scent… Mechanical life was ultimately still life. Not to mention Tang Yibu, who had a pure human shell, the concentration of hormones in that android’s blood was increasing just like his own.

The two looked at each other in silence, and the magnified senses made Ruan Xian think of the day he just woke up in this era.

It wasn’t bad to end like this.

The other party wanted to kill him, and at the same time he desired him, and he was even shaken as a result of it. The battle between them was only about profit and survival, as natural as a lion hunting an antelope, but the android actually faltered.

His own odds of winning had become zero, and he didn’t need to think about survival anymore. Ruan Xian had a lot more room to observe Tang Yibu. The confused appearance of the other party almost made him twist with pleasure, as well as a hint of subtle sadness.

He gradually couldn’t control the growing smile on his face, even if it made his injured lips more painful. Ruan Xian struggled to arc his body, causing Tang Yibu to frown and press him tighter.

“I haven’t seen you hesitate so much,” Ruan Xian said softly in a hoarse voice. “You know what to do.”

“I do know what I should do, but I can’t figure out the reason.” Tang Yibu seemed seriously distressed.

Ruan Xian let out a low laugh. The dying fish was flopping to the side and the starry sky flickered in front of him. That trace of sadness also disappeared, and under the influence of hormones, only a fluttering sense of pleasure was left in his heart, as if he was drunk.

“Observe the subtle movements of the enemy.” Ruan Xian repeated the words in his memory. “Don’t think about their reactions, don’t make detailed plans in your mind—observe, and then move.”

“…This is what you taught me, Yibu. Now it seems that you yourself…”

Ruan Xian couldn’t finish speaking. He was kissed again. Tang Yibu didn’t say a word. His hands, which could tear apart metal sheets, easily tore open the extremely strong sutures of the restraint clothes.

Ruan Xian moved his gaze from the starry sky back to Tang Yibu’s eyes. He cooperated with his opponent’s movements. While the tip of Tang Yibu’s nose rubbed against his cheek, he caught him and kissed those eyes.

“That’s right.” Ruan Xian’s breathing became more erratic, and he didn’t retract his fully open senses.

Including death, everything that followed was unknown and couldn’t be inferred. Ruan Xian no longer spoke. He just tried his best to respond to the other party. His overpowering perception almost scorched his mind into white ashes, and he could no longer hear the death throes of the fish, the friction of the bushes, or the sound of skin touching.

There was only one person left in his world again.

Death was approaching, and the heavy defense he had built for himself was completely shattered. The whole world flipped and trembled in his vision, and his brain gradually couldn’t think. This time, Ruan Xian didn’t suppress his voice.

Tang Yibu was very sober.

It was better to say that he had never been so sober. His shoulders and chest were bloody from bullets, with his left shoulder being hit the hardest, and the pain burned his scalp. A hideous wound ruptured from his neck, barely missing his vital blood vessels, and blood kept gushing, seemingly nonstop.

But he was still very sober.

He didn’t understand why his Mr. Ruan suddenly kissed him, just as he didn’t understand why he why he stopped his plan to kill the other man because of his physical impulses. Ultimately, he didn’t even understand why he had the impulse to do so.

However, according to the data, creatures that lack its same kind would develop courtship behavior towards those that are different species. However, as the only mechanical life in the world, Tang Yibu couldn’t understand why this behavior would appear in him.

He had no need to reproduce, nor did he need to deal with physiological problems at such fatal moments. Then there was only one conclusion left. According to the information he had, he had more than the usual degree of affection for his murder target.

‘It made no sense,’ Tang Yibu thought to himself. Without adequate analysis and forethought, this conclusion hit him head-on before he could figure out what was going on.

He couldn’t even tell what he liked about the other party. Perhaps if given another hour, he could have written an analysis on it, but now it was hard to take his mind off of his opponent. With just one thought, Tang Yibu could adjust the hormones in his blood to normal levels, but he unexpectedly didn’t want to do it.

His appetite had returned, but this time the form was a bit strange.

It was like being hungry and thirsty in the desert for a month, and now suddenly there was a feast of the highest caliber in front of him. In theory, he had the ability to refuse, but no matter how he looked at it, that would be such a huge waste.

Tang Yibu thought deeply for less than half a second and decided to let the hormones in his body soared for a while. This was a perfect opportunity for observation, likely to become precious material for his subject matter, and he was sure that he would enjoy the process very much.

The blood gun was kicked away, the opponent’s mobility was plundered, and he seemed willing to cooperate.

All he needed to do then was calculate the replacement time of the video prepared in advance, and they could squander their time here for as long as they wanted.

Tang Yibu had never really practiced it, but his huge knowledge reserve came in handy at this time. Judging from the reaction of the other party, there should be no problem with his approach. Seeing his opponent’s consciousness slowly fading, Tang Yibu stopped moving and poked his opponent’s sweaty side face with his hand.

Whether as an observer or as a participant in this absurd behavior, it was necessary for him to tell the other party his conclusion.

No, that wasn’t right. He himself “wanted” to tell the other party.

“You like me, right?”

Tang Yibu touched the other party’s newborn left ear that didn’t have the earring stud.

“I like you too.”

He paused for a while and pinched the soft earlobe.

“…I don’t want to let go yet, Mr. Ruan,” he said softly.

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The author has something to say:

Tang is a sweetie that doesn’t confess normally.

Even if it’s a confession, he has to tell the truth seriously → I think you like me, I think I like you too √

Ruan: …

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Kinky Thoughts:

Fuck, this is even better than make-up sex. Now do the make-up sex.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 115: Kiss

The concentration of Ruan Xian’s mind was unprecedented.

He knew his body well. Although his coordination was different from his memory, he still wasn’t a qualified soldier. What he could do was very limited. He could calculate, infer, and predict, just like all breathing creatures, and he tried to keep himself alive.

Oddly enough, he didn’t have much interest in survival itself, but that obsession with survival seemed to be carved into his bones, pushing him to keep moving forward.

Tang Yibu stood in the dim night; the light from the transparent glass dome flickered.

Ruan Xian could see every hair of his opponent clearly and hear every sound of leaves colliding or petals falling. The android stood in place, his expression like a child at a funeral—vaguely aware of what had happened and what was about to happen, but there was a subtle sense of freedom. The small machine didn’t run far away. It shivered for a while, staggered into the nearby bushes, and rattled urgently.

“Mr. Ruan,” Tang Yibu called softly. There was no extra expression on his face, and his voice was still soft.

The moment he realized that he was distracted, Ruan Xian raised his hand and fired.

He was ready for anything.

The first thing he could do was make a preemptive strike, attracting Tang Yibu’s attention and delaying the other side from activating his earring as soon as they met. Then he used the pre-mixed drugs to make his opponent lose his mobility for a moment and took the opportunity to get rid of the deadly earring. Judging from Tang Yibu’s follow-up reaction, there should be no cumbersome double insurance in his body.

It seemed that his opponent was very confident in his own strength.

Tang Yibu must have changed the surveillance in order to ensure that the meeting or killing went properly. He needed to kill the android as soon as possible, and then try to modify the surveillance on his return trip.

As long as he stripped himself of this attempted murder and had the exact weapons, it was only a matter of time before he could leave.

So far, it had gone well. He and his weapons were in excellent condition. Ruan Xian adjusted his breathing, felt the subtle flow of air, and rolled away from his original position in a lopsided manner.

The spot where he was standing before had a few stout branches that were deeply embedded in the soil.

The bullet didn’t hit Tang Yibu. The android lowered his body, propped one hand on the ground, and moved as fast as a hungry leopard. He broke the stout branches like cookies and used them like a dart gun.

The speed was not much slower than that of Ruan Xian as they rushed straight in his direction.

Tang Yibu was slightly taller than he was, with a beautiful and strong body. At this moment, he was as light as a feather, extremely dexterous as he could move in the air, and his movements were unpredictable.

‘Tang Yibu knew his disadvantage very well,’ Ruan Xian thought.

The drug trick had been used once, and there were only two emergency homemade drug bombs left in his hand. He couldn’t consume them casually in the early stages. He had to avoid being approached by Tang Yibu as much as possible.

Ruan Xian focused almost all his attention on Tang Yibu. Air, plants, light, smell; everything no longer existed naturally in space but rotated with one person as the core.

The feeling was amazing. The other party was like a grain of suspended ink in a transparent glass bottle. The colors were tumbling and spreading in boiling water, and he needed to avoid those parts that would be swallowed by the colors in the next moment.

Ruan Xian’s heart had never beat so vigorously. His blood turned into boiling molten iron, and a strange pleasure slowly seeped from his limbs and bones.

No one spoke, and a strong killing intent was churning in the air.

Countless possible trajectories unfolded in the dark as Ruan Xian began to shoot into the void. Before the bullet reached its destination, it hit Tang Yibu, who was approaching like a ghost. He could hear the sound of bullets drilling into the flesh, but it was a pity that there was always a price when slowing down to shoot—the stone thrown by Tang Yibu directly pierced his upper left arm, causing blood to spray all over his white restraint clothes, dyeing it dark red.

Ruan Xian forcibly swallowed the pain stuck in his throat. He felt the subtle flow of the wind and kept moving.

After a few seconds, the severe pain in his left arm that seemed to be splashed with acid finally eased a little. Ruan Xian jumped over the exceptionally lush bushes, plunged into the more complex terrain of shrubbery, and ventured to look at the wound.

The wound healed faster than he thought.

It was a different situation on Tang Yibu’s side. He could smell the gradually thickening blood on his opponent’s body. His bullets didn’t successfully hit Tang Yibu’s key points, but many of them passed through his body.

For some reason, his own resilience was far above that of the other party. Then, as long as he maintained this rhythm, he could slowly consume his opponent to death. Ruan Xian subconsciously touched the earlobe of his left ear to make sure he had touched the entire ear.

However, this superfluous action almost killed him.

While Ruan Xian was distracted, a bloody hand came from behind. The speed was so fast that the air made a slight burst like it was being penetrated. The target was the back of Ruan Xian’s neck.

Ruan Xian immediately kicked in the opposite direction and smashed a drug bomb. The smoke full of medicine exploded, causing Tang Yibu’s movement to freeze for half a second. Ruan Xian took this opportunity to hide himself in the darkness and ran to an area with the most interference.

As a scout, he knew how to avoid the opponent’s reconnaissance.

Unfortunately, Tang Yibu was too close this time. The android used his fingers and left a bloody hole in his arm, intending to use the new pain to keep him stimulated. The bomb didn’t delay him for long—Tang Yibu stretched out his hand and grabbed Ruan Xian’s left forearm.

Then he broke it mercilessly.

This fracture was no longer just a simple injury. This time, Ruan Xian screamed. Despite his brain burning with severe pain, he still didn’t let go of this opportunity.

Within the few seconds after breaking his arm, the android wouldn’t move. His own subconscious screams could also have a little distracting effect. Ruan Xian made a quick decision. He twisted his body, used the lush shrubs around him to stabilize his center of gravity, and fired several shots at Tang Yibu’s head.

One bullet shot in the air, one bullet left deep blood marks on the handsome and abnormal face, and another almost hit his throat. Tang Yibu dodged quickly, but it still pierced the edge of his neck. The blood rushed out like a stream and Ruan Xian could see his reflection in the collarbone wetted by blood.

A snow-white petal was stuck to the side of Tang Yibu’s face. Those golden eyes gleamed in the night. He didn’t know if it was because of pain or some other reason, but they seemed a little wet.

“Mr. Ruan.” He gently mouthed without making a sound.

Even in such a situation, those beautiful eyes were still pure. This made Ruan Xian only more irritable.

However, the hand holding his arm tightly showed no sign of relaxing. Ruan Xian didn’t hesitate to shoot a few more shots at his opponent’s wrist, and finally broke free.

Even Tang Yibu couldn’t let such a serious wound go unattended. His opponent was bound to do simple treatment of the wound, and he could use this time to further attack and distance himself.

He wasn’t prey, he couldn’t be prey.

But something was different. Tang Yibu had killing intent for him, and there was no doubt that he wanted to kill the other party. It was amazing how things had come to this point, and there was no semblance of related negative emotions between them.

Such as hatred, rejection, or outright denial…

There was a sudden stabbing pain in his temples that made Ruan Xian trip. The familiar smell behind him was pursuing him. Ruan Xian grabbed a vine full of thorns, forcibly stabilizing his body, and turned his head and fired a few more shots.

The shoes the ward provided him weren’t sturdy. The soles of his feet were covered with blood, and he had already been paralyzed by the pain. Ruan Xian didn’t calculate how long the battle had lasted until now. The night was getting darker, and the huge botanical garden seemed to have turned into a rotting corpse of a giant monster, burying all conflict and bloodshed under the glass dome.

After a brief glance, he saw Tang Yibu’s face clearly. Tang Yibu’s hands were empty, his white coat was covered with blood, and he was torn by the bombardment of bullets, revealing his black lining. The slightly longer, soft black hair was covered with blood, and there was a strange emotion in his eyes, mixed with doubt and reluctance.

“Mr. Ruan.” He called for the third time.

Ruan Xian groaned.

Another wave of memories tumbled up. He had expected this situation, but he didn’t expect the memories tumbling up to be so… suffocating.

[Xianxian, come here.]

It was a sultry summer. He remembered very well that his mother had paid the last of her savings to a removal company to move everything out of the small apartment. Ruan Xian thought they were moving away—the water and electricity had been shut off, the air circulation and temperature balance functions had been turned off, and the house had been cleaned, with basically nothing left except two cardboard boxes.

After he found his way home again and again, his mother seemed to have temporarily given up the plan to abandon him.

She would give him some food and give him some basic painkillers. Without special drug control, Ruan Xian’s condition deteriorated rapidly, but he didn’t say a word, and most of the time he locked himself in a narrow room, silently waiting for death to come.

At that moment, his mother suddenly planned to move out. She cleaned very carefully, and even the rusty iron wire stuck in the water pipe was clamped down and thrown away. The whole room was so empty that it was a little surreal.

He squatted in the corner of the empty bedroom. The scorching air made him sweat uncontrollably, and the sweat pressed his clothes to his festering skin, which hurt like sandpaper was rubbing against him.

He held back his voice that was about to reach its limit. Ruan Xian didn’t know why his mother called him out specifically.

His mother touched his head, just like the day she brought him home from the hospital.

However, in the next second, Ruan Xian saw the rope hanging from the ceiling pipe, as well as the cardboard box below as a footing.

[The doors and windows have been locked, and the keys were thrown into the trash disposal by me. It stands to reason that there is still one month left in the time limit.] His mother’s tone was full of creepy despair. [I love you, child, but you are a demon… I have to prove this. I’m not wrong… I have to prove this to everyone. I love you. I tried my best…]

[Don’t you always win at hide and seek? Then let’s change this to a new game.]

As a sick child, he couldn’t stop anything from happening next. The cardboard was trampled down, and in the end, he could barely support his mother’s floating legs. He couldn’t even hold on for more than three seconds.

In the end, he only saw fear and hatred in his mother’s eyes. Her expression was forever frozen in that moment and doomed to rot in the heat.

There was no water or food. The doors and windows were tightly closed, and the glass was a bulletproof design with one-sided transmission. There was only one way to last as long as possible—he knew it, and so did his mother.

Maybe this was what she wanted to prove to the world.

Ruan Xian shrank up in the corner of the living room. The shadow of his mother’s feet swayed in the moonlight.

The moonlight that day was as bright as it was now.

Ruan Xian held back the dizziness caused by the rapid upwelling of memory and trembled as he shot a few shots in the direction of Tang Yibu. His broken arm healed with a crack. He still had a chance of winning. He wouldn’t be killed, just like back then…

However, Tang Yibu didn’t let go of his trance for these few seconds.

After a loud sound, Ruan Xian suddenly hit by something head-on.

The heavy decorative fish tank was directly pulled up by Tang Yibu and slammed into Ruan Xian. The glass was so strong that it smashed Ruan Xian straight into the tree trunk behind him. Ruan Xian was sure he had broken a few ribs. Even after landing on the ground, the thing only had some minor cracks.

Under the huge impact, he loosened the grip on his blood gun momentarily.

Damn.

Almost the next moment this thought flashed, Tang Yibu had held him down. Before his ribs could recover, Ruan Xian coughed up a few sips of blood and was pressed to the ground by his opponent. He glanced sideways slightly, saw a fish falling out of the fish tank, struggling not far from him.

Like him, it was destined to die.

He lost in the end, but he didn’t have much regret. It was his failure to consider the edge of the situation that led to such an accident—Tang Yibu wasn’t an opponent who would allow too many flaws.

Tang Yibu kicked away the blood gun first; the massive blood loss made his movements look feeble. He tightly grabbed Ruan Xian’s throat, pressed his forehead against the other, and nailed Ruan Xian to the ground with his own weight.

Their faces were extremely close to each other. Warm blood dripped from the wound on Tang Yibu’s neck, wetting the collar of Ruan Xian’s restraint clothes.

Ruan Xian had no intention of speaking. He just stared at the familiar face quietly.

He knew what would happen next. Tang Yibu’s hand on his forehead became stronger, as if he was going to crush his skull. He didn’t struggle. He lay there obediently, with a calm mood that he couldn’t understand.

The fish was still struggling, making a small slapping sound nearby.

“I must confirm,” Tang Yibu said. “You cut it off, but the earring’s defense system failed to destroy your brain, Mr. Ruan.”

He stared at Ruan Xian without blinking. “Did you do something, or is there no cybernetic brain in your head at all?”

The android’s warm breath sprayed on Ruan Xian’s face with a good smell.

Ruan Xian didn’t answer.

“Don’t you remember? I told you that it would not be useful to take it off—this defense program is my original creation and doesn’t require me to start it manually.”

“Why are you procrastinating?” Ruan Xian finally spoke and successfully found a trace of confusion and panic in the other party’s eyes.

“You can kill me, stop me, whatever… Why are you procrastinating, Yibu? I don’t need to know this.”

Tang Yibu’s blood was still flowing. He didn’t know if it was because of this that he looked very pale. The hand that struck his throat was tightening, but the speed was abnormally slow.

Ruan Xian couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth, and he stretched out his blood-stained hands—After losing his weapon, Tang Yibu didn’t even restrain his hands.

The tension left by the battle hadn’t dissipated, and his blood was still burning.

Ruan Xian hooked Tang Yibu’s neck, used his last strength to press down on the back of his opponent’s head, and kissed the blood-stained lips.

At that moment, Ruan Xian couldn’t clarify his motivation.

Leaving the other party with an unsolvable puzzle as a form of retaliation, yearning for the last bit of warmth, or remembering the nostalgia he never expressed… He didn’t know. He only knew that he was about to die, and this was the last thing he could do.

The development of things got out of control.

His neck wasn’t broken, and his skull wasn’t crushed.

Tang Yibu kissed him back, with a little hesitation, a little blood, and a high temperature that could almost ignite the plants.

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 The author has something to say:

Okay, I’m cool (…)

π is still watching. π says this is the most incomprehensible(?) species it has ever been around √

Fish: Look at me!!!

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Kinky Thoughts:

Wow, this chapter is better than hate sex. Well, now make up and have actual hate sex.

My heart aches for child Ruan Xian.

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