Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 64: Falling

The iron bead was in a bad mood.

Its emotions weren’t complicated—hunger and thirst would cause depression and being hugged by a huge soft animal would make it feel at ease. In addition to possessing a certain IQ and being extremely sensitive to potential threats, these mechanical beings, which were called “Grove-style R-660 lifeforms” by humans, had nothing special about them.

At the moment, it was being wrapped by a nylon strap of a water battle and was hung on the buckle of the waist bag by Tang Yibu. It looked like an overly full round water bottle. Transferred from the soft and warm embrace to the rough nylon strap and having sand slapped on its shell by the wind, the iron bead began to make dissatisfied cooing sounds.

Tang Yibu casually inserted the sai into his waist and watched the armored car disappear into the night. He didn’t bother to hang rows of countless bullets around himself and looked more like an ordinary fugitive.

“Quiet.” He tapped the iron bead lightly with his fingertips. “They may have sonic detection devices.”

“Gwuck.”

“I know you don’t want to leave there, and I don’t want to leave either,” Tang Yibu muttered in a low voice. He could see the outline of the bandit’s camp clearly. “But I have to bring a guarantee. Once humans give something a name, they will not be so easy to let go. Mr. Ruan still has a human mind, and I think this principle applies to him.”

“Gwah.”

“You’re luckier than me.” Tang Yibu patted the muttering iron bead again and walked closer in the direction of the base.

Then he suddenly changed his movements, like playing some kind of jumping game on the wasteland. He started to step on a fixed point. He avoided the buried mines and traps one by one until he successfully reached the vicinity of two boulders that were barely changed to look like a gate before he finally stopped.

“Don’t move, kid.” A gun was pressed to the back of Tang Yibu’s head, and another person flashed out in front of him, playing with a sharp knife in his hand. “Hand over your weapons before you speak.”

“Okay.” Tang Yibu moved steadily. He threw the sai to the ground, followed by his two guns. “Don’t be nervous. Don’t be nervous.”

“The iron bead has to be handed over too,” The person standing behind him demanded loudly. “Hey, Lao Sun, take away this iron bead. Who knows if he has hidden anything good in its shell. Didn’t someone hide medicine in them before?”

The iron bead struggled frantically between the nylon straps, and its four thin metal short legs protruded from its spherical body and kicked awkwardly.

“I didn’t expect anyone to deliver food at this time.” Seeing that Tang Yibu had tossed away his weapons, Lao Sun made a simple gesture to his accomplice, standing behind Tang Yibu. Tang Yibu felt the muzzle of the gun on the back of his head hit harder.

Lao Sun cut the nylon strap and took the iron bead that began to rattle and threw it to the ground, then stepped on it with the soles of feet.

The iron bead began to scream loudly.

“How do you open this thing again? I remember I just stomped on its seams with my feet—” Lao Sun grinned, showing his browned teeth.

“Wait.” Tang Yibu frowned slightly.

“What’s the matter? I was right? Boy, if you are here to join us, you’d better hand in everything you have. Don’t say it’s your pet. I’ve heard a lot of this kind of nonsense! Come on, or you can dismantle it yourself. What are you hiding? Fireflies? Psychedelics? Mushroom powder?”

“No.” Tang Yibu slowly put down his raised hand. “It’s my friend, and its name is π.”

There was a hint of tears rattling on the iron bead.

“Yo, this kid’s got a broken brain.” Lao Sun smiled a few times. “He looks pretty good, eye color… Are androids still running out the wall? Where’s your master? Forget it. Fuck it, I think there should be a few old people in the camp willing to cover for you, as long as you—”

He made a vulgar gesture and winked at the person behind Tang Yibu.

Tang Yibu paused then said, “Actually, I’m here to destroy you.”

“Yeah, like sending a stripper to destroy the Order Supervisors.” Lao Sun looked at him and said, “So reliable.”

“I’m sorry,” Tang Yibu said.

“If you had said that earlier—”

Lao Sun failed to finish his words. The robber in a tattered jacket felt his body fall back, but the distance from the young man didn’t change. Slender and beautiful fingers were placed on both sides of his cheeks, but Lao Sun didn’t have time to express any feelings. He only felt some kind of weird coldness was quickly blurring his consciousness. He tried to open his mouth, but he couldn’t make a sound.

Wait, this means he’s…

Tang Yibu swiftly dodged at the end of this attack, causing the bullet to graze his cheek. He didn’t even think about it and threw the head he had twisted off casually behind him. The severed head slammed onto the other person, making a creepy cracking sound.

The sound of a body hitting the ground sounded again. Tang Yibu glanced at the two crushed heads on the dirt and picked up the iron bead on the ground.

“It seems that only I can hold you,” he said blankly, pulling a few firebombs from the corpses and directly igniting the camp closest to him.

The wilderness was extremely dry. The flames quickly engulfed the dry wood, branches of shrubs, and fuel barrels that still had a little combustible material remaining. As the fire got bigger, Tang Yibu walked through the flames and saw the opportunity to create another firebomb, creating a new explosion. If you ignored the fire blazing around him and the distorted air due to the high temperature, it looked as if Tang Yibu was throwing bread to feed pigeons in an uninhibited park.

The people who rushed over were very skilled.

The flames reflected their every expression, down to every twitch of their muscles. The person in front pounced at his side while the one who held him at gunpoint would shoot him. Based on the movements of his opponent’s line of sight, Tang Yibu could even calculate what gun he preferred.

Going one step further, listening to their rants and combining them with their positions, he could speculate on their intelligence and personality, and concluded that what he simulated had no value for observation.

The future slowly unfolded in front of him, reassuring and boring.

Tang Yibu dodged one attack after another. He jumped onto a burning roof. Standing in the flames, he could clearly see bandits coming from all directions. The faster the fire burned, the bigger it got. He had run out of firebombs and could no longer make explosions, but the flames had already lit up the night sky.

The organization of the bandits was as loose as Yu Le said. These outlaws obviously didn’t have much military awareness. Once they realized that something was wrong, they instantly scattered. Some continued to attack him, while others began to attack their own companions who had accidentally injured them, while others attempted to loot the remaining supplies—whether from corpses or living people.

The thick smoke intensified the intensity of the battle, and the burning scene devolved into chaos. People completely forgot that there was only one intruder and began to instinctively attack all threats close to them.

And this chaos came to an abrupt end when heavy machinery arrived.

Someone howled. The fire scene just now had become a fishing pond that was completely empty in ten seconds, leaving only debris and many corpses on the ground. Tang Yibu saw several big men carrying light bombardments approaching—There was a leader there and a leader that obviously had the means to deter his subordinates.

He grabbed the iron bead tightly and looked at the muzzle of the light-blaster less than a hundred meters away from him. It was estimated that if he was hit by this thing, he would have several large holes the size of a bowling ball on his body.

At that moment, a more intense explosion sounded in the distance. The earth trembled a few times as roaring and screaming mixed together. Tang Yibu looked at the firelight far away from where he was and nodded slightly at the gun muzzles pointed at him.

“Goodbye,” he said.

What answered him were several dazzling beams of light. Tang Yibu staggered his feet, ready to dodge beautifully, but when he reached the last pillar of light, he hesitated for two-tenths of a second and deliberately slowed down.

The beam of light brushed his arm, burning off a piece of flesh the size of a palm. Blood immediately spurted out.

Tang Yibu gasped in pain. He immediately tore off his sleeves, made a simple bandage, and then let the iron bead squeeze over his shoulder. He jumped off the roof that was about to be burned down, and a few white rays of light flew over from where he was standing.

“I think I need treatment,” Tang Yibu said solemnly, poking the iron bead that was shaking with fright. “What do you think?”

“…Gwah gwah gwah.”

Ruan Xian’s mood wasn’t good either.

He sat with his head crouching down in the car. There was some distance between his head and the roof of the car, which right now was close to the ground. Unfortunately, even with an extremely sturdy seatbelt, it couldn’t eliminate the dizziness caused by the rolling of this behemoth. Ruan Xian wanted to throw up, but he was trying really hard to suppress it as he would be throwing up on the roof of the car, thus he struggled and held back the urge to vomit.

Yu Le’s method of manipulating machinery was indeed unparalleled, but there was a great gap between him and Tu Rui—At this moment, Ruan Xian and Yu Le were both trapped in the car as it turned perfectly while Yu Le turned on the song “Baby, I’m Head over Heels for You”.

The explosion triggered a warning as Ruan Xian could hear many objects approaching them. This armored off-road vehicle could very well become like a tortoise that had been maliciously turned over, with its feet up in the sky, completely helpless. The smoke and fire from the explosion were blocked at the other end of the dead wall, but the rubble and small clods of soil from the explosion were still falling on their side. Ruan Xian looked around for the first time—

They just moved from a wilderness that was basically uninhabited to a wilderness that was a little bit more high-tech. The empty space made it impossible to have anywhere to hide, not to mention that several teams of machinery were coming to their location at full speed.

“Are you going to choose such a new way to kill yourself?” Ruan Xian retracted his gaze and took in a hard breath. His ears were still buzzing as he was upside down.

“How can that be.” Yu Le groaned as the female voice from the soundtrack continued to sing. His face had turned purple from being upside down. “Isn’t your little lover waiting for you. When he sees this scene, he will no longer doubt my sincerity in wanting to complete the transaction.”

“So if we don’t turn this thing over, you’re going to do it yourself?” Ruan Xian began to listen intently to the movements on the other side of the wall, trying to hear Tang Yibu’s voice.

“Man, what are you talking about. Let’s call this improvising, like borrowing flowers to dedicate to Buddha*.”

*(借花献佛) Refers to borrowing other people’s items to entertain guests or give them away/offering favors at the expense of another.

“…That’s not how you use borrowing flowers to dedicate to Buddha.” Without hearing any effective information from the bandits, Ruan Xian began to untie his seatbelt. “We have to get out of the car. They’re almost here.”

“No, no, no.” Yu Le continued to listen to the song happily. “It’s a wilderness outside. We’ll just be a moving target for them if we go out.”

As if we’re not a target just by staying here. Ruan Xian took another few deep breaths.

“…What’s more, if you run away without a trace, your android boyfriend will hold me accountable when he comes. How will I explain things?”

Ruan Xian tried his best to keep his expression calm and didn’t waste half a second to refute. He frowned impatiently. “Tang Yibu is not an android. We…”

A thin metal foot tentatively knocked on the car window, interrupting their conversation. The round body of the iron bead moved over, and three small blue eyes lit up from the gap. “Gwah.”

Ruan Xian immediately pressed against the window of the car.

“What are you doing in there?” Then came Tang Yibu’s face—the android was lying on the ground with his cheeks against it in order to communicate with them. “Is it fun to be upside down like this?”

“We’re not playing,” Ruan Xian hissed between his teeth.

“I know, it’s just a joke.” Tang Yibu showed another smile dedicated to dealing with humans. “But it’ll be very uncomfortable if you stay in the posture for a while.”

Yu Le lowered the music and raised his eyebrows. “I like it like this. Can you see it? Good eyesight.”

“It looks clearer from the outside.”

“What are you talking about—” Ruan Xian interrupted.

He was too focused on listening to Tang Yibu and the enemy’s movements that he ignored the feet close at hand. A familiar, slight cracking noise sounded, causing the heavy car to shake and the ground to begin to collapse rapidly.

“I’m the best captain of the Sea of Ruins.” Yu Le grinned. “I know what I’m doing, kid. There’s a reason why this place is called the Underground United City.”

“Yes, if you prepared a rabbit hastily looking at its pocket watch*, this plan would be even more whimsical.” Ruan Xian gritted his teeth.

*Reference to the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.

The weightlessness of free fall hit, and his vision instantly fell into darkness.

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The author has something to say:

Entering the city!!!

The three Alices fell into the hole—

Perhaps the iron bead can be arranged to be the pocket watch (X

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 63: Flying over the Dead Wall

Yu Le slept for twelve hours.

It wasn’t until Tang Yibu started eating self-heating risotto in the car that Captain Yu twitched his nose and got up from the pile of food.

“Oh, it’s good to be alone.” The former captain of the Walking Stones stretched his shoulders and bit open the bag of hardtacks* with his teeth. “Let’s go. There are still a few days to go.”

*It’s basically a biscuit that is compressed with a bunch of nutrients and is non-perishable, normally used as rations for many militaries. Something like BP-5 Compact Biscuit could also be what he’s eating.

In the next few days, Tang Yibu became a lot more honest.

He tried his best to avoid direct communication with Yu Le. He sat in front of the food pile cautiously while holding Ruan Xian tightly. If it weren’t for the fact that this android didn’t eat humans, Ruan Xian would almost think that he was part of the food pile.

Ruan Xian took over the heavy task of negotiating with Yu Le, and also successfully won the opportunity for the android to choose songs every day. The night watch became a fair shift system, and Yu Le no longer made protests.

Except for occasionally looking at the two young people in the back seat through the rearview mirror, Yu Le rarely even spoke.

It was hard to call this journey interesting. Perhaps compared with the Sea of Ruins, the first two or three days were relaxing, and then there was only boredom.

A scene that repeated forever with only a small space for activity. Yu Le no longer deliberately provoked them, and the route he chose was extremely smooth—There was only the circulating dark yellow sand and brown boulders that were constantly moving outside the window, and they no longer ran into any bandits.

Finally, when Yu Le, who liked to get out of the car and go for a walk, was about to smell like pickled salted fish, he slammed on the steering wheel and went straight in the direction of the dead wall.

“The bandits here are very loosely organized. Small gangs will attack on the way; the more distinguished ones are waiting in front. From here, crossing the dead wall is the territory of the Underground United City. They will guard this area to death.” There was heavy wind and sand outside. Yu Le closed the window tightly and stopped smoking. He put a piece of mint candy in his mouth.

“The main base of the bandits.” Ruan Xian extracted the key information while Tang Yibu leaned on his right arm and observed Yu Le with interest.

“Yes.” Yu Le nodded, “We have to break through at night.”

“What about bypassing this area?” Ruan Xian pondered for a moment. “The number of bandits can’t be as high to cover the entire area of the dead wall. The wilderness is dry and rainy. With solar cells to withstand it, there won’t be a shortage of energy.”

“We can use their arsenal.” Yu Le tilted his head slightly. “After all, we have to get this big guy to the other side of the wall. This car weighs at least ten tons, so it’s impossible to just simply get it over.”

“I can hack into the vehicle system or just throw it over the dead wall,” Tang Yibu whispered in Ruan Xian’s ear. “The problem lies in Yu Le’s handling…”

“Follow his idea first.” Ruan Xian’s lips didn’t move. “He’s already suspicious of us, so he’ll probably be on guard against us.”

Tang Yibu smacked his lips and bit Ruan Xian’s earlobe affectionately, causing Ruan Xian’s ears to turn bright red.

“Now is not the time to flirt,” Yu Le snorted. “Their arsenal is divided into two places—the sunny one stores guns and ammunition, while the one in the shade leans against the dead wall and stores explosives. There was a bandit on my ship. He’s been at the Sea of Ruins for only half a year, so the bandits shouldn’t have changed their layout quite yet.”

Yu Le took out a pen from the glove box, pulled out a piece of food wrapping paper, and began to draw a schematic diagram. “There are too many people on the opposite side. We need to split up.”

“Split up?” Tang Yibu repeated it vigilantly.

“Someone needs to pretend to be a pirate to carry out a sneak attack, make a commotion, and attract the attention of most of the bandits. They cannot discover our true purpose.”

Ruan Xian frowned.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I don’t have a better idea.”

“The shuttle agent can pass through solids. Have you tested it on the dead wall?” Tang Yibu obviously didn’t like the idea of splitting up.

“The shuttle agent will trigger the highest alarm of the dead wall. Someone has tried it.” Yu Le shook his head. “To be honest, you heard Duan Lili leave that message on those amplifiers. Most likely, the flickering grass was introduced by the Order Supervisors, so they wouldn’t let this kind of thing threaten them.”

“I know, but we can escape before the Mainbrain arrives.”

“That’s a top-level alert, and in the best-case scenario, the car would have to be abandoned. Without this car, we could be easily killed by the people of the Underground City.” Yu Le coldly rejected Tang Yibu’s proposal. “What’s more, I don’t know the distribution of buildings on the other side of the wall. We may not even have a place to hide. The risk is too great.”

Tang Yibu held back his words a little, aggrieved.

“…You want to ignite the arsenal,” Ruan Xian said what he thought was the most likely guess, but even he thought this idea was a bit crazy.

“Yes.” Yu Le grinned. “The electronic system close to the dead wall will fail, and we can’t rely on the car’s own jetting ability to pass, but if we jet the car first and then rely on the explosion to make up for the momentum, we can fly the car and the people inside over the dead wall.”

“The Mainbrain allows the flow of people to a certain extent. When the Order Supervisor finds that the object crossing the wall is a car that’s only holding a few people, it won’t ping us too much. Unlike sensitive contraptions like shuttle agents, the degree of alarm of an explosion isn’t that high.” Yu Le glanced at Tang Yibu as he added.

“But the person who is used as a diversion will be trapped over here.” Ruan Xian frowned even tighter.

“It’s inevitable.” Yu Le shrugged indifferently. “The two of you are very capable that you could cross the dead wall on Petri Dish No. 1036. It should be fine for you to do it again. Either that or you can just stay here alone.”

Yu Le seemed to be very good at clearly calculating people—he pinched their intelligence sources, and they couldn’t exclude him now. Even if they follow Yu Le’s plan, after crossing the dead wall, Yu Le only needed to deal with one of them temporarily and he didn’t need to bear any responsibility in facing the enemy. Regardless of whether he intended to betray them or not, the deal was guaranteed to be profitable.

But Yu Le was right. Even if they didn’t care if Tu Rui would really beat Yu Le, an armored off-road vehicle was a good camouflage method.

If he and Tang Yibu were really an ordinary human couple, maybe they would take a step back and choose this plan.

However, this involved the issue of trust between them.

Unlike at the time when the Annihilation Point was modified, their activities in the Sea of Ruins were limited and he wouldn’t leave Tang Yibu, a life-saving reliance, in the face of an increasingly chaotic situation; it was also different when they saved Yu Le. Even if he wanted to escape, there was only wasteland, and he had no means or supplies.

At the moment, there was an unknown large-scale human city on the other side of the wall, and on this side was the base camp of the bandits with sufficient supplies. No matter which one of them went with Yu Le, he would have the sufficient capital needed to escape.

Ruan Xian touched the lower earlobe with his left hand and looked sideways at Tang Yibu.

Tang Yibu held the iron bead in his arms and stared at the rice-shaped cracks in the bulletproof glass, without responding to his gaze.

Yes, they could find individual excuses to fool Yu Le, and they don’t have to really separate. Although it was very likely to arouse Yu Le’s vigilance, they also had other methods to obtain information… Less friendly methods. After all, there was never a shortage of interrogation skills in this world.

And Tang Yibu must have thought of this too.

Ruan Xian didn’t say a word. He looked at the android’s beautiful face. Unfortunately, he had no real right to decide, whether it was from combat ability or considering the invisible collar around his neck.

Moreover, looking for “Ruan Xian” wasn’t something that Tang Yibu needed.

The sun was about to set. Blood-red light shone in and mixed together with those golden eyes into orange. Tang Yibu quietly clung to the iron bead like a wax figure.

“If I want to give up finding clues about Ruan Xian, will you stop communicating with me?” After a while, Tang Yibu finally spoke.

“No, this is mainly my business. I understand.”

Tang Yibu turned his head sideways, with his back to the slowly sinking sunset outside the car window. His expression was a little dark and unclear. He paused for a few more seconds, and said without thinking, “This is the same applicable scenario, right?”

“What?”

Tang Yibu leaned closer. His lips almost touched Ruan Xian’s ear. “Just like Yu Le and I a few days ago. I can control and crush you, so I can completely ignore your needs. There’s no trust between us. It’s purely a transactional relationship.”

Ruan Xian tightened his body subconsciously.

“…Then I will hurt you, even if I’m logically correct.” Tang Yibu let out a small sigh. “It’s like you could use ‘communication with me’ to negotiate and get what you wanted, but you didn’t.”

The android moved his face away, and the vivid smile that was especially used to deal with Yu Le disappeared. The rest of the expression was a bit awkward and uneasy, even mixed with a little anxiety. “I really hate foreseeable risks, Mr. Ruan. It’s like looking at an electrical machine with less than 1% of the power remaining.”

Before Ruan Xian could answer, Tang Yibu turned his head and gestured to Yu Le.

“I’ll go,” he said. “Mr. Ruan stays here. You guys can go first.”

After that, he squirmed painfully for a while before solemnly turning back to Ruan Xian’s direction. “But as a guarantee, I’ll take π.”

The iron bead was dawdling lazily in Tang Yibu’s arms, ignorant about its spherical identity.

“……”

Although he was ruthless, Ruan Xian didn’t think this was considered a real threat. Compared to this, he was surprised by Tang Yibu’s decision—it was more advantageous for Tang Yibu to stay in the car. Even if he could find other intelligence sources, he would also have to take a lot of risks. If he stayed in the car to control Yu Le, it would be a greater deterrent to Ruan Xian.

“Don’t leave me, okay?” The android became more serious. “I know what you think, but in terms of combat skills, I’m more suitable. I also know what you want. If you really leave, I’ll always find you.”

Yu Le watched the two of them bite their ears in silence through the rearview mirror.

“Will you leave me?” Without Ruan Xian’s response, Tang Yibu’s anxiety became more obvious. It seemed that he was dealing with such emotions for the first time, and he was entirely befuddled.

“No.” Ruan Xian stretched out a hand and straightened the tip of the other party’s somewhat scattered hair. “I don’t have this plan yet.”

“Then this is a promise.” Tang Yibu rubbed the hand with his cheek.

Tang Yibu got two guns and pinned them on his belt along with the cleaned sai that he had picked up. He hung the iron bead like a kettle on his side and began to stare at Ruan Xian again, as if he was watching some kind of newly discovered creature.

“If you two are finished with your sweet whispering,” Yu Le threw another piece of candy into his mouth, “It’s time for us to come up with a plan.”

“Okay.” Tang Yibu sat upright.

“Yibu.” Ruan Xian suddenly opened his mouth.

“Hmm?”

“Be careful.”

As soon as he spoke, Ruan Xian realized that his tone of voice was equally weird. He should have been able to say this naturally. He had maintained a gentle image for more than 20 years and had countless similar conversations before.

But his tongue seemed to be frozen, causing his tone to sound awkward and distant.

“…I’ll wait for you on the other side of the wall.”

He still insisted on finishing it.

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The author has something to say:

Tang is the kind of type that will always ensure that the battery of his phone is always above 20%, and carry countless power banks with him (???

Tang: Anxiety.jpg

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Kinky Thoughts:

I cannot get over how cute Tang Yibu is. These two are just so cute. A different kind of cute from Nemo and Oliver.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 62: Damage

After a long silence, Ruan Xian responded calmly, “I don’t know the subject of your observation, but humans of your type are usually placed on the list of potential dangers.”

“Ah, the list of potential dangers.” Tang Yibu tore off a piece of cloth from the corpse and wiped the sai in his hand clean. “I know the Supervision Agency.”

Ruan Xian couldn’t be more familiar with the Supervision Agency.

In the days he remembered, physical defects were relatively rare, and most problems could be prevented by obstetric examinations. Even if the child had already been born, as long as it wasn’t a rare disease or an IQ problem, most physical and sensory disabilities could be solved by artificial replacement.

Mental problems were much more complicated.

The name of Supervision Agency was very harmless, and its responsibility was only to evaluate school-age children or adolescents and screen individuals with serious mental defects in advance, then carry out differentiation education and ensured that they would not enter industries that were prone to problems.

People with pedophilia tendencies would be placed in communities and occupations far from children, and people with severe antisocial behavior would be isolated and educated and enter industries with high surveillance. Strictly speaking, they would get a job that would make ends meet, since usually, environmental constraints make it difficult to commit crimes. It sounded good and the public was quite supportive of these practices.

However, there were still some people whose classification was ambiguous, and they were usually not included in the watch list. If the personality defects weren’t manic, bloodthirsty, or extremely violent, the Supervision Agency usually didn’t make special treatment for these people.

But if personality defects were matched with an extremely high IQ, the situation would become complicated. They were good at disguise, elusive, and even more difficult to control as adults. They would be recorded on the list of potential dangers, tracked and followed regularly by the Supervision Agency, and their rights would be restricted accordingly.

However, even without access to politics, there were also strict restrictions on going abroad or long-distance travel. Using their own minds, these people could still obtain considerable wealth through legitimate means.

While society wouldn’t plunder them, they would always have a pair of eyes next to them.

Even with the prestige of his adoptive mother, Meng Yunlai, Ruan Xian was guaranteed to enter the top research institute in China, but he needed a recognized, authoritative colleague to know about it. The Supervision Agency entrusted this heavy task to Fan Linsong, who had a good reputation. They signed a surveillance remuneration agreement and a confidentiality agreement with Fan Linsong.

They thought they were doing it seamlessly, that he didn’t know who his watcher was. Fan Linsong also concealed it well, but Ruan Xian had always been extremely sensitive to the lies of others.

He would never forget the complicated emotions hidden in his eyes when the other party smiled and talked to him. It was dominated by fear, like dirt accumulating in the sewers. No one knew what else was in it, and no one really wanted to know what it was.

This was why he liked Tang Yibu’s eyes. The brilliant light golden color was like the sunlight cast on the skin on a summer afternoon. The emotions inside were extremely clean, only pure and curious.

But right now, the android was standing in a pool of blood and corpses, and his eyes looked abnormal.

But he still couldn’t help being attracted to them.

“…Okay, Yu Le is still waiting. I’ll think about your intuition and the like. Let’s go back.”

“Have you been in contact with the Supervision Agency?” Tang Yibu wasn’t distracted from the topic at hand. “The general public doesn’t care about the list of potential dangers, let alone scientists with relatively limited social interaction.”

“This question is not free.” Ruan Xian didn’t put the gun back into the holster. “Do you want an exchange for it? I’ll you why I care about the list of potential dangers, and you tell me how you developed your intuitive fighting style. That’s not something you can master by just thinking about it.”

It was impossible to just learn combat skills by reading about it. It was something that required a lot of accumulated actual combat and fighting experience.

But according to his own understanding of Tang Yibu, Tang Yibu was extremely afraid of death. He had caught a glimpse of his grumbling when he was shot in the thigh. This android was terribly cautious. Even if his combat abilities were enough for him to win, he didn’t seem to be the type who would actively participate in battle.

Tang Yibu stood still and struggled for a while, and said pitifully, “Well, I won’t ask. Let’s go back.”

Unsurprisingly, Tang Yibu covered his key origins tightly and refused to leave any cracks. He returned to the expressionless state that Ruan Xian was familiar with, but he didn’t hide the trace of loss in his eyes—it wasn’t a fake emotion. Ruan Xian could see it.

How interesting.

Ruan Xian stretched out his hand, brushed off the piece of flesh stuck to Tang Yibu’s shoulder, and patted him. ‘Maybe this was indeed an “effective emotional connection,’ he thought.

“Is the injury serious? If it’s not serious, it’s better to go back with it—”

Before Ruan Xian could finish, Yu Le’s car rushed over. The originally clean front of the car was covered with blood, staining most of the glass.

“Yo, still alive.” Yu Le still had squid feet in his mouth. His voice sounded muffled as he didn’t roll down the window. “What are you two doing? A few of them had managed to reach me.”

“I think as a veteran pirate in an armored off-road vehicle, you didn’t need the two of us to take care of a few stragglers.” Ruan Xian was neither humble nor overbearing.

“They used bombs, okay? Can that be compared to hitting them with a car? My door was almost blown up.” Yu Le bared his teeth. He turned on the headlights, which illuminated the pool of blood and corpses on the ground. “Forget it, come in. Since you two aren’t dead yet, it seems you’re quite capable… Get in the car, get in the car. Are you waiting for an expiration?”

Ruan Xian didn’t respond. He put a safety lock on the gun he collected from the corpse and threw it into the simple arms box in the car. The iron bead jumped around in the back seat, barking with appetite, as if it was particularly interested in the body of the metal gun.

“Mr. Yu, you deliberately detoured this way,” Ruan Xian said casually after the car started again.

“Yu Ge, it seems like more food has increased on your side?” Tang Yibu spoke at almost the same time.

“Oh, we’re going to encounter them sooner or later.” Yu Le glanced at Ruan Xian through the rearview mirror. “What’s that saying? Better to suffer now than long-term*. If you meet early, solve it early, and nip the danger in the bud—”

*(长痛不如短痛) Saying that refers to better to suffer short-term pain so that you won’t have to suffer long-term. (Just get it over with now rather than prolong the agony).

“You have five more dried eggs, two packs of vegetable chips, and three canned sardines. This is what I have found so far,” Tang Yibu insisted on staying on his topic.

“I thought you wanted to give us a nice face slapping, or just solve the problem with us as soon as possible.” Ruan Xian smiled and continued the conversation. “After all, the number of people on the opposite side was several times more than ours.”

“How can you say that, Xiao Ruan.” Yu Le also ignored Tang Yibu and increased his speed. “It’s better to fight now than later. Think about it. These people have blocked all the entrances that could be blocked, just waiting for us to throw ourselves into their net. The efficiency of each attack is relatively good… Okay, okay. I apologize. When we get to their base, I’ll distribute a 70-30 ratio for the weapons.”

“You also took my and Mr. Ruan’s drinks,” Tang Yibu persisted, and was unmoved by the topic. “When we get to their base, our food’s going to be a 0-100 ratio.”

“It seems you know where their base is.” Ruan Xian tried hard to stay on topic.

“Gwah!” The iron bead called out.

Yu Le immediately slammed on the brakes.

“The three of you are so noisy that laozi’s going to explode!” Yu Le took in a deep breath. There was a bit of a pirate aura in his breath. “Fuck, alright! Yes, I took some food and let you out so you could clear the way. Something wrong with that?”

Ruan Xian shook his head at the idea of making a steady profit without losing money. If he and Tang Yibu could come back alive, Yu Le would use them to solve his troubles and formally determine their combat abilities.

And if they died in this battle, as a veteran pirate, Ruan Xian believed that Yu Le had another way to sneak into the city—Then he would have a whole cart of supplies and wouldn’t need to worry about strangers in the back seat making any dangerous moves.

“I don’t intend to complain. I can understand what you mean. If you have information on the bandits, then this is business.” Ruan Xian raised his hand decisively and patted Tang Yibu’s mouth, causing the latter to make a sound of protest. “We really don’t need such a friendly relationship… but there’s no harm in temporarily cooperating before entering the Underground City.”

“Oh, is that right? Then let that kid keep watch tonight. I want to sleep.” The frivolous expression on Yu Le’s face disappeared, “Just understand, without subordinates, I can’t handle the two of you, but you also saw that snakes have their own ways, and so do rats. Your elder is chalk full of intelligence, so there’s no harm in giving them respect.”

Tang Yibu’s whining voice became louder.

“I also want to be full.” Yu Le glanced at Tang Yibu. “There’s still a week to go, so this can be regarded as intelligence expenses.”

A few hours later.

“He took our two bottles of soda.” Tang Yibu sat cross-legged on the roof of the car. His voice was full of grievances.

Ruan Xian silently handed Tang Yibu a can of iced soda and opened his own. “It’s a reasonable deal. At least we now know the location of the bandits.”

“As long as we get close, you can also find their location,” Tang Yibu said, dissatisfied. “In case you can’t use your abilities because of a lack of physical strength—”

“Just treat it as a human investment. It’s more worry-free.” Ruan Xian took a sip of soda. The icy carbonated liquid ran across his tongue.

“I don’t understand.”

“Yu Le is a tough one. He won’t like being treated that way by you. What he did today was a partial warning.” Ruan Xian raised his head and looked at the brilliant starry sky that was glued to the edge of the desert. “…Even if there is no practical value, give some respect, and the possibility of something going wrong in the future will be reduced by a lot.”

“But we never had any friendly behavior between us and him,” Tang Yibu muttered. “Since he is neither a friend nor a companion, why is he unhappy? This was a simple transaction from the beginning.”

“It’s not that simple. Reason is one thing, but mood is another.” Ruan Xian retracted his gaze into the distance. “In our relationship, we don’t have the need to be friendly to each other. From the beginning, it was a simple transaction… or even worse.”

Tang Yibu held the can and no longer spoke.

“If I stop communicating with you now, how will you react?”

“I will have some… negative emotions.” Tang Yibu thought carefully for a while. “But that’s because I like your voice.”

“But these have nothing to do with transactions, right?”

“You mean I hurt him.” Tang Yibu was shocked. “This is an interesting angle. I never thought about it. Can you…”

Ruan Xian yawned.

“…Let’s sleep for a while.” Tang Yibu grabbed the blanket and piled it beside him, patting his leg. “Tomorrow, we have to have someone watch Yu Le with full energy. It’s not safe in the car. I can help you block the wind.”

“Nn.”

“In exchange, you have to talk to me tomorrow…”

Ruan Xian didn’t hear the next words clearly, so he curled up and fell quickly asleep. Yu Le parked his car near the dead wall. The car was well hidden by the shadow of the boulder. Yu Le’s slight snoring came from inside.

Ruan Xian wrapped the quilt tightly and leaned unconsciously in the direction of Tang Yibu. Tang Yibu hummed softly. He thought about it for a long time, lowered his head, and gently rubbed Ruan Xian’s hair with his cheek.

“Good night, Mr. Ruan.” he said.

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 61: Sadness

Yu Le parked his car behind a granite stone that was about one person’s length.

Ruan Xian casually grabbed two ordinary handguns and jumped out of the car with Tang Yibu. The latter weighed the long gun in his hand and waved it like a stick.

“For a scientist who doesn’t have much actual combat experience, this may be a bit difficult.” They quietly walked around the rock, making sure that Yu Le couldn’t hear him before Tang Yibu spoke again. “Even if it is an S-type Prototype, it may not be able to adapt to multi-person close-range combat immediately—the opponents will not come up one by one but will attack in a disorderly manner.”

“Understood.” Ruan Xian nodded indifferently.

Tang Yibu looked at him for a while. “I will be responsible for the attack, but Yu Le is watching…”

“We don’t have clothes to change here. Even if your wound can be healed after being injured, the bloodstains and tears will remain. It’s best not to get hit.” Ruan Xian took over Tang Yibu’s sentence, still thinking about Guan Haiming’s words.

“Indeed, watch out for stray bullets.” Tang Yibu turned his head a little off the edge and glanced at the opposite side. “But we have a reconnaissance advantage. Are all our enemies in front of us?”

“Yes. They are discussing how much supplies would be in the car, how many people, and whether to kill them all. There’s no intention of attacking for the time being.”

“It’s still too late.” Tang Yibu flashed behind Ruan Xian. The cool air behind him became warm, and Ruan Xian’s body stiffened.

“Whether it’s attacking or defending, it’s actually similar to dancing.” Tang Yibu supported his arm with one hand from behind and slid his palm from his upper arm to his forehead through his clothes, guiding Ruan Xian to move his gun. “I have observed before that you have a lot of extra movements when attacking… You first think, formulate action strategies, and then command your body movements. Isn’t that right?”

Ruan Xian’s joints seemed to be rusty, and his movements were stiff and rigid. He answered the question with a rhetorical question. “Is there a problem?”

Tang Yibu seemed to notice his nervousness and moved a little lighter.

“If you don’t feel too much guilt, this is an advantage. You won’t hesitate at critical moments because of unnecessary pity or doubt. You just do it—just like this, intuitively. There’s a rhythm to any movement, so you need to grab it and pull the trigger. Too much thinking will disrupt this rhythm.”

Tang Yibu was a little taller than him, dressed in tight clothes. A steady stream of heat was radiating from behind him. Ruan Xian let out a long exhale and could only feel the corners of his mouth stiffen.

“An AI without any human habits is telling me to act according to ‘intuition’.” After a few attempts, he succeeded in showing a wry smile.

“The human brain is also an organic computer, so the difference isn’t that big.” Tang Yibu exerted a slight force in his hand and adjusted Ruan Xian’s posture with the gun. “Most people are aware of their own consciousness manipulation, but they don’t know why. According to my observations, the subconscious mind is the cause. Thinking and emotions are the inductive results of coordinated calculations, and behavior is the secondary result. Now you have to follow the guidance of the root cause and omit the intermediate steps, which is the most efficient.”

He paused. “In human terms, this approach is called following your intuition. You need to abandon your logical habits.”

Ruan Xian mumbled, noncommittal.

“It just so happened that we’re being attacked, so let me demonstrate.” Tang Yibu bent his eyes. “You don’t need to give me any auxiliary instructions this time. Just watch.”

There were four people in the first wave of attacks. They were wearing tattered and dirty armor, but they were also fully armed. They rushed straight in the direction of the car. Yu Le kept the car on with the intention of slamming on the gas at any moment.

This gang of robbers were experienced. One of them threw an EMP bomb at the off-road vehicle, attempting to freeze it.

Tang Yibu shot his gun.

He destroyed the bomb in a single shot, then he suddenly appeared alone in front of the four robbers. There was no communication, no intimidation. The experienced robbers directly mounted their firepower to meet the attack, and a hail of bullets rushed towards Tang Yibu.

The latter avoided gracefully, as if time had slowed. Tang Yibu moved naturally. Air columns from the bullets rubbed against the android, adding a little gunpowder to his clothes. This, however, didn’t stun the bandits. They began to concentrate all their firepower on where Tang Yibu was going to land. The parched land was hit with a cloud of dust, but bullets didn’t pass through Tang Yibu as they wished.

“Observe the subtle movements of the enemy.” Tang Yibu flashed behind one of the robbers, used the gun in his hand like it was a crowbar, and directly knocked one down. His voice was neither loud nor low, but Ruan Xian could hear it clearly. “Don’t think about their reactions. Don’t make detailed plans in our mind—watch, and then move.”

The remaining three bandits weren’t sad because their companion had fallen. They were frighteningly quiet as they attacked Tang Yibu nonstop, like hungry hyenas. They rushed at Tang Yibu at the same time. One of them tried to hug his legs tightly and tried to drag him to the ground while the other carefully aimed his gun, and the third clenched a sai tightly in his hand, stabbing at Tang Yibu, trying to aim for his heart.

“This is a siege situation.” Tang Yibu took advantage of him falling down to kick the shackler’s throat.

As a result, the android dropped his gun, turned around in a half circle, and grabbed the gunner that had lost his balance and used him as a meat shield against the third attacker with the sai. The stab went through the man’s chest and went deep into his lungs.

The strength of the injured suddenly decreased drastically, allowing Tang Yibu to break free. The third attacker showed a little anger and suddenly pulled out the sai from his companion’s chest and slashed at Tang Yibu again. The latter tilted his head slightly to dodge, grabbed the man’s wrist, and abruptly twisted it.

Following a brief scream, Tang Yibu turned half a circle again and slashed the enemy’s throat with a hand knife that almost looked invisible.

With commentary, the whole process took less than half a minute. Tang Yibu’s movements were like flowing water, or a beast that was highly skilled in predation—The whole process was smooth and beautiful, without any stagnation or redundancy. He seemed to have anticipated the opponent’s trajectory in advance. Rather than attacking, it looked as if the enemy was actively embracing death.

“Your scientist way of thinking is very typical. With too much information, it’s easy to overthink things.” Wiping the blood from his face casually, Tang Yibu stepped over a few lifeless bodies of the bandits and walked back to Ruan Xian. “It’s fine if you’re location is long-ranged, but if attacked at close range, you can easily suffer.”

Ruan Xian was in a trance, thinking what he saw was an illusion. It was like an experienced beast teaching its young to hunt… But the object that was hunted was humans.

He suddenly felt funny.

In the first half of his life, those who knew him were faintly afraid that he would become a vicious criminal, a serial killer, or an evil scientist intent on destroying the world, so Ruan Xian wrapped himself in cellophane and tried to look gentle and harmless.

Before he successfully deceived them, but those cautions were so heavy that it was as if no matter what happened, as long as someone died at his hands, his life would immediately collapse.

Such examples were not uncommon.

Even if it was because of the recklessness and arrogance of tourists, beasts that knew the taste of human flesh would be executed—even if it was the humans themselves who put them in cages. People needed to protect the visitors who came later. They weren’t sure if the beast would continue to love the taste; they only knew that it was theoretically bloodthirsty and people wouldn’t be able to resist its attack*.

*Clarity: For those confused, it’s saying that due to his psychological evaluation as a kid, Ruan Xian is categorized as highly psychotic and, thus, with this label, people will never treat him normally. Despite his best to act harmless and gentle, if anything were to happen that would cause human death related to him, they would immediately think it’s because of his psychotic nature. It’s compared to that of a wild animal. If a wild animal shows that it has the tendency to attack humans, it will be put down, even if humans were the ones that captured and caged it to put it on exhibition.

And now someone was teaching him how to protect himself by killing people.

“Is this okay?” Seeing another group of bandits rushing towards him, Ruan Xian asked lightly. “You have to observe humans, and this would make it easier for me to…”

Easier for me to leave you.

He wouldn’t die because of this injury. If it became more troublesome, they could also find other ways to fool Yu Le. If Tang Yibu wanted to control him fundamentally, he didn’t need to teach him how to resist.

The android should corrode him and trap him in a tower with nothing. He should hide his combat skills tightly, preferably make him not be able to do anything, then use the guise of ‘protection’ to control him.

“One earring is enough.” Tang Yibu raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if he saw through his thoughts. “Aren’t we partners? Giving you a collar isn’t already conducive to our cooperation. If I cut off your claws, how are you going to approve of me?”

“I may never approve of you.” Ruan Xian relaxed. As he spoke, columns of air shot out from Tang Yibu and killed three people who were rushing to them in front.

“Humans can still divorce when they get married.”

Tang Yibu curled his lips. He threw his long gun casually and nailed one of the robbers straight in the heart, then he took the sai from the robber’s corpse.

“There’s no permanent relationship in the world, and no cooperation without risk.”

A light grenade that was about to explode was thrown at the feet of the two of them. Tang Yibu instantly picked it up and threw it back. The next second, when it exploded, he flashed out from behind a boulder and lifted the sai and rushed over. Ruan Xian jumped onto the boulder immediately, emptied his thoughts, and fired several shots at the dust in the darkness.

The ground didn’t crack, and the sky didn’t collapse. His life was the same as before. Every second was still so ordinary.

[This is wrong.]

Countless voices echoed in his ears. Like his mother, like the doctors, like many people.

[You should be ashamed, you should be afraid. You have a better way to solve all this. You have this ability because you are much stronger than them. This is your responsibility.]

But he felt an unprecedented ease.

“Very good.” Tang Yibu stepped out of the smoke and dust. His bare skin and the sai were stained with blood. “I didn’t catch a few of them. Your intuition is good.”

“It seems that I’m more suitable to be a serial killer than a scientist.” Ruan Xian put the gun away, his tone undulating. “There is a lot of movement over there. They’re driving a car over. It’s a convertible. There’s—”

Tang Yibu stretched out his blood-stained hands and held Ruan Xian’s face. Ruan Xian stopped talking and frowned.

“You look sad.” Those pale golden eyes were softened by the night, and they even looked a little gentle. “Why? Because you killed some people?”

After a moment of silence, Ruan Xian replied, “Because I killed those people and didn’t feel bad about it.”

“I don’t know what’s in your memory,” Tang Yibu got closer, “But you know, humans also kill other humans. There are many reasons. Accidents, self-preservation, selfish desires, hatred, power, or religion.”

“I know.”

“Heroes, soldiers, or criminals. People who kill can have many identities, and I think purpose and action are where the value is.”

“But this is wrong,” Ruan Xian continued. “…I mean, this feeling is…”

“I don’t judge,” Tang Yibu replied. “At least I don’t think I did anything wrong, nor do I think I did the right thing. I just want to deal with the incoming enemy and live better. You don’t feel bad about this fight, and neither do I.”

The tips of their noses almost touched.

“This kind of feeling can easily bring a sense of threat to other individuals.” Ruan Xian’s voice became flat, “It is impossible to establish an effective emotional connection for survival—”

“Oh, you didn’t make me feel threatened. As for effective emotional connection…”

Tang Yibu shook the blood off the sai.

“You already have me.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Apparently, the weapon Tang Yibu stole is a “sensitive word”, so the author had to censor it, but the weapon is basically a three-pronged dagger type weapon. Sai or trident dagger, is probably what that robber was wielding, so I just went with sai. Chinese censorship is so weird.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 60: Skirmish

“Professor Guan.” Ruan Xian accepted the communication request as naturally as possible. Yu Le raised his eyebrows and paused the music.

Guan Haiming was still in a white research suit that was a bit too big but without the irritable expression when he first met him. The dark bags under his eyes had not faded a bit, but his complexion had improved a lot. He was now glancing at Ruan Xian’s environment through the light screen.

The Ding Zepeng they knew also had on a white research uniform as he adjusted the data on the communication machine next to Guan Haiming. Ruan Xian could only see his side face.

Xiao Ding turned his head sideways and smiled slightly nervously at him. After a few weeks of not seeing each other, the simplicity and innocence in the young man’s eyes disappeared without a trace, and he looked a lot calmer.

“Are you in a car? What about 231?”

Without seeing Tang Yibu on the light screen, Guan Haiming really raised this question. Lao Yu turned around and listened to their conversation openly.

“231 is very good, don’t worry. We got a little information in the Sea of Ruins, and we’re planning to go to the Underground United City now,” Ruan Xian raised the corner of his mouth and responded calmly. “It just so happens that someone in the Sea of Ruins is going to the Underground United City, so we hitched a ride. The driver is listening intently. Would you like to say hello?”

“Comrades of the rebel army?” Sure enough, Guan Haiming’s brows frowned quickly when he heard that there were outsiders on the other side.

“No, just an ordinary pirate.” Ruan Xian told the truth and glanced at Yu Le. “Seriously, we’ve been through a lot in the past few weeks…”

Deliberately slowing down his tone, Ruan Xian carefully observed Guan Haiming’s reaction. Seeing Guan Haiming’s expression on the other side of the light screen showing a little anxiety, he quickly hit the iron while it was hot.

“I have to keep the details of the mission secret. There have been a lot of movements in the Sea of Ruins recently, so I don’t know if the situation on your side has deteriorated. Speaking of this, do you want to see 231? But we have to prepare. We just escaped from the Sea of Ruins. Everything is a mess right now, and we’re still cleaning up…”

Sure enough, Guan Haiming finally couldn’t bear it any longer. “Mr. Ruan, time is limited. Let me make the long story short.”

“Sorry.” Ruan Xian smiled. “I finally met someone I knew, and I talked a bit too much.”

“I still have four minutes and fifty seconds on my side.” Guan Haiming cleared his throat. “The distance of the Underground United City… Well, I think it’ll work. If I find another opportunity, I will contact you again.”

“How did you do it?” Ruan Xian stopped procrastinating. He gave Tang Yibu a wink, and the latter opened his bulging backpack knowingly and began to look around, making it look like he was extremely busy.

“You gave me Major Ding’s armor cracking algorithm before you left, and I contacted him. This time I just want to explain this matter, so I’ll talk quickly.”

“An Order Supervisor willingly cooperated with you?” Ruan Xian remembered Major Ding. Although the other party had a lot of gaps, he wasn’t an easy bone to chew.

“It doesn’t count.” Guan Haiming smiled wearily. “Judging from the information I have obtained, the Order Supervisor of Petri Dish No. 1036 doesn’t need to be hidden and will be ‘refreshed’ every day. Fifteen minutes before the normal refresh, the black box in his body will be turned off, and the spider-shaped monitoring machine in which he’s located will also enter a dormant handover state. Next, the Mainbrain will destroy the body that has been ‘used’ for that day and replace it with a new one.”

“In these fifteen minutes, the Mainbrain has no record of his behavior, unless he maliciously destroys something.” Ruan Xian didn’t go in circles any longer. “But this means that if it’s refreshed the next day… No, Major Ding, who was copied again, won’t remember what happened in those fifteen minutes.”

“Yes, it’s hard. We always only have fifteen minutes to talk, and even if we successfully reach a consensus, he won’t remember the next day, but the fifteen minutes during this period of time at least let me get to know him better. On this point, Zepeng on our side has also helped a lot.”

A smile finally appeared on Guan Haiming’s pale face.

“If I can successfully convince Major Ding within fifteen minutes to manually set a time for the shielding system and destroy the operation records, I can get a few minutes to contact the outside world.”

“Just like this.”

“Yes, just like this.” Guan Haiming sighed and glanced at the time again. “Although I don’t know who gave you the information, the information about the Underground United City should be reliable. My teacher once mentioned that there is a big headquarters there, but he personally doesn’t like it very much.”

“He stayed there 20 months ago. Ruan Xian and Fan Linsong had a falling out. Have you heard of this?”

“No.” Guan Haiming’s tone revealed a bit of surprise. “My teacher and Fan Linsong have a deep friendship, and their relationship has always been pretty good.”

“In other words, you don’t know about the Order Supervisors raid after that?” Ruan Xian paused for a few seconds.

“No.” Guan Haiming frowned, and the familiar irritable aura returned to him. “I can’t figure out why my teacher and Professor Fan had a falling out. They had a lifelong friendship. Professor Fan watched my teacher grow up from childhood…”

The light screen suddenly went out.

“At zero sharp, it seems that the magic has disappeared.” Yu Le started the car again and continued to play music. “That’s Guan Haiming, right? I have heard about him a few times, but I didn’t expect you two to recognize Ruan Xian’s students. What’s the matter? You two said you’re trying to find the headquarters of the rebel army, but you’re actually looking for Ruan Xian.”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu finally stopped digging through his backpack. He stuffed the electronic paper that he dug out casually into Ruan Xian’s hand and actively took over the conversation. “We really didn’t tell Mr. Tu directly. It’s not like we can go up and say ‘please tell us the whereabouts of Ruan Xian’… I don’t think it would be a wise choice.”

“I see.” Yu Le took the bag of dried squid legs from the passenger seat and held it in his mouth like a cigarette. “At least in this way I can safely take you two to the ruins of the rebel army… Err, but how interesting. Xiao Tang, Guan Haiming doesn’t seem to care much about you. What is 231?”

“The code name of a certain thing. We didn’t come to find Ruan Xian empty-handed just to say hello.” Ruan Xian smoothly took over. “Yibu and Guan Haiming don’t have a good relationship, so it’s easier not to meet.”

The squid’s beard swayed up and down beside Lao Yu’s mouth. The former pirate leader glanced at them meaningfully through the rearview mirror and murmured something.

“Mr. Ruan.” Tang Yibu immediately got up from the seat; his voice soft. “Don’t talk about this kind of sore spot. I’m sleepy.”

“Then go to bed.” Ruan Xian picked up the electronic paper he got from the refuge and pretended like he was reading a book. The night outside the window was becoming darker. The iron bead had already fallen asleep on his knees, and it almost rolled to the ground.

“Are you not sleeping?” Tang Yibu’s voice became softer, even a bit coquettish.

‘Truly good at acting,´ Ruan Xian thought.

“…I’ll read the book for a bit.” In order to ensure their safety, Lao Yu turned off the light, so it was extremely dark. The electronic paper emitted a faint light in the dark that just allowed Ruan Xian to see the words clearly.

“Oh, okay.” Tang Yibu curled up his long legs, turned around, and put his head straight into Ruan Xian’s thigh.

The android cruelly pushed off the sleeping iron bead, causing it to slam onto the carpet. It clicked its mouth twice in protest.

The space was narrow. Ruan Xian didn’t try to hide it and just sighed. In the past two days in front of Yu Le, as his disguised lover, Tang Yibu didn’t make any rude acts of intimacy. At most, it was just a hug or rubbing his cheeks, like he was taming a large beast.

He lowered his gaze and faced the golden eyes. Tang Yibu’s slightly long black hair was scattered around his face, and the person was looking at him without blinking.

“What? Do you want to have a bedtime story?” Ruan Xian shook the electronic paper in his hand and grabbed the soft black hair. “From the start, Guan Haiming only gave me theoretical books.”

“You like my eyes and I like your voice. That’s a fair exchange of information.” Tang Yibu squinted his eyes comfortably and almost let out a soft grunt. “Just say something. Anything is fine.”

“Good night,” Ruan Xian said calmly, continuing to look at the electronic paper. Tang Yibu hummed in frustration, turned his head in the direction of Ruan Xian’s knees, and closed his eyes.

In order to monitor Yu Le during the past two days, Tang Yibu never really closed his eyes. After the iron bead rolled to the ground, it slept vigorously in the corner of the carpet. Even mechanical life couldn’t escape the need for sleep. Though Tang Yibu could last a few more days since he had human tissue in him, he would have a similar sense of fatigue.

Now that the environment had stabilized, the android was lying on his lap, soundly asleep. His exposed neck in front of him showed the pale blue of blood vessels that could be faintly seen under his fair skin, giving people the illusion of fragility.

…Very confusing

Ruan Xian gently stroked Tang Yibu’s soft hair for a while, trying not to move, focusing his gaze on the electronic paper in his hand. In fact, he had already read the things in it, so much so that he could recite them backwards, but he needed a prop so that he could think more naturally…

[They had a lifelong friendship. Professor Fan watched my teacher grow up from childhood…]

There was no need for Guan Haiming to lie about this matter.

If the other “Ruan Xian” and Fan Linsong got along happily, this was still within his acceptance range. Even if Professor Ruan claimed that he was happy in his childhood, he could treat it as a beautified speech, but this kind of detail didn’t need to be falsified at all.

Before entering the institute, his understanding of Fan Linsong was limited to his papers and achievements. They had never met, let alone Fan Linsong, who was watching him grow up. It was estimated that only the Citizen Risk Assessment Department would watch him in this way, but even for government agencies, people would work in shifts every few years.

Holding the electronic paper in one hand and Tang Yibu’s strands of black hair in the other, Ruan Xian’s expression became more serious.

What’s more, he had never had a good impression of Fan Linsong. His other “self” didn’t seem to be like him at all.

Time passed. Ruan Xian was still contemplating when Yu Le, in front of him, suddenly slammed on the brakes. The iron bead nestling in the corner slammed into the car wall violently, and Tang Yibu almost rolled off his seat. Amidst the screams of iron bead, the android propped up his body and rubbed his eyes.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Ruan Xian rubbed his sore leg and passed the second half of the sentence with his earring. [There are people nearby, more than a dozen.]

“I knew we didn’t have such good luck.” Yu Le snorted and picked up the gun in one hand. “Arm yourself, boys. I dare not use this car to run over the bastards in front of me.”

“What’s the matter?” Ruan Xian humbly asked.

“A bunch of bastards.” Yu Le grinned. His expression wasn’t like a smile but more like a threat. “They don’t have the guts to go to the Sea of Ruins to pan for gold, and they can’t stay in the Underground City, so they’re stuck out here doing robbery. Didn’t I tell you? If you want to go to the Underground City, this road is the best way.”

“The Mainbrain doesn’t care about this?” Tang Yibu muttered, with a confused drowsiness on his face.

“These bastards won’t last long. After all, there are no supplies, so they can only eat by stealing things. They’re all a bunch of nasty shits.”

It was obvious that Yu Le’s mood had become terrible.

“There won’t be any strong forces that cross the dead wall. It’s ordinary people who engage with ordinary people.”

“An ordinary person is walking here with an enhanced laser cannon.” Tang Yibu patted the car seriously. “Yu Ge, you’re about to lose your life.”

“Fuck them.” Yu Le slapped the steering wheel. “You two have both touched a gun before. I’m staying here to watch the car. Go!”

“…You’re not going?” Ruan Xian protested tactfully, even though he had already guessed the other party’s answer.

“I have to guard the car with my life and can also provide distraction.” Yu Le rolled his eyes. “I’m the only one who can drive this car. You want it to sit here and become a fixed target?”

“Okay.” Tang Yibu yawned and skillfully took a long gun from the back seat. “I want to listen to ten Carol Young songs later.”

“Deal.” Yu Le flicked the door impatiently.

Tang Yibu tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“I like the night, Mr. Ruan.”

Before getting out of the car, Tang Yibu approached Ruan Xian’s right ear and whispered softly, “…Since only humans can’t see at night. Let’s go.”

---

The author has something to say:

Tang: The real get up and go.

Ruan: (Touches head)

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 59: Dangerous Call

Yu Le smoked two cigarettes in the direction of the Sea of Ruins, then closed the window and officially started the car. He adjusted the interior rearview mirror, glanced at the two young people sitting in the back seat, and snorted.

“Thanks to the two of you, I have driving fatigue.” He held the steering wheel with his left hand and used his right hand to point his middle finger at Tang Yibu. “I’ll be bumping into things later…”

“Mr. Tu said that if something happens to this car, he will kill you personally.” Tang Yibu showed that bright and invulnerable smile again and emphasized the word “personally”.

Yu Le cursed in a low voice.

The engine of the heavy armored off-roader hummed lowly, and several operation light screens appeared in Yu Le’s hands. For the captain of the main ship of the Walking Stones, this task was just a trivial matter—Yu Le didn’t even look at it. He clicked on a few screens casually, and the car took a sharp turn and drove away from the Sea of Ruins.

Ruan Xian leaned against the window. The desolate scenery outside the window was dissolved by the night and turned into a paste. They quickly regressed, and the withered vegetation was much the same as the sand and gravel, like a cheap loop cutscene.

After a stuffy day in the ruins of the dilapidated ship, Tang Yibu was much more excited than he was. The android hummed the upside-down version of “Step by Step” again, tore off a piece of soft cloth from the luggage rack, and rubbed the iron bead that was trying to eat the decoration on the back of the chair.

“It would be nice if you could take a bath here,” Tang Yibu commented enthusiastically. He threw the iron bead that had been wiped down to Ruan Xian, and then stuffed all the cherry soda in his bag into the freezer. “I have always wanted to go to Underground United City, and I want to leave with a better impression of it.”

Ruan Xian took the iron bead. The little thing rolled half a circle on his thigh and began to bite the metal button on his sleeve. Ruan Xian tapped the thick shell twice. “You seem to be very interested in everything.”

With Yu Le, they could no longer communicate without scruples. Tang Yibu, at the very least, would no longer speak in his peculiar manner. Ruan Xian stared at Tang Yibu, who was desperately wiping his face with a towel, and slowed down his breathing.

Before arriving at the Underground United City, he must continue to pretend to be in a relationship with the android. It was best to stay calm. If something were to happen, he would kiss or have to kiss him. It was estimated that the healing blood gun wouldn’t be useful in the city.

“Because it’s fresh.” Tang Yibu took some water from the water maker and rubbed the stubborn blood stains on his face. “Each petri dish has its own set of ecology, which makes for a very good adventure.”

When he said this, Tang Yibu wasn’t expressionless. Except for the way he deliberately showed this to Yu Le, his micro-expression became clearer. This weird android really liked this journey. It was as if they were just planning to travel abroad rather than engage in dangerous actions under the nose of the Mainbrain.

“Oh.” Ruan Xian looked out the window and decided to test it from another angle. “I thought you wouldn’t bring the iron bead. After all, it’s useless to you.”

“It wants to be friends with us!” Tang Yibu had “how can you say that” written all over his face, sounding a little shocked. “It’s different from Yu Le. The recipe basically doesn’t overlap with ours. Since there’s no conflict of interest, as the saying goes, good company on the road is the shortest cut*.”

*(多个朋友多条路) Proverb that means traveling alone can seem much longer than when you do it in pleasant company.

Ruan Xian began to have a headache. Yu Le, in the driver’s seat, gave a loud huff. “At least Yu Le, whose recipe seems to overlap with yours, can drive. Apart from rattling, can this thing even fart? Not everywhere would have a dangerous thing like the Annihilation Point.”

The iron bead screeched, jumped up and slammed into the bulletproof glass, causing it to crack.

Yu Le: “……”

“Mr. Yu, according to Tu Rui’s love for this car, I think the damage just now is worth a punch.” Tang Yibu touched the shell of the iron bead approvingly. The latter made a grunting sound, and the three eyes in the gap stared at Yu Le tightly.

“Don’t encourage it.” Ruan Xian rubbed his temples. “It’s not good for anyone if the glass breaks. Mr. Yu is already reaching for his gun.”

The iron bead made a series of angry rattling noises.

“I don’t think it likes us coming and going every day.” Tang Yibu leaned over and touched the iron bead lying on Ruan Xian’s thigh. “We have to give it a name.”

“I think ‘asshole’ is good,” Yu Le muttered, causing the iron bead to smack into the glass again, adding a brand-new crack into the bulletproof glass.

“Do you have any ideas, Mr. Ruan?” Tang Yibu ignored Yu Le and blinked at Ruan Xian. “After all, people… Ahem, everyone likes to name things.”

“I have no thoughts. I haven’t raised anything before.” Ruan Xian turned his head and looked out the window again.

After thinking about it carefully, he didn’t seem to have much of his own. Of course, he had money and assets that were worth more than what ordinary people could ever save in their lives, but he didn’t have the time or chance to spend it—

Although the rooms of the institute were arranged according to his wishes, they were specially disinfected by the people who come and go every day. After the age of twenty-five, his condition deteriorated further, and he basically wouldn’t step out of the building of the institute. His body slowly and irrevocably weakened, and the three meals a day gradually decreased, and in the end, only specially treated fluid food was left or he simply was infused with medicine to maintain his necessary nutrition.

The assets in his account were increasing rapidly, but his life was getting paler.

Later, NUL-00 was basically his only remaining subject of conversation. As the top figure in the institute, because of his appalling appearance and bad health, no one dared to speak loudly in front of him, let alone communicate bluntly.

And he didn’t even name NUL-00. It was just a system number of the project. If he could do it all over again, maybe he would give it a special name. He never even asked what it thought about it…

“Oh…” Tang Yibu sighed slightly, pulling him out of his memories. “In other words, it’s just you and me, iron bead. Now, I’ll come up with a name. If you like it, rattle three times. If you don’t like it, rattle once.”

Ruan Xian turned his head. Tang Yibu picked up the iron bead with both hands, raised it in front of him, and looked at its three little eyes.

“Tanghulu.”

“Gwah.”

“Tangyuan.”

“Gwah.”

“Profiterole.”

“Gwah…”

“Sesame Ball.”

“Gwah!”

“It’s starting to tremble.” Ruan Xian couldn’t watch it anymore, so he kindly prompted. “You sound like you really want to eat it.”

“But it’s spherical,” Tang Yibu said solemnly, trying to look at the iron bead. “Those names sound much better than iron bead.”

“You mean ‘much more delicious’… Forget it. Let me think about it too.” Ruan Xian pinched the center of his brows, then tapped the iron bead with his knuckle. “π*, how about this name? At least it’s a little bit related to a sphere.”

*Spelled Pi but pronounced like pie, it’s a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle circumference to its diameter, approximately 3.14… It’s an infinite number. || Technically, a circle and a sphere are different, but nevertheless related.

“Gwah, gwah, gwah!” the iron bead hurriedly affirmed.

“Then π it is.” Ruan Xian shrugged. “It likes the name.”

“Strictly speaking, this pronunciation is also a kind of food.” Tang Yibu didn’t object. “You just added to the package.”

“Let me interrupt.” Yu Le turned his head solemnly and interrupted the conversation. “Did you two just graduate from kindergarten?”

The iron bead that just got its name smacked into the bulletproof glass wall for the third time. Yu Le swallowed the freshly baked rice-shaped crackers he was eating before continuing, “When I didn’t say… Forget it, let’s talk about something serious. How old are you two?”

“More than 28.” Ruan Xian spoke straightforwardly. In a sense, this was indeed true. After smacking into the glass, the iron bead crawled back into Ruan Xian’s thigh and laid down angrily.

“25 years old.” Tang Yibu lied seriously.

“It’s nice to be young that you can make mistakes in front of your target.” Yu Le played with his tongue for a while. “Old people like me are envious. Laozi’s 36. I’ll be called Yu Ge from now on. You hear me?”

“At this rate, we will be able to reach the border of the Underground City in about four days. Coupled with the time to search for the remnants of the rebel army, it will take half a month to complete the plan. Does your “from now on” refer to this time period?” Tang Yibu spoke with bad intentions as he stared at the rice cracker.

“Fuck you and your four days. I’m going to sleep!”

“I’ll drive for you if you’ll authorize me—”

“Dream on!” Yu Le snapped, then flicked the floating music icon skillfully. Bach’s music floated out and Yu Le’s face became painfully visible to the naked eye. “Damn Tu Rui…”

He operated his metal wristband with one hand for a while, and less than ten seconds later, the Bach music in the car turned into an explicit love song as moans rang out. Lao Yu let out a long sigh and shook his head to the beat.

“Is there a Carol Young song?” Tang Yibu began to request.

Yu Le glared at him and mumbled vaguely.

“Is there a Carol Young song, Yu Ge?” Tang Yibu knew well when to advance and when to retreat.

“When this album is finished, I’ll play one for you. Kid your taste is quite popular,” Yu Le said with satisfaction. “Driving in the middle of the night is also boring. Accompany me for a while, and I will play you five songs.”

Tang Yibu nodded quickly. Ruan Xian tore open a bag of beef jerky and had no intention of joining the conversation. Unfortunately, Yu Le didn’t let him off easily—he didn’t know if it was because of curiosity or suspicion that the former captain of the Walking Stones picked a rather deadly topic.

“How did you two meet?” From this angle, they could only see the back of Yu Le’s head and the sharp eyes in the rearview mirror. “It’s not just me. You two are excellent quality. Most of the people who can survive these days are crooked melons and cracked dates*. Occasionally, there are a few beauties who want stability, so they pair with those crooked melons and cracked dates. Not to mention the fact that homosexuals are even rarer, and that both sides have top appearance. Did you meet before the end of the world? Or…?”

*(歪瓜裂枣) Idiom referring to something that’s ugly.

Ruan Xian became alert instantly. Not to mention that he still didn’t know much about the world, due to his physical factors, his love experience was completely zero. Not only that, Yu Le was an experienced human. He was afraid he would expose his horse’s feet* with just a few sentences.

*(露马脚) Metaphor referring to giving oneself away/exposing the hidden truths.

He stopped chewing, looked at Tang Yibu, and made his voice sound lazy. “You tell him, Yibu.”

“After the end of the world.” Tang Yibu accepted the topic very naturally. His eyes slightly bent because of a smile. “It was just such a coincidence. Didn’t I tell you that I came out of Petri Dish No. 1036?”

“Uh-huh, I heard Tu Rui mention this.”

“At that time, I was looking for some kind of valuable resource outside, but I met Mr. Ruan, who had just crawled out of a dormant warehouse. At that time, he was still recovering from hibernation, and he couldn’t even stand. I took him back to the base and became acquainted with him.”

“Wow, the hero saves a beauty.”

Ruan Xian’s face was a little stiff. Tang Yibu’s words were half-true and half-false, but it was easy for him to follow.

“In short, we develop a relationship, and our personalities are quite compatible. After going through so many scruples, things just happened.” Tang Yibu touched the back of Ruan Xian’s head. “That’s all.”

“How did you pass the time?” Yu Le persisted. “Xiao Ruan, you can continue. How the hell did you two get along? You don’t seem to be the type who’s willing to make promises, so why do you like this annoying kid? If you want to dump him one day, I can also consider a man…”

“I’m starting to find him annoying.” Ruan Xian swallowed the beef jerky in his mouth and spoke calmly. “I was terribly weak at the time, and the first thing he did was kiss me.”

Since Tang Yibu threw this deck of cards over, he could catch it.

“That’s because of your body… You needed artificial respiration!” Tang Yibu cried aggrieved, though he wondered if the grievance was actually fake.

“That doesn’t prevent me from finding you annoying. In addition, not many men like to be held in the arms of another man.”

“Hey, that’s too much. It’s not like I can drag or carry—”

Ruan Xian smiled. The content and reaction of this conversation were extremely smooth, and no one could pick out anything suspicious.

“It’s true that we met like that. It wasn’t very pleasant.” Ruan Xian spread his hands at Yu Le. “As for why I like him? Later, I found out that he’s an unexpectedly simple person. Once, when an attack was about to happen, this fool dragged me to dance in the ruins. I know he didn’t think too much about it, but that… felt good.”

“Oh, seems like it’s mutual, Xiao Tang.” Yu Le whistled.

“Also, I like his eyes. That’s all.” Ruan Xian threw another piece of jerky into his mouth and stuffed the plastic bag to π on his knee.

“Do you like my eyes?” Tang Yibu pressed his face closer. “You never mentioned it to me—”

“Don’t be too proud.” Ruan Xian pushed the android’s face away. “I confessed and he accepted it. I also have no plans to change boyfriends for the time being. Is there anything else you want to ask? I’m just telling you upfront, if you ask any more, there’s only adult paid content left.”

“Oh, what a pity.” Yu Le accelerated his driving speed.

While Ruan Xian lay back in his chair, Tang Yibu leaned his head over again and quickly rubbed his cheek.

“Do you really like my eyes?” The android continued with interest.

“Shut up.”

“Then I’ll keep watching you more,” Tang Yibu replied happily. “Besides, I won’t get tired of it.”

Ruan Xian stopped breathing for a moment, then he smiled at Tang Yibu with a perfect lover’s smile and continued to eat the jerky in the bag.

Lao Yu rolled his eyes. He pulled up a song list for a while and put on Carol Young’s “Farewell Without Saying Goodbye”. He slammed on the steering wheel. The time was approaching midnight.

“Look, that’s the dead wall of Petri Dish No. 1036 over there.”

He nodded to the right side of the car with his unshaven chin. The dark, dead wall was almost swallowed up by the night.

“A few kilometers further, this wall is regarded as the dead wall of the Underground City. There are marshes and mountains separating it from the petri dish. To get to the Underground City, the Sea of Ruins is the safest way. Otherwise, you have to choose the mountains, sea routes, or No. 1489…”

Before he finished speaking, there was a beep from Ruan Xian’s electronic wristband.

“Whoa, is there still a signal here? This is new.” As soon as Lao Yu stepped on the brakes, the vehicle slowly stopped in the wilderness. “Pick it up?”

Ruan Xian scanned the name on the light screen, turned around, and excluded Tang Yibu from the scanning range of the light screen.

His back was sweating slightly.

Guan Haiming’s name jumped on the light screen, but he obviously shouldn’t have the ability to send signals outside the dead wall. They just got away with it under Yu Le’s noses, and another test appeared…

In Guan Haiming’s mind, Tang Yibu wasn’t his sweet boyfriend, but a STR-Y type 307a231 with almost no sense of autonomy.

Things were about to get troublesome.

---

The author has something to say：

Tang: You like my eyes!

Tang: (Stares hard)

Ruan: ……_(:з”∠)_

——

The iron bead finally has a name. Congratulations! XD

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 58: Departure

The night temperature in the wasteland wasn’t high.

The hull, half-buried in the sand, barely blocked the wind. Tang Yibu dragged the cushions buried in the pit into the ship, piled up the wreckage of the furniture lying to the side of the ship, and made a simple bed that looked a bit like a bird’s nest.

He lay in first and rolled over in the middle of the cushion to make sure it was secure. Then the android placed the bulging bag full of food on the side away from Yu Le and stretched out his slender arms.

“Sleep for a bit, Mr. Ruan.” He patted his side skillfully. “It’s important to accumulate physical strength.”

“I also want to sleep for a while.” Yu Le’s tone was firm.

“Someone has to keep night watch, Captain Yu.” Tang Yibu patted the bed again. “And I think your adrenaline… No, after almost dying, you have a very high probability of insomnia.”

“Some people sleep with their sweethearts, and some people keep a corpse under their ass as they keep night watch. That’s fair.” Yu Le tore open the bag of dried fish and put some in his mouth. “Guess what? I’m starting to miss Tu Rui.”

Ruan Xian didn’t participate in this conversation. The sense of relaxation from achieving his goal swept through his spirit. He climbed onto the cushion, but instead of lying down beside Tang Yibu, he turned his back and curled up on the edge of the cushion, supporting himself.

He didn’t like his hazy thoughts.

Once he knew the principle of things, those romantic imaginations would no longer have room to survive. Ruan Xian knew the source of his vague affection. Tang Yibu was strong enough, and his gestures were filled with subtle inhumanity. Right now, though he had dropped his disguise in front of Yu Le, Ruan Xian could still see the familiar indifference in those golden eyes.

It wasn’t the suspension bridge effect. It wasn’t the attraction to appearance. He just gradually cleared the fog and saw the sense of security that he longed for for years and the possibility that his life hadn’t existed from the beginning.

Something brilliant and free.

Just like a beast in a cage that had been kept for many years, seeing its wild kind, longing, envy, and craving were mixed with some emotions that he didn’t understand, which made his throat bitter, and he instinctively wanted to get closer.

But no.

Beautiful things are often toxic, and he must not let himself indulge in them. Tang Yibu was still the unknown and dangerous Tang Yibu, and this had never changed.

The night wind was whizzing in from the crack half a meter away. Ruan Xian tightened his body, trying to reduce heat loss. The cold iron bead was leaning against his ankles, snoring comfortably. The cool touch of metal made him shiver.

This time, two arms attacked from behind him. Considering that Yu Le might be watching, Ruan Xian forcibly suppressed his aggressive act of resistance. Tang Yibu effortlessly pulled the other party into his arms, holding him in a possessive posture and making a satisfied grunt from his throat.

If he were to replace himself with a large can of sugar water, most likely Tang Yibu’s behavior wouldn’t change much, Ruan Xian thought. This idea so successfully entertained him that it made him laugh softly.

He could feel Tang Yibu pressing the tip of his nose against the top of his hair, sniffing lightly and then sneezing a little. He listened to the other party’s breathing. It was steady and strong, but those long legs moved restlessly under the thin cloth trying to keep out the cold. Tang Yibu was pretending to be asleep, probably so he could better test Yu Le.

Come to think of it, he should probably do it too.

Ruan Xian rolled over and laid down face-to-face with the android. Even at this distance, he still couldn’t pick out anything wrong with Tang Yibu’s face. It could be seen that when the android perfected his body as an “energy supply device” for himself, he carefully considered the aesthetics of humans.

How cunning.

Those bright golden eyes were tightly closed, their eyelashes were long, and they trembled slightly. Ruan Xian couldn’t help but quietly stretch out his hand and approach Tang Yibu’s face, feeling the warm breath full of vitality.

Seeing Ruan Xian being dragged away, the iron bead stretched out its four thin legs from the holes in its shell, then squeezed into the gap between the two entangled legs and began to snore again.

A mechanical life, a strange species that had flourished in the past ten years.

The desire to find the other “Ruan Xian” as soon as possible was becoming stronger, but Ruan Xian didn’t know what kind of result he wanted. If he wanted to choose one among things like “ontology”, “clones”, and “android” belonging to mechanical life…

Click.

Yu Le was really not an honest man. Seeing that the two people on the cushion didn’t move much, the captain of the Walking Stones stood up quietly, walked around Tang Yibu lightly, and stretched out his hands to the backpack full of food.

Tang Yibu turned over and grabbed it, and instantly pinned Yu Le, who was much taller than him, to the ground. The latter was still holding a half-piece of Snickers in his hand as he kept swearing.

“I’m fucking starving to death! That dried fish is not enough to feed a cat.” Yu Le, whose face was slapped into the mud, tilted his head and spat out a few mouthfuls of dirt. “Damn, when Tu Rui comes tomorrow, this will be settled!”

Ruan Xian turned over again, turning his back to the two of them, and smoothed the smile at the corner of his mouth with his hand.

The next day, Yu Le’s complaint didn’t go well. When he first saw Tu Rui wearing bandages, it was like he was coming to greet the pirates’ ancestors of Elysium for eighteen generations.

“Two riots. One happened when you left yesterday and another one when we were doing a ship burial for you. Dozens of laborers with a low degree of addiction were persuaded by us to go to the Walking Stones, while the rest were still unwilling to submit. That kid named Feng Jiang took advantage of us when we went to the Annihilation Point to hold your ship’s burial and detached the main ship of Elysium from our main ship.”

Tu Rui shook his bandaged arm, indicating that he was fine. In order not to attract the attention of the Mainbrain, he picked a late night, disguised himself, and came here alone. To avoid the scans, he put a lot of meat from the meat incubator on his body and dressed himself up as a fat man who smelled extremely fishy.

“It’s my fault. We moved most of the supplies, and I thought no one would do anything with a broken ship that needs urgent maintenance…”

“You’re just not greedy enough.” Yu Le beat his chest and paused. “What happened to the broken ship? It’s very big. Did you move supplies? Didn’t you cleanly take all the daily necessities? My captain Tu, if I had really died yesterday, what would happen to the Walking Stones…”

“There were preventive measures, but they also had experts on their side. Still…” Tu Rui smiling face twitched. “Oh, don’t you know that you can’t easily die?”

“Didn’t I have an awesome death? You found two fucking little monsters that threw laozi into the mud like a fish. Laozi’s back is still hurting right now.”

“Do you still have the face to complain?” Tu Rui looked like he wanted to take out a knife.

“…Forget it, forget it. Don’t mention it. Can you handle the deserters from Elysium?” Yu Le snickered and changed the subject.

“I can handle it.” Tu Rui sighed fiercely, glancing at Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu not far away. He poked at the raw meat stuck to his body in disgust. “This outfit can avoid the primary scan at most. I have to go back as soon as possible. To make a long story short, Lao Yu, these two boys want to find the headquarters of the rebel army and add a blockage to the Mainbrain. I made a little deal with them…”

“Let them save me, and then I will take them to the ruins of the previous rebel headquarters?” Yu Le curled his lips. “I don’t know about you… Come on, isn’t it in the Underground United City?”

Tu Rui finally showed a relaxed expression. “Yeah, your mind is not so annoying.”

“I understand. After all, these two little monsters are likely to abandon me halfway. They don’t even feed me.” Yu Le finally remembered what he was going to complain about, “You have to give me some weapons and food. Just for me, with my name written on them—”

“Fuck off.” Tu Rui refused coldly. “Weapons are indispensable, and you can’t even protect your own food. Don’t bother going to the Underground United City. It’s faster if you just commit suicide directly.”

After speaking, he shook his head and snapped his fingers.

Another modified off-road vehicle drilled out of the optical camouflage cloth and drove automatically in front of the four people. The dark gray door slowly opened and Yu Le took a deep breath.

Ruan Xian knew a little about the vehicle and could see that the prototype of the vehicle in front of him was an armored off-road vehicle. Tu Rui removed all enjoyment arrangements, including wine cabinets and soft blankets, and only kept the freezer that could keep medicines and necessities, and added a simple water maker, a generator, and special weapons cabinets. Including the driver and co-pilot, there were three rows of seats in the car, which could seat at least six people.

“There are other arrangements in it. You can take a look.” Tu Rui shrugged. “Lao Yu, I know that your car is very important to you, but to be honest, your remodeling skills aren’t very good. Take a look at this—This is the result of all the top mechanics I found in the Walking Stones when I asked them to modify my car. All my savings over the years have been fucking drained! Listen, if you mess up this car, even if you come back, I’ll kill you myself.”

Yu Le just slapped the sturdy metal outer wall of the vehicle with his palm as he whistled.

“Oh my god.” It took a long time before he spat out trembling words. “How the hell did you save this much in the past few years… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s awesome!” Seeing Tu Rui started cracking his fingers, Yu Le immediately changed his tone.

“I have prepared all the basic supplies that can be used, but I haven’t been in contact with Underground City for a few years, so I don’t know what it’s like there now. When you get to the city, you have to adapt and mix in on your own.” Tu Rui kicked Yu Le’s ass and rolled his eyes.

Tang Yibu was the first to get into the car and touched it happily. He pounded the console for a while and stretched out his head suspiciously. “The power supply system of the console is locked.”

“Only Yu Le’s and my palmprint can unlock it.” Tu Rui smiled. “This car can only be driven by Yu Le.”

Are you serious? Ruan Xian wiped his face. As soon as he said this, even if Tang Yibu had the ability to crack the system firewall of this car, in order to retain his strength, this car had to be driven by Yu Le or this old man himself.

It seemed that Tu Rui’s approach of “delivering the remaining information” was very wise. Tang Yibu secretly glanced at Yu Le, with “abandon his ass” written on his left cheek and “steal it” written on his right.

“Thank you.” Ruan Xian shook hands with Tu Rui casually. Tang Yibu reluctantly touched the console twice and jumped out of the car.

Yu Le looked like he had won a jackpot. He happily sat in the driver’s seat, touched a gun from the glove compartment, and saw a pile of food on the co-pilot’s seat. Then he raised the bulletproof glass wall between the driver’s seat and the back seat.

“Thanks, brother.” He opened the car window and leaned against the window with one arm. “Then I’ll go to the Underground United City for two laps and come back in half a year?”

“It’s only been more than a year and you’re already on the list. I’m not so unlucky as you. Be safe and take at least a year.” Tu Rui gestured. “Be careful on the road and take good care of my car.”

“I remember the signal from the driver’s seat! Maybe there is something new in the Underground United City. Wait for me to contact you…”

Tu Rui nodded in relief.

“…I will send you the photo of the girl I know.” Yu Le paused, and finally finished the second half of the sentence.

The deputy captain of the Walking Stones—or rather the new captain—began to exude a murderous aura again.

“Let’s go.” Seeing that the dialogue between the two sides had come to an end, Ruan Xian patted Tang Yibu, who was standing beside him. “Before it’s dawn, we should leave the area around the Sea of Ruins.”

“Nn.” Tu Rui simply agreed.

There was no reluctant farewell. Tu Rui put away the optical camouflage cloth, started the small hoverbike covered under it, and the disguised bloated body gradually disappeared into the night.

Yu Le leaned against the window, took an unlit cigarette, and watched his friend leave. After Tu Rui’s figure disappeared, he looked in that direction for a while.

“Wait.” As soon as Ruan Xian was about to get into the car, Tang Yibu grabbed his coat.

Tang Yibu chose an angle that Yu Le couldn’t see and put the iron bead in his arms down on the ground. Just like the first time they met, Tang Yibu put his hand on the round shell of the iron bead, and the outline of his palm lit up with a circle of blue light.

[What are you doing?] After glancing at Yu Le, who was still in the driver’s seat in a daze, Ruan Xian asked directly using the earring.

“Changing its program.” Tang Yibu mouthed his words without making a sound. “Do you remember? I tricked it and made it think that I’m its kind. Now I’m doing again.”

[……]

“I told it that we are leaving here soon. Now it can choose by itself, return to its own kind, or…”

The iron bead lay dumbfounded on the ground. It turned to Tang Yibu for a while, then to Ruan Xian, with a puzzled rattling in its mouth. Ten seconds later, it catapulted and returned firmly to Tang Yibu’s head.

“It seems that it wants to go together with us.” This time, Ruan Xian spoke out without hesitation.

“I don’t understand.” Tang Yibu held the iron bead in both hands and removed it from his head. “It was originally caught in the Sea of Ruins, and there must be many of its kind in the wasteland.”

“…Living with the same kind may not necessarily be a good thing.”

Ruan Xian turned his back and got into the car to make sure Tang Yibu couldn’t see his expression.

“It just wants to go with you. Sometimes this kind of thing doesn’t need a reason.”

---

The author has something to say:

Set off to a new area—!

Yu Le: Hehe, I don’t believe laozi can’t cure these two young people.

Yu Le: ……

Yu Le: They can’t be cured. _(:з”∠)_

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 57: Body Heat

Yu Le gulped in the net.

From here, he could see the Sea of Ruins in the distance, and the distance was indeed within the fishing range of the net. However, the strange thing was that he couldn’t figure out how this young man, surnamed Ruan, managed to get himself out.

With the momentum and cushion of the net casting tool, it was feasible to throw a set of nets over people. While the calculation time was barely feasible, the problem lies in other factors…

Let’s not talk about how the other party was able to lock onto him from such a long distance. If his car door wasn’t knocked open by a stone, the net would fix itself around the car and pull him together with the car. Even if the smoke from the bombs covered the view, the Order Supervisors were close at hand and would surely find him. The route to the impact of the aircraft from him was also temporarily planned, and it was impossible even for someone as smart as Tu Rui to send the bombs to the designated place… This was still under the premise that Tu Rui even knew what he was planning.

In other words, this newcomer and the forces behind him—no matter what force it was—determined his intentions in just ten minutes, and threw equipment and manpower to this location and detonated the explosion at the right time and place. Along with that, they made sure that his car flew into the range where the net could catch him.

Everything just sounded like one big joke.

Yu Le irritably broke free from the big net stuck to his body and looked around vigilantly, but he didn’t find the support troops he had imagined. There was only Ruan Lijie and the screaming iron bead in front of him. Tang Yibu, who was usually stuck to him, wasn’t there.

“Where’s the kid surnamed Tang?”

“He has to ensure the Order Supervisors confirms that you’re dead and throw the body of an adult male into the car. Fortunately, there are quite a few on Elysium. The explosion caused by the shuttle agent will completely destroy human tissue, so don’t worry.” Ruan Xian opened the net of the mouth and Yu Le awkwardly crawled out.

The captain of the Walking Stones still carried fragments of the porn magazine on his body. He still subconsciously hugged the bottle of wine that hadn’t break in his arms.

“How many people are behind you? Where did you get this information from?” Yu Le obviously didn’t have much joy despite being alive. He immediately lowered his face and stared at Ruan Xian’s eyes. “What are you planning on by saving me? There’s a bunch of useless ordinary people in the Walking Stones, including me.”

“There’s only the two of us. As for the information… Tu Rui knows that there are modified off-road vehicles in the warehouse on the top of the ship, and you don’t seem to be the type who would escape in embarrassment. In addition to taking the car to stick it to the Order Supervisors, you could also rush directly to the Annihilation Point to commit suicide. But when you started the car and raised the front of it, there was only one possibility left.”

Ruan Xian packed up the net and dragged Yu Le into the wreckage of a ship from Elysium that was torn to pieces by Tang Yibu.

“As for our purpose, someone will help me explain it.”

“Two loopholes.” Yu Le’s face was still tense. He narrowed his eyes at Ruan Xian, who was deliberately staying away from the corpse, and sat down next to the honeycomb corpse nonchalantly. “Unlike the Order Supervisors, we can’t scan the Sea of Ruins to track specific people. You don’t know that I would enter the warehouse, and it’s impossible for Tang Yibu to quickly arrange bombs in the right place to blow up the car.”

Ruan Xian twitched the corners of his mouth.

Although he could fully use the ability of the S-type Prototype to detect everything, he still had to pretend enough on the surface to not reveal this. Yu Le was very shrewd, so they weren’t stupid enough to expose all their abilities from the very beginning.

“That’s why Tu Rui will call you. Without a powerful scanning system like the Mainbrain, a simple call could locate your position. Tang Yibu, on the other hand… Considering that we won’t be in contact with you again, you don’t need to know the status of our equipment.”

“Equipment?” Yu Le hummed, noncommittal.

“You don’t have to thank us. I understand.” Ruan Xian hugged the iron bead that was still yelping at Yu Le in his arms and petted the shell to appease it. “I also have no obligation to explain my lover’s background.”

Yu Le reluctantly smiled. He stretched out his hand and rubbed the dirt next to the corpse, and his whole being fell silent. Ruan Xian had no intention of extending the conversation. He was enjoying the rare peace comfortably.

Just when the air began to thicken because of the endless silence, there was another noise not far away. Yu Le stood up cautiously while Ruan Xian just sighed—The android who would mess everything up had just arrived.

“The cushion is leaking a bit.” Tang Yibu’s entire body was smeared with smoke, and his hands were covered with blood. He squeezed into the wreckage and sat down beside Ruan Xian without hesitation, instantly dirtying Ruan Xian’s white coat.

The vigilance in Yu Le’s eyes increased a bit.

“Hurt your hand?” Ruan Xian glanced at Tang Yibu’s blood-stained hands.

“If I said yes, would you kiss me?”

The vigilance in Yu Le’s eyes changed a bit.

“…No,” Ruan Xian responded dryly.

“Okay, this is not my blood. It was just stained when I was moving the body.” Tang Yibu glanced at Yu Le, who was a few steps away, and admitted with a little loss. “But I did get a lot of corrosion damage from the exploding shuttle agent… Well, I’m not in a good mood. Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”

“Enough.” Yu Le decisively interrupted the conversation. “I’m waiting for your explanation, Ruan Lijie. I don’t want to be left here. If the Order Supervisors find out that I’m not dead…”

“I won’t put the corpse in the wrong place. Besides, to them, you’re just a bigger bug, and they will not be too concerned about the corpses destroyed by the shuttle agent,” Tang Yibu responded impartially.

“Then I need to know the status of the Walking Stones.” Yu Le narrowed his eyes. “Tu Rui’s involved in this matter, right?”

“Of course.” Tang Yibu took out a canned food from his backpack, opened it carefully, and then solemnly placed it on Ruan Xian’s thigh. “This is peaches in sugar water, Mr. Ruan. You can kiss me after eating…”

“Enough!” Yu Le couldn’t bear it. “Fuck, are you in such a rush to make out? I want to get down to business!”

Ruan Xian fed the lid of the can to the iron bead. Seeing the little thing happily chewing on the metal, he unceremoniously ate the peaches and nodded towards Tang Yibu.

“Okay, I’ll tell you the status of the Walking Stones.”

Time turned back to a little while ago.

Thirty minutes ago, on the main ship of Elysium.

The scarlet light screen that received the vote disappeared in front of Feng Jiang. His heart was pounding, and his fingertips were still stuck in the position of Yu Le’s name. Elysium, which was being dragged behind by the Walking Stones, was even more unstable during the trip causing Feng Jiang to injure his arm. He stuck himself to a shelf in front of a window to avoid the deterioration of his injury.

He originally planned to vote for Zhou Dahui in accordance with the instructions. But Duan Lili’s voice lingered in his ears, and he just couldn’t press the name in front of the light screen.

Duan Lili was too friendly, so he had never doubted her, but now she had proven it with her life—In the turbulence, the poor girl’s body slipped to the first floor. The beautiful eyes that had lost their vitality were wide open, and her face was full of fear. There was a big hole in her chest, and he wasn’t sure if the mob had done it.

He shouldn’t have doubted. What kind of Order Supervisor would die with such fear on their face?

Duan Lili was just an unfortunate girl, and he didn’t have time to take her away from this terrible ship, even if she saved his life. Feng Jiang felt sour in his heart. Not long after he joined the rebel army, they suffered the biggest defeat in history, and he seemed destined to be unable to protect anyone.

The man standing in front of him in the queue was swearing loudly as he picked Yu Le’s name. Feng Jiang closed his eyes in pain, lowered his hands, and crawled in the direction of Duan Lili’s body while the hull became stable.

“I’m sorry,” he said to her as he tremblingly stretched out his hand and closed her eyes, which were still wide open.

“Do you know my sister?” A voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

Feng Jiang turned his head abruptly.

A thin and handsome young man was standing a few steps away from him. His face was full of fatigue and sadness. The red light screen was still floating next to him, indicating this person hadn’t yet voted.

“Duan Lili is your sister?” Feng Jiang’s voice became dry.

“Yes, I have been looking for her for a long time, and I only arrived at the Sea of Ruins yesterday.” The young man sounded helpless and at a loss. His eyes flushed, and tears were about to fall. “They told me my sister was here. I thought… she would be safe…”

He cleared his throat and suppressed the cry in his voice.

“My name is Duan Feng.” The young man’s eyebrows were very similar to Duan Lili’s. “I was a pharmacist before the end of the world. I originally thought that when I came, I could use my skills to make my sister live a better life…”

He finally burst into tears.

“Feng Jiang. Just returned from the rebel army.” Feng Jiang stretched out his uninjured hand and shook hands with the young man. “Your sister is a very kind girl. She saved my life.”

Hearing the “rebel army”, Duan Feng, who still had tears on his face, became a little surprised.

“I should have saved her. I could’ve persuaded her to leave with me.” Feng Jiang’s voice became hoarse. “I am responsible for this matter.”

Feng Jiang was silent for a few minutes, and finally opened his mouth. “What should we do now? After voting for Zhou Dahui, we all have to go to the Walking Stones, right?”

Duan Feng wiped the tears from his face. “But… the Walking Stone is my sister’s enemy, right?”

“……Sort of.”

Duan Feng quickly chose Yu Le’s name, numbly watching the light screen disappear in front of him.

“Whether Yu Le is dead or not, I won’t go to the Walking Stones.” His voice was soft but firm. “This is the place my sister wants to protect, and I will… find a way to rebuild it.”

Feng Jiang clenched his fists and sighed slowly.

“I’m with you. Are you willing?” He said. “I’ll definitely repay your sister’s kindness. There’s no humanity at all on the Walking Stones, and these people will go through very painful rehab treatment, but if we intervene in time, I think we will get more support… There are not so many people loyal to the Walking Stones.”

As he said it, he aimed his sight in the direction of Lei Ge.

“Really?” Duan Feng was taken aback. He twitched his nose, and the tip of his nose was slightly red. “Of course, I am! Thank you, thank you… Sister, she would be very happy.”

“Just like you are good at managing drugs, I am good at managing people.” Feng Jiang smiled reluctantly. “The captain has the risk of being voted to death, so you’ll be the deputy captain.”

“I like the position of deputy captain.” Duan Feng scratched his nose. “Just like my sister.”

He stepped forward and gave Feng Jiang a big hug. Feng Jiang patted the young man on the back, but from an angle he couldn’t see, his future deputy captain instantly put away all emotions and was expressionless.

Five minutes ago, on the main ship of the Walking Stones.

After receiving the news of the success of Tang Yibu’s action, Tu Rui collapsed on the chair. He buried his face in his hands and made a few sounds that he didn’t know whether he was laughing or crying. The ups and downs of his mood made him sweat all over and his body was still shaking.

“We fulfilled our promise.” Tang Yibu, standing in front of him, wrinkled his nose, as if he didn’t like what he said. “Mr. Tu, before I leave here, it’s time to tell us the agreed information. If you lie to us…”

“No, I will give you a hostage.” Tu Rui waved his hand weakly.

“Hostage?”

“Go southeast and cross the dead wall. It’s Petri Dish No. 1315. We’re used to calling it the Underground United City. It’s one of the most stable petri dishes with the largest number of people under the Mainbrain.” Tu Rui unscrewed a bottle of water and gulped down half the water inside before he could completely calm down. “There is a wilderness all around here. It’s impossible for Yu Le to survive outside for a long time, and if he comes back, he’s likely to be discovered again. There’s an anti-scanning machine in the Underground United City that can perform full-body plastic surgery. He can choose to come back after a while, or he can settle there.”

Having said that, Tu Rui glanced at Tang Yibu, who was covered in soot. The latter simply hummed, indicating that he was still listening.

“Yu Le’s funeral will be held tomorrow, and I will find a way to send you transportation. 20 months ago, the general headquarters of the rebel army was near the Underground United City. This is the information you want.”

“According to you, this is a petri dish that occupies a huge area. I have heard that large petri dishes have an area that can be the size of a small province.” Tang Yibu raised his arms. “This range is quite large, so the information isn’t anything exclusive.”

“I talked to Yu Le about this. When you send him to the Underground United City, he can take you there.” Tu Rui wiped his glasses, and his voice was still steady. “Sorry, I have to consider the possibility of you leaving him halfway. Yes, I know that this approach may cause unhappiness between the two of you… I will try my best to provide the materials you want as compensation.”

A series of sirens sounded from the main ship of Elysium, and Tu Rui frowned. “For the rest of the questions, I’ll answer tomorrow. I have to deal with an emergency.”

……

“When I left, the situation of the Walking Stones was like this.”

Tang Yibu, whose stomach was grumbling, snatched the last two peaches in the can and drank all the sugar water. Ruan Xian pouted and acquiesced to the other party’s behavior.

“The Underground United City.” Yu Le glanced at the big bag behind Tang Yibu and touched his chin habitually.

“I have no opinion,” Tang Yibu said with a muffled voice as he threw the empty can at the iron bead circling at his feet. “What about you, Mr. Ruan?”

“How long will it take to go to the Underground United City?” Ruan Xian tapped his thigh quickly with his fingers.

“On foot will be half a month, but my deputy captain won’t let us walk. I guess it’ll be about a week.” Yu Le raised his chin towards Tang Yibu. “Kid, you brought a lot of food? I’m hungry. Give me some.”

Tang Yibu stiffened his face and pretended not to hear.

“Nuh-uh.”

“Give him some, Tang Yibu.” Ruan Xian rubbed his forehead. “Tu Rui will send supplies tomorrow.”

“Our appetites are bigger than the average person, and I still have injuries. We must consider the allocation of resources.” Tang Yibu guarded the backpack behind him very solemnly. “Besides, an adult can go hungry…”

Ruan Xian held the android’s cheeks with both hands and took the initiative to kiss him.

“What about now?” After a deep kiss, Ruan Xian asked calmly.

“…Oh.” Tang Yibu opened his backpack solemnly and threw Yu Le a small bag of dried fish.

Yu Le: “……”

The expression of the captain of the Walking Stones turned blue, and he didn’t seem to have much appetite right now.

Ruan Xian shook his head in amusement. He took out a bag of candy from Tang Yibu’s backpack and began to comfort his hungry body. “It’s just routine,’ he thought.

A relaxing, moist, and warm routine.

It would be nice if the iron bead had body heat. He threw Tang Yibu a piece of candy while Ruan Xian threw another piece into his mouth.

…Perhaps in that way, the thirst for body heat could be relieved in an alternative manner.

---

The author has something to say:

Yu Le: I’m full on dog food. Thanks. (……

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Kinky Thoughts:

End of arc 2. It seems Feng Jiang will become the next Fan Baiyan, or at the very least, the captain of Elysium, and “Duan Feng” is the Order Supervisor sent to replace Duan Lili.

Ahhh, Ruan Xian is slowly falling for Tang Yibu. I can’t get over how cute Tang Yibu is.

Arc summary below:

After leaving the refuge, Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu stumbled upon the Sea of Ruins. A floating ruin filled with ruins of city landscapes and pirates. They were captured by one group of pirates, the Walking Stones, and sent to work.

After integrating with the Walking Stones, they met Yu Le, the captain of that ship, and his deputy captain, Tu Rui, who was part of the rebel army. They also encountered another group of pirates, Elysium, who were the Walking Stones’ enemies.

A few days before the voting commences, they were sent to the Annihilation Point, a sort of blackhole in the Sea of Ruins, to gather items so they could earn points to stay in the Walking Stones. Taking this time, they decided to infiltrate Elysium to observe more of the Sea of Ruins.

While the Walking Stones used a points system, Elysium seemed to be a paradise that welcomed all. However, it was quickly discovered that the captain of Elysium, Fan Baiyan, tricks his crew into consuming the fruit of the flickering grass, which is essentially an addictive drug, and uses the promise of a peaceful life if they contribute hard enough to control his ship.

Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu did some experimental work to get to the bottom of the drug that Fan Baiyan uses and discovered that the fruit of the flickering grass not only generated shuttle agent (fuel used by the ships in the Sea of Ruins), but also an addictive psychedelic. Fan Baiyan had been using his people as essentially fertilizer to grow more fruit in order to keep producing the drug, however, his homemade version had a fatal flaw in that it didn’t have enough of the psychedelic compound. Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu discovered that the psychedelic compound was naturally produced from radiation from the Annihilation Point and resolved to basically fix the wavelength so it no longer emitted radiation that would enhance the psychedelic component of the fruit.

It is then discovered that a voting system was about to take place where all the populace of the Sea of Ruins would have to vote for the top 10 captains that the Order Supervisors of the Mainbrain deemed “unstable” and the one with the most votes would be sacrificed. This was to ensure that the Sea of Ruin remained free of the Mainbrain’s control (or else the Mainbrain would just bomb the entire area, blowing all the population to bits).

However, things weren’t so simple as the Mainbrain wouldn’t let this area of human life remain unchecked. It had sent its spies to infiltrate the area to keep tabs and influence the actions of the humans there. Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu’s goals became two-fold: first to remove the spy, thus the threat of them being exposed to the Mainbrain, and second to find out more information about “Ruan Xian” from Tu Rui.

Things came to a head when Elysium broke out in chaos as Fan Baiyan’s drugs were no longer effective due to Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu’s actions, and the people of Elysium went through a withdrawal. Elysium was then attacked by the Walking Stones and eventually suffered defeat while Tang Yibu and Ruan Xian figured out who the Order Supervisor was and killed her while not exposing their identities.

When the voting came to an end, the captain of the Walking Stones, Yu Le, garnered the most votes and was sent to his death. To go out in style, Yu Le planned to make as much chaos as possible for the Order Supervisors and go out in blazing glory, but was saved by Tang Yibu and Ruan Xuan, who cut a deal with Tu Rui. In return for saving Yu Le, Tu Rui would reveal the whereabouts of the rebel army headquarters, which is where they plan to head to next.

That’s it for this summary.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 56: Straight into the Sky

Yu Le had seen the pirate captain with the highest number of votes executed more than once.

The Order Supervisors would operate a light combat aircraft to follow the ship where the captain was located until the captain rushed out the Sea of Ruins in despair, and the fleeing ship crashed into the wilderness; or in the endless pursuit until their shuttle agent was exhausted, and the entire ship sank into the ruins, pulling all the pirates with them.

He once took people to salvage a ship stuck in the ruins. The honeycomb-shaped human tissue was interlocked with the soil, and it would shatter with a little touch. No one knew what the expression of the deceased was at the end. The corpses were mixed into a mess. Under the action of the shuttle agent, the torsos of different people were intermixed. Not to mention their identity, even the number of people couldn’t be determined.

After lighting a homemade cigarette, Yu Le fiddled with the operation panel a few times and adjusted the Walking Stones to automatic navigation.

His life was about to come to an end, but he didn’t have much feeling. Yu Le had foreseen such an ending since the day he decided to stand up to Fan Baiyan.

He was also prepared for this.

Tu Rui’s face was frighteningly ugly, and he clenched his fists tightly. His deputy captain was a person who came from the battlefield, and he was very smart. Tu Rui could definitely guess the impact of Duan Lili’s words.

Yu Le stood up from the driver’s chair. He whistled, took the unopened bottle of good wine back into his arms, and casually rolled up a pornographic magazine and stuffed it into his waist.

“Won’t you send me off?” Patting the dirt off his clothes, he winked at Tu Rui.

“You can find a way to get out of the Sea of Ruins.” Tu Rui took off his glasses and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “There is always a way.”

“What are you talking about. Are you sleep talking in broad daylight?” Yu Le waved his hand. “There are not even high bushes on the ground. Even if I’m lucky enough to get out of the Sea of Ruins, I’ll be just a lame rabbit, waiting for an eagle in the sky to catch it… Oh, when did you hide something more awesome than the Mainbrain?”

Tu Rui gritted his teeth and said, “You are fucking struggling.”

“Of course I have to struggle, but this is my personal privacy, so don’t come with me until you’re old.”

Yu Le didn’t look at Tu Rui’s face. He could guess what the other party’s expression was. It was better to say that since he had picked up the little leader of the rebel army who was rigid in doing things, he had let go of most of his heart—at least after he was crushed by the Mainbrain, this nonsense wouldn’t become useless too soon.

“I’ll go to the warehouse on the top of the ship to finish smoking this cigarette. If you have anything you want to tell me, there are still ten minutes for you to consider. Of course, it’s okay if you don’t come… Ouch, Lao Tu, how old are we? Can you stop your sniveling?”

“Fuck off. My nose is just stuffy.” Tu Rui’s voice was a bit muffled.

“Okay, I’m leaving now. Remember what I said before. Don’t really lose all my books.”

Tu Rui didn’t respond.

Yu Le smiled softly and opened the door. The two newcomers with good skills were blocking the door with complicated expressions. He didn’t know how much they had heard. However, now that he was finished, he didn’t have much interest in these things. Yu Le slowly exhaled a puff of smoke and watched as the beautiful boy surnamed Ruan silently got out of the way.

“Heh, how obedient.” He grinned and climbed the metal ladder with the wine bottle in his hand. “It seems like you two didn’t come for me.”

Tu Rui was so irritable that he paced up and down like a beast in the cage. Yu Le had a unique temperament, and once he decided something, even ten cows wouldn’t be able to pull him back. However, Tu Rui’s personality that allowed him to escape from the army was very useful. They had been together for less than two years. He had to admit that it was no worse than his days in the rebel army.

He could see that Yu Le wasn’t a born leader, but he never thought it would be so fast.

But even in the order of the original list… Unless Yu Le was willing to resign as the captain in advance, cross the desert on foot, and completely leave the sphere of influence of the Sea of Ruins, this situation was unsolvable from the beginning.

From equipment to strength, the Order Supervisors were different from the pirates in the Sea of Ruins. After all, even the rebels under Ruan Xian’s leadership suffered a complete defeat.

Tu Rui kicked the rusty chair at his feet fiercely.

“…Mr. Tu,” a calm voice sounded. Tu Rui raised his head, and before he could put away the blankness on his face, he subconsciously put his hand on the handle of the gun.

The two newcomers followed inside from the door opened by Yu Le, and the defensive lasers in the four corners of the hub ceiling instantly locked on the two of them. Tu Rui frowned and didn’t raise his defense. “If you want something, wait until the disinfection is over.”

“We don’t plan to stay here for long.” Ruan Xian admitted generously, disregarding the laser lights pointed at his chest. “So I came in advance to ask for a reward.”

“Okay, I’ll give you five minutes.” Tu Rui wanted to give a polite smile, but unfortunately, the corners of his mouth were stiff as if they had been glued shut. “It’s still the same as I told you. As long as it’s not the position of the captain or the deputy captain, I can agree to any of your requests.”

“We want to know the situation of the rebels.”

Afraid of arousing Tu Rui’s unnecessary vigilance, Ruan Xian didn’t directly put forward the request.

“Yibu and I want to join the rebel army, but the news we have found is vague. Some people say that Ruan Xian is missing, and some people say that the rebel army was disbanded two years ago. There are all kinds of claims. Looking at the development of the Walking Stones, it seems you didn’t have a small role in the rebel army. Mr. Tu, can you tell us the general situation? After all, this world is not suitable for tourism. If the rebel army is really finished, we need to find a place to settle down earlier.”

Tu Rui didn’t show much surprise.

“You are so determined to make a deal with me that I think it has nothing to do with this matter. There are Ruan Xian’s cronies in Petri Dish No. 1036, so it’s normal for people to come out of there to know something… It’s just that this transaction may not be fair to you, as it’s no secret to well-informed people.”

Tu Rui looked at the concealed door of the hub, and his tone was a bit haunted. “About two years ago, Ruan Xian and Fan Linsong had a falling out. They were regarded as the souls of the rebel army, so the negative impact was quite great. I didn’t know where Fan Lingsong went, and Ruan Xian’s temper became more… strange. The rebel army headquarters persisted for a while but didn’t survive the raid from the Order Supervisors twenty months ago. After that, Ruan Xian also disappeared.”

He took a breath and sped up his speech. “It’s not impossible to join. There are headquarters in various regions, but without Ruan Xian, failure is only a matter of time. It depends on your own thoughts. Anyways, I…”

Tu Rui stopped talking, his face full of bitterness.

“Can the soul of a person really disappear quietly like this?” Ruan Xian adjusted all kinds of emotions and naturally brought up the topic. “Forget about Fan Linsong, with the limited mobility Ruan Xian had…”

“He left by himself. Ruan Xian had avoided the Mainbrain for so many years. If he wanted to leave by himself, a few humans couldn’t stop him.”

“Where was the headquarters 20 months ago?” Ruan Xian took the topic away lightly again. “Let’s not talk about whether to join or not; we want to go to the relatively important headquarters.”

Tu Rui laughed hoarsely, with a trace of despair in his voice. “Young people are just boiling with blood. Since the two of you didn’t dig out my brain for analysis, you’re not with the Order Supervisors. However, there’s still a threshold. The strength you possessed now… Unfortunately, no. Otherwise, if you go there, you’ll just die.”

Professor Ruan, who was in a wheelchair, disappeared 20 months ago, and his last stop was bound to be the headquarters. Even simply inferring a geographical location, it was far more advantageous than blindly looking for it. Unfortunately, Tu Rui didn’t let his guard down even when he was in the worst of moods. Their hopes were slim, unless…

“If we can rescue Yu Le from the Sea of Ruins, is this enough to prove our strength?” Tang Yibu interrupted suddenly, turning his gaze to Ruan Xian.

Ruan Xian was stunned for less than half a second. He thought about Yu Le’s situation for a moment and pinched Tang Yibu’s wrist.

[Act.] He sent a simple message.

On the other side, the only stiff smile left on Tu Rui’s face also disappeared. He pushed his glasses up, and his whole person suddenly became gloomy. “Don’t joke around like this.”

“You won’t lose anything anyway.” Tang Yibu grabbed Ruan Xian’s hand with his backhand and took a step forward with an impeccable polite smile on his face. “At most, the two of us cause some chaos and lose our lives along with Yu Le. If we’re successful, at least your friend still has some hope of surviving.”

“…Yes.” Tu Rui didn’t think about it for long. He straightened his face and took out his gun. “If he dies and you live, don’t let me see you two again. If someone disturbs my brother’s last journey because of arrogance, I will personally destroy them.”

“Deal.”

Tang Yibu let go of his hand, put his arm on Ruan Xian’s shoulder, and the smile on his face became more standard.

“But we have to borrow something from you.”

With a cigarette in his mouth, Yu Le kicked open the door of the small warehouse on the top of the ship and rubbed the iron wedge stuck in the waterproof canvas with his feet. The slightly faded army-green canvas clattered to the ground, revealing what was covered inside—

It was an old-fashioned modified off-road vehicle. It was shaking slightly with the slightly bumpy hull, and the tires made a slight friction sound.

In the next instant, the hairs on Yu Le’s back stood up. Someone was spying on him. He pulled out his gun and turned around.

The dim space was extremely quiet, without the slightest trace of any living thing. He let out a complicated sigh and patted the thick metal car wall with his hand, and his eyes softened.

In his short life, he had been with a ship all this time, but his sister Yu Xi preferred cars, or someone who liked to drive a specific off-road vehicle. Yu Le was very disdainful of this.

[When my bonus is paid, I will buy you a more beautiful one.]

[It’s a public car. What are you making a fuss about, kid?]

[I don’t care, sis. You said you are so beautiful, but to go out with that off-roader—oh, that contrast, so domineering! I don’t know if the people on the geological team see you like this…]

[Come here you brat!]

After the bonus was paid, he still bought a car, but he didn’t succeed in giving the car keys to his sister.

For the world at that time, it might just have been an inconspicuous small piece of news. Another low-level girl was harmed by a scumbag high on drugs, and they would let out a few sighs at most. Or those who were more malicious in their analysis—going to such a remote place after dark, it could be seen that that woman was up to no good.

With no savings and no worries, everything that followed made sense. Yu Le still remembered the exclamation of the crowd when he threw the monster’s head at the door of the police station. He still had no regrets.

A day lived counted as another day. Everyone would eventually die. There weren’t many such people in the world like him. Yu Le had no intention of falling but had no desire to live. He would usually count the days waiting for his death penalty and occasionally experience a little mood swing. He felt a bit of loss for the new car he bought—Before he went to commit his murder, he hid it well so that it would rot and disappear silently with him.

However, God had a big joke for him. A few days before he was sentenced to death, the entire society was the first to receive that sentence.

Yu Le spit the cigarette butt in his mouth out onto the ground and crushed it with the soles of his feet.

When Tu Rui was rescued at the beginning, part of it was due to his goodwill for the rebels, but mainly it was due to the logo of the geological team. He didn’t have a chance to know who his sister liked. He also knew that the injured person lying in the mud wouldn’t be his sister’s sweetheart, but he still couldn’t help but stretch out his hand.

It was all God’s will. Yu Le slowly exhaled the last puff of smoke.

Now, the death penalty was still here, and it was livelier than originally planned. This life wasn’t a loss after living for so many years and getting an incredible end.

He looked around the corner to make sure Tu Rui hadn’t caught up. Yu Le slapped the button on the door, and the ceiling of the warehouse on the top of the ship slowly opened. He flipped off the dark ruins with his middle finger, put the wine bottle on the chair, and began to burn the shuttle agent.

An infrared scan was immediately activated, and Yu Le spread out the pornographic magazine on his thigh but stared at the screen without blinking.

The modified off-roader slowly raised its front. At that moment, the metal wristband on his wrist received news. Seeing that Tu Rui’s name was on the screen, Yu Le didn’t pick it up.

“I’m a coward. I don’t even dare say goodbye in person,” he cursed in a low voice, glanced at the time, and stepped on the gas.

Half an hour had passed, and the voting results should be out. A flight signal was rapidly approaching his position from the sky, and it was probably an aircraft used by the Order Supervisor to execute the death penalty.

Yu Le calculated the signal height and grinned.

“Grandpa, I’m here, dumbass.”

He drove the thrust to the maximum, and the seat of the warehouse on the top of the ship exploded in response. The modified vehicle rushed diagonally above, dashing from the dark ruins to the twinkling starry sky, leaving the aircraft carrying out the death penalty behind.

The fleet of flying ships belonging to the Mainbrain had a streamlined silhouette with beautiful lines, as white as clouds. It created quite an eye-catching scene with a dilapidated off-roader plunging into the gap in the sky.

The Order Supervisors didn’t expect their target to be delivered to their door, or even sent over their heads. The aircraft dropped a load of tracking missiles. Those dangerous things circled in the sky and had a faint tendency to come back…

Under the abnormal spray of force, the heavy off-road vehicle leaped under the vast starry sky. It rose more and more slowly, and then fell in a close to free fall. Unlike falling straight down, Yu Le hummed a song, changed the direction of the fall with the remaining fuel, and rammed straight into an aircraft.

Under the action of inertia, the magazine and the wine bottle flew up at the same time. Wrapped in the brilliant starry sky, this moment seemed extremely long.

Whether it was hit or not, it was worth it…

Before the word “it” flashed through Yu Le’s mind, there was another series of huge explosions below. Huge stones flew wildly in the wind. One hit the bottom of his car, and the other smashed his car door. The magnificent starry sky was covered by smoke and dust as sand rushed towards the car, covering Yu Le.

Fuck life.

Fortunately, the infrared scanner was still working normally. Supported by another blast of wind and smoke thick enough to choke someone, Yu Le rushed towards the signal transmitter without hesitation—

As a result, as soon as he saw the outline of the aircraft in the smoke, before he could show a satisfied smile, he was firmly caught by a net. It slid through the metal wall of the off-road vehicle, pulling him squarely back, straight in a certain direction, surprisingly fast.

At the same time, the off-roader and the missile hit the aircraft together, and there was another earth-shattering explosion, like fireworks in the night sky.

Yu Le’s brain was blank.

He still didn’t react until he fell on a cushion with his feet facing the sky. He stared at the soft cushion that was filled in a pit for a while, and then looked at the ruins of Elysium beside him. It took him a full ten seconds to distinguish his position.

He was caught near the dead wall of Petri Dish No. 1036.

He raised his wrist stiffly, but it was a pity that the ordinary communication signal of the Walking Stones couldn’t reach such a distance.

“Mr. Yu, we met again.”

The young man with cold and beautiful eyes stretched out a hand to him. An iron bead was nestling at his feet, barking loudly at the net.

“This net is quite good, right?”

---

The author has something to say:

Ruan: In fact, the user experience is extremely poor. _(:з”∠)_

The iron bead agrees.

Tang: ??? Very fun.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 55: Sudden Accident

Tang Yibu, who got the answer, stopped speaking. He sighed softly, rubbed his head against Ruan Xian’s chest, and found a comfortable posture for himself.

This was a good opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Ruan Xian had a vague feeling that Tang Yibu’s reaction wasn’t like a simple program simulation. Although instinct and emotion themselves were also part of the logical chain of life, the complexity of the two procedures could be said to be very different.

Through various means, creatures with higher intelligence could learn patience and camouflage. They knew that expressing specific emotions on specific occasions would bring benefits to themselves—sympathy, recognition, or assistance from other individuals, and so on.

Most humans would express joy when they are together, emphasize unwillingness when they were separated, show pain at funerals, and pour anger and disdain on outsiders who didn’t fit in. Some were attributed to etiquette, and some were used as their own protective colors. As long as you integrated into a “normal” emotional environment, life would be a lot less troublesome.

Even if this didn’t resonate with their external performance in the slightest.

But some things couldn’t be disguised. If you couldn’t understand something, naturally you couldn’t manipulate it skillfully. Tang Yibu’s mood swings were small but extremely delicate, like listening to a musical through a poorly received communicator.

The android tightened his arms, and his warm and humid breath sprayed on his chest, as if he had suffered a grievance that he himself couldn’t explain.

“Didn’t your maker teach you?” Ruan Xian subconsciously raised his right arm and smoothed the soft black hair on his chest.

“He thinks it’s better for me to learn than to directly program definitions or infuse personality data.” Tang Yibu rubbed his head in enjoyment. “But this is very inefficient.”

Ruan Xian’s movements paused for a moment. “Do you have many situations like this?”

Once again, he thought of the warm computer room and the endless quarrels with Fan Linsong.

Their biggest rival, Plan Corp, had always advocated “making life more human”. According to the information Tang Yibu once revealed, Plan Corp tried to use existing personality data to build artificial intelligence, so Ruan Xian wasn’t surprised.

But the practice of “making life more human” had never been seen in anyone other than himself.

At the beginning, Fan Linsong insisted on setting up a perfect moral judgment system for NUL-00 and directly weaving the rules and regulations into a giant net, carefully wrapping NUL-00’s thinking.

This was right, that was wrong. This was normal, that was abnormal. That was noble. This was morbid. After refining countless cases, that net was so fine that it was suffocating.

It was almost as routine as his life after disguise.

As the creator of NUL-00, Ruan Xian simply rejected this proposal. This decision was seen as deviant at the time and would cause unnecessary trouble for himself, and he understood this.

But he couldn’t do it.

The precision cybernetic brain he made slept in a glass cover. As the crystallization of the world’s top technology, NUL-00 was only half the size of a coconut. It would always ask all kinds of stupid questions that would make people laugh and give unexpected answers. It learned quickly and had a very interesting way of thinking. Unlike humans, who are imperceptibly educated in social environments, it was a completely blank piece of paper.

It had a vigorous vitality that he didn’t have.

Curious and pure, close to a life form that was different from his roots. He saw countless puzzles in it, just like his original self. If you could use that complicated set of concepts and definitions to crucify it, it would die, and countless brand-new possibilities would be destroyed.

On the other hand, for weak artificial intelligence, this approach may be effective. But it had cognitive abilities far beyond humans, and no one could tell what would happen… No, they may have known what would happen.

Taking himself as an example, he would doubt, contradict, and feel inefficient and depressed about his own behavior, but it was different from him. It had no peers or constraints. Once it came into contact with powerful forces, it could become extremely dangerous. The social structure that was highly dependent on the internet and technology was still too fragile in the face of strong artificial intelligence.

As the creator, he was undoubtedly the one who knew it best in the world. As Ruan Xian, he was undoubtedly the outsider who knew its dangers best.

[NUL-00 is just a set of programs, a tool. If you are really worried, just take more control measures.] Fan Linsong reminded him more than once. [Everyone believes in your abilities, Professor Ruan. It is also feasible to regularly detect data and investigate vulnerabilities, in short…]

[Then trust my judgment and let it learn and improve on its own.] The self in his memory replied like this. [Giving a definition requires a price, and there will always be loopholes in the concept. Strong artificial intelligence will not accept everything as it is. If we take away all its judgement capabilities, we will completely lose the opportunity for it to understand.]

[We don’t need a tool to understand.]

[To defeat your enemy, one must first learn to think like them, but the vast majority of humans cannot understand this mode of thinking. It’s not a toaster, Lao Fan. We must be cautious.]

[It’s just a bunch of data.]

[We are just a bunch of data.]

Ruan Xian clenched Tang Yibu’s black hair in his hand, and a slightly tingling expectation surged in his heart.

He knew this was impractical. Since Fan Linsong and the “Ruan Xian” made a MUL-01, their NUL-00 had only two endings: either it was destroyed, or it was directly transformed into MUL-01. When he “died”, it didn’t even have the ability to move freely, and there was no third possibility.

“More or less,” Tang Yibu really gave a cruel answer. “Some people like this kind of ‘education’ process, and some people hope to produce some abnormal results, so there will be models like me that start from scratch. After all, the existing personality may not be able to meet the needs, and the types that come with too many constraints will not…”

Tang Yibu thought for a while before choosing his words. “I won’t do this kind of thing like murder and arson.”

“Indeed.” Ruan Xian curled the corners of his mouth bitterly.

The terrible bumps interrupted their whispering, and the hull of the ship tilted for a while. From the angle where he was, Ruan Xian could see a little bit of the outside world through the window…

The giant ship sailed in the Sea of Ruins as a fluorescent explosion fell from the sky. A bomb that exploded near them lit the entire dark ruins as if it were day.

Just like a small school of fish swimming with the big fish, many small ships tried to mimic the movements of the Walking Stones as they moved forward, but many were bombed by the Order Supervisors. It wasn’t easy to avoid the bombs, and the reaction speed of the navigators wasn’t able to keep up.

Fluorescent bombs exploded like cobwebs, pinning these small fishes by their heads and tails. The shuttle structure was completely destroyed, and the ships blended in with the background ruins as human flesh and blood mixed with the concrete. Naturally, it goes without saying what their fate was.

It seemed that a century had passed.

The giant ship took a sharp turn, and Ruan Xian saw the main ship of Elysium. It was firmly fixed behind the main ship of the Walking Stones by countless thick chains and was dragged forward. There was a world of difference between the flexibility of being dragged and actively avoiding it. Several fluorescent bombs rubbed against the main ship of Elysium from time to time, exploding. The scope of the damage was unknown. However, there was also good news. The Walking Stones had stabilized a lot after a sharp turn.

“Go near the cockpit.” Ruan Xian dodged the flying empty cans and gave instructions with difficulty. “Tu Rui is on the ship. We can rush to see him.”

He didn’t want to continue to enjoy the current torturous voyage.

Tang Yibu’s face didn’t look good either. He nodded, pulled his arms out of the barbed wire, and grabbed the hook rope again.

“Hold on to me tight, Mr. Ruan,” he muttered. “I may not have time to take care of you.”

Ruan Xian hugged the other party’s waist tightly, and his leg hooked around Tang Yibu’s left leg. The android let go by leaning, and they slipped through the layers of barbed wire to the bow. Ruan Xian slumped his shoulders, quite certain that his soles had accidentally rubbed a few heads.

The iron bead in the backpack was frightened. It rattled and shivered and was unusually quiet.

After wandering hard for more than half an hour, the two finally managed to reach the bow of the Walking Stones as unobtrusively as possible. The ship was indeed surprisingly big. Ruan Xian felt as if he had run thirty miles on a mountain road as his whole body was soaked in sweat.

The door near the cockpit was closed tightly. Now they could use Gang Zi’s guidance, but the pirates behind them were more crowded than the catacombs of Paris. From any point of view, Ruan Xian didn’t want to wander around the ship again.

“I can hear Tu Rui’s voice.” Ruan Xian fumbled to the closed door. “He’s…”

After focusing on the content of the other party’s words, Ruan Xian rubbed his forehead. “He’s quarreling with Yu Le.”

“The voting will begin soon.” Tu Rui’s voice was full of anger. “We should just let go of the group of people of Elysium. Now is your last chance. Don’t tell me you can’t be cruel to a bunch of addicts, Yu Le.”

“I can kill those trash behind the ship with just a kick.” Yu Le’s voice was mixed with beeping electronic sounds from the console. “But those groups of people, if even three-quarters of them die, that means there goes hundreds of labor resources. Fai Baiyan failed to cheat smart people, but can’t you even handle a few dozen? They would all have their uses. Besides, if laozi kills all of Fan Baiyan’s people so quickly, I’ll earn a bad reputation and it’ll be me who will die half a year later.”

“If Fan Baiyan is dead, you might be fucking voted to die now!”

“Of course I might be fucking voted to die, or I might be lucky enough not to die.” Yu Le’s voice was as light as ever, with an indifferent posture.

“Yu Le!”

“You just think too much.”

“Not as much as you think.” Tu Rui gritted his teeth. “Don’t think I can’t see it.”

Yu Le didn’t answer.

“Is there something you are fucking hiding from me?”

“No, no, how can it be! It’s just that laozi has lived long enough. Two days after the world was over, was supposed to be my execution day,” Yu Le responded faintly. “Unlike you, I don’t have much thought… I originally wanted to just eat and drink to get by each day. That’s all. However, Fan Baiyan made me feel very uncomfortable. Then I met you, a great talent, who helped me get to this point today. Look at this broken place. Living is similar to squatting. While it doesn’t taste good, you have to just bear it.”

“Fuck,” Tu Rui responded calmly and rationally.

“So, I have established this prestige, but the hatred value was also held back by you. The Order Supervisors are also concerned with the white face as well as the red*. It’s not easy to get a ship this big. You can probably stabilize the situation. It’s impossible to unify the Sea of Ruins, but it’s fine to be a leader.”

*Reference to (一个唱红脸一个唱白脸) refers to one person playing the villain while the other acts as a kind and likable person (AKA good cop, bad cop).

“You finally decided to hang yourself, didn’t you?” Tu Rui continued to grit his teeth.

“Fan Baiyan got off the stage. Even if I don’t die this time, I don’t want to be captain.” Yu Le’s tone was relaxed, “Don’t argue, when it comes to swearing, you can’t out spray laozi. I’ve been a bastard for half my life. If you want me to be Maitreya Buddha* for this dog’s life, I might as well hang myself.”

*Basically, asking him to be the equivalent of a saint.

Tu Rui trembled and took a breath.

“Well, you always know the big picture best.” Yu Le struck while the iron was hot. “Don’t bother me, okay? If that old scoundrel Fan is still alive, they have to weigh in before they vote for me. Don’t look like I’m a dead dog with my feet in the air.”

“If Fan Baiyan is dead, I will command people to vote for Zhou Dahui,” Tu Rui responded coldly.

“Fuck you, Zhou Dahui didn’t offend you. Do you really want to be a second Fan Baiyan?”

“At least then you can… Ahem, the Mainbrain will definitely put people in there. It’s not easy for them to infiltrate us, but there must be some in Elysium. Now that Elysium is gone, Zhou Dahui’s ship is the best choice.”

“How do you know that MUL-01 didn’t throw dozens of Order Supervisors here? It’s hard to say if we have any of them on board. Many of the Order Supervisors just want to experience life—”

“At least 10,000 survivors are assigned an Order Supervisor. Have I told you this ratio? This is not a sensitive area. It’s impossible to have two Order Supervisors on a ship. The cost and risk are too high. It’s even more impossible for them to do it honestly. You and I are both stable on our ship…”

“Okay, okay, I understand. The Mainbrain wants to be able to adjust the position of the battle, so I’ll take it seriously, but then you have to be careful when you choose your deputy captain…”

“You fucking—be serious for me!”

The sound of explosions had subsided, and Tu Rui swallowed loudly.

“The intensity of the bombing has temporarily weakened by 70%, and it’s time to vote.”

A sweet female voice rang through the Sea of Ruins.

“For the sake of order and peace in the Sea of Ruins, we must force out the bad elements that have caused a great negative impact. Please understand. The voting list will be distributed within ten seconds, and everyone has 30 minutes to make a decision. If there is a tie, the bombing will continue for another six hours until the result is conclusive.”

Six hours was enough to deplete the shuttle agent of a small ship. The Mainbrain had squeezed a good time slot. This was the perfect opportunity to leave. Ruan Xian pursed his lips and jumped onto the floor that had become stable, ready to greet Tu Rui.

At that moment, a small red light screen appeared in front of him. Fan Baiyan’s name had disappeared, and Yu Le was undoubtedly in first place.

Ruan Xian heard Tu Rui swearing at the door, cleared his throat, and picked up something.

“Listen, everyone on the Walking Stones, vote for Zhou Dahui, who is number two. Listen, those on Elysium. Your captain has abandoned you, ran away, and now he’s dead. If you want to live a good life, you better weigh that thought and vote for Zhou Dahui. Do you hear me?”

There was also Yu Le’s faint swearing in the background.

However, another voice was louder. It came from the main ship of Elysium, and the broadcast range was much wider than Tu Rui’s in-ship communication. Ruan Xian stopped knocking on the door and frowned.

On Elysium, Feng Jiang, who planned to press number two for Zhou Dahui, stopped and held his breath…

That voice belonged to Duan Lili.

Sweet, sad, and pitiful, with a little hoarseness. There were many pirate ships following Yu Le, and the sound echoed between different ships.

“I am Duan Lili, deputy captain of Elysium. When you hear this, my captain and I are dead. As the former… Former deputy captain, I have something to tell you.”

“Stop it!” Tu Rui yelled, but his instructions were suppressed by Duan Lili’s voice.

“I want everyone to know that the current misfortune is entirely the fault of Fan Baiyan alone.” The female voice had a hint of firmness in her crying, which was very contagious. “It’s not everyone’s fault that we failed you. Fireflies are not a bad thing, it is Fan Baiyan who overworked everyone. You can imagine, as long as the work is a little easier, won’t life be much better? That discomfort stems from overworking. I once argued with Fan Baiyan, but unfortunately I didn’t succeed.”

“Fireflies shouldn’t be a chain that binds people, they should be a soothing medicine. I made it only to relieve pain and give people short-term relief. Please believe that as long as the right amount is used, it is almost harmless. It’s just that Fan Baiyan took it and used it in the wrong way by pushing it to the extreme.”

“Elysium had given a lot of people years of warmth. Please don’t simply give up and don’t completely deny yourself because of other people’s mistakes. I believe that after the disaster, the remaining people will definitely be able to be more considerate of each other. Crude prohibition cannot bring about any progress…”

Tu Rui threw the communicator in his hand to the ground, his face ashen. Yu Le snorted with a calm expression.

“We all know that the Order Supervisor may be on Elysium.” Yu Le stroked his beard and stubbled chin. “Lao Tu, now we know who it is.”

“You…”

“In fact, no matter whether Fan Baiyan is dead or not, the Order Supervisors will always have a way to kill me. Regarding the voting list this time, tsk, it’s ugly. Even with rebels like you who came out of that, you still dared to dream again.”

Yu Le shrugged and continued to navigate the ship.

“I bought you at least a year. Use it well. Don’t let the Walking Stones sink.”

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The author has something to say:

Lao Yu is a reliable person!

Yes, what Tangtang and Ruanruan know is only the size of half a coconut (gesture)

Not as big as the iron bead (???

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