Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 17: Insider

Tian He put down the electronic paper in his hand.

His bed was in the inner corner of the ward, by a huge fake window. The other side of the glass curtain stimulated a rainy day. The raindrops sliding down the glass were almost realistic, and the sound of artificially made thunderstorms was played in a loop behind the glass. The pots of forget-me-nots were still blooming by the bed; their petals were clean and soft and full of vitality.

There was a bowl of cold chicken soup on the small table beside the bed that had condensed into a caramel-colored jelly. Tian He scanned it numbly and finally stopped on the console by the bowl. He stretched out a thin hand, poked the console twice, brought up the light screen in front of him, and then checked all the corners of the shelter one by one.

“STR-Y type 307a231, auxiliary machinery application approved.” As the mechanical tone sounded, the ward door opened in response.

Tian He raised his eyes. “231?”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu changed out of his blood-stained clothes and stood upright. “I need to submit contradictory data.”

“Just submit it directly through the public background.” Tian He turned his attention back to the light screen.

“This data is more sensitive, and it is most appropriate to submit it to you.”

Tian He pulled a few pillows behind him and moved to the head of the bed, barely allowing himself to sit higher. “…Let’s hear it.”

Tang Yibu took out the food canister wrapped in an evidence bag from his pocket and handed it to Tian He with both hands. “On March 17^th, this was found in the ruins of the Wild Cemetery. This is indeed a can label belonging to Zhang Yazhe, with his fingerprints and DNA residues on it.”

Tightly wrapped in a blanket, Tian He’s face was ashen, and the color was a bit like raw fish that had begun to necrotize. He didn’t speak, just raised his hand and extinguished the light screen in front of him.

“Ruan Lijie joined Zhang Yazhe’s team today. As his auxiliary machine, I found this anomaly when I checked the team data. Zhang Yazhe reported the can as open and brought the remnants back to the shelter. This is a serious breach of trust, and it is difficult to infer the purpose. According to my judgment, this is a vicious concealment that must be reported.” Tang Yibu continued without any emotion.

“This is just a label. Where is the can?”

“Still intact. It is currently in the temporary custody of Ruan Lijie, and I have no right to occupy human property.”

“I see.” Tian He relaxed his body and slid his back down a little bit along the pillow he was leaning on. “I will take care of this matter. Go back.”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu bowed slightly, turned and left the room.

He closed the soundproof door of the ward and blinked at Ruan Xian a few steps away. “Did you hear all that?”

“Nn.” Ruan Xian nodded while pretending to read the hygiene bulletin board on the nearby wall.

The soundproofing effect of the rooms here was very good, but in the end, it couldn’t stop the prying eyes of the S-Type Prototype.

Ruan Xian heard it very clearly. Tian He in the ward let out a long and heavy sigh, followed by the sound of the paper being crumpled. Ruan Xian frowned slightly and lowered his gaze.

“Hey, Xiao Guan.” The noise of the light screen being activated sounded. Tian He whispered bitterly in the room. “Call 231 to your side before you get off work today and erase all its system logs for the day.”

“Understood.” In the faint sound of the alcohol music, Guan Haiming’s tone was indifferent, and he didn’t sound half interested in asking questions.

“Remember to take a shift today. Go out and take a breath. Xiao Guan, you… Haa.” Tian He’s voice suddenly stopped and finally turned into a sigh.

Guan Haiming didn’t answer, probably because the communication was interrupted.

“Xiao Ruan?” A puzzled female voice sounded from behind. Ruan Xian’s scalp exploded while he was concentrating on eavesdropping.

Qiu Yue was carrying a cloth pocket. Her eyebrows were slightly raised as she stood behind him.

“Qiu Jie…”

“Interested in the medical clinic? Tian He said you wanted to be an explorer. Have you changed your mind?”

“No, just looking around.”

“What a pity. If you’re willing to join here, the little girls would be very happy.” Qiu Yue smiled beautifully, like a plump and sweet ripe persimmon.

Ruan Xian smiled embarrassedly. This expression may not be natural enough, he thought to himself. He really hadn’t been exposed to too many compliments about his appearance, so his reaction was always a little slower.

“I’m going to deliver dinner to Tian He. Xiao Ruan, remember to go to the canteen on time, otherwise all the good food will be gone.” Qiu Yue didn’t seem to notice the strangeness. Her smile was still sincere.

“I’ll go after reading this article.” Ruan Xian pointed to the publicity column in front of him. This time, his smile was more relaxed.

He decided to listen for a while longer before leaving.

“Qiu Yue, the administrator, is visiting.” The ward door closed behind her.

“Using the light screen? What’s the situation that you’re still working.” There was a faint anger in Qiu Yue’s voice, but before the anger could erupt, it turned into a sigh. “I knew you didn’t eat your chicken soup again… Here, I cooked you some apple sugar water, your favorite.”

“I’ll turn it off now. Xiao Yue, first help me throw away the things in the trash bin into the garbage shredder.”

“Lao Tian, isn’t this an evidence bag? Why is it wrinkled like this? Can this ball of paper be thrown away?”

“Yes.”

The dull sound of the garbage shredder sounded and soon stopped again. The soup spoon hit the edge of the metal bowl, creating a clanging sound. “It’s done. Come on, drink some sugar water.”

“I have no appetite.”

“Still angry with me?” Qiu Yue’s voice was a little bit aggrieved. “I didn’t mean to lose my wedding ring. Take a sip, just one sip. You need something in your body, or you can’t function.”

“…” Tian He was silent for a while. Not knowing why, he sounded a little bit sad. “I told you before, don’t act alone outside… Why didn’t you listen?”

“Yes, yes, yes. My bad. Lao Xing, the field marshal; Haa, although he was a little injured, I’m still fine, right? The situation was really urgent at that time, and I was afraid that the young people wouldn’t be able to handle it. I didn’t expect it to be so… Well, Tian He, I’ll open a private mission. Maybe someone had picked up the ring nearby.”

Tian He didn’t speak again.

“Take a sip, Tian He, I beg you.” Qiu Yue’s voice trembled a little more. “You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. What do you think you are doing to yourself?”

“I’m just a little tired, so I’ll eat it right away.”

“Okay, you said it. You have to eat once in a while.” Qiu Yue sniffled. “Old bastard, where’s your energy? Who promised Professor Ruan that he would ‘fight to the last second’? Look at you like this.”

“…I’m just a little tired.” Tian He repeated.

“I’ll massage your legs for you.”

“Xiao Yue…”

“Hmm?”

“Stop going out alone in the field, okay? At least make sure there is someone around.”

“I know, my ears are going to get calloused. Take care of yourself first, everyone is waiting for you to get better.”

“Zhang Yazhe can take over my shift.”

“…Tian He, what do you mean by that?”

“Fate determines life and death.” Tian He’s voice was as cold as ash, without any semblance of life. “I hope you didn’t do anything stupid, Xiao Yue. When the time comes for people, ah, they have to go—Look at this window. We just make it look bright and open, but everyone knows that we’re underground, and there’s only mud outside this window.”

Ruan Xian couldn’t listen anymore.

He didn’t go to dinner, so he went straight back to his new room—to be precise, back to Zhang Yazhe and their team dormitory.

The structure of the dormitory was simple. There was a hall that connected to four small rooms that were about eight square meters. Compared with the observation room where he lived before, the condition was much worse. The toilets and bathrooms were shared, and they were all outside the dormitory.

Generally, there were three people in the team, and the empty room in the fourth room was usually used as a repair room. Ruan Xian had joined temporarily, so it was only cleaned up today. The machinery that was originally shelved in the room was put into the hall and piled up in a mess. There was silence in the dormitory right now, which probably meant Zhang Yazhe and the others should still be eating dinner.

Ruan Xian rushed into the empty room that still smelled of rust and mold. He locked the door, turned off the light, and fell onto the hard bed without even taking off his holster.

“What are you doing?” Seeing that there were no outsiders, Tang Yibu no longer stood upright. He sat on the floor, folded his arms on the edge of the bed, and lay down comfortably. In the darkness, his golden eyes flashed with a little light.

“Thinking. Ruan Xian turned around and turned his back to the beautiful face close at hand.

“You already knew that there was a problem with Zhang Yazhe and asked me for information.” Tang Yibu said it in an affirmative way. “Now the top leader of the refuge has made his statement. Tian He doesn’t plan to pursue this matter. There’s no point in dwelling on this issue any longer.”

He stretched out a finger and poked Ruan Xian on the back. “But I’m curious about your other sources of information.”

Ruan Xian faced the dark wall with a wry smile. Yes, he had indeed spied on Tang Yibu. Tang Yibu once made it clear that there was no obvious difference between the “current” Zhang Yazhe and the former.

He didn’t mind returning the favor and revealing a little bit of his thoughts.

“There is no other source of information.” Ruan Xian told the truth. “It was only today that I was basically sure—Zhang Yazhe shouldn’t know that he has been manipulated. If he’s self-conscious, making the excuse of losing the food canister or losing the remainder after he has consumed a part of it, no one will pursue too much on this matter.”

Not only did he “open the can”, but he also made a special effort to bring the remainder back to the shelter. If there was a problem with the canned food, everyone wouldn’t be fooled. This kind of interference method was too inefficient. At present, it seemed the most likely possibility was…

“The lie about the can isn’t for the refuge. It only needs to fool ‘Zhang Yazhe’ himself.”

Ruan Xian continued slowly, “According to Ding Zepeng’s statement today, unless he’s seriously injured, Zhang Yazhe wouldn’t do such a thing as lose a food canister casually, and to ensure that Zhang Yazhe could return to the refuge alone, his injuries couldn’t be too serious.”

“The faker, on the other hand, shouldn’t be able to perfectly reproduce the details of the food canister, and with Zhang Yazhe’s experience, he’d notice something isn’t right. Thus, in order to resolve this contradiction, Zhang Yazhe thought that he had ‘eaten the canned food’, as that was the most suitable choice. That food canister can provide far more than one day’s rations and bringing the part that can’t be eaten back to the shelter is most consistent with Zhang Yazhe’s own logic.”

Tang Yibu drew circles on Ruan Xian’s back with his finger. “So you left this matter to the judgement of the leader of the humans.”

“Yes. My information is insufficient after all. At least I still can’t figure out what the purpose of this ‘Zhang Yazhe’ coming here is, and whether he was replaced by someone else, or simply just his memories… Tian He is more capable of making this judgement than me.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Tang Yibu paused. “As I said, I’m confident I can ensure your safety.”

Ruan Xian rolled over and looked directly at the face that made it difficult to get angry. “It matters to me. Tian He’s first reaction was to destroy the evidence, and he knew exactly what happened. There’s a problem with this shelter.”

“I don’t understand.”

Tang Yibu retracted his fingers and poked Ruan Xian’s earlobes instead.

“You gave up your information advantage and jumped out to negotiate with me directly. And when there was a way out, you insisted on accepting this potentially deadly earring. Now you’re anxious to know the truth. Whether there’s a problem with the human refuge clearly has nothing to do with you. I could have arranged everything for you, from a safe environment to a good life, and you just need to cooperate with me without any unnecessary worries.”

“As a price, information must be obtained through you, the rescue must be approved by you, and actions must be monitored by you.” Ruan Xian sighed. “This is called being raised, not cooperation.”

Tang Yibu let out a sigh and moved his fingertips along Ruan Xian’s earlobes to the center of his eyebrows. Instead of diminishing the confusion on his face, it became a bit thicker.

“…I thought Ruan Xian would only give you the most basic survival functions, and then initiate the destruction process. Unexpectedly, he imbued you with human memories and even higher than human intelligence. Are you so enthusiastic about humans because he has given you the mission to ‘save mankind’?”

“Maybe.” Ruan Xian tightened his body. “Do you know Ruan Xian well?”

“We have been in contact.”

“…What kind of person is he?”

Tang Yibu retracted his fingers. This time he was silent for a long time.

“Based on my evaluation of mankind, he’s a cruel person,” the android spoke slowly. “And I agree with this view.”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 16: Deadly Earring

Ruan Xian didn’t look at Tang Yibu’s expression.

Tang Yibu didn’t react, and only a terrifying silence remained. If it weren’t for the steady and powerful heartbeat of the other party, he would almost think that Tang Yibu had suddenly disappeared from the room. There was no objection, no action; it was probably a silent approval.

Perhaps the android had already started timing.

Ruan Xian focused all his energy on the pile of parts in front of him; his fingers were flying. He didn’t know most of the parts, but it didn’t matter. They would always have a suitable location that would fit. As long as he could understand the principle, the whole process would change from simple mechanical assembly to some kind of breathing and rhythmic creation…

First pull out its bones, leaving the steel muscles and metal internal organs. The perceptual ability of the S-Type Prototype was really powerful. Ruan Xian no longer needed to use sophisticated equipment for observation and listening. Just by looking at the semi-finished products under his hand, he could imagine their normal function.

He completed it in twenty-nine minutes and forty seconds—or rather, they did.

Ruan Xian held two freshly made guns in both hands.

Visually, they didn’t look much different from before they were disassembled, and they were extremely similar to each other. The dim black body of the gun, the faint blue light shining around the flattened barrel, and the aura of killing did not decrease.

He closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing to calm himself, and finally turned around.

Tang Yibu still maintained the posture of crossing his arms. The healed wound on his right arm was still slowly seeping blood. There was no expression on the android’s face—no expectation, no tension; he just stared intently at him.

A false sunset was glued to the fake window, casting its reddish-orange artificial sunlight into the room. Between the two of them was a long table full of parts in boxes and tools. The metal utensils on the table reflected a bit of broken light, casting black shadows on the table.

Tang Yibu glanced at the gun in Ruan Xian’s hand, then slowly moved his gaze back to his face.

That inexplicable sense of detachment reappeared.

‘It’s a bit like facing off with a beast in the wilderness at night,’ Ruan Xian thought. The fear that came when your life was on the line couldn’t be suppressed. It stung the soles of his feet, entangled his skin like thorns, and finally penetrated into his lungs, making him unable to help but speed up his breathing. Ruan Xian tried his best to keep his hand that was holding the gun steady.

It’s okay. He repeated it in his heart over and over again.

The S-Type Prototype was hidden in the ruins of the laboratory, and depending on the hiding method, it was highly likely the person was probably Professor Ruan who was in the wheelchair.

Ignoring the motivation of his other “self” for now, in order to ensure that the S-Type Prototype wasn’t taken away by outsiders, just in case, the old android with human tissue was the most suitable prop. As long as the prototype was successfully contaminated, the rest would be easy to handle.

Tang Yibu probably regarded himself as an old android used to destroy the prototype.

The idea wasn’t much different from the facts. With his body about to collapse, he stumbled across it by mistake and encountered the S-Type Prototype. The dilapidated body inside was repaired inside from head to toe. In a sense, the S-Type Prototype was indeed “destroyed” by him.

[The natural brain is human, but the cybernetic brain isn’t.]

Not to mention the body that was completely mixed with the S-Type Prototype, was the brain that has been fully repaired and mixed with artificial cells still considered a “natural brain”? According to the definition of Professor Ruan, he wasn’t considered a “human”.

He didn’t need to continue to pretend. No matter what Tang Yibu tests, he was an “android” in the physical sense.

As long as this point held true, as a “similar kind”, Tang Yibu had no reason to kill him.

You’ll be fine.

“You’re not standing on MUL-01’s side.” Ruan Xian cleared his throat and began his first sentence of the negotiation.

Tang Yibu didn’t give any response but continued looking at him.

“First, if MUL-01 needed to use me, I would be taken away already, instead of dawdling on the human side to cause more trouble. With the technology of the Mainbrain, it shouldn’t be difficult to replace me with an obedient cybernetic brain.” Ruan Xian clenched the handle of the gun he was holding. His fingertips and the barrel were equally cold. “Second, even if it has other purposes, it wouldn’t send an ‘old model’. You haven’t received preferential treatment because of your human appearance, and the use of your abilities leads to a higher risk of exposure.”

Tang Yibu finally moved. He loosened his arms that were crossed tightly and hung his hands on his side.

“You shouldn’t have the means to control the cybernetic brain, and for some reason, prefer that I voluntarily cooperate with you. Considering your abilities and needs, I tend to think that you belong to a third party other than MUL-01 and the Refuge, and have or had quite strong technical support, but are limited in resources.”

Ruan Xian continued as calmly as possible.

Tang Yibu frowned slightly and didn’t deny it.

“Here is my personal guess. In addition to investigating the S-Type Prototype, the reason why you have been here for two full years… It seems that there are two possibilities. To hide yourself and to observe humans for some purpose, or both.”

The metal parts collided with a crash, and the corner of the table scrapped against the floor, making a sharp noise.

The clanging parts were swept to the floor. Tang Yibu lay on the table like a panther; his muscles were taut. The slightly long black hair was still sweaty, clinging to his neck, with a few strands hanging down his collarbone. The beautiful fingers stretched out straight; his thumb pressed on Ruan Xian’s carotid artery, and the rest of his fingers wrapped around his throat.

The beast-like sharp golden pupils stared straight at him with their pupils shrinking slightly.

The whole process took no more than half a second—Ruan Xian had just said the word “both” and didn’t even have time to close his lips.

With a slight movement of his Adam’s apple, Ruan Xian could feel cold sweat oozing out of his pores. He didn’t dare to breathe out, and his eyes looked at Tang Yibu without blinking, without avoiding the party’s hawk-like gaze.

“Reason.” Tang Yibu finally opened his mouth, which didn’t sound very pleasant. Ruan Xian moved his left hand, which was holding a gun.

“Now it seems that what Ruan Xian has prepared for you wasn’t ordinary intelligence and personality. If you saw through this, then you should be clear…” The tone of the android was devoid of joy or anger.

“It was a better choice to continue to play dumb in front of you and silently collect information.” Ruan Xian swallowed and continued to the other party.

“That’s why I need a reason,” Tang Yibu repeated.

“I don’t want much. Just a small favor, please.” Ruan Xian shrank his shoulders and moved back. “But it’s a long story—”

Tang Yibu’s posture was invulnerable. He was curled up and protecting all the key points of his body. The left hand that was stuck on Ruan Xian’s neck also ensured the safety of his head. If Ruan Xian wanted to shoot him in the head, his throat would be strangled before he could successfully raise his arms.

However, Ruan Xian didn’t attack the vitals.

Facing the tense Tang Yibu, Ruan Xian concentrated all his energy and poked out his gun as fast as he could. The muzzle of the modified gun poked the android’s right shoulder. He pulled the trigger decisively, leaving no reaction time for the opponent.

The gunshot wasn’t loud, like a fingertip hitting a soft cloth surface. It made a soft thud.

There was no sound of explosion or physical tearing. The wound on Tang Yibu’s right arm closed up visibly to the naked eye and recovered completely. Except for a few more blood spots on the clothes on the shoulder that was shot, there was nothing abnormal.

Tang Yibu’s frowning brows stretched out, and there was a trace of simple surprise on his face.

He loosened Ruan Xian’s throat, clasped Ruan Xian’s wrist holding the gun with his backhand and licked the muzzle with the tip of his tongue.

In the next second, Ruan Xian’s two guns all slipped into his hands. Tang Yibu fiddled with them half vigilantly and half curiously, like a cat who had just gotten a new toy.

“The smell of the muzzle… This is a fresh blood gun.” In less than ten seconds, he came to a conclusion. “The blood bullet you shot was destroyed by the heat, but the healing ability is still there. There is no pain at all. I have never seen such a design. The range is, um, about a kilometer?”

“If there are suitable parts, this range can be expanded. That way, you can be treated remotely.” Of course, efficiency issues aside, he didn’t want to kiss a male android at all.

Ruan Xian spoke while raising his empty hands, indicating he had no other dangerous plans.

“And the blood bullet of this one is stimulated and condensed by micro-current. It has no therapeutic effect, but it can be used as an ordinary firearm.” Tang Yibu threw another gun in the air. “Beautiful work. If it’s you who uses it…”

“As long as the recovery ability of the S-Type Prototype doesn’t fail, I will never lack ammunition.” Ruan Xian took the words out of his mouth. “In the future, I can provide more designs like this—killing me may guarantee your current safety, but if we cooperate, your survival rate can be greatly improved.”

This was the limit of what he could expose at the moment. The information he had on Tang Yibu was too limited. As a third-party force, Tang Yibu’s attitude towards humans and the Mainbrain wasn’t yet clear. Ruan Xian thought that he had tossed all his chips into the security category, so if he continued to blindly explain, he wasn’t sure which red line he would cross.

“This is your price tag.” Tang Yibu’s tone was brisk, but he didn’t seem to have any plans to return the gun.

“…But I don’t trust you,” he said.

“I understand.” Ruan Xian finally squeezed out a smile. “I’m the same way.”

The two looked at each other for a few seconds. Just when Ruan Xian’s smile was about to stop, Tang Yibu made a stroke with his empty hand, and a small operation screen appeared in the air. He grabbed the two guns in his left hand and quickly tapped the screen with his right hand.

The stud earrings in Ruan Xian’s left ear suddenly became hot, and he took a deep breath and shivered in place.

“Don’t try to take it off. It’s useless to cut off your ears.” Tang Yibu stopped the movement of his hands and explained with a stern face. “If I find that you do anything against me, the electric current it releases can instantly destroy your brain. I originally didn’t want to add such dangerous constraints to cooperation, but now that you have taken the initiative to expose your strength, you should be mentally prepared.”

“Indeed, small dogs can be held in your arms and petted, but wolves need to be properly locked in cages.” Ruan Xian wasn’t surprised. Before, Tang Yibu probably counted him as a mobile medical kit and combat aid at most, but now he had exposed some of his abilities. If the other party agreed to cooperate without any defenses, things would look suspicious.

They were far from the point of talking about “trust”.

“No, I haven’t activated it yet. You still have time to refuse.”

To his surprise, Tang Yibu shook his head. The android looked at Ruan Xian seriously, his fingers hanging on the operation light screen.

“On the contrary, I will find a way to erase your memory. There are memory elimination treatment services in the shelter. You should know.”

Ruan Xian touched the still hot earlobes with his hand. “If I agree to wear this… Well, a collar, are you willing to help me?”

“Of course, as long as it’s not harmful to me.” Tang Yibu nodded. “Declare it in advance. This does not mean that I’ll be completely honest with you.”

“As will I.” Ruan Xian stretched out his hand. “Give me back my gun.”

“……You’re willing?”

“I’m willing.”

Tang Yibu threw the two guns back to Ruan Xian and sat cross-legged on the table, with a little confusion between his eyebrows. “What do you want?”

Ruan Xian took out the food cannister from his close-fitting pocket and slid it against the desktop into Tang Yibu’s hand.

“Give it to Tian He. Just say it was the food cannister you picked up from the ruins. The label belongs to Zhang Yazhe, which conflicts with Zhang Yazhe’s report. Tian He wouldn’t suspect an android whose cybernetic brain was destroyed.”

“After all that trouble, it’s still just for those humans.” Tang Yibu shook his head. “I just need to do this for you?”

“I also need equipment that can access the database here.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Consider my subjective intentions when fighting. Don’t veto it. We should discuss it together.”

“Is there anything else?”

“…Don’t kiss me casually.”

“…If you insist.” Tang Yibu picked up the food cannister. “Let’s go, I think you would like to hear Tian He’s reaction outside the door.”

“Hmm. I need to clean up. You go out and wait for me first.” Ruan Xian pulled out a pair of underarm holsters from the mess and tied them to his shoulders.

Tang Yibu nodded. “Okay, I’ll clean up the blood stains on my clothes.”

As soon as the android left the room, Ruan Xian softened his legs and sat on the floor flat on his ass. The long period of tightness made him eager to lie down on the spot, and his heartbeat almost cracked his ribs. If he still had his previous physique, he would have passed out readily and rewarded himself with a coma.

Ruan Xian inserted the two guns into the holsters and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves. Then he beat his chest and breathed out in fear.

A few minutes later, Mr. Ruan, who survived the catastrophe, still showed a little smile on his face…

He succeeded. He bought himself a little bit of room to play, a small crack.

And he will use it to open an exit.

---

The author has something to say:

Tang: On how it feels to raise a hamster to become a wolf←

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 15: Purpose of Cooperation

The grayish green machines were approaching.

There are two bionic machines this time. If the size of the live screws was still close to a rabbit’s, Ruan Xian couldn’t give a proper analogy to what was in front of him—they were more than five meters tall, put together by various rusty mechanical remains, and the shapeless body was supported by two puppet-like legs. If he broke off the chest, head, and arms of a movable doll, leaving only the spherical structure of the abdomen and the two legs under it, the outline was barely similar.

A rubber tube with thick fingers was tightly wound around its “torso”, and there was yellow-white liquid slowly oozing out of the rupture. Slender wires tightened the bionic tissue filling the metal frame, and the soft flesh protruded slightly.

At least twenty long limbs poked out from the pale flesh and were dragging limply behind the thing. Their movements were slow and stiff, their steps were like two unconscious old men, but their appearance was more like two pagan Cthulhu statues.

The torsos of the two monsters rubbed against the dense canopy, in a weird posture as if they were snuggled up to each other as they swayed forward.

Tang Yibu obediently obeyed the order, set up a confusion net among the trees, and then silently climbed to Ruan Xian’s side. The soft net was set up between the branches. Electric lights would flash a few times, and the originally open woodland turned into a treacherous path of tangled vines. Following this was a series of unnatural engine sounds before a hoverbike rushed out of the woodland by itself and headed towards the right side of the two monsters.

One of them hesitated and stopped, turning around slowly as if it was attracted by the hoverbike. The other insisted on moving forward, ignoring the confusion net laid by Tang Yibu and swung towards the plastic baskets full of live screws.

Ruan Xian himself wasn’t thin, but Xiao Ding was even stronger. Coupled with Tang Yibu, who also wasn’t small in size, the three young men huddled on top of the tree like quails, not daring to move for fear of pushing someone down.

The exceptionally persistent monster finally reached its destination. The long limbs that were originally dragged behind suddenly stretched up and poked at the live screws in the basket. A taunt limb brushed against Ruan Xian’s ear and nearly poked him in the eye. Ruan Xian wanted to move instinctively, but Tang Yibu held him tightly in place.

The monster ignored the police-type auxiliary robot that was spinning around at its feet and stuffed the lifeless screws into the gaps in its torso. Ruan Xian only heard the sound of chewing but didn’t see any action similar to chewing.

Yellow-white liquid slowly dripped down from the gap of the machine.

“Shh—” Xiao Ding tried his best to maintain his mouth shape, but his breathing became lighter. “Ruan Ge, don’t make a sound.”

Ruan Xian nodded in silence.

Zhang Yazhe and Chi Lei were hidden in another tree, so quiet that it was as if they didn’t exist. The monster slowly passed by the two trees, as if they were unaware of them.

However, they weren’t lucky enough to hide until the end.

The monster turned around slightly, and its long and sturdy limb swayed along with its movements, directly hitting and hooking Ding Zepeng’s neck and pulling him down from the top of the tree. The entire process took no more than half a second. Ding Zepeng’s reaction was also fast. The young man shot out his steel wire grappling hook, got rid of the limb, and swung steadily to the ground, managing to escape the fate of a broken spine.

But he had exposed himself. Several limbs instantly entangled Ding Zepeng.

“231, protect Xiao Ruan. Xiao Ruan, hide! Lao Chi, follow me to cover Xiao Ding!” Zhang Yazhe fired his gun in the next instant, accurately blasting off two limbs and drawing all the monster’s attention to him.

“Are they going to be okay?” Ruan Xian mumbled and asked Tang Yibu in a low voice.

“Usually, it’s not a problem. This kind of thing isn’t good at fighting, and it’ll leave after proper stimulation.”

“Usually?” Ruan Xian parsed the keyword out.

Struck by gunshots, the monster retracted its limb that was grabbing Xiao Ding. A noise-like scream came from inside its body.

“This one is pregnant, so it’s tendency to attack is stronger,” Tang Yibu said calmly.

Ruan Xian looked at the nightmarish mechanical giant in horror and almost fell off the tree.

The other monster who had been paying attention to the hoverbike before was called back by screaming. The two giants all stretched out their limbs and poked at the three humans on the ground. The police-type auxiliary machine directly opened fire. Its movements were flexible, but in the face of this overwhelming size difference, it had little effect.

“We have to run. One is okay, but two are too many!” Chi Lei roared.

“We can’t run away. Hold on a little bit longer. Something’s wrong with these two!” Zhang Yazhe roared back. “Xiao Ding, Xiao Ding! Bring out the blue bazooka from the hoverbike!”

“Let’s lead one of them away.” Ruan Xian made a quick decision.

Tang Yibu just looked at him. “There’s no need for you to make a move now.”

“I can’t hide here. If I were Zhang Yazhe, I would lead them to an easily controlled field because once they are hit, they’ll toss about indiscriminately—” Ruan Xian ducked.

A limb swept across his head.

“—Like so.” Ruan Xian clenched the gun in his hand. “I want to take the initiative more rather than just waddling in embarrassment.”

“I know.” Tang Yibu tilted his head as the end of an incoming limb brushed off a few strands of his hair. “There is indeed a high probability that we will be shot down, and then Zhang Yazhe will order you to take refuge.”

“He’ll tell us to get as far away from the scene as possible. As long as we distance ourselves, we don’t need to hide our true situation.”

“This brings me back to my original point. We don’t need to make a move.” Tang Yibu straightened the collar of his black uniform. “They will be seriously injured, but they’ll barely be able to cope with the situation.”

Zhang Yazhe was still calmly commanding the two men under the tree while keeping his rhythm of attack from the limbs that were randomly stabbing and trying to squish them.

“If I can master how to use the S-type prototype as soon as possible, it’ll be more beneficial to you,” Ruan Xian said solemnly. Emphasizing human morality and emotions should be of little use to Tang Yibu. “We’re in a cooperative relationship. You won’t be happy to act with a dragged oil bottle*—actual combat is the best teacher.”

*(拖油瓶) Discriminatory term for women who have remarried in the past. In ancient times, when a husband marries a woman who has children from a previous marriage who then brings her children along, when they get sick, the new husband is blamed by the new wife’s relatives. As such, to avoid this kind of entanglement, the husband would ask someone to write evidence that the children were already sick before they entered his household, and if there’s any accident in the future, he’s not responsible for it. The correct statement should be “dragging the ill” but because of the pronunciation, it similar to “dragging the oil bottle” which has become slang. || In this context, Ruan Xian is basically saying Tang Yibu won’t be happy if he turns out to be a deadweight.

“Okay.” Tang Yibu wasn’t long-winded.

This time, Tang Yibu raised his hand and shot it at the back of the monster on the outer side. He hit a rubber tube, causing yellow-white liquid to immediately spray out. The monster immediately turned its head and swayed towards them. Tang Yibu hugged Ruan Xian’s waist tightly with one hand and swung to another tree using his grappling hook.

“If you’re ready, I’ll teach you. This time, I won’t exert power beyond that of a human. It’s up to you to take the lead.”

“Nn.” The monster’s body moved slowly, and the target was large. Under the premise of insufficient physical strength, it was much better to deal with than a live screw. Ruan Xian hit the rubber tube on the machine with his gun, leaving Zhang Yazhe’s anxious roar behind him.

“You predict, I’ll attack.”

Making sure that the other three people were completely obscured by brushes and shrubs, Tang Yibu explained without emotion, “Combine the environment and terrain. Pay attention to the details of every movement of its whole body. The size of the wind sound caused by its waving limbs, the changes in smell caused by its mood shift, the rhythm of its muscle contraction, and so on. Then, finally calculate the result—for an S-type prototype, this should be a cinch.”

“How can I tell you?”

Tang Yibu took out a pair of earring studs from his pocket and pierced one directly on Ruan Xian’s left ear, while he pierced the other on his right ear.

“This thing can convey simple brain instructions. Just give me specific direction, movement, and attack speed information.”

Ruan Xian raised his head and looked at the monster rushing over.

[Eight o’clock. Limbs. 0.3 seconds.] After putting on the earring, there seemed to be an extra input box in his mind, and he immediately figured out how to use it.

Tang Yi took a step forward. The monster’s sharp limbs almost swiped his back and poked a hole in the ground.

“Very good. Continue.”

Ruan Xian stared at the monster’s movements closely, and the movements stopped, but his hands didn’t stop moving. He shot every rubber hose with precision, staining the monster’s body with yellow-white mucus.

[Nine o’clock. Limbs. 1 second.]

[Six o’clock, nine o’clock, three o’clock. Limbs. 0.8 seconds.]

Tang Yibu jumped dexterously, as if dancing on a cluster of limbs. Seeing Ruan Xian aiming at the rubber tube and hitting it fiercely, he turned to attack the seams of the mechanical pieces. The monster’s movements began to become unstructured, and its screams were intermittent.

Ruan Xian relaxed his body and became more concentrated.

The things in the field of vision slowly turned snow-white, leaving only the weird monster that had color. Every trace of wind brought by its movements, every soft sound of metal rubbing together, was clear as day in his mind. Sounds, colors, smells, and air flow drilled through his five senses, etching them into his mind, forming a continuous trajectory of motion.

According to the reaction of the bionic creature in front of him, as long as he hit another one of its hoses, it would reevaluate what was more important: a meal or its own life. Ruan Xian stared at his target intently and pulled the trigger again.

However, the gunfire didn’t sound this time.

This change distracted his attention for half a second, followed by a chill in Ruan Xian’s heart.

[Eight o’clock. Limbs……]

Tang Yibu’s right arm was firmly stabbed by a limb, which instantly split the skin and blood sprayed out. His expression showed no pain as he simply raised his hand and shot it out, hitting the last hose that Ruan Xuan should have hit.

The monster let out a long hiss, changed direction, and stumbled away into the depths of the forest.

“Sorry.” Seeing Tang Yibu walking towards him, Ruan Xian hurriedly took two steps forward. “I got distracted. I—”

Tang Yibu directly pressed the back of his head.

Another kiss.

Compared with the last time, the predatory aura of this kiss was much heavier. Ruan Xian frowned. The tip of his tongue was numb from sucking, and his whole body almost suffocated. He crossed his small arms towards his chest and blocked Tang Yibu with force.

“Almost there.” After being separated, Tang Yibu didn’t do anything out of line but just glanced at his wound.

The original deep gaping hole disappeared, leaving only a little bloody scratch.

“You have human memories. I apologize if this behavior may make you feel uncomfortable, but this thing is poisonous, and I don’t have time to ask for your consent in advance.”

Tang Yibu wiped his mouth, looking very satisfied with the recovery of the wound. “In addition, if I don’t do this, I’ll have to ingest your blood or body tissue, so this is the least harmful approach for you.”

Ruan Xian tightened his expression and nodded stiffly. “…You need the perception and repair ability of the S-type prototype.”

“As an old model, I can’t find a suitable part to replace my body. Prosthetic limbs will cause my combat power to decrease, and I’ll be more likely to be injured, which will only become a vicious cycle.”

Ruan Xian wanted to open his mouth to respond, but seeing people running from the distance, he immediately cautiously swallowed back the words he wanted to say.

“Ruan Lijie!” Zhang Yazhe rushed to Ruan Xian panting and slapped the side of his head a bit hard. “Didn’t I tell you to hide?!”

“I—”

“Son of a bitch. You’re playing with your life! Yes, I’m grateful to you for distracting one, but 231 can’t deal with this thing at all. If it weren’t for your luck…” Zhang Yazhe’s face was purple as he gritted his teeth. “We’re more experienced than you. The explorer’s job is a profession that teeters between life and death. Do you think we’re playing games? Ah? Next time, you better hope we die, or you’ll have to hide from me!”

Zhang Yazhe’s spit splashed all over Ruan Xian’s face. His anger was genuine.

Despite Ruan Xian’s repeated apologies, Zhang Yazhe never spoke a word to him on the way back, but Chi Lei couldn’t hide his gloating.

“Ruan Ge, don’t be too sad. Zhang Ge cares about orders.” Ding Zepeng took advantage of their return to the refuge. As they parked the hoverbikes, he quietly snuck over. “Chi Ge told me that Zhang Ge was very strong when he was young, but he was a bit of a drifter. When he was on a mission once, he dropped a food can and he ran back to pick it up, violating the captain’s order and almost killed his partner. Later, he didn’t dare fool around and stored his food can very carefully.”

The young man hissed and huffed, rubbing the injury on his arm. “You’re lucky this time. Zhang Ge was afraid you were dead.”

“I know.” Ruan Xian patted off the dirt on his clothes. “How was your monster?”

“We blasted it with a soothing agent. When it saw that one chasing you ran away, it realized the situation wasn’t good and it didn’t bother us anymore. Ah, what a shame about that basket of live screws. Why did we have to run into a pregnant scavenger puppet. What bad luck.”

“That thing can get pregnant?”

“Yes, they can produce a pile of white meatballs. The newborn meatballs will stick mechanical parts to their bodies to make skeletons for themselves. The more pieces that stick, the more they will look like what you saw. It was seeping. Last time, we accidentally entered their nest and I had to vomit for three days after seeing their cubs—”

“Ding Zepeng, are you still fooling around? Hurry up and go to the infirmary!” Zhang Yazhe’s face sank.

Ding Zepeng’s entire body tensed up. He immediately shut up and rushed out.

“Zhang Ge…” Seeing Zhang Yazhe’s expression eased a little, Ruan Xian tentatively spoke again.

“What?” Zhang Yazhe finally replied angrily.

“Is there any place to change guns here? Chi Ge is right. I have some experience with guns. This gun’s handle is a bit difficult.”

“Yes, let 231 take you there,” Zhang Yazhe snorted coldly. A few seconds later, his face collapsed, and he sighed. “…Ah, you should think more about what happened today.”

“I will.”

Ruan Xian lowered his head and covered the contemplative expression on his face with repentance and shame. And this “repentance and shame” continued until the moment he and Tang Yibu walked into the weapons workshop and made sure that there was no one there.

Closing the door behind him, Ruan Xian wiped his face and looked at the small room blankly.

“Workshop B-73. I have already made an appointment for the next three hours, and no one will come during this time,” Tang Yibu explained thoughtfully. “What do you want to modify?”

“Black out all the monitors and replace them with looping footage. I know you can do it, Mr. Administrator.” Ruan Xian sat down at one of the long tables and took out the gun he was carrying. He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a string of formulas casually.

Tang Yibu let out a meaningful “oh”.

“You’ve changed. Now let me ask a different question. What do you want to do?” Two seconds later, Tang Yibu relaxed his body and changed his posture from holding his hand behind his back to crossing his arms.

“Give me half an hour,” Ruan Xian said.

He stood up, quickly pulled out the various parts and equipment on the table and activated the data light screen on one side. The action was so proficient that it looked like he had been working here for more than a decade.

“What about half an hour later?” Tang Yibu played with the communication earring that was still embedded in the earlobe of his right ear.

“Negotiation.” Ruan Xian stroked the gun in his hand, picked up the disassembly tool set with the other hand, and turned them all into parts in less than 30 seconds.

“…No need to look around, Tang Yibu.” When he said this, Ruan Xian quickly assembled the parts again, and his movements were so fast they could barely be seen clearly.

“The person I’m negotiating with is you.”

---

The author has something to say:

Ruan Ruan has thoroughly figured out the situation, and it’s time to fight back.√

Tang Tang: ? (0ω0)

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 14: Attacked

The hoverbike traveled quietly through the forest. Its smooth metal bottom plate skimmed the tips of the grass.

It took less than a few minutes to figure out how to drive this thing. Unfortunately, right now he was the mediocre “Ruan Lijie” and couldn’t show too much. Ruan Xian sat silently in the back seat, looking up at the sky as his arms hooked tightly around Tang Yibu’s waist.

Tang Yibu skillfully manipulated the hoverbike, while the police-type auxiliary robot was firmly behind Ding Zepeng’s hoverbike.

The Wild Cemetery was in the northeast direction of the refuge, and this time they were heading due north. The forest was getting thicker, and more sunlight was sifted on the other side of the dense branches. In the gradually thickening shadows, Ruan Xian found no trace of humans except for the long-abandoned and rusted metal towers.

“This is it.” Lao Zhang stepped off the hoverbike. “Picking up screws isn’t a big job, so you don’t need to hide the hoverbike. Just change places in time.”

Ruan Xian jumped out of the car. The gadgets in his backpack created a clanging sound.

His feet stepped on the dense and moist grass, and the air deep in the forest seemed to be soaked in fresh sap. It was fresh and pleasant, full of inexplicable peace. The era of mankind was over, but the birds were still chirping above their heads, while the insects buzzed in the bushes.

Ruan Xian thought this didn’t look like a place where they could pick up screws. It was more suitable for foraging mushrooms than parts.

Zhang Yazhe took out his gun and fiddled with it for a while. Ruan Xian pretended to adjust the hook on his wrist and glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

Tang Yibu carried a large bag with more luggage on his back and followed him silently. Chi Lei covered the hoverbike with a camouflage net and was rolling a cigarette. Xiao Ding seemed to be the one in the best mood—the young man squatted down and pulled up some of the grass, acting a bit like he was catching a grasshopper.

“I didn’t see any scrapped machines. Zhang Ge, are you sure it’s here?” Ruan Xian expressed it politely.

Zhang Yazhe let out a string of happy laughter. “Haha, Lao Chi. Look, they ask this every time.”

Chi Lei snorted without meaning to add anything to the conversation. Zhang Yazhe paused for a moment, then continued, “Xiao Ding, show Xiao Ruan a demonstration.”

“Okay!” Ding Zepeng rubbed his hands together.

He gave Ruan Xian a big smile, stretched out his right arm, and the rope he was wearing whizzed out a hook. Leaping onto a tree with the help of the steel cable, Ding Zepeng opened his left hand, which held four metal balls that were firmly sandwiched between his fingers.

“Ruan Ge, look!”

The four metal balls were thrown in different directions in turn, followed by the sound of a loud gunshot. Putting the gun back into its holster, Ding Zepeng hooked another tree with his grappling hook and slid down the rope flexibly like a monkey. After returning to the ground, he touched the target in the grass and brought out a rabbit-sized contraption in front of Ruan Xian.

That thing was a bit like a scaled-down police-type robot that also had four thin bionic animal feet. However, its structure was simpler, and its body was a bit like a human heart embedded in a metal shell. The pale artificial tissue pulsated behind the metal shell as the four metal beast feet kicked indiscriminately.

A pocket-sized metal dart was stuck into the gap of the metal shell that was flashing electric light.

“There’s a trick to this. First throw the signal shielding balls and encircle them to ensure that the warning signals will not be transmitted.” Ding Zepeng picked up the metal ball he had just dropped and showed it to Ruan Xian carefully. “Novices can use more balls. I have to use four to stabilize, while Zhang Ge only needs three for his return shots. A triangular area is standard.”

“As for the dart gun, Haiming should have given you one. Ruan Ge, if you can use a gun, it shouldn’t be difficult to get started. Just shoot into their shells.”

“…Why do you call it ‘picking up screws’?” Ruan Xian looked at the robot that was still struggling.

“It’s really picking up screws.” Ding Zepeng wiped the sweat from his face and laughed even more happily. He took out a screwdriver from his pocket and pried open the mechanical shell in his hand like an oyster. “There is a very common connection screw used in this kind of robot. One can unload more than a dozen of them. Haiming especially loves them. This thing also doesn’t have a strong attack and is a bit dumb, so it’s easy to catch.”

After the shell was peeled off, the four mechanical legs twitched for a while before they stopped moving.

“There are bionic robots in this kind of place?” Ruan Xian finally took his attention away from Lao Zhang completely.

“No, they are all here to graze.” Ding Zepeng shrugged. “They don’t burn fuel now. Instead, they directly imitate the digestive system of herbivores. The shell can be brought back as material, but unfortunately the meat can’t be eaten. Ruan Ge, did you know? This thing can also breed on its own.”

“Alright. Xiao Ruan, if you catch one today, you’ll be qualified. Remember to come to me after you catch it, and I’ll teach you how to dismantle it.” Zhang Yazhe nodded with a smile.

He took the small machine that was no longer moving from Xiao Ding’s hand and dismantled it completely. The disassembled parts were covered with yellow and white liquid and were thrown into an empty box.

Ruan Xian sucked in air through his teeth. Compared with this, the ventral cockroach was more within his psychological tolerance.

But since it got to this point, there was no time for him to slowly digest the information. To express his “strong willingness” to join the explorer team, Ruan Xian had to follow instructions first and try to capture this thing called a “living screw”.

Not to mention the psychological barrier brought by this bizarre reality, Ruan Xian didn’t know how accurate Tian He’s evaluation of him was until he really moved.

He could indeed shoot the gun accurately, but his untrained arms couldn’t support the weight, and he couldn’t easily jump on the top of a tree or swing through the forest as easily as Ding Zepeng with his grappling hook. He could calculate the flight path of each ball and knew how to encircle the shielding range most efficiently, but he had no way to control the force exerted by his arms. The eyes could keep up, but the body was panting and the arms were shaking.

He tossed around for an hour while Ding Zepeng caught over two dozen live screws on his side. Tang Yibu leisurely guarded the side of the folding plastic basket full of live screws and a large pile of packages while smiling brightly.

Chi Lei, on the other hand, dealt with the live screws. He cut out the finest parts, wiped them clean, and put them in small boxes.

“Inhale through your nose and mouth. Don’t exert force when inhaling.”

Zhang Yazhe threw a bunch of live screws with outstretched legs into a plastic basket, wiped his hands on his clothes, approached Ruan Xian, and patted his sweat-soaked back lightly.

“Your center of gravity is too low again. Lean your body forward. You have a good foundation, but you’re panting too much. It’s easy to lose your breath if you exert your strength indiscriminately.”

“Thank you, Zhang Ge.” Ruan Xian shrank his body silently, consciously controlling his breathing.

“Take a break. It’s almost time. Drink some water and eat something. Let’s change places later… Xiao Ding, Xiao Ding! Don’t catch them anymore. Come back and rest!” Zhang Yazhe almost roared out the second half of the sentence. Ding Zepeng had already run further away and had almost disappeared from their vision.

Ruan Xian hung his head and returned to where the packages were. He took a few sips of water and began to continue reading the electronic paper obtained from Guan Haiming.

Five minutes passed before Ding Zepeng finally returned to the group. The young man’s face was covered with thick dust, and his whole body was dirty. He hummed an unknown tune and threw three live screws into the plastic basket.

“Wipe your face!” Zhang Yazhe twisted a warm towel and handed it over. “You see how honest Xiao Ruan is. He even brought a book to read.”

“I don’t like studying.” Xiao Ding wiped his face indiscriminately with a towel, took out a cup of water and took a few sips. “Ruan Ge, what are you looking at?”

“’Introduction to Auxiliary Machinery’. I asked for it from Dr. Guan.” Ruan Xian shook the electronic paper in his hand.

“Nothing useful. All empty words,” Chi Lei wiped his hands carefully as he interjected coldly. Zhang Yazhe glanced at him disapprovingly.

“I just want to understand the basics. Some of it is too complicated to understand.” Ruan Xian tone was soft, signaling that he wasn’t angry.

“Don’t listen to Lao Chi’s nonsense. ‘Introduction to Auxiliary Machinery’ was compiled by him, but he doesn’t want to sign it.” Zhang Yazhe elbowed Chi Lei, who still had a cold face on. “It suits your situation very well. Just look at it. Xiao Ruan, I have some vitamin C tablets. Do you want to dissolve them in your water?”

“No need, Zhang Ge.”

“Is there anything you don’t understand?”

“I’m good. I’m still looking at the initial part. Dr. Guan said that the main branch couldn’t recover A-types and S-types, but he didn’t elaborate, so I was still a little worried about that. Do you know anything about this?” Ruan Xian rubbed his hand over the text of the electronic paper while staring at Zhang Yazhe without blinking.

“Hey, what are you thinking of being afraid of!”

Lao Zhang poured the warm water from the water bottle into his cup, and he smiled so widely that his eyes narrowed.

“You should know the relationship between AI and the prototype, right? The prototype is a kind of body in the end. Compared this to an airframe of an airplane, the AI equipped with it is the pilot inside. Without the AI control, the body itself is an immovable shell, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

He took a bite of the potato cake and pointed to Tang Yibu, who was sitting a few steps away. “Of course, a plane can fly without a pilot, but the things it can do are very limited. For example, 231. It doesn’t have a judgment mechanism based on ‘self-experience’ and cannot cope with complex situations. It can only execute a set of instructions.”

“STR-Y type 307a231 is at your service.” Tang Yibu turned his head and responded with a smile.

“See?”

“I understand, but since the Mainbrain has forced people to this point, it may be able to break through Ruan Xian’s technology…”

Chi Lei’s face, which was silent on one side, instantly blackened like the bottom of a pot.

“Blah, blah, blah. Stop talking such nonsense!” Seeing blue veins jumped out of Chi Lei’s forehead, Lao Zhang waved his hand hard at Ruan Xian. “You have to call him Professor Ruan or Doctor Ruan!”

Ruan Xian pursed his lips tightly.

“In short, Xiao Ruan, don’t worry, A-types and S-types have really been destroyed and the MUL-01 will never reproduce them. Ah, fortunately, it was those two types that were destroyed. We have encountered a pre-apocalyptic A-type product before, and it was difficult. Let’s put it this way. If the live screw is an A-type product, just one could beat the four of us.”

“What about the S-type?” Ruan Xian glanced at Tang Yibu and continued to ask in a natural tone.

“If there were so many S-type products, everyone wouldn’t even be able to leave the refuge. If we get out of the hidden range of the perception camouflage, we’ll be instantly discovered. It’s said that S-type products can repair other models, so it’s tricky.”

Zhang Yazhe stuffed the potato cake into his mouth and shook his head. “Fortunately, D-type products can still be dealt with if they find the right tricks.”

“231 is also a D-type product?”

“It? It was produced before there was a prototype made by Professor Ruan, so it’s not a model,” It was Chi Lei who answered this time. Zhang Yazhe glanced at Tang Yibu and his expression dimmed for a moment.

Ruan Xian didn’t let go of any expressions on the other side.

“Let’s continue to talk about the prototype. Let me explain it to Xiao Ruan. Otherwise, young people like him will worry about this all day.” Zhang Yazhe pulled the topic back on track.

He poured two glasses of warm water in front of him.

“Back then, Professor Ruan anticipated possible accidents.” Zhang Yazhe’s expression became serious. He took out a little butter from his pocket and threw it into the cup. The butter floated on the water. “Under normal circumstances, the prototype could be accepted and processed by various artificial cells without being affected. After smashing this cup, I can still get clean water.”

Then he took out another yellow tablet and threw it into another glass of water. As the gurling foam spread out, the water was dyed a pleasant orange-yellow, exuding a faint orange aroma.

“If it encounters human cells, they will be marked and altered by them. Although its own abilities are still there, it can no longer be fully utilized by other organisms. Even MUL-01 can’t restore them as long as the prototype is infused with human tissue. For example, if I smash this cup now, I can only get orange juice… Xiao Ruan, you really don’t want a glass?”

Ruan Xian shook his head and raised his half-full glass of water.

“But there’s also water when the orange juice is distilled,” Chi Lei added quietly.

“What are you doing!” Zhang Yazhe scolded with a smile. “Let the young kids feel at ease, okay?”

“Ruan Ge still thinks a lot.” Ding Zepeng grabbed a potato cake and shoved it into his mouth, then grabbed the glass of orange juice in Lao Zhang’s hand. His tone was quite emotional. “I never thought about other prototypes. At the beginning, I was more afraid of the ventral cockroach eating the earth clean.”

Turning his gaze to Ding Zepeng, Chi Lei’s expression softened a little, and even bent the corner of his mouth.

“Are you still worried?” Lao Zhang asked with a smile.

“Not worried anymore.” Ruan Xian neatly put away the electronic paper. “Thank you, Zhang Ge, for your explanation.”

He swept in the direction of Tang Yibu again, but this time their gaze collided.

The brilliant smirk on Tang Yibu’s face disappeared, and his expression became blank. But before Ruan Xian broke a sweat, Tang Yibu raised a hand and pointed to his ear.

Ruan Xian didn’t stay stunned for long.

He put down the potato cake in his hand and held his breath directly. Filtering out the laughter of Zhang Yazhe and Ding Zepeng in front of him, he heard the unpleasant sound of stomping coming from a distance. The sound was different from that of the ventral cockroach. This time, some kind of larger creature—or machine—was approaching in this direction.

“Do we want to go somewhere else to hunt screws?” Ruan Xian stood up and brushed himself off.

“Xiao Ruan?”

“Everyone has already eaten, right? Don’t worry about me, I have already rested enough. If you want to change places—”

At the same time, the police auxiliary machine that had been wandering on the grass let out a shrill whistle.

“…It’s not that I don’t care about you, but no one can leave now.” Calling the auxiliary machine over, Lao Chi took a look. He pinched the cigarette butt he was holding, and his voice changed a bit.

“We were discovered by two large machines.”

Zhang Yazhe was startled, and Ruan Xian’s heart sank—this should not be part of the so-called “retreat plan”. Zhang Yazhe’s surprise was unadulterated.

“231, go set up a confusion net. The police type went over to scout and got some information back. We can sacrifice a hoverbike and let it drive away automatically to distract them,” Zhang Yazhe ordered in a deep voice. “Everyone, climb up a tree. Xiao Ding, you take Xiao Ruan with you.”

“Yes!” Xiao Ding immediately withdrew his smile.

“Xiao Ruan, take your gun. Don’t move without orders. Don’t take this lightly.”

Zhang Yazhe frowned tightly. He pulled out two guns with both hands like magic, and his tone was solemn.

“…This is the real threat you should worry about.”

---

The author has something to say:

Husband and wife (×) are going to join forces to fight (*/ωω*)

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 13: Dissonance

Counting the time, it was long past dawn. Unfortunately, energy was limited, so the underground canteen wasn’t extravagant enough to equip a giant glass screen to provide them with a large false and power-consuming blue sky.

Ruan Xian got up late, so there weren’t many people left in the canteen and breakfast service was about to stop. The light of the energy-saving lamp was a little golden, far less bright than that of artificial sunlight, and the air was filled with an astringent taste unique to boiled metal water.

He intently stuffed steamed eggs and boiled sweet potatoes into his mouth silently. After feeling the sight firmly glued to his forehead, Ruan Xian raised his head and faced Tang Yibu’s golden eyes.

“You still have five minutes and eleven seconds,” Tang Yibu said seriously. “In five minutes and nine seconds, the canteen will cut off the power supply. There are still four hours and thirty-three minutes left before noon to gather with Zhang Yazhe’s team. Considering the possible circumstances, I suggest you go to Guan Haiming early to obtain outing equipment and information. Using this time, you can still…”

Ruan Xian didn’t respond. He put down the spoon, broke the boiled sweet potato in half, got up, and stuffed it into Tang Yibu’s palm, successfully interrupting the android who was busy nagging. Tang Yibu stopped his mouth instantly, nodded happily at him, and nibbled at the sweet potato.

Tang Yibu’s attitude towards him had softened a little since learning from the ruins that his “information was not up to date”, and that kind of subtle tolerance always made Ruan Xian feel a little awkward.

It was like Tang Yibu was taking care of an unconscious drunk or a young fledgling that had just been thrown out of the bird’s nest.

At present, Tang Yibu firmly believed that he was an unlucky android who had been injected with human memories and, at the same time, knew that he wasn’t a human being. Interestingly, now Ruan Xian wasn’t sure whether the part about “being injected with human memories” was true or not.

But as a matter of caution, he wasn’t ready to exchange android-to-android information with Tang Yibu for the time being.

Now that he had been integrated into the exploration team and had a vague human identity, other normal humans were the safer objects for inquiry. The excuse of “playing Ruan Lijie” was very easy to use and was enough to make all the questions he asked about the outside world natural.

But at the moment, there was a problem that was more suitable for Tang Yibu.

“Since we are going to join the team… How is Zhang Yazhe’s strength?”

“On the comprehensive side. Chi Lei is good at machine retrieval and maintenance, and Ding Zepeng has excellent physical fitness, suitable for combat and exploration. Zhang Yazhe as a veteran, is the oldest, but because of his age, his physical strength isn’t as good as Ding Zepeng, but his combat ability is still high, and he has a lot of experience in dealing with various situations.” Tang Yibu continued nibbling on the sweet potato making his voice a bit vague.

“What about now?” he asked meaningfully.

Tang Yibu stopped chewing and looked over. Ruan Xian couldn’t read the emotions in those golden eyes. “Everything is as usual. Now his state has not significantly declined, nor has it improved much.”

Since Tang Yibu had promised to protect him, there was no need for him to lie on this issue. No matter what Zhang Yazhe was now, his abilities were still roughly human. Ruan Xian breathed a sigh of relief.

“But it seems that I need to repeat it again. Don’t get too close to humans,” Tang Yibu said calmly, swallowing the last of the sweet potato. “I understand your reason for designating me specifically. You want to use my strength to protect that team.”

Ruan Xian didn’t deny it.

“There is no benefit to excessive intervention. When humans were still prosperous, they wouldn’t interfere too much with wild animals.” Tang Yibu shook his head.

“I remember, but you know my situation. You can’t change your habits for a while.”

Ruan Xian smoothly ended the topic. He got up and put the bowls and spoons in a nearby metal box. “Let’s go. Is Guan Haiming in the office?”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu stretched out his hand, wiped off the crushed sweet potato stuck to the side of Ruan Xian’s mouth with his thumb, and licked it off carefully.

The other party’s expression was so upright that after Ruan Xian pondered for a while, he decided to abandon his half-hearted protest plan. He wiped his mouth hard with his handkerchief, turned his head, and walked to Guan Haiming’s office.

Fortunately, this time he no longer needed Tang Yibu’s company. Guan Haiming was very direct. “The android can wait outside. I get upset when there are too many people.”

At the same time, after the soundproof door was closed, Ruan Xian and Guan Haiming breathed a sigh of relief.

“I thought you would want a more powerful auxiliary machine.” In order to have a normal conversation, Guan Haiming turned down the volume of the music that was enough to blast the ceiling and rested his two legs on the table. His tone was neither salty nor light.

“Zhang Ge and the others are a bit scary.” Ruan Xian had already thought of a response to say.

Guan Haiming was obviously not the type who liked to be nosy. He hummed hastily and ended the topic.

“I put all your things in the bag and glued the instructions on. You still have a few hours before you act, so take it back and look at it yourself.” Guan Haiming knocked his heel against the table to the beat of the music. The fast-paced music played in the room was still the same as last time, Ruan Xian listened for a while and felt inexplicably a little dizzy.

“Don’t listen too much if you are not used to it.” Perceiving Ruan Xian’s small movements, Guan Haiming glanced at him obliquely. “This is alcohol music, and if you are not used to it, it will have a drunken effect.”

“Are you used to it?”

“It’s similar to the effect of drinking, but it won’t damage my brain and liver,” Guan Haiming responded stiffly. “Take your backpack. If you need information, you’d better say it now—”

“Is there any information for auxiliary machines?”

Guan Haiming raised his eyebrows. “It seems you still want to change yours?”

“I just want to take a look first. After all, I don’t know anything about them.” Ruan Xian glanced at the rows of metal shelves full of electronic paper. “Dr. Guan, do you have any entry-level information here? The kind that started with the initial machine.”

“…Yes, I do.”

Guan Haiming knocked on the table. A drone flew up and pulled out a piece of electronic paper from the top of the shelf. Putting the gray electronic paper flat on the table, he took out a blank piece of paper from a wooden box at hand, folded the two pieces of paper together, and clasped his five fingers. After the beeping sound indicating the fingerprint verification had passed, Guan Haiming handed over the freshly made copy of the information.

“From now on, this piece of paper will belong to you. All text-based information can be copied into it.” Guan Haiming smacked his lips. “See if it’s what you want. If it’s not enough, you can ask me again. It’s best to solve everything at once. Ah, how troublesome. It’s better for you not to be an explorer. I think indoor work is fine.”

Ruan Xian didn’t answer. He glanced at the closed soundproof door and quickly looked through it.

What he wanted was written in the preface.

[In the early days, machines would be mixed with biological cells, but with the development of technology, these biological cells were completely replaced with artificial cells. The S.A.D. are three type of prototypes that was born as a result. After proper stimulation, the artificial cells of the prototype can freely differentiate and form, providing materials for various models.]

[S-type products focus on recovery and perception. A-types focus on attack. D-Types focus on defense. The prototypes had too much freedom of performance and uncontrollable capabilities, so to ensure safety, we didn’t equip them with any artificial intelligence.]

[In the 22^nd century rebellion, the S-type and A-type prototypes were successfully destroyed by us, while the D-type prototypes were obtained by the Mainbrain MUL-01. Except for a small amount of machinery left behind by human civilization, all bionic tissues of the new machines belong to D-types, which makes them difficult to destroy through normal means…]

“Can you understand?” Seeing Ruan Xian frowning, Guan Haiming pulled the corners of his mouth.

“The prototype is something similar to artificial stem cells? I’ve studied it a bit.” Ruan Xian smiled reluctantly. “If I understand correctly, they once provided a source of bionic materials for all machinery? This is basically tantamount to a monopoly, right?”

“Almost. Stem cells—Not a bad metaphor… Professor Ruan was initially in charge of these three prototypes. They contained the best technology available to mankind back then.”

When it came to “Ruan Xian”, Guan Haiming eyes glowed with a little vitality.

“The monopoly wasn’t really a monopoly. It’s just because other people were too stupid. Plan Corp wanted to design its own prototypes but lost when they ran out of funding. It was inevitable that MUL-01 wanted them. No matter how powerful artificial intelligence is, if it’s stuffed into a toaster, it won’t be able to make many waves. The best system is best matched with the strongest hardware. That has always been the case.”

“It says that both A-types and S-types have been destroyed, but the Mainbrain is so terrifying, won’t it restore them and create a bunch of offensive armies or something…”

“Don’t worry. Only Professor Ruan knew the core technology, and in order to guard against the current situation, he didn’t record it in any form. No matter how powerful MUL-01 is, it can’t hack into the human brain from space… I say, you’re here to inquire about the auxiliary models, right? Why do you care so much about the prototypes?”

“It’s the first time I heard about it, so I was a little curious.” Seeing Guan Haiming’s keenness, Ruan Xian immediately stopped the topic. “This one is very interesting. Dr. Guan, just give me a few more similar ones like this.”

Guan Haiming curled his lips. Just as the drone was about to fetch them, he let out a stifled grunt and swept everything that could fall around him to the ground. In a flurry of mechanical debris, he slid off the seat and curled up with his head in his arms. His body was twitching unnaturally.

Ruan Xian was extremely startled. “Dr. Guan?!”

“Turn on the music! Maximum volume!” Guan Haiming yelled while beating his head frantically with his fists.

Ruan Xian recalled Guan Haiming’s movements for half a second and then slapped the music icon floating on the table. The sky-shattering alcohol music rang out again. Guan Haiming shrank and trembled for a few minutes before he finally stood up slowly.

“Dr. Guan, do you want me to call someone—”

“No need. It’s just a headache. It’s an old problem I have. Can you leave now? It’ll help me.” Guan Haiming’s face paled, and he waved his hand weakly.

Ruan Xian hurriedly put away the information, carried a heavy backpack full of equipment, and quickly rushed out of the room.

“Guan Haiming’s health is not right. Do we need to notify other doctors?” Ruan Xian wiped off his cold sweat, making sure the soundproof door was closed.

“His body has never been healthy.” Tang Yibu took the initiative to pick up the heavy backpack with a calm expression and no surprise. “I guess this is one of the reasons Ruan Xian was willing to make an exception to accept him as a student.”

Ruan Xian was stunned when he heard Tang Yibu spoke his real name for the first time.

“Guan Haiming was one of the first humans whose genes were completely optimized. All known pathogenic genes were eliminated, and appearance, IQ, and personality were all re-customized.” Tang Yibu lowered his voice while maintaining an indifferent tone. “It’s just that the first batch was a bit flawed. A small miscalculation. Their skull size and brain didn’t match.”

Ruan Xian’s blood ran cold. “That’s why he has headaches?”

“Well, the skull isn’t big enough.” Tang Yibu nodded. “There’s no cure. They can’t escape intermittent headaches, and they tend to be irritable. This problem was exposed after the first batch of test subjects stopped developing. Humans successfully fixed this hidden danger in the ninth batch of optimization.”

Ruan Xian didn’t know what to say for a while. He felt he was being suffocated. Taking in such a student did seem like something “he” would do.

What had the world become like in the twelve years since he was in a coma?

He mechanically changed his clothes, mechanically read various instructions, and mechanically carried his backpack on his shoulders. It wasn’t until he saw Zhang Yazhe’s face again that Ruan Xian managed to free himself from the endless distraction.

Chi Lei and Ding Zepeng were wearing the same camouflage uniforms as last time when they rescued him, while Zhang Yazhe’s suit was darker. The three of them were carrying light backpacks while the police auxiliary machine stood silently behind them. Its green aperture resembled the eyes of a wolf.

“Ruan Ge, what’s wrong with you? Your face doesn’t look very good.” Ding Zepeng was the first to find the anomaly.

“Nothing, maybe a little nervous.” Ruan Xian wiped his face and patted the young man on the shoulder.

“It’s okay, Zhang Ge said we’re just going to pick up parts, so there won’t be any danger.” Ding Zepeng grinned, showing off his snow-white teeth.

Chi Let’s still had a flat face, while Zhang Yazhe smiled at Xiao Ding, but there was no smile in his eyes. Ruan Xian retracted his gaze from Zhang Yazhe’s face, glanced at Tang Yibu behind him, and finally looked in the direction of Guan Haiming’s office.

The elevator was rising. They were about to return to the sunny surface. The spring flowers were blooming outside the building, and everything seemed to be full of hope.

But he only felt cold.

---

The author has something to say:

The information of the prototypes is given ☆-σ(>ω0)b

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 12: Partner

Artificial sunlight fell from the fake skylight on time. Ruan Xian opened his eyes and saw that Tang Yibu, who was beside him, was no longer there.

The last seven days of life had been just a simple repetition. There was no official ID card for the refuge, and the area that Ruan Xian could visit was limited. Since leaving the medical center, he hadn’t been able to go back to the lively hall but had stayed in the room for basically twenty-four hours a day. Tang Yibu would go to Guan Haiming at eight every day to correct his data and then retrieve food at the exact time during mealtime.

For the rest of the time, Tang Yibu would stay quietly in the room to clean or hum songs while watching Ruan Xian recover day and night, which he found quite annoying. Ding Zepeng occasionally came every few days, but then he seemed to have a task prepared, so he rarely showed up again.

After the initial night, Ruan Xian never asked Tang Yibu questions again. He focused all his energy on the information and opportunities at his fingertips. As long as he was still awake, Ruan Xian practiced coordination on the rehabilitation machine and played the introduction manual of the Shade Refuge repeatedly.

He was breathing today and would continue to breathe tomorrow. That was enough. Compared to the days of lingering illness, this current situation was far from death.

Ruan Xian successfully pressed the fear and uneasiness firmly down in his heart.

However, his calmness failed to drive Tang Yibu out of bed. The weird android would cling to him every night, as if he was an egg that needed a body temperature to hatch.

For the sake of improving sleep quality, Ruan Xian didn’t protest.

And just today, the week-long observation period was about to end. When Tang Yibu returned here again, he would have to say goodbye to this small room that he had lived in for a week and get an official identity card.

Ruan Xian sat up from the bed.

His shelter uniform, underwear, and socks were neatly stacked on the low cabinet by the bed. There was soft potato bread and steaming boiled beans on the plate resting on a wooden table not far away.

He skillfully dressed and jumped on the floor. This time, he didn’t touch the crutches on the side of the bed but went straight to the bathroom and removed the bandages from his neck that were used as camouflage.

Throwing the bandage into the garbage shredder, he looked directly at the face that was no longer unfamiliar in the mirror, showing a shallow smile suitable for socializing.

…Everything was ready.

But it wasn’t Tang Yibu who came to send the card, but a woman—or rather, a female android.

The visitor was wearing a black uniform for androids and had a bright smile on her face that was the same as Tang Yibu’s. She was a full head shorter than Ruan Xian. The tip of her nose was a bit curved, and her face was delicate and cute. “STR-X type 152d085 at your service.”

Learning forward slightly, 085 handed over the refuge ID card with both hands. “Mr. Ruan Lijie, please follow me and I’ll take you to the aptitude testing site.”

“What about 231?”

The female android tilted her head, but her expression didn’t fluctuate. “231 has ended his surveillance mission, and he’s currently on standby in the parts cleaning room according to the instructions.”

“Are you replacing him?”

“Report, no replacement. According to regulations, the surveillance period has ended, and you no longer need a long-term accompaniment of an auxiliary machine.”

Ruan Xian carefully observed the female android in front of him. She, like Tang Yibu, had a real human appearance, and her eyes were champagne gold with a metallic texture.

But there was a subtle difference. Ruan Xian always felt that the android in front of him had an indescribable sense of emptiness. He followed her silently, passing through all kinds of machinery and survivors, occasionally asking a few natural questions.

Common-sense questions were fine, but when faced with certain types of questions, she would only give him one answer.

“What was this refuge originally for?”

“Beyond the scope of consultation, please ask another question. STR-X type 152d085 is at your service.”

“Do you think it’s safe here?”

“Beyond the scope of consultation, please ask another question. STR-X type 152d085 is at your service.”

“Why are you here?”

“Beyond the scope of consultation, please ask another question. STR-X type 152d085 is at your service.”

No matter how many times he asked, she would always repeat it like this, and the smile on her face was as stiff as if it was engraved.

“Don’t ask, Ruan Ge. She can only execute a set of instructions. This is an android whose cybernetic brain has been destroyed. The same as 231.”

Ding Zepeng strolled over with a piece of potato bread in his hand, gesticulating vaguely. He no longer had the exoskeleton that supported his leg. “I just ran into 231 in the parts cleaning room. He said you were going to take the aptitude test…. Ruan Ge, do you want to have a meal together at noon? Chi Ge was discharged from the hospital, and Lao Zhang is fine, so let’s celebrate together.”

“Of course.” Ruan Xian smiled and patted Ding Zepeng on the shoulder.

“Okay. I’m going to prepare now.” The young man swallowed the bread in his mouth as his eyebrows fluttered. “The test will be over soon. It’s very simple. Don’t worry!”

The test was indeed not as complicated as Ruan Xian thought.

The content was the most basic physical test. There was no one in the test room. 085 put dozens of thin wireless sensors on him and gave him a communication headset. Many long-necked machines moved up and down around him, like snakes waiting for an opportunity to hunt.

Ruan Xian ignored them and just listened to the instructions in the headphones, then followed the instructed actions step by step—he twisted his joints, faced a specific direction, pulled a specific weight at a specific angle, or dealt with the treadmill that kept changing speed.

“Strength 87/100, endurance 92/100, reaction speed 100/100. Vision, hearing, and physical flexibility are all good. There are no obvious hidden dangers of diseases in the organs. Very good.”

The voice coming from the headset seemed to be Tian He’s. “…But your movement is too jerky. Your posture and breathing are obviously wrong, and your coordination could only be counted as moderate or low. At present, you can’t exert all your physical fitness. You need professional guidance and more frequent exercise.”

Ruan Xian wiped the sweat with a towel placed on the nearest machine and nodded his head. In just a week, he was able to run decently and exceed expectations, so naturally he didn’t have a semblance of athletic skill to speak of.

“There are more positions you can choose from. According to your physical fitness, for external operations, you can choose to be an explorer. If you don’t want to go out, low-paid mechanical maintenance repairman and underground utilities manager are also good. Taking into account your personal situation, I personally recommend that you start with indoor work and adjust your mental state first.”

“Mr. Tian—”

“We’ll issue an explanatory report later. You can check the detailed work content and give a reply in half a month.” Although Tian He’s voice was weak, it still carried an unquestionable aura.

It seemed that the mediocre results in the “Ruan Lijie” profile did have an impact, as the other party had dismissed him as a candidate for any mental labor duties in advance. An indoor position did sound safe but was relatively closed off. If he wanted to get more information, logically…

“I want to be an explorer and save people like Chi Ge and the others.” Ruan Xian put down the sweaty towel and spoke decisively.

“Don’t make a hasty decision,” Tian He replied lightly, without the slightest trace of approval in his tone.

Then the leader of the refuge paused for a few seconds and coughed for a while before speaking again. “How about this. Recently, Zhang Yazhe’s team has had no big task… From today on, you can transfer to them as a spare auxiliary backup and act with them. Get a feel for the explorer’s job. Just as well, it’s good to let them help you coordinate your athletic abilities. If you can’t hold up, you can change your mind at any time. How about it?”

“Yes.” Ruan Xian didn’t hesitate.

Half an hour later.

“…You agreed?!”

Before lunch started, Ding Zepeng’s eyes widened when he heard the news, and he almost dropped the spoon in his hand to the ground. “Ah, Ruan Ge, this half-month is your only long vacation here. Why are you so thoughtless?”

The canteen was very lively. Zhang Yazhe and Chi Lei sat on opposite sides of the table without saying a word.

A strange gray machine stopped behind the two of them. It was close to the size of a Great Dane but without a head. It had four animal-like mechanical legs that were long and powerful, and there was a tangled cross structure on top of it, shaped like a pair of giant hands clasped tightly in prayer. The metal and the cable were entangled with each other, and the position that should have been the “thumb” was vacant, replaced with a turquoise aperture. The pale tissue that trembled slightly was exposed from the gap between steel and plastic, like the skin of a living thing.

It stood quietly. Those pale tissues fluctuated regularly, as if they were breathing regularly.

This was the first time Ruan Xian had taken a closer look at the machines here. He had to say that even if he was used to seeing all kinds of weird experiments, the things in front of him were enough to creep him out.

Even if he turned his gaze back to the grilled chicken in front of him, he had lost most of his appetite.

“…And he brought this thing back.” Chi Lei propped both his hands on his forehead.

Tang Yibu stood behind Ruan Xian with his hands folded behind his back and had a bright smile on his face. “STR-Y type 307a231 is at your service.”

“After all, Ruan Ge has been taken care of by 231 for so long, and he doesn’t understand other types of auxiliary machines. It’s good to start with an android.” Xiao Ding immediately tossed out a reason.

“085 just picked him up,” Chi Lei snorted.

“Extrapolating from facts, I think Mr. Ruan Lijie prefers me.” Tang Yibu’s tone was standard and brisk.

Ruan Xian took a deep breath, and he could barely maintain the smile on his face. “It’s Xiao Ding who understands me. I just want to pick something that looks familiar. Xiao Ding, the one behind Chi Ge is…?”

“Oh, that’s a police model, which is more offensive-oriented.” Ding Zepeng stuffed a piece of cooked potato into his mouth. “To be honest, it’s much better than an android. 231 is a very old model. Zhang Ge, I remember you told me—”

“Yes, 231 is from a batch of android before the prototype came out.”

Zhang Yazhe reluctantly smiled as his gaze swept over Ruan Xian. His face was hiding a bit of bitterness.

“They do have cybernetic brains, but most of their bodies are made up of human tissues. It’s not easy to distinguish and involves a lot of problems. They were discontinued before The Great Rebellion. Later, androids all used artificial cells produced by the prototype… Haa, that said, A-type and S-type were destroyed too early, and all we can catch now are D-type products.”

He simply turned to Ruan Xian and pointed to the weird machine behind him with his chopsticks. “Xiao Ruan, don’t be afraid. This isn’t a living thing. At most, it’s bionic, and its cells are essentially nanomachines.”

Ruan Xian nodded and squeezed his chopsticks tightly.

This was the second time he had heard information about the “S-type prototype”.

“It’s not too late to get a new one. Before, there weren’t enough offensive auxiliary units, so we had to give them to a novice team. There should be a few police models left. You can apply for one from Guan Haiming,” Chi Lei added. “If you really want to do this job, you’d better pick a good partner from the beginning.”

“Thank you, Chi Ge, but no need.” Ruan Xian was quite tired from maintaining the smile on his face as he squeezed the words out of his teeth. “I… I quite like it, and it’s also good to add some challenges to yourself.”

Chi Lei snorted loudly, “Rather it’s more troublesome for others.”

“Lao Chi!” Zhang Yazhe cleared his throat vigorously.

“Is no one allowed to say a few words of truth?” Chi Lei sank his face and slammed his chopsticks down hard. “Guan Haiming gave us his information. I think everyone has seen it. How can we teach this kid to play with guns? With such a face and model, I don’t want to act with people of unknown origins. Last time, Qiu Yue went to the field and Lao Xing almost killed her with what they found. Did you forget all this?”

“But Haiming didn’t say anything this time,” Ding Zepeng whispered.

“That’s because Guan Haiming is rarely sober. He keeps playing that alcohol music in his room all day, so only you can still tolerate him.”

“Lao Chi, come here. I want to talk to you for a bit.” Zhang Yazhe stood up directly and patted Chi Lei’s shoulder. Then he pulled him away from the table and walked to the corner of the canteen. The creepy police auxiliary machine followed the two of them.

“Chi Ge is… a little suspicious. At first, we had many newcomers who were assisted by androids. Ruan Ge, you can bear it.” Ding Zepeng put two pieces of chicken into Ruan Xian’s bowl.

“It’s alright. I’m the one causing you trouble,” Ruan Xian responded gently, and casually put the meat into his mouth.

His mind wasn’t at the dinner table.

The noise in the hall should have completely covered Zhang Yazhe’s conversation with Chi Lei. But after Ruan Xian focused his attention, the murmurs seemed to sink to the bottom of the water, and the voices of the two became clearer.

His hearing had been enhanced. It was the same feeling as when he first woke up from the ruins.

“Lao Chi, I understand your thoughts, but you have to pay attention to the way you speak,” Zhang Yazhe sighed fiercely. “He didn’t do anything wrong and he’s still young. Not to mention that he was just brought back, and his spirit isn’t stable.”

“Would it be better if I just lost my temper then? And what I said was half the truth. I really don’t like that kid. Intuition.” Chi Lei’s anger had disappeared, but he still sounded as if he was in a bad mood.

“Take two simple tasks. Just do something to let him know the difficulties and make him quit. It won’t take more than a few days.”

“It won’t take more than a few days? Qiu Yue didn’t tell you about Tian He’s physical condition? That bastard Tian He is waiting to die, and he still won’t send anyone into the city even when he’s sick like that! ……Qiu Yue has already helped us get his body data. The sooner we get it back from the city to replace the internal organs, the sooner he can recover.”

“I think Lao Tian may have noticed something when he stuffed that newcomer here. Lao Chi, haven’t you counted the dangers in the city? There’s no backup for private actions. We can investigate as we train Xiao Ruan.”

“I fucking—”

“Think about it for Xiao Ding! What’s the use of rushing? Their young lives are in our hands. Are you able to mess around like that?”

“……Sorry. I just couldn’t swallow this. If we send several teams of people, it’s not impossible to get him a set of internal organs. How could he let his wife, a doctor, watch him slowly choke? Tian He is really fucking cruel. Why didn’t Qiu Yue scold him to death?”

“I can’t figure it out either. Oh, let’s not talk about it. I’ll deal with Xiao Ruan first, and you can continue to check the route.”

“Okay.”

“Also, go make amends with him later.”

“Tsk.”

Ruan Xian calmed down and concentrated his energy more. As a result, he overdid it—the sounds around him were like a dam breaking, and they all poured into his ears. He felt a sharp pain in both ears, and Ruan Xian’s face immediately paled.

A pair of warm hands covered his ears from behind, causing the rumbling noise to disappear almost immediately. After a few seconds, Tang Yibu retracted his hands.

“What are you doing?” Xiao Ding asked curiously as he gnawed on the chicken. Ruan Xian shook his head and found that the volume around him had returned to normal.

“It’s nothing. My hair’s a bit messed up. I asked 231 to help me pay attention to my meter.” Ruan Xian rubbed his ear as naturally as possible and looked at Zhang Yazhe and Chi Lei who were walking back.

“I had a problem with my attitude just now.” Chi Lei threw out the sentence stiffly, sat back in place, and began to eat his food stuffily.

“I talked to Lao Chi. Xiao Ruan, don’t take it personally. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to pick up screws and walk around. None of us have had anything to do recently, so you don’t have to bear too much burden.”

Lao Zhang smiled sincerely, but Ruan Xian captured the incongruity in his expression…

This time, Zhang Yazhe was lying.

“Cheers. In the future, we won’t have any unpleasantness.” Lao Zhang raised a metal cup containing light salt water. “Come, come. Let’s celebrate the addition of our young comrade, Ruan Lijie and the return of 231 to the team!”

“Thank you, Zhang Ge.” Ruan Xian stared closely at Lao Zhang’s eyes, picked up the cup in his hand, and drank it in one go.

“…I’ll trouble you all to take care of me in the future.”

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 11: The First Night at the Refuge

The sound of water flowed from the bathroom as Tang Yibu was taking a bath.

Nowadays, Ruan Xian was no longer surprised by the android’s habit of approaching living things. Since it was necessary to eat, it meant that Tang Yibu had a metabolic ability similar to a creature. Twenty square meters of space was very narrow, but it was fortunate that Tang Yibu wasn’t in front of him now.

The moment he heard the message from the other “Ruan Xian”, Ruan Xian wasn’t sure if he could control his emotions.

But it didn’t matter.

Stuffing the remaining nutritional supplement into his throat, Ruan Xian propped up his crutches and moved two steps, stacking his metal lunch box on top of Tang Yibu’s. There wasn’t a sink in the room, so he guessed that this thing would be uniformly recycled.

The metal scrapping sound made a harsh sound. Ruan Xian arranged the tableware neatly and lowered his gaze.

There was definitely shock, but panic wouldn’t be talked about. Meaningless panic couldn’t solve any problems. He adjusted his breathing harder as he tapped on the wooden desktop with his fingers.

His own intelligence was indeed seriously lacking, but on the other hand, he also had a great advantage.

A healthy body, a functioning brain, and a resilience that he wasn’t sure was a blessing or a curse but could temporarily be attributed as an advantage for now. Even if he had to leave the group, he had the physical capability to survive alone. At least for a short time, he could live normally as long as there wasn’t any major problem with Tang Yibu’s cooperation.

Right now, he had a perfect fake identity. Unless another “Ruan Xian” suddenly appeared and picked him out and investigated his information, no one would know who he was.

He had quite a lot of time to investigate.

Ruan Xian dragged himself to the rehabilitation machine in the corner of the room and inserted a metal box called the Introduction Manual into the reading table in front of him. Several robotic arms stretched out, firmly wrapped around his body and legs. They pushed him to move just right and began to stimulate standard marching movements.

The manual was once again pulled to the very beginning of the table of contents so he could scrutinize the video again. At the same time, he strove to relax his body and cooperate with the machine to learn to balance and walk.

However, not long after his rehabilitation plan began, it was interrupted.

The door beeped twice, and a visitor profile appeared in front of him. Ruan Xian looked at Ding Zepeng’s smiling face on the file, shook his head, and slid his finger over to the words “agree”.

Ding Zepeng’s ankles were still wrapped in fixed machinery, and both legs had an extra exoskeleton. He could still stand normally, but his walking speed was much slower.

“Ruan Ge, I’m here to see you!” The young man had a big smile on his face. “Oh, you’re doing your rehabilitation—you don’t need to come down. No need. Let’s just talk like this. It’s a hassle to stop and start again.”

Ruan Xian never hated cheerful people. He smiled instinctively. “Don’t you need to rest? Your ankle injury…”

“It’s not a problem with this thing supporting it.” Ding Zepeng patted the exoskeleton on his leg twice. “I just heard Zhang Ge say that you came to see us. I was sleeping at that time, so I thought about coming to see you. Although 231 is here… How can I put it, I was upset for a long time when I was new here. Haiming certainly don’t have the patience to explain to you, so I thought it would be better to have someone to talk to.”

He pointed to the manual in front of Ruan Xian. “I stayed up late and finished reading that thing and then had nightmares for weeks.”

Ruan Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. “You’re very kind. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Zhang Ge and Chi Ge are discussing the new robot, and I don’t understand that stuff. Ruan Ge, do you have anything you want to ask?”

“This refuge seems a bit old.” Ruan Xian picked out the most natural breakthrough point. “I think there are messages from Fan Linsong and Ruan Xian in the manual just now. They are both scientists, right? How did they mobilize so many resources at the end of the world? Even with machines, this kind of movement certainly isn’t small.”

“I thought about it back then. The environment was so good that it seems fake, right?” Ding Zepeng scratched his head. “Later, I heard Chi Ge say that this place was originally a refuge, but it was used for other things. The power facilities were changed by Professor Ruan and the others after they came over. It turns out that this was a bunker.”

“Other uses?”

“Chi Ge won’t tell me. I had asked Haiming before, but he didn’t want to tell me, but I’ve been here for more than three years, and I’ve been doing really well. Don’t worry, Ruan Ge.” Ding Zepeng sat down on a chair and rested his chin on the back of it.

“Speaking of this… The manual says they left. Are they coming back?”

Xiao Ding’s face became bitter. “Who knows. They just left when I arrived. It’s been three or four years. Professor Ruan left Haiming here, but Haiming isn’t very sociable, so many people don’t have a good impression of him… Haa.”

“No contact?” Ruan Xian swallowed his spit back and sped up the simulated walking speed of the rehabilitation machine to cover up his emotions with gasps and sweat.

“No. Any contact may expose the location of the refuge. You can only rely on people to deliver the message. In the first half of the year, some people said they saw them in the city, but then there was no news.”

Ding Zepeng’s mood faltered. “I have seen Professor Ruan and them. Professor Ruan is a very kind person—Professor Fan led the MUL-01 project, while Professor Ruan was responsible for quite a lot of work. You know about the rebellion… Anyway, I don’t think it’s their fault. The Masterbrain ran properly for five years, and they weren’t responsible for the daily maintenance.”

“But they still didn’t stay here.” Ruan Xian could fully guess the subsequent development.

“That’s right.” Ding Zepeng nodded. “Many people couldn’t swallow that fact.”

“But I have no impression of the MUL-01 project…”

“Oh yes, I heard Haiming say that Ruan Ge’s memory was still in 2095. MUL-01 was a project completed in early 2096. It was highly publicized that year. It was said that it was completed since 2090.”

Ruan Xian’s feet became so unsteady that he almost fell on the rehabilitation machine.

Since 2090, there had been only one artificial intelligence project. The project name is NUL-00, not MUL-01. The leader wasn’t Fan Linsong but himself—Fan Linsong was more like his assistant than his partner. Back then, weak artificial intelligence had reached its peak and could perfectly dominate most fields and almost pierce through that thin layer of window paper*, but for various reasons, a strong artificial intelligence that truly “surpasses humans” had not been born.

*Metaphor referring to how they were basically on the cusp of a breakthrough. The window paper represents a fragile barrier that can be easily pierced through. This could also be used to describe the relationship between two people who want to date (they need to pierce through the window to take the next step). || In this context, it’s saying AI had advanced leaps and bounds but they couldn’t pierce through that window paper yet to achieve an AI that could surpass humans.

Ruan Xian thought that NUL-00 was still far away, but Fan Linsong insisted that it was already “perfect” and wanted to publicly announce the news of success.

For this reason, they quarreled a lot, which was most likely one of the reasons why Fan Linsong killed him.

[I fucking told you countless times. If we drag on like this, we’ll have to hold on to the finished product and watch them pull the plug on it! Now, are you satisfied? I got wind last week that Plan Corp will disclose their research results by the middle of next year at the latest!]

[NUL-00 has passed all the security tests in the world. What are you still procrastinating about? The sooner it’s put to use, the more people it will save. Ruan Xian, have you ever considered that those ordinary people struggling in hospital beds and on the battlefield will have to pay for your nonsense alone?! How many people can NUL-00 save? You know better than me—]

It wasn’t that Ruan Xian didn’t try to explain, yet what was waiting for him was a bullet straight to the head.

The fear and consternation of the moment of death were still imprinted in the depths of his memory, and Ruan Xian shivered subconsciously.

“I don’t know much about this.” He reluctantly smiled at Ding Zepeng and decided to switch the topic elsewhere. As a result, before he could speak, someone helped him out—

“Hello, Mr. Ding.” Tang Yibu wiped his hair and walked out of the bathroom. His upper body was bare. “It’s ten in the evening. Do you need me to help you register for your stay?”

“No, no, no. Haiming will scold me to death. I just came to take a short look. I’ll leave now. Ruan Ge, Chi Ge, and I were injured recently, so our group has no tasks. You’re welcome to come and talk to me at any time!” Ding Zepeng jumped from the chair like his ass was on fire.

“Wait. I’ll send you off—” Before Ruan Xian had time to open the fixed arm of the rehabilitation device, there was no shadow left of Ding Zepeng. The young man pushed the exoskeleton’s walking speed to its limit, leaving a “no need for Ruan Ge” behind as it floated in the corridor in the distance.

Tang Yibu ignored the hair that was still dripping water and closed the door with a standard movement. “Do you want to continue your rehabilitation exercises?”

As soon as he got off the machine, the fatigue completely overwhelmed Ruan Xian. He shook his head wearily, turned off the manual, glanced at the soft bed, and just wanted to climb in early to rest for a bit, but it wasn’t appropriate to be slumped on the bed while he was sweating profusely. Ruan Xian strengthened his energy, supported his crutches, and decided to take a shower.

“In return for dinner, I can give you a massage.” Tang Yibu obviously deduced his intentions and generously offered.

“…No need, thanks.”

“Oh.” Tang Yibu dried his hair and folded all his clothes into tofu blocks by his sleeping bag, then carelessly dragged out the simple sleeping bag from the bottom of the bed and laid it straight on the floor next to the bed.

Ruan Xian: “…” This didn’t feel good.

“I will keep the light for you.” Tang Yibu put his hands on his chest. He folded his posture so that it looked like a corpse in a coffin.

Ruan Xian felt worse.

Although maintaining the identity of an artificial intelligence in Tang Yibu’s mind was the safest choice, it was also a lot of trouble not to be regarded as a human at all. This ridiculous feeling also helped him dilute a lot of tension. It wasn’t exactly a bad thing to think about—Ruan Xian simply rinsed his sweat off while soothing himself.

The mental exhaustion was stronger than his physical one, but after lying down in bed, he couldn’t sleep much.

After the lights went out, the faint sounds of wind and insects played intimately at the bedside, and Tang Yibu’s uniform breathing came from the bedside. Ruan Xian looked at the false night sky on the ceiling glass screen and became more awake.

Ruan Xian tightened the blanket. Feeling the strange touch of being wrapped in soft fabric, the comfortable friction made him tremble all over. He then turned his body sideways, pulled the pillow to the edge of the bed, and looked at the rise and fall of Tang Yibu’s chest that was less than a meter away.

The android’s eyes were tightly closed and looked as if he was asleep.

At least so far, in front of him, Tang Yibu hadn’t disguised his emotions. He was like an open book. Accordingly, he was also convinced that this dangerous android was withholding a great deal of information.

The contradiction was extremely confusing.

Does this “administrator” with great authority really have his own “emotions”? Is the little loss and joy he saw a true expression or just a simple calculated result?

Suppose Tang Yibu did have emotions. He hadn’t noticed any negative feelings from the other party so far. Even if he did have other purposes, it didn’t make sense to have repressed emotions when he was being used as a prop by a human whose strength is lower than his own.

Putting aside emotions and only talking about purpose…

If he just wanted to find the “S-type prototype”, Tang Yibu could take him away directly and leave this refuge. On the other hand, according to Tian He, Chi Lei’s team had been using 231 for almost two years—with Tang Yibu’s abilities, it didn’t take a full two years to investigate such a refuge.

If he had good intentions, Tang Yibu wouldn’t have spent a full two years disguised as an ordinary android. Ruan Xian couldn’t think of what the other party wanted.

This feeling was extremely weird. It was like being asked to put your hand into a dark box and touch an abnormal creature born from the unknown. Ruan Xian took a breath and wrapped his blanket tighter.

Then his eyes met the golden eyes in the dark.

“The frequency of your heartbeat and breathing has changed. You’re afraid,” Tang Yibu stated in an affirmative tone.

Ruan Xian didn’t respond, but turned his back to Tang Yibu, and then breathed out quietly.

“This is the first night in the refuge, and you’re still in the period when you are most affected by past memories. Discomfort and fear are normal.” There was a rustling sound from behind, and Tang Yibu seemed to have crawled out of his sleeping bag.

Soon, his bedside sank, causing Ruan Xian to freeze, not daring to move.

A warm hand leaned into his blanket, and then tore it apart mercilessly. Tang Yibu squeezed himself into the blanket, stretched out his arms, and encircled Ruan Xian’s waist from behind.

“A hug will make you better.” It was still a familiar, serious tone.

For a second, the image of the other party strangling him appeared irrepressibly in his mind, but Tang Yibu was right. Even if he knew that the “thing” behind him wasn’t human, the warmth from his body made him subconsciously feel a little reassured.

He could feel the heartbeat of the other party’s chest and the moist breathing sprayed on the back of his neck. Never had he been close to anyone like this before. He wasn’t sure if it was out of tension or confusion, but Ruan Xian’s mind blanked for a few seconds.

“You are much stronger than me. There’s no need to worry about my mood.” Ruan Xian pressed his index finger hard with his thumb nails, trying to regain his peace by the pain.

“Since we’re already in a cooperative relationship, I need to consider this factor. Otherwise, we’ll not be able to properly control the situation.” Tang Yibu slowed down his speech and answered solemnly. “Don’t worry. Go to sleep. Like I said, I will keep you safe.”

Ruan Xian was silent for a long time. Countless responses flashed through his mind, and finally he sighed softly.

“Good night,” he said.

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 10: Doomsday Record

Tang Yibu opened the door of the heater and took out the two metal lunch boxes from inside. The two boxes were similar in size, except one of them was printed with “for androids”. He wiped his hands and put the box on the table, acting gracefully like a waiter at a high-end restaurant.

“Dinner is hot,” Tang Yibu said.

The “window” at the top of the room that reflected the false blue sky and artificial sunlight was now replaced by a moonlight starry sky. The lights in the room were just the right brightness, and there was even a cool breeze. Compared to a cramped underground room, this was more like an ordinary suburban room.

Ruan Xian sat by the bed and gave a simple sigh. A metal box the size of a cigarette case was resting on his knees. Light was cast from the box, and a clear rectangular light screen was opened in a suitable position in front of him.

“If you don’t eat, I can help you eat your share.” Tang Yibu thoughtfully prompted, “After all, your current psychology is biased towards humans, and those pictures weren’t suitable for watching before meals.”

Ruan Xian then glanced up at the other party.

Less than half an hour ago.

Regarding Guan Haiming’s words, it did leave him in a momentary trance, but he forced himself to tense up without any gaffe. In the end, he just nodded in silence. Considering that “Ruan Lijie” had lost part of his memory, Dr. Guan had retrieved an item from the trash-like mechanical hill and stuffed it into his hand.

Guan Haiming called this metal box: “Introduction Manual to Shade Shelter.”

“There was a time when there was a particularly large number of people applying for memory wipes. I believe there’s enough information in it to answer all your questions.” Every word that Dr. Guan spoke had an emotion that hinted he didn’t want to talk anymore, and he especially emphasized the word “all” heavily.

Then he finally succeeded in driving them away.

After returning to his room, Ruan Xian studied the so-called introduction manual sullenly. In fact— Tang Yibu was right. The information about the end of the world did make him lose all his appetite.

The light screen was clear without the slightest flicker. The people on the screen struggled and screamed as they fled, then they were caught by a double-decker bus-sized machine behind them and were stuffed into a coffin-sized metal box. After a teeth-aching struggle and screams, the metal box opened again, and only a small amount of dust burst out.

Then the next one, and then the next one. First the elderly and children who couldn’t run fast enough, then the strong young men and women. The roofs of the vehicles blocking the road were torn off and the people in them were pulled out one by one. A mother with her baby was squeezed into the metal box and turned into dust without being shown the slightest bit of mercy.

Not only the ground, but the sky was filled with neatly packed machines. The soundproof glass of the high-rise buildings was shattered, and people with VR devices or wearing pajamas were caught unsuspectingly by mechanical grippers and shoved into the narrow boxes that symbolized destruction.

The mechanical gripper was connected to the metal hose that was pervasive, flexible, and powerful. Once captured, no one could break free.

The endless screams of despair made Ruan Xian’s back cold. And the “people” and robots just stood still, unmoving, as they watched their masters’ destruction.

The name labeled in the manual was called “The 22^nd Century Rebellion”—a bloody rebellion synchronized around the world with no prior warning. The Mainbrain MUL-01, which was used to process all artificial intelligence behavior and was tested and tuned by scientists all over the world, suddenly went out of control.

Overnight, a dark, thick wall of death was erected from underground, isolating all above-ground transportation hubs. Countless killing machines drove out or flew away from abandoned warehouses, and all artificial intelligence stopped what they were doing and began to assist them in rounding up humans.

Power, communication, and network systems were completely paralyzed at the moment the rebellion began.

All traffic lights were extinguished, and all the public institutions that relied on electricity were in chaos. Except for the killing machines that crushed houses and harvested human lives on the streets, all electric devices that weren’t equipped with special batteries ceased to function. The footage was from an overhead view, probably recorded by a battery-operated drone.

Perhaps it was because they relied on electricity and the internet for so long that once all means of communication were lost, the speed of human response completely failed to keep up.

The dust left by the corpses drifted under the blue sky, and the crowd fell in pieces like harvested rice. From a high point of view, this massacre could even be called orderly, except for the fact that there was no physical body left. The scene was a bit like a highly automated livestock slaughtering plant.

Ruan Xian gradually couldn’t suppress the feeling of nausea. He could clearly feel that his limbs were gradually becoming cold, and the cold sweat made the shelter uniform stick to his back, so he forced himself to shift his attention away from people…

The appearance of the building wasn’t much worse than what Ruan Xian was familiar with. There were obvious signs of alteration. The video time showed December 31, 2100, which was the time of the evening rush.

After stopping the screen for a few seconds and taking a closer look, Ruan Xian pulled open the directory, wrinkled his brow, and flipped it back.

Similar videos were sent in from all over the world, and the content was nearly identical. He took a breath, and just as he was about to cut back to continue watching, a hand with chopsticks suddenly stretched out from the screen, with warm light brown pieces of meat sandwiched between the chopsticks.

“Eat something.” Tang Yibu’s tone was serious. If the words hadn’t become slurred from chewing, it might have seemed sincere. “It is recommended that you adjust the directory to 02-0001. Those contents look more comfortable. Doomsday videos and synopsis are more suitable as bedtime stories.”

Ruan Xian stared at the pair of chopsticks that were poking out of the bloody picture, as well as the pieces of meat with some sauce on them. It forced him to fight off a wave of nausea.

“You ate a few bites of dry cake during the day today. You have to add more vitamins and protein.” The pair of chopsticks poked firmly in front of his nose.

“No…” As soon as Ruan Xian opened his mouth, Tang Yibu took the opportunity to stuff the meat into it.

“If you must know, I can tell you the backstory.” Seeing Ruan Xian’s expression that didn’t look like he would spit it out, Tang Yibu swallowed the food in his mouth.

“Some humans moved in sparsely populated places; some humans got into the medical dormant warehouse, blocked their vital signs, and then were abandoned in the garbage dumps. In short, people who survived through various means gradually gathered and organized various shelters.”

“On the other hand, artificial intelligence occupies the city and continues to hunt humans. They have also transformed many creatures. Mutant monsters such as the ventral cockroach have appeared rapidly. These are the outlines of the doomsday information provided by the manual.”

Tang Yibu handed over the entire lunch box and said, “02-0001 is as an introduction to the shelter, which is more suitable during mealtime.”

Ruan Xian swallowed the pieces of meat in his mouth unknowingly and took the lunch box with both hands. The lunch box was divided into four square compartments, one of which contained a hard-boiled egg, and the remaining three…

“Rabbit stew with beans, mashed potatoes, and brined brussels sprouts.” Tang Yibu introduced with shining eyes.

Ruan Xian sighed and resignedly dialed the manual page number to 02-0001 and picked up his chopsticks. Casually, he looked at the other dinner on the table.

“Ours is different?”

“Mine are hard boiled eggs, nutritional supplements, nutritional supplements, and nutritional supplements.” Tang Yibu shrugged. “If there are salt bean cakes left, our hard-boiled eggs should be salt bean cakes.”

After making sure that Ruan Xian held the lunch box firmly, Tang Yibu hummed a little tune and returned to the table. He used a spoon to dig out the viscous nutrients in the lunch box and ate slowly.

“Let’s switch,” Ruan Xian said suddenly. He propped up the crutches provided in the room, grabbed the small box on his knee, and sat on the other side of the table.

Tang Yibu stopped his chopsticks and raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t have much appetite, so I want to eat some liquid food.” The food was delicious, but under stress, he basically couldn’t taste anything. Since they had to continue to get along, it was better to take this opportunity to throw Tang Yibu a bone and use it as a gesture of friendship.

Besides, before he died, because of his physique, he had always lived on specially prepared processed foods.

“Okay,” Tang Yibu said happily, exchanging lunch boxes for the two of them. “Thank you very much.”

Ruan Xian nodded, scooped up the nutritional supplements, mechanically stuffed them into his mouth, and continued to watch the video.

“Welcome to Shade Refuge.”

A sweet female voice came from the metal box on his lap, and the picture on the light screen turned into a refreshing, beautiful forest scene. Then there were vegetables, rabbits and chickens in the breeding room, and finally the camera stopped on a few sheep that were gazing.

“We have the richest living resources, the best experts, and the most professional explorers…”

The nutritional supplements were salty and greasy. However, it is much better than the bitterness of medicine that couldn’t be covered by additives in his memory.

“…Electricity guaranteed by the combination of solar energy, hydroelectric power, and nuclear energy. Our medical institution is equipped with ten molecular printers. Don’t worry about drug shortages. You’re safe here.”

The female voice continued as Ruan Xian listened carefully while his eating became slower. Eventually, Tang Yibu stood up from the opposite side after he finished eating, and there was still a box full of nutritional supplements left on his plate untouched.

“Next is the message from the creator.”

There were two familiar figures on the screen.

One was Fan Linsong. He looked thirty years old. His face was haggard, and his white hair had a withered yellowish glow to it. His back was unbearably hunched, as if he was about to be crushed by immense pain.

The other figure was stuck in a mechanical wheelchair, extremely thin, and many parts of his torso were heavily replaced by machinery. Countless tubs and wires became entangled, as if the man were a part of the wheelchair…

Although the circumstances of his disappearance had changed a bit, Ruan Xian could still be sure that it was the wheelchair specifically designed by himself.

Ruan Xian squeezed the spoon in his hand unconsciously, and the metal handle made his palm ache.

However, the person’s exposed skin didn’t have terrible red lesions; only healthy white. The facial features on his face were standard but stiff, without any semblance of expression, like a dummy that was crudely manufactured.

Artificial skin.

If that was…

“Nowadays, survival itself requires great courage. First of all, I want to say to everyone who saw this news, you’re all good.”

The man opened his mouth, and his voice was extremely familiar.

“Secondly, please feel at ease. We’re equipped with a perceptual camouflage system here that affects electronic detectors’ scrying results and logs in real time. I can personally guarantee that the Shade Shelter is currently one of the safest places in the world.”

“We are about to leave here and explore more possible ways out. Later, leaders will judge everyone’s qualifications and assign the most suitable job for them. Whether you’re here for the first time, or you can’t bear the stress and erase your memory… Don’t give up. There is always hope.”

“Everyone who is still alive is the kindle of mankind. Please believe that you are very important.”

Ruan Xian slowly put down the spoon. He couldn’t eat another bite.

That was indeed the voice of “Ruan Xian”. More mature and calm, but there was no doubt that it belonged to him. Who is that? Or what is it?

Of course, another possibility also existed. Ruan Xian grabbed his wrist so that his hand wouldn’t tremble too obvious.

Who is he? …Or what is he?

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 9: Brain Black Box

“Before the final registration, I only have one question.” Ruan Xian stopped outside the doors of the examination room, and Tang Yibu, who was supporting him, had to stop as well.

The odd android who claimed to be an “old model” tilted his head slightly, indicating he was listening.

“I thought Ding Zepeng and the others saved me in passing, but listening to Zhang Yazhe’s statement just now, they seemed to have an original rescue target. You asked me to replace that person, didn’t you?” Ruan Xian asked in a whisper.

“Yes.” Tang Yibu graciously admitted. “I saw the ventral cockroach devour the man’s body near the ruins. He unfortunately died. That’s why Zhang Yazhe lost the distress signal. There’s no need to worry. He won’t suddenly appear.”

Ruan Xian looked at Tang Yibu with complicated eyes.

The other person did have a handsome human appearance. The pair of golden eyes were like sunlight, serious and focused, but there wasn’t much heat. It was like observing other creatures on the other side of the glass—the distance was close, but there was a sense of incomprehensible detachment.

That wasn’t the look of a “human”.

For the first time, Ruan Xian realized so vividly that he and the other party were two different creatures—that was, if Tang Yibu could be regarded as a certain kind of creature.

His motivation for asking the question was simple—if the survivor who originally needed rescue was still waiting outside, Tang Yibu’s behavior would be tantamount to delaying the rescue. As the beneficiary of this kind of behavior, Ruan Xian didn’t think he could live with such guilt, regardless of himself.

Sighing in his heart, Ruan Xian didn’t respond to Tang Yibu’s words but only acquiesced. He leaned forward, learning from Lao Zhang earlier, and clasped the palm of his right hand on the thick door panel.

“Ruan Lijie. Visitor application approved.” It was the familiar neutral electronic voice again.

As soon as the door opened this time, a deafening fast-paced music almost knocked Ruan Xian head-on.

The examination room in front of him was a bit larger than the ward that he had just seen. If he hadn’t known in advance that this was a medical ward, Ruan Xian would’ve thought he had walked into a mechanic’s grocery store.

About one-third of the space was filled with weird mechanical parts. Huge wooden boxes were stuffed in corners, with all kinds of mechanical moving limbs stuffed inside them, and wires were tangled on the outside. In the maze of parts piled almost to the ceiling, Ruan Xian even saw a few red bubbles. There were naked “human bodies” on the sink. With the loud sound of music, the mechanical limbs on both sides of the door trembled slightly, as if they would collapse at any moment.

A thin figure was working at a desk facing the door.

In view of the fact that there was only this living person was found in the room, Ruan Xian cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Mr. Guan, I’m here to check in for my medical examination.”

The man raised his head.

Guan Haiming was wrapped in an oversized white research coat and was huddled tightly in a chair. His hair was slightly long, his figure was thin, and his complexion was frighteningly pale. He looked less than 30 years old, and his facial features were exquisite, but his too thin face and the black bags under his eyes spoiled his delicateness.

He seemed too lazy to look up as he rolled his eyes to look at Ruan Xian, and then made a tsk.

“Oh, it’s you,” he hummed lazily, reaching out and scratching on the glass table, causing the music to instantly stop.

Rubbing his buzzing ears, Ruan Xian recognized the voice. Not long ago, the owner of this voice was wearing a mechanical mask and gave him an auxiliary chip shot.

“Mr. Guan Haiming, according to the regulations, you should go to dinner now,” Tang Yibu reminded him thoughtfully.

“No. I’m already tired after being forced to stay outside for so long,” Guan Haiming said coldly, shrinking back into his chair.

“Mr. Tian He specially arranged for you to go outside for shifts for the sake of your health,” Tang Yibu continued in a tone without emotional ups or downs.

“I’ll say it again, no need. Since this guy is here to check in for a medical examination, let’s start now.”

Tang Yibu didn’t insist anymore and pulled out a chair like magic from the mechanical pile and motioned for Ruan Xian to sit down.

“The scan results are fine, and there are no lesions or spy machinery in his body. The only suspicious thing is that he’s too healthy.” Guan Haiming lowered his head. The tip of his hair was hanging down to his frighteningly convex collarbone. “According to the report, Chi Lei gave you medication. It seems that he also has doubts. Well, let me see, temporary loss of memory… How much do you remember?”

“I remember that until March 1, 2095, when the world was still normal.” Ruan Xian glanced at Tang Yibu and repeated the modified remarks. “At that time, I was a waiter in a coffee shop.”

“Well, 28 years old. 231 had submitted the report.” Guan Haiming bit his nail. “Considering the current year, the physical age isn’t quite right. Have you ever been exposed to a dormant warehouse?”

“I don’t remember much.” Ruan Xian stared closely at Guan Haiming’s expression.

“If you were 28 years old, you should have a record in the file. Let’s take a look.” Guan Haiming knocked on the glass desktop full of pictures and text, and a light screen jumped into the air. “…Interesting.”

A simple text was displayed in the air, but looking at Ruan Xian’s side, he could only see the screen full of garbled code.

“In 2095, there were 932 Ruan Lijie registered nationwide; 10 people between the ages of 25 and 30, and 2 of them had work experience in coffee shops. There are no traces of plastic surgery on your face, and you don’t match one of them… I think there is a lot of information seriously missing.”

Guan Haiming glanced at the light screen, pulled out a blank input box out of thin air, and threw it at Ruan Xian. “Graduation school. Five names of people at the same level. The name and appearance description of the owner of the coffee shop where you work… In short, it’s the pile of questions above. Write them down.”

Ruan Xian recalled for a moment, took a breath, and tapped quickly on the air keyboard under the input box.

When he woke up twelve years later, he met an inexplicable Tang Yibu. He almost subconsciously used this fake identity to protect himself.

Back then, more and more people cultivated “legal” fake identities from scratch and sold them. In order to test the vulnerability of the identity tracking system, dozens of virtual samples, including “Ruan Lijie”, were put into the system by Ruan Xian as a comparison standard for the program to automatically detect fake identities. In a sense, they were close to the “vaccine” that trained the tracking program.

Some electronic ghosts that only exist in network records but could deceive the monitoring procedures through automatic calculations.

Even if he died, unless someone specifically canceled the authorization, this conventional long-term testing project would continue to operate normally, and the ghosts of these data piles would continue to move forward according to the planned path.

Ruan Lijie’s subsequent “life” trajectory was very peaceful and ordinary, and in all respects the most insignificant setting, which he himself compiled. In order to repeatedly test the probing process, he completed every detail by hand.

He didn’t mind telling the truth about his identity after thoroughly figuring out his own situation and making sure that he could really be safe in the shelter. However, at the moment, Tang Yibu’s surveillance was at the front, and Zhang Yazhe’s abnormal case was in the back, which only made Ruan Xian tighten every nerve.

He didn’t want to repeat his previous mistakes, and now was far from the time.

“There’s nothing wrong with your answer. Combined with the scans and the report of Zhang Yazhe’s squad, you should have entered a dormant warehouse after something happened to the general environment, and then came out half a year to a year later. Certain events have happened recently that have caused you to lose your memory for this period.”

Ruan Xian pursed his lips tightly.

“Don’t be nervous. External stimulation, certain treatments, and even self-resection of memories may achieve this effect. The world has become such that it’s better to forget more things instead. Believe me, you don’t know how many people want to do it all over again and pretend that yesterday’s world was normal. Of course, there are many people who would actually do that.”

Guan Haiming pulled the corners of his mouth and stood up.

“There’s no problem with your scan results. The results from the auxiliary chip have also come out, and all indicators are normal. As long as it’s determined you’re not an android and can’t die for the time being, my mission is over.”

“Can scanning determine whether a person is an android?” Ruan Xian asked, masking his question unintentionally.

“Coupled with the results of the auxiliary chip, the accuracy is almost 100%, unless those legendary units are willing to stoop down to our level. Any more questions? Now you can go.” Guan Haiming waved his hand impatiently, eyeing the place where the music icon was floating on his glass desktop.

However, Zhang Yazhe passed the scan and was also injected with an auxiliary chip.

Ruan Xian adjusted his breathing. “What exactly is the auxiliary chip for?”

“It won’t do anything to you. At most, record your physical condition and back up your memory. As long as you don’t run into a signal blind spot, it can also help us track your location. However, this thing will gradually deplete with metabolism, and it needs to be supplemented as appropriate after long-term strenuous exercise or heavy blood loss. Compared to the auxiliary chip, I personally prefer to call it a black box.”

“As for you, there shouldn’t be a chance to deplete it in large quantities, so let’s talk about it after a seven-day observation period first. The rehabilitation equipment has been delivered to your room. There’s no physical problem with your legs, and you’ll be able to recover soon… Shit, why again.”

Guan Haiming’s eyebrows jumped. He rubbed his temples nervously, and then clicked on the news that appeared on the glass table.

“…Okay, apply for maintenance, which will save a lot of trouble. 231, come to me at eight tomorrow morning and I’ll debug the data for you.”

“Yes,” Tang Yibu said.

“Chi Lei probably has already picked up a new machine on Xiao Zheng’s side. It just so happens that all the medical machinery is in use. You should stand by Ruan Lijie’s side first.”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu’s smile seemed to be brighter.

Seeing Tang Yibu helping Ruan Xian out of the chair, Guan Haiming breathed an undisguised sigh of relief, as if he couldn’t wait to rush the person out.

“…Mr. Guan, I have another question I want to ask.” Ruan Xian spoke again.

Guan Haiming suddenly showed a little murderous aura. “Ask.”

“Since 231 wants to be in the same room with me.” Ruan Xian’s tone was sincere, and his confusion and worry were just right. “Mr. Guan, what is the difference between an android and a human? I think he is, uh, quite human. I always feel like there’s something…”

“This question is really troublesome to explain, but it’s enough for you to remember this.”

Guan Haiming nodded his temples.

“A natural brain is human, but a cybernetic brain is not. Beyond that, nothing can be used as a criterion for judgment. The person who set up this rule is one of the founders of the refuge—”

Ruan Xian was about to nod his head and end the inquiry, but Guan Haiming’s next sentence made him stiff on the spot.

“—My teacher, Professor Ruan Xian. Since you still remember what happened in 2095, you should know this person.”

---

The author has something to say:

Show a mysterious smile.jpg

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Just some clarity. The term they use to describe Tang Yibu is (仿生人) which just boils down to a robot that looks exactly like a human. I have decided to use android as the de facto translated term for this, per Wikipedia.

Other robots will just be referred to as robots/machine unless the author specifies a term for them and will never use it when describing something that should be an android.

Just want to make a clear distinction.

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 8: Sickbed

The scan itself didn’t take much time; about five minutes at most.

The cramped scanning rooms were close to the size of a toilet cubicle and were thoughtfully equipped with seats. Before Ruan Xian retrieved the waist bag from the shelf, he quietly tore off the label on the canned food marked “Zhang Yazhe” and hid it carefully, then used the pocket cloth to stain the blank space after tearing off the label.

“This kind of can is the refuge allotment?” Leaning against the door of the scanning room, Ruan Xian stretched out his arm to Tang Yibu, who supported him with standard movements.

“Yes. The explorers have their share of emergency food, one less for each. It stands to reason that everyone has a number.” Tang Yibu glanced at the food canister that had lost its label, and the explanation came up again. “If you pick it up outside, it’s your personal property.”

Ruan Xian frowned and stuffed the food canister back into his pocket.

Right now, he only knew that it came from the ruins. It could have come from whichever corpse was underground, or it could have fallen from the surface into the ruined hall with him when the ground collapsed.

If Lao Zhang hadn’t specifically mentioned eating the canned food, he could still assume that the other party had accidentally lost it. If the can number wasn’t unique, he could also consider the possibility that there was or had been another “Zhang Yazhe” here.

However, there was only one possibility left. Lao Zhang was lying, and this lie was pointless. He could completely say that he had lost it.

“How will the kitchen reprocess this kind of canned food?” Ruan Xian averted his gaze from the other man’s overly standard smile.

“Check for toxicity, sterilize it, powder it, and use it as a seasoning.”

Ruan Xian breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the toxicity was checked and it was used as a small dose of seasoning. He fell silent and focused on the control of his legs as he followed Tang Yibu back to the white inspection room and then walked straight through the door.

Behind the door was a spacious hall.

There were many simple arches built around the hall, and in the middle was a circular platform. Several staff members were busy in the circular ring table, operating a huge light screen floating in the air. Scattered mechanical devices were piled up in the corner of the hall, and the light screens projected everywhere, making the space look less cluttered. There weren’t many people in the hall, but there were people coming and going, making a lively scene.

But it wasn’t just people who came and went.

Special-shaped robots of various shapes accompanied people, walking with them obediently. As soon as a tall robot with three thin legs crossed over their heads, Ruan Xian had to take two difficult steps back to make way for the camouflaged robot shaped like a headless ostrich.

The design of the mechanical joint was so exquisite that Ruan Xian’s eyes almost stuck to it until Tang Yibu firmly dragged him to the arch in the opposite direction.

In contrast, this arch was much more deserted. A steel sign carved with a snake staff pattern was nailed to the top of the arch, and the smell of medicine wafted from the corridor inside the door. The entire space was filled with an icy aura.

Within a few steps, Ruan Xian saw a familiar figure.

Lao Zhang still looked dirty. He stood in front of a door and was wiping his hands with a handkerchief. As if perceiving Ruan Xian’s gaze, he turned his face sideways and pulled out a passionate smile.

“You’re the new guy. Let’s see… Ruan Lijie, right? Hi, I almost delayed things on this trip. There aren’t many survivors who are willing to move around these days. I was supposed to pick you up, but I lost the signal. Fortunately, 231 found you. Sorry, sorry.” Lao Zhang’s smile was sincere, and he kept rubbing the stains on his palm with his handkerchief as he spoke.

“Don’t say that. It’s not easy for everyone these days, and it’s already kind enough for you to accept me.” Ruan Xian naturally continued the conversation.

“That’s true.” Lao Zhang glanced at Tang Yibu, who was pretending that he didn’t exist, and then his eyes slid back. “How’s it going? Are you uncomfortable anywhere? There may be some adverse reactions to the first injection of the auxiliary chip. You’ll need to do a physical examination, so tell the doctor if you feel uncomfortable anywhere.”

“Where’s Zhang Ge? …I just heard you came to see Chi Ge and them?”

“Yes. By the way, say hi to the boss.”

“Can I go in and have a look? Chi Ge and Xiao Ding took good care of me, and I also want to meet them too.” Ruan Xian stared closely at Zhang Yazhe’s eyes.

He felt the hand that was being held by Tang Yibu tighten slightly, but he said nothing.

“Alright. Anyways, 231 is also here. Qiu Yue shouldn’t say anything. Just don’t take too long.”

With that said, Lao Zhang finally wiped his hands and pressed his palm on the door.

“Zhang Yazhe, visitor application approved.” The door slowly opened with a neutral electronic tone.

“Lao Chi!” Zhang Yazhe laughed as soon as he entered the door and rushed to Lao Chi’s bed.

The room wasn’t small as it held five beds. Among them, three people were lying on the beds next to the fake window. Chi Lei’s bed was closest to the door, followed by Xiao Ding’s, who was sleeping. The bed in the corner had a curtain, so he couldn’t see who was inside.

There were a few pots of forget-me-nots placed on the windowsill of the fake window, which made the small blue flowers under the artificial sunlight extremely beautiful.

Chi Lei was lying on the hospital bed naked and looked a bit thin. The cut across his back had been stitched up, and a dozen spherical machines the size of glass balls were busy beside the wound. Lao Zhang clapped at the bedside, causing several small balls to almost roll down Chi Lei’s back.

“Lao Zhang?! Bastard, where have you been?” Chi Lei propped up his upper body. This was the first time Ruan Xian had seen him show a smile.

“Where else can I go? Near the wild cemetery. I heard that you have also encountered ventral cockroaches. I was going to pick up a signal, but I ran into one and almost lost my shoe running away.” Zhang Yazhe rubbed his nose. “Are you okay?”

“A small injury. One week should be enough. Anyways, the survivors aren’t everywhere.” Chi Lei glanced at Ruan Xian obliquely. “…What are you doing here? Have you done your physical?”

“Not yet. Going right away. I just came to see you guys,” Ruan Xian replied sincerely, leaving aside Lao Zhang’s reasons, this wasn’t completely a lie.

“Why are you so fierce towards young people? They care about you. Besides, there’s 231 here. What can happen?” Lao Zhang chided him. “Is your mouth light? Do you want me to give you a few pieces of salt bean cakes? Did you eat enough before you left?”

“You’re not afraid of those people in the kitchen killing you?” Chi Lei’s attention was instantly distracted.

Unsure if it was because he heard the key word “salt bean cakes”, but Xiao Ding on the next bed over smacked his mouth hard while he was sleeping.

Ruan Xian controlled his expression and smiled at Chi Lei rigidly while saying nothing.

He listened to Zhang Yazhe’s and Chi Lei’s conversation, and there seemed to be no tenseness on either side. The information was also remembered correctly as well. Lao Zhang’s enthusiasm and concern for him also felt true, unlike if he was trying to hide something.

If it hadn’t been for picking up that terrible cannister, Ruan Xian thought he wouldn’t have had half a doubt about the person in front of him.

“Zhang Yazhe?” A calm male voice came from inside the curtain.

“Ouch, boss!” Lao Zhang hurriedly straightened his waist and stood at attention. “Reporting, Zhang Yazhe survived the catastrophe and is back!”

The curtain controlled by the slider opened automatically, and a man in his forties was leaning against the head of the bed with a piece of electronic paper in his hand. The sun crossed the small pot of forget-me-nots and shone on the boney body, giving the impression that the man looked quite thinner.

“You just returned. Don’t take it too seriously. Let Qiu Yue check on you and tell her if you’re uncomfortable anywhere. You’re our best explorer, so you can’t just collapse.” The man nodded wearily.

His gaze lingered slightly on Ruan Xian, but there was no intention of speaking.

“Yes!” Lao Zhang’s waist straightened.

“Speaking of which, Chi Lei just reported to me that he hopes to change the auxiliary machine. Your team has been using 231 for almost two years. Do you have any ideas?”

“Lao Chi is the mechanic in the team, so I’ll listen to him,” Lao Zhang said immediately, then turned his head. “By the way, Lao Chi, what did 231 do?”

“Resisted orders. In addition, the medical parameters were wrong. It gave Xiao Ding an extra half dose of the soothing agent during battle. This was the first time it had failed. In my opinion, it should be returned to Guan Haiming.”

“I’ll listen to you. When Xiao Ding wakes up, we will discuss it and go to Professor Guan to replace it. Not long ago, Xiao Zheng got a few more police models, so we should be able to exchange it.”

Ruan Xian looked at Tang Yibu. Tang Yibu was still standing by his side, holding him steadily, as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“Ok. When you are done, remember to fill out the report.” The man smiled gently and put down the electronic paper.

“…I just left for a while, and you sat up again. Tian He, do you not listen anymore?” Qiu Yue walked into the room carrying a cloth bag. Her voice was full of helplessness, but there was a shallow smile on her face.

Putting the cloth bag on the small table next to the man’s hospital bed, she took out a few square boxes from it, and then raised her head. “Yo, Xiao Ruan, you’re here too.”

The leader of the refuge—or Tian He—moved his body and arranged himself into a more comfortable posture. He wasn’t sure if he was seeing things, but Ruan Xian always felt that Tian He’s eyes were looking at Qiu Yue with a bit of a complicated expression.

“Tian He, get ready to eat.” Qiu Yue’s voice was gentle. “Xiao Ruan, hurry up. The doctors are about to go to the hall for dinner now. There shouldn’t be many people left. It’s best to finish the check-up before dinner. Otherwise, you’ll go hungry into the night.”

“Ah, thank you, Qiu Jie.” Ruan Xian nodded obediently while looking at Zhang Yazhe, who was joking with Chi Lei from the corner of his eyes.

However, after leaving the room, Tang Yibu instead led him to the arch where they originally came.

“Shouldn’t I get my checkup?”

“Qiu Yue said it was a little late and the last doctor also left the room just now.”

Tang Yibu turned his back to the surveillance camera with a serious expression. “According to Mr. Zhang, there may be salt bean cakes in tonight’s meal set, but they will be gone if we get there late. I prefer to eat early than be hungry.”

“……You need to eat?”

Tang Yibu turned his head sideways. “Don’t you also need to as well?”

“But in the hall—” Those robots in the hall didn’t look like they needed to eat.

“Those are all new technologies.” Tang Yibu sounded annoyed. “As an old model, I have to consume calories to keep my body running. Salt bean cakes are a good source of calories.”

“…” This seems to be different from the android he imagined. He strongly suspected that the android in front of him had a special preference for salt bean cakes.

Unfortunately, Mr. Tang’s dinner plan didn’t work out. Before they walked out of the archway, Tang Yibu stopped, and a bit of despondency slowly appeared on his face.

“What’s the matter?” Ruan Xian held his breath.

“There’s still a doctor there.” After dinner, Tang Yibu’s standard smile seemed a bit forced. “Or maybe a part-time doctor.”

“Clinic No. 19, Dr. Guan Haiming.”

---

The author has something to say:

Lao Zhang is the one who was fried into meat sauce in the first chapter (gesture)

In the previous chapter, I saw a lot of speculation about hhhhhh

No spoilers! (ψ°▽°)

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Ironic the author says no spoilers considering she spoiled the shit out of Stray when I was translating it in her author comments. Luckily for you readers, I decided to leave those spoilers and any potential ones here out.

---

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