Finally, with the heat and loud noise, the flying giant ship crashed into the ground. Tang Yibu stretched out his arm and hooked Ruan Xian into a pit on the ground. Metal fragments burst out in continuous explosions, and a piece of twisted iron sheet scraped past the two of them, leaving traces like a knife cut.
The explosion quickly subsided, and all that remained was the sound of flames burning. Tang Yibu grabbed Ruan Xian tightly in his arms and remained motionless, like a snail indented into its shell, until the sound of burning gradually disappeared. Ruan Xian had to bury his face in Tang Yibu’s arms to escape the smell of the unpleasant fumes of rubber and plastic burning behind him. At this moment, Tang Yibu smelled like clean soap and a basket of dried grass, which only made Ruan Xian focus more on this smell.
The air gradually cooled down, and the black smoke was diluted by the evening breeze. Ruan Xian breathed out and finally managed to pull his nose back from Tang Yibu’s coat.
He stood up, pounded his aching back, and looked at the ship.
There was no human breath or heartbeat aboard the ship; only little cracking sounds caused by burning, in addition to the clicking sounds of metal cooling.
Under the dim moonlight, the strange big ship had plunged diagonally into the soil, with only about two-thirds of it exposed outside. It looked a bit like a submarine, and the part that hadn’t been blackened by the flame revealed some dirty iron. Its design and shape were extremely rough, and a large number of traces of iron sheet that looked spliced were left on the shell, which made it seem as if it wasn’t a product of precision technology.
Tang Yibu patted the mud off his body. “Is there anyone there?”
“No.” Ruan Xian rubbed the blackened hull with his fingers. “There’s nothing on this ship.”
“Great. Let’s go in,” Tang Yibu said.
“…Are you sure?” Not to mention the toxic smoke hadn’t completely dissipated, the way this ship had landed was strange. It stood to reason that instead of being deeply inserted into the soil, it should have directly fallen apart on the hard land and split into several pieces. This submarine-like ship was full of oddities, which made Ruan Xian cautious and didn’t want to approach it rashly.
Not to mention, there was a strong smell of burnt flesh coming from the ship. There were indeed no living humans in it, but that couldn’t be said about the dead. He wasn’t sure if he was mentally prepared for the scene inside.
Tang Yibu was much simpler. He quickly tore off a piece of iron sheet from the hull, rolled it into a cone, and tangled it all over the semi-collapsed ship. The evening breeze was strong and the turbid heat in the ship passed through the hole with the wind, causing the temperature nearby to drop a bit.
“We have to search for supplies first.” Tang Yibu threw away the iron sheet in his hand and patted them. “Generally speaking, people in the Sea of Ruins will not chase so far, but these metal parts may attract scavengers. There are humans staring at it. Keep a low profile.”
As he spoke, he peeled back the iron sheet, like tearing off skin, and created an entrance, then made a “please” gesture.
Ruan Xian clenched the gun in his hand, sighed, and walked into the cabin with Tang Yibu. As soon as he entered, Ruan Xian immediately found something was wrong. His feet stepped on solid ground.
It was like someone had cut off the first third of the ship and cleverly placed the rest on the ground. Not only were there no potholes on the floors of the inside of the ship, even the grass stayed safely in the crevices of the stones. Ruan Xian squatted down and dug along the bulkhead inside the ship. The smooth bulkhead under the ground melted with the soil and became a hard and loose honeycomb structure.
The moonlight fell down the hole above his head, illuminating the small piece of ground in front of him. Like a withered black flower, a charred hand poked out of the soil and was bathed in silver light.
Ruan Xian frowned, picked up the fragment from the ground, and poked it carefully. The wrist of that hand made an uncomfortable cracking sound and fell to the side.
The human body under the soil was similar to the bulkhead. The soft flesh had merged with the soil and turned into a fine honeycomb shape.
“This ship… passed through the soil.” Ruan Xian turned his head and looked at Tang Yibu, who was putting cans and tools into his backpack.
“This is a pirate ship. They need to sail in the Sea of Ruins, so the ship must have the ability to pass through solids.” Tang Yibu was squatting in front of the scorched cabinet trying to find objects that hadn’t been burned. “The vibration system of this ship has failed. This kind of accident is very common.”
“You seem to know this place well.” Ruan Xian moved away from the broken hand, took a few steps forward, and picked up a blackened knife.
“I’ve heard a little bit about it.” Tang Yibu stopped moving and looked out of the hole. “We have to move faster. Other machines are coming.”
Ruan Xian clung to the crack and looked at the source of the footsteps…
A group of spherical metal machines were rapidly approaching. They ran on four pointed legs, leaving a trail of dust behind them. A small scavenger puppet followed closely behind, walking awkwardly. Unlike the two they encountered in the forest, there weren’t many metal fragments on its body and its soft pale tissues were exposed in many places.
At this speed, it was estimated that the group of weird things would reach the ship wreckage in about three minutes.
Ruan Xian instantly lost the mood to inquire more. He looked around and found a bundle of metal rope that could be used. Just as he was about to run up the upturned stern, a strange sound of breaking through the air passed through his ears.
“Something’s wrong.” He subconsciously pulled Tang Yibu’s back collar. “Let’s withdraw.”
Tang Yibu didn’t say anything. He grabbed his bulging backpack, stood up obediently, and tore open an exit on the other side of the cabin. The two squeezed out as quietly as possible, leaving the continuing approach of the machines on the other side. The strange whooshing sound in the sky was still approaching. Ruan Xian wanted to signal Tang Yibu to leave faster, but the sound had caught them.
A large soft net that was almost transparent fell from the sky and swooped them to the ground. Also unlucky was the group of machines that had just arrived. The small spherical machines were crowded into a pile like grapes, squeaking and screaming. The scavenger puppet twisted its pale limbs and was struggling frantically, but the net was flexible and strong, like some kind of spider web that was inescapable. Ruan Xian cut hard with the knife he had just picked up but didn’t even make a dent.
Tang Yibu looked around as he lay slowly on the ground and calmly put on the coffin-style sleeping position that Ruan Xian was familiar with.
“Aren’t you going to struggle?” For a moment, Ruan Xian wanted to poke the android with the knife he was holding. “For example, tear open this net and then find a better place to sleep.”
“This net is too strong. If I tear it with my bare hands, it’ll arouse their vigilance. This is good. We have to deal with the pirates sooner or later.” Tang Yibu had let the net fall on his face as he spoke calmly.
Ruan Xian persistently used the knife to cut for a while, and finally determined that this thing was in every sense of the phrase yielding neither to soft or hard*. He moved to Tang Yibu’s side and sat down in a posture that was a bit subtly consistent with the crestfallen scavenger puppet not far away. “Are you sure they won’t kill us?”
*(软硬不吃) Refers to being immune to cajolery or coercion. || Basically, it’s saying the net can’t be broken through forceful or soft means.
“Usually not. We can pretend to be humans. Humans at this age are useful labor and an important resource.” Tang Yibu stretched out his hand to hook Ruan Xian’s waist and fix him tightly to his side. “It’s not too late to run. If something goes wrong, you can still catch a ride.”
“What ride? “Ruan Xian grabbed the hooked arm and asked vigilantly.
What happened next was faster than Tang Yibu’s answer.
As fast as the net came, it was pulled back just as quickly. It passed through the wreckage of the ship like a phantom, leaving only the two humans and the machines with vital characteristics behind, and yanked straight towards the Sea of Ruins.
The net was pulled into the air, causing the spherical little machines and the scavenger puppet to squeeze tight like packed sardines. The speed of the oncoming wind was extremely fast, causing the net to spin rapidly and made Ruan Xian nauseous that he almost vomited. Tang Yibu, who had been lying straight, bent his body. The two looked as if they were two shrimp caught in a fishing net.
After flying for a few minutes, they finally hit something soft. Judging by the sense of shock under them, the thing that caught them was very close to an air cushion made of plastic cloth.
This time, Ruan Xian decisively decided to play dead with Tang Yibu.
“The harvest is good. Those idiots in the west can still do us some good even if they die.” A hoarse male voice sounded in his ears. “Let me see… Thirty-five iron beads. Okay. Oh, a scavenger puppet. This will make me a lot of money.”
An iron rod stretched out and poked Ruan Xian’s waist directly.
“Someone.” The thick voice immediately became vigilant. The pole was pulled back and there was a click, as if a weapon was being activated. “Gang Zi, turn the net over and have a look.”
“Okay!”
The net under him was drawn away, and the spherical machinery jingled and scattered. Ruan Xian collapsed motionless on the air cushion like a dead fish, staring at Tang Yibu, who was also facing down, from the crevices of his eyes.
“Both of them are still breathing.” The hoarse voice seemed to be talking to someone. “How to put this… It doesn’t look like they’re from the west.”
The air cushion sank under them, indicating someone was approaching. One hand grabbed Ruan Xian’s hair and forced him to lift his face. The visitor hissed for a few breaths, let go of him, and grabbed Tang Yibu on the other side.
“Two little white faces. There are no such people in the west. Looking at their appearance, they’re either androids or were genetically modified.” He sounded a little confused. “They have a good physique and look strong. Captain, look at this—okay, okay. I’ll get them back first. You mentioned location? Just over the wall of Petri Dish No. 1306.”
Ruan Xian tried his best to listen, but he could only hear murmurs. Most likely, the other party wasn’t giving instructions via voice.
“Gang Zi*!” A thick voice rumbled, causing the communicator to shake. “Tie these two up and take them to the stronghold cell.”
*When used after a name, it’s an affectionate way of addressing them, but more so in a historical setting, so this is more like affectionately addressing them but jokingly (I think).
Gang Zi didn’t answer. Ruan Xian could feel a large hand directly grabbing him and wrapping him into a spring roll with a restraining strap. He and Tang Yibu were carried on the person’s shoulders, one on each side as they rocked forward with the giant.
At first the shaking motion was regular, then it felt like some kind of wheeled vehicle, similar to a hoverbike. After being blown by the cool breeze for about half an hour, the big man known as “Gang Zi” finally stopped moving. He opened something, causing a bang…
Then came the fall.
First Tang Yibu, then himself. They were thrown into a dark hole like garbage by the big man. Within a few seconds, Ruan Xian confirmed his thoughts. They were sliding down a garbage chute of a high-rise building, and the speed was accelerating.
Two dirty spring rolls were ejected from the outlet of the garbage chute and fell to the ground one after the other. Tang Yibu landed first and unfortunately became Ruan Xian’s meat cushion. He gave a pitiful “ugh”, twisted his body, and got out from under Ruan Xian.
“There’s no one nearby.” Ruan Xian moved his shoulders and found that he couldn’t break free from what was restraining his body. Fortunately, the garbage chute had been abandoned for a long time, as there was no residual garbage left. Otherwise, he would’ve gone crazy at this moment.
They were thrown into a strange room, which at first glance looked like a half-collapsed ordinary apartment. The fine and hard iron bars were obviously installed later, and they were roughly inserted into the exquisite wooden floor. Decorative paintings hung crooked on the wall, and a fabric sofa was overturned in the corner. Most of the sofa’s cushions were broken and covered with dust.
“I fell and I’m a little hurt.” Tang Yibu spoke deeply.
“Uh-huh.” Ruan Xian continued to observe the surroundings vigilantly.
“I need some treatment.” The android squirmed like a worm and approached him, obviously with no intention of unlocking his restraints.
“Come on, be strong.” Ruan Xian glanced at the stains on the other party’s lips and inched a few steps back. “It’s good to feel more pain. It’s more realistic.”
“You’re faking it—”
“Your mouth is stained with dirt and mold from the garbage. If you dare put your mouth near me, I’ll make it hurt even more severely later.” Ruan Xian spoke very fast. This time he almost poured out all the thoughts that appeared in his mind.
“I understand.” Tang Yibu nodded solemnly. “Sorry, I’ll remember to wipe my mouth in the future.”
“…There is no future.”
The light suddenly snapped on.
“It doesn’t seem to be an android and he also seems to have the mind to flirt at this time.” The visitor was wearing a dirty jacket, but his hair was neat. He wore gold wire glasses that had cracks on them and were framed on the bridge of his nose, giving him a svelte appearance.
“The great Tu Rui, deputy captain of the Walking Stones. Good evening to you both.”
The texture of the dead wall was dark and dense, cold to the touch, which made it difficult to distinguish whether the materials were metal or stone. It was about five meters wide. Tang Yibu took a few steps forward, jumped off the wall, and landed in the sand with Ruan Xian.
The Sea of Ruins, composed of long buildings, was still some distance away from them.
Tang Yibu returned to his usual expressionless face. Seeing Ruan Xian standing firmly on the wasteland, he took Ruan Xian’s backpack and carried it, and walked straight to the long building floating in the distance. Ruan Xian glanced behind him, and the high, dark wall behind him sucked away all the light, and the space seemed to be cut off, revealing the nothingness behind it.
He could still smell the forests and grasslands on the other side of the wall, but the vibrant smell was muted a lot.
“We’re just going to walk over like this?” According to their current speed estimate, it would take at least until dawn. The ground under their feet was rugged, which wasn’t suitable for driving.
“The closer you get to that place, the higher the security and surveillance,” Tang Yibu explained patiently. “Intense exercise also consumes a lot of calories, and our supplies are insufficient.”
“You just said that MUL-01 has more relaxed management here.”
“Those surveillance belongs to humans,” Tang Yibu added.
Ruan Xian stopped. He frowned, closed his eyes, and began to listen—The wind blew through the dry grass stems, insects and mice rustled over the sand. A little further away, there was an electronic sound, the squeak of metal friction, and…
Once again, the sounds in his ears became like a rumbling flood. His eardrum was pierced like a needle, and the severe pain caused him to squat down instinctively. This time, Ruan Xian was more experienced. He immediately covered his ears with both hands and reduced the volume of the sound that was brain-shattering, leaving only the sound he heard was blood flowing through his blood vessels.
“You listen too hard.” When he opened his eyes again, Tang Yibu had already sat down opposite of him. “The perception ability of the S-type Prototype is indeed powerful, but your information processing power is limited.”
“Information processing power?” Ruan Xian put his hands down. His eardrums were still aching faintly.
“Yes. Pictures, sounds, and smells all contain a lot of information. This is a typical reaction to information overload. Come on, add some calories.” Tang Yibu turned Ruan Xian’s bag to his body, took out the small package containing food, broke half of a salt bean cake, and handed it over.
Ruan Xian took the salt bean cake and didn’t move. “Last time when something went wrong, I didn’t have much to listen to.”
“Your brain is gradually adapting.” Tang Yibu chewed up the remaining half of the cake. “This is a good phenomenon. Your electronic brain has good performance, at least better than the human brain. This level of information is enough to make the human brain lose function.”
After eating the salt bean cake in his hand, the android clapped his hands and stood up. He reached out to pull up Ruan Xian.
Ruan Xian didn’t plan to stand up. He quickly extracted the information he wanted. “I can consciously train it to adapt faster.”
Tang Yibu retracted his hand. “Why? I can protect you. This information is enough for us.”
After thinking for a moment, Ruan Xian stood up. He had obtained useful information and had to put the brakes on the car before the conversation slid into a more dangerous direction. He wasn’t in a rush to train at that moment.
“I’m just talking casually.” He smiled.
Tang Yibu, however, didn’t intend to let it go and instead looked at him with interest. His golden eyes were particularly conspicuous in the dark. “You’re lying.”
The smile on Ruan Xian’s face froze. He thought that his response was perfect, but the android must have noticed something.
“I lied to you.” Tang Yibu looked serious. “Your reaction just now tells me you were indeed lying previously.”
“……”
“You want to train your abilities, gain more information advantages, and find a way to get rid of this earring. right?” Tang Yibu pointed to Ruan Xian’s stud earring while Ruan Xian still remained frozen like a dummy. “No problem. I can help you train your abilities.”
“Why?” The smile on Ruan Xian’s face completely disappeared.
“Because no matter whether I intervene or not, you will always find a way to do it.” Tang Yibu spread his hands. “‘Helping you’ can reduce the possibility of you falling into danger as a result, and it can also increase the probability of gaining your goodwill.”
Ruan Xian began to consider whether there was something wrong with the design of this android in front of him.
“Saying this out loud won’t help your plan,” he responded dryly.
“You can think of this yourself. There’s no difference between saying it or not.”
“…No, I never thought you wanted me to have a favorable impression of you.” For some reason, Ruan Xian felt a little uncomfortable. He thought perhaps it was because the earring was still emitting a foreign body sensation on the earlobe.
Tang Yibu widened his eyes slightly. “But you obviously did the same—choosing the most acceptable personality among humans and even increasing your own risks for them. You want the humans in the refuge to agree with you, even if those good feelings are of no practical use.”
He paused, took a step closer, and stared into Ruan Xian’s eyes. “You have had emotions similar to anger towards me a few times before, and you suppressed them all. At that time, our conflict was indeed disadvantageous for you… But your disguise was so proficient that I thought it was because you wanted ‘no conflict’.”
Ruan Xian secretly squeezed the salt bean cake in his hand, almost crushing the poor cake.
“Now you are pretending again.” Tang Yibu shook his head. “We’re already in a partnership. You—”
“I don’t need to please you. You’re right. I shouldn’t make unnecessary disguises.” Ruan Xian hissed, and his voice became cold. “It was my mistake in judgement. After all, your appearance is too close to human beings.”
Maybe he should lose his temper. After throwing out the response, Ruan Xian felt a little dazed. Tang Yibu’s straightforward explanation brought a certain pain, like being stripped. Those disguises had long become an essential part of his life, and he never thought they would be a problem that needed to be addressed.
[Well done.] His foster mother would always praise him like this. [Xianxian is so smart, he can definitely act as a gentle person. As long as you behave like this, there is no danger. Everyone will not be afraid of you. Remember?]
Anger was dangerous, indifference was dangerous, and dissatisfaction was also dangerous. He must hide them well; hide them behind a smile, and even if he wanted to show them, he couldn’t vent in person. Everyone knew that although the ugly “wheelchair monster” in the institute had terrible intelligence, his personality was extremely good-tempered.
Now, he wanted to lose his temper at Tang Yibu but found that he had long forgotten how to vent his anger. As usual, after a brief appearance, it sank into his heart again and became part of the dark torrent. His emotions quickly cooled down.
And Tang Yibu just stood in front of him, waiting for him to lose his temper, which only made this more frustrating for Ruan Xian.
“Forget it, let’s keep going.” He took a few deep breaths and took the first step.
“Okay.” Tang Yibu blinked. “Now give me your hand.”
“No.”
“I said I will help you practice.” Tang Yibu picked up a piece of broken gravel from the ground, used it to draw something in the palm of his hand, and then went around to Ruan Xian’s right side. He reached out and grabbed his right hand. “Including that piece of salt bean cake. If you don’t have an appetite, I can also help you eat some.”
“What do I need to do?” Ruan Xian stuffed the cake into his mouth, causing him to cough a few times as he almost choked on it.
“Feel.” Tang Yibu let out a small sigh and moved his fingers. “Don’t look, listen, or smell. Focus on your right hand and feel the touch.”
The two just walked forward hand in hand that Ruan Xian suddenly felt that the scene was a bit silly, but before he had time to laugh bitterly in his heart, the touch of his hand took away all his attention.
He had never been hugged before because of skin lesions caused by his genetic diseases, and no one had ever held his hand. Although the one next to him wasn’t considered a person, that hand felt very warm. Fate was indeed crazy. When the world was functioning normally, he seemed to be living in a space that no one else could touch. Now the wreckage of the human world was tumbling before his eyes, and he had touched human skin for the first time.
“…To what extent do I need to feel?” Concentration was fruitless. Ruan Xian had to ask for clarity.
“I wrote a sentence in the palm of your hand, and the traces of dust are still there. When you can parse that sentence accurately, the basic tactile training will be completed. With the foundation, other training will be much better.”
Ruan Xian shook his head and tried to concentrate on his right hand…
The friction between the skin quickly turned into severe pain, and cold sweat instantly wetted his back. Ruan Xian suppressed his scream and hissed.
“You’re overloading. Adjust the concentration level.” Tang Yibu reminded.
However, the adjustment of concentration was futile. What Tang Yibu just said was equivalent to when trying to cook and the instructions just said, “add the right amount of water”. Ruan Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left hand and continued walking forward at Tang Yibu’s pace.
The severe pain turned into a tingle and then into a gentle numbness with a slight itch. He felt something in it, but the feeling of skin-to-skin contact was too beautiful, and the layer of dust was too small. He was in a trance for a while, trying to identify the rough impurities from the warmth, until Tang Yibu released his hand.
“It scattered.” The android regretfully retracted his hand and wrote in the palm of his hand again. “Try again.”
But before Ruan Xian had time to stretch out his hand, Tang Yibu changed his posture. The android stopped vigilantly and stood in front of him. Ruan Xian was stunned for half a second, and quickly pulled out his pair of guns. His mind that was originally concentrated on the right hand dispersed.
It seemed that it was not humans that Tang Yibu was wary of.
Making sure that there was really nothing approaching. Ruan Xian raised his head and looked in the direction of the Sea of Ruins.
A dark red light illuminated half of the night sky. The surface of the long line of buildings suddenly ignited with a raging fire, mixed with many huge electric arcs. Ruan Xian narrowed his eyes. He could barely distinguish what it was through the smoke and flames…
It was two ships.
Two large ships floated near the long line of the building, frantically attacking each other. Without having to specifically strengthen his hearing, Ruan Xian could also hear the rumble of the battle. One of them had clearly fallen behind. It changed direction, dragging billowing smoke and fire, and rushed straight in the direction of where they were, like a plane that was about to crash.
“…” Ruan Xian calculated its falling orbit. Even if he was sure that it would not really hit them, he still grabbed Tang Yibu and moved back.
“It’s similar to what I heard.” Tang Yibu stared at the rushing ship. “Mr. Ruan, welcome to the Sea of Ruins.”
This was the first time he had received such an evaluation.
Ruan Xian didn’t react for a moment. Tang Yibu’s face was very close, and the corners of his mouth were raised, allowing him to breathe in the scent of sweet potato from his breath.
“And you’re much more cautious than ordinary humans,” Tang Yibu continued. “This means that your emotional setting is too keen, which is relatively rare. Please be sure to let me observe it. If you can, confide in me as much as you like—”
“…Why on earth do you want to observe humans?” After a moment of emotion, the feeling of powerlessness quickly followed. Ruan Xian slowly pushed the hand in front of his face away and pressed it back onto the lawn.
“Confidential topic that cannot be disclosed.” Tang Yibu rubbed his knees on the grass and sat down beside Ruan Xian.
“Okay, but if you have a role like a master or a boss, as your collaborator, I want you to share the information.” Ruan Xian picked up the water cup and took a sip from it.
MUL-01 was responsible for handling the behavior of all artificial intelligence, and it had the ability to control them. Considering Tang Yibu’s abnormal combat skills and weird position, it was possible that humans had intervened in this matter and separated him from the Mainbrain.
“You mean cooperating with humans? No. As I said before, it’s not a good idea to get close to humans,” Tang Yibu replied solemnly. “I can move freely because my electronic brain model is too old and was never connected to the MUL-01’s network.”
“So… an android organization?” Ruan Xian swallowed the water in his mouth and asked uncertainly.
“Androids belong to a kind of machine similar to mechanical police dogs, and there’s nothing special about them.” Tang Yibu shook his head. “Human appearance is usually used to serve humans. Androids were basically discontinued after the rebellion in the 22nd century, but I understand your concerns. There is indeed a reason why I wasn’t later incorporated into the Mainbrain… I was abandoned too early.”
Ruan Xian frowned.
“My maker thought I was a failure.”
Tang Yibu sat upright, sounding a little inexplicably sluggish. “Once I failed to complete the project on time, he never came back. I have been waiting, thinking that he would continue to improve my shortcomings as usual, but in the end, I only waited for his written destruction order.”
“But you’re still here.” Ruan Xian raised his eyebrows.
“I couldn’t understand his decision, so I successfully collected the data. I wanted to finish the project, so I ran away without authorization,” Tang Yibu said solemnly. His expression was as if he was carrying a big mission, as if the survival of the world depended on it.
Ruan Xian couldn’t help smiling. He subconsciously stretched out a hand and rubbed Tang Yibu’s hair. The other party’s body temperature was wrapped around his fingertips, and he had started to like this feeling a bit.
“Then we are quite similar.”
Tang Yibu’s spirit was shocked. He quickly put on the appearance of being all ears when Ruan Xian had to give him a badge of a psychologist.
“I have two makers. One gave up on me at the beginning, and the other also tried to fix me, but in the end, he thought that destruction was a more suitable solution for me.”
“You ran away too?”
“I didn’t want to escape, but I was lucky.” Ruan Xian stuffed the water cup back into his backpack. His tone was calm. “…Without saying much, since there’s no organization, where are you going to take me?”
“I haven’t decided yet. As long as there is a new place where humans can be observed, it can be anywhere. However, you have to avoid areas closely monitored by MUL-01.” Tang Yibu brushed the leaves of grass on his body. “What about you? So far, it seems you are still inclined to rescue humans.”
“Wait a moment. I’ll contact someone first. It’s just as well that we can talk together.” Ruan Xian rolled up his sleeves, revealing the electronic wristband. As a result, before the hand left the cuffs, the electronic wristband suddenly made a light sound.
He lowered his head and turned on the light screen without hesitation.
“It’s me.” Guan Haiming’s image appeared on the light screen. His face was pale, and his eyes were a little red.
“Dr. Guan.” Ruan Xian nodded.
“You don’t seem surprised.” Guan Haiming smiled weakly. “Zepeng told me. You have a mission outside? ….Outside the wall?”
“Yes, I thought you would contact me earlier.” Ruan Xian didn’t deny it. “I think I can pay the rent for 231.”
“As an obsolete product, it can be regarded as a tool allocated to you by the refuge, and in theory it belongs to you, but your judgment is correct, I do have something to ask you.”
“Please speak.”
“You don’t look like a person from MUL-01. I want you to help me inquire about one thing.” Guan Haiming cleared his throat. “If you encounter a rebel army outside the wall, please help me ask about Professor Ruan’s recent situation. Since you can hack the private armor of an Order Supervisor, there should be a way to send back information.”
“Ruan Xian’s recent situation?”
“Well, in the beginning, I stayed here for physical reasons. My teacher should be assisting the rebels outside. In the past few years, he would unilaterally send back messages every month to tell me about the outside world… But 20 months ago, his contact was suddenly cut off, and I’m a little worried. Of course, this is just my personal request. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“Understood.” Ruan Xian nodded and glanced at Tang Yibu beside him. “I happen to be looking for Ruan Xian. When I find him, I will find a way to contact you.”
“Thank you very much.” Guan Haiming on the light screen nodded slightly, while Tang Yibu was expressionless.
“I thought you wanted other information, but now it seems that it can only be used as a gift.” Ruan Xian quickly tapped the light screen with his fingertips. “This is the cracking algorithm of Major Ding’s armor. I sent it to your wristband. Maybe you’ll need it.”
Guan Haiming was startled; his expression became a bit complicated. “…Order Supervisors cannot be truly eliminated. The Mainbrain has their personality data and DNA, so they’ll ‘come back’ continuously.”
“I gave you a knife, but the knife doesn’t have to be used to stab people.” Ruan Xian lowered his gaze. “…Goodbye, Dr. Guan. Please take care of your body.”
Guan Haiming’s expression softened for the first time. “I will. My new assistant is very good at taking care of people.”
“So you plan to go to Ruan Xian.” Tang Yibu concluded after the light screen was turned off.
“Because I agree with you.” Ruan Xian put down his sleeves. “I also don’t think I look like Ruan Xian’s work, so I decided to figure things out. Do you have any other ideas, Tang Yibu?”
“No special opinion.” Tang Yibu was silent for a while. “After the dead wall is the Sea of Ruins. You can find some information there.”
“Then it’s settled.” The grass under him was very soft. A few live screws shivered and ran across the field. Ruan Xian took a deep breath of wind and was filled with the smell of grass. After a long night, the drowsiness finally caught up with him. “If you don’t plan to sleep, I want to sleep for a while.”
“Alright. I’ll wake you when it’s nightfall.”
Ruan Xian wanted to curl up on the ground, but before he could move his body, he fell unconscious on the trunk of the tree. Tang Yibu looked sideways for a moment, stretched out his arms, and skillfully hugged the person in his arms.
This feeling was somewhat familiar. His memory data had a similar scene, but at that time he was unable to make a sound and could only observe the outside world through an external camera and then give a line of text.
It was also a sunny day, and his maker appeared on time as usual.
[I came to see you. The weather is good outside today.]
-You’re in a good mood.
[How are you? How are you feeling?]
-The hardware is in very good condition, and the timed sleep has been completed.
[…Oh, I’m not asking about this. Never mind, how was the completion of yesterday’s project?]
-1,000 movies have been viewed completely. What kind of analysis do you want?
[Is there anything you’re particularly interested in?]
-Unable to answer.
[Well, your average processing time for movies about food is 0.3 seconds longer than that of ordinary movies. Interested in food?]
-Unable to understand. Want to collect more information.
[This feeling is called “curiosity”, remember. I’ll tell you what, today’s topic is “curiosity”, and tomorrow you’ll hand over a personal analysis.]
-Yes.
[I’m a little tired, so if you don’t plan to sleep, I’ll sleep here for a while. It’s warmer here than in my room.]
-Because this is the machine room. It’s working time now, which is not in line with regulations.
[…] But the man had already parked his wheelchair and fallen asleep near the radiator.
Stuffing the memories back into his mind, Tang Yibu stretched out his hand, brushed Ruan Xian’s earlobe with his fingertips, and touched the earring stud that symbolized bondage.
Then he pondered for a moment and adjusted his sitting posture so that the other party could sleep more comfortably in his arms—Like his maker, this new partner also likes to sleep with his head turned, which would cause cervical spine discomfort when he wakes up.
Fortunately, this time he had his arms, Tang Yibu thought to himself. Human arms are still quite useful.
The sun quickly set on the other side of the wall, and when Ruan Xian opened his eyes again, there were already stars above his head. However, before he could fully wake up, he was picked up horizontally by Tang Yibu—his feet slammed to the ground, and the android jumped directly over the towering dead wall.
“Further ahead is the Sea of Ruins,” he said.
Ruan Xian stared at the scene in front of him intently, and he finally had a precise understanding of what Tian He meant when he said, “The world outside is crazy”.
The Sea of Ruins wasn’t an area of ruins in the literal sense. On the ground, there were almost no traces of ruins; only cracked dirt and sand. The withered yellow grass staggered and was sparsely embedded in the sandy soil.
An astonishing number of buildings that were ruins floated in the sky, condensing into a long dragon.
Houses of all kinds were in disrepair, tightly packed into horizontal columns, with a conservative estimate of more than one kilometer in diameter. It floated a few kilometers above the ground, with no head or tail in sight. Scattered pieces of debris and crushed cars floated around, as if gravity had lost its proper effect.
The entire polymer made of buildings was slowly moving in a certain direction, making low cracking sounds from time to time. Some of the building’s windows still glowed with faint light, dull like the eyes of a corpse.
Ruan Xian stood at the top of the wall, sweating, unable to utter a word.
“MUL-01’s management here is more relaxed, and the humans here are relatively freer but more desperate.” Tang Yibu continued to explain. “I know your position, but this is not a peaceful refuge. Be more cautious in everything—I wouldn’t have dared to come out here without you before.”
“Are you sure?” This time, Ruan Xian didn’t bother to hide that shocked expression on his face.
“As I said, I’m an old model that has human tissues in my body,” Tang Yibu grunted. “This means I can be infected by human germs—drinking dirty water will cause diarrhea and being stabbed with a rusty knife will cause tetanus. Taking a step back, I’ll still be hungry, thirsty, and I have a poor tolerance for the cold and heat. High combat ability doesn’t mean anything.”
“……”
“Now that you’re here, I don’t need to think about it anymore,” Tang Yibu concluded contentedly, “There must be things worth observing here.”
After that, the android turned away from the terrifying architectural dragon and extended a hand to Ruan Xian, his white and slender fingers slightly open.
“Let’s go, Mr. Ruan,” he invited happily.
Ruan Xian sighed and grabbed the hand.
“Good.”
At the same time, over the forest city.
After glancing at the countdown, Major Ding stood up from his seat. With only fifteen minutes left before the next “data refresh”, the spider-shaped monitoring machine temporarily entered a dormant handover state, and the auxiliary chip in his body also began to shut down, ready to be crushed and destroyed.
The fifteen minutes of being completely exiled in the dark belonged only to his own time. Usually, he likes to use this time to look at the sky, but it became tiresome when he had to look at it for so long. Major Ding took off his coat, and in the entire dark space, only the armor was flashing faintly.
Faintly flashing?
He raised his arm and aimed at the command input box of the armor.
[This is Guan Haiming.] A sentence slowly appeared on it. [Major Ding, I want to talk to you.]
Kinky Thoughts:
End of arc 1. Below is the arc summary.
Ruan Xian woke up to find that he was now in an unfamiliar setting. He was then suddenly attacked by a mutated giant cockroach, which eventually led him to discover his previous lab and that 12 years had passed since his “death”. Inside his room at the lab, he encountered a weird, strange thing that attached itself to him. He then ran into the android, Tang Yibu, who rescued him and brought him back to the human refuge.
Here was where he learned that after his death, the AI had taken over and ushered in the end of mankind. The leader of the AI, the Mainbrain, had called for the annihilation of all humans, setting up a worldwide massacre. The remaining humans now lived in refuges, of which he was luckily able to stumble upon one.
Settling down in the refuge, new information emerged. The refuge was started by the resistance of the great scientists Ruan Xian and Fan Linsong. They were rebels who were trying to put an end to the Mainbrain. This revelation proposed a conundrum to Ruan Xian, as now he was unsure whether he was the real Ruan Xian or a fake. His last memory was of Fan Linsong murdering him so whether the other Ruan Xian was real or not, was still unknown. Furthermore, the weird thing he encountered at his lab had merged with him, which Tang Yibu revealed to be an S-Type Prototype, a powerful AI machine that was thought to be extinct. Along with his nanobot body that could rapidly heal, he now possessed further healing and support capabilities with this Prototype.
Tang Yibu proposed a partnership with Ruan Xian. Tang Yibu was an android who had an unknown mission. He possessed great fighting and survival skills, as well as administrative access that could rival that of the Mainbrain. Unfortunately, he was an old model android made up of human cells, so he could be damaged like a human. This was where he needed Ruan Xian. He could heal him quickly with his S-Type Prototype. They eventually reached a shaky agreement (one where Ruan Xian was bound to an earring stud that could kill him at any time on Tang Yibu’s command).
Ruan Xian agreed to this agreement because he needed Tang Yibu’s help to investigate the mysterious refuge. The refuge was currently going through a crisis as the leader, Tian He, was dying and needed an organ transplant. The only way to get it is to go to the AI city nearby and copy the organs using their high-tech machines.
The group that Ruan Xian joined, comprised of Zhang Yazhe, Ding Zepeng, and Chi Lei, decided to set out to the AI city to help save Tian He. All the while, Ruan Xian started to discover clues about the true nature of the refuge.
Things were fully revealed during their organ retrieval mission when Chi Lei accidently stumbled upon the cloning warehouse. Most people in the refuge are all clones of their original human memories. Those who possessed abilities and died without any witnesses are brought back to life with their original personality and modified memories (via the black box). The refuge was just an experiment set up by the Mainbrain to observe human behavior. The situation with the current refuge had stagnated and a new change of leadership from Tian He to Zhang Yazhe was needed in order to appease the Mainbrain and deem them still worthwhile to study. The black box that all the inhabitants of the refuge possessed recorded their data, which was then sent to the Mainbrain for analysis.
With the mission successful, Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu set out towards the Sea of Ruins, no longer intending to stay at the “refuge”.
Other things to note:
Major Ding is a human that sided with the Mainbrain becoming an Order Supervisor. His job is to keep the refuge in check. Ding Zepeng is a clone that is comprised of Major Ding’s personality (thus they look the same). They were able to escape when Ruan Xian shot and “killed” him. Whether he’s a clone or a human is still left unknown, as he also “refresh” like the inhabitants of the refuge.
That’s it for the summary. I probably missed a lot, but there’s a lot of stuff going on in just this arc alone.
Ding Zepeng opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling in front of him.
This wasn’t the medical ward. Mechanical parts were piled almost up to the ceiling, poured into his vision. The room was filled with the low sound of music. The rhythm was soothing and relaxing. Guan Haiming was sitting on the edge of the bed reading a book. His slightly longer hair was simply pinned up by a hairpin. His long eyelashes left a little shadow, adding to the bags under his eyes due to lack of sleep.
“You’re awake.” Perhaps he noticed that he was being looked at. Guan Haiming raised his eyes, and his voice was calm.
“……” The cold memories gradually overwhelmed his thinking. Ding Zepeng opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Holding back the sourness in his eyes and trying to suppress the pain, he only squeezed out a question. “Suitcase…?”
“Qiu Yue took it away. The internal organs inside are well preserved. Don’t worry.” Guan Haiming put the electronic paper in his hand aside and stared at the tip of his shoe. “I talked to Tian He, and he’s willing to undergo surgery—Tian He is stubborn, but now that things have happened, he won’t let your sacrifice be in vain.”
He was silent for a while, and his voice became a bit darker. “What’s more, Qiu Yue has been with him every day recently. Even if you know that it’s a clone, it’s not so easy to think clearly about it.”
Ding Zepeng’s eyes instantly flushed. Tears slid down uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes. “Haiming, you always knew.”
“Someone has to stay awake at all times to control the situation. Ruan Lijie sent you directly to me. I heard about what happened.”
Ding Zepeng instantly tightened his body. “What did he say?”
“Zhang Yazhe instructed you to go to the city to copy the internal organs and accidentally found the stored duplicates. You were then chased by the Mainbrain’s army. Zhang Yazhe explained the truth to you, and he will likely sacrifice himself to protect you and Chi Lei. You two were lucky enough to escape back to the refuge in time—and you were so emotionally volatile that he knocked you out.”
“Is that what he said?” Ding Zepeng sighed slowly.
“Nn. His condition doesn’t look very good either, so I didn’t ask much.” Guan Haiming picked up a syringe and took out a handkerchief. “Okay, stretch out your arm and I will inject you with a preparation potion.”
“It’ll relax your brain and clear your memory for the past 12 hours. Don’t be too surprised. This isn’t the first time. Hesitation will only make you suffer for a few more days.” Guan Haiming smiled bitterly. “If you have special information you want to add, you’d better speak now.”
“…You can’t view the memory content recorded by the black box?”
“I would need to have a huge analysis processor, at least the size of a building, and this is just a small refuge. Unfortunately, I can only erase it stupidly like this, or fill back in the entire backup.” Guan Haiming patted Ding Zepeng’s face lightly. “Why do you ask this every time?”
The white coat wrapped around the slim body, and artificial sunlight cast a deep shadow on Guan Haiming’s clavicle.
“Your next question will be ‘Am I your only friend?’—I can answer you in advance. Yes. So I hope you can live easily. You’re not suitable for this reality, Zepeng.”
“Then you will cry badly. Yes, just like this.” Guan Haiming wiped the tears from the young man’s face with his handkerchief.
“Stop crying. When you wake up again, Chi Lei and Zhang Yazhe will be there. You just accidentally hit your head. Everything will return to normal, and I’ll still be your bad-tempered, ill-advised, unlucky friend.”
‘Yes. They would still be friends,’ Ding Zepeng thought. His secret would be buried deep in the black box. He could still happily rush into Guan Haiming’s office and drag the other party out for a change of scenery. He had stuffed a few fruits found in the forest, knowing Guan Haiming had forgotten to take a break and would eat while working again.
He could still see the other party showing an unsuspecting relaxed smile. But…
“Haiming, I do have information to add. You—You come closer.” Ding Zepeng grabbed the hand holding the handkerchief and spoke through choking sobs.
Guan Haiming sighed and leaned down slightly. Then he was embraced by the young man lying on the bed.
“I don’t want to erase my memory.”
“You have hesitated before, but the final result is always the same.”
“I can guess what I was thinking before, but this time it’s different. I think people sometimes have to be… a little cruel.”
Ding Zepeng stopped crying. He still hugged Guan Haiming tightly. “I remember I told you that, except for a better physique, I haven’t done anything well since I was a child. I don’t like studying because I know I can’t study well and I can’t learn those things.”
“Yes, you said that.”
“But now, it seems none of those memories are true.” Ding Zepeng’s body trembled a little. “Haiming, I know who the Order Supervisor stationed in the city is.”
“Impossible. He never lets anyone stay alive. No, no, don’t you…”
“Maybe he thought this would be ‘more fun’.” Ding Zepeng finally let go of his arms that were hugging Guan Haiming. “I hope you know that there is one thing you’re wrong about. No one fits into this reality, including you, Haiming. No matter what you want to do to me in the future, I won’t have any complaints—I won’t run away anymore.”
“I’ll tell you his name now.”
At the same time, Ruan Xian tightened his luggage behind him and looked up at the towering dead wall in front of him—the artificial boundary of this forest.
He didn’t have much luggage; only a few changes of clothes, some daily necessities, and the smiley face food cannister without a label. He exchanged all the newly acquired contribution points for salt bean cakes and sweet potatoes and wrapped them in a small package.
“It’s more chaotic outside. We have to wait until the evening before crossing over.” Tang Yibu sat down in the shade of a tree and peeled a sweet potato intently as he spoke solemnly. “You should take a break.”
“Nn.” Ruan Xian didn’t say much.
“I thought you would want to say goodbye to the people in the refuge.” Seeing Ruan Xian sitting down not far away, Tang Yibu stuffed the sweet potato into his mouth.
“I thought your purpose was to get me to leave with you voluntarily, not be reluctant to,” Ruan Xian said indifferently, unscrewing the lid of the water bottle and pouring himself a glass of water.
“Now I don’t understand what Ruan Xian wants to do.” Tang Yibu’s voice sounded a bit vague, and Ruan Xian stopped pouring water.
“Using an old-fashion android to destroy the S-Type Prototype, up to this point, I can still understand. There should be three possibilities on the next logical step—one, have prearranged people completely destroy you. Two, infuse you with a personality included for self-preservation and hide among the survivors to be used by the humans if necessary. Three, arrange for you to actively help humans.”
“So you took me back to the shelter.”
“Yes, I needed to determine your personality tendencies and formulate a cooperation plan, but my judgement was wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“I thought it was situation three. Before, you meet all the characteristics—approaching humans with gestures, making plans from the perspective of altruism rather than self-interest, and your mild personality fits best for human acceptance.” Tang Yibu finished eating his sweet potato and licked his fingertips.
Ruan Xian held his breath.
“But if it’s situation three, you would have strong negative emotions about killing humans. However, after killing Major Ding, your reaction was too flat. With the case of MUL-01 looming, it’s impossible for Ruan Xian to make such a low-level mistake.”
After a pause for a few seconds, Tang Yibu turned his head blankly. Ruan Xian didn’t speak. He just slowly raised his hand and touched the fatal earring on his ear.
“If you ask me, you don’t quite look like Ruan Xian’s work.” Tang Yibu leaned closer; his eyes remained unblinking. “Chi Lei’s intuition may be correct. He knows human habits and emotional tendencies well and possesses an extremely high degree of intelligence, which allows him to hide his dark side well. For humans, you turn out to be the most dangerous opponent.”
An awfully familiar statement.
Ruan Xian’s nails dug into his palms and shrank cautiously, like a hedgehog trying to erect its thorns. The vulture that’s condensed by pain swooped again as the memories of many years ago suddenly flooded him.
[I’m very sorry, Ms. Ruan. This genetic disease is rare and cannot be cured with the current technology. However, with appropriate drug treatment, we can slow down the rate of deterioration. Along with the intelligence testing, we also came to the result… The patient has no intellectual defects. On the contrary, the disease has affected his brain structure so that he has an intelligence far beyond that of an average person.]
[But there is one problem we must inform you of—due to brain lesions, he has an extremely poor ability to deal with emotions, and the possibility of becoming a vicious criminal in the future is more than 99%. Extraordinary intelligence will only make him more dangerous. We have reported this situation to the Prevention Agency. Please understand.]
[No, you have no right…]
[You did not conduct a comprehensive birth inspection at the beginning. This situation could have been completely avoided. Patients have already placed an additional burden on society, and the potential danger is extremely high. We must report truthfully and withdraw all medical subsidies.]
[Doctor, Ruan hasn’t spoken at this age and is slow to respond. How can he be smart? Is there something wrong with the inspection result? My ex-husband and I are both ordinary people, and I have seen children who are smart and intelligent. Ruan Xian is…]
[Miss Ruan, you may have misunderstood what we said. To be frank, I suggest you don’t look at him by the standards of human beings. His intelligence is closer to another creature than us. We have a similar record. He’s too young and his lack of desire to communicate may be due to his inability to understand…]
[You just said he’s intelligent!]
[He can’t understand why the world is so “slow”, just like we can’t understand why children get problems like 1 and 2 wrong.]
[……]
[I don’t think you have the ability to pay the full medical expenses. Taking into account your situation, you can apply for social assistance, and we can take a more humane approach. Of course, we understand your feelings and suggest that you separate from the patient for a while…]
[He’s my son!]
[The intensive care unit is closed. If you insist on bringing him back, we will not stop you, but please understand that he’s likely to not have normal emotional function and will not be able to understand your “love”. Maybe living with him for a while will change your mind. In short, before this child turns five years old, you still have the chance to go back, and we’ll choose the least painful—]
[No!!!]
‘But in the end, she regretted it,’ Ruan Xian thought.
What would Tang Yibu do? The android was cautious and calm, and there was no emotion between them. Would Tang Yibu leave? Or simply destroy his brain and turn him into the literal sense of a blood bag? In front of the opponent’s agile skills, he had no chance of winning.
Ruan Xian stared at those golden eyes that were motionless like stones, quietly waiting for the other party’s conclusion.
Tang Yibu slowly stretched out a hand…
And then he poked Ruan Xian’s cheek.
“…That means you’re more human than I thought,” the android announced, showing a smile. “Very interesting.”
“There’s still an hour to go before we reach the shelter,” After about half an hour of silence, Chi Lei finally spoke again.
Ding Zepeng twitched his nose and mumbled hoarsely.
The hoverbike rustled and split the grass. After entering the complex terrain and relatively dense bushes, the last drone finally gave up tracking them and disappeared. Near dawn, the sky changed from dark blue to ultramarine, and the east turned slightly white.
“Zhang Yazhe’s choice was very wise.”
Perhaps it was because Ruan Xian wrapped his arms too tightly around his waist, as Tang Yibu’s voice revealed some suffocation, as if he was being strangled. His voice wasn’t loud as it blended in with the oncoming wind.
“If you want to forcibly take someone away in that situation, you can knock him out. Removing an important combatant and adding an unconscious male adult will only increase the difficulty exponentially.”
“I know,” Ruan Xian replied sullenly. He and Tang Yibu were originally unstable factors outside the monitoring of the Mainbrain. If he made too much noise, it would arouse the vigilance of the Mainbrain, which would be detrimental to the entire area.
He understood, but…
Tang Yibu spat out a string of words that sounded like a balloon was leaking as Ruan Xian unconsciously tightened his arms. “Please don’t continue to strangle me. I also have internal organs in my body.”
“…Sorry.”
As soon as the words were spoken, Chi Lei, who was driving in front of him, suddenly slammed on the brakes. Tang Yibu turned the hoverbike sideways and stopped immediately.
“There’s something ahead,” Chi Lei said in a hiss as he threw a nut in front of him. Like hitting an invisible soft wall, the metal nut that should have flown far away fell vertically into the grass. “It’s not a full-coverage barrier. Something is targeting us—”
The dark forest suddenly became bright. The dark part between the tree trunks crept blood red, and uncountable crimson circles of light lit up in unison around them, moving in small increments like floating ghost fires. These things had surrounded them at some point, but the entire process was completely silent.
Chi Lei reacted amazingly fast as a first-class explorer of the refuge. He raised his hand and smashed a large bowl-sized device—the blue light on the edge of the disc device lit up, and the crimson circles went out in unison. At the same time, the two hoverbikes turned off, and their smooth bottoms hit the ground.
“EMP bomb. Low-level machines and equipment will lose their function for five minutes.” Chi Lei moved to the rear of the hoverbike. “231, manually restart the hoverbike. You have thirty seconds.”
“Where are we going?” Ding Zepeng jumped out of the back seat and held the suitcase tightly in his arms. His voice was filled with confusion.
“I don’t know, but we have to keep moving,” Chi Lei responded, sounding troubled. He carefully wound a line of wire into a ball in his hand.
‘This won’t work.’ Ruan Xian’s mind raced.
Fortunately, the predicted variables weren’t bad. No researcher could tolerate having powerful unknown factors wandering around their own territory. He and Tang Yibu probably had the strength to repel these things, but in the surveillance range of MUL-01, they had to dance in shackles. Chances are this wasn’t the only wave of pursuers. There had to be a suitable plan—one that kept everyone safe but also didn’t make the entire escape plan “beyond the scope of human capabilities” and attract the attention of the Mainbrain.
Ruan Xian tucked his drenched hair behind his ears and stared at Chi Lei, who was a few steps away. He had his head buried in his hoverbike, and his face was ashen. The other party didn’t seem to be very focused. Most likely, he still couldn’t stop thinking about Zhang Yazhe and the clones.
…As well as other things. Since Zhang Yazhe was able to successfully deceive the machines, the machine that had just attacked them back then didn’t follow up after they had escaped. The Mainbrain’s pursuers shouldn’t have the ability to pinpoint their location.
“Tang Yibu, three questions.” Ruan Xian glanced at the surrounding environment and kept his voice as low as a whisper. “Can the Mainbrain obtain our life and death situation in real time?”
“According to my observation, if there is no detection-type machine to probe the body, it will take at least 12 hours—12 hours after the body dies—for the black box to be completely deactivated.” Tang Yibu quickly connected the wires. A pleasant, soft ringing rang out, and the hoverbike’s operating panel lit up again. “If a person is in the signal blind zone, the parsing process will be extended to about 24 hours.”
“What extent does the S-Type Prototype allow me to be, um, damaged?”
This time, Tang Yibu glanced sideways at Ruan Xian. “Unless a special attack is made against the brain, as long as it’s not twisted into pieces and broken apart, it can theoretically recover.”
Ruan Xian’s expression stiffened. He stretched out his hand, pointed to the dark corner, and threw out a final question. “Is that hill far enough from the city? Can you block and rewrite the information transmitted to MUL-01 over there?”
“The distance is enough. However, if the other party has high intelligence, the information blocking might be detected. By the way, now’s a good opportunity for us to retreat…”
“Chi Ge, go to the other side of the hill!” At the moment when Chi Lei successfully started the hoverbike, Ruan Xian shouted, showing an obvious sign that he had no intention of retreating. “Follow me!”
Chi Lei stepped onto the hoverbike and looked at him with red eyes. He pulled his face down and was silent for a few seconds, as if he wanted to refute it out of habit. However, when he spoke, he just spit out a few simple words. “Lead the way.”
Tang Yibu smacked his lips and took the lead in starting the floating hoverbike. He rushed towards the dark hill in the night.
A few minutes after they set off, there was a buzzing mechanical sound behind them. The machine that had just flashed red lights burst out of the trees, revealing its true form under the moonlight—the familiar four anthropomorphic mechanical legs, in the shape of a large hound. Those things chasing behind them resembled police auxiliary machines, but the aperture color was different.
Their backs were slightly arched, and several shooting drones protruded from the metal, leaving dazzling grooves.
“Mechanical police dogs,” Chi Lei muttered. “Xiao Ding!”
“Understood!”
Ding Zepeng spun around on the galloping hoverbike and sat down in the car seat. He fished out a long gun and neatly tied the suitcase to his waist while tying the gun belt to his abdomen. The entire process took less than ten seconds. After stabilizing his posture, he didn’t shoot indiscriminately—every time he shot, a mechanical dog or drone would fall out of the high-speed chase.
However, the speed of the mechanical police dogs was still faster. In less than five minutes, the leading ones leaned out their muzzles and tried to set fire to Chi Lei’s hoverbike.
Unfortunately, the ammunition flew halfway through the air before hitting the bullets that came flying at them, causing an explosion like fireworks. Ruan Xian didn’t turn back like Ding Zepeng. He wrapped his arm around Tang Yibu’s waist and turned to his side. The blood gun in his hand ejected dark bullets and shot down all the incoming ammunition.
In the slightly harsh explosion and wind, Chi Lei quietly followed Tang Yibu’s car like a colorful ghost.
“This way!” When he reached the steep side of the mountain wall, Ruan Xian took the lead and jumped off the hoverbike. He threw out an energy tank and used a bullet to detonate it, causing the nearest rows of mechanical dogs to explode.
Tang Yibu held Ruan Xian’s clothes tightly in one hand and climbed onto the cliff with the other. Chi Lei and Ding Zepeng closely followed. After Ding Zepeng climbed to the top of the cliff, he fired a few more shots, destroying all the drones that tried to climb up.
“Chi Ge, is there still infrared camouflage?” Seeing that Chi Lei was as quiet as a rock, Ruan Xian asked specifically.
“There are four more.”
“That’s enough. We still have six on our side. Not counting the heat of the hoverbike, just start two at a time, and it should be able to cover four people.” Ruan Xian motioned for everyone to get into the cave.
“What if we get blocked in?” Chi Lei finally frowned and returned to his usual skepticism.
“I know a way.” A place where the air was flowing would smell completely different from a dead end.
“Isn’t this the boss’ favorite hill?” Ding Zepeng put the suitcase behind his back and put one hand on the rock wall.
“Nn.” Ruan Xian walked at the end. “Large machines can’t get into this kind of hole. The cave structure here is complex and suitable for all types of breakage. It’s close to the refuge, so blowing up the entire mountain peak will cause panic. The Mainbrain should be able to calculate this account.”
“…But it won’t give up so easily,” Chi Lei sighed softly.
“I know.” Hearing the sound of metal friction coming from behind, Ruan Xian pulled the corners of his mouth.
Seeing the group entering the cave, the mechanical dogs changed their strategy. They used incendiaries that could drain the oxygen. The bombs exploded one by one, causing gravel and sand to slide down the mountain wall. However, under Ruan Xian’s leadership, the four people were slippery like loaches in a gutter, burrowing around the well-connected caves like ants in an ant’s nest. Seeing that there were fewer and fewer mechanical police dogs that could keep up with them…
Ruan Xian suddenly motioned everyone to stop and hide in the shadow of the rock wall.
His sense of smell and hearing were feeding back news at the same time. Ruan Xian turned his head and looked at the thick darkness behind them.
“…Someone is chasing us.”
Ding Zepeng was so shocked that he stopped breathing. Chi Lei’s brows were twisted so much that they could clamp mosquitoes to death. Only Tang Yibu was indifferent.
“It’s not an ordinary machine. It’s a human, or an android with human organs. He’s surrounded by the mechanical police dogs… No, he’s commanding them.” Seeing the incendiaries once again piercing through the darkness not far away, Ruan Xian settled his mind. “This way, hurry!”
Tang Yibu glanced at the familiar rock crevice in front of him and raised his eyebrows at Ruan Xian. They had just been here a few days ago.
Ruan Xian didn’t respond to Tang Yibu’s scrutiny. Without hesitation, he took out the rope ladder from under the roots of the old tree, measured the position of his footsteps for a while, and fixed it closest to Tian He’s body. Ding Zepeng wanted to come over but was stopped by Ruan Xian’s gesture.
Ruan Xian took out his pocket and divided the infrared camouflage that he had into two. “See the cave on the stone wall over there? You and Chi Ge hide over there. Turn on all the infrared camouflage and keep quiet. When the pursuers leave, return to the refuge immediately.”
“Ruan Ge, but you…”
“I’m not going back,” Ruan Xian responded calmly, as he was extraordinarily fluent in spitting out lies. “I remember what happened before I was injured. Xiao Ding, I still have my mission. This time I’m just dropping by to help.”
“A mission?” Ding Zepeng wiped his nose and honestly accepted all orders. “Then—then remember to come back and visit sometime.”
Chi Lei didn’t say anything, and simply glanced at Ruan Xian deeply.
Seeing that the two of them were hiding in an orderly manner, Ruan Xian listened carefully to the approaching footsteps of the visitor, stepped on the rope ladder, and stared closely at the cave closest to the rock crevice. Tang Yibu squatted on the edge of the rock crevice and had a face that was close to curiosity as he watched the excitement.
Several mechanical hounds burst out of the cave and rushed in like lightning. Ruan Xian took a deep breath, lowered his head, and yelled at the empty rock crevice. “Xiao Ding, Lao Chi, run! They are catching up—!”
Before he finished speaking, several incendiaries were dropped. The bomb exploded in the crevice of the rock. For a while, the dark rock crevice was filled with burning light, and bursts of smoke and tongues of fire rose up, like the entrance of hell. The powerful impact from the bottom lifted Ruan Xian up, and he was airborne for half a second before he slammed into the ground.
“According to the report, the remains of two human male bones were found at the bottom.” A cold and inorganic voice rang out among the sounds of the rock crevice collapsing.
Hearing the sound of the bottom of his boots grinding over stone debris, Ruan Xian quickly rolled over and climbed up while holding Tang Yibu. He didn’t specifically look back to see what the man looked like but ran wildly towards the farther exit with unsteady steps.
There was a muffled sneer from behind him.
“There is one left,” the man muttered. His voice was a little subtly familiar. “Chase.”
Ruan Xian ran outside in the humidity. The breathing method Zhang Yazhe had taught him was useful. This time, the knife-like pain in his lungs appeared very late. The artillery fire of drones and mechanical police dogs was blocked by the crooked rock wall. Ruan Xian dutifully played an image of running for his life and didn’t fight back.
Tang Yibu ran beside him, looking a little inexplicably excited.
“I think I know what you’re going to do next,” he said, putting his arms around Ruan Xian’s waist. He quickly ran in the direction of the refuge.
Ruan Xian opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“How far do you want to run?” Tang Yibu adjusted his arm posture and held Ruan Xian in front of him.
“Go to the tallest tree over there,” Ruan Xian replied.
“You’re shaking again.”
“Nobody likes being ‘killed’.”
“But you still came up with this strategy.” The darkness faded, and in the gradually clearer air, Tang Yibu announced calmly. “Worthy of a work by Ruan Xian. You’re a machine totally dedicated to serving humans.”
“……” Ruan Xian remained silent.
As they got closer to the tallest tree, Tang Yibu deliberately slowed down, put down Ruan Xian, and feigned to be weak. Ruan Xian pretended to be indifferent to him and ran stumblingly towards the refuge.
The mechanical hounds followed one by one as they passed Tang Yibu, treating him as if he was a stump full of mushrooms in the forest. The metal beasts rushed towards Ruan Xian, who was running in front, and bullets poured from behind him like a torrential rain. His lungs and heart were instantly pierced, and his chest looked like a honeycomb.
Ruan Xian threw himself on the ground, burying his face in the grass. The shelter uniform on his body was stained red with blood, and it quickly spread into the nearby grass.
The injury with this much loss of blood was assuredly fatal.
“The heart has been completely destroyed. There’s no record of this sample in the database. Is it saved and copied?” Behind him, on the right, the cold mechanical voice sounded again.
“No need.” The voice of the visitor didn’t even pant for a moment. It obviously had its own mode of transportation. “I know this person. Brave but not resourceful, average resume, just make do with luck and a little marksmanship. His pickup was probably arranged by Zhang Yazhe—the new leader of the refuge is probably Zhang Yazhe, so it’s good to take this opportunity to knock him around a bit so that he doesn’t take himself too seriously and thinks that anyone who dies can be sent back.”
“Yes.” The mechanical voice replied flatly.
Good. Ruan Xian quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At present, the other party’s judgement was exactly the same as his conjecture.
“Lift the blockade here. A-07, A-08, go clean up the rock crevice just now. Remove the smell and traces of burning. Don’t attract the attention of the refuge. B-45, automatically generate a draft report. Also, summon a few ventral cockroaches and have them eat this place clean.” The man’s coat brushed against the blades of grass, making a resulting sound. “Prepare to return.”
Ruan Xian held his breath and continued to pretend to be dead. His uniform was stained with blood and in tatters, but the body under the uniform had already recovered. All the bloodstains on the surface were recycled as much as possible. He felt pain as blood pumped through his veins, returning them back to his limbs. Not daring to tremble or scream, Ruan Xian forced himself to cling to the soil, imagining that he had already died and was rotting like a leaf full of insects.
The drone was still buzzing slightly in the sky. A mechanical police dog stepped on Ruan Xian’s back. The heartbeat hit his eardrums and the sound of the blades of grass rubbing against his ears was thunderous. He grabbed a little air from between his teeth, for fear that the sound of his heartbeat would attract the attention of any machines.
Calculating the time, Ding Zepeng and Chi Lei should have run to the foot of the mountain. As long as they maintain the infrared camouflage, according to the abilities of those two, returning to the refuge won’t be a problem. Even if the survival of the two was investigated afterwards, everything could be explained by the known information about the refuge.
The boots stepped on the grass in a soothing rhythm, and the sound gradually moved away. The roar of machinery in the distance became louder. The man was about to leave.
Go quickly. Ruan Xian repeated desperately from the bottom of his heart.
But those terrible boots suddenly stopped, and then took a step back, which sounded like he had turned around.
“Interesting. Why does sample 897 still have a life response?”
“Warning, warning. Implanting a sensor device other than an auxiliary chip into the sample is an infraction and violates the confidentiality regulation No.—”
“Article 64, I know. With just one sample, the Mainbrain won’t be too dissatisfied.” The man responded coldly. “I’m willing to be punished. Isn’t it just an extension of service period by a few years? Now re-block this mountain for me. If something goes wrong, I will go back and have a look.”
Then the sound of boots disappeared, and the rumble in the air quickly moved away.
Bad.
After confirming that the other party couldn’t detect him, Ruan Xian quickly sat up. Tang Yibu was already standing in front of him, looking at him with a smirk.
“Now, I guess you’re going to have to follow him.” The android said with interest.
“…Yes.”
The other side.
Chi Lei and Ding Zepeng separated the bushes in front of them breathlessly. There were still a few drones hovering over the hoverbike, so it wasn’t wise to retrieve them. Fortunately, the machinery that was patrolling around the hill just stopped moving and no longer radiated the surrounding area with an isolation grid.
Their grappling hooks were still intact, and if they used the forest to swing and leap their way back to the refuge, it would take less than half an hour to get back.
Hope was at hand, but unfortunately, the rumbling of machinery shattered that meager joy once more. The patrol machinery that should have stopped moving suddenly moved again, and Ding Zepeng almost slammed into the isolation grid that lit up again.
“They just cancelled it. What happened?” The young man squeezed the handle of the suitcase tightly as his face was covered in sweat.
Chi Lei’s brows were tightly locked, and his expression had never been so gloomy. He dragged Ding Zepeng back a few steps, raised his head, and looked at the rumbling sky. The rising sun had already appeared, and the little stars in the sky had become blurred.
A person with a grappling hook was swinging under a medium-sized aircraft and landed quickly towards the two of them. Chi Lei didn’t hesitate to take out his gun and shoot, but all the bullets hit an invisible barrier and bounced away from the figure. After the visitor stepped on the ground with his boots, the medium-sized aircraft split in two and stretched out six pairs of guns that floated symmetrically behind him. It looked like two open black shells.
Several mechanical police dogs stopped at his feet and squatted down obediently. The crimson circle of light on their heads was still blinding.
It was a sturdy, tall man. He wore a long black trench coat, slim style, and there wasn’t any intricate decoration on his clothes, like some kind of uniform. The half-face gas mask covered his face, and he had a military-like cap on that revealed a little pale skin that lacked sunlight and slightly too long black hair.
Those eyes were somewhat familiar, but they were full of indifference and numbness, plus a creepy playfulness.
Seeing that shooting was useless, Chi Lei slowly moved a few steps and blocked Ding Zepeng behind him.
The man discovered his little move and laughed unabashedly. Chi Lei was not shaken by the laughter. He still held his gun vigilantly with the muzzle pointing straight at his opponent’s heart.
He suddenly saw a little light in the bushes behind the man. He didn’t know when they got there, but Ruan Lijie and 231 were sitting in the bushes not far away, using the infrared camouflage metal boxes to reflect the light of the rising sun. The mysterious Ruan Lijie was covered in blood, was pale, and made a gesture to delay time.
It seemed that they still had some hope. Chi Lei was just about to breathe a sigh of relief…
Oblivious to the two people behind him, the person in front of Chi Lei pulled down his gas mask. The moment he saw his face, Chi Lei subconsciously stopped breathing, like he had fallen into an ice cave, while Ding Zepeng, who was behind him, fell flat on his ass and almost dropped the suitcase in his arms.
“Chi Ge, you’re still the same.” The man’s tone was smooth as he slowly pulled the gas mask down to his chin. “Seriously, your reaction is just as funny every time.”
What was revealed behind the mask was Ding Zepeng’s facial features.
The person looked a few years older than Xiao Ding, and there was no trace of honesty on his face. The temperament was like an open-edge military knife, gloomy and sharp.
The Ding Zepeng who was behind Chi Lei’s breathing became more raid. He had a tendency to breathe excessively. Chi Lei stepped back subconsciously, and his face changed from shock to blankness.
“Don’t be afraid, Xiao Ding. Don’t be afraid,” he said dreamily, not knowing whether he was trying to comfort the young man behind him or himself. “This is… This is an android. This must be an android.”
“Android? You mean the pile of garbage left over from the old world? A fragile human body plus an incomplete electronic brain is simply the worst combination. Except for the few who were given shells by MUL-01, the others are nothing more than inferior machines.”
The older “Ding Zepeng” had a bit more sarcasm on his face. He made a gesture, and a mechanical police dog passed by Chi Lei’s side and tore off his waist bag, plus a large piece of flesh on the side of his waist.
Chi Lei grunted bitterly as blood quickly stained his waist.
Dressed in black, “Ding Zepeng” quickly found the medicine box, opened the medicine that restrained the androids in disgust, and swallowed it in front of the two of them. The gesture was easy and casual, as if he was a cat holding down the tail of a mouse.
“Even if you don’t believe me, you should believe in Guan Haiming’s technology.” The man laughed again. “Don’t escape reality, both of you. It’s a pity, but I’m a human being.”
He pretended to extend his hand to the air in front of him, posing as a handshake. “Order Supervisor, Ding Zepeng. For the sake of distinction, you can call me Major Ding.”
In the bushes a dozen steps away, Ruan Xian almost dropped the infrared camouflage in his hand. He stared at the back figure in shock. Unlike himself, the man swallowed the pill firmly, and his tone didn’t sound like a lie.
If the so-called Major Ding was telling the truth… there were real humans in MUL-01’s camp, and the number of people was large enough to form an organization with a “title”.
Why?
The scene in front of him began to make him uncomfortable all over his body.
“Tang Yibu, have you finished yet?” Ruan Xian mumbled and asked in an extremely low voice.
“He’s equipped with a strong armor, not a defenseless detection bird. Once I block the transmission of information here, he will immediately notice it and then take Chi Lei and Ding Zepeng as hostages. Information blocking must be done after the armor is turned off.”
Tang Yibu gestured quickly in the air, as if he was conducting an invisible orchestra. “His armor is outside the network. I have to break it through others means—”
“How much longer will it take?”
“Ten minutes.” Even though the situation was so tense, Tang Yibu still exuded a certain unhurried sense of being an outsider.
“Too long. Let me help you. Give me an interface.” Ruan Xian quickly turned on the light screen of his electronic wristband. Tang Yibu swiped in his direction and countless pieces of data instantly filled the small light screen.
“How long will it take you to finish processing?”
“Four minutes at most.” Ruan Xian quickly scanned the screen for data. As soon as the wet clothes on his body showed some signs of drying out, they were wet again from his cold sweat.
“So a total of four more minutes is needed.”
Ruan Xian took a deep breath, leaned out his body slightly, and conveyed the time information to Chi Lei with gestures. Chi Lei’s gaze had already begun to drift, and Ruan Xian gestured three times before he pressed his cheeks tightly and nodded at a very slow speed.
“…Order Supervisor? I had heard that they were just a bunch of contraptions, but it seems you’re just the Mainbrain’s dogs, traitors to humanity.” Chi Lei’s voice was so hoarse that it didn’t sound like his own. He began to consciously pick up Major Ding’s words and try to converse.
“Ruan Xian is the betrayer of humanity. If he hadn’t insisted on going against MUL-01, the rebels would’ve been all but wiped out a long time ago, and the observation of the rebels wouldn’t have lasted so long. To be honest, you’re all paying for his caprice alone.”
Major Ding seemed to be a little interested. Without looking at more than a dozen black guns behind him, just by listening to his tone, he sounded almost like he was talking to an old friend.
Ruan Xian, who was cracking the data, paused.
“In order to preserve the so-called ‘human tinder’… he suggested that you install a black box, throw down false hope, and then ‘foster’ you here under the Mainbrain. He knew that the Mainbrain would be happy to swallow this bait and knew that you would die as a result. For example, Zhang Yazhe had just experienced his 92nd death.”
Chi Lei’s face was pale as paper.
“This is the first time you know the truth here, right, Chi Lei? How does it feel to be played around by your most respected Ruan Xian?”
“I…”
With three minutes left, Ruan Xian quickly broke open the encrypted data. His fingertips and toes were becoming paralyzed by tension.
“Because—because we are humans.” Seeing Chi Lei fall into silence, Ding Zepeng swallowed his saliva and plucked up the courage to refute, but his voice was still shaking badly. “If Professor Ruan hadn’t done this, we would be killed by MUL-01 in the first place. Now at least many people are alive…”
“‘We’?” Turning his gaze to Ding Zepeng, Major Ding’s voice suddenly became indifferent. “You are just a clone of me, and your memories are all fake, edited by me. Do you really think you’re human?”
Ding Zepeng cowered for a moment, and he looked at Chi Lei helplessly. However, Chi Lei just covered the wound and stared blankly at the void in front of him.
“Your life has only two uses.” Major Ding lowered his gaze and looked down at Ding Zepeng, sitting on the ground. The dozens of guns behind him turned their direction and headed straight towards Xiao Ding. “First, when I deal with people in the shelter, this face can make them relax. Second, you have made things more fun and helped me pass the boring time.”
“My life is my own. I—”
“Excessive worship of elders, lack of opinions, lack of self-confidence, and gullibility. It’s also worth mentioning that I replaced your athletic talents from my past. You see, if you implant such a boring life fabricated out of thin air, even ‘I’ can also become such a loser.”
Ding Zepeng pulled the suitcase behind him and shrank. “No…”
There were only two minutes left. Sweat dripped down the tip of Ruan Xian’s nose. They had already broken the armor device behind Major Ding. As long as they stopped the energy system…
“This is the fifth time we have had such a conversation,” Major Ding continued cruelly. “I also deliberately let you go back and clear your memories. Although it’s unlikely… If you are lucky and run away this time, remember to say hello to Guan Haiming before your memories get wiped.”
Ding Zepeng slowly raised his head in shock and looked at the “self” in front of him. “You know Guan Haiming?”
“One-sided.” Major Ding took a few more steps closer, and the gun behind him clicked softly as it entered the calibration stage. “Mr. Guan has always been the object of my admiration, and as a fellow informant, I can’t figure out why he insists on staying on Ruan Xian’s side.”
“Because Haiming is a kind person. A kind person doesn’t treat human life like a toy.” Ding Zepeng took two steps back as he squeezed the sentence between his teeth. He looked at “himself” directly in the eyes, with a bit more anger in his tone.
Chi Lei finally moved as he turned to the two of them. His eyes were complicated and sad, and it looked as if his entire body had drastically aged.
One minute.
“You’re not qualified to call him ‘Haiming’, and also you’re not qualified to be angry at me either.” Major Ding glanced at Chi Lei and found that he had no intention of fighting. He snorted coldly and continued to focus on Ding Zepeng.
“Why? This mouth belongs to me! If the Mainbrain doesn’t want it to be used, it can just kill us all and create a bunch of androids to observe. That way, it can edit the memories at any time, saving you a lot of trouble.” Ding Zepeng was still trembling, but there was a little angry smile on his face.
Thirty seconds.
“It’s certainly better to observe creatures that are close to their original ecology. Puppet shows are meaningless.” Major Ding glanced at the time on the screen and called out the operation interface of his weapon. “Don’t think too highly of yourself. You guys make this scene seem so pathetic, but to me, it’s just a daily data refresh.”
Ten seconds.
Major Ding thought for a while, and instead of activating his weapon, he took out his own gun and put the muzzle between Ding Zepeng’s eyebrows.
“I don’t like the way you laugh,” he said softly. “Never did.”
Ding Zepeng’s eyes were covered with mud stains and dust. He dug his fingers into the turf and stared at himself.
At the same time, Tang Yibu cleared his throat from behind the bushes. “The armor program is destroyed, and the exchange of information with MUL-01 is temporarily blocked. If you need me to get rid of him—”
A gunshot sounded.
The floating machine fell to the ground with a loud bang. The body that once belonged to a human fell heavily to the ground. His head was blown up by a bullet. Blood and brain matter spilled all over the ground. Memory, emotion, time, or the necessary parts that make up the “soul” slid down the grass and onto the soil.
Ruan Xian stood behind the bush with a gun in his hands.
Time seemed to be suspended. The smell of human tissue was mixed with bloody gas. He smelled the smoke from the muzzle of his gun, the heat of the rising sun seeping through the leaves, and the shock and fear emanating from his pores—others, as well as his own.
The sun had already risen, and his eyes were shining brightly, but his hands and feet were still cold. Perhaps he should vomit, be afraid, and collapse hysterically. This was normal. Even the most capable detective had to undergo psychological intervention after killing. There was no shame in this.
In an instant, he felt a lot of things, such as anxiety about the reality, sorrow for Zhang Yazhe, and worry about Ding Zepeng and Chi Lei.
But there was no guilt. He searched desperately for emotions, like rummaging through a drawer full of debris.
No guilt.
Ruan Xian lowered his gun. It seemed that he had broken the old chain that entangled a box with a single shot. The chain jingled to the ground as the demon floated out. It had been lurking there for a long time, scratching his heart from the inside day and night, but now it finally broke free and stretched its claws to the outside world.
“Tang Yibu, get ready to replace the intercepted data. His armor failed because of a malfunction and then he was attacked,” he heard himself whispering. “Then we leave here right away.”
He found himself taking a step, stepping over the body that had his head blown up, with the most appropriate soothing smile on his face, and walked towards Ding Zepeng, who was covered with blood.
“Good job, Xiao Ding. You bought a lot of time.” His voice was steady. “Chi Ge, you’d better leave quickly—”
“No,” Chi Lei said.
He raised his gun and fired wildly at the body of Major Ding on the ground. His face was blank. The gun was almost empty, and the body bounced uncontrollably on the ground as he fired. After he stopped, Chi Lei rubbed his hand on the barrel of the gun and raised his eyes to look at Ding Zepeng, who was shaking into a ball beside him.
“Xiao Ding, go back,” Chi Lei said wearily. “I can’t go.”
Ding Zepeng finally staggered up from the ground. He hugged the suitcase tightly and tugged at Chi Lei’s coat. His face was full of pleading.
Chi Lei took a step back.
“I have a bad temper and am suspicious as hell, but there are three people I would never doubt,” Chi Lei said slowly. The man was dyed in blood under the morning sun, looking exceptionally thin. “Professor Ruan, Lao Zhang, and you. You are my family. The refuge is my home.”
“Chi Ge.” Ding Zepeng’s eyes flushed.
“But today, my home is no longer a home. As far as my temper is concerned, I don’t have the confidence to go back to the refuge and act properly. In addition, like I said, I have a shitty problem of doubting this and that. Now I know that Lao Zhang lied to me, Professor Ruan lied to me, and you are…”
Chi Lei didn’t continue.
Xiao Ding wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Ruan Xian stood in silence as he stared at Chi Lei’s expression.
“This won’t work,” Chi Lei sighed. “I can’t work together with everyone without any problems, but I don’t want to leave this team, and MUL-01 shouldn’t want this to happen either… I want to keep trusting you guys. I have to keep trusting you guys.”
“Chi Ge, Chi Ge! Go back. Go back with me to Guan Haiming and let him wipe your memory—” Ding Zepeng suddenly panicked, realizing what the other party wanted to do.
“That will leave a record and I’ll become suspicious sooner or later. All in all, this matter has come to this point, and I blame myself for being incapable when we were in the city—Don’t cry! I’ll see you again tomorrow. Xiao Ding, you have to promise me that you’ll forget this when you go back.”
Then his eyes turned to Ruan Xian.
“Thank you for your help, Ruan Lijie. Although I don’t think that’s your name.” Chi Lei’s voice sank. “If you can do what you did just now… If you have the ability to interfere with the communication between that guy and the Mainbrain, replace me as the person who killed him in the replacement data. This way, MUL-01 will not notice you on the scene. I’ll pay you back for your little favor.”
He stuck the gun to his temple.
“But I still believe in my intuition, Ruan Lijie.” He grinned weakly, his eyebrows were gloomy, and his expression was a bit like when they first met. “…You’re a dangerous guy.”
Chi Lei’s tone was still a little vulgar and mean, and it was difficult to tell whether he was joking or lamenting in earnest.
Then another gunshot rang out.
Ding Zepeng’s knees softened, and he knelt on the ground. He covered his eyes and only saw dark red on his fingers. Ruan Xian slowly squatted down and patted him on the back but couldn’t say anything.
Half an hour later, over the city of artificial intelligence, in the mechanical cavity of the blind spider.
Pale hands grabbed the metal armrest, and after a few waves of liquid agitation, a man stepped out of the liquid tank with one leg. He casually pulled the bath towel from the shelf, dried his dripping hair, and put on a simple bathrobe.
“Good morning, Major Ding Zepeng. Your breakfast is ready.” As soon as his wet feet stepped on the ground, the electronic sound reminded him just right. Major Ding rolled his eyes and skillfully coughed out a small amount of fluid remaining in his lungs.
A hot breakfast was being served a short distance away, no different from yesterday’s. Major Ding glanced at it with a lack of interest and began to change his clothes.
“Prompt. First, in the early hours of yesterday morning, you once again violated Article 64 of the confidentiality regulations by implanting and activating a sensor device other than an auxiliary chip for the sample without authorization. This behavior increases the risk of being discovered by the sample. Your service time will be extended for 365 days.”
Major Ding hummed casually.
“Second, your communication time with the sample yesterday was 6 minutes and 23 seconds. If you exceed the prescribed 3 minutes, your service time will be extended for 15 days.”
“Hmm.” Major Ding responded absent-mindedly.
“Third, yesterday you made an inappropriate statement about the current management mechanism, and the relevant memories have been erased.”
“Inappropriate statement? Um… after meeting Chi Lei and the others, I guess I said something like how many times they had died. That’s just to shake them up. I have no complaints about the data refresh mechanism of the Mainbrain.”
“Reason rejected. Please keep in mind the guidelines. Data refresh does not equal death. As an Order Supervisor, please be cautious. Please remember that you are enjoying the best quality data refresh service. During your service time, you’ll never be troubled by illness, aging, or death.” The machine pulled a tiresome long tone.
“…Yes.”
Major Ding looked out the window. It was a sunny day today, and there was no cloud in the blue sky. The empty city under his feet rumbled as usual, receiving countless memories, calculations, and editing huge memory data from all directions by auxiliary chips—as the real black box.
He manipulated the spider-shaped surveillance machine, turned the viewpoint, and casually opened the communication device.
“Sample No. 24 Zhang Yazhe, sample No. 29 Chi Lei, the detector has confirmed both corpses and the backup refresh is complete. Two new human corpses were found under mountain peak No. 4. The deceased had taken an identity jammer, so they were unable to confirm their identity, but no obvious effect. Sample No. 897 Ding Zepeng has returned to the refuge, priority observation, data refresh aborted. End of report.”
Having said that, he turned on the largest light screen in front of him.
A burst of soft music sounded, and the cold mechanical voice was replaced by a soothing and beautiful female voice. “Today’s weather in petri dish No. 1036 is sunny to cloudy. There will be light rain in local areas in the evening. All 27 forest sanctuaries in the petri dish have started to operate. Please pay attention, Order Supervision Personnel, and correct any wrong data in time.”
The man skillfully pressed his palm on the cold operation panel.
“Greetings, Major Ding. Welcome back. Your data refresh today has been completed and you are in good physical condition. There is still 23 hours, 50 minutes, and 13 seconds until your next refresh. Have a nice day.”
“Withdraw quickly!” Zhang Yazhe reacted quickly and pulled Chi Lei, who was frozen from shock.
“Lao Zhang, did you see Lao Zhang?! Fuck me!”
“Yes, I saw it. You’re not crazy. We have to go,” Zhang Yazhe roared as he knocked the suitcase to the ground. “Xiao Ding is still waiting over there! Look at the situation. Do you really want to talk here?”
Chi Lei’s eyes flushed, and he shivered and cursed again. He finally glanced at the creepy storage area and followed in Zhang Yazhe’s footsteps. The hissing sound of gas rushed into the space was ringing out from all sides. Poisonous gas was being poured in at a rapid pace. It wasn’t advisable for them to stay there any longer.
“I didn’t hear anything. How come we were discovered?” Ding Zepeng was still guarding his old position. His face was a little pale. “Zhang Ge, Chi Ge, what should I do now?”
“Go up and hold your breath. Be careful of the poisonous gas,” Zhang Yazhe said it briefly and concisely, then he looked deeply at Chi Lei. “You go first, I’ll take the back.”
Ding Zepeng nodded. His grapple hook accurately hit a bump and was firmly hooked in place. He whizzed to the top of the hook, took out tools from his bag, and started trying to break the glass…
There was a crash and the thick glass shattered on its own. A hand pulled on Ding Zepeng and yanked him straight out the window.
“Ruan Ge?!”
“Xiao Ding, go to the bushes over there.” Ruan Xian made a quiet gesture and pointed to the bushes not far below. “I moved your hoverbike there. Don’t ask questions. Go quickly.”
Taking advantage of Ruan Xian’s command, Tang Yibu pulled up a shocked Chi Lei. The entire replication factory illuminated the nearby space as if it was daytime. The silent alarm should have spread far away. Several groups of giant machines of different shapes swayed closer, and a fleet of drones were flying their way. The blind spider machine lying on top of the city rumbled and collapsed its twelves legs, slowly descending its’ torso down to them.
“Hurry!” Chi Lei was followed by Zhang Yazhe. Ruan Xian wiped the sweat from his head. He already smelled the subtle fishiness of the poisonous gas. The last thing to be hoisted up was the auxiliary machine, which almost failed to pass through the narrow window.
Ding Zepeng quickly hid in the bushes as quiet as if he didn’t even exist. However, after Zhang Yazhe was dragged out, he sat on the building’s protruding slope with little intention of hiding himself.
“Split up.” Zhang Yazhe looked calm and there was no panic in his tone. “Xiao Ruan, you go with Xiao Ding and Lao Chi. I’ll take the auxiliary machine.”
Ruan Xian frowned.
“What bullshit! You think I don’t know you’re trying to play hero again?” Chi Lei also didn’t go to the bushes. He stood on the edge of the building without moving.
“…I’ll give you an explanation.” Zhang Yazhe stuffed the suitcase into Chi Lei’s arms.
“Come with us, or I’ll shoot you,” Chi Lei growled. He obediently pulled on Zhang Yazhe’s collar, and the two men slipped directly down the hook line. Upon seeing this, Tang Yibu picked up Ruan Xian and jumped to the ground.
Within a few seconds of them slipping off the roof, a few steel grippers descended and hit the destroyed window, shattering almost the entire small platform. Chi Lei’s hook lost its fixed point and fell to the ground like a dead snake. Zhang Yazhe spread his arms to protect Chi Lei’s head and the two fell heavily onto the lawn. It took them a while to recover.
Tang Yibu carried Ruan Xian on his shoulders. He straightened his upper body and pulled out his blood gun and shot straight into the joints of the steel gripper. After a burst of sparks, the steel gripper finally stopped moving.
As soon as he put away his gun, he cast a meaningful look at Zhang Yazhe.
At this moment, Ruan Xian didn’t intend to continue to hide his strength. The current situation was dangerous, and any little deliberate concealment could be fatal. If things had gone well for the three of them, it would be fine, but now that there was a change and he had already revealed himself, naturally he would not return to the refuge.
Without escaping Zhang Yazhe’s scrutiny, Ruan Xian smiled at him.
Seeing that the target was away from the building, bombs followed. Chi Lei pulled Zhang Yazhe forward and hid behind a rock. Tang Yibu and Ruan Xian dove directly into the nearest ditch as the wind roared past the two of them.
The four of them didn’t wait for the second wave of bombing. When the giant bomb-throwing machine moved its muzzle, everyone rushed to the bushes as bullet from the drones rained down on their heels.
“Xiao Ding, catch.” After confirming that Zhang Yazhe was still around, Chi Lei threw the suitcase containing the internal organs to Ding Zepeng. The machines were hurtling towards him, so he activated another batch of infrared camouflage and threw four small metal boxes around. About eight drones circled above their heads, ready to shoot.
Bombs. The flame raised by the bombs burned higher and the hot and murky air was no longer suitable for breathing. In the burning fire, Chi Lei’s lips trembled, and his face was covered with dirt and sweat. He tried to step on the hoverbike, but his legs were shaking so badly that he only succeeded after four attempts.
“Let’s go,” he chanted dreamily, not even bothering to investigate why Ruan Xian was here. “We need to leave, quickly.”
“Lao Chi, you and Xiao Ruan cover Xiao Ding. You guys take the other way and go straight back to the refuge. I’ll go around the Wild Cemetery side.” The silver moonlight poured down, slightly reddened by the flames. Zhang Yazhe was unusually calm in the chaos.
The auxiliary machine was firmly fixed by him in the backseat of the hoverbike, and the gun swayed following the drones in the air. Then it seemed to have received some instructions, and a green circle of light flashed, creating virtual images of the other two hoverbike behind Zhang Yazhe’s hoverbike.
In the virtual image, Ding Zepeng sat in the back seat of Chi Lie, while Tang Yibu took Ruan Xian. It was exactly the same as their current vehicle allocation.
“Zhang Yazhe!” Chi Lei’s voice was shrill.
“The Wild Cemetery covers a large area, and its signal blind zone are particularly strong. These things are stupid and will think you went into camouflage. Lao Chi, you’re not in good condition and I’m most familiar with the Wild Cemetery— We’re all adult. You know this is the most reasonable.”
“If you die, I’ll definitely dig up your body and cut it to pieces again.” Chi Lei’s voice was hoarse as if it had been grounded by sandpaper.
“Alright. When I get pass the signal blind zone, we’ll talk.”
“If you’re spouting bullshit, I’ll kick your ass when I see you.” Chi Lei started his hoverbike and pointed to the hoverbike in the dark forest. His voice had changed a little. Ding Zepeng, who was sitting in the back of the car, stretched his body. He looked like he wanted to say something but stopped. In the end he didn’t say a single word.
Zhang Yazhe smiled and looked at Ruan Xian who quickly jumped out of the back seat of the car. “Xiao Ruan has something to say?”
“Zhang Ge—” Ruan Xian wrung out the water in the corner of his clothes and took a few steps closer, but just a few seconds after he spoke, he was directly interrupted by the other party.
“Looking at this, it’s you who guided Tian He to see me, right? There are quite a few people who have access to my signature, but I know in my heart.” Zhang Yazhe stroked his beard and lowered his voice so that only Ruan Xian could hear. “Although I don’t have much evidence… I’ll bet on it. I won’t ask who you are. Thank you for your help, Xiao Ruan.”
Ruan Xian understood the words that the other party didn’t say. The black box couldn’t leave a record in a signal blind zone. No matter what identity he gave, “tomorrow’s Zhang Yazhe” would not remember his answer.
Looking at the smiling face of the person in front of him, the dark anger surged in his heart again. Ruan Xian gasped a few hard breaths before he suppressed the sticky cold emotions.
“Zhang Ge, you know very well the Mainbrain can choose to silence you just to simply and crudely eliminate the possibility of you spreading panic. If everyone goes back safely and the plan is successful, I think it will give priority to observing whether there are signs of chaos in the refuge— There are people who already know about it. As long as you continue to remain silent, it will not wipe out the entire refuge for no reason,” Ruan Xian whispered quickly. “Don’t give up too early, okay?”
Tian He knew about it, and so did Guan Haiming, but MUL-01 didn’t respond. It wasn’t that it didn’t allow a few humans to know the truth— As long as it was sure they were still trying to maintain this false peace. The problem only arose if it was “spoken”.
“Don’t worry. Don’t look at me like this. I’m quite afraid of pain.”
“Zhang Ge, why don’t you come with us. I’ll try my best—”
“Xiao Ruan, I can see that you’re a smart person.” Zhang Yazhe shrugged. “Do you think it’ll be safter for you guys if I lure these pieces of junk away?”
“In theory, but…”
“That’s not it. I have already decided. I don’t mind being copied, but I don’t know what Lao Chi and Xiao Ding will think. In any case, it’s good if they suffer a little less.”
Zhang Yazhe stretched out his hand and rubbed Ruan Xian’s hair.
“Since you jumped out to help and knew the truth, whether you intend to return to the refuge or not… You’re a good kid. Have a safe trip.”
The other party’s palm was big and warm, and it only made Ruan Xian’s heart sour.
Zhang Yazhe smiled spontaneously, started his hoverbike, and waved his hands at them. He then rushed straight to the direction of the Wild Cemetery like a phantom. Chi Lei gritted his teeth and led Tang Yibu the other way. Ruan Xian hugged Tang Yibu’s waist tightly. The other party’s temperature came through his wet clothes, and he was suddenly hit by fatigue.
Zhang Yazhe’s judgement was correct. After a brief hesitation, most of the drones and four-legged machines followed him.
[Lao Chi…] After driving for about twenty-five minutes, accompanied by the sound of shooting and explosion, Zhang Yazhe’s voice came from the electronic wristband. It seemed that he had thrown them off after passing the signal blind zone.
“You shithead.” Chi Lei’s voice trembled a little. Ding Zepeng sat in the backseat in silence as his feet tightly wrapped around the stirrups. His left arm held the suitcase tightly while his right held a gun; the knuckles were completely white.
[Since you have seen it all, I’ll need to explain. After all, when I lead the refuge, you will definitely be indispensable. Xiao Ding, this topic is actually not suitable for you, if you—]
“I want to know,” Ding Zepeng murmured in a low voice.
[Alright.] Zhang Yazhe’s breathing was short. They didn’t know if he was injured. [Lao Chi, you can talk to Xiao Ding later. Let me make the long story short— Our refuge has always been an observation room for MUL-01. It keeps us like bonsai trees for research and would prune us from time to time. If someone with adequate abilities dies outside, they will be stuffed back with a clone to ensure the refuge can last.]
“…You’re crazy,” Chi Lei sai numbly. “Impossible. If Professor Ruan knew… No, he clearly said…”
He didn’t go on. Ding Zepeng sat in the back seat in a daze as if he had become a woodcarving.
Maybe he knew what Chi Lei wanted to say, Ruan Xian thought. The “Ruan Xian” in the wheelchair said, “Don’t give up, hope is still there.” He also said, “Please believe that you’re very important.”
The tone of the voice was resounding, with a magic that could soothed the heart. It was a beautiful picture that covered the hideous bloodstain and cracked bullet holes of the wall, but it won’t make them disappear.
Chi Lei didn’t say anything. He was no longer trembling. He was just horribly quiet as tears kept following down his cheeks.
[Lao Chi, are you still listening?]
“……”
[In short, that’s it. My pursuers weren’t very strong. I was able to get rid of them after a while.] In the strange rumble, Zhang Yazhe’s voice was weak but held a smile. [I’ll going to the signal blind zone in the Wild Cemetery. See you tomorrow at the refuge!]
Communication was interrupted.
“I recognize that sound.” Tang Yibu broke the silence. “That’s the latest type— Ouch, Mr. Ruan, don’t pinch my waist.”
“…Stop talking. I beg you.” Ruan Xian gritted his teeth.
“Okay.” The android snapped his mouth shut.
Chi Lei didn’t respond and remained terribly quiet. He was still guiding them accurately. Except for his breathing and heartbeat, he was almost no different from a machine. Ding Zepeng bit his lower lip, trying to suppress the trembling of his body caused by his sobs.
A few kilometers away, the Wild Cemetery view was wide open. The cloudless night sky was dotted with stars.
Zhang Yazhe leaned on a concrete slab. He tilted his head and looked at the last tracking machine in front of him. It was approaching, intending to give him a final blow.
“You got tricked and followed me here, stupid thing. Can’t get in touch with the outside world, right?” Ignoring the bullet holes in his body, Zhang Yazhe grinned, revealing his blood-stained teeth. He turned his head slightly.
Here he could see the city of artificial intelligence not far away. The thing that resembled a daddy long-legs was still descending to the ground, leaving an uncomfortable and weird silhouette in the night.
“Ugh, I might have dreamed about this scene.”
Zhang Yazhe dumped out all the energy cans in his waist pack in front of him. He ripped open the packaging of a button bomb and paused for a few seconds with his eyes locked on the food cannister on his chest.
“…It’s a pity about this can,” he murmured before closing his eyes.
A searing white light tore through the night. The powerful explosion blew the moose-sized dangerous machine to pieces. The drones that have lost their target turned around like a headless fly for a while before flying back to the city.
Everything returned to calm.
Over the city.
“Suburban replication factory report. It’s recommended to cancel the backup correction of the organic printer. Although the backup correction can reduce the number of times the sample comes to print, there’s a hidden danger of directly exposing the storage area, which is not conducive to stability. Also, the patrol interval will be adjusted to nine minutes.”
In the “body” of the blind spider, a man who was sitting in an armchair stood up, crack his shoulders a few times, and then tapped the radar screen in front of him with his knuckles.
“Sample No. 24 Zhang Yazhe, backup refresh completed. Sample No. 29, Chi Lei, and sample No. 897, Ding Zepeng, are out of automatic pursuit range. The above two samples are ready to be refreshed manually. End of report.”
The man put on a long coat, a pitch-black half-face gas mask, as he spoke in a jarring voice.
He opened the door, and several mechanical hound dogs followed him closely.
“What a pain in the ass.” He pulled on his gloves, lowered the brim of his hat, and kicked a mechanical hound away. “Forget it. It’s also interesting to chase ‘yourself’.”
Kinky Thoughts:
So many twists and turns that I have no idea WTF is going on anymore.
This is the last of the free chapters on jjwxc. If you’ve been enjoying the novel so far and are able to, please consider supporting the author by buying the raws. I used google chrome with their auto translate and this guide on how to buy novels on jjwxc. Remember, only with your (financial) support can artists continue to produce more great works.
The city ruled by artificial intelligence was getting closer and closer. Over the city, the giant device that looked close to a daddy long-legs was sticking out its long feet and adjusting its posture.
Ruan Xian didn’t speak anymore. He numbly hugged Tang Yibu’s neck, waiting for the android’s next words, but Tang Yibu didn’t speak again. He just stepped on the branch of a tree like a feline, and noiselessly advanced forward. He dexterously crossed the brushes, and the rustling friction merged into the evening breeze.
The possibility that Tang Yibu was MUL-01 was extremely low, and Ruan Xian knew this, but the silence that followed told him that Tang Yibu had no intention of giving him an explanation, so it wasn’t wise to continue asking too much.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you.” After a few minutes of silence, Tang Yibu asked briskly, “Since you don’t want to stand idly by, why don’t you forcefully intervene?”
“You deliberately falsified information for them to communicate and induced Tian He to express his thoughts, thereby terminating Zhang Yazhe’s rescue plan. The result is obvious. You failed.”
Ruan Xian looked at the three hoverbikes under the tree. Zhang Yazhe took the lead, while Chi Lei and Ding Zepeng’s hoverbike leaned back, protecting the left and right sides, respectively. There was no hesitation or confusion in the movements of the three of them.
“Forcefully intervene… I guess you mean secretly sabotaging Zhang Yazhe’s actions until Tian He dies or killing Tian He one step before Zhang Yazhe’s actions.” Ruan Xian tightened his five fingers that were clutching on to the fabric of Tang Yibu’s chest. The voice that came out was calmer than he expected. “It’s best they don’t know, so that the variables are minimal.”
“Yes, these are much wiser approaches.” Tang Yibu sounded quite approving, and he even nodded seriously. This action caused the android to break a few branches with his face. “The Ruan Xian I know would do this, but as his creation, you didn’t follow his will.”
“Because I am not him.” Ruan Xian’s voice was very low.
He wasn’t worried at all that Tang Yibu would discover the smell of lies—his body no longer belonged to the human category. Even if memory was emphasized, in the case of the black box, all the criteria of “self” had become confusing, and he couldn’t completely determine his identity.
Unexpectedly, Ruan Xian didn’t feel depressed or at a loss.
If one wanted to modify their memory, they tend to remove the worst parts. However, the pain of the past was still lingering in a certain corner of his heart, making it difficult to dispel like a vulture who found a corpse.
On the contrary, this was reassuring.
He was still alive and well. As long as the other “Ruan Xian” was still living somewhere in the world, he would have the chance to get his answer.
Ruan Xian stroked Tang Yibu’s collar with his fingers, and the touch of the fabric penetrated through the skin and climbed the nerves into his brain. Tang Yibu exuded a faint smell of soap, and the oncoming wind carried the smell of burning plastic. The outline of the dark bushes was sharp and clear. Retreating quickly from his side, he could see every vein of the leaves clearly.
The speed of the three hoverbikes was getting faster. Zhang Yazhe and Chi Lei’s expressions were calm, while Ding Zepeng looked a little nervous, but his eyes were firmer.
If he compared everything right now to an experiment, the variables weren’t complicated. He couldn’t control his thoughts, and various solutions naturally appeared in his mind. There were at least ten ways to allow Tian He to rest in peace and Zhang Yazhe to stay in the shelter obediently. What the two discussed earlier was the safest solution.
But that was only the optimal solution he unilaterally determined.
The guilt, gratitude, and attachment, just like the hair tightly clenched in the hands of those corpses, would take root in the end and gradually entangle the lives of others. If Tian He couldn’t be rescued, would Zhang Yazhe and the others suffer for it? How painful? Perhaps this pain wasn’t worth mentioning compared to death.
But he couldn’t be sure.
Ruan Xian adjusted his posture and quietly touched the scar on his left wrist with his right hand. He was also part of a certain “optimal solution”, and he didn’t like that answer.
“We’ll only provide cover and let them handle the rest,” Ruan Xian said.
“Okay.” The destination was right in front of him. Tang Yibu turned over and got out of the tree, letting Ruan Xian jump off his back to the ground.
The hoverbikes driving in front finally stopped. The group of people stood at the edge of the artificial intelligence city. The deformed building was quietly immersed in the night, and the sponge-hole-like windows emitted hazy light. From a close distance, the huge spider-shaped device made people’s hair stand upright. He wasn’t sure if he was seeing things, but Ruan Xian always felt that it was tilting in the direction of where they were.
The goal of Zhang Yazhe and others wasn’t in the city.
Outside the towering wall, a group of termite nest-like buildings reclined obliquely. After the three of them hid their hoverbikes, they went around the bushes and headed straight towards the dull, odd buildings.
That was probably where the internal organs could be reproduced. Ruan Xian held his breath and listened to his surroundings, but found no strange sounds. He clasped the two blood guns tightly in his hands, bent down, and followed Tang Yibu.
The detection birds flew over their heads, causing everyone to sink down and activate their infrared camouflage as they buried themselves into the bushes.
“Don’t try to attack the system here. The city is too close to the control center of MUL-01, and it’s difficult for me to act.” Tang Yibu pressed Ruan Xian’s head lower. “In case this area is completely reset by it, we will all be in danger.”
‘I hope reset isn’t what I’m thinking,’ Ruan Xian thought dryly.
Zhang Yazhe’s ability was really outstanding. His movements were smooth, and he led the other two beautifully through all the blind spots. The auxiliary machine followed them quietly, carrying a suitcase-sized box.
Ruan Xian kept a distance of about fifty meters from them and dared not expose himself. All kinds of unexplainable noise floated out of the city, making the work of guarding the surroundings particularly difficult. Fortunately, the night sky in the early hours of the morning was as dark as ink and relatively peaceful.
After a line of dangling spherical machines floated by, Zhang Yazhe finally approached the entrance of the building. Tang Yibu shot out the grappling hook from his wrist and hoisted Ruan Xian’s waist as he pulled them up to the upper level.
Through the glass, Ruan Xian could see the scene inside the building clearly.
There was no light indoors, and the building was as quiet as a tomb. The intricately constructed machinery was quietly piled up in a pile, taking up most of the space, and the wires hung densely, like dilapidated cobwebs. Only a small part of the machinery was still on, as indicated by the light, emitting a nuisance sound of operation. The sound it made was as small as a butter knife scraping through butter. Several large water tanks were gurgling and spitting water bubbles, covered by a thin layer of accumulated dust on the glass. It obviously looked as if it hadn’t been taken care of for a while.
But Zhang Yazhe didn’t rush forward. He leaned down and threw a few small balls the size of marbles onto the ground. The small ball crossed the floor silently, and finally stopped slowly in the center of the room.
“Temporarily safe, the alarm system has not been upgraded,” Zhang Yazhe whispered.
“Nn. If the records are correct, the organic matter printer is nearby.” Instead of activating his electronic wristband, Chi Lei pulled out a piece of paper. Ding Zepeng was still holding a long gun, vigilantly surveying the surroundings.
“Wait another five minutes, just in case.” Zhang Yazhe raised a hand. “I’ll go in a while.”
“Are you really going to inherit the refuge?” Chi Lei retracted his outstretched foot and stood in the corner.
“Yes, that’s the boss’ intention. Once I start the inheritance process, I won’t be able to sneak out in the next few days.” Zhang Yazhe nodded. “Tonight is our only chance.”
“The boss is very stubborn. What if he refuses to accept it?” Ding Zepeng muttered.
“When the time comes, we’ll put the organs in front of him and see if he’ll throw them away in front of us. Before, he was just afraid that we… Ahem, die on this mission.” Zhang Yazhe laughed dryly. “He has worked hard for so many years, and in the end, he didn’t have a single good day. Watching him go, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“Who wouldn’t,” Chi Lei’s voice was soft. “If it wasn’t for the boss, grass would’ve grown on my grave a long time ago.”
“Shh,” Ding Zepeng suddenly interrupted the two. “There’s movement outside.”
The three of them simultaneously pulled out their grappling hooks and spidered up the ceiling. A cylindrical machine came in from the entrance and rotated around for a while. It slid into the middle of the room and packed the small balls into its metal body, then slowly walked out.
“Not bad. It’s the oldest scouting type.” Zhang Yazhe breathed a sigh of relief. “There should be ten minutes before the next patrol. Let’s go, Lao Chi. Xiao Ding, you continue to be vigilant. Remember not to run too far. This is the blind spot for the auxiliary chip signal.”
“Understood.”
Chi Lei’s movements were quick. He glanced at the machine in the dark and quickly found their target—an organic matter printer with flashing lights, and the connected sink was full of tiny water bubbles.
Putting down his backpack, Chi Lei held a small screwdriver in his mouth, and cut the metal skin like leather, exposing part of the circuit board. He quickly twisted a few wires and connected them to a small test tube with wires in it. With Zhang Yazhe as lookout, Chi Lei didn’t even bother checking his surroundings.
He summoned the auxiliary machine, and the abundant power made the printer screen light up. Chi Lei quickly entered the data, and the printer let out low beeps.
“There’s still six and a half minutes,” Zhang Yazhe prompted.
In the window above the two of them, Ruan Xian held his breath—
The outline of a person gradually appeared in the sink, starting with his feet, then his legs, crotch, abdomen, and chest. Like an old-fashioned 3D printer, a human body was being constructed layer by layer.
However, when the printing progress extended to his neck, Chi Lei moved again.
The printing stopped abruptly. The sink opened, and a human body without a head was drenched and drawn out of the chute.
“There are five minutes left.” Chi Lei glanced at the time and kept the machine in the starting state. “Lao Zhang, switch.”
Zhang Yazhe took out his pocketknife, smoothly took the suitcase-like object on the auxiliary machine, and opened it wide. There were multiple compartments in the box, and each compartment was full of liquid. They were folded inward like mercury, and the faint bright blue halo broke through the darkness.
“Yo, it’s an antique. Nanorobot α-092? Which version?” Chi Lei tore off something like a water bag from the auxiliary machine.
“Talk less and help.”
Chi Lei breathed a sigh of relief and held down the headless body.
Zhang Yazhe moved quickly. He cut open the chest and abdomen of the body, causing the headless body to twitch a few times, and soon it stopped moving. As the blade wove, fresh organs were stuffed into the suitcase one by one and quickly submerged in liquid.
“Has the blood been collected yet? It’s useful for surgery.” Zhang Yazhe wiped the blood from his hands and closed the suitcase.
“It’s collected. There’s still a minute and a half left. I’ll decompose the remnants.” Chi Lei tied the filled “water bag” back to the auxiliary machine, manipulated the chute to rise, and the blood-soaked empty shell was poured back into the sink. The remaining flesh hissed and dissolved as if it had been submerged in strong acid.
“It’s done. Let’s go.”
“Lao Zhang, something is wrong.” Chi Lei frowned.
“What?”
“The feedback data seems to be a bit abnormal.” Instead of turning off the machine, Chi Lei quickly looked up the historical data.
“There’s one minute left.”
“There’s still time, there’s still time—Lao Zhang, Tian He’s sample data has been corrected just now. The sample seemed to be a little contaminated, and the machine filtered out the impurity of the data.” Chi Lei’s voice shook a little. “But without Tian He’s complete body data for comparison, it’s impossible to tell what the error is. It’s just a printer…”
“As long as the organs are fine, Lao Chi, let’s get out of here first.”
Chi Lei touched the operation interface of the machine with his hand, skillfully connected the electronic wristband to the printer hardware, and began to crack it quickly. “I have to make sure. In case there is a problem with the printing, this trip will be in vain. Give me some time, we can’t hurt the boss…”
He suddenly froze.
He didn’t know what the hacking command triggered, but the circuit board suddenly emitted a few traces of green smoke. With a beep, the originally dark space was instantly brightly lit. Heavy steel plates instantly fell at the entrance, and all the silent machinery started at the same time. It seemed that the place was filled with thousands of hornet’s nests in an instant, as the entire space was filled with buzzing sounds.
The space here was much larger than they thought.
The depths of the darkness, where no light could be seen day or night, were illuminated by lights. Cylindrical glass silos, like can drinks on a shelf, were neatly built together. Human bodies floated inside each glass bin. Men and women with their eyes tightly closed and their heads showing a bit of pink brain tissue—cybernetic brains that weren’t like androids but were filled with fine connecting wires.
The familiar faces were all there, and there were many copies. The elites of the refuge, accompanied by countless “selves”, slept quietly in the glass warehouse.
“At this point, do you still plan to join Zhang Yazhe and the others in ‘saving’ Tian He?” After returning to the small room in the refuge, Tang Yibu sat down on the hard board bed, patted the side of the bed, and motioned for Ruan Xian to sit down. “If they can’t transplant healthy internal organs, Tian He won’t live past this week. They will act soon.”
Ruan Xian didn’t plan to respond to this pet-like gesture. He leaned against the wall of the small room and stared at a certain point in the void without saying a word.
The neglected Tang Yibu stood up and leaned against Ruan Xian’s side. His gaze was burning. “You said, ‘You want to join their actions’, but Tian He, as the individual, wants to die—”
“I remember.” Ruan Xian finally spoke. He lowered his head blankly and activated the electronic wristband again. “Assuming that Zhang Yazhe and the others insist on acting, my thoughts have not changed. Tang Yibu, when were you originally planning to take me away?”
“Not sure. Whenever.”
“Good.” Ruan Xian zoomed in on the light screen in front of him and quickly tapped the virtual keyboard.
The rapidly refreshing text lit up Ruan Xian’s face. He was cracking the program intently, moving fast and gracefully, like a kingfisher skimming over the water. After entering the final command, he raised his hands and pressed the OK button.
A few seconds later.
Qiu Yue still boiled sweet rice soup in the end. Tian He drank a few spoonfuls. The rice soup was silky and sweet, but he couldn’t wash away the bitterness in his mouth. He glanced at the light screen wearily, as if he was trying to imprint every corner of the shelter into his mind.
Suddenly, a message popped up, and Tian He lifted his eyes.
[The truth about the refuge and your replacement. Talk more about it tonight at 21:00, ward.] The message was followed by Zhang Yazhe’s signature.
Tian He smiled weakly and simply replied, “Okay”. Besides, he could only live for a few more days. This, undoubtedly, was a good opportunity to explain the future to the next leader.
Zhang Yazhe came as promised, with a solemn expression.
“Don’t you have anything you want to say to me, Lao Zhang?” Tian He said it with a flat tone as he held the sweet rice soup that had gone cold.
“I never thought you were… Boss, what the hell…”
“That’s what you know. When did you find out?” Tian He stirred the milky white soup with a spoon and didn’t look at Zhang Yazhe’s eyes again.
Zhang Yazhe let out a sigh, looking surprised and confused. “You were the one who sent me the message telling me that you were replaced by MUL-01 as a replicator. I…”
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Yazhe quickly frowned and tightened his body. “Boss, is this a game?”
Tian He didn’t look shaken at all. His face flashed with a trace of surprise, and he soon calmed down again. “Well, I’ll have Xiao Guan check it out later. Anyway, facts are facts, so it doesn’t matter if this is a game or not. You’re here now, and I just want to explain the situation.”
“Are you really…?!”
“Well, I have been replaced by the Mainbrain twice, or rather, I have recorded it twice.” Tian He squeezed the edge of the bowl tightly. “I can’t get over this problem. The shelter has stabilized in previous years, so I can’t linger in the sickbay for too long. Anyway, MUL-01 will find a way to replace me, so let’s make it easier… Lao Zhang, in fact, you have noticed it more or less, right? Anyone who has little ability has a surprisingly hard life.”
“…Yes.” Zhang Yazhe pulled a chair for himself and propped his hands on his forehead. “The veterans are too lucky. It’s fine to overlook them surviving a major disaster once or twice. If this happens numerous times… I think those who are older have become a little more aware of it, but people don’t want to think about it. Professor Ruan clearly promised—”
“He should have only told Guan Haiming, and I only found out about it later. It’s not easy for Xiao Guan. I know that kind of pressure. Think about it, if everyone knew they were being kept in a cage for observation by MUL-01, and the friends and families around them didn’t know how many times they’ve been replaced, this place would be in total chaos.”
Tian He’s voice carried a bit of disheartened indifference.
“Lao Zhang, Qiu Yue took my healthy tissue the other day. Did she ask you to go to the city to make internal organs? Don’t lie to me, I can guess.”
“…” Zhang Yazhe didn’t say a word but exhaled tremblingly.
“You don’t need to save me. Let me go.” Tian He let out a few muddy coughs. “The last two years, the refuge has become too stable. It’s estimated that there’s not much observation value left. The changes these days are probably a hint from MUL-01. My leadership must come to an end. There must be new changes in the refuge to facilitate it… so it can continue to be observed.”
The last few words were squeezed out sharply from between Tian He’s teeth.
“You can’t just listen to the Mainbrain—”
“Lao Zhang, you have seen what it looks like on the other side of the dead wall. The world outside has gone crazy. Everyone needs a stable organization with trustworthy leadership. Xiao Li’s son and Lao Xing’s daughter have just been born, and Lao Gao is still taking care of those underage children. If you tell them and the shelter collapses, where can they go?” Seeing Zhang Yazhe fall into silence, Tian He smiled bitterly.
“What exactly does MUL-01 want?” Zhang Yazhe’s voice shook a little.
“It may be information about human resistant behavior, or it may be information about our survival skills. Anyway, it didn’t do more than that. As a product of being copied, I know very well in my heart that I still love this refuge… and my wife.”
“If you leave, what will Qiu Yue do?”
Tian He didn’t answer, but swallowed the sweet rice soup one bite at a time. His hand shook like a sieve, and the spoon in his hand knocked against the edge of the bowl with a clatter.
When he spoke again, he had already changed the topic.
“Let’s get back to business. Zhang Yazhe, I have watched you for so many years… Let’s count this current me as watching you for so many years. You’re a very capable person. I hope you can inherit my position. Sorry, Lao Zhang, but you need to know the truth so that you can better deploy personnel in the future.”
“Personnel deployment?” Zhang Yazhe said, slowly. “Boss, tell me the truth. I died too, haven’t I? My fucking luck from childhood to adulthood wasn’t as good as these past few years!”
“There are tasks that only you can do, and I know you will come back.” Tian He closed his eyes. “Sorry.”
Zhang Yazhe was silent for a long time.
“You haven’t wronged me.” About two minutes later, he responded with a hoarse voice. “I am Zhang Yazhe and you are Tian He. Do you remember when we first met seven years ago?”
“I remember. Your hair looked like a bird’s nest at the time.” Tian He smiled, his voice softened.
“At this point, how can you say things like ‘no need to save me’? I don’t care how many times I have died or how many times you have died. You’re the fucking leader that I know! You remember everyone in the refuge, right? You, no, you… Fuck, I feel uncomfortable.”
“It’s good to have that thought.” Tian He placed the empty soup bowl by the bed and looked at the tiny blue flowers in the light. “I just… don’t think the same way you do. Lao Zhang, promise me that tomorrow I will simply announce this matter, and then hand over the leadership to you. You go back and prepare to take over the day after tomorrow. I still have a few days left in this body, so if anything is not clear by then…”
“Okay, I promise you,” Zhang Yazhe suddenly said.
Tian He stopped talking, and for the first time, showed an obvious expression of surprise.
“My thoughts are indeed different from yours.” Zhang Yazhe seemed to calm down. “Isn’t that good? At least until that bastard Mainbrain gets tired of it, I, Zhang Yazhe, will protect this place as much as I can, and if this me is gone, the next one will still continue. I won’t run away like you, and I won’t tell anyone about it.”
“Lao Zhang…”
“That’s it. I’m going to smoke some cigarettes to calm down. Boss, don’t forget to contact Xiao Guan. The person who set this up knows about this and must be found. MUL-01 will not use such a human approach. It’s enough for it to quietly wait for you to die.”
Having said that, Zhang Yazhe strode out of the door without looking back.
“How terrible.” Ruan Xian, who was in the corridor of the medical ward, frowned.
“In my opinion, the matter has been resolved well. Zhang Yazhe’s thoughts are similar to mine—he doesn’t think that being copied will have any adverse effects. Now he’s willing to inherit the refuge, which is the best result.” Tang Yibu approached leisurely.
“The problem is here.” Ruan Xian strode to his room. “Tang Yibu, locate Ding Zepeng and Chi Lei.”
“Lobby.”
“Where’s Zhang Yazhe?”
“Heading towards them.”
“They should be in the dormitory at this time. I think they will act tonight. It was my forged information that disrupted Zhang Yazhe’s plan.”
“If there are unexpected factors, Zhang Yazhe usually adjusts the time and makes a new plan.”
“He won’t today.” Ruan Xian rushed into the room, equipped with a blood gun, and picked up the backpack he had already prepared. “Because Zhang Yazhe now knows that they will definitely ‘never die’. In his concept, Tian He is the one who really has a crisis of death. He calmed down too quickly just now. This isn’t normal.”
“…Then why are you following?”
Ruan Xian’s movements stopped for a few seconds. “No one is ‘immortal’, Tang Yibu.”
“You seem to know humans well.” Tang Yibu stretched out his hand and helped Ruan Xian tidy up his collar.
“It’s just that I’m more proficient in observing words and expressions.” Ruan Xian snatched back his collar uncomfortably. “Go, keep up with them.”
Tang Yibu didn’t move. “You are also very human-like.”
Ruan Xian’s heart tightened. Before he could spit out the words used to remedy it, Tang Yibu continued on his own.
“…It’s very interesting to observe,” he said with a smile as his golden eyes gleamed. “Come, I’ll carry you.”
Zhang Yazhe and his team rode their hoverbikes breaking through the deep night and rushed towards the brightly lit AI city. Ruan Xian, who was carried by Tang Yibu, followed closely behind the three of them. The cold wind swept across his cheeks. The thick, warm body of the man in front of him had taunt muscles full of strength.
In a trance, it gave him the illusion of a kindred spirit.
“Why do you observe humans?” The moment Ruan Xian realized it, the question had already blurted out.
Life in the next few days was uneventful and boring.
Since encountering two giant scavenger puppets head-on, the missions Zhang Yazhe took them on were much smaller in scope. The four-person team basically moved around the refuge, carrying out simple hunting and parts cleanup. This change wasn’t limited to the team. There was a lot less noise around the canteen. The usual light atmosphere that was accompanied by jokes and laughter became more sporadic. People chewed their food stuffily, and only whispers echoed in the underground space.
“Recently, several teams have encountered monsters in the safe area, and all teams have temporarily tightened their activities.” Ding Zepeng sat under the shade of a tree and ate a simple lunch. He grabbed the sandwich, stretched out his hands, and made a gesture of outflanking. “We must be cautious and figure out what went wrong first. This is the boss’ instruction.”
“Has this happened before?” In front of his temporary teammates, Ruan Xian was still equipped with ordinary firearms. The two blood guns were stuffed in the holster under his armpit as spare guns.
“At least I haven’t encountered it. Don’t worry, Ruan Ge, the boss, was there when I first came. The refuge has always been very stable, and there has never been a major incident. The boss’ judgment is fine.”
Ruan Xian looked at the bushes in the distance. In the afternoon, the amber sun covered the green forest. The refuge couldn’t be seen from this angle. There weren’t many human and mechanical sounds around; only the rustle of the wind passing through the trees, but for some reason, he felt safer in the open air without any shade than in the shelter.
Since discovering the anomaly of mortality, he was no longer used to being surrounded by people. Those relaxed, smiling faces were suffocating, and Ruan Xian suddenly understood Guan Haiming’s loneliness and perversity—If it was him, he wouldn’t want to build any intimacy in such an environment.
“I saw Mr. Tian in the ward that day.” Ruan Xian changed the subject. “Is his body okay?”
Ding Zepeng opened his mouth and finally held back a bitter smile. “He… will be fine. Qiu Jie said it was a genetic disease, an old problem. The boss is just too hard-working, and he has fallen ill several times before. Don’t look at him and think he’s weak. The first few times he had this problem, he still ran desperately outside. Haa, Qiu Jie was so angry. Fortunately, he didn’t mess around this time.”
“Running out?” Ruan Xian’s heart sank.
“Yes. Said the ground was too suffocating. See that small hill? The boss especially likes to wander around there. Last time, he said that he had found several caves suitable for mushroom farming, so he could add more food for everyone.”
Following Ding Zepeng’s index finger, Ruan Xian glanced at the gentle little hill. The view above must be very good, but he didn’t think Tian He was specifically going to see the scenery.
A terrible thought suddenly stuck in his heart, and Ruan Xian’s fingers tightened.
The strong who died alone would return intact and continue their mission. Tian He, who has led the refuge for many years, knew this. What if he took the initiative to use this in order to maintain the stability of the refuge?
Regardless of the ultimate goal of the power behind this, its immediate goal should be to ensure that the elites of the refuge “live”. That is to say, even if it will not let Tian He’s chronic illness be cured, it won’t send back a patient who was in critical condition.
According to Qiu Yue, Tian He once promised another Ruan Xian that he would “fight to the last second”. If Tian He really…
Ruan Xian stood up and patted the soil off his clothes. “I’m done eating. Xiao Ding, I’m going to a farther place to have a look. Maybe I can dig up some useful wreckage.”
“Remember to come back early and don’t run too far.” Ding Zepeng waved his hand and shook the crumbs from his uniform. “Or else, Zhang Ge will punish you with confinement again.”
However, Ruan Xian didn’t intend to be obedient at all.
A few days of training wouldn’t make him proficient in the use of the grappling hook, and he couldn’t even do a few pull-ups, but someone was better at sports than him. Ruan Xian used his electronic wristband to rewrite the position of the auxiliary chip in his blood, then hugged Tang Yibu’s neck tightly.
Tang Yibu didn’t even need to use a grappling hook. He carried Ruan Xian on his back as he quickly moved through the forest, bouncing his toes on the tree branches, moving several times faster than a hoverbike. The hill seemed to be sucked into his field of vision as they stopped in front of it a few minutes later.
Ruan Xian jumped from behind Tang Yibu, closed his eyes, and sniffed the wind carefully.
The power of the S-Type Prototype couldn’t be underestimated, but Ruan Xian’s own knowledge base failed to keep up. He smelled larch, creeper, daisy, and buttercups, as well as hundreds of other plants whose scents he didn’t remembered thus he couldn’t identity. Then came the snake molting, the cicadas sleeping underground, the birds’ feathers, and the rats. The smell of animals was a little fishier and more pungent.
Finally, there was a stench of decay.
Smelly stagnant water, rotting insect shells, hair and bones in excrement, and the faint smell of corpses of all kinds of small animals. One of the sources of the odor was particularly distinct. It was deep in the hills, separated from the soil and rocks, slowly seeping from the inside out.
Ruan Xian’s heart sank.
He glanced at the time, slowly exhaled a breath, and dragged Tang Yibu to the source of the smell. The two squeezed into the dark cave, carefully crossed the stalagmites, and followed the disgusting smell of corpses.
Their destination was quite hidden.
In the hinterland of a small hill, there was a deep rock crevice. Ruan Xian smelled motor oil and polished metal nearby, and a sturdy rope ladder was hidden under the roots of an old tree, but before he could reach out, Tang Yibu caught his wrist.
“Don’t leave too many traces.” Tang Yibu shook his head. He picked up Ruan Xian and jumped directly down from the crevice of the rock. The next moment, the android was half-kneeling on the ground and landed firmly on the solid rock surface.
The oncoming smell of corpses was suffocating. Ruan Xian broke away from Tang Yibu’s embrace and stood up quickly. He turned on the lighting function of the electronic wristband, and then immediately took a step back.
Two human corpses sat against the bottom of the rock crevice.
Both corpses were holding guns in their right hands; their faces were shattered, and it could be seen that they had been shot in the face. They were both badly decomposed and traces showed they had obviously been here for a long time.
“DNA?” Ruan Xian desperately resisted the urge to retch.
“Can’t get it. Both of the deceased took the initiative to take a high concentration of identity disruptors. The characteristics of the bitter and sour smell are so distinctive that it will erase all individual characteristics—including internal organs, blood type, and odor.” Tang Yibu squatted down in front of one of the corpses. “His face was severely damaged, and it’s impossible to compare his teeth and restore his appearance. The clothes and shoes are all styles picked up from a junkyard… They eliminated all evidence that might reveal their identity.”
“It’s not completely eliminated.”
Ruan Xian didn’t care about the smell of corpses. He stretched out his hand, gently broke open the hand of one of the corpses without a gun and picked out a few inconspicuous short hairs. “Qiu Yue’s hair was mixed with the deceased’s own. Her smell is on it.”
Tang Yibu raised his eyebrows, followed Ruan Xian’s movements, and broke the hand of another corpse. “It’s here too, but I can’t tell.”
Ruan Xian’s hands trembled a little. He walked to Tang Yibu’s side, squatted down beside the relatively new corpse, and used the tweezers in the tool bag to pinch a small piece of dirt from the sole of the corpse. It was gray and crumbling, completely unrecognizable from its original appearance.
“Forget-me-nots petals. Only the ward of the refuge has such flowers.” The blood rushing through his body turned into ice water. Ruan Xian murmured, “There are also a few of Qiu Yue’s strands in the hair you found. The smell is a little clearer. The two corpses are both men, almost the same height, and the size of their shoes and clothes are the same. Bone age… Can you detect bone age?”
“The precise identification of age requires the assistance of equipment.” Tang Yibu glanced at the wrist bone of the two corpses. “The age range is probably between 30 to 50 years old.”
“…There are no comparable dead in the death report of the refuge, and they don’t look like androids.”
“According to the definition of a natural brain, both of them are pure human beings,” Tang Yibu replied quietly.
“It’s Tian He, right? These two corpses… are both Tian He, or copies of Tian He.”
Ruan Xian stood up and didn’t care about his trembling body anymore.
“I guess the so-called refuge is part of a certain experiment—an experiment that needs to maintain the stability of the ‘conditions’, and to be able to do such a thing, the researcher is a force related to MUL-01, if not MUL-01 itself.”
Tang Yibu didn’t deny it but looked at him quietly. Ruan Xian turned his gaze to the two corpses with mutilated heads.
As the backbone of maintaining the healthy operation of the refuge, those smart and powerful people are “sent back” again and again. Those who are aware of the truth also remain silent, only for the false hope to continue to exist. A warm and safe shelter, three hot meals a day, adequate electricity, energy and medical protection. Who would want to leave?
[Whether you are here for the first time, or you can’t bear the pressure and erase your memory… Don’t give up, hope is still there.] The Professor Ruan in the wheelchair once left such soothing words to the people in the refuge. [Everyone who is still alive is the spark for humanity. Please believe that you are very important.]
If he can discover this in a short time, it is impossible for the other “Ruan Xian” not to know it.
Ruan Xian suddenly felt a little nauseous. If you wanted to perfectly replace these elites, the memory of the deceased was indispensable…
He activated the electronic wristband and quickly looked for information in the database.
“The auxiliary chip was left by Ruan Xian, if you are looking for this,” Tang Yibu added with a smile. “Guan Haiming didn’t lie. Its purpose is only to locate, record physiological conditions, and back up memory. After all, there are few psychologists these days, so dealing with memories directly is the most efficient approach, so no one will be suspicious.”
Ruan Xian clenched his fists and trembled with anger. “…No wonder Guan Haiming prefers to call it the ‘black box’. If I guessed correctly, MUL-01 also has access to this data, right?”
“Don’t mind that. I have modified your chip. There will be no backup of your memory and our secrets are safe.”
“…That’s not the issue.”
“Then what are you angry about? In terms of human interests, Ruan Xian’s judgment is correct. If a small number of human samples cannot provide stable research value, they will soon be eliminated by MUL-01. Ruan Xian gave them ‘research value’ and gave them the opportunity to continue their lives.”
Tang Yibu spread out his hands.
“Take a step back, even if you die temporarily. As you can see, the structure of the body and brain of the ‘replaced person’ is no different from before, and the memory is almost the same. These people still exist and are continuing their lives. Maybe you don’t agree with this philosophy, but to be angered to this point is beyond my comprehension.”
“This time, Tian He really wants to die.” Ruan Xian’s voice was a bit hoarse, and he didn’t answer Tang Yibu’s question positively. “This time he didn’t come here alone to end his life. He wants to die in the refuge and in front of everyone.”
In this way, the Mainbrain can no longer quietly “bring him back” from death.
“This is also something I can’t understand. He seems to have suffered a lot of mental damage, but I can’t figure out the source.”
“His wife, Qiu Yue, has only been in the field once, three months ago. I checked the records and Qiu Yue lost her wedding ring during that trip.”
“Qiu Yue has indeed been replaced, and there is an image of her death in the bird detector’s record,” Tang Yibu admitted generously.
“…I think Tian He knows about it.”
“Tian He doesn’t have the evidence. There are no human witnesses to Qiu Yue’s death.”
“If I loved someone deeply and knew that the refuge was such a shithole, I would definitely keep a close eye on her.” Ruan Xian pulled out a piece of information from the electronic wristband and threw the light screen in front of Tang Yibu. “This is Guan Haiming’s private record. Tian He once entrusted him to ‘repair’ Qiu Yue’s wedding ring.”
“Guan Haiming didn’t leave the content of the repair. You can’t be sure.”
“Indeed, I can’t. Just like if there were these two corpses, I can’t come up with evidence that they belong to Tian He. Tian He really… took everything into account.”
Even if the bodies were discovered by other members of the refuge, no one would be bothered by two unrecognizable corpses. Tian He tried so hard to conceal the cold truth of the refuge, and twice personally went to his death in exchange for a longer-term peace for the refuge.
Perhaps he also wanted to continue to guard someone.
Tian He didn’t leave the contents of the repair of the wedding ring with Guan Haiming. After all, MUL-01 wasn’t a real God, so it was impossible to know how the ring had changed. Ruan Xian didn’t want to speculate. He didn’t dare imagine what kind of information Tian He had gotten.
“I still don’t understand.” Tang Yibu turned his head slightly. “Qiu Yue is back, and there’s no difference from the previous one. Why is he so struck?”
“This is not something that can be calculated logically.”
“Just like your anger?”
“Yes.”
Inside the refuge.
Tian He leaned against the head of the bed. It was a sunny day outside the fake window today. His gaze stopped on those pots of forget-me-nots for a few seconds, then he called up a small pop-up window on his work light screen.
There were only three simple lines of data on the pop-up window—sound, heart rate line, and body temperature.
Tian He stared at it for a while, then slowly pressed the repeat button.
Accompanied by the rustle of clothes passing through the leaves, a woman’s gasp came from the pop-up window, frightened and desperate. The heart rate line on one side fluctuated frighteningly. Then there was a muffled sound of falling.
“Lao Tian,” The woman murmured to herself. Her voice was tinged with sobs. “Lao Tian, I’m sorry.”
“I can’t go back. I’m sorry.”
“I… You have to be good. You have to be good.”
After a few harsh screams, the heart rate line suddenly flatlined, and the body temperature index began to drop slowly.
“Qiu Yue, the administrator, is visiting.” A beep sounded, and Tian He quickly closed the small pop-up window in the corner of the work light screen.
“Working again.” Qiu Yue almost dropped the cloth bag in her hand. She immediately took off Tian He’s electronic wristband, picked up the bowl, and sat down by the bed with an air of irresolution. “I cooked today’s chicken soup very lightly. Try it?”
Tian He didn’t open his mouth; he just looked at her.
“Or is it too mushy? Let me make some sweet rice soup.” Qiu Yue smiled reluctantly. “Why don’t you tell me. What do you want to eat?”
“…For the time being, I don’t want to eat. Xiao Yue, take a break.”
“I’m not tired. It’s just you… It’s not easy to get well with just transfusions alone.” Qiu Yue twisted the towel beside the bed and wiped Tian He’s face.
“Lao Tian, you have to be good. Do you hear me?”
The author has something to say:
The knot is a husband and wife, and there is no doubt about love. Life should come back, and death should be Sauvignon Blanc. — Excerpt from Su Wu’s “Leaving Your Farewell Wife”*.
*See Kinky Thoughts.
After the doomsday, there may not be a fairytale atmosphere. _(:з”∠)_
Personally, I feel that death and reproduction are irreversible no matter what…
Kinky Thoughts:
Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Below is the full poem in the author’s note.
Leaving Your Farewell Wife by Su Wu The knot is a husband and wife, and there is no doubt about love. Huanyu is here tonight, happy and happy. Zhenghu is heading for the road, so why look at the night? Shen Chen is gone, go and leave forever. The campaign is on the battlefield, and there is no time to see each other. Shake hands and sigh, tears are for a living. Work hard to love Chunhua, and don’t forget the happy time. Life should come back, and death should be Sauvignon Blanc.
Even if he was lying on his side on a hard board bed, Ruan Xian could feel the darkness of this small, cramped room. The hard bed beneath him smelled of rotting wood, and the air was like water soaked with iron shavings, cold and viscous, full of rust and fishy air. There were no fake windows in the small room. Except for the ventilation device rumbling in the corner of the room, the room was close to a deeply buried coffin.
The smell of soil and roots came from all directions. The creature closest to him was commenting on the person “Ruan Xian” in a tone of disapproval.
Ruan Xian’s current feelings were strange. Gazing into those golden eyes in a daze, he could only feel that he was sharing a room with a beast, which wasn’t hungry at the moment and was even willing to turn over and reveal its soft, furry belly.
However, he couldn’t read the mind of this beast named “Tang Yibu” like he could read humans. One second it was obedient and cute, but Ruan Xian was pretty sure—once the beast felt danger, the next second it would lift its claws and tear open his throat.
“Chi Lei and Guan Haiming both think quietly highly of him.” Ruan Xian cautiously continued this dangerous topic.
“Chi Lei is a mechanic, and Guan Haiming is a researcher. It’s not surprising that these people rate him highly. After all, Ruan Xian has intelligence comparable to MUL-01, and in their eyes, he’s regarded as a ‘God’ in a certain sense. As far as the position is concerned, Ruan Xian has also been committed to helping mankind deal with MUL-01.” Tang Yibu’s fingertips moved all the way from his eyebrows across his cheek and finally stopped on Ruan Xian’s neck. “…You’re nervous.”
“Yes. According to you, I was a prop set up by Ruan Xian, and you don’t seem to like him.” Ruan Xian didn’t move. He selected the particular statements carefully to avoid directly lying.
“Not really. I don’t care about him as a person. I’m just making the closest assessment based on the facts.” Tang Yibu shook his head. “Cooperation is cooperation. At least Ruan Xian won’t set you up for the task of ‘assisting the Mainbrain’, so we don’t have any fundamental conflict of interest.”
Ruan Xian quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
A series of cold beeps suddenly cut through the darkness. Tang Yibu rolled up his cuffs to reveal a metal wristband. A small light screen was projected into the air, and simple communication symbols rotated in the middle of the light screen.
“231, come to my office. Temporary data correction.” Guan Haiming’s voice came from the light screen, and before Tang Yibu could answer, the call was cut off.
“Just in time. I’ll get some parts from him. The hacking terminal you requested will be completed.” Tang Yibu stood up. “…But a lot of data is restricted to Guan Haiming’s office. If you want to access the complete database, it’s best to start near his office.”
“…You know what’s happening here,” Ruan Xian said in a calm tone.
Tang Yibu stopped at the door.
“After all, you are pretty sure you can ensure my safety, and you’re not worried about me finding anything fishy in the data.”
“I do know the truth.” Tang Yibu opened the door. Through a small gap, a dim light came in and illuminated half of his face. “I think you have also discovered that this isn’t the paradise* that humans think it is. I will take you out of this refuge in the near future.”
*Land of the Peach Blossoms (桃源) Comes from the fable The Peach Blossom Spring by Tao Yuanming which depicts a society where there’s no war, oppression, complete self-sufficiency, and everyone is happy.
“What if I don’t want to go?” Ruan Xian squeezed the blanket in his hand tightly and sat up.
“You will leave with me, whether you want to save mankind or yourself.”
Tang Yibu showed a big smile, which wasn’t the fake smile he normally used, but there wasn’t much warmth in it either. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news. Besides, we understand each other, so you won’t take my words at face value.”
“……” Indeed. Ruan Xian moved his gaze away.
“You gave your price, and I’ll also show my sincerity. Since you insist on figuring out Zhang Yazhe’s affair, no matter what your plan is next, I’ll fully cooperate with you. With your talents, it won’t take long for you to discover the truth.”
The android approached from the door and put his hands on Ruan Xian’s shoulders. His golden eyes gleamed with a terrifying sense of purity.
“Let’s get along, Mr. Ruan.”
Tang Yibu didn’t come back all night. Ruan Xian didn’t sleep for half the night. When the bell that symbolized that it was dawn sounded, he finally drifted off to sleep.
He forced himself out of the bed and unscrewed the light in the room. The mirror showed today’s arrangement. This was the same as the observation room where he lived before.
[Ruan Lijie, please reflect in the refuge for 24 hours. The rest of the team members will perform their tasks normally. Gather at Tiger Mound near the Wild Cemetery at 13:00 today. It’s expected you’ll return at 19:00. Each person will recover at least 4 pieces of hexagonal body armor. There’s a signal blind spot inside the Wild Cemetery. Members are requested to increase the concentration of auxiliary chips in their bodies to help the refuge narrow down the positioning range and ensure the integrity of memory backups.]
The bright blue text flickered on the mirror, and after the instruction was Zhang Yazhe’s signature.
This was the beginning of his confinement. Ruan Xian turned off the instructions in the mirror, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face.
[Xiao Ruan, please go to Guan Haiming’s office to collect the “Explorer Basic Regulation and Analysis of Typical Cases” and finish reading it today. I’ll come back for spot checks. Zhang Yazhe.] After crossing out the public instruction, another private message slowly surfaced on the mirror.
Ruan Xian spit out the mouthwash, hung his fingertips on Zhang Yazhe’s name for a few seconds, and closed the information box again.
[Mr. Ruan, please come to the canteen before 9:00. I’ll wait for you there.] Then a bright red message floated up. It overlaid the user interface domineeringly and had no signature, but there was a big smiley face at the end of the sentence.
News from Tang Yibu.
Ruan Xian rolled his eyes, put on his shelter uniform, and stepped out of the small room. The hall was still cluttered with machinery. The other three rooms were empty. Most likely, the others in Zhang Yazhe’s team had already gone out to prepare for the task. He closed the door gently and walked familiarly around the canteen.
Tang Yibu was waiting for him at a table with a hot breakfast placed on it.
The android handed over a metal wristband with his eyes gleaming. “I received this in your name and modified the communication restrictions. In theory, as long as the band and loopholes are identified, it can be connected to any facility—but please note, its performance is limited.”
“Thank you.”
“And it’s not equipped with any hacking programs.” The cunning android winked. “Do you need it? Or do you prefer to make one yourself?”
“Don’t need. I can do it myself.” Ruan Xian put down the hard-boiled egg in his hand, put the metal wristband on his wrist, and summoned the light screen like others.
Tang Yibu nodded. “By the way, applying for it costs all your contribution points. This is your last normal breakfast. Next, you’ll only receive free nutritional supplements.”
“…I hope you can discuss it with me in advance next time.”
“This won’t change your decision.”
“But it will change the way we get along.” Ruan Xian took a deep breath, and the smile on his face twitched a few times. Lack of sleep didn’t give him the strength to make any obvious protests. In the end, Mr. Ruan picked up the only sweet potato left on the table, stared into Tang Yibu’s eyes, and with a firm expression began to slowly eat it.
Tang Yibu looked a little heartbroken. “I see.”
“Very good.” Ruan Xian took out a hard-boiled egg like magic from his pocket. “Take it.”
“I prefer the sweet potato.” Tang Yibu carefully peeled the eggshell.
“…Don’t be picky.”
Everything was ready. On the pretext of getting the “Explorer Basic Regulation and Analysis of Typical Cases”, Ruan Xian rushed straight to Guan Haiming. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find an opportunity to access the database.
There were guests in Guan Haiming’s room, and the hallway was too conspicuous. He ran into Zhang Yazhe and Chi Lei head-on.
“Here to borrow a book?” Zhang Yazhe’s tone was still a bit stiff.
“Nn.” Ruan Xian nodded honestly.
“Well, when Xiao Ding finishes his auxiliary chip injection, Guan Haiming will be free.” Zhang Yazhe’s gaze had a few moments of relief. “Don’t go in now. Xiao Guan doesn’t like too many people in the room.”
Chi Lei snorted while holding a homemade cigarette in his mouth. His cigarette wasn’t lit and it seemed like he didn’t have anything to say.
“Recently, an extra position opened up to be my assistant.” Guan Haiming’s voice came through the soundproof door, as clear as if it was right next to his ear. “Xiao Ding, don’t be an explorer. I’ll give you a higher pay.”
“Thanks, but I quite like being an explorer.” Ding Zepeng’s voice, as always, had a sunny intonation behind it.
“Since you’re not interested, why are you running to me every day?” Guan Haiming’s voice sounded a little unhappy.
“Because Haiming, you’re avoiding people, but I think you really want to talk to people… Ouch. Be gentler. Don’t strangle my arm—”
“Every time you come back from a mission, you’re injured, but you want me to be gentler? You’re still too young to be a qualified explorer.” Guan Haiming’s voice was cold. “That Ruan Lijie is in good health. He’s eight years older than you, and he also wants to be an explorer. With him on top, you can consider retreating back and preparing yourself for a few more years.”
“How can that be. Ruan Ge is still a newcomer… Ouch, Haiming! It really hurts! Anyway, I just want to be an explorer. What can you do with me?”
“What can I do? I can wash away your recent memories. Besides, your auxiliary chip hasn’t been broken, and the black box has a backup of all your memories. You can start from scratch as an assistant for a few months, and when the time comes, I’ll restore your memories… Considering your age, I don’t think Zhang Yazhe will have a problem with it.”
“Guan Haiming, I’m going to get angry!” The smile in Xiao Ding’s voice disappeared. “I’m not in it for the pay. You obviously know that I’m suitable for this job. The explorer can help everyone to the maximum extent possible. And I bring back the most and best parts every time. How can you—”
“……Sorry. The chip is injected. You can go now.”
“Hey, hey, I’m not really angry… Haiming, don’t look like that.”
“Just go,” Guan Haiming repeated coldly.
The door opened and Ding Zepeng exited, a little aggrieved. As soon as he went out, he saw Ruan Xian and smiled bitterly. “Ruan Ge, you’re coming to see Haiming… Uh, it’s best to go in later.”
He was right. Ruan Xian nodded quietly while listening to Guan Haiming kicking things indiscriminately in the room.
After briefly saying goodbye to Ruan Xian, Zhang Yazhe and the others disappeared at the end of the corridor. Ruan Xian stopped at the door for a moment. A suppressed roar of pain came from inside, like some kind of injured animal.
The people who passed by the soundproof door were talking eagerly, knowing nothing about it.
In the end, he decided not to go in to borrow the book.
“Can’t you break Haiming’s firewall?” Tang Yibu was a little surprised to see Ruan Xian return to his room early. “Of course, if you ask me for help—”
“I don’t need such deep data for the time being.” Ruan Xian sat back on the bed and pulled up the light screen.
Although the same firewall was set up, the shallow data of the refuge wasn’t difficult to obtain. Ruan Xian spent no more than ten minutes or so understanding the firewall code, and then cracked it with ease.
“Ohhh.” Seeing a string of numbers jump out, Tang Yibu got closer.
“At the beginning of last year, the total number of explorers was 96, with 8 new people and 14 deaths in one year. The mortality rate is the highest among all occupations in the refuge. But…”
Ruan Xian waved his hand, and the images of all the death reports flew off the light screen and spread out in the nearby air.
“…These deaths have two general characteristics. For starters, the vast majority of the deceased have ‘witnesses’. Second, the ability of the deceased is often not high.”
Ruan Xian bit his lip. He seemed to touch the edge of the truth, and it was so cold and sharp that it pricked his fingers.
He waved his hand again, and more death reports flew out, densely packed in his small room.
“These are all the deaths recorded in the refuge, with a total of 127 people. The dead are basically the most ordinary people. There is only one death record for a person with outstanding abilities—he died of a heart attack during a meal in plain sight.”
No matter how dangerous their work was, those outstanding elites have gone through countless crises as if they have been deeply blessed by fate.
But was that really a blessing? This complete refuge had been operating silently for many years. Was it true that Zhang Yazhe was the only one who had been manipulated by unknown forces, and he just happened to stumble upon it by accident?
How many people have died silently and been replaced by “themselves” from nowhere?
Ruan Xian let those death cases hang in the air. As if he insisted on tearing open a painful wound, he summoned a screen of data again.
“These deaths should have caused the refuge’s labor force to continue to decline.” His voice trembled slightly. “But there will always be new survivors discovered or transferred from other shelters. The population here has been maintained at a relatively stable value… Too stable.”
For some reason, he suddenly remembered the fish tank in his foster mother’s house.
The beautiful fish tank was full of all kinds of beautiful fish. He once especially liked one of the little golden fish that would suck on the wall of the tank. It was pleasing to look at and would also help clean up the moss and algae in the water.
One day, it died.
“Just buy another one.” In his memory, a somewhat elderly foster mother patted his head. “Grandma promised that the new one would be the same as the old one, okay?”
Ruan Xian stretched out a hand and stroked the rough wall of the shelter. Then he slowly turned around and turned his back to the death report floating all over the space.
[You will leave with me. Whether you want to save mankind or yourself.] That was what the android said last night.
Now he only lacked one piece of evidence.
“Tang Yibu… I need your cooperation,” Ruan Xian spoke again. Although the soles of his feet were stepping on a solid floor, it felt like he was standing in a void.
“What is your plan?”
“I don’t think I can stop Zhang Yazhe and the others from saving Tian He.” It may be useful for him to express his own speculation, but how many people were willing to accept such an absurd and unsupported “truth”?
“Same.”
“…So I want to join their actions.”
“It’s useless.”
“I know.” Ruan Xian clasped his arms tightly. “Staying here won’t solve any problems, but at least before leaving, I…”
Tang Yibu took a few steps closer, opened his arms boldly and hugged him tightly. He put his lips to his ears and whispered, “You found out faster than I thought. Okay, like I said, I’ll give you my full support.”
“…Thank you.” Although it’s not a heart-to-heart hug, he did need a little warmth now.
“Then can you give me the sweet potatoes next time?”
“……”
The author has something to say:
Ha ha ha ha (?
Tang: I’ll play with you, and you’ll follow me anyway. (*’へ’*)
Kinky Translations 