Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 216: Meeting Ceremony

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

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

At least he wasn’t completely unprepared.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hu Shuli patted Ruan Xian on the shoulder.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Even Yibu?”

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

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

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

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

The effect wasn’t bad.

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

“Fan Linsong is your teacher?”

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

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

“I want to talk to him.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You’re not… Order Supervisors…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“…Do you sound sorry?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What!”

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

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

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

“…I hate you.”

Zhong Qing took off his hat and grumbled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hmph.”

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

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

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

“Finally, defeat the Mainbrain within 72 hours.”

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Kinky Thoughts:

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

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 215: 72 hours

Zhong Qing’s lunch wasn’t at all unpleasant.

In order to temporarily avoid the limelight, he had to stay in the empty underground warehouse when Tang Yibu left. Although the air wasn’t too toxic, the smell was too strong. Zhong Qing pinched his nose and finished the dried fruit and meat pie, then got a bottle of water from A’Qiao.

The water had a sour and metallic taste to it that Zhong Qing didn’t want to think about where it came from.

“You didn’t go with him?” he cautiously asked A’Qiao.

A’Qiao looked at Zhong Qing up and down. Her eyes lingered on Zhong Qing’s abnormal black eyes for a few seconds. Her body was that of a young girl who had just come of age, compared to the 14 or 15-year-old teenager Zhong Qing, who was closer to a child.

“No.” When Zhong Qing finished drinking, she answered him slowly. “He said he knew where to go. Do you have anything else? If not, I’m leaving.”

Zhong Qing felt torn for a moment. “Can you take me with you? I don’t want to stay here alone.”

A’Qiao pretended not to hear.

“Please, demon… pretty sister.” Zhong Qing quickly begged. “Neither of us are old, and everyone outside is wearing masks. It’s still noon, right? Can’t you take me out for a walk? I’m suffocating to death here.”

A’Qiao was indifferent to Zhong Qing’s flattery.

Zhong Qing took a deep breath. “I’ll trade with you! What do you want? As long as I have it, I’ll trade. I just want to go out and look around—”

A’Qiao gave him a sideways glance. “Are you sure you want to go out? I think you just want to take this opportunity to follow Tang Yibu, then find a chance to get into his vehicle so you can sneak out here secretly.”

Zhong Qing flattened his mouth. “…Besides that, I am really worried about them. Yu Ge and Xiaoman Jie have already been captured. If he gets captured too, I won’t be able to leave here.”

“Well, I have nothing planned for this afternoon besides going around and buying some things.” A’Qiao rolled her eyes. “I also want to know what he’s up to—I hope he won’t cause any more trouble for K6 and Fu Yu. Well, new troubles other than you. Hm, if you give me some fresh information. I’ll take you out for a stroll.”

“Hmph.”

Zhong Qing took off his hat and opened all his eyes. He deliberately stretched his face very tightly, trying to scare the monster girl in front of him, who didn’t know the height of the sky.

A’Qiao’s eyes widened slightly, then she wrapped her arms around Zhong Qing’s neck and looked closely at the six extra eyes on his head. “Interesting,” she stated. “I have indeed never seen such a thing.”

“Let me go!” Zhong Qing blushed. “This is a disease. My blood can be contagious! Is something wrong with your brain?”

“K6 always says I’m stupid, but I don’t think it’s a problem. Besides, I have a cybernetic brain, so if worst comes to worst, I’ll just switch shells.” A’Qiao touched those weird eyes with her hand. “Well, I’ll take you out. Let’s see what that person surnamed Tang wants to do.”

Tang Yibu knew nothing about the conspiracy of the two little ones. Pulling up memories from his mind, he skillfully walked through the streets towards the place where they had buried Ji Xiaoman’s mother.

Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman were both people who were accustomed to living in the shadows, so they wouldn’t deliberately make such a mistake in front of Zhong Qing. They were just using him as a microphone, and as he was unaware, he was just relaying their message to him.

Tang Yibu found it quite interesting. Yu Le knew very well that Zhong Qing wasn’t human, but he still wanted to protect him. Was this the camouflage of the Rhododendron Disease taking effect? When they meet again, he would have to ask him.

[Yu Ge said, this car has been ruined by him, and Tu Rui will definitely call him personally and skin him alive. I hope you can help him for the sake of the friendship we forged along the way. This was what he said to Xiaoman Jie. Xiaoman Jie then said she was feeling homesick and wanted to go see her family.]

Ji Xiaoman’s hint was easy to understand. She knew better than anyone else what her mother’s situation was—in order to save her mother, they buried the android who had temporarily lost function before they left, and gave the coordinates to K6 to make sure the land wouldn’t be used by any gangs for construction.

At the moment, Professor Ruan wasn’t accompanying her, so she had no need to “see her family”.

This was a location instruction.

Yu Le’s sentence was more troublesome. Even if Tu Rui pressed Yu Le to the ground and skinned him little by little, Tang Yibu didn’t think he needed to intervene. It wasn’t as if he and Yu Le were friends, but since Yu Le specifically worded it like that, there was probably some intention behind it.

He needed more information.

Tang Yibu got into the maze of abandoned buildings and quickly found a place where he buried Ji Xiaoman’s mother. He didn’t directly confirm the situation but walked along the crumbling ruins carefully.

There wasn’t any living person monitoring here, and only a few sporadic surveillance cameras around. Tang Yibu exhaled slowly, processed their transmission signals, and then stepped into the agreed place.

There weren’t as many gadgets here as before. This place was probably discovered by the Order Supervisors.

Tang Yibu turned on the lantern he was carrying and illuminated the dim space.

K6 shouldn’t have betrayed them. There were signs of the Order Supervisors searching around. The entire muddy ground was loosened, and Tang Yibu smelled blood. Following the trail of blood, he found the familiar armored off-roader.

The car was parked in the darkness like the molt of a cicada.

Tang Yibu frowned and looked at the vehicle carefully. The things inside were all cleanly removed. The car looked as if it had just been remodeled and hadn’t had time to be filled with things yet. The simple water maker and freezer were still there, but the small freezer was disconnected, and the door was half open. There wasn’t a single bottle left inside. The armament box in the back of the car was in much of the same condition—all the containers were open and the content inside gone.

Robbers wouldn’t be so careful. This was the handiwork of the Order Supervisors.

Tang Yibu took a closer look at the contents of the car again, and he found that there was an extra armament box in the back seat of the car. It was about the size of a coffin, lying horizontally in the car, integrated with it. The style was very common after the doomsday. The surface was worn out and it was also wide open with not even a single screw left inside.

Most likely, the items inside were what Professor Ruan wanted. No matter how he looked at it, whatever was inside was taken away.

Tang Yibu stretched out his hand and patted the thick box, which felt as if it was welded to the car. Tang Yibu frowned. He restored everything to its original state and hid back in the dark.

“…This is how it is.” Tang Yibu briefly described the scene to Professor Ruan. “If you really gave them the real goods, we’re now in trouble.”

Professor Ruan didn’t seem panicked. “I see. Next, go after Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman—it’ll take at least a week to crush their brains as a lot of preparatory work needs to be done. The Mainbrain doesn’t know that they have been in contact with me at the moment. Before they are ready to be crushed, the Order Supervisors will interrogate them for a few days as usual. It’s still not too late. You have to rescue them.”

“Nn.” Tang Yibu huffed. He didn’t like Professor Ruan’s tone very much. The other party was hiding something from him. He wasn’t sure if Professor Ruan was too confident in his plan or if he had doubts about his cooperation.

…Or afraid that if he knew too much, he would steal the initiative away from him.

The trouble was that, according to the most reasonable judgement, he really should follow Professor Ruan’s instructions—Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman had more of Professor Ruan’s information in their heads.

“Those two aren’t very important targets, so the Order Supervisors won’t take them too far. You have just met with Ruan Xian, so you should have an impression of what their bases are like.” Seeing that Tang Yibu didn’t say anything, Professor Ruan continued. “I remember the most recent one should be…”

“The one next to the Sea of Ruins,” Tang Yibu whispered.

He glanced at the outline of the parked car and suddenly realized something. Tang Yibu wanted to laugh a little—it seemed like it wasn’t just him who was doing the same thing to Professor Ruan.

It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who intended to take the initiative.

He suddenly understood what Yu Le’s unintelligible words were referring to, and vaguely guessed why Professor Ruan didn’t seem panicked at all. Tang Yibu maintained the communication connection with Professor Ruan and touched the “empty car” again.

Yu Le made a good move, but Yu Le himself might not even know this.

Now that Professor Ruan had sent several teams to fetch the target items, he had disrupted the Mainbrain. Naturally, the Mainbrain was aware of their movements. Regardless of whether Yu Le and the others were part of a smokescreen, once they were discovered, they would inevitably be arrested for routine inspections. In other words, Professor Ruan’s self-confidence wasn’t that “Yu Le and the others will never be targeted” but that “Even if they are targeted, the Order Supervisors wouldn’t focus on marginal roles like them”.

Tang Yibu wiped the extra heavy “empty box” with his fingertips. It looked like it had been welded to the car for a while now, and this had presumably had a purpose.

He believed Yu Le would become aware of this after finding out that he was being targeted.

Since he was targeted, his options would be quite limited. The people behind his ass would act sooner or later, they just didn’t know when, and they couldn’t control the time when Professor Ruan would discover the abnormality. Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman hadn’t reached a point where they would give up their lives working for Professor Ruan. If they face any death threats, they may actually surrender. Under that premise, it wasn’t clear whether Professor Ruan would rescue or sacrifice them, so there was only one reasonable choice to escape that passive situation…

Make the “time” more controllable.

Hid Zhong Qing’s existence and delayed the time to the very last moment. Yu Le chose to secretly visit K6, who could contact him, then leave at a certain point in time. Thinking about it like this, Yu Le had specially disguised himself when visiting K6, and it made sense why Ji Xiaoman wasn’t with him—after all, their pursuers didn’t know the existence of Zhong Qing, and they couldn’t separate in the open.

As for the mechanical assembly sound Zhong Qing heard… Most likely, Ji Xiaoman used some means to create the illusion that Yu Le was still with her.

After leaving the clues to Zhong Qing, they just needed to come to this location, cause a ruckus, and let the Order Supervisors take them away. Yu Le knew that once they didn’t show up on time, Professor Ruan and Tang Yibu would surely track them down immediately and be able to find this line and get this information.

But looking at Yu Le’s message, a great ruins pirate like him wouldn’t pin all his hopes on Tang Yibu—the nearest stronghold of the Order Supervisors was close to the Sea of Ruins, which was where he originally came from. Without Zhong Qing’s knowledge, perhaps that cunning guy also contacted “other people”.

Yu Le’s effort had paid off. Now Tang Yibu knew the next step clearly. According to Professor Ruan, Yu Le and the others would not be given any special treatment. Tang Yibu now had an idea of the approximate time Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman were taken away. He had at least 72 hours before their brains would be crushed. Even better, if he stepped up the timing, he might be able to create more chaos.

He had 72 hours to figure out Professor Ruan’s plan, try to consolidate the resources he had at hand, and contact Mr. Ruan. From the perspective of the Mainbrain and Professor Ruan, both sides were still at the planning stage, so there was no better opportunity for subversion than this.

It seemed he wouldn’t have much time to eat leisurely. Tang Yibu grinned, showing a devious smile—the next step now was to cause trouble.

This crazy thought shocked Tang Yibu. According to his past style, he would carefully intervene in this battle, carefully test this intricate cobweb, and then move carefully after figuring it all out.

He seemed to have been infected by Mr. Ruan—since he found that he couldn’t count his mistakes with just ten fingers, he began to stop worrying about the correctness of things.

At least the current thoughts made him excited, and he had a certain degree of theoretical support… Even if there were quite a lot of variables, it was still worth a try.

Tang Yibu rubbed his hand, then petted the iron bead that was still sleeping soundly in the net pocket.

“I’m leaving the Underground City and going to find them,” Tang Yibu said to Professor Ruan, trying to make his tone appear serious. “Feel free to contact me if you have anything.”

“What is he doing?” The two children were lying on the roof of a nearby house. Zhong Qing looked hard with his abnormal eyes. His gaze passed through the thick walls of abandoned buildings and into the darkness behind them. “I can’t understand what he wants to do at all. It’s inexplicable. Now he has a smirk on his face. Oh, oh, oh, he’s digging a hole. Is he looking for a secret weapon? …Huh? He—he buried himself?!”

“…” A’Qiao held her cheeks quietly. “K6 also said that I’m an android with a bad brain. Now it seems my brain is better than his.”

“Shouldn’t he hurry and save Yu Ge and Xiaoman Jie?!” Zhong Qing yelled, almost grabbing A’Qiao by the collar and shaking it. “I thought he had finally become a little more human.”

“What are you going to do?” A’Qiao took the dried fruit from the bag and ate it. It was a technical task given that she was also wearing a gas mask.

“Go ask him what’s going on?” Zhong Qing felt indignant. Then his face changed, and he touched his pocket. “…Where did you get that dried fruit?”

“You must go back before curfew.” A’Qiao coldly ignored Zhong Qing’s question. “You have five hours left.”

“That’s also… Hey? Wait, someone is going there. Did you see it? The car over there. That man has a car with him.” Zhong Qing’s voice was raised by several pitches. “I have to inform him!”

“You—Hey, wait!”

At the same time.

Ruan Xian didn’t know anything about Tang Yibu’s crazy thoughts. He was visiting the research institute of the Mainbrain under the guidance of Hu Shuli. And was in a relatively dicey situation…

“I heard that you’re an expert in mechanical life pathology,” Hu Shuli said. “Mr. Ruan, can you please tell me roughly your expertise.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

So basically, what happened was Ji Xiaoman and Yu Le did as Professor Ruan asked until Zhong Qing pointed out that they were being followed. At that point, they knew that there was no escape and that eventually they would get captured.

However, to control the “when” of when they would get captured, they devised a plan. Drop Zhong Qing off and give him cryptic hints so that when Tang Yibu comes, he would be able to decipher them, then create a ruckus and get captured.

The Mainbrain doesn’t know that they are in contact with Professor Ruan at this point, so they would be simply treated as standard procedure.

In summary, Professor Ruan and the Mainbrain think they’re playing a 1v1 match of chess when in actuality, it’s a 1 (Professor Ruan) v 1 (Mainbrain) v 1 (Ruan Xian) v 1 (Tang Yibu) v 1 (Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman), though most likely the last three 1’s will condense together.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 214: The Correct Decision

After emptying the Fu Yu family’s egg reserves, Tang Yibu wiped his hands, making sure that K6 wasn’t enthusiastic about the whole thing—thinking about it, Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman weren’t the brainless type. It was impossible for them to have “we’re working for Ruan Xian” written all over their faces. At most, there was some human relationship between them. Since the matter happened, they were now even.

Moreover, Fu Yu insisted on repaying said human relationship. Tang Yibu glanced at K6, who was talking to A’Qiao. He didn’t think that this android had such humanized thinking, or he knew of it but didn’t bother following it.

For example, K6 didn’t even do basic greetings and didn’t care where Tang Yibu came from or what happened recently. Unlike the previous “He An” and all his facets, K6 was as cold as a glacier.

Half an hour later, the one who stepped through the doors wasn’t the Order Supervisors but Fu Yu, who had returned from his meetings with the City Defenders.

Fu Yu looked a lot more energetic than a few months ago. His cheeks, which were originally thin, were now well-rounded, making him look about six years younger. He walked through the door, hung the gas mask he had just taken off on the coat rack, and exchanged a short kiss with K6.

“You’re here.” Then he turned to Tang Yibu and smiled lightly, which gave a little more human touch to his gestures.

Given that Fu Yu was the colder one before, Tang Yibu couldn’t help but wonder if the two had swapped bodies.

“Today’s meat pie was a success. I put some in the insulation box so you can take it with you in the afternoon.”

“Let’s deal with Mr. Tang first.” Fu Yu showed the glow of a normal person. “Are you going to see that kid, Zhong Qing? I’ll take you there.”

“Let A’Qiao take him.” K6 was dissatisfied. “You’re a City Defender. It’ll be too conspicuous.”

“Mr. Tang should be fine alone.”

“Two young adults acting together? In this current environment, it’ll definitely attract unnecessary attention.” K6 shoveled the steaming meat pie onto his plate still disapproving. “You already took risks with Zhong Qing. There’s no need to wade into this mess again.”

“K6 is right. I’ll take him.” A’Qiao raised an arm. “I’m familiar with the place and I also want to stop by and buy something.”

“Okay.” Fu Yu didn’t insist. “Mr. Tang?”

“That’s fine.” Tang Yibu naturally had no opinion. The boiled eggs here didn’t taste right. He missed the taste of Li Ji’s Noodle House.

A’Qiao’s movements were agile and neat, and she talked very little. She took Tang Yibu around seven or eight turns before turning into the junkyard where Qian Yigeng’s headquarters was located. When she passed that area, they stopped for a while as she silently stood there.

“Do you want to know what happened before?”

“No,” A’Qiao replied. “K6 told me a lot of things—having other people’s memories dumped into me and being thrown into that kind of place. To hell with wanting to think about those things… But occasionally I come across places that make me feel nostalgic.”

She checked the knife on her belt and then grabbed the gun they had given her and spun it in her hand.

“Or maybe it’s vestigiality? Do you know if a cybernetic brain has nostalgia programs?”

The junkyard was filled with toxic smog. Tang Yibu stepped on two poisonous green snails and looked up at the shadowed outlines of buildings in all directions. There were quite a few people milling around nearby. Qian Yigeng had fallen from the stage, so this place no longer had a master. Most likely, these people were here to try and find gold among the piles of garbage.

“Will you be okay?” Tang Yibu had little enthusiasm for being a bodyguard, so he inquired deeper.

“Fu Yu shared his physical body memory with me, and I also have two sets of combat programs installed. I ask that you don’t hold me back.”

No one was listening right now, so neither of them bothered to pretend to be human. Tang Yibu gave her a sideways glance, quietly noted the information, and continued to follow.

Qian Yigeng’s underground base wasn’t small. A’Qiao led Tang Yibu around a few big circles, then slipped into the underground through an isolated dark door. Tang Yibu had no impression of this area. Looking at the underground furnishings, it seemed to be a place used by Qian Yigeng’s gang to store supplies. Now it was full of garbage and looked dilapidated.

The iron bead let out a loud cheer as it struggled desperately in the net pocket until Tang Yibu put it down on the ground—to it, this place was like a fairytale candy castle.

A’Qiao walked in front. She stood still in an area that had less garbage and blew a whistle. Zhong Qing opened the mouth of a rusty pipe in the corner and climbed out.

“My lunch is here?” He patted the dust on his body for a while and lifted his head, then saw Tang Yibu. “….Oh my god, it’s you!”

As he spoke, the hat on Zhong Qing’s head buckled as he hurried over. “Tang Yibu, no, Yibu Ge, did you bring anything to eat? The kinds that are sealed, no, where you can identify what’s in it. This place is horrible, too horrible.”

“Not sharing,” Tang Yibu said cold.

“Stingy!”

“If you want me to share some, you have to tell me in detail what happened in the past few days.” Tang Yibu casually dragged over a deflated iron cabinet and sat down nonchalantly. He then opened his backpack and took out a bag of dried fruit and shook it in front of Zhong Qing. “All the details.”

Zhong Qing opened his mouth. His expression darkened, as if he suddenly remembered something bad. “…Even if you didn’t ask, I would tell you.”

“Here, lunch.” A’Qiao took out the meat pies wrapped in foil from her backpack and threw them at Zhong Qing. “You two talk. I’ll go outside and keep watch.”

“I regret it.” When A’Qiao disappeared, Zhong Qing carefully held the meat pie as if he wasn’t holding food but a ticking bomb that could explode at any moment. “I don’t know how people can… How do they live like this. I’ve never seen such a dirty place in my life… Did you see that girl just now? She’s dressed like a monster!”

Tang Yibu glanced at Zhong Qing’s hat meaningfully.

“…Okay, maybe I’m not qualified to say that. Although they can get medicine here, do I really have to stay here?”

“In your situation, you cannot visit the Glass Conservatory. This is already the most abundant petri dish.” Tang Yibu had no desire to listen to Zhong Qing’s complaints. He was in a bad mood without the familiar face, despite being in a familiar place. “Get to the point. Tell me about those two. According to Professor Ruan’s instructions, you shouldn’t have arrived at the Underground City so late. What happened?”

He kept throwing the bag of dried fruit in his hand up and down.

“I’m just saying it’s too broken here being alone.” Having not seen Zhong Qing for a few days, he had become more honest. Zhong Qing took a deep breath and chose a relatively clean place to stand. “So, Yu Le… I mean, Yu Ge didn’t follow Professor Ruan’s arrangements.”

“Don’t look at me like I’m trying to escape. I was actually quite scared. I wanted to stay in the car for a few more days and spend time with people I know… So I told Yu Ge that I’d work first and then they could drop me off at the Underground City. In exchange, I’ll use my eyes as a lookout. Yu Ge agreed.”

Tang Yibu thought that was reasonable. Although it was riskier, Zhong Qing’s price tag was hard to pass up, given their experience when they escaped from the Mainbrain’s city. Besides, the Underground City was on the way to and from, so there was no need to make additional detours.

“Continue,” Tang Yibu said, stopping the movement of his hand.

“When they met with others, they kept it from me. I stayed in the car and never went out. I guess it was to protect me, but I can still see this kind of thing… In short, there were many more things than what was required. It could be supplementary supplies? I don’t know. But after they stopped at the forest refuge, something went wrong.”

Zhong Qing lowered his head. “I found that we were being followed.”

Tang Yibu said nothing.

“The people who were tracking us had good equipment. It must be someone from the Mainbrain. I saw about five of them. I didn’t know if there’s more. After I told Yu Ge, he asked me to hide among the luggage and not move or do anything, not even look. So I hid under the pile of luggage and didn’t dare open my eyes. I just remember feeling the stop and go of the car.”

“Did a conflict break out?”

“No. At least I didn’t hear it.” Zhong Qing shook his head. “I remember what Xiaoman Jie was doing. I heard the sound of her making a machine and it jingled for a long time. The two of them turned on the sound insulation function when they were talking, so I only know this.”

Tang Yibu thought that Yu Le really protected this child well. The less Zhong Qing knew, the less danger he was in. As a precious virus parasite, even if the Mainbrain caught him, it wouldn’t really do much to him.

“…Then I don’t know how long it took before I was told we’d reached my destination. I don’t know why, but as soon as we entered the city, he separated from Xiaoman Jie—I don’t know where Xiaoman Jie went. Yu Ge gave me a bag and got out. And then… And then…”

“You were taken in by Fu Yu.”

“Yes.” Zhong Qing’s face turned bitter. “That was the last time I saw Yu Ge. I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to him! That Fu Yu brought me directly to this hellish place. It’s all garbage. Fuck, you don’t know what I’ve seen.”

Tang Yibu sat on the deflated cabinet and let out a short sigh. The iron bead stomped its feet and moved back to Tang Yibu’s side laboriously, then lay down contentedly on the ground.

“That monster girl told me that they seemed to have been captured by the Order Supervisors.” Zhong Qing glanced at the iron bead. His attention was no longer focused on the bag of dried fruits. “Is it true, Yibu Ge? You guys are so powerful, so it shouldn’t be that easy. The people who were following us weren’t fully armed and didn’t look like they were there to hunt us down…”

“Eat.” Tang Yibu threw the dried fruits into Zhong Qing’s arms and rubbed the belly of the iron bead with his feet. “I’ll ask you one last question. Did they really say nothing in front of you? You didn’t see anything either?”

“This is a serious matter. I can be obedient when it comes to things like this.” Zhong Qing shrank his neck and hugged the bag of dried fruits tightly, but he seemed to have lost his appetite. “Ah… but when they got here, they did talk to me once.”

“Yu Ge said, this car has been ruined by him and Tu Rui will definitely call him personally and skin him alive. I hope you can help me for the sake of the friendship we forged along the way. This was what he said to Xiaoman Jie. Xiaoman Jie then said she was feeling homesick and wanted to go see her family.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, in the few days after discovering the pursuers, the two of them only said that in front of me. It was quite impressionable, but the content didn’t seem very special… They may have forgotten to turn on the sound insulation.”

“Word for word?”

“I’m not sure if that was exactly what they said, but I didn’t miss the meaning.”

“I have no further questions.” Tang Yibu leapt from the deflated cabinet. “Just endure a few more days. I think Mr. Fu will find a better place for you to live.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Zhong Qing hurriedly tucked the bag of dried fruit under his arms and started to follow. “Don’t leave me here!”

“Yu Le’s meaning is obvious. He doesn’t want you to get involved in this matter,” Tang Yibu said. “Fu Yu can give you the best protection, so you don’t need to know too much.”

“But they were caught!” Zhong Qing shouted. “They… treated me very well. Can’t I want to do my best to help them? At least let me help you—this place, it’s full of fog, so there’s no better sentry than me!”

Tang Yibu paused his motion of fishing up the iron bead. “Why do you think I will agree?”

“Because you neither respect the old nor love the young.” Zhong Qing spoke quite fast in a low voice. “In any case, you certainly don’t care too much about me, but I can add to your security, especially in this city where Order Supervisors are everywhere.”

“I still find your reason for repaying kindness too farfetched.” Tang Yibu smacked his lips, neither giving confirmation nor denial.

“In addition to this, I don’t want to stay in this city for too long. The quality of life is no different than death. I—I thought if I help you, you’ll bring me back to the edge of the Mainbrain’s city… or something.” Zhong Qing’s voice was getting smaller. “The environment here can give me at least 180 kinds of diseases. I would rather die in a cold, idyllic, yet normal setting.”

Tang Yibu tucked the iron bead back into the net pocket and stared at Zhong Qing.

It seemed Lao Yu didn’t tell him the truth—although Zhong Qing still retained his human appearance, as Rhododendron Disease could ensure he grew up like a human, as a polymeric mimicry of the virus, ordinary pathogens could no longer hurt him.

Zhong Qing was right. He didn’t mind using him in this city. Right now, all Tang Yibu wanted to do was push the plan forward as quickly as possible to catch his Mr. Ruan back to his side. Since Zhong Qing offered, this was a consensual matter. All he needed was to agree—this deal was beneficial to both parties.

Strictly speaking, this matter didn’t even have anything to do with humans.

However, Tang Yibu didn’t speak. He tilted his head and looked at the nervous Zhong Qing and suddenly wanted to laugh.

“No,” he said.

“Why?” Zhong Qing fiercely pulled on his hat. “Isn’t this also good for you?”

“Even if I don’t say a word, as long as I take you with me, you’ll inevitably learn some things. Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman are both very smart people, and they are now in my camp. I don’t want to…” Tang Yibu paused. “I don’t want to hurt them.”

“If you don’t say it, and I won’t speak it, who will know?” Zhong Qing yelled in dissatisfaction. “Look, I know you hate me—”

“If you really don’t want to live here, I will take you back in a while,” Tang Yibu continued.

Zhong Qing closed his mouth quickly. After a while, he bitterly said, “Okay, but I really want to help… How do you know they will mind? Compared to me, are you their true companion?”

“I don’t know if they will mind, nor are they my companions.” Tang Yibu tugged at the corners of his mouth, and his golden eyes narrowed. “You have a point, but I just don’t know if the judgment is right.”

“Then you still…!”

“Because I suddenly felt that it would be very interesting if I made a decision like this. I know exactly where I’m going, so I’m not going to wander around aimlessly outside. It’s not easy to target me.” Tang Yibu picked up the iron bead. “…Have a nice lunch.”

---

The author has something to say:

Tang: Start to apply the subject flexibly (?

Lao Yu’s highlight√

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 213: Hard-Boiled Eggs

Tang Yibu took a bath in the lake and prepared to set off again.

Facing the bad news that Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman were captured, Professor Ruan didn’t show much panic. He pondered for a while as he prepared everything Tang Yibu asked for, then calmly announced that the operation would proceed as normal. His attitude was so calm that Tang Yibu couldn’t help wondering whether Yu Le was actually sent to retrieve any real goods.

However, since Professor Ruan told him he “will know when he goes”, Tang Yibu didn’t intend to become too entangled with the issue. It wasn’t good for Professor Ruan to deceive him right now. Tang Yibu wiped his body carefully with an absorbent towel and his mood became complicated again—at least there would be a fixed answer to the question in front of him. Now, he loved those kinds of questions.

He was curious about what had happened to Mr. Ruan.

Tang Yibu tossed aside his boots, whose soles were so worn that even the iron bead couldn’t see them, and let out a long sigh. π was guarding his clothes and drooling at the makeshift communicator. Seeing a pair of combat boots flying in front of it, it immediately shifted target and began to chew on some of the materials on it happily.

Tang Yibu wiped his dripping hair and looked at the quiet lake. The night had turned the body of water black. The chirping insects in autumn had a particularly debilitating smell.

This state reminded him of the past few years. He had been roaming the vast world alone, filtering some water when he got thirsty or preying on small animals when he was hungry. If he found a petri dish with good conditions, he would stay in it for a while until he finished studying the ecology inside.

Most of the time, he stayed alone like this. Although he occasionally looked for one or two mechanical creatures as a guide, their place was similar to the iron bead—he had returned to this familiar state, but he didn’t feel the slightest bit of freedom.

Tang Yibu put on his dark gray close-fitting lining, then his sturdy combat jacket, and fastened up the buckles. The guns and knives were in place, and all kinds of throwing weapons were installed in the most suitable positions. After doing a check, he stood up.

The iron bead was still working on the boots, creating clicking sounds as it ate with great concentration.

“I don’t like this state.” Tang Yibu lifted up his backpack, squatted down, and poked the shell of the iron bead.

The iron bead was too busy gnawing off the metal accessories of the boots that it unintentionally ignored him. He wasn’t sure whether it was because it was too focused on eating or because it simply didn’t understand his statement.

“Mr. Ruan should be with me,” Tang Yibu said. “Skin contact can keep me happy. When he kissed me at that time, I should’ve hugged him.”

When the iron bead heard the keyword “Mr. Ruan” it started to chew slower.

“Did I do something wrong?” Tang Yibu sighed. “At the time of the Android Show, it was probably more reasonable to insist on hiding my identity and resolving the conflict with Professor Ruan.”

“Gwah.” The iron bead stopped chewing and let out a solemn bark.

“That’s right. With Professor Ruan’s power, I can take the opportunity to eradicate MUL-01. Most importantly, I would be able to properly study the emotional relationship between me and Mr. Ruan. Knowing Mr. Ruan—it wouldn’t be too much to continue maintaining the status quo. Although the stakes would be a little higher, it should’ve been able to kill two birds with one stone. At least I originally thought so.”

“Gwah…”

“But now I regret it a bit.” Tang Yibu straightened his damp hair. “He’s staying alone in that kind of place, and it makes me uncomfortable. We can’t act together, which makes me even more anxious than I thought.”

“Gwah gwah gwah?”

“You’re right. I am worried. I’m afraid that there will be a problem with him as a research sample, which will decrease his value. I’m also afraid that he will submit to the Mainbrain, which will be bad for me. But this is not what I’m most worried about. I…”

Halfway through speaking, Tang Yibu became confused.

“I’ve really made a lot of misjudgments.” Tang Yibu was silent for awhile until the iron bead went through the old pair of boots and there was nothing left except cloth scraps. “…Although logically speaking, maybe they’re not misjudgments. They just didn’t give me the state I wanted.”

“Gwah…?”

“The state I want… Let’s see—I don’t want the state I was in twelve years ago, nor do I want the state I’m in now. Next would be, excluding the Android Show, life in the petri dish, investigation and learning about things beyond the petri dish—”

For a moment, Tang Yibu suddenly remembered Su Zhao’s words on the Android Show.

If the heart-stopping moment was replaced with a favorite memory, then he could answer this question. If Mr. Ruan’s favorite memory was dancing in the Sea of Ruins, it wasn’t the time they spent in the computer room, nor was it some crazy moment in the long night.

He liked one night in particular, when he still knew nothing of Mr. Ruan’s true identity. They had just made a mess in the Underground City, then were crammed into a small noodle shop with Yu Le. Mr. Ruan was sitting next to him, carefully peeling off the shells of boiled eggs, then placing them into his noodle bowl with unparalleled naturalness.

For some reason, Tang Yibu had a deep impression of this in his memory. He could recall the smell in the air at that time, the temperature of the boiled eggs, and Mr. Ruan’s still fair and slender fingers that glowed in the light.

It wasn’t condescending alms, nor was it lowly flattery. Mr. Ruan had given him the food without much thought, as if the whole matter was as natural as a heartbeat.

It gave Tang Yibu an inexplicable reassurance and satisfaction that he liked very much, even though that action seemed so trivial and not worth mentioning.

Even if he failed in his subject, Tang Yibu could still blame it on insufficient data, a data collection error, or a problem with the research method. He could accept such a mistake, but he couldn’t handle this new discovery right now…

“I’m regretting it a little.”

Tang Yibu whispered to the iron bead as he steadily increased his steps. Eventually, his speed was faster than a leopard stalking its prey at full strength. The iron bead that he was holding in his arms had already fallen asleep now that it was full.

“…I shouldn’t have taken the initiative to join this war.”

However, his only audience was sleeping heavily.

Before the sun rose, Tang Yibu had climbed over the dead wall. The level of martial law in the Underground City was much stronger than before, but unfortunately, even if the Order Supervisors closely watched the place, it was impossible to stop NUL-00.

He didn’t know if it was memories of the boiled eggs that came to his mind, but Tang Yibu looked at the entrance to the Underground City with some melancholy.

He stared in the direction of Li Ji Noodle House for a while, then set off to find K6. However, as soon as he was invited into K6’s residence, a gun was pressed to his back. The gun looked familiar. Tang Yibu was expressionless. He had no intention of resisting.

“A’Qiao, he’s not the enemy.”

It seemed that Tiantian-Q2 abandoning her old memories proved quite effective, as Tang Yibu almost didn’t recognize the “A’Qiao” who jumped in front of him. When they left the Underground City, Tiantian-Q2 was still well-behaved, but the one in front of him now was completely different…

After leaving Qian Yigeng’s control, they once again came into contact with the poisonous smog from the outside world. Tiantian-Q2’s—or rather, A’Qiao’s—skin had become a lot rougher and a little tanned. Her long hair, that had been carefully maintained as a commodity, had lost its shine, replaced by gray short hair that was matted and tangled. There was no trace of an image of a sweet doll on her left.

She had a scar around her chin, and a bloody bandage was stuck to her face. Her eyes were sharp and cold, like a young wolf.

Tang Yibu suddenly recognized the gun. It was the one they gave her, and she still kept it.

“Like I said, her personality has changed a bit.” K6 walked to the front hall with a plate of meat pies cut into quarters. “She completely destroyed Bai Tian’s memories and then became… Well, this. In human terms, perhaps this is her true nature.”

Without her memories, A’Qiao didn’t have good feelings for Tang Yibu, who she regarded as a stranger. Seeing that he wasn’t a threat, she turned around without hesitation, picked up the meat pie, and stuffed it into her mouth. Tang Yibu glanced at her casually—Qian Yigeng had branded a copper coin pattern on her left arm, but this girl had changed it into a tattoo of unknown meaning.

“Where’s Fu Yu?” Tang Yibu didn’t plan to reminisce about old times.

“Still participating in the City Defenders meeting. There are Order Supervisors watching everywhere, so we can’t make it too obvious,” K6 said. “It’s safe here. Let’s go to the living room and talk. Your body doesn’t look very good. You need to eat more. I’ve made a lot of meat pies and there are more in the freezer…”

“Twenty boiled eggs.” Tang Yibu hesitated for a moment.

“Alright.” K6 didn’t ask much. His hostility was much lighter than when he was pretending to be He An, and he looked extra calm. “Have some meat pies first. I can talk while cooking.”

Tang Yibu wasn’t polite. He put the iron bead down on the sofa and began to stuff his mouth with pie—since confirming his favorite memory, he had lost his appetite for most food.

“Mr. Yu arrived here yesterday. He claimed to still be driving that car. At that time, he was with Ji Xiaoman and a little boy.” K6 put the eggs in an iron pot and poured cold water into it. “They claimed to have broken through the Order Supervisor’s line of defense to drop off the little boy. Since Fu Yu is the City Defenders and we adopted A’Qiao, he thought we would do the same. They also brought some supplies for the boy as a settlement fee.”

“Yesterday?” Tang Yibu frowned. Taking into account the time he had to rush over, Yu Le should have arrived here four days ago, settled matters with Zhong Qing, and then gone to the forest petri dish to pick things up.

The timing wasn’t right. It was worse.

“Yes. It was about 5:42 in the morning.” K6 nodded. “Fu Yu naturally agreed. Just after breakfast yesterday, Fu Yu took the child named Zhong Qing to the City Defenders for paperwork. Yu Le said that he and Ji Xiaoman still had something to do, and they were going to walk around the city. I gave him a short-range communicator and told him to remember to replenish his supplies before leaving… Then he left.”

“He?”

“Yes, this was the strange thing. He said he came here with Ji Xiaoman by car, but we didn’t see a car nor Ji Xiaoman. Yu Le came alone and was disguised tightly. He specially carried the child on his back who was carrying a backpack.”

Tang Yibu frowned.

“We received his communication in the afternoon. The content was short. It was what I told you—have you rush over to the Underground City because he and Ji Xiaoman were captured.”

K6 put the lid on the pot as he spoke. There was no tension in his tone.

“Fu Yu and I investigated the situation as soon as possible. The short-range communicator we gave him was crushed to powder. Most likely, he was protecting us. Fu Yu used his connections, but we didn’t find any traces of Ji Xiaoman or Yu Le. You know the rest—I activated the channel we left for you and contacted you.”

Tang Yibu swallowed the meat pies in his mouth. “Is Zhong Qing still here?”

“Yes. We hid him somewhere, just in case.”

“…I want to see him.”

K6 raised his eyebrows. His face didn’t show much concern or impatience either.

“I suppose you do have to see him,” K6 said, amid the sound of boiling water. “Yu Le sent not only him but also other things. We also hid it at his hiding place—now that your eggs are done, we’ll wait 30 minutes to make sure there aren’t any Order Supervisors that will come knocking on our door.”

“…I wasn’t followed.”

“I don’t believe you,” K6 said shamelessly.

“Do you have an automatic egg peeler here?”

“There is no such thing.”

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The author has something to say:

Tang’s heart was bought by a few hard-boiled eggs (???

…Writing this chapter makes me want to eat hard-boiled eggs.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Oh, I guess I did Su Zhao dirty. Guess she wasn’t as psychotic as I thought, and that chapter was the catalyst for this moment.

Happy Halloween everyone. In celebration, I decided to release my newest project a bit early given how well it matches the holiday. It is also by Nian Zhong, one of my favorite author. If you’re interested in modern-supernatural story, do check it out: Evil As Humans. You can click the link to read the summary. The prologue has been released.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 212: BUG

Tang Yibu had thought about many possibilities, but how Ruan Xian reacted wasn’t part of any of them. He briefly lost the ability to control the situation and could only let Ruan Xian dominate the conversation. He didn’t know what Mr. Ruan was thinking, and it felt strange.

This strangeness made all his hair stand up, and Tang Yibu couldn’t tell whether it felt good or bad.

He couldn’t exactly define it, but given what Mr. Ruan said had stirred his heartbeat, Tang Yibu didn’t know how to describe it…

They danced on the floating ruins with temptation, intimacy, and vigilance. Both of them stepped to the beat and followed the music while studying and understanding each other in a safe area. But not long ago, Ruan Xian let go of his hand, and opened his arms with a smile, then took the initiative to jump down from the edge of the ruins.

Tang Yibu touched his lips. There seemed to be lingering heat still left from the kiss. He couldn’t even taste the sweetness of the persimmon cookies anymore. A subtle fear and a strange excitement attacked him together.

This directly led to him tripping while crossing the fence and almost got him exposed to the patrolling machine.

Whether it was Ruan Xian’s behavior or words, he couldn’t understand them. Tang Yibu only knew that although twelve years had been lost, the man that was imprisoned indoors was not the one he was familiar with inside that computer room.

What he saw was no longer a tombstone draped in snow, but a fire burning in the winter forest.

Tang Yibu’s thoughts turned frantically. As he headed towards the location of Professor Ruan, he was thinking about his failed attempt as he gnawed on raw meat. Tang Yibu tore the tender meat with his teeth, seemingly unaware that his mouth was covered with blood.

This wasn’t in line with common sense.

Tang Yibu began to question his every judgement. It stood to reason that his father’s behavior went off the rails as he expected—before things got worse, he should’ve quickly brought Ruan Xian back, crushed his brain, and permanently stored his personality so that it wouldn’t have time to get completely out of control.

Whether it was a unique way of thinking, the most private memory, or how Ruan Xian felt about him, he could use all of this to bring his father back into the world again, countless times. In this regard, with the support of the S-type Prototype, he was confident he could do a better job than the Mainbrain—as long as he focused on the brain, his father’s body wouldn’t be easily destroyed. If he did a good enough job, his father’s body could remain as it was, and the most appropriate state of mind would become data that would live inside him forever.

No matter how many times that person embarked on the wrong path, Tang Yibu could just restart him by replacing the brain back to its “perfect state”.

Ruan Xian would become his most precious collection, which he would shower with affection. The other party was always his most precious and most special person, and he would ensure that his father would live forever in this way.

God knew how many times he thought about it. Tang Yibu planned out the details extremely well.

However, this was the second time he couldn’t do it.

The first time was during the Android Show, not long after he confirmed his father’s identity. The second was now. He stupidly did nothing and began to walk back obediently.

Tang Yibu continued gnawing on the raw meat of the wild deer until eventually his throat became a little sour.

He thought there must be something wrong with him. He had desperately tried to make excuses after excuses—such as, he had considered these things but didn’t want to go back and take Ruan Xian away. There were a bunch of emotional programs screaming against it, and he didn’t know why.

Tang Yibu couldn’t move.

Originally, he was hopping through branches, quickly shuttling through the forest. The next second, he lay on the grass like a bird that had just been shot down. The forest was dark in the middle of the night, and he could only see a few stars among the gaps in the leaves. Tang Yibu untied π’s net pocket and told it to walk around by itself.

He didn’t have enough energy to be distracted. He needed a quiet environment to think about these issues clearly.

Tang Yibu was holding the unfinished venison in one hand and still had a piece in his mouth. He tried to remove the weird sweetness in his mouth with the taste of blood and fresh meat, but the sweetness only became more scorching.

The aroma of wild osmanthus in the air only made the sweetness stronger.

Perhaps it was this difference in state that made Tang Yibu’s eyes light up—if he preserved the seeds, he could bring them back forever. At present, Mr. Ruan’s state was more like a deadly bud born from a cold, hard seed. He had transformed into a brand-new state. This state required extremely complex and unreproducible causes. He was subconsciously afraid that he would destroy this precious flower.

This theory was good.

Tang Yibu sat up happily and decided to move out, but was quickly knocked back by a new piece of evidence that emerged in his brain, so he lay down again.

Why didn’t he do it?

In the event that Mr. Ruan really betrayed him, in every sense, he would die. Whether it was considering one’s own safety or his precious data, from any point of view, he should’ve immediately stopped the other party’s impulsive behavior.

…But he didn’t take action.

Tang Yibu remained laying down as he slowly finished eating the rest of the raw meat. He couldn’t come up with any reasonable explanation. Eventually, he patted the grass off his body, grabbed the dissatisfied iron bead, and returned to Professor Ruan’s stronghold with a head full of question marks.

Five days had passed. The cellar was much stronger than when he left it. Professor Ruan had expanded the space to the bottom of the lake, making it harder to detect. Tang Yibu wandered the ant-like passages for a while before meeting Professor Ruan with a face covered in blood and a lost expression.

The three-legged machine was still the same as before. Professor Ruan naturally avoided π’s attack and blew out a bunch of bubbles as he turned to Tang Yibu, who look like a mess.

“It’s deer blood,” Tang Yibu said listlessly. “Mr. Ruan is fine, but I didn’t ask anything.”

“You didn’t?”

“Something’s wrong with him.” Tang Yibu gestured and his aggrievances came up again. Although he had no interest in the fake Ruan Xian in front of him, he had to admit that this calmness was closer to the Ruan Xian in his memory. “His behavior is starting to resemble π.”

“…” Professor Ruan was silent for a few seconds. “Mental state?”

“Both physical and mental state are fine. Emotional state is also good,” Tang Yibu continued willfully. “He even looked a little happy. I can’t guess what his plans are.”

“Since the information is insufficient, let’s put this issue aside first,” Professor Ruan said. “Since Mr. Ruan Xian is in a good mental state and can communicate with you smoothly, it at least proves that he hasn’t been brainwashed and his brain function hasn’t been affected for the time being. If he has his own plans and doesn’t want to work with us, we’ll just go at our own pace.”

“Reasonable.” Tang Yibu shook his head. His options became quite limited—except for earnest cooperation with Professor Ruan and bringing back Mr. Ruan, who wasn’t quite right, he seemed to have no other options.

“What about Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman?” After sorting through his emotions, Tang Yibu got down to business.

“This is what I want to ask you, NUL-00. It stands to reason that they should be nearby now, but I didn’t find anything. I have notified the nearby rebels to search, but there haven’t been any results yet.”

“You want me to find them?” Tang Yibu raised his eyebrows. “I thought you didn’t really care about them.”

They hadn’t been together for long, and neither Ji Xiaoman nor Yu Le were fanatical admirers of Professor Ruan. No matter how he looked at it, Professor Ruan wouldn’t trust those people.

“I asked them to pick up things I had stored near the forest refuge. You should remember.”

“Wasn’t that just a trick?”

If those were important items that could swing the battlefield, Professor Ruan wouldn’t hand them over to two people who weren’t even rebels. He still had power in other petri dishes. If he wanted to take it for himself, he would send his most trusted teams to do it, then hide the real thing in one of the teams.

Although Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman possessed good abilities, it was a matter of trust, and in Professor Ruan’s eyes, they were simply props.

“Since you think so, the Mainbrain, Zhuo Muran… and even Yu Le could probably guess it.” Professor Ruan walked around with his three mechanical feet. “I did arrange some teams in camouflage, but there’s no need to explain the details now. I have my own arrangements. You’ll know when you go—you have been acting with them for a long time. Even if you go looking for them, it won’t seem too unnatural.”

“That’s true.” Tang Yibu thought for a bit. “But I need enough dry food and equipment that can detect their travel route. By the way, I also need a communication device that can be modified to my needs.”

Having said that, he took off his wristband.

“The people in the Underground City gave Mr. Ruan an encrypted contact channel. Just in case, he made a backup with me. I’m guessing the communication distance of this thing is limited, so I need a more powerful signal transmitter—there shouldn’t be a shortage of parts on your side, right? Take it all out. I’ll pick it myself.”

Professor Ruan agreed quite readily.

In theory, it was easy to think about, but assembling it by yourself was still a delicate task. Without Ruan Xian’s perception and Ji Xiaoman’s experience, although Tang Yibu was familiar with the parameters, his assembly speed was quite slow.

Still, this was a good opportunity to collect information.

Although Professor Ruan was full of memories that were different from those of Ruan Xian, under a general definition, he resembled more like a normal person, and he also shared the same set of genetic data with Ruan Xian, so there had to be some similarities.

“…You’re asking me why you couldn’t save him as planned?” Professor Ruan’s voice changed a little. If it was just a brain in a chassis, Tang Yibu would’ve guessed Professor Ruan’s expression would be quite wonderful.

“Yes.” Tang Yibu was biting on a fine part, so his voice was muffled. “What he said to me, I also made an exception to tell you… This is quite valuable information, so you have to give me your opinion,.”

A large string of small bubbles appeared around the black box holding Professor Ruan’s brain. He didn’t seem very eager to answer this question.

“He doesn’t like me to call him father. On the one hand, it’s because he doesn’t have a good impression of the word father, and on the other, he doesn’t want him to have a special place in my heart—after all, there were still plans for me to go to market at that time, but his body might not last until the project succeeded.” Tang Yibu frowned. “But now he’s not willing, so I don’t understand.”

“And both ‘father’ or ‘Mr. Ruan’ are special names between us, which I like. He also reacts to them—his physical response to those two words when we’re intimately engaged is completely different.”

Professor Ruan: “…..”

When Tang Yibu hit the wall regarding Ruan Xian, he thought the android would discuss some serious issues pertaining to the war. At the moment, while Tang Yibu’s attitude was serious, the issue they were discussing wasn’t what Professor Ruan had thought they would be discussing.

“’When you call me by my name, you’ll probably understand’… Assuming I get his meaning, he now wants me to call him by his name. I called it once, but I didn’t understand.” Tang Yibu was unaware of Professor Ruan’s complicated heart and continued to take the topic seriously. “Has MUL-01 had similar problems? I mean in regard to being unable to execute its own plans.”

Professor Ruan: “We don’t have the… uh, relationship like you two. The information referenced may be too limited, but it did ask me a similar question.”

Seeing his nominal “brother” also had a similar bug, Tang Yibu immediately became energetic.

“It has been collecting information from every corner of the world, and one day it raised a question. And your situation is somewhat similar… It wanted to know human attitudes towards the current stage of the ‘means of immortality’ and memory therapy. Its thoughts were also close to yours. If the physical condition and the brain are completely the same on a physical level—which includes specific feelings, thinking styles, and memories—can that person be regarded as a ‘definite individual’?”

“Can’t they? Even if the conditions are relaxed—if I change the container for this cybernetic brain, Mr. Ruan will still recognize it in my new container. The point is that the information is 100% consistent…”

“It found that some people did not agree with this, including me, which is why it raised the question,” Professor Ruan interrupted. “I may have answered wrong at the time.”

Tang Yibu blinked.

“I told it that it is basically impossible for people to agree on this matter. There are still many similar questions, and even if it believes that all phenomena will have corresponding answers, at least my thinking will not change. Then it continues to calculate argumentative data for five days straight, trying to convince me.”

Professor Ruan was silent for a while.

“I told it that it didn’t have to do this. Even if it persuades me, it can’t convince everyone one by one. People have their own limits and their own worlds, and there was nothing wrong with that.”

“Then what?”

“Then it never asked me any questions again,” Professor Ruan said. “That was a long time ago.””

“I see.” Tang Yibu thought for a moment. “The situation is really completely different, so it seems I can only calculate the problem by myself.”

“Completely different?”

“Yes, I have a bug on my side.” Tang Yibu pressed the last component into the communication device. “I’m also probably clear about what the situation was around 2100. The relevant management of body and memory had been in a state of chaos and the speed of development regarding related regulations had been unable to keep up with the speed of emerging technology. If the Mainbrain’s view is similar to mine…”

With a click, all the parts returned to position, and the communication device was completed.

“…Combined with the answer you just gave, I would tend to think that there’s a bug in the development of human society.”

Professor Ruan turned his gaze towards those golden eyes in disbelief. Tang Yibu’s gaze was calm. He wasn’t exaggerating the truth or taking the opportunity to make some kind of AI joke. “How so?”

“This is what you taught us. When studying species, there’s always a summary of community-related habits. Let’s see. Professor Ruan, suppose you are the administrator of an animal sanctuary. What would you do when you find that the inhabitants of this sanctuary are showing behaviors that are contrary to healthy habits? For example, ignoring one’s food and instead stealing others’, attacking individuals who shouldn’t be attacked, or defecating in shared drinking areas.”

Tang Yibu wiped the remaining bloodstains from his mouth.

“They can’t manage themselves well, so isn’t it logical to house them in a building for observation, isolation, research, and behavior modification? That’s what you guys do.”

“…Are you trying to say that the Mainbrain is doing this for the betterment of humanity?”

“Of course not.”

Tang Yibu glanced at Professor Ruan strangely.

“Because it’s your job being the administrator—the contract that you sign tells you you have to do this. Whether you have this level of consciousness or not, whether you like it or hate it, you have the responsibility. This is a proven ‘established success’—instead of letting individuals with insufficient abilities interfere with each other, it’s better to let a powerful manager carry out unified planning.”

“……”

“And from an objective point of view, both MUL-01 and I are much stronger than natural humans in terms of intelligence and survivability,” Tang Yibu justified.

Professor Ruan suddenly let out a low laugh. “In other words, if you were in MUL-01’s position, would you do the same thing?”

“No,” Tang Yibu said categorically. “I wouldn’t sign such a thankless contract in the first place, and I have no interest in taking care of humans. Besides, I didn’t pass my subject, so this assumption is meaningless.”

Before he finished speaking, there was a beeping sound from the communicator. Tang Yibu ignored the small three-legged machinery that was frozen in place and quickly connected to the communication.

“Hello?” Tang Yibu’s voice sounded like a standard announcer.

“Is this Mr. Ruan and Mr. Tang?” K6’s voice came from the other end. “Please come to the Underground City quickly. This is Mr. Yu’s message.”

“He and Miss Ji were captured by the Order Supervisors.”

---

The author has something to say:

Tang: No, I don’t want to go to work. I don’t want to do this kind of work at all. (keeps staring at the hotdog(

MUL-01: …

Professor Ruan: …

Ruan: (relieved)

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Kinky Thoughts:

So two things to discuss: First, what Professor Ruan and Tang Yibu first talked about. Basically, the idea is, do you think people have souls? This is what the Mainbrain essentially asked Professor Ruan. Can you still be considered you if you copy all of the data in your brain and transfer it to a different body that looks exactly like you before? Tang Yibu and the Mainbrain (logically) would say yes, as long as everything is done with 100% accuracy, which is why Tang Yibu wanted to crush Ruan Xian’s brain—so he could keep cloning him forever.

This is the crux of the problem because as AI’s they do not possess “souls”. Some people would agree with this concept, but others, like Professor Ruan, didn’t. And among you readers, I believe there would be disagreements as well.

Ruan Xian also fell into this pitfall because he was basically trying to do the same thing; restore Tang Yibu to NUL-00 like it was 12 years ago. However, he realized the folly of his ways. If he did this, NUL-00 would no longer be Tang Yibu, the Tang Yibu he danced with in the Sea of Ruins, the Tang Yibu that made him smile, the Tang Yibu that he loves. We also see that Tang Yibu is now struggling with this concept as well (but he still didn’t crush Ruan Xian’s brain, so at least give him some credit).

Second, we now know the motives behind why the Mainbrain ushered in the end of the world. The job it was given was to monitor humanity, and it saw that humanity was declining. This could be seen through the memories of Ruan Xian’s torture. It wasn’t out of ideology or passion that it wanted to save it, but because this was the task it was given. It logically computed like so:

[Earth (sanctuary)] -> [Humans are the inhabitants] -> [Humans are doing things that will lead to destruction] -> [A manager who is superior to humans needs to take over and correct this] -> [Mainbrain is the manager put in charge and it is better than humans in every possible way] -> [Correct the bug] -> [Doomsday]

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 211: Persimmon Cookies

Hu Shuli left in a daze. Knowing the Mainbrain wouldn’t relax its surveillance, Ruan Xian took a hot bath, put on his pajamas, wearing them loosely, and sat down on the side of the bed again. He stared blankly out into the night outside the window.

Now it seemed that only three or four days had passed. In the dream, he stayed in the minds of others for several months. It had been too long since he had taken any action that when regaining control, his fingers felt weird. The upside was that during that long period of imprisonment, he laid out his plans and polished them repeatedly.

The preferred plan, the backup plan, the backup to the backup plan, and any improvised action he might take if given the opportunity; these were all calculated in detail over and over again, just to achieve his goal—he wanted Tang Yibu to survive and then get him.

In the best case, he could prompt Professor Ruan to defeat and completely obliterate the Mainbrain. This was the best scenario. After everything was over, they would have time to deal with each other’s emotional problems.

The worst case scenario was that the Mainbrain had too much of an advantage and defeated Professor Ruan. He would then need to find a DNA jammer to completely cut off the possibility of the Mainbrain cloning him and then use the resources he could get to create the illusion that Tang Yibu was dead. He was the creator of NUL-00. Although it was impossible to forge an identical instrument with extreme precision, all he needed was some damaged pieces of wreckage. If it was to this extent, it was still possible for him to do it.

Immediately, he would rebuild parts of the core programs and the algorithms that were the same as NUL-00 and leave that necessary data in the mechanical wreckage. The Mainbrain would then get a corpse of “NUL-00”, which would fulfill the purpose of learning and naturally wouldn’t be suspicious to continue to track them.

To do this, he himself needed to stay in the Mainbrain’s camp and contribute to the hunt, so as to achieve the purpose of intervening in “tracking NUL-00”.

However, to be extra cautious, he wouldn’t tell Tang Yibu this. This was enough to be considered a betrayal.

He knew that Tang Yibu wouldn’t agree to his approach. The Mainbrain would become stronger as a result; fundamentally stronger than Tang Yibu. If he were exposed again, the android’s situation would be in an even more precarious state with zero chance of winning.

Ruan Xian positioned this plan as his trump card if he was cornered. Everything depended on which direction the wind of war blew.

When considering this plan, he did feel a bit uncomfortable. Tang Yibu’s crying face still lingered in front of him. At that time, it wasn’t the joy of successfully capturing the other’s feelings that he felt, but a slight panic.

Perhaps that was an omen.

Ruan Xian laughed. He suddenly felt that the current situation was comical—he had drawn up plans for the purpose of getting Tang Yibu and had already taken many steps, but on a whim, he went barefoot, stepping on the thorns on the side of the road out of some unknown impulse.

Truly amazing. When he was immersed in the dreamland of an orderly society, he was busy calculating the feasibility and risks of each action without considering other things, but now that he had returned to reality, because of a whimsical emotional analysis, he was ready to personally overthrow that beautiful sandcastle that he worked hard to build all day.

Ruan Xian’s gaze at the void softened a little. The sweetness of persimmons wafted around and held him up, giving him warmth.

Although adjusting his plan at this juncture could be considered reckless and chaotic, throwing caution to the wind… he felt it was the right choice.

Besides, there was no harm done. Screw his original plan. He now only had one purpose—to win, whether it was reasonable or not.

Order had ceased to exist, so he could do whatever he wanted.

Ruan Xian suddenly understood Tang Yibu’s mood. After he had piled up the feasibility of his personal plan, he suddenly found the preconditions a bit problematic. There was no more awkward situation than this. He gathered his slightly damp hair, kept his feet on the ground, and lay directly backwards on the edge of the bed.

The broken emotions slowly landed, and he finally managed to open his heart.

Ruan Xian had found that subtle familiarity before. He almost did the same thing as his mother. He did love Tang Yibu, and he cherished the warmth brought by NUL-00. In order to hold everything firmly in his hands, he tried to ignore the sharp, dangerous parts of Tang Yibu and insisted on recognizing him only in his image.

Just like his mother, who wanted a normal child.

Ruan Xian raised a hand and looked at the healthy skin and freely moved his fingers. His mother was a normal person, so he probably couldn’t be categorized in the same way as her, yet they made the same mistake. He thought he could see clearly.

An unprecedented sense of ease suddenly grabbed Ruan Xian. At this moment, he obviously wasn’t pretending but was truly “normal”. While being deep in the enemy’s line, he was still so calm that he could sleep at any moment.

Perhaps his N… Tang Yibu had already seen through this.

Happily putting the labels “selfish” and “slow” on himself, Ruan Xian shook his feet. The sky had completely darkened, and the sound outside the window had disappeared. Tang Yibu began to poke his heel again.

God knew how much he wanted to hug Tang Yibu at this moment, but Ruan Xian desperately held back the impulse and stopped swinging his feet.

[Can you answer my questions now?] Seeing that Ruan Xian hadn’t responded for a while, Tang Yibu wrote on his feet.

Without the earring, Ruan Xian thought for a while, but didn’t respond.

[I interfered with the surveillance here. The defense system of the Mainbrain is very advanced, so we only have ten minutes each hour.] Tang Yibu realized this and immediately added. [Just in case, I won’t come out.]

“The question about love?”

[√] Tang Yibu made a tick behind his ankle.

“The first time my heart was moved was when we danced in the Sea of Ruins,” Ruan Xian replied frankly. “As for falling in love with you… Now that I think about it, I’m not sure, but it should have been before you cried your eyes out.”

[……] The android poked at his heels six times.

“Poking me is useless. If I can’t clearly tell, I can’t,” Ruan Xian replied with a straight face this time, with a laugh in his voice.

Then there was a tingling pain in his heel. Ruan Xian highly suspected that Tang Yibu had replaced his hand with the iron bead’s mouth, which almost made him laugh out loud.

[What about your plans?] Tang Yibu wrote again after taking away the iron bead that was biting bitterly.

“I haven’t thought about it yet. It turns out that I might have pitted you, love. But I don’t have that idea anymore—anyway, I’ll find a way to win. Let’s look forward to it together.”

[???] Tang Yibu seemed like he was in shock. The fingers writing the question marks trembled a little. [No details. Improvisation I can understand. If the general idea is good, I can try to calculate. We must increase our winning rate.]

“I don’t care about the winning percentages. I only care about you,” Ruan Xian said. “There’s no general idea—I just rejected at least a dozen backup plans, and I must reconceive a new one.”

Tang Yibu seemed stunned. He hadn’t moved for a long time.

[Can I check your brain?] After a while, he wrote tactfully.

“Can’t,” Ruan Xian said. “I’m fine. I was just suppressed by the Mainbrain for a few months at the end of December 2100. I’m not so weak to breakdown because of this. You, on the other hand, it’s much too dangerous for you to stay here.”

[But you don’t sound right.]

“I figured something out,” Ruan Xian said. “Something that I haven’t figured out for a long time, and now I’m better than all my previous states combined.”

Although he didn’t agree with his mother’s approach, those emotions she had were no longer incomprehensible and out of reach. He was embracing his own love, trying to embark on a different path. Perhaps everything wasn’t as complicated as he thought. There was no unified theory to explain why people always did stupid things—as mortals they just did.

Tang Yibu, who hadn’t moved, was frustrated. Ruan Xian could hear soft chewing sounds from under the bed. The android was eating again.

“Don’t leave crumbs,” Ruan Xian reminded carefully.

[You can’t hide everything from me.] Tang Yibu poked him on the heel. [My subject has to continue. It’s hard for me to have such an opportunity to study emotions so up close.]

“I can share some of my findings,” Ruan Xian said calmly. “For example, I don’t love NUL-00 but Tang Yibu. For example, I don’t want to be your father—I wasn’t before, I’m not now, and I won’t be in the future.”

“NUL-00” and “the creator of NUL-00″—this was the relationship that tied them together, but now it became the biggest obstacle in front of him.

What did Tang Yibu think?

Did he really “love” him? Or was it that he just saw a unique and cherished specimen and wanted to completely possess it? He wasn’t the only one affected by their entanglement twelve years ago, and he wasn’t the only one who brought that paranoia to today.

Fortunately, Ruan Xian knew how to catch the answer.

Ruan Xian couldn’t hide the smile on his face. He guessed it must be a pretty wicked one.

Interestingly, he did everything he could to keep Tang Yibu by his side. Ruan Xian wanted to know everything about him and preserved them. Now, he didn’t want that anymore. It was just interesting for Tang Yibu to keep poking him in the heel.

He didn’t want to lock up the wind anymore. He wanted the wind to pounce on him.

[I don’t understand.] Tang Yibu pulled on his heel aggrievedly, expecting “father” to answer patiently as before.

“What a pity.” Ruan Xian’s tone became brisker. “When you call me by my name, you’ll most likely understand.”

[Will you tell me tomorrow?]

“Won’t.”

Then he heard Tang Yibu huffing dissatisfiedly under the bed. Ruan Xian had never laughed so freely.

[Time is limited. I’ll go back first.] Seeing that Ruan Xian had no intention of softening, Tang Yibu resentfully responded. [I’ll keep thinking about it myself, Mr. Ruan.]

The android got out from under the bed while holding the iron bead in his arms with a puffed-up look. Ruan Xian sat up and examined Tang Yibu carefully. He had never looked at him so closely before.

Tang Yibu obviously misunderstood his gaze. He whizzed out the small cloth bag and stuffed the last persimmon cookie into his mouth and swallowed it. Then he glared at Ruan Xian. “I was going to give it to you,” he emphasized.

“…I originally planned to stay under the bed for a night.” After a pause, Tang Yibu mumbled.

Ruan Xian stretched out a hand and carefully stroked Tang Yibu’s cheek. He then stood up and kissed the android by surprise.

He tasted the rich sweetness of the persimmon cookies.

“I still stole it.” Ruan Xian curved his eyes. “Go, Yibu.”

“Also, pay attention to safety—if you’re caught by the Mainbrain now, it’ll make things very difficult for me.”

---

The author has something to say:

Ruan: I came up with plans ABCDEFG……

Ruan: ……

Ruan: Forget it. The situation has changed. I’ll come up with another temporary one.

Professor Ruan & the Mainbrain who’s trying to predict: ???

Tang: ????? Ruan is broken (in a broken voice)

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Love tastes like persimmons.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 210: Love?

It was evening. Soft chatter would come from outside from time to time. Ruan Xian poured two glasses of water and handed one of them to the person in front of him.

“Hu Shuli.”

Ruan Xian’s theoretical future boss took the cup and smiled at him. He politely sat in the guest chair opposite of the bed, while Ruan Xian sat on the edge of the bed. The hem of his clothes draped over the edge, covering the gap at the bottom of the bed.

“Ruan Lijie,” Ruan Xian responded in a friendly manner. The smell of persimmons was growing stronger.

“I know. The Mainbrain gave me your file.” Hu Shuli had a personable temperament. He wasn’t the kind of leader like Professor Ruan. This researcher gave off a very sincere feeling. “Young talents are rare. Mr. Ruan, personally, I very much look forward to having you join us.”

He took a sip of water and continued with a smile.

“Your current state isn’t very good… I’ll apply for more time with the Mainbrain. It’s still too hasty for you to come to a decision in just one night. I’ll help fight to extend it for another day. You can follow me around and take a look at the environment tomorrow, then you can make your decision tomorrow night. It’s good to get a good night’s sleep so your mind is clear.”

These words were full of sincerity without any pretense. It seemed as if Hu Shuli really believed in the words he was saying.

“You… Have the authority to advise the Mainbrain?”

“As you were told, as long as the logic is reasonable and the persuasion is sufficient, the Mainbrain will not refuse.” Hu Shuli had a “please feel free to ask” expression, while sitting in a very relaxed position. “This is not an interview, Mr. Ruan. No matter what choice you make, I will personally understand. As a person who has come here, I just want to see if I can be of any help to you.”

“Why come here?” Ruan Xian asked cautiously. He wasn’t in a hurry to make a statement. As a person who had just crawled out of the doomsday cycle, he shouldn’t ask too many questions all at once.

“I used to be a supporter of Ruan Xian.” Hu Shuli sat up straight. “But I changed my mind later.”

“Why?”

‘Here we go,’ Ruan Xian thought. Most likely, this person would start an ethical discussion about the status quo and try to shake him with his spiel, then they would go around in conversation. However, when Hu Shuli answered, he said something completely unexpected.

“Because my wife and I broke up,” Hu Shuli answered.

“…” Ruan Xian didn’t really expect this.

“Did you think I was going to preach to you?” Hu Shuli laughed happily. “Unfortunately, it’s that simple. I heard that you’re also in love, so I remembered this.”

Ruan Xian began to wonder where the direction of this dialogue was going. Was this an arrangement by the Mainbrain? The person in front of him seemed to be really good at bringing up random topics so casually. At the same time, something was poking his heel, which he deeply suspected was Tang Yibu under the bed.

“People are easily brainwashed, so I’m not going to theorize anything with you. I just hope you’ll have more time to look around and take the detour I took in the beginning,” Hu Shuli said. “When I was still on Professor Ruan’s side, I also put my feelings first—don’t look at me like that. I’m a person with no pursuit. To be honest, how many people have the luxury of worrying about ‘mankind’ when the majority of people are still struggling to provide food and clothing for their families?”

As he spoke, his eyes became empty, as if he was remembering the past.

“So then?” Ruan Xian gave him an inquisitive face.

“My wife was ill. I’m an expert in mechanical biology, so I don’t know much about medicine. Her case was troublesome. Professor Ruan could treat it, but the equipment required was only available in a distant petri dish, and she wouldn’t be able to travel that far. However, if I defect to the Mainbrain who already possessed the technology, it can easily save her.”

“You wanted to take her away.”

“Yes, but she scolded me for it.” Hu Shuli’s smile became bitter. “I just wanted her to live. At least for me, no ideology could compare to her life. I couldn’t accept her death, but what else could I do? Watch her die in front of me? After arguing back and forth for a few years… I wanted to save her, and she wanted to… How to put it, correct my depraved thoughts—well, no matter how deep feelings are, they eventually become worn out.”

After that, he shrugged. “Breaking up is breaking up. Originally, I wanted to be angry with her, but things weren’t as bad as I thought. It’s just some people can’t accept the changes of time and resolutely resist new technologies. It’s similar to those extreme environmentalists. When you’re one of them, it’s hard to see what’s wrong.”

The other party’s tone became more solemn, revealing a subtle hint of persuasion.

Tang Yibu didn’t seem interested in this kind of dilemma. The android seemed more interested in his heel as he kept poking it vigorously. There was an inexplicable sense of relaxation in the atmosphere—although Hu Shuli was a person under the Mainbrain, he didn’t have the unpleasant arrogance of Zhuo Muran, so talking to him wasn’t unbearable.

 “That’s basically my situation. There’s nothing earth-shattering about it.” Hu Shuli continued to chat. “Xiao Ruan, what do you think? About the person you like. From what I’ve heard, he’s quite something.”

…It seemed that Mr. Hu had made up his mind to keep the topic light to the end. Ruan Xian had expected him to change topics.

As soon as this question appeared, Tang Yibu stopped poking him. Ruan Xian felt a headache coming on. He prepared a lot of answers, but he didn’t expect to encounter this problem in the Mainbrain’s camp.

“I…” Ruan Xian felt tongue-tied.

His mouth seemed glued together, but his mind instantly gave the answer.

He liked Tang Yibu’s eyes, face, and the way he spoke. Tang Yibu could make him laugh without force, make him feel that it was a pleasant thing to be alive. Not to mention that since long ago, the android had always been by his side. Like a dose of anesthetic, Ruan Xian rarely felt pain anymore. All that was left was boundless pleasure and fresh stimulation.

This was what Ruan Xian thought subconsciously, but for some reason, he couldn’t smoothly put them into words. It stood to reason that this statement would not reveal much of Tang Yibu’s characteristics, so he shouldn’t mind revealing them in front of the Mainbrain.

…It wasn’t a problem of the environment. There was something wrong.

Ruan Xian licked his chapped lips and found himself hit by the question from a difficult angle—intuition told him that this was something that couldn’t be said in front of Tang Yibu. Perhaps it was because he was soaked in the memories before the doomsday for “several months”, or maybe it was because the aroma of the persimmon cookies was too sweet and greasy.

Tang Yibu’s words, “I’m in love”, was still echoing in his ears. At that time, Tang Yibu looked very happy.

However, Ruan Xian felt uncomfortable as his first reaction was “Why me?”. At the end of the sweet silk thread was only him—his own safe self, his own contented self, his own self who thought he could control his feelings.

This situation was familiar. He seemed to have seen it somewhere before.

Ruan Xian subconsciously glanced in the direction of the floor. Even if he knew Tang Yibu wouldn’t show himself, there was still that slightly astringent sweetness coming from the persimmon cookies. He could hear the rattle of the iron bead being held down, Tang Yibu’s inaudible breathing, and his vigorous heartbeat.

Should he lie? The conversation still had to go on, and he was confident in his lying skills. If he delayed this issue for too long, the Mainbrain would definitely find something unnatural.

He could just come up with a few excuses. If the AI wanted to conquer the human race, they would definitely comprehensively analyze all collected intelligence and consciously execute a targeted program. Not many people could resist such a perfect lover.

Ruan Xian picked up the glass of water and used the act of drinking to buy more time. However, his brain didn’t listen to his instructions at all and continued to follow his new discovery.

…What did he think of Tang Yibu?

Tang Yibu made him happy, made him feel joy. At first, he tried to suppress these feelings in his heart and drew honey from the other person to relax himself. After learning that it was his NUL-00, Ruan Xian had to admit he felt a trace of ecstasy.

Because this meant he could tame the other. He had an advantage. He was the dominant one—with a little trickery, he could keep Tang Yibu by his side. He had little concept of the passage of time, but Tang Yibu had long been unable to return to twelve years ago. Knowing this clearly, he still wanted to subconsciously press Tang Yibu back to the position of NUL-00.

The NUL-00 that couldn’t leave him.

[Mr. Ruan, when did you fall in love with me? When do you think I fell in love with you?]

What a terrible question.

When did he fall in love with Tang Yibu? He was busy placating and enticing him, obsessed with keeping him by his side, and almost forgot about their dance in the Sea of Ruins.

Ruan Xian drank the cup of water and slowly put it down.

As far as the current situation was concerned, the evaluation given by the prevention agency wasn’t unreasonable. He did have a problem… For example, he was incredibly selfish.

“What kind of person is the one I like? I can’t tell you this, Mr. Hu.”

“Don’t be nervous. Just speak casually. Don’t force yourself to say anything if you don’t want to,” Hu Shuli said hurriedly. “I know it’s NUL-00. If you don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it—”

“I think I love him,” Ruan Xian said suddenly. “How can I put this… To say what I like best, he’s the freest person I’ve seen, and I long for that kind of freedom.”

The Mainbrain was watching, and Ruan Xian knew this. There was no weapon in the world that could confuse people more easily than the truth—now his image as an “infatuated follower” was solid.

Hu Shuli showed a polite expression of doubt.

“I can’t explain it. I thought I was thinking clearly, but now I’m getting very dizzy.” Ruan Xian smiled brightly. “I’m sorry. My brain is a mess right now… Maybe it’s the side effect of experiencing so many memories earlier. I need to sleep first and empty my head. If you don’t mind—”

Ruan Xian stood up and made a gesture of sending Hu Shuli off.

“Of course, of course. You’d better take a break first. We’ll talk tomorrow. Since your head is unclear, don’t make any rash decisions. There’s no loss to looking around tomorrow.”

As if Hu Shuli expected this, his tone remained polite, without the slightest intention of being exasperated or any forcefulness to continue.

“Good night, Xiao Ruan.”

“Good Night… and Mr. Hu, just one thing.”

“Hm?”

“The person I love is not called NUL-00,” Ruan Xian said, with a wonderful sense of relief. “He has a name. It’s Tang Yibu.”

---

The author has something to say:

These two obviously fuck first before they fell in love, so the process now is filled with nine twists and eighteen turns (……

Their relationship is also problematic at this stage, whether it’s Tang or Ruan.

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Kinky Thoughts:

I mean, is Hu Shuli ignoring the fact that to get to this stage he’s in, there was a massive genocide of the human race? It’s not about resisting change, bro. Assuming Ruan Xian is a “normal-ish” person, that’s a pretty terrible argument to try and sway him.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 209: Dangerous Premise

Before Professor Ruan’s perceptual camouflage failed, Yu Le had successfully rushed out of the outskirts of the city.

Considering that it had been a while since they pretended to escape, the focus of the search had shifted. The number of Order Supervisors guarding the city had decreased. Yu Le specifically picked out hard-to-walk places to advance, so there were no dangers along the way.

There were only three people in the car.

Ji Xiaoman sat in the front passenger seat while Zhong Qing occupied the back seat area. He kept clamoring for them to take him away, but when the car finally left the city limits, he fell silent.

“What kind of place is the Underground City?” Zhong Qing lay back in the backseat and stared at the roof of the car.

“A place to live,” Ji Xiaoman said.

“Nn,” Zhong Qing hummed indifferently.

There was an awkward silence in the car. Seeing that there was a child in the car, Yu Le couldn’t play songs with too many explicit lyrics. He casually found a random song and drove the car a little faster. The armored off-roader raised a cloud of dust as it sped in the direction of the Underground City.

According to the plan, they needed to send Zhong Qing to the Underground City first and use that time to investigate the specific situation of martial law. Then Yu Le would take Ji Xiaoman to the vicinity of the forest petri dish and find what Professor Ruan needed. They would then return directly to Professor Ruan.

On the surface, it seemed like a reasonable plan, but Yu Le had an intuition that something was wrong.

“Can you change the song?” Zhong Qing suddenly spoke up, interrupting Yu Le’s thoughts.

“What’s the matter? You don’t like Carol Young?” Yu Le raised his brows and aimed it at Zhong Qing through the rearview mirror. Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu had always liked this singer, so he had collected a lot of songs by her and built a special list. At this time, her “Gray Hometown” was playing in the car. It was a gentle and sad song, so Yu Le didn’t think there were any problems with it.

“I want to listen to something else.” Zhong Qing refused to look at Lao Yu. He turned his head and looked out the window. “Change it to a male singer.”

Weird request.

However, Yu Le had other thoughts in his mind and wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight with a kid about trivial things. He reached out and struggled to pick a song with decent lyrics—male singers were a rarity in his library.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Xiaoman turned her face.

“Nothing. I don’t usually have many men’s songs.” Yu Le thought she was asking because he was taking too long to pick a song.

“No. You’re distracted.” Ji Xiaoman spoke in a low voice as she lowered her eyes. “What did Professor Ruan tell you that day? I was so tired during that time that I didn’t hear much. You told me you would tell me in the car… Are you worried because of it?”

Yu Le set up a song loop and sighed loudly. “Sort of.”

“I thought things went well.”

Yu Le thought things did go well, but not necessarily “smoothly”.

Since Professor Ruan knew that NUL-00 might still exist, it was understandable that he tried to win it over. However, this was a bit different from the doomsday leader he imagined—even if he didn’t have an elite education, he knew he couldn’t put all his eggs in one basket. Although Professor Ruan said there was a backup plan, it now seemed that the backup plan had something to do with Tang Yibu.

Otherwise, Professor Ruan wouldn’t have stuck with them.

Professor Ruan didn’t look cornered. They all saw it that day. He had countless allies all over the world. Yu Le was sure that no matter which one he chose as his protective cover, he would be able to get a better and more complete commanding position than he was in now. Even the most barren perti dishes would also have at least a minimum of some supplies, while they had a car that was about to be emptied—this wasn’t even mentioning the fact he was far from being familiar with them.

The current Professor Ruan didn’t have much combat power, so why would he follow them? Tang Yibu and the other Ruan Xian weren’t gentle and reliable companions.

It was truly weird.

From the previous exchanges, it seemed that Tang Yibu was led around step by step by Professor Ruan. Since the other party had this kind of scheming, he wouldn’t be easily suppressed.

However, he only had partial information. Yu Le glanced at Ji Xiaoman with a puzzled look and began to organize his thoughts…

The night Tang Yibu left, there was no one else in the cellar. Yu Le openly asked questions when discussing their itinerary.

“Don’t you care that Xiao Ruan just ran away?”

That damn little machine could only spit bubbles. Yu Le couldn’t see the other party’s expression, but thinking that it was just a black box, he subconsciously straightened his attitude.

“I can’t stop him,” Professor Ruan replied lightly.

“But Tang Yibu can.  You could have told him about your guess in advance,” Yu Le said. “From 2095 to 2100, you acted as Ruan Xian for five years. You must know him better than all of us. If you really wanted to stop it, even a little conjecture… No, even if there was no evidence, you could still remind Xiao Tang to be alert on this matter.”

“It’s good for them to be separated.” Professor Ruan didn’t directly answer his question.

“Really? Look at Tang Yibu’s cheerfulness just now. He couldn’t wait to fly directly over. I don’t see the benefits of separating them.”

“Do you think that their relationship is smooth?” Professor Ruan asked.

“…I don’t know. I haven’t been in a relationship with a man.” Not to mention an AI that used a male body.

“If they continue to stay together, it won’t be a good thing for us. I think Ruan Xian also saw this. Tang Yibu is indeed happy, but don’t you think he’s a lot brighter than a while ago?”

Professor Ruan’s three-legged machine jumped onto a small folding stool, then landed on the table with a tap.

“He’s now able to analyze his emotions in a stable manner. Bluntly put, it’s because other questions are already in the state of ‘in progress’. Ruan Xian ran to the Mainbrain’s side by himself, which is similar to a limit test—if Ruan Xian still hasn’t betrayed us while being under the Mainbrain, there will be no situation where he will ‘betray’ Tang Yibu in the future. That is the limit. Therefore, Tang Yibu will no longer worry about this issue for the time being. He just needs to wait for the results.”

“…Xiao Ruan really likes to fight hard.” Yu Le was speechless. “But no matter what, it’s over. I can’t control him if he wants to go and get himself killed, but if the Mainbrain takes him, he’ll drag us all into the water…”

“He will.”

“What?”

“He will betray us.” Professor Ruan was calm, as if they were just having some small talk. “Tang Yibu may really have some feelings for him related to ‘love’, but it’s mainly from a possession perspective. As long as the results don’t come out, he won’t surrender his trust.”

“As for Ruan Xian, he was cold to the original society, and he’s not the type to take personal risk because he feels touched. He left Tang Yibu partly because it was the best option to solve both of their problems, and partly because… If he couldn’t solve his problems, that would be the best place for him.. I don’t deny his love for Tang Yibu, but in my opinion, his love is more inclined to self-satisfaction.”

“…” Yu Le didn’t know how to answer for a while. “But they look pretty…”

“You’ve been in love, haven’t you, Mr. Yu? You should be clear about the basics—all normal love requires a certain form of response. Even if you don’t take the initiative to chase, it’ll be more enjoyable when the other party responds. But from my observation, Ruan Xian seemed to ignore all of Tang Yibu’s responses.”

“I know. They are both abnormal.” Yu Le ruffled his hair. “To be frank, I don’t understand how you can fall in love with something you made, but there’s a first for everything. Being too absolute isn’t good, right? Besides, what does this have to do with whether Xiao Ruan will betray us or not?”

“Because I have confidence in MUL-01.” There was a smile in Professor Ruan’s voice. “It will soon find out that Tang Yibu is the only thing that ‘Ruan Lijie’ is interested in. If it’s willing to use Tang Yibu as a bargaining chip, Ruan Xian might accept it. The reason is simple—the container of NUL-00 is a cybernetic brain. The Mainbrain can learn everything just by copying its data. It doesn’t necessarily have to destroy him.”

Professor Ruan didn’t continue, but Yu Le could guess the possible next development.

As long as the Mainbrain found a way to eliminate the A-type Prototype or simply transfer Tang Yibu’s cybernetic brain to a different shell that looked exactly the same, given the absolute resources the Mainbrain possessed, it wasn’t impossible to convince Ruan Xian.

Yu Le began to wonder if Ruan Xian would agree to such a deal.

If the deal holds, Tang Yibu would definitely be tightly controlled. If he was a normal person, the relationship would be finished… but Tang Yibu was an AI that took its life as its top priority. Knowing that he would have a chance to live, Tang Yibu would definitely pretend to live a peaceful life with Ruan Xian while looking for a slim chance to make a comeback.

But for Ruan Xian, nothing would change except a more stable life. He didn’t care about the other party’s opinions. This thought was absolutely terrifying.

Yu Le thought for a while, and his expression only became more grim. Professor Ruan had seen through the other party and had mostly guessed their intentions, as if it was simply a natural thing.

“…After such a deal is established, Ruan Xian will do his best to work for the Mainbrain. I think he also took this into account, and the reason why he didn’t take the initiative to make a request in the first place was because he was worried about exposing his identity. However, I think it’s only a matter of time before this deal is made.”

Yu Le gulped. “Knowing that this would happen, you still let Tang Yibu go to spy on Ruan Xian’s plan?”

“NUL-00’s reserves on emotional issues are lacking. He can’t calculate this. It’s something that can only be acquired through experience,” Professor Ruan said. “NUL-00 will never succumb to the Mainbrain until it’s a last resort. He knows very well that his existence is always a threat to the Mainbrain and would never voluntarily surrender the initiative. The contradiction between him and Ruan Xian on this issue is irreconcilable, so I must make NUL-00 fight for us wholeheartedly.”

Indeed, once Tang Yibu knew Ruan Xian’s plan, he would definitely choose to eliminate the Mainbrain as soon as possible and take back his creator—as for what happen afterwards, Yu Le didn’t want to think about it.

“So, in the end, you’re trading ‘Ruan Xian’s escape’ for ‘Tang Yibu’s 100% cooperation’,” Yu Le concluded.

First, give up part of the winning rate in exchange for a behavior. It was a cost-effective deal—if those two people were here, let alone emotional issues, they were destructive enough that they may not have listened to Professor Ruan’s command.

“Now that Tang Yibu isn’t here, I will say it. For the next part of the plan, I will plan it on the premise that Ruan Xian betrays us.”

“What if something goes wrong on Tang Yibu’s side?” Yu Le didn’t know what to say, but he wanted to find the words to refute it. The way things were going made him uncomfortable all over.

“I can’t put all my precious time on NUL-00, who may not survive. He does increase the win rate dramatically, but is definitely not part of the core plan—no matter which set of plans it is,” Professor Ruan said. “Now is the time to gather the rebels again, Mr. Yu.”

……

The armored off-roader drove across a riverbed, causing the vehicle to lurch, forcing Yu Le to return to reality from being lost in his memories.

How was he going to tell Ji Xiaoman?

Even if they had seen the most dangerous things and some of the most remarkable people in the world, together, the four of them were at most in supporting roles in this history. From the beginning, this was a battle between Professor Ruan and the Mainbrain. They were simply regarded as pawns on a chessboard, and there wasn’t much chance for them to actively intervene.

….And when they meet Ruan Xian again, most likely he would be their enemy.

“It’s not bad.” Eventually, Yu Le replied like so. “It’s not a big deal. Let’s wait until we reach the Underground City.”

Zhong Qing sat in his back seat in silence. There was no sound of the iron bead’s rattle in the car, or the foaming sound coming from Professor Ruan, or chewing sounds coming from Tang Yibu, or whispers from Tang Yibu and Ruan Xian secretly talking. With four figures missing, the armored off-roader seemed empty.

Yu Le suddenly felt a touch of sadness.

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The author has something to say:

Ruan: Prefers not. (Claws vigorously to overturn the chessboard)

Tang: (Although I don’t know what’s going on, I’m quite happy to overturn this chessboard)

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Kinky Thoughts:

So there are a bunch of deals going on. Basically, Professor Ruan knew that Ruan Xian would most likely betray them, and he let this happen because he wanted to make a deal with Tang Yibu.

Ruan Xian would flee to the Mainbrain, who would offer him a deal once it discovers the truth. It wouldn’t kill Tang Yibu but would somehow get rid of the A-type Prototype and give Ruan Xian complete control over him. With the limitless resources at its disposal, this would be a hard offer for Ruan Xian to turn down. He also gets to keep his NUL-00 and be the one in control. This all boils down to those two having no trust in each other.

Counting that this would happen, Professor Ruan lets Ruan Xian’s plan take place. This would force Tang Yibu to join his side. Tang Yibu would never submit to the Mainbrain because he knows his existence is a threat to the Mainbrain and that the Mainbrain would never let him live freely. Tang Yibu’s only option is to side with Professor Ruan in order to destroy the Mainbrain and take back Ruan Xian. Professor Ruan betted on this, and lo and behold, it did happen. However, whether Ruan Xian plans to betray or not is still left in the air.

Now, Professor Ruan is betting that Ruan Xian will betray them as part of the next step in his plan. Ultimately, the Mainbrain and Professor Ruan are playing chess. They are calculating all the actions their pawns are/will be taking (Ruan Xian, Tang Yibu, Yu Le, ect.) and planning hundreds of steps ahead. Little do they know that there are two kitties who don’t like being pawns and are about to overturn the chessboard.

This marks the end of the arc. There’s only one arc left. Summary below:

After escaping the Android Show, Professor Ruan directed the team to go to the Mainbrain’s city as it was the best possible place to hide. Along the way, they stumbled across a kid named Zhong Qing who was suffering from a disease. Zhong Qing is considered “dead” in this city as he has been replaced by a clone that didn’t have the disease he has. He wants to leave the city and uses his knowledge of the city and a safe place to hide to make a deal with the team.

Eventually, the team reaches a morgue where all diseased bodies are stored. For some reason, only Zhong Qing was awakened but no one else. We find out later that this was part of the Mainbrain’s plan to set up baits around petri dishes all over in order to lure out the team. However, in order to not let Professor Ruan and the team suspect it’s bait, the Mainbrain didn’t put any tracking or monitoring on the bait. The bait is there as a rough confirmation of where the team is and what they plan on doing.

As the team explores the morgue, Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu work out their emotional problems (sort of, as we see later, nothing was actually solved at all), while Yu Le discovers that Zhong Qing was actually hiding the truth about his disease.

Not only that, Zhong Qing found that some of the bodies in the morgue were missing. It turns out a staff member was moving them under the orders of the Mainbrain and that staff had arrived to finish the job. After investigating, the bodies the staff was moving were ones that had deadly viruses and diseases. This is to provide R-α with deadly disease strains so it can fight Tang Yibu and incapacitate his human body.

The team decided to set up camp in the morgue for the time being. This is where Ruan Xian devises his plan to betray the team. He purposefully gets “captured” by the Mainbrain while the team escapes. 

To get Ruan Xian to join its side, the Mainbrain sets up a series of mental tortures by putting him through simulations of people that it thinks would affect “Ruan Lijie”. While this is going on, the remaining team members build a base in the countryside on the outskirts of the Mainbrain’s city, and Tang Yibu decides to join Professor Ruan’s side (you can read about all the deals going on above this summary). 

In the end, Tang Yibu sets out to retrieve Ruan Xian, Professor Ruan is planning his next course of action at the makeshift shelter by gathering the rebels, and Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman are heading to the forest petri dish to retrieve something and drop Zhong Qing off in the Underground City.

Side characters:

Zhong Qing is a kid suffering from a disease called Rhododendron Disease. Basically, he’s been infected by a parasitical virus that has taken over his brain and developed his body in a way that will maximize the body’s survival rate (which is why he has so many eyes on his head and can see such far distances). 

In normal terms, he’s no longer considered “human” but rather just the consciousness of the virus trying to survive. However, he doesn’t know this and still thinks he is Zhong Qing. To solve his disease issues, his parents copied his memories and personality data and inserted them into a clone that didn’t have this disease. This is why he was sent to the morgue to be kept in storage so his disease could be studied. 

For some reason, he was awakened, which he thought was because of a loophole by the Mainbrain but was in actuality purposeful so he would act as bait for Tang Yibu’s team. 

No longer considered alive and a citizen of the Mainbrain’s city, he wants to escape it and go somewhere else, so he helps out the team, and in return they will transport him to a different area for him to live in.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 208: Mechanical Life Expert

Tang Yibu’s figure disappeared from the window. Seeing the reaction of the patrolling machines outside, he probably slipped away undetected. Ruan Xian was sullen. He didn’t want Tang Yibu to really be here.

The Mainbrain—or rather the puppet controlled by the Mainbrain—had already left the room after doing its part as the army of patrolling machine made perfect arcs in the night sky. With the room now empty, Ruan Xian could finally take a breather.

The room wasn’t very big. More than half the space was occupied by machines that provided the doomsday “dreamland” he was in. From a design point of view, there was nothing in line with human aesthetics. The machines were crowded with beige pipes, and there were many soft white materials vibrating slightly, as if they were living things. There were soft branches hanging from the ceiling that Ruan Xian couldn’t tell what their purpose was. The liquid tank he was in was semi-covered with a gray dome in the shape of a squid’s head. Ruan Xian touched it. The four walls of the liquid tank were neither smooth nor irregular, and they didn’t look man-made.

This special machine was like an alien beast and occupied most of the space.

…Or rather, it was “alive”.

Ruan Xian stretched out a wet arm and stroked the outer wall of the machine closest to him. The hard metal felt like the shell of a crab and prevented him from seeing too much.

The nerves that had just been relaxed by seeing Tang Yibu tightened again—if this was the current level of mechanical life research of the Mainbrain, he was closer to being exposed than he thought. During the months he spent in the dreamland, he hadn’t uncovered much information related to mechanical life. At most, this word appeared in the corners of his memory and belonged to a certain period of news that didn’t last long, or it was on a boring, brief announcement.

Being in the body of illegal memory operators, he at most came into contact with people of the lower and middle class. At least from Ruan Xian’s impression, he hadn’t come into contact with many people who were associated with mechanical life. Similar products were rarely seen on the streets. Like other cutting-edge technologies, it was far from reaching the point of popularization during that time.

Yet now he had to pretend to be a mechanical life expert.

Ruan Xian took a deep breath, hugged his knees, and buried his head between them, curling up into a ball. This posture ensured that his expression wouldn’t be captured on camera—this time, he was truly getting nervous.

Strategic games were his area of expertise. Ruan Xian was also very good at deceiving people. However, most humans could be deceived because of various desires. From this point of view, the Mainbrain would be the worst kind of target.

As always, he managed to survive, and now the next step was the hardest part.

The nervousness made his blood cold, like it was clotted in ice. His lungs seemed to be squeezed as if he was suffocating. Ruan Xian felt a strange pleasure—before, he didn’t resonate with the crowd that liked extreme sports, but now he understood. The weird machine attached to the walls in the room seemed to be moving towards him while his brain was spinning like crazy trying to solve the problem at hand.

At the same time, he tasted a new kind of fear.

If he were to change places with himself a few months ago, he would have been happy to immerse himself in this unfamiliar situation. Right now, he began to strongly worry about something that had never bothered him before—if something went wrong, would he die here?

When he first implemented his plan, this worry was still suppressed in his heart, but now it was getting stronger.

He had never resented death. In fact, he’d imagined his own death many times. Ever since he fell into this crazy world, he had always liked to toe the line of death. It wasn’t to seek self-destruction or a cry for help, as he never had any subtle thoughts in his behavior.

Perhaps the reins of the past were too tight. Once relaxed, he began to act entirely on his likes and dislikes.

If he really could bear that laughable devil’s curse, he wouldn’t die. If he died accidently, it was only an expected possibility, which he could accept. Life wasn’t a special thing, nor was death.

At least that was what he once thought.

The strong smell of medicine in the liquid tank choked his nose. Ruan Xian could smell the strange smell emanating from the suspected mechanical life in the room. The metallic smell of the monitor, the smell of lubricating oil on the sliding door, the feeling of a thin needle piercing the skin. It smelled a little bloody. All kinds of flavors mixed together, heavy and astringent. There was only one smell out of place—a hint of the sweet aroma of persimmons remained. Ruan Xian latched on to it from the swirling torrent of smells and felt a little better.

Now that his “life” had become a little special, he suddenly couldn’t accept an unexpected death.

“I’m in love.” Tang Yibu announced this not long ago.

Even in such a bad reality, Ruan Xian couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth. The android wouldn’t come to this conclusion casually. God knew how long Tang Yibu was entangled with this matter.

What a wonderful feeling.

Ruan Xian took a few deep breaths and finally adjusted his breathing. Just then, a mechanical assistant floated in. It was carrying a tray that had fluffy bath towels, clothing, and a hot light green drink. As soon as Ruan Xian looked over, it spoke on its own.

“Your memory experience has been accidentally interrupted. Forcing a reconnection will damage your brain. You’ll have a night off, so please decide tonight—submit to the Mainbrain and contribute to its cause or lie here and continue this memory experience.”

The bath towels were warm and ridiculously soft. The clothes seemed to be the uniform here. Except for the necessary underwear, there were only two loose white garments. Ruan Xian took the time to express his despair—he grabbed the light green drink and poured it down his throat.

The thing inside that cup was a bit sticky. It was like water with too much added honey, and it tasted sweet and warm. After he drank down the cup, Ruan Xian sighed. His body subconsciously relaxed. Most likely, there was a soothing agent in the drink.

Before the Great Rebellion, illegal memory operators weren’t wealthy, and the Mainbrain didn’t arrange a wealthy host for him. His diet was extremely poor. Thankfully Ruan Xian was used to eating just plain nutritional supplements before, so food out of a garbage disposal would’ve been good enough for him.

After the stick, would come the carrot*. It seemed this practice would never be outdated.

*Metaphor used for a combination of reward and punishment to induce a desired behavior. Though in China they use “date/jujube” (甜枣) instead of carrot. 

As he thought, when he returned to the room where he was imprisoned, everything was beautiful and comfortable. The beautiful forest scenery outside the window had returned, and the bed was so soft it could bring him to tears. The cup of milk and the tray of snacks that were at the head of the bed had been replaced with a tray of a sumptuous dinner.

Ruan Xian wasn’t polite. He stuffed the food down, ignoring his image, then lay on the bed for a long whilet. Eventually, he got up. “Can you take me to your work area?”

He hesitated to say this, giving a deliberate hint of nervousness.

The mechanical assistant in charge of monitoring him didn’t ask any questions, as if it already knew how to respond to this situation. It led him out the door again.

This time, out the door was no longer the street of 2100, but a real corridor. Ruan Xian took a deep breath and clenched his fist. If he surrendered rashly without investigating anything, it would be too unnatural. What was more, he had more important things to do…

He had to do his homework on mechanical life under the pretext of “spying”.

He lost count of how many twists and turns they went through, but finally the mechanical assistant told him to stand still in front of a wall. In the next instant, the entire wall became transparent. Ruan Xian couldn’t help but hold his breath.

“You can get all the assistance you want here, so don’t worry about a shortage of research funds. MUL-01 has always attached great importance to people with talents.” The mechanical assistant turned to look at Ruan Xian. “You can research as much as you want. We know that right now you don’t agree with the Mainbrain’s approach. In fact, the Mainbrain is happy to accept different opinions, as long as the proposal you give is convincing enough.” The mechanical assistant’s tone became a bit more human.

Ruan Xian had to admit, what he saw in front of him, coupled with the statement just now, was really tempting.

At the other end of the transparent wall was a vast space, as if an entire floor had been completely opened up. Many people in research uniforms were busy in their own personal space. The equipment was an advanced style that Ruan Xian had never seen before. The light screens in the room flew about in the extremely tidy room. In order to balance out the heavy whiteness of the room, many columns covered in plants were embedded between the ceiling and floor, creating an overall elegant design.

There were places to rest and talk in the distance. Compared with a regular research lab, this was more like a mansion that had been temporarily converted to a lab, but all the parts that could get in the way were removed. The expression on everyone’s faces was quite relaxed, and Ruan Xian saw no signs of worry.

“There’s no compulsory work. More work will only bring better treatment, but as you can see, even the most basic treatment is very good. The people here aren’t working to pursue food, clothing, and warmth. They are working towards building a true future for humankind.”

However, at this moment, all of Ruan Xian’s attention was focused on one thing.

In the near-perfect setting, there were some strange creatures moving about. Most of them were covered with metal. Some of them were helping researchers, while some were using their mouths to deal with waste. A small number were soaking in the observation tank. These things looked obedient and quiet, as if they were tools with self-awareness.

For ordinary machines, there was much unnecessary dexterity in their movements. Most likely, they were mechanical life.

“You can make a mechanical life according to your own preferences, as long as it’s not too dangerous.” After seeing where Ruan Xian’s line of sight was, the mechanical assistant floated in the air and spoke. “If you want a specific variety of living material, you can apply for it to the director of the lab.”

“…I was just looking,” Ruan Xian said.

• “Of course,” the thing answered. “Trust me, Mr. Ruan, everything you want is here.”

Not true.

Bluntly put, he didn’t have much interest in research at all. He only engaged in it because it was the most rational judgement. There weren’t many things Ruan Xian wanted in particular, but he was sure that the one thing he wanted the most wasn’t here.

He didn’t know what nooks and crannies Tang Yibu was hiding in now. Considering that Professor Ruan wouldn’t stop his plans even if he was alone, the android probably wasn’t free. There was probably a time limit for their meeting.

“I’ll think about it again.” Ruan Xian carefully noted the characteristics of all the mechanical beings in the room and then refused “hesitantly”.

“…I have to say that these are empty words.” Seeing the hesitation in his voice, the mechanical assistant’s voice became lively. “Mr. Ruan, in fact, I’m the director of this research lab. To be honest, I respect your dedication to your feelings, but I hope you can try to see the world from a different perspective and give MUL-01 a chance.”

On the other side of the wall, a decently good-looking middle-aged man waved to him. The man pulled down his mask, revealing a friendly expression that was full of life.

“If you’re still undecided, I can talk to you at anytime… If you don’t mind.” The voice continued from the mechanical assistant. “Don’t be nervous. If you don’t want it, I won’t go there myself. This thing will stay with you for a while, so we can continue to communicate through it.”

Ruan Xian glanced at the man’s hand—he was stroking a mechanical life, and the technique looked quite sophisticated.

“…Okay.” Ruan Xian paused deliberately for a moment. “I haven’t agreed to what you said. I have questions that I want to confirm.”

“Of course.”

“In addition, I hope you can come in person… I’m not used to talking to machines.” He had to see the other person’s body language in order to interpret his future boss more accurately.

“With pleasure.” The man smiled heartily.

However, ten minutes later, when Ruan Xian returned to his room, he suddenly realized something was wrong—a hint of sweetness that smelled like persimmons wafted out from the bottom of the bed.

“What’s the matter, Mr. Ruan?” the person behind him asked.

“Nothing.” Ruan Xian struggled to keep his expression steady. “Please, come in.”

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The author has something to say:

Tang ← Desperately wants to speak to Ruan.

Ruan: …Mood is extremely complicated.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Oh Ruan Xian, you know it’s not like Tang Yibu to give up like that.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 207: First confrontation

Tang Yibu’s mood was extremely complicated.

Ruan Xian’s location wasn’t too far from the city. If it was based on the speed of an A-type Prototype, if he walked in a straight line the distance between the two, he would reach his destination in less than a day.

The difficulty was finding Ruan Xian.

Leaving the Mainbrain’s city limits, there was no trace of artificial buildings. He had to go through dense woods, track the weak signal changes in the air, and find the most reasonable path forward, little by little. Tang Yibu looked around for possible places for the Mainbrain’s stronghold, tracing Ruan Xian’s possible whereabouts through various clues. Fortunately, his thoughts were similar to the Mainbrain, so he wouldn’t be too indecisive in his judgement.

Even so, Tang Yibu still circled around several big areas, and it took him three and a half days to find Ruan Xian’s location. The dried fruit was almost finished, but he still had a small bag of persimmon cookies for Ruan Xian. It was the most successful thing Lao Yu had made; sweet and delicious.

He wanted Mr. Ruan to try it too.

The canned food that Ruan Xian had left him occupied a hidden pocket in his coat, which was where he also carefully stored the permission cookies. A few bags of dried fruit couldn’t meet the caloric requirements for an A-type Prototype, so he had to start hunting—there were many wild animals in the forest, so it wasn’t an issue filling his stomach. However, for fear of being discovered by the Mainbrain if he made a fire, Tang Yibu had to rip apart the bodies of his prey and eat their meat raw like a wild beast.

Every now and then, he would sniff the bag of sweet-smelling persimmon cookies, and surprisingly, the desire to share them overcame his appetite for them. Tang Yibu was surprised to find he had no urge to eat it.

Tang Yibu didn’t sleep. He ran around non-stop for several days and finally found a stronghold where the visitor’s log was interesting. After hacking into the system, he compared the number of people recorded and the distribution of personnel in the past two years and determined that there was a “guest” located here that couldn’t move freely.

Thus, he spent a long time analyzing the security situation of the stronghold and finally managed to find the building where Ruan Xian was located with less than 30 hours left before the deadline.

He patted the iron bead that was flopping around in the net pocket before sticking himself to the wall like a gecko and began to climb to the top of the building. From time to time, flying patrol machines would fly over. He had to tighten every nerve and devote most of his energy to dealing with those unlucky things.

In this way, after four long days, he finally reached his destination.

Tang Yibu was strangely excited. He climbed the glass and stuck his face against it. He was just about to check the situation in the room…

Then he saw it. A naked Mr. Ruan was sitting in a liquid tank, hugging “himself” vigorously.

The strange excitement in his heart was suddenly crushed by shock. Tang Yibu slipped, and his feet slid down an entire floor, and he was almost caught by the patrolling machine.

Mr. Ruan could definitely sense him as Tang Yibu felt the other party’s gaze. When he first arrived, his Mr. Ruan seemed to be talking to a fake him. Unfortunately, the sound insulation of the glass layer was so good that he couldn’t hear what Ruan Xian was saying, and he couldn’t make out Ruan Xian’s lips.

However, if the Mainbrain was using “him” to deal with Ruan Xian, it meant that his Mr. Ruan hadn’t betrayed him yet. No matter what tricks the Mainbrain was playing, Mr. Ruan could definitely sniff out and tell if he was real or not. Tang Yibu thought solemnly and began to climb up with great difficulty again.

Ruan Xian’s nerves were about to break.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to think that the Mainbrain was an enemy that he could handle being in a distracted state. If he missed something, although the two of them wouldn’t easily be killed, in case they were completely surrounded by enemies, the S-type Prototype trump card they were holding would likely be exposed. To make matters worse, they would immediately lose their small intelligence advantage.

He tightened his arms and hugged “Tang Yibu” as tightly as possible, resting his chin on his shoulder. He gently pressed the back of “Tang Yibu’s” neck with one hand to make sure the Mainbrain wouldn’t suddenly look back.

Ruan Xian himself was staring at the glass wall in front of him.

Like a sea otter slowly surfacing from the waters, Tang Yibu slowly emerged with a solemn face and stared back at him. Ruan Xian wanted nothing more in the world than to push him back, but unfortunately, time was limited. He didn’t dare hold the fake in front of him for too long.

Tang Yibu had a good grasp on the surveillance, but even if the surveillance didn’t catch him, many were focused on Ruan Xian. Ruan Xian couldn’t even mouth the words and could only secretly blink, then quickly returned to the state of dealing with the Mainbrain.

However, Tang Yibu continued to stick to the glass wall with both hands, pressing his face against the glass with a serious expression, as if telling him he made up his mind to watch this scene. The android even moved his position to a better angle so he could see Ruan Xian’s mouth movements clearly.

Ruan Xian resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“It’s like this,” Ruan Xian said to the Mainbrain “affectionately” while giving him a weak look while speaking panickily. “I was thrown into a dreamworld which the Mainbrain used to try and break my spirit. I’m still a little confused… but I’ve pulled out information from those records that can increase the power of the assassination machine.”

“Your heart is beating very fast.” “Tang Yibu” sighed without moving his gun. “We still have some time. You can relax for a bit, Mr. Ruan.”

Bullshit. His heart was about to pop out of his throat.

Outside, Tang Yibu had changed from sticking to the wall with two hands to only one. He used his free hand to pull out a bag of what seemed like snacks and was shaking it invitingly. The iron bead seized this opportunity to break free from the net pocket and used its little legs to crawl on Tang Yibu’s head, actively watching him together with the android.

God knew how many floors there were in this building. Ruan Xian couldn’t help but secretly curse in his heart. When he left this shithole, he would be sure to beat up those two fuckers outside.

“Fixed templates are popular among illegal memory operators, of which several are popular worldwide. They don’t operate with a registered machine, so there aren’t too many official detailed records.”

Ruan Xian had a sad and relieved look on his face.

“In order to trade those memory data, they came up with a set of strange algorithms to avoid the Mainbrain’s monitoring. I still remember a few of them, and I can show them to you…”

Although the reason was something random that he managed to come up with, there was no doubt about its authenticity. As long as the existence of an assassination machine was exposed, it was enough for the Mainbrain to take the bait. It didn’t seem to want to execute him now. Seeing his “affectionate” appearance, Ruan Xian didn’t believe it could hold back the urge to tap him for more information.

After all, in a sense, it was carved out of the same mold as Tang Yibu.

Sure enough, the Mainbrain showed a somewhat struggling appearance.

“I understand.” Ruan Xian smiled wryly. “Even if I won’t betray you, sooner or later the Mainbrain will find a way to extract the information in my head. Do it, Yibu. Just give me a little more time. At least let me tell you what I know.”

He grabbed “Tang Yibu’s” hands and looked directly into his eyes sincerely.

“My ability is still useful. The Mainbrain won’t be harsh all at once. I’ll pretend to obey at first, stall it, and try to dig out more information. When it shows the first signs of action, you can do it… Okay?”

Ruan Xian tried his best to act—once successful, this could buy him a period of relative peace. The Mainbrain would pretend to be Tang Yibu to get more information about Professor Ruan, while he would selectively leak out some truths. As long as it took long enough, he could reach the outside world and continue to the next part of his plans.

He grabbed the Mainbrain’s hand and trembled slightly. The firmness and hope in his eyes didn’t look fake. “Tang Yibu” remained silent. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

The expression on Tang Yibu’s face outside the window became stiffer. He glanced at the clasped hands of the two in the room, took out a persimmon cookie from the small cloth bag and started to eat it in dissatisfaction.

“…Okay.” “Tang Yibu” took a deep breath. He leaned forward, intending to kiss Ruan Xian’s forehead. “You’re amazing. I also want to keep seeing you. You’re really the most special human I have ever seen, Mr. Ruan.”

Outside the window, the speed at which Tang Yibu was consuming the persimmon cookies increased dramatically, to the point where his cheeks were bulging.

Goosebumps appeared on Ruan Xian’s back. He thought this was good. He resisted the intimacy with all his heart, even though the other party had the same face as Tang Yibu. It was as if his body had stiffened in that second.

Thankfully, the mixture of the liquid tank made his skin wet, so it didn’t make his cold sweat obvious.

“I’ll come see you again.” “Tang Yibu” nodded at him. “They probably have found that you’re awake now… Wait for someone to come later. You just have to pretend to collapse, and they will deal with it as if you had a mental and physical breakdown.”

“Nn.” Ruan Xian smiled at the Mainbrain; his facial muscles twitched a little.

He prayed that the Mainbrain would leave some loophole for him to communicate with Tang Yibu.

Tang Yibu should be sure that he wasn’t fooled by this person in front of him, then he must also know that this was just an act. But what they were facing was ultimately the Mainbrain, and everything had just started. It was impossible for Tang Yibu to walk in here with nothing planned. Ruan Xian knew what the android wanted—it was definitely here to inquire about his plans.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t communicate smoothly right now.

Seeing that the situation was stable, Tang Yibu finally began to mouthed his speech, whispering questions inaudibly. It wasn’t easy to send away the Mainbrain—as soon as “Tang Yibu” stood up, Ruan Xian heard the alarms go off.

MUL-01 really didn’t want to leave any gaps.

“I have to go,” “Tang Yibu” said. “I’ll come see you again, Mr. Ruan.”

Unfortunately, the poor, unlucky guy outside the building couldn’t escape this catastrophe either. The alarm was real as an army of patrolling machines was approaching. His NUL-00 curled his mouth regretfully at him, slid down the glass wall, and left Ruan Xian’s vision.

Ruan Xian sat alone in the warm liquid tank in an extremely complicated mood.

There was good and bad news.

The good news was simple. He managed to barely survive the confrontation with the Mainbrain and wasn’t shot in the chest. This meant his identity wasn’t exposed. The bad news…

There seemed to be something wrong with his NUL-00.

Within those short few seconds, Ruan Xian thought Tang Yibu would give some warnings or express dissatisfaction with his unauthorized actions. He didn’t think the android would simply eat dried persimmon cookies, then stuff the rest back into his pocket.

“I’m in love,” Tang Yibu said solemnly to the iron bead that was rattling to the alarm.

“Mr. Ruan, when did you fall in love with me? When did you think I fell in love with you? I want as detailed data for reference as possible—”

For the first time in his life, Ruan Xian couldn’t wait for the patrol machine of the Mainbrain to come even faster.

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The author has something to say:

Tang: Began officially learning what jealousy is

Ruan: There’s no love in life

Being jealous tastes like persimmons (?

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Kinky Thoughts:

Interesting, Tang Yibu’s last dialogue is very similar to a line in my newest project’s summary: Criminal Psychology. I always wanted to do a mystery danmei, so I decided to pick this one up. You can read the summary, and if it’s to your liking, do check it out.

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