Chapter 41 Countdown to the Machine World ~ "Clang, clang." Two...
"Clang, clang." Two hollow sounds rang out on Sang Zhitao's arm.
Sang Zhitao glanced down indifferently, then grabbed the dangling hand and twisted it up.
223 stared blankly at Sang Zhitao in her arms until the other tapped her chest, at which point she murmured, "Of course...you...you..."
Sang Zhitao gave her a strange look.
223 blinked several times before looking at Sang Zhitao with a blank expression, and said somewhat helplessly, "You...your arm, and that just now?"
arm?
Sang Zhitao glanced at it before realizing what it meant, then thought for a moment and typed two words on her arm: "Reform".
223 exclaimed in surprise, "Modification? Was it done by 89757? When did he acquire such abilities?"
Sang Zhitao paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and didn't say it was from the modification of other worlds. She gently shook her head before continuing to knock: "Grandma."
Sang Zhitao originally thought that 223 would continue to ask questions, but unexpectedly, 223 trusted her mother-in-law so much that she could do such a thing. She nodded and said, "It was done by my mother-in-law. Then it's alright."
Sang Zhitao was somewhat surprised by her attitude, but she didn't say anything and quickly typed a single word: "Go."
223 then slapped his forehead and said regretfully, "Yes, yes, we need to hurry up and leave. It's all my fault for being too careless and not equipping myself with weapons."
Seeing this, Sang Zhitao smiled and patted her arm to comfort her.
"It's all 673's fault!" Seeing this, 223 stopped talking and just kept cursing 673 while running out with Sang Zhitao in his arms.
Soon they met the group of 89757 who had come looking for them.
Seeing that they were alright, 89757 and the others visibly relaxed. Then 89757 stepped forward and said, "Of course, are you alright?"
Sang Zhitao shook her head before showing the character "走" (walk) that she had just typed to 89757.
89757's expression turned cold upon seeing the words, and he said, "Alright, let's go! We'll settle the score with them later!"
After saying that, 89757 turned around and ran quickly outside. 223 followed with Sang Zhitao in his arms. Soon, the group arrived at the outer perimeter, where a hovercar was parked.
The car door opened, and 775, sitting in the driver's seat, said urgently, "Get in quickly."
Without hesitation, the group jumped into the car. Once everyone was in, 775 quickly closed the door, deftly pressed the button, and swiftly turned right while holding the steering wheel. The hovercar sped away.
"Why are we using manual mode now?" 89757 asked 775, frowning.
775 kept its eyes fixed on the road ahead, constantly adjusting its direction. Upon hearing 89757's words, it didn't even turn its head and said directly, "That bastard 003 turned off all the automatic devices."
"Is he crazy? The equipment is shut down, and the city's operations are immediately paralyzed. What is he trying to do?" 89757 frowned, looking at 775 in disbelief. He then quickly tapped his arm a few times before realizing that all the networks were unavailable.
775 didn't notice his actions, but having followed him for so long, he could guess what he was thinking. He said sarcastically, "He's been insane for a long time. What wouldn't he do?"
Seeing Sang Zhitao's blank expression, 223 whispered in her ear, "003 is the manager."
Sang Zhitao nodded knowingly before looking at 89757, who was frowning.
He rubbed his fingertips, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What about your mother-in-law? Have you sent someone over?"
775 sighed deeply before saying, "I don't know. My mother-in-law hasn't had any means of communication, and no one can reach her now. But we've already sent 58678 over."
89757's complexion improved slightly.
775 didn't notice any of this and continued, "But it's okay if we don't go. Grandma has Star Fragments, so 003 won't harm her."
He said this, but 89757's expression suddenly changed. The star fragments had already been absorbed by Sang Zhitao. If 003 found out, then Grandma would be in danger.
He thought for a moment, glanced at 6811 who was quite strong beside him, and then looked at the wounds on his body. He paused and was about to speak.
Then the driver, 775, asked, "What do we do now? Which way do we go?"
“…Go to Grandma’s place.” 89757 first glanced at Sang Zhitao, then let out a soft breath before speaking to 775.
"Alright!" 775 quickly turned the steering wheel to the left, dodging an obstacle, and flew towards the Infinite Forest.
As 89757 watched the buildings flashing past the car window, his anxious heart calmed down. He looked down and wiped the weapon in his hand, but was tapped by the person next to him.
He looked up and saw that it was Sang Zhitao, who presented him with the words she had just typed.
89757 was taken aback at first before looking at the line of words.
After a moment's hesitation, he said to 775, "Fly to the management residence."
775 paused for a moment after hearing this, then asked hesitantly, "Aren't you going to see your mother-in-law?"
89757 glanced at the words Sang Zhitao had shown him before replying, "Yes! Go straight for Huang Chao, and set fire to his residence."
775 instantly understood what 89757 meant, and a big smile immediately appeared on his face, his tone filled with undisguised excitement: "I've wanted to kill 003 for a long time!"
775 quickly adjusted its direction and flew towards the tallest building in the city at the very center of the machine planet.
"Is Mother-in-law really alright?" 89757 was still a little worried, so she bent down slightly and whispered in Sang Zhitao's ear.
Sang Zhitao nodded and handed her screen to the other person.
89757 stared at the message above for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared on his face.
After staring at the message repeatedly, the anxiety on 89757's face quietly disappeared, replaced by a strong fighting spirit in the face of the impending battle.
The base of Natural Shadows is not far from the main city of Machine Star, Brain City. At the speed of the hovercar, it takes about half an hour to get there.
Looking at the Smart City, a steel forest built by countless mechanical devices, Sang Zhitao couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. She had never imagined that the main city she described in her writing would be so magnificent and imposing when it actually appeared before her.
"Hold on tight! We're about to land!" 775 shouted, quickly turning the steering wheel.
Sang Zhitao and the others felt a strong impact, and with a "bang!" the hovercar finally landed safely.
"Ugh!" 225 suddenly vomited on her shoulder.
Sang Zhitao hurriedly took him off, fearing he might vomit on her, only to find out that it was just the 225 simulator reacting accordingly.
"I told you I was going to shut down your emulator. How could you put all this in the code?" 223 gave him a disdainful look, picked him up, and was about to modify his code.
Startled by her actions, 225 struggled and looked up at Sang Zhitao, shouting, "Naturally, save me! I don't want my code to be modified!"
Seeing his pitiful expression, Sang Zhitao's slight disdain disappeared, and she quickly took him from 223's hands.
225 breathed a sigh of relief after returning to Sang Zhitao's hands, then said to 223 with dissatisfaction, "Every single character in my code is very useful, don't change it randomly!"
“You…!” 223 was about to continue berating him.
"Alright!" But 89757 interrupted him. He glanced at the siblings speechlessly before saying, "Stop fooling around. Let's hurry inside before the equipment is restored."
Hearing this, 223 had no choice but to put aside his complaints about his younger brother, obediently picked up Sang Zhitao, and followed 89757 quickly forward.
Sang Zhitao then realized that the entire Brain City was as quiet as if it were dead, and all the robots of various shapes and sizes on the roadside were frozen in place, still in the same pose they were in before they froze.
As she walked through the crowd, watching the office workers, wealthy women, street singers, and shop assistants disappear from sight, Sang Zhitao couldn't imagine how the manager could suddenly freeze people in place.
"Watch out!" 223 grabbed Sang Zhitao and quickly rolled to the side. Where they had been standing, a knife and a scalpel appeared.
89757 and the others reacted quickly and immediately surrounded Sang Zhitao.
"012!" 89757's expression changed drastically, and he couldn't help but exclaim.
Upon hearing the opponent's number from him, all the friendly robots' expressions changed drastically, their bodies filled with apprehension.
Sang Zhitao saw the enemy opposite her through the gap in the arm that 223 was protecting her.
This is a robot dressed as a doctor in a white coat. He has a body of artificial skin that can be described as perfect, and his artificial facial features are enough to make people marvel at his handsomeness. Coupled with his tall figure, he is so handsome that even Sang Zhitao, who is used to seeing beauties in the elven world, would call him a handsome guy.
Sang Zhitao was somewhat surprised to see such a stunningly beautiful robot. In the strictly hierarchical machine planet, it was considered an honor to have little exposed steel skin, so very few upper-level robots had chosen to have artificial skin. So far, she had only seen 097 with a beautiful face, making her an anomaly among the upper-level robots with a relatively large amount of skin.
The 012 in front of us, judging from its skin, clearly has artificial skin that is custom-made at a high price, an exorbitant cost that a low-level robot could not afford.
This was the first person she had ever seen, with such a high number, yet possessing artificial skin.
Her spying was caught in the other person's gaze, and Sang Zhitao couldn't help but shudder, feeling as if she were being stared at by a ferocious beast.
223 sensed her fear and unconsciously pulled his arms closer, completely blocking the gap.
012 withdrew his gaze, turned to 225 who had jumped onto Sang Zhitao's head and was looking at him warily, and then looked at 223, saying coldly, "Long time no see."
223 looked at him with a grim expression, but did not say anything.
012 completely ignored her silence, simply standing there staring at everyone without making a move or speaking again.
If he didn't move, no one else dared to move either.
After a long while, the wind howled through the towering buildings, and the various screens nearby started to display static before lighting up, revealing the same face on each screen.
Sang Zhitao recognized the face; he was the manager of Machine Star and also the 003 mentioned by 775.
"I think you'll listen to me, right?" 003 in the video said coldly, then stepped aside, revealing the mother-in-law who was being controlled behind him, along with the Deputy Minister of Finance 551, the Minister of News 365, the Entertainment Company Boss 567, the Director of the Administration Bureau 673, and the Birth Base Engineer 142, who had previously attended the meeting.
Seemingly anticipating Sang Zhitao and her group's reaction, 003 continued, "I'm looking forward to Ziran's appearance, and I hope you arrive at the mansion safely later."
As soon as he finished speaking, 003 disappeared from the screen, and no one spoke for a moment.
012 looked at the crowd and said coldly, "Isn't this what you wanted? Let's go."
After saying that, he turned and walked forward.
Sang Zhitao and her group looked at each other, unsure whether they should follow.
Sang Zhitao tapped 223's arm and pointed at 012.
223 glanced at her hesitantly before asking, "Should we follow them?"
Sang Zhitao nodded.
Seeing that she said that, the group of 89757 did not linger any longer and quickly ran in the direction that 012 had left.
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Author's note: Oh my god~ I've written 120,000 words!
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