When Xiang You arrived with his men, he was shocked by the scene. He quickly recovered and ordered his men to take Chu Xiang and West away. They were on the verge of death. Chu Hui, her eyes red, gripped Xiang You's sleeve tightly: "You can save her, right?! That robot just said it could save her!"
Xiang You looked up in surprise and recognized the boy as the one who had given him the Dungeon Universal Card a while ago. He realized what was happening and nodded to him: "There is hope, but we need to hurry. Don't delay my treatment time. Get out of the way."
Upon hearing this, Chu Hui hurriedly let go of Chu Xiang's hand, watching as the paramedics placed a ventilator over her face, a stretcher was placed on the platform, and she was quickly loaded into a vehicle and sent to the base hospital. Turning her head, she saw that West, who had long since died, was also being quickly packed up and loaded into the vehicle. She wanted nothing more than to grab him and finish him off! Fortunately, Cheng Cheng pulled him back quickly and restrained him.
"He's dead, what use is he to you?!" Chu Hui, her anger directed at no one in particular, roared at Lin Dao, who was standing there, "It was him! He's the one who killed Sister Xiang! Didn't you see it?!"
Lin Dao said in a deep voice, "I know. As compensation, we will do our best to save Chu Xiang. Don't worry."
Upon hearing this, Chu Hui immediately flew into a rage: "I don't want to try my best! I want her to live!"
Holding Qiao Song's heavy mechanical body, Bryta looked up blankly at the rescuers coming and going. Lin Dao walked over and half-squatted in front of him, saying, "Give him to me."
Bretta froze, her grip still on his hand: "Is there... any hope for Joe Song?"
Lin Dao stared into his eyes, remained silent for a long while, and then said, "I don't know, his situation is very special." Qiao Song was a highly precise intelligent robot whose thoughts were transformed into chips using special technology. He wasn't sure if such complete destruction could be reversed, and even if it could, given the mechanical technology of the Mix Base... it would be very difficult.
Lin Dao picked up Qiao Song, who had completely collapsed into a heavy, inorganic block of iron, from Bryta's arms. As he was about to leave, he glanced at him and said, "You... go change back into your own clothes and go home first."
Bretta realized what was happening and quickly stood up: "I...I don't want to go back. Can I go with you?"
Lin thought for a moment. It seemed that West had also come for Bryta, so he couldn't leave him alone. He nodded and said, "Okay, go change your clothes. I'll wait for you."
Chu Hui was worried about his sister, so he eventually followed her.
They boarded a mech vehicle and headed to the Miks Base, the Nya Alliance's ground base.
The Bana Ballroom incident was a derivative of the Underground Boxing Arena incident. Fortunately, the casualties and losses were relatively small this time. Blaita and Chu Hui were arranged to rest in a room and were each given a pack of compressed biscuits.
After finishing his biscuit, Bryta looked out the window at the staff hurrying by, his mind a jumble of thoughts. He couldn't understand how the man in the lab had found him, or why Mr. West had mentioned Easton's experimental subject... He had a vague guess in his mind that perhaps the experimental subject they were looking for was himself, after all, he had been an experiment from the very beginning.
Bryta didn't know what they wanted to do with him, but it seemed they kept asking him where the test subjects were.
"That means they don't know you already have the ability to transform into a human." Little White suddenly said in his mind, instantly waking Bretta.
So that's how it is.
"But even so, Tata, we are still aliens, enemies of humanity. Look at today, those aliens who harmed humans, including that robot, were immediately executed. We absolutely cannot let our identities be discovered," Xiaobai reminded him worriedly.
Bretta was startled. Thinking of how Lin Dao and Cheng Cheng had killed that venomous scorpion earlier that day, she shuddered. Then she suddenly remembered that Mr. Lin Dao himself was also a mutant.
[So what? To us, all other species are food. Whether we eat them or kill them, isn't that perfectly normal?]
Is this... normal?
Bretta had received common-sense education and knew that in the present day, family relationships among humans had been abolished, and the most common relationships among humans were partnerships—cooperative production, cooperative warfare, and cooperative reproduction. Kinship like that between Chu Hui and Chu Xiang… was probably also forbidden—he remembered him saying that he and Chu Xiang had escaped from the lighthouse.
However, he also knew that humans should not kill each other, but today West tried to push Chu Xiang to shield him from danger, and Chu Xiang seemed to be chasing after him for some emotion he did not understand... wanting the other party to pay the price for it.
Putting all that aside, the saddest person after Xiangjie's death must be Chu Hui. He and Xiaobai looked at Chu Hui with concern, noting that he hadn't drunk any water or eaten any compressed biscuits since entering the room.
And then there's Qiao Song, he only did it to save me... Thinking of Sister Xiang, and then of Qiao Song, Blaita felt a dull ache in his heart, a very uncomfortable feeling he had never experienced before. He reached out and touched his chest, feeling extremely distressed.
Later, he fell asleep lying on the bed in the lounge. When he woke up, Lin Daoxiangyou was just coming in from outside. Chu Hui, who had been sitting silently on the edge of the bed, immediately rushed over to them upon hearing the noise and asked, "Where's my sister? How is she?!"
Xiang You looked at the thin boy and said with regret, "I'm sorry, we did our best."
"What do you mean 'tried your best'?!" Chu Hui instantly flew into a rage, wanting nothing more than to rush up and grab Xiang You's white coat. His eyes were bloodshot as he demanded, "Didn't that robot say that as long as her brain was preserved, she could live?!"
Xiang You was speechless for a long time after hearing this, and then said, "What he means is that she is no longer alive. To be precise, Miss Chu Xiang's body is completely dead. Only her brain can be barely saved under emergency treatment. Through special digitization technology, one-thousandth of the contents of her brain can be preserved. Then, through special technology, a chip can be made to synthesize an intelligent robot with human-like active thinking, just like Qiao Song."
“But even if she survives with only one-thousandth of her original personality, she has almost lost all her memories, including her original personality. She is no different from a new person; she won’t remember you,” Xiang You said, looking at Chu Hui, who was in shock.
Hearing this, Bleta was also shocked; he had no idea that human technology was so advanced.
Xiang You seemed to realize something and continued, "Moreover, such technology is completely unavailable at the Mix Base. Only Rudolf, the top mechanical master at the Mechanical Sky City Base, has the ability to do it. Qiao Song was created by him."
"Leaving aside the precious resources needed to get Rudolf to help at the new base, even if it were possible, the biggest challenge right now is finding an intelligent mechanic at the Mix base who can provide the data to digitize their brains. From preservation to technology transfer, and finally getting Rudolf involved, it all requires a considerable amount of resources. Chu Xiang... and your contribution points are simply not enough to support that, and... her value in saving her is not high. I suggest letting her rest in peace..."
Before Xiang You could finish speaking, Chu Hui was so angry that he wanted to rush up and punch him, but fortunately Lin Dao acted in time and lifted him off his body: "Don't be ridiculous."
Upon hearing this, Chu Hui slumped down, his eyes reddening. He gritted his teeth in resentment, almost bursting into tears like a teenager, and cried out, "...You said you would save her, Sister Xiang! Sister Xiang—!"
Lin Dao lowered his gaze and said to Chu Hui in a cold and low voice, "Go see her. Xiang You gave her ten hours of brain support before she died."
Upon hearing this, Chu Hui immediately broke free, jumped down, opened the door, and ran out.
Bleta stared at all of this in a daze, speechless for a long time.
Lin Dao, wearing a black vest, turned to look at him and strolled over.
Britta stood up nervously.
Where are my clothes?
Bretta hurriedly handed it to him, and after changing into his own clothes, he held it tightly. Lin Dao took it and put it on, then looked at him for a long while before saying, "Qiao Song... he won't die. Xiang You has already found mechanics throughout the base to try to repair him and restart him."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiang You received the message and turned around to say, "We've found the mechanic."
Lin Dao turned to leave, but Blaita quickly jumped off the bed: "I also want to go see Mr. Qiao Song."
Lin Dao glanced at him but did not object: "Okay."
They arrived at a room filled with all sorts of incomprehensible mechanical devices. In the center of the room stood Qiao Song, his mechanical wings removed, leaving a large hole in his abdomen. He was looking down with his eyes closed. Various wires were connected to his body, seemingly charging him.
Even though she already knew he was a robot, Bretta was still somewhat shocked to see this scene again.
When the mechanic arrived, he looked Qiao Song up and down in amazement, marveling at the ingenuity of Rudolf, the legendary patriarch of mechanics, who could make such a lifelike intelligent robot.
Cheng Cheng urged him impatiently, "Hurry up and see if he can... wake up?"
“No rush,” the mechanic stepped forward and checked around. “Let me check first… if his chip isn’t destroyed…” After a while, the mechanic found the chip behind Qiao Song’s head and breathed a sigh of relief. “The chip isn’t destroyed, there’s still hope. But his body… is in serious trouble. I’m afraid we’ll have to find Master Lu in Mechanical City to repair it personally.”
Everyone frowned upon hearing this, and Lin Dao was the first to ask, "Can he wake up now?"
The mechanic hesitated for a moment and said, "Most of the circuits are destroyed, but if we charge them, maybe we can force a reboot of the brain." As he spoke, he started digging around and searching.
"What are you looking for?" Blaita, who had somehow appeared next to Qiao Song and was now squatting down curiously to look at the screen, asked.
The mechanic was taken aback when he saw the face, but quickly recovered and said, "Find the power button, or if that doesn't work, the reset button will do."
Bretta also watched Qiao Song curiously and asked, "Did you find it?"
"Press it down."
"Oh, oh." Bryta stretched out her finger and pressed down on the small lump on the back of Joe Song's neck.
Suddenly, a mechanical start-up sound came from Qiao Song's body, and blue electric light flashed rapidly across his body, sparking at the hole in his abdomen.
The mechanic jumped back in fright, complaining incessantly, "You found it and didn't even say anything! What if it short-circuited and exploded?"
Startled by his reaction, Bryta nervously clenched her hands, saying, "...I'm sorry."
"Why apologize to a third-rate mechanic like him..." Qiao Song's intermittent voice suddenly rang out, and everyone rushed forward to look.
Bretta's eyes widened: "Mr. Josh Song!"
“Tata…” Qiao Song stiffly turned his head to look at Lin Dao and the others, “You, you didn’t expect this, did you…? I, Qiao Song… am not… so easy to die…” He wanted to squeeze out a carefree and handsome smile that said “a lucky man is destined to be blessed after surviving a disaster,” but unfortunately, his battery was low and he was short-circuited, so he spoke haltingly.
Cheng Cheng stepped forward and joked, "You're really lucky, kid!"
Xiang You put her hands in the pockets of her white coat, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled: "Indeed."
Finally, Qiao Song turned his stiff gaze to Lin Dao and called out, "...Captain, I'm sorry...we failed...the mission to capture West."
Lin Dao: "No, you did an excellent job. Based on what you said before you shut down, you have preserved West and Chu Xiang's brains."
A relaxed expression appeared on Qiao Song's face, which was still flashing with electrical sparks. He said, "That's good. I think... we can't let the clues just... go cold."
Cheng Cheng was an impatient person, and he felt frustrated listening to him talk like that. He quickly asked, "So, do you want us to spend a lot of money to transport West to Mechanical Sky City to be turned into an intelligent robot like you and rescue him? I heard that he would completely lose his memory, right? Then what's the point of us asking?"
Qiao Song didn't have the energy to roll his eyes, so he could only keep it short: "No need, I can extract the digital storage of brain memories, but it needs power. I'll repair myself first."
The mechanic next to him realized what was happening and said, "Oh, that's no problem. We can just use several power sources to charge you simultaneously. But you can repair yourself, can't you?"
Qiao Song forced a smirk and said, "I am the apprentice of the strongest mechanic."
"..." The mechanic's expression changed in a second, but in the end he obediently did as he was told and adjusted the power supply.
At first, the charging was fine, but later Qiao Song recovered 30-40% of the battery and started to charge quickly on its own. It also became more agile in its speech and movements and started to repair itself while charging.
Bretta stared in disbelief: "Mr. Josh Song, you're amazing!"
Upon hearing this strangely familiar phrase, Lin Dao frowned and then scoffed, "Who isn't powerful in your eyes?"
"..."
After he finished speaking, the atmosphere fell into an eerie silence. Xiang You even took the time to exchange an ambiguous smile with Cheng Cheng, the silly goose.
Qiao Song was about to show off, but upon hearing this, he wisely shut up. After a while, he couldn't help but stop and quietly affirm, "I am quite capable, but I can't compare to Captain Lin."
Bletta, unsure of what he had said wrong, looked up at him somewhat helplessly, then glanced at the others for help. The others, meeting his pitiful gaze, quickly looked away, pretending not to see him, or simply ran off, feigning they had other things to do.
Now only Qiao Song, who was quickly repairing himself, and Bryta and Lin Dao remained in the room.
Britta bit her lip and whispered to Lin Dao, "Mr. Lin Dao, you are the best."
Lin Dao: "..."
Qiao Song: "...?!" Why do I have to bear so much all by myself?!
Completely unable to move, Qiao Song reluctantly raised his hand: "Um... could you provide a healthy rehabilitation space for me, a lonely and disabled person?"
A minute later, Lin Dao and Blaita walked out of the machine room and into Lin Dao's lounge.
Lin Dao pointed to the bed and said to him, "You can sleep here tonight."
Bretta could smell a faint scent of Mr. Lin Dao in the air. She swallowed hard and nodded, "Okay. And you?"
Lin Dao turned his head upon hearing this and saw Blaita. His gaze unconsciously swept over Blaita's lips, and the soft touch on Blaita's Adam's apple at the Banana Ballroom during the day came back to him. He turned his head away, leaned against the wall, and said, "I'm not sleeping."
He then adopted a posture as if he were holding a gun and preparing to keep watch at night.
Bretta hadn't forgotten Lin Dao's true identity. To him, Lin Dao was like a dangerous person—smelling a fragrance, but daring to touch it could mean certain death. He still remembered the fear of being nearly killed by the tail of the giant black snake that night. Thinking about it, he suddenly shuddered, quickly pulled the cup on the single bed in the room to cover himself, and lay on his side with his back to Lin Dao.
As time passed, sensing the presence of his conscious predator, Bleta found it difficult to fall asleep, even needing to constantly suppress the trembling in his body with his reason. He didn't understand why he felt both fear and longing towards him, wanting to escape yet also wanting to get closer.
It's just that Mr. Lin Dao smelled so good.
Lin Dao, who remained conscious, naturally sensed through the fluctuating air around him that he was not asleep. He leaned against the wall, hidden in the darkness, constantly restraining himself and suppressing the desires that were amplified by instinct in the night, yet he would repeatedly recall the soft touch on his Adam's apple.
How could someone who looks so innocent do something like that?
Naïve? You couldn't tell at all when he was dancing on stage.
The two remained in this silent stalemate for a long time.
Bryta was the first to muster the courage: "...Mr. Lin Dao, I can't sleep."
Lin Dao paused upon hearing this, his brows furrowing slightly. "Can't sleep? What do you mean?"
Lin Dao's Adam's apple bobbed again.
He asked in a hoarse voice, "...Why can't I sleep?"
Bretta's voice timidly rang out in the dark night: "Because... of you."
Upon hearing that word, Lin Dao's pupils dilated slightly, and the monstrous instincts within him instantly awakened and stirred, only to be fiercely suppressed. Lin Dao awkwardly licked his dry lips with the tip of his tongue, asking in a low voice, "...Me?"
Bryta: "...Hmm."
“I want you to go out. I can’t sleep if you’re here,” Britta said softly, mustering her courage.
"..." The flames that Lin Dao had just been unable to suppress were extinguished completely with a "pop".
Author's Note: I updated with almost 5,000 words today, that's quite a lot! Why are people saying I'm updating too slowly?
Strictly speaking, I'm a writer of sweet romance novels.
Thank you to everyone who left me comments yesterday! I hope to see you all again today!
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 17:53:23 on February 1, 2022 and 16:39:17 on February 2, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 1 Smoke Screen Orange;
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Alice (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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