Chapter 26 Even a wife shouldn't touch her husband's body...
To prevent Anbot from saying anything inappropriate, Lingqiu pulled him to another corner.
"When are we leaving?" Anbot asked, biting his straw.
The medicine has been delivered, and Ling Qiu really doesn't need to keep it anymore, but...
She glanced at Ron's bedroom and asked, "What you just said was true? Ron is going to die tonight?"
The monster's gaze swept leisurely across her face as it replied, "It's true, his body will be damaged tonight."
Anbot's strange choice of words did not immediately attract Ling Qiu's attention. She just sighed softly, feeling a little regretful. In fact, Ron was a good person, at least among the cyborgs she had met, he was one of the better ones.
I never expected that an infectious disease would suddenly take my life.
To be honest, Ling Qiu still feels a sense of unreality. How could an infectious disease suddenly appear? Could it be something that cult temple created?
But what could the purpose be? Is it simply murder? Shouldn't a cult need followers?
"Anbot, thank you for protecting me," Ling Qiu said. Otherwise, with her weak constitution, she probably would have been infected at the hospital that day. The fact that she wasn't infected was likely because Anbot was by her side.
“I did nothing,” He bent down. “However, if you insist on expressing your gratitude, you may choose to…”
He tapped his cheek with his fingertip.
Tsk, they've gone astray so quickly.
Ling Qiu narrowed her eyes and slowly, reluctantly, kissed Anbote on the cheek.
At this point, she could have just left, but leaving would have meant leaving Ron to Lululan alone. Although she and Ron weren't exactly related, they had met before, and Ron had even treated her to a meal.
After thinking for a moment, Ling Qiu started searching online for the latest news on infectious diseases to see if the hospital had come up with any new treatment plans.
Lululan asked her from the side, "How are the free people doing during this infectious disease outbreak?"
The free agents in Mante City have always had their own way of communicating. They have a private forum that is not open to the public. Only free agents who have gained their trust know how to access it. On this forum, some people offer advice on how to evade the pursuit of cyborgs, some explain where free agents can work and earn some money, and some share secret hideouts where they can hide when they are being bullied...
In short, they are like a group of ants. Although they are small and can be easily crushed, they still try their best to live.
Ling Qiu thought for a moment and visited the forum to see what was going on. Surprisingly, the forum was much calmer than she had imagined. The homepage was still filled with those tool posts, and occasionally a few posts would pop up sharing which supermarket was cheaper. There were only two posts about infectious diseases.
One question was, "Do you guys think infectious diseases are real? Why doesn't anyone around me have them?", which was followed by other comments.
"That's a lie, isn't it?"
"Who knows if it's some kind of super STD caused by those cyborgs' promiscuity? Isn't that a contagious disease too? LOL."
"No one around me is in any danger, and my friends haven't heard anything about it either. It's quite mysterious."
There were very few replies.
Another one was, "Have you heard about the infectious disease? It's making everyone panic. I want to stock up on some supplies. Any advice?"
Then, the comments under this post were all about hoarding experiences. Ling Qiu glanced at them and didn't see anyone mention having an infectious disease.
strangeness.
Generally speaking, isn't this disease most likely to affect the weakest free people?
Could it be related to the region?
Free people generally don't dare to go to crowded places, and they live in relatively underdeveloped suburbs. Perhaps the infectious disease outbreak is in the city center and hasn't spread to the suburbs yet.
"Do you know what Ron was doing and where he went before he got sick?" Ling Qiu asked Lu Lulan.
Lululan thought for a moment and said, "When he contacted me to ask about your situation, he was fine. At that time, he should have been receiving goods in Zone C. After receiving the goods, according to his usual routine, he should have gone to the bar over there with his underlings for a while before going home."
Both Zone C and the bar are densely populated areas, so it's not surprising that they got infected.
Ling Qiu thought for a moment and posted on the forum: "Has anyone been to the city center in the last two days? We need to collect statistics on infectious disease-related matters."
Her account name on this forum is 0000. She is the founder and administrator. As soon as Ling Qiu posts, many people come to reply.
“I drove to Area B yesterday afternoon to get my son a medical check-up.”
"Reporting to God Zero, I went to the light rail station in Zone C this morning to pick someone up, but the light rail there suddenly stopped operating, and a friend was left there."
"The day the infectious disease was reported, I rushed to the supermarket to buy things, the big supermarket in Zone D."
...
Ling Qiu read through many replies and realized that quite a few independent people had gone to the city center, a densely populated area, in the past two days.
"None of you are infected?" she asked.
Everyone replied no.
This puzzled Ling Qiu. There was no reason why the virus would avoid free people, who were the easiest to bully.
With these questions in mind, Ling Qiu opened the Hilink social circle again to browse the situation of the past two days.
Compared to the peaceful atmosphere on the free agent side, Hilink was in complete chaos.
Some people frantically sought low-priced, effective drugs, some went around asking people to help them secure beds at Madsen Hospital, some shared their symptoms after contracting the disease, and some "forever remembered" and mourned their relatives and friends who had been taken away by illness.
The contrast between the two sides is simply bizarre.
What is the reason for this?
In this post, some people posted that they had been infected, some were afraid of being infected and were terrified, some posted photos of themselves with persistent high fever, and others were glad that they had been admitted to Mendelsohn Hospital early on.
Ling Qiu skimmed through the text, watching them complain: "Didn't we already take precautions? Why are we still getting infected? Is this virus really that strange?"
"Yes, yes, I clearly bought all my things and stayed home obediently after receiving the notification, but I still got infected. Why is that!"
"Has the hospital still not developed a vaccine? Are these people just sitting around doing nothing?"
...
Ling Qiu sighed. She couldn't find a single clue. No one shared any effective treatment methods. There were only endless complaints and requests for solutions. The entire forum was filled with a sense of depression and despair.
Just then, with a thud, the coffee in Lululan's hand rolled off, spilling onto the sofa and splashing onto Lingqiu's clothes, who was sitting close to her.
Ling Qiu paused, about to ask what was wrong, when she saw Lu Lulan's fingers twitching and her eyes rolling back, clearly indicating that she was already somewhat delirious.
Ling Qiu cried out and suddenly stood up.
"What's wrong, Lululan?" Ling Qiu repeatedly patted her arm, trying to wake her up. "Lululan, can you hear me?"
However, there was no response. After only a short while, about ten minutes, Lululan's body temperature gradually soared, and she felt as hot as Ron when touched.
Ling Qiu panicked. If she wasn't mistaken, Lululan had also fallen victim to the virus.
No, why? Lululan was clearly wearing protective clothing! If isolating her from the air isn't enough to prevent virus transmission, then what can be done?
Is it coffee? Ling Qiu's gaze immediately fell on the spilled coffee. Wasn't Ron's infection likely due to going to the bar for drinks?
What if the virus spreads through liquids? Could someone have poisoned it?
Thinking of this, Ling Qiu suddenly got up and quickly went to Anbote's side.
"Quick, help me take a look!" She grabbed Anbot's hand and placed it on her head. "Look! Anbot, I think I've caught something!"
She drank milk tea too!
However, Amber simply glanced at her and replied, "You have nothing."
"Really?" Ling Qiu was afraid that Anbote wouldn't be able to detect this kind of virus. "Are you sure I haven't been infected?"
“Are you doubting my abilities, Miss?” He raised an eyebrow, an expression that betrayed his emotions. Amber was becoming more and more like a human.
“I just told you,” He said. “I did nothing, and there is nothing here.”
Ling Qiu was stunned. What did this mean?
That's not right. Even if the drink she and Lululan shared contained a virus, logically she should have reacted earlier than Lululan. It's impossible that she's still perfectly fine while Lululan has passed out.
But Amber said He did nothing. Why would He need to lie to her about something like that?
If the intention from the beginning was to influence her and make her willingly sacrifice herself, then this act of protecting her should have been said out loud no matter what.
Amber said there was nothing here...
There are no abnormalities, and no...virus?
...
etc.
What if the virus's transmission route is not what is known as actual infection?
What if it doesn't need any physical form?
Think about it, why is it that the freemen, who are the weakest in terms of physical condition, are fine this time, while the cyborgs are falling one after another?
There is something that free people cannot bear, but cyborgs can.
Prosthetics and chips.
Free people cannot embed either of these things into their bodies.
Ling Qiu suddenly had a bold idea: what would happen if... she removed Lululan's chip and prosthetic body?
But no matter what, it's better than losing your life, right?
Ling Qiu's gaze lingered on Lululan for a moment before she turned and walked toward Ron's bedroom.
Well, she wanted to test this idea, but to be on the safe side, she would start with Ron.
When it comes to high technology, hackers have their own methods.
Ling Qiu straightened Ron's posture and was about to connect and operate through his own chip when a tall, dark figure walked over and stood in the doorway.
Ling Qiu looked at Him, still confused, when she saw Anbote walk closer step by step, take her hand and place it on his waist.
He seemed to have deliberately lifted his clothes up a bit to reveal his firm and well-defined abs. When Ling Qiu placed his hand on them, he could feel the heat of his skin and the slow, rhythmic movements that seemed to be alive beneath him.
His voice was deep and somber: "A wife should not touch any man other than her husband."
“…” Ling Qiu raised an eyebrow. “Then you help me hold him up. I need to remove his chip.”
“Ask me,” He said.
Ling Qiu couldn't help but roll her eyes and waved her hand, saying, "Fine, if you're not going to help, then leave. Take it or leave it."
The monster's eyes darkened, as if it were angry, but in reality it was just a little annoyed.
In the beginning, wasn't it already decided to enslave her and make her his subject?
Let's see who's listening to whom now.
For a moment, He couldn't quite recall when it had become like this.
After a moment of silence, seeing that Ling Qiu was about to help Ron up himself, the monster had no choice but to take his place.
He seemed quite disgusted, only extending two of his own tentacles to lightly support Ron, trying to avoid touching any part of him.
Ling Qiu didn't care about this; she just needed to make sure he was steady.
All the chips are implanted behind the ear and can only be removed with the original owner's consent. If they are forcibly removed, not only will the contents of the chip be severely damaged, but the original owner may also die as a result.
Ling Qiu was very careful. She extensively collected information about Ron's lifestyle and hobbies in order to find the key to crack the code. Her ten fingers flew across the keyboard.
In Mante City, a chip can almost represent a person, and cracking its code is extremely difficult. It took Ling Qiu three whole hours to piece together the scattered clues she found into a complete code. She was covered in sweat, and her neck was so stiff that she couldn't move. It was already 7 p.m., and the sun had already set.
"Phew..." Ling Qiu looked at the words "successfully cracked" on the screen and let out a long sigh of relief. She could even hear the bones in her neck creaking.
At the same time, something soft slowly wrapped around Ling Qiu's neck. She looked down and saw that it was Anbot's tentacles.
She didn't have time to deal with that, assuming He was playing some kind of trick again. Instead, she directly connected to Ron's chip, shut it down, and then used a thin blade to cut open behind Ron's ear, successfully removing the chip.
As soon as she squeezed the chip, Ling Qiu instinctively pulled her hand back because she found that the chip was frighteningly hot. But then she thought that if she couldn't take it out in one go, the chip might immediately activate its protection system and bounce itself into a deeper place, which would be even more troublesome.
Without hesitation, Ling Qiu took out the chip. Her index finger and thumb were instantly scalded and blistered. Only then did Ling Qiu drop the chip and shake her hands.
Before she could react, a hand reached out to her, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her over. Then, Ling Qiu watched as Anbot put her finger in his mouth.
"...Um, actually I need to rinse it with cold water first."
This is not very hygienic, even though Ambot doesn't have bodily fluids.
But as soon as she finished speaking, she felt the pain in her fingertip disappear instantly. Ling Qiu was stunned. When she took her finger out, it was completely healed, without even a scratch.
"You also have healing abilities?" Ling Qiu was genuinely surprised this time. She had thought that... Anbot's abilities were all related to things like psychopathic murder.
As Ling Qiu finished speaking, she realized that her neck was no longer sore at all.
"Are you done yet?" Anbot asked impatiently. "It's almost dark."
His bride hasn't eaten anything since noon.
It's all the fault of these fragile humans. Why didn't they just die sooner? Instead, they dragged their feet and lived until now.
"Let me see..." Ling Qiu turned around, and under Anbot's piercing gaze, quickly touched Ron's forehead.
Ron's fever has subsided, and his temperature has returned to normal.
She began to stare at the chip that had fallen onto the bed sheet, which was even creased with a dark yellow hue due to the extremely high temperature.
Therefore, chips are the real culprit behind this infectious disease.
Haha, isn't this funny?
Just days ago, Ling Qiu learned that personal chips could be manipulated; now she knows that higher-ups can also use these chips to spread viruses. Working for the company is the highest honor! The company's interests are everything!
Mante City, what kind of normal city is this... it's clearly a slave city!
No wonder they're so determined to destroy the lives of free people, because free people are inherently averse to this kind of chip, and companies that like to use the banner of fairness and charity can't really eliminate free people in a big way.
Therefore, they compared free men to garbage, to rats crossing the street, to pitiful stray dogs, so that naturally someone would help them get rid of free men.
"An interesting world," Ling Qiu muttered to herself.
“I’ll remove Lululan’s chip soon,” Ling Qiu said. “I know Lululan well; cracking her chip won’t take too long.”
Then, a plate of tomato and beef tenderloin spaghetti, which smelled delicious, appeared in front of Ling Qiu, and was garnished with a few crystal-clear shrimp.
She swallowed involuntarily, and her stomach rumbled.
"Eat first." He could finally command her to do something. "Otherwise, you won't be doing anything else."
Author's Note: Male protagonist: I command you to enjoy this feast, my slave.
Qiuqiu: Fine, go ahead and use your mental victory strategy.
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