The word "stabilizer" stood like an invisible chasm between Su Nian and Xie Chen. After that night, the two fell into a more subtle and cold stalemate. Su Nian suppressed all her unintentional emotions and habits, becoming unusually "disciplined." She maintained a regular schedule, read quietly, and ignored Xie Chen's presence, like a meticulously crafted doll operating strictly according to a program. She no longer gave him any opportunity to observe or "analyze."
Xie Chen clearly noticed this change. He remained silent, but his silence lacked its previous calmness and contained a hint of... anxiety? He no longer approached her to rest, spending most of his time sitting upright on his "throne," dealing with seemingly endless virtual files. However, his gaze fell on Su Nian more frequently and tangibly than ever before, carrying a scrutinizing quality and a chilling feeling of being silently resisted.
He was trying to understand and decipher Su Nian's sudden "abnormal state" in his usual, rational way.
[Host, your level of passive-aggressive tactics is impressive!] 088 looked at the monitoring data, clicking its tongue in amazement. [The target's soul fluctuation frequency has increased by 7% in the past 48 hours. Although it's still within a controllable range, this trend... it seems like you're a bit out of his depth.]
"Shut up," Su Nian responded coldly in her mind, her gaze remaining fixed on the e-book in her hands. She knew her behavior was childish and might even anger him, but an inexplicable stubbornness prevented her from easily giving in. Being analyzed as a "tool" and a "variable" touched a bottom line deep within her that she was unwilling to compromise on.
This stalemate was broken on the third day.
Xie Chen seemed to have finally lost patience, or perhaps his rational mind had come up with a new "solution." He stopped trying to probe with words and took action instead.
That afternoon, Su Nian was sitting on the sofa reading when the energy wall on one side of the room lit up again. But this time, what appeared was not an illusion of some world, but an extremely complex, constantly flowing and changing three-dimensional model composed of countless pale blue light spots and lines. The light spots varied in color depth, the lines flowed at different speeds, and some areas were marked with flashing data streams that Su Nian couldn't understand.
"What is this?" Su Nian finally couldn't help but ask, her voice a little dry from days of silence.
Xie Chen stood before the model, his back straight and aloof. "A model of energy distribution and correlation of soul fragments," he explained calmly, as if introducing an ordinary instrument. "Red dots represent peak levels of agitation, and blue represents stable states. Connecting lines indicate energy resonance and conflict paths between fragments."
His finger tapped lightly in the air, magnifying a section of the model. There were several closely connected nodes, flickering with an unstable red light.
“This is the area affected by the Immortal Lord fragment.” He turned his head and looked at Su Nian with the gaze of a researcher observing an experimental subject. “According to previous observation data, when you hummed that specific tune, the energy agitation index in this area decreased by an average of 18.7%. Now, please repeat your unconscious behavior that afternoon.”
His demands were direct, clear, and devoid of any emotional coloring.
Su Nian felt as if her heart was being clenched by an icy hand. He really had... completely used her as a guinea pig.
"I forgot." She turned her face away, her voice stiff.
Xie Chen's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Amnesia?" He automatically categorized her words as "data anomalies" and began analyzing the possibilities. "Is it due to the potential influence of other fragments, or subjective resistance? If it's the latter, we need to assess its negative impact on the 'stabilizer's' effectiveness..."
"I'm not your stabilizer!" Su Nian stood up abruptly, her e-reader sliding onto the carpet with a dull thud. Her chest heaved as she glared at the man immersed in his data world. The pent-up resentment, anger, and a disappointment she couldn't quite explain over the past few days erupted at this moment. "Xie Chen! Look closely! I'm Su Nian! A living, breathing person! Not a pathetic number on your broken model!"
Her outburst plunged the room into a deathly silence.
Xie Chen finally shifted all his attention away from the model and turned it completely to her. He looked at her cheeks, flushed with excitement, and at the anger and... tears glistening in her eyes. For the first time, a look of astonishment clearly appeared in those deep eyes.
He seemed unable to understand why a clear and efficient "solution" would provoke such a fierce and irrational reaction.
“Human…” he repeated the word softly, as if chewing on a strange and complex concept. He took a step forward, stepping out of the model’s dim blue light and standing in the brighter light, carefully examining Su Nian.
“Your physiological structure, emotional fluctuations, and behavioral patterns certainly conform to the definition of ‘human,’” he stated calmly, as if giving an academic report. “But for me, the core value of your existence currently lies in its stabilizing effect on the fragments of the soul. This is the optimal conclusion based on objective observation and data.”
His rationality, at this moment, turned into the cruelest knife.
Looking at his expressionless face so close to hers, Su Nian suddenly felt a chilling sense of powerlessness. Talking about "humanity" and "dignity" with someone who quantifies and instrumentalizes everything is like casting pearls before swine.
All her anger was like a punch landing on cold steel, causing her pain but serving no other purpose.
Tears welled up uncontrollably, blurring her vision. She didn't want to cry in front of him; it would be too pathetic. But the overwhelming grievance and heartbreak made it impossible for her to hold back.
Seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks, Xie Chen's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. The pure, rational light in his eyes seemed to be momentarily disturbed by the sudden, warm liquid.
[Alert! Detected severe emotional fluctuations in the host! Abnormal hormone levels! Unknown interference patterns appear in the target subject's soul model!] 088's broadcast carried a hint of panic.
Xie Chen subconsciously reached out, seemingly wanting to touch the tear stains on her face, but the movement stopped halfway through. His fingers curled slightly, as if resisting some kind of instinct.
“Tears…” He looked at her, a clear confusion, even a hint of… helplessness, appearing in his eyes for the first time. “This physiological reaction usually represents sadness, pain, or extreme anger. Based on the situation analysis, the trigger is that I defined you as a 'stabilizer.' But that's the most efficient solution. Why… do you experience such strong negative emotions?”
He was actually seriously and perplexedly analyzing why she was crying!
Looking at him like this, Su Nian felt both heartbroken and absurd. She abruptly brushed away his hand, which was frozen in mid-air, took a step back, and questioned him with a voice trembling with tears, yet unusually clear:
"Why? Because you're using me as a tool! Xie Chen, you keep saying you want me to be 'complete,' but everything you do is pushing me further into a state of fragmentation! What you want is a part that won't resist, has no self, and only provides 'stability' according to your needs! What kind of 'completeness' is that?!"
Her words were like a thunderbolt, striking Xie Chen's worldview, which was built on reason and data.
He stared blankly at her, at her tears, at her accusations, as if the intricate models and data streams in his mind had suddenly stalled. A strange, chaotic emotion, defying any existing logic, surged forth like a turbulent tide, assaulting his frozen defenses.
“Tools…parts…” he muttered to himself, his brow furrowed, as if struggling to process these concepts that contradicted his understanding.
Just then, the soul model behind him suddenly emitted a piercing alarm! Several previously stable blue dots turned red abruptly and began to flash violently, indicating that another round of unknown fragment disturbances was about to erupt!
But this time, Xie Chen did not immediately pay attention to the anomaly in the model.
His gaze remained fixed on Su Nian's face, on her constantly rolling tears and her eyes filled with accusation and sorrow.
The alarm from the model grew increasingly shrill, and signs of energy turbulence began to appear in the room, with pale blue light patterns flickering uneasily.
Su Nian also sensed the instability of the surrounding energy. Fear instinctively overwhelmed her sadness, and she subconsciously took another step back.
The moment she stepped back, Xie Chen moved.
He wasn't trying to stabilize the model, nor was he attempting to control or question Su Nian as he had done before.
He stepped forward and, to Su Nian's astonishment, reached out his hand. It wasn't a touch with analytical intent, but rather a clumsy yet forceful pull that drew her into his arms.
"Don't cry."
A deep, hoarse voice, with a distinctly commanding tone yet seemingly concealing a hint of panic, sounded above her head.
Su Nian froze, her cheek pressed against his slightly thin but muscular chest, where she could clearly hear his heartbeat, which had lost its steady rhythm.
The alarms from the model and the hum of energy seemed to fade away at that moment.
The world was left only with the interplay of cold and warmth in his arms, and his harsh yet earth-shattering voice—
"Don't cry."
For the first time, clear cracks have appeared in the cage of reason.
Because of an out-of-control variable that he couldn't analyze with data...
(End of Chapter 161)
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