Chapter 28 Binding to a New Host
[Sorry, the machine is 60% repaired, but the minimum startup threshold has not been met. Sorry, machine repair—first command has been initiated. Starting up.]
[WARNING! Host #1 has died. Please select a new host. A friendly reminder: if more than three hosts die, the system will be wiped out.]
[Power-on successful.]
The moment Li Nai regained consciousness, she felt as if her brow bone was about to split open. Her swollen eyelids slowly lifted, and her bloodshot eyes moved sluggishly as she quietly observed her surroundings.
After a long while, she finally came up with a clearer analysis.
She found herself in a completely white, enclosed space. There were no doors, no windows, and she couldn't even distinguish between the floor and the ceiling. Oh, wait, that didn't quite add up. The cushions beneath her were soft and comfortable; she must be lying on a bed.
The new room Merck arranged wasn't as good as the previous one; at least it had a door and a glass window. Here, however, there wasn't a sound. Aside from the comfortable white light that didn't induce any sense of dread in the darkness, it was as quiet as falling into outer space.
As she pondered this, a throbbing pain began to throb in her brow bone, the pain shooting through her forehead and brain. She instinctively raised her arm to touch her head, the movement causing excruciating aches and pains throughout her body. She couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.
A high-pitched buzzing sound rose from deep within my ears, suddenly amplified into a heart-wrenching warning.
[Host #1 has died. Please find a new target and select a new host as soon as possible.]
Host dead?
The host? Mimi is dead...
His eyes widened in surprise.
A drop of something cool on the side of my neck felt like a needle pricking me.
Before she could even think about how she would be so sad that she would shed tears, the death knell of electronic music blared again.
[WARNING! Select a new host within fifteen minutes, or your existence will be erased.]
To erase one's existence is to die!
She suddenly sat up, her bones screaming in pain, and she yelled as she twisted her upper body to the side and rolled off the bed.
Wow, that saves me the energy to get out of bed.
The moment she hit the ground, it felt like her bones were about to shatter. Thankfully, her body only convulsed for a moment, but the pain evoked vivid memories of zombies tearing her apart. The sensations of flesh being ripped apart and intestines being ripped out flashed through her mind repeatedly.
If it weren't for the piercing countdown warning blaring desperately, she would definitely be shivering and curled up on the cold floor, repeatedly chewing on the painful words.
After my body calmed down, I dragged my weak but sore body toward one of the walls.
My palms touched the wall, and my shoulders trembled involuntarily. It's so cold! It's cold everywhere.
Looking up, she noticed the wall had changed; the original pure white color was now semi-transparent, reminding her of the frosted glass in the building's offices.
With a certain guess in mind, I removed my hand. The wall indeed returned to its solid white color. I tapped the wall with my finger; it made the sound of glass.
The warning sounded in my ear again, much faster than last time.
She turned around anxiously, looking around, trying to find some switch or a handy pointed iron tool to use as a weapon.
No. There was only one simple bed in the entire room.
It was another warning. This time it was different from the previous ones. It felt like my ears were being blasted by a giant loudspeaker, playing in a 360° surround sound. Time materialized, and a 7-minute countdown jumped out at my eyes, enlarged and flashing.
[7 minutes remaining. Please select a host as soon as possible. Please select a host as soon as possible. Please select a host as soon as possible. ...]
With each jump of the red numbers in front of her eyes, her brow bone throbbed with pain, and she couldn't help but pound the glass while cursing loudly.
"Scream, scream, scream! Then give me the power to break open a door! Let me out and choose a host!"
After punching the glass twice in frustration, it suddenly vibrated and then cracked open with a rectangular strip, resembling a door frame.
Look at your hands in disbelief. You knocked on a door with your bare hands? Did you cheat?
The next second, the single pane of glass in the door vanished like fog.
The sound of small wheels rolling on the ground could be heard from outside.
She looked closely and saw a small robot, about one meter tall, enter, with a scanning ray shooting out from the center of its square head.
The exit is behind it.
Tear it down! Run out!
She unleashed an unprecedented power, stood up, and rushed forward.
With a sharp flick of its wrists, the little robot tumbled forward, its two wheels spinning helplessly. When it finally managed to get up, stand upright, and casually glide to the bedside to begin scanning for vital signs, it discovered something amiss—the bed was empty.
The target has gone missing.
Immediately, a small spotlight extended from above, emitting a red alert.
After successfully escaping the room, Li Nai found herself lost in the undulating corridor. As far as the eye could see, everything was white: pure white curved walls, milky-white seamless floors, and grayish-white high ceilings. There were no doors, no windows, and no lights. The bright white environment seemed perfectly natural.
Her eyes were sore and tired, so she leaned against a recessed, curved wall, closed her eyes, and tried to ease the impact of the white light on them.
She didn't notice that the wall behind her gradually became transparent after coming into contact with her body temperature, eventually turning into a layer of mist.
"ah!"
He fell backward to the ground, his palms touching a patch of wet, muddy earth.
A misty breeze swept past behind me, and the skin exposed outside my clothes was so cold that it gave me goosebumps.
"Achoo!"
Sniffling, she rolled over and sat up, looking up to see the bamboo grove a few steps away.
Looking into the distance.
The bamboo forest stretched as far as the eye could see, its tops shrouded in thick white mist, with several undulating arcs faintly visible.
Mountain? !
Did she escape by sheer accident?!
Looking back, there was a solid white wall.
It turns out it was built in the mountains; Missy must be really rich.
I'm so lucky.
The protagonist is the protagonist!
Overjoyed, she was urged on again by the warning sound; the number before her eyes was 00:04:29.
Oh no, oh no.
She took off running, and as she ran, she sensed the rustling of bamboo leaves coming from three directions behind her.
Have they caught up?
She dared not stop, even as her bones and internal organs kept screaming that they were going on strike.
The bamboo leaves changed from rustling to rustling as they rapidly approached her, sounding aggressive and unstoppable.
[Warning! Warning! 1 minute remaining. Please select a host as soon as possible! Please select a host as soon as possible!]
Stop rushing me! Stop rushing me! There's no host anywhere in this desolate wilderness!
She was drenched in sweat and completely overwhelmed, feeling utterly trapped in a precarious situation.
Suddenly, my foot slipped, and I tumbled down the long slope, hitting my head on a rock. I felt dizzy.
When the blurry red numbers became clear, the countdown had begun.
【10、】
【9、】
She shook her head, imagining herself getting up, but the hard ground behind her showed that she was still lying down.
【5、】
I mustered all my strength to move my fingers. Looking at the fluctuating numbers, I felt utterly hopeless.
Suddenly, my palm felt wet, something soft and slippery was licking it.
She turned her head and saw a black and white, fluffy, chubby creature with two dark circles under its eyes. Noticing someone was looking at it, it leaned closer and examined her with its beady eyes.
Bear, panda!
[Target locked. Select as host?]
certainly!
"select!!!!!"
A loud roar startled the panda cub in my arms, who rolled around covering its head in fright.
Having become her host, you still want to run away?
She scooped him up and held him tightly in her arms, not letting go even as his four short, thick black legs struggled.
"Eek~ Eek~"
With its chin resting on its furry head, the panda cub looked up at her intently, continuing to whimper. A quick glance revealed the number tag hanging on its little ear.
What is this? It looks a bit like...
[Host #2 has been selected. First command deactivated. Friendly reminder...]
Upon hearing this, the initial doubts vanished, and the weight in my heart was completely lifted. Whether or not I listened to the subsequent hints was no longer important.
With its limbs completely paralyzed, the panda cub whimpered and crawled away.
Hearing the incessant whimpering, she couldn't help but worry about what would happen next, since they couldn't communicate.
As I was thinking, a shadow fell over my upper body.
She raised her chin and saw the shadow poised to strike, its long mouth wide open, its sharp teeth gleaming.
"Eek! Eek!"
The panda cub turned back, stepped on her head, raised its forelimbs, and waved its paws pitifully.
My brain exploded!
Oh no! Its mother is here!
"roar!--"
With a roar, the enormous creature leaped down from the top of the slope.
She didn't have time to dodge at all.
Bang!
I opened my eyes. Thank goodness! I wasn't crushed to death.
only--
"Help!"
She gripped the bamboo with both hands and shook it violently, while a giant panda weighing several hundred pounds behind her shook its head and bit her legs.
[Sorry, the machine is not fully repaired and cannot use the system's special abilities.]
Ugh, what kind of bullshit system or superpowers are these?! Even if a host is chosen, you still have to die!
She raised her tear-streaked and snot-covered face and screamed for help at the top of her lungs. At that moment, she desperately wanted the people of Missicco to hear her and save her from this dire situation.
"Help! I'm here! Help! Are you all deaf!"
As she grieved for the prospect of being crippled from the waist down, she heard the sound of metal clashing against metal, and the tearing and biting suddenly stopped.
He glanced sideways at the things lying to the side.
A damaged, silver-gray drone?
The mother panda's voices faded into the distance. Looking back, she discovered that the mother panda had abandoned her cub and run away for some unknown reason.
The panda cub whimpered and crawled toward her, raising its front paws to step on her face as it tried to chase after its mother, but she caught it and comforted it.
"Be good, host, don't run away."
Don't underestimate this little guy; he's got a lot of energy.
She grimaced, ignoring her bloodied and mangled legs, clinging desperately to the panda in a ferocious manner that was completely visible to the newcomer.
"Oh dear~ If you can't beat the big guys, you take revenge on the little ones."
That smug tone sounds so familiar.
Upon closer inspection, it really was someone I knew.
"Qi Shuihan? What are you doing here?"
As he spoke, his eyes swept around behind Qi Shuihan, as if searching for someone.
Qi Shuihan knew without a doubt who she was looking at. He lowered his head and snorted unhappily. He walked over to Li Nai and looked her and the panda cub with a smile in his foxy eyes.
“If I weren’t here, you would already be in two pieces by now.”
Li Nai came to her senses: "You saved me! You really are a reliable partner. From now on," she said, pressing a hand to her chest, "you are my god."
She became more and more emotional as she spoke, and two genuine tears welled up in her eyes.
Seeing her tears of sadness and grievance flowing freely, Qi Shuihan squatted down, a smile still on his lips, and gently wiped away the tears that slid down Li Nai's face with the back of his hand.
"Let's hurry. The mother panda will be back soon."
"Okay! I'll listen to you. But how did you lure the mother bear with her cubs away?"
"Another cub."
Li Nai looked down at the host in her arms and exclaimed, "You're a twin from the wild, that's really rare!"
Qi Shuihan supported Li Nai, and with one hand lifted the panda cub by the scruff of its neck, about to throw it out of her arms.
"Hey, don't move, it can't move." He scratched its fur hard.
Qi Shuihan raised an eyebrow and exaggeratedly mimicked her previous tone, saying, "Wow, so vengeful! It's just a baby!"
"No." He looked embarrassed. "It, it's my new host. Also, could you please stop mimicking my tone?"
Two seconds of silence.
A suppressed laugh welled up inside.
"Oh dear, what are you laughing at? Aren't you leaving? Hurry up."
"Haha, what kind of system are you? You're so bizarre."
"screw you!"
"Hold on tight." Qi Shuihan walked in front of her and squatted down. "Come on, I'll carry you on my back."
Li Nai didn't hesitate and immediately pounced on the other person's back.
Qi Shuihan looked slender, but he was surprisingly strong. He accidentally touched the hard muscles on his arm.
It feels pretty good. It was another accidental touch.
"Does it feel good? Now is not the time. Let me let you touch it to your heart's content when we get back."
"Let's go!"
Qi Shuihan was in a good mood. As she climbed the hillside, she inadvertently glanced at a calf hanging down, dripping blood and raw flesh. Suddenly, she remembered something she had been neglecting.
Doesn't your leg hurt?
"Hmm, it doesn't hurt anymore. It feels numb. Maybe it's recovering."
Qi Shuihan stared intently, recalling the scene a few days ago when she saw Li Nai lying on the bed, her battered body automatically repairing itself. She no longer cared about her current crippled leg.
The two bickered as they walked, until halfway there, they heard the sound of bamboo breaking behind them, chasing after them.
"Its mother is coming! Run!"
Li Naigang shouted.
The mother panda appeared behind them and charged at lightning speed.
Qi Shuihan carried a person and a beast on his back and nimbly moved through the bamboo forest.
The mother panda was hot on her heels, and Qi Shuihan was already panting.
"How about we cut its mother a few times, so she won't chase us anymore?" Li Nai covered the cub's round ears.
Qi Shuihan did not answer.
"Don't worry, there won't be a criminal sentence. A great lawyer once said that human life is more important than animal life. Besides, we called it emergency avoidance, not killing it."
"If I hurt it, the country can't protect me either."
Li Nai was puzzled: What does that mean?
Qi Shuihan slowed down.
"arrive."
She looked up and gazed into the distance.
A solid white wall.
Isn't this the place she escaped from?
A patch the size of a double door appears on the white wall, and a woman emerges.
A well-fitting solid-color business suit, short, slightly wavy black hair, gold-rimmed glasses reflecting light, and a beauty mark under her red lips.
I felt a little disappointed that it wasn't Misik.
However, the woman who greeted them looked familiar.
The woman stepped out of the boundary and approached the two of them step by step.
Behind them, the mother beast roared angrily a few times in resentment before being forced to turn around and disappear into the bamboo mist.
With a wave of her hand, two short robots emerged from behind the woman, carrying a stretcher.
"Thank you for your trouble. I'm sorry to interrupt your healing time. Go and bring her back."
As she spoke the last five words, the woman turned and looked at her gently.
Qi Shuihan placed her on it, and then, under her puzzled gaze, stood respectfully to the side.
"Manager G, you're too kind. It's my duty to serve you."
"Who are you? Qi Shuihan, what is your relationship with her?!"
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