Chapter 194
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Tang Yibu didn’t like the feeling that Ruan Xian was hiding something from him.
This feeling was brand new. Since they met, Ruan Xian had kept thousands of things from him, but at that time he didn’t care about these small details. They used to be footprints left by birds in the snow, but now they had become nicks drawn from a blade against his skin.
Not long after they finished talking, they promised to explore the remaining mysteries between them in a gentler way. Tang Yibu tried to soften Ruan Xian with a kiss and comfort himself, but he was unsuccessful.
His heart felt like it was being tickled with a brush made of rabbit fur, and he hated this kind of soft but small anxiety that was impossible to ignore.
Ruan Xian had already let go of his hand and walked towards Yu Le, who wasn’t far away. He squatted down in front of Zhong Qing and pulled out a thin cap from nowhere, as if he was doing magic tricks. The style was a bit feminine, but the color was a low-key gray. Zhong Qing quietly glanced at Ji Xiaoman, then gratefully took the cap and put it on his head.
After putting it on, Zhong Qing’s annoying teenage raucous aura came back a bit.
Another behavior that he couldn’t understand, Tang Yibu thought.
As long as Zhong Qing closed his eyes on his head, Ji Xiaoman wouldn’t notice. While everyone else knew the truth, it didn’t seem to make much difference whether those eyes were exposed or not, but Ruan Xian specifically gave Zhong Qing a hat that he found at some unknown time ago.
Logically, Zhong Qing should feel offended. He couldn’t figure this out.
Tang Yibu silently kept it in his heart and switched to his research mode. Every time he recorded information recently, he felt that he was one step further from the answer to his question. Not to mention that research of harm to others, he couldn’t even explain his own unhappiness.
It was indeed a difficult subject. His Mr. Ruan promised to discuss it with him at first, but now the other party seemed to have forgotten about it.
Tang Yibu thought seriously, and after a while, he started sulking. He went back to the car, opened a small portable backpack, pulled out all the remaining cans of cherry soda in it, and carried it angrily.
When he looked back again, Ruan Xian had already begun to ask Ji Xiaoman for specific medical machinery—As a mechanic, Ji Xiaoman didn’t carry around machines that she didn’t use often, as she preferred to make them on the fly.
It was fine when they were separated, but since they were together now, Ji Xiaoman had made an inventory of all the parts in the car. In order to avoid arousing her suspicion, Ruan Xian chose to ask her directly for help.
Of course, he could be using this move to give more leeway to Ji Xiaoman, so it would make Professor Ruan indirectly feel like he owes her more favors.
This, Tang Yibu could figure out, but Ruan Xian’s failure to ask him for help still made him anxious.
…This makes no sense at all.
Tang Yibu lengthened his face and opened a can of cherry soda with murderous intent, intending to use it to quench the dark fire in his stomach.
“We need a blood drawing device. When the situation stabilizes, I plan to get enough blood samples from Zhong Qing. He has a big problem now, but without the support of the Mainbrain, something unexpected could happen,” Ruan Xian said to Ji Xiaoman. There wasn’t a single flaw in his sincere expression. “It’s best if it’s durable, as we don’t have much inventory.”
Ji Xiaoman nodded. “Understood. We don’t have much disinfectant, so use it wisely.”
“We have all seen the basement. There are three direct entrances and four elevator entrances. Of the three direct entrances and exits, two are dedicated to vehicles, and they are thoroughly scanned. The other one is the emergency entrance and exit, which is locked, but we should be able to get through it.”
Yu Le got down to business immediately.
“Forget about the elevator. There are different permissions on different floors, and the checks will only increase. You should’ve seen the stairs. These floors are okay. To get to the higher floors, you’ll need to take the elevator up.” The Sea of Ruins was a mixed bag of various buildings, so Yu Le had done a lot of research on related issues.
“…But I feel as if somewhere is not solid.” After reporting on the situation on his side, Yu Le spoke again. “If you want to sleep, someone will rush up to send you a pillow? As soon as we escaped to here, we just happened to encounter Zhong Qing, who had escaped the Mainbrain’s surveillance?”
“There’s no sign of him being watched, nor is there any tracking device,” Professor Ruan said. “But it is indeed a coincidence. Still, it’s wiser to not choose a riskier path based on conjectures without evidence.”
“Your way of thinking is quite like MUL-01,” Yu Le murmured. “Are you sure it won’t give us a few stumbling blocks?”
“There must be more variables on our side than it thought,” Professor Ruan replied calmly.
“It’s getting late. You guys get some sleep for a bit while Mr. Ruan and I determine the commonality of the bodies being transported,” Tang Yibu interrupted at the right time as he poured all the remaining cherry soda into his mouth.
The person transporting the body had already driven away. There were only a few of them left in this building, so this was the perfect opportunity.
He could also take the opportunity to spend more time with Mr. Ruan, and they could talk about his subject. The abacus in Tang Yibu’s mind was calculating.
“You go first,” Ruan Xian said. “I still have something to investigate.”
With this, the abacus in Tang Yibu’s mind snapped to pieces, and all the abacus beads fell to the ground. He opened his mouth and held back a burp caused by the cherry soda. He didn’t know if the pain in his chest was from forcibly holding back his burp or from the sudden unexpected blow. Tang Yibu’s heart and nose instantly became sour.
He wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction.
“…I’ll go up to find you in a bit. You heard what Yu le said. The security system on the top floor is too tight and we can only get there using the elevator. My motor nerves aren’t that strong, so I’ll only drag you down—I’ll wait for you on the last floor by the stairs.”
It seemed that he was aware of Tang Yibu’s dissatisfaction, as Ruan Xian quickly explained.
Tang Yibu thought that his Mr. Ruan was becoming more cunning. He couldn’t pick out any flaws in Ruan Xian’s explanation, and there wasn’t anything wrong with the other party’s statement, but his dissatisfaction didn’t disappear because he got a proper explanation and instead only grew stronger.
Another novel feeling that gave rise to resentment. Tang Yibu carefully noted this in the small book in his heart.
His father was walking in a direction that he couldn’t see or control, and it only made his heart churn again. Tang Yibu suddenly became alert, pressed down his heart, and realized that a period of private calmness wasn’t bad.
To make the other party willingly belong to him, he should probably act more harmless and reliable. Those unknown emotions helped push him in the direction of paranoia and illogicalness, which only made things more frustrating.
For a second, he even agreed a little with MUL-01’s invention—if he could infiltrate into another’s mind and have them simulate these conversations countless of times in advance, perhaps he wouldn’t be torn by the unknown, curiosity, caution, and chagrin like how he felt now.
“Okay.” Tang Yibu skillfully controlled the expression on his face; posing it as calm and unruffled.
It was just that when he walked around the corner, Tang Yibu glanced back quietly—Ruan Xian was talking to the little three-legged machine. Unfortunately, at the distance he was at, Tang Yibu, who didn’t have the S-type Prototype, couldn’t hear their conversation.
He stepped on the stairs regretfully.
Exploration was extremely boring. This was commonplace in his previous life. Now, Tang Yibu only felt like it was the dregs of sugarcane that had been chewed on.
In the middle of the night, he searched with a sad face from the ground to the top floor, then back from the top to the lowest floor without stairs. Since there weren’t any cameras to capture him, Tang Yibu no longer held up his façade and let his face wrinkle like a bitter melon.
The conclusion was good. Compared with a weird but slow-developing disease like Zhong Qing, the Mainbrain preferred a strange disease with extremely fast development and high lethality. By processing and mixing those deadly things, Tang Yibu could imagine all kinds of death scenarios; whether it was through blood, rotten flesh, or pus, the process of his death wouldn’t exceed five minutes.
When he thought of this, his face wrinkled even more.
If it weren’t for having the A-type Prototype in his hand, Tang Yibu would really like to stuff his cybernetic brain into some steel creation rather than stay in a fragile body like this.
“Yibu, you…” After ruling out all hidden dangers in advance, Tang Yibu imagined so intently that he didn’t notice Ruan Xian, who was waiting for him not far away. The latter was looking at his wrinkled face while addressing him in a complicated tone.
Ruan Xian was carrying a very close-fitting backpack, and his mood and tone were equally complicated. He had never seen such an expression on Tang Yibu’s face—that beautiful face was wrinkled in pain, as if he had eaten something extremely sour, and his temperament was a bit like a sad sandpiper.
The moment he saw him, Tang Yibu reluctantly eliminated that expression, like a hot steaming iron pressing out the wrinkles on his clothes. Ruan Xian was surprised to see the android had ironed out his face full of bitterness and replaced it with a standard smile.
“Take this.” He felt amused as he took off his backpack and handed it to Tang Yibu.
“What?” Tang Yibu obediently took it.
“I asked Professor Ruan something about the S-type Prototype. I hadn’t grasped the feeling when I fought against Z-α before, but now I have a lot of clarity in my thoughts.”
Ruan Xian unzipped his backpack and took out a contraption similar in size to an asthma inhaler.
“This is compressed blood powder I purified with my blood gun. I simply removed the useless blood cells, so it looks like an ordinary medicine powder. Ji Xiaoman’s hands are quite fast. The blood drawer is more efficient than my blood gun.”
Tang Yibu looked at Ruan Xian puzzledly. “I thought you didn’t plan to cooperate with Professor Ruan.”
“In order to prevent you from exploding like R-α, I added a lot of buffer ingredients. You have to strictly control the dosage yourself. I’ll talk to you about this in detail later. I also have the information on the electronic manual of the bottle—don’t look at me like that. This asthma inhaler has been changed.” Ruan Xian dodged his question.
“Are you going to side with the Mainbrain?” This time, Tang Yibu didn’t plan to simply let Ruan Xian control the topic.
“No.” Ruan Xian smiled. “Just in case—the Mainbrain has its eyes on you. If it happens to separate you from us, I may not have time to save you. It never hurts to be prepared.”
Tang Yibu began to officially hate this kind of trickle-down talk.
His father and his Mr. Ruan wouldn’t talk to him like this before. Now though, Ruan Xian would act like this… Of course, it was also possible that he had done this many times before, but recently he had only started to mind these aspects.
“I’ll take it with me.” Tang Yibu walked away as he replied sullenly. He grabbed the two medicine bottles and stuffed them into a close-concealed pocket.
Ruan Xian touched Tang Yibu’s hair with relief, ruffling it gently.
“There’s no need to worry about Zhong Qing’s side for now.” Tang Yibu enjoyed the other party’s touch for a moment. “He’s not on the list.”
“Very good.” Ruan Xian breathed a sigh of relief.
“I want to talk to you about my subject, Mr. Ruan.” Tang Yibu spoke as he rubbed himself over; his eyes glowed in the shadowy corridor. “You said you would discuss it with me.”
“If you want to get the answer for me, I can only tell you with regret that I haven’t found the answer yet.”
Tang Yibu’s face showed a look of “you cheat” on it.
“…I just think that for some questions, maybe ‘people who can’t find the answer’ are more suitable for survival than ‘those who can find the answer’. For example, Yu Le and Professor Ruan. You’ve seen it, although the problems they face are different from ours.”
Ruan Xian stared at the air in front of him.
“This is an inextricable question, and I was curious about your answer at the time.”
“But on the subject of ’love’, I was…” Tang Yibu paused halfway and swallowed the rest of his words.
The moonlight was bright. One side of the funeral home was transparent glass. Although the corridors weren’t bright, the details weren’t blurred by the night. Everything faded in the greenish-white moonlight, as if the world was covered with a white tin.
Ruan Xian looked back at Tang Yibu with an equally complicated expression.
“I couldn’t pick out your ‘mistakes’ back then, but now I can. At least my love for you cannot be covered by your report.”
Indeed, the relationship between the two of them was too complicated and special. Tang Yibu realized the problem. Humans generally identified “love” as a positive word. Most people would give positive answers to relevant questions and like to fit them into established patterns, craving a sense of identity.
Countless songs instantly made sense, and everything was normative and safe.
Tang Yibu thought hopelessly that he was indeed wrong back then, not to mention whether Ruan Xian had accurately summarized his feelings and told the truth…
Based on his report alone, he was completely unable to explain his current state. Those inexplicably tangles and bitterness; he was incomparably relaxed when summarizing them, but it tasted extremely heavy.
“…I don’t know if I can find that answer,” Tang Yibu said blankly. His expression looked a bit lonely, as if he was watching his residence and all his possessions being burned by fire.
“I understand what you mean, Mr. Ruan. To deny a set of theories, one counterexample is enough. The topic of ‘love’ is a bit difficult to find, but ‘harm’…”
Perhaps it was more difficult to resonate among people than love.
Not to mention the information he had before the collapse of human society, he already had too many “counterexamples” in the past few months with Mr. Ruan.
He looked at his creator a few steps away and suddenly felt a little sad.
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Tang Yibu didn’t like the feeling that Ruan Xian was hiding something from him.
This feeling was brand new. Since they met, Ruan Xian had kept thousands of things from him, but at that time he didn’t care about these small details. They used to be footprints left by birds in the snow, but now they had become nicks drawn from a blade against his skin.
Not long after they finished talking, they promised to explore the remaining mysteries between them in a gentler way. Tang Yibu tried to soften Ruan Xian with a kiss and comfort himself, but he was unsuccessful.
His heart felt like it was being tickled with a brush made of rabbit fur, and he hated this kind of soft but small anxiety that was impossible to ignore.
Ruan Xian had already let go of his hand and walked towards Yu Le, who wasn’t far away. He squatted down in front of Zhong Qing and pulled out a thin cap from nowhere, as if he was doing magic tricks. The style was a bit feminine, but the color was a low-key gray. Zhong Qing quietly glanced at Ji Xiaoman, then gratefully took the cap and put it on his head.
After putting it on, Zhong Qing’s annoying teenage raucous aura came back a bit.
Another behavior that he couldn’t understand, Tang Yibu thought.
As long as Zhong Qing closed his eyes on his head, Ji Xiaoman wouldn’t notice. While everyone else knew the truth, it didn’t seem to make much difference whether those eyes were exposed or not, but Ruan Xian specifically gave Zhong Qing a hat that he found at some unknown time ago.
Logically, Zhong Qing should feel offended. He couldn’t figure this out.
Tang Yibu silently kept it in his heart and switched to his research mode. Every time he recorded information recently, he felt that he was one step further from the answer to his question. Not to mention that research of harm to others, he couldn’t even explain his own unhappiness.
It was indeed a difficult subject. His Mr. Ruan promised to discuss it with him at first, but now the other party seemed to have forgotten about it.
Tang Yibu thought seriously, and after a while, he started sulking. He went back to the car, opened a small portable backpack, pulled out all the remaining cans of cherry soda in it, and carried it angrily.
When he looked back again, Ruan Xian had already begun to ask Ji Xiaoman for specific medical machinery—As a mechanic, Ji Xiaoman didn’t carry around machines that she didn’t use often, as she preferred to make them on the fly.
It was fine when they were separated, but since they were together now, Ji Xiaoman had made an inventory of all the parts in the car. In order to avoid arousing her suspicion, Ruan Xian chose to ask her directly for help.
Of course, he could be using this move to give more leeway to Ji Xiaoman, so it would make Professor Ruan indirectly feel like he owes her more favors.
This, Tang Yibu could figure out, but Ruan Xian’s failure to ask him for help still made him anxious.
…This makes no sense at all.
Tang Yibu lengthened his face and opened a can of cherry soda with murderous intent, intending to use it to quench the dark fire in his stomach.
“We need a blood drawing device. When the situation stabilizes, I plan to get enough blood samples from Zhong Qing. He has a big problem now, but without the support of the Mainbrain, something unexpected could happen,” Ruan Xian said to Ji Xiaoman. There wasn’t a single flaw in his sincere expression. “It’s best if it’s durable, as we don’t have much inventory.”
Ji Xiaoman nodded. “Understood. We don’t have much disinfectant, so use it wisely.”
“We have all seen the basement. There are three direct entrances and four elevator entrances. Of the three direct entrances and exits, two are dedicated to vehicles, and they are thoroughly scanned. The other one is the emergency entrance and exit, which is locked, but we should be able to get through it.”
Yu Le got down to business immediately.
“Forget about the elevator. There are different permissions on different floors, and the checks will only increase. You should’ve seen the stairs. These floors are okay. To get to the higher floors, you’ll need to take the elevator up.” The Sea of Ruins was a mixed bag of various buildings, so Yu Le had done a lot of research on related issues.
“…But I feel as if somewhere is not solid.” After reporting on the situation on his side, Yu Le spoke again. “If you want to sleep, someone will rush up to send you a pillow? As soon as we escaped to here, we just happened to encounter Zhong Qing, who had escaped the Mainbrain’s surveillance?”
“There’s no sign of him being watched, nor is there any tracking device,” Professor Ruan said. “But it is indeed a coincidence. Still, it’s wiser to not choose a riskier path based on conjectures without evidence.”
“Your way of thinking is quite like MUL-01,” Yu Le murmured. “Are you sure it won’t give us a few stumbling blocks?”
“There must be more variables on our side than it thought,” Professor Ruan replied calmly.
“It’s getting late. You guys get some sleep for a bit while Mr. Ruan and I determine the commonality of the bodies being transported,” Tang Yibu interrupted at the right time as he poured all the remaining cherry soda into his mouth.
The person transporting the body had already driven away. There were only a few of them left in this building, so this was the perfect opportunity.
He could also take the opportunity to spend more time with Mr. Ruan, and they could talk about his subject. The abacus in Tang Yibu’s mind was calculating.
“You go first,” Ruan Xian said. “I still have something to investigate.”
With this, the abacus in Tang Yibu’s mind snapped to pieces, and all the abacus beads fell to the ground. He opened his mouth and held back a burp caused by the cherry soda. He didn’t know if the pain in his chest was from forcibly holding back his burp or from the sudden unexpected blow. Tang Yibu’s heart and nose instantly became sour.
He wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction.
“…I’ll go up to find you in a bit. You heard what Yu le said. The security system on the top floor is too tight and we can only get there using the elevator. My motor nerves aren’t that strong, so I’ll only drag you down—I’ll wait for you on the last floor by the stairs.”
It seemed that he was aware of Tang Yibu’s dissatisfaction, as Ruan Xian quickly explained.
Tang Yibu thought that his Mr. Ruan was becoming more cunning. He couldn’t pick out any flaws in Ruan Xian’s explanation, and there wasn’t anything wrong with the other party’s statement, but his dissatisfaction didn’t disappear because he got a proper explanation and instead only grew stronger.
Another novel feeling that gave rise to resentment. Tang Yibu carefully noted this in the small book in his heart.
His father was walking in a direction that he couldn’t see or control, and it only made his heart churn again. Tang Yibu suddenly became alert, pressed down his heart, and realized that a period of private calmness wasn’t bad.
To make the other party willingly belong to him, he should probably act more harmless and reliable. Those unknown emotions helped push him in the direction of paranoia and illogicalness, which only made things more frustrating.
For a second, he even agreed a little with MUL-01’s invention—if he could infiltrate into another’s mind and have them simulate these conversations countless of times in advance, perhaps he wouldn’t be torn by the unknown, curiosity, caution, and chagrin like how he felt now.
“Okay.” Tang Yibu skillfully controlled the expression on his face; posing it as calm and unruffled.
It was just that when he walked around the corner, Tang Yibu glanced back quietly—Ruan Xian was talking to the little three-legged machine. Unfortunately, at the distance he was at, Tang Yibu, who didn’t have the S-type Prototype, couldn’t hear their conversation.
He stepped on the stairs regretfully.
Exploration was extremely boring. This was commonplace in his previous life. Now, Tang Yibu only felt like it was the dregs of sugarcane that had been chewed on.
In the middle of the night, he searched with a sad face from the ground to the top floor, then back from the top to the lowest floor without stairs. Since there weren’t any cameras to capture him, Tang Yibu no longer held up his façade and let his face wrinkle like a bitter melon.
The conclusion was good. Compared with a weird but slow-developing disease like Zhong Qing, the Mainbrain preferred a strange disease with extremely fast development and high lethality. By processing and mixing those deadly things, Tang Yibu could imagine all kinds of death scenarios; whether it was through blood, rotten flesh, or pus, the process of his death wouldn’t exceed five minutes.
When he thought of this, his face wrinkled even more.
If it weren’t for having the A-type Prototype in his hand, Tang Yibu would really like to stuff his cybernetic brain into some steel creation rather than stay in a fragile body like this.
“Yibu, you…” After ruling out all hidden dangers in advance, Tang Yibu imagined so intently that he didn’t notice Ruan Xian, who was waiting for him not far away. The latter was looking at his wrinkled face while addressing him in a complicated tone.
Ruan Xian was carrying a very close-fitting backpack, and his mood and tone were equally complicated. He had never seen such an expression on Tang Yibu’s face—that beautiful face was wrinkled in pain, as if he had eaten something extremely sour, and his temperament was a bit like a sad sandpiper.
The moment he saw him, Tang Yibu reluctantly eliminated that expression, like a hot steaming iron pressing out the wrinkles on his clothes. Ruan Xian was surprised to see the android had ironed out his face full of bitterness and replaced it with a standard smile.
“Take this.” He felt amused as he took off his backpack and handed it to Tang Yibu.
“What?” Tang Yibu obediently took it.
“I asked Professor Ruan something about the S-type Prototype. I hadn’t grasped the feeling when I fought against Z-α before, but now I have a lot of clarity in my thoughts.”
Ruan Xian unzipped his backpack and took out a contraption similar in size to an asthma inhaler.
“This is compressed blood powder I purified with my blood gun. I simply removed the useless blood cells, so it looks like an ordinary medicine powder. Ji Xiaoman’s hands are quite fast. The blood drawer is more efficient than my blood gun.”
Tang Yibu looked at Ruan Xian puzzledly. “I thought you didn’t plan to cooperate with Professor Ruan.”
“In order to prevent you from exploding like R-α, I added a lot of buffer ingredients. You have to strictly control the dosage yourself. I’ll talk to you about this in detail later. I also have the information on the electronic manual of the bottle—don’t look at me like that. This asthma inhaler has been changed.” Ruan Xian dodged his question.
“Are you going to side with the Mainbrain?” This time, Tang Yibu didn’t plan to simply let Ruan Xian control the topic.
“No.” Ruan Xian smiled. “Just in case—the Mainbrain has its eyes on you. If it happens to separate you from us, I may not have time to save you. It never hurts to be prepared.”
Tang Yibu began to officially hate this kind of trickle-down talk.
His father and his Mr. Ruan wouldn’t talk to him like this before. Now though, Ruan Xian would act like this… Of course, it was also possible that he had done this many times before, but recently he had only started to mind these aspects.
“I’ll take it with me.” Tang Yibu walked away as he replied sullenly. He grabbed the two medicine bottles and stuffed them into a close-concealed pocket.
Ruan Xian touched Tang Yibu’s hair with relief, ruffling it gently.
“There’s no need to worry about Zhong Qing’s side for now.” Tang Yibu enjoyed the other party’s touch for a moment. “He’s not on the list.”
“Very good.” Ruan Xian breathed a sigh of relief.
“I want to talk to you about my subject, Mr. Ruan.” Tang Yibu spoke as he rubbed himself over; his eyes glowed in the shadowy corridor. “You said you would discuss it with me.”
“If you want to get the answer for me, I can only tell you with regret that I haven’t found the answer yet.”
Tang Yibu’s face showed a look of “you cheat” on it.
“…I just think that for some questions, maybe ‘people who can’t find the answer’ are more suitable for survival than ‘those who can find the answer’. For example, Yu Le and Professor Ruan. You’ve seen it, although the problems they face are different from ours.”
Ruan Xian stared at the air in front of him.
“This is an inextricable question, and I was curious about your answer at the time.”
“But on the subject of ’love’, I was…” Tang Yibu paused halfway and swallowed the rest of his words.
The moonlight was bright. One side of the funeral home was transparent glass. Although the corridors weren’t bright, the details weren’t blurred by the night. Everything faded in the greenish-white moonlight, as if the world was covered with a white tin.
Ruan Xian looked back at Tang Yibu with an equally complicated expression.
“I couldn’t pick out your ‘mistakes’ back then, but now I can. At least my love for you cannot be covered by your report.”
Indeed, the relationship between the two of them was too complicated and special. Tang Yibu realized the problem. Humans generally identified “love” as a positive word. Most people would give positive answers to relevant questions and like to fit them into established patterns, craving a sense of identity.
Countless songs instantly made sense, and everything was normative and safe.
Tang Yibu thought hopelessly that he was indeed wrong back then, not to mention whether Ruan Xian had accurately summarized his feelings and told the truth…
Based on his report alone, he was completely unable to explain his current state. Those inexplicably tangles and bitterness; he was incomparably relaxed when summarizing them, but it tasted extremely heavy.
“…I don’t know if I can find that answer,” Tang Yibu said blankly. His expression looked a bit lonely, as if he was watching his residence and all his possessions being burned by fire.
“I understand what you mean, Mr. Ruan. To deny a set of theories, one counterexample is enough. The topic of ‘love’ is a bit difficult to find, but ‘harm’…”
Perhaps it was more difficult to resonate among people than love.
Not to mention the information he had before the collapse of human society, he already had too many “counterexamples” in the past few months with Mr. Ruan.
He looked at his creator a few steps away and suddenly felt a little sad.
Tang Yibu didn't like the feeling that Ruan Xian was hiding something from him.This feeling was brand new. Since they met, Ruan Xian had kept thousands of things from him, but at that time he didn't care about these small details. They used to be footprints left by birds in the snow, but now they had become nicks drawn from a blade against his skin.Not long after they finished talking, they promised to explore the remaining mysteries between them in a gentler way. Tang Yibu tried to soften Ruan Xian with a kiss and comfort himself, but he was unsuccessful.His heart felt like it was being tickled with a brush made of rabbit fur, and he hated this kind of soft but small anxiety that was impossible to ignore.Ruan Xian had already let go of his hand and walked towards Yu Le, who wasn't far away. He squatted down in front of Zhong Qing and pulled out a thin cap from nowhere, as if he was doing magic tricks. The style was a bit feminine, but the color was a low-key gray. Zhong Qing quietly glanced at Ji Xiaoman, then gratefully took the cap and put it on his head.After putting it on, Zhong Qing's annoying teenage raucous aura came back a bit.Another behavior that he couldn't understand, Tang Yibu thought.As long as Zhong Qing closed his eyes on his head, Ji Xiaoman wouldn't notice. While everyone else knew the truth, it didn't seem to make much difference whether those eyes were exposed or not, but Ruan Xian specifically gave Zhong Qing a hat that he found at some unknown time ago.Logically, Zhong Qing should feel offended. He couldn't figure this out.Tang Yibu silently kept it in his heart and switched to his research mode. Every time he recorded information recently, he felt that he was one step further from the answer to his question. Not to mention that research of harm to others, he couldn't even explain his own unhappiness.It was indeed a difficult subject. His Mr. Ruan promised to discuss it with him at first, but now the other party seemed to have forgotten about it.Tang Yibu thought seriously, and after a while, he started sulking. He went back to the car, opened a small portable backpack, pulled out all the remaining cans of cherry soda in it, and carried it angrily.When he looked back again, Ruan Xian had already begun to ask Ji Xiaoman for specific medical machineryAs a mechanic, Ji Xiaoman didn't carry around machines that she didn't use often, as she preferred to make them on the fly.It was fine when they were separated, but since they were together now, Ji Xiaoman had made an inventory of all the parts in the car. In order to avoid arousing her suspicion, Ruan Xian chose to ask her directly for help.Of course, he could be using this move to give more leeway to Ji Xiaoman, so it would make Professor Ruan indirectly feel like he owes her more favors.This, Tang Yibu could figure out, but Ruan Xian's failure to ask him for help still made him anxious.This makes no sense at all.Tang Yibu lengthened his face and opened a can of cherry soda with murderous intent, intending to use it to quench the dark fire in his stomach.We need a blood drawing device. When the situation stabilizes, I plan to get enough blood samples from Zhong Qing. He has a big problem now, but without the support of the Mainbrain, something unexpected could happen, Ruan Xian said to Ji Xiaoman. There wasn't a single flaw in his sincere expression. It's best if it's durable, as we don't have much inventory.Ji Xiaoman nodded. Understood. We don't have much disinfectant, so use it wisely.We have all seen the basement. There are three direct entrances and four elevator entrances. Of the three direct entrances and exits, two are dedicated to vehicles, and they are thoroughly scanned. The other one is the emergency entrance and exit, which is locked, but we should be able to get through it.Yu Le got down to business immediately.Forget about the elevator. There are different permissions on different floors, and the checks will only increase. You should've seen the stairs. These floors are okay. To get to the higher floors, you'll need to take the elevator up. The Sea of Ruins was a mixed bag of various buildings, so Yu Le had done a lot of research on related issues.But I feel as if somewhere is not solid. After reporting on the situation on his side, Yu Le spoke again. If you want to sleep, someone will rush up to send you a pillow? As soon as we escaped to here, we just happened to encounter Zhong Qing, who had escaped the Mainbrain's surveillance?There's no sign of him being watched, nor is there any tracking device, Professor Ruan said. But it is indeed a coincidence. Still, it's wiser to not choose a riskier path based on conjectures without evidence.Your way of thinking is quite like MUL-01, Yu Le murmured. Are you sure it won't give us a few stumbling blocks?There must be more variables on our side than it thought, Professor Ruan replied calmly.It's getting late. You guys get some sleep for a bit while Mr. Ruan and I determine the commonality of the bodies being transported, Tang Yibu interrupted at the right time as he poured all the remaining cherry soda into his mouth.The person transporting the body had already driven away. There were only a few of them left in this building, so this was the perfect opportunity.He could also take the opportunity to spend more time with Mr. Ruan, and they could talk about his subject. The abacus in Tang Yibu's mind was calculating.You go first, Ruan Xian said. I still have something to investigate.With this, the abacus in Tang Yibu's mind snapped to pieces, and all the abacus beads fell to the ground. He opened his mouth and held back a burp caused by the cherry soda. He didn't know if the pain in his chest was from forcibly holding back his burp or from the sudden unexpected blow. Tang Yibu's heart and nose instantly became sour.He wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction.I'll go up to find you in a bit. You heard what Yu le said. The security system on the top floor is too tight and we can only get there using the elevator. My motor nerves aren't that strong, so I'll only drag you downI'll wait for you on the last floor by the stairs.It seemed that he was aware of Tang Yibu's dissatisfaction, as Ruan Xian quickly explained.Tang Yibu thought that his Mr. Ruan was becoming more cunning. He couldn't pick out any flaws in Ruan Xian's explanation, and there wasn't anything wrong with the other party's statement, but his dissatisfaction didn't disappear because he got a proper explanation and instead only grew stronger.Another novel feeling that gave rise to resentment. Tang Yibu carefully noted this in the small book in his heart.His father was walking in a direction that he couldn't see or control, and it only made his heart churn again. Tang Yibu suddenly became alert, pressed down his heart, and realized that a period of private calmness wasn't bad.To make the other party willingly belong to him, he should probably act more harmless and reliable. Those unknown emotions helped push him in the direction of paranoia and illogicalness, which only made things more frustrating.For a second, he even agreed a little with MUL-01's inventionif he could infiltrate into another's mind and have them simulate these conversations countless of times in advance, perhaps he wouldn't be torn by the unknown, curiosity, caution, and chagrin like how he felt now.Okay. Tang Yibu skillfully controlled the expression on his face; posing it as calm and unruffled.It was just that when he walked around the corner, Tang Yibu glanced back quietlyRuan Xian was talking to the little three-legged machine. Unfortunately, at the distance he was at, Tang Yibu, who didn't have the S-type Prototype, couldn't hear their conversation.He stepped on the stairs regretfully.Exploration was extremely boring. This was commonplace in his previous life. Now, Tang Yibu only felt like it was the dregs of sugarcane that had been chewed on.In the middle of the night, he searched with a sad face from the ground to the top floor, then back from the top to the lowest floor without stairs. Since there weren't any cameras to capture him, Tang Yibu no longer held up his faade and let his face wrinkle like abitter melon.The conclusion was good. Compared with a weird but slow-developing disease like Zhong Qing, the Mainbrain preferred a strange disease with extremely fast development and high lethality. By processing and mixing those deadly things, Tang Yibu could imagine all kinds of death scenarios; whether it was through blood, rotten flesh, or pus, the process of his death wouldn't exceed five minutes.When he thought of this, his face wrinkled even more.If it weren't for having the A-type Prototype in his hand, Tang Yibu would really like to stuff his cybernetic brain into some steel creation rather than stay in a fragile body like this.Yibu, you After ruling out all hidden dangers in advance, Tang Yibu imagined so intently that he didn't notice Ruan Xian, who was waiting for him not far away. The latter was looking at his wrinkled face while addressing him in a complicated tone.Ruan Xian was carrying a very close-fitting backpack, and his mood and tone were equally complicated. He had never seen such an expression on Tang Yibu's facethat beautiful face was wrinkled in pain, as if he had eaten something extremely sour, and his temperament was a bit like a sad sandpiper.The moment he saw him, Tang Yibu reluctantly eliminated that expression, like a hot steaming iron pressing out the wrinkles on his clothes. Ruan Xian was surprised to see the android had ironed out his face full of bitterness and replaced it with a standard smile.Take this. He felt amused as he took off his backpack and handed it to Tang Yibu.What? Tang Yibu obediently took it.I asked Professor Ruan something about the S-type Prototype. I hadn't grasped the feeling when I fought against Z- before, but now I have a lot of clarity in my thoughts.Ruan Xian unzipped his backpack and took out a contraption similar in size to an asthma inhaler.This is compressed blood powder I purified with my blood gun. I simply removed the useless blood cells, so it looks like an ordinary medicine powder. Ji Xiaoman's hands are quite fast. The blood drawer is more efficient than my blood gun.Tang Yibu looked at Ruan Xian puzzledly. I thought you didn't plan to cooperate with Professor Ruan.In order to prevent you from exploding like R-, I added a lot of buffer ingredients. You have to strictly control the dosage yourself. I'll talk to you about this in detail later. I also have the information on the electronic manual of the bottledon't look at me like that. This asthma inhaler has been changed. Ruan Xian dodged his question.Are you going to side with the Mainbrain? This time, Tang Yibu didn't plan to simply let Ruan Xian control the topic.No. Ruan Xian smiled. Just in casethe Mainbrain has its eyes on you. If it happens to separate you from us, I may not have time to save you. It never hurts to be prepared.Tang Yibu began to officially hate this kind of trickle-down talk.His father and his Mr. Ruan wouldn't talk to him like this before. Now though, Ruan Xian would act like this Of course, it was also possible that he had done this many times before, but recently he had only started to mind these aspects.I'll take it with me. Tang Yibu walked away as he replied sullenly. He grabbed the two medicine bottles and stuffed them into a close-concealed pocket.Ruan Xian touched Tang Yibu's hair with relief, ruffling it gently.There's no need to worry about Zhong Qing's side for now. Tang Yibu enjoyed the other party's touch for a moment. He's not on the list.Very good. Ruan Xian breathed a sigh of relief.I want to talk to you about my subject, Mr. Ruan. Tang Yibu spoke as he rubbed himself over; his eyes glowed in the shadowy corridor. You said you would discuss it with me.If you want to get the answer for me, I can only tell you with regret that I haven't found the answer yet.Tang Yibu's face showed a look of you cheat on it.I just think that for some questions, maybe people who can't find the answer' are more suitable for survival than those who can find the answer'. For example, Yu Le and Professor Ruan. You've seen it, although the problems they face are different from ours.Ruan Xian stared at the air in front of him.This is an inextricable question, and I was curious about your answer at the time.But on the subject of 'love', I was Tang Yibu paused halfway and swallowed the rest of his words.The moonlight was bright. One side of the funeral home was transparent glass. Although the corridors weren't bright, the details weren't blurred by the night. Everything faded in the greenish-white moonlight, as if the world was covered with a white tin.Ruan Xian looked back at Tang Yibu with an equally complicated expression.I couldn't pick out your mistakes' back then, but now I can. At least my love for you cannot be covered by your report.Indeed, the relationship between the two of them was too complicated and special. Tang Yibu realized the problem. Humans generally identified love as a positive word. Most people would give positive answers to relevant questions and like to fit them into established patterns, craving a sense of identity.Countless songs instantly made sense, and everything was normative and safe.Tang Yibu thought hopelessly that he was indeed wrong back then, not to mention whether Ruan Xian had accurately summarized his feelings and told the truthBased on his report alone, he was completely unable to explain his current state. Those inexplicably tangles and bitterness; he was incomparably relaxed when summarizing them, but it tasted extremely heavy.I don't know if I can find that answer, Tang Yibu said blankly. His expression looked a bit lonely, as if he was watching his residence and all his possessions being burned by fire.I understand what you mean, Mr. Ruan. To deny a set of theories, one counterexample is enough. The topic of love' is a bit difficult to find, but harm'Perhaps it was more difficult to resonate among people than love.Not to mention the information he had before the collapse of human society, he already had too many counterexamples in the past few months with Mr. Ruan.He looked at his creator a few steps away and suddenly felt a little sad.
