DBMEP CH77

Chapter 77: “Me and My Robot Husband”

Xin Zhui admitted that when he heard Luo Xiu say that, he wasn’t moved in the slightest; instead, he felt the urge to hit someone.

Luo Xiu might think that sacrificing himself heroically and swearing to live or die with Gusu City was incredibly noble, but Xin Zhui didn’t want to die yet.

He quietly left his house at night and headed to the Lower City District. Draping a low-profile black coat over himself, he hid his face behind a crimson mask.

The early hours of the morning were exactly when the Lower City District was at its liveliest. The buildings here were interconnected, with neon lights and shop signs everywhere. Residential and commercial units were mixed together within the same building, with no clear division.

Walking through the moldy stairwells, one could even hear the roar of biker gangs speeding on motorcycles on the streets overhead. At any corner, one might find a passed-out drug addict lying on the ground, skinny as a skeleton, looking like a living corpse.

Xin Zhui walked into a board game cafe.

The deputy mayor had been interrogated for a week without giving up who his superior was—because his superior was currently interrogating him on behalf of the Human Alliance’s violent institutions.

Xin Zhui beat him while staring at him with a half-smile. The deputy mayor didn’t dare say a word; his family had previously transferred to the surface with massive wealth, and they were likely still in the hands of the Divine Court.

Xin Zhui’s baptismal name translated to “Uriel”; in the Divine Court’s language, the word meant “Radiance.”

Inside a private room, four people were already waiting for him. Everyone wore the same crimson oni mask on their faces. The five people present represented the Divine Court’s protracted infiltration of the underground cities.

“Why didn’t the solvent work?” Xin Zhui spoke first. His voice was deep, like an elderly man’s, completely different from his usual tone. “Can someone give me an explanation?”

Xin Zhui had originally told the deputy mayor that as long as he passively handled the epidemic in Gusu City, he could help him get elected as mayor. Gusu City had several deputy mayors, and this one was in charge of the healthcare system.

The plan had actually been going very smoothly; the original mayor died in a terrorist attack. The only variable was Luo Xiu parachuting into Gusu and becoming the acting mayor.

The Divine Court’s true goal was to occupy Gusu City, just as they had occupied Yinshan City back then.

They wanted order in Gusu City to collapse so the people here would feel abandoned by the Human Alliance. In that moment of absolute despair, the Divine Court’s missionaries and Apocalypse Knights would descend from the heavens with the antidote and the Gospel, saving the people from their misery.

The surviving citizens wouldn’t even need incitement; they would willingly become the Divine Court’s most devout believers and harbor intense hatred for the Human Alliance that abandoned them.

“You’re too tense, Uriel.” A figure in a black robe chuckled, the voice sounding female. “The fall of Gusu City was part of the plan anyway. Whether the solvent worked or not isn’t important.”

“But the solvent given to pacify him back then wasn’t a fake.” Xin Zhui’s hands, hidden beneath his black robes, clenched into fists. “Of course I’m tense, because that idiot Luo Xiu is infected.”

Another person joined the conversation: “Sariel has inexplicably lost contact, and his soul hasn’t returned to the Divine Kingdom. He couldn’t possibly have eloped with Xiang Chenxi. And what about the Holy Spirit? What exactly happened on the surface? Uriel, why don’t you have the Human Alliance people go take a look?”

“Already sent.”

Time was tight, and everyone was busy; getting together wasn’t easy, so the topic quickly shifted elsewhere, discussing the preliminary occupation plan for Gusu City.

The biggest advantage of meeting offline was that it left no data trails. They didn’t want to challenge the Observer’s capabilities just yet.

Xin Zhui: “So none of you know the reason either? Has no one thought about the consequences of the infectious disease spiraling out of control?”

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment. Outside, noisy music blared.

The voice of the woman from earlier rang out: “Are you questioning His Holiness the Pope’s decisions? Uriel, the fire of your soul is wavering. What is bewitching you?”

Xin Zhui bit his lip slightly, saying nothing.

Someone lowered their head and traced a cross over their chest: “God will bless you and me.”

This was the sign to conclude.

The others followed suit, moving in perfect unison: “God will bless you and me.”

It was 2:00 AM when the meeting dispersed. Xin Zhui hid his mask and burned his black robe.

He went into a bar, danced intimately with a host whose face he couldn’t even see clearly, spent money, and ordered an expensive “Dragon Set” of drinks.

Drunk and woozy, Xin Zhui checked the time, figured it was about right, and wrapped his arm around a young boy next to him: “Know how to drive? College boy?”

He brought the stranger home at 6:00 AM. The moment he opened the door, Xin Zhui realized someone was there, but he showed no reaction, intimately kissing the college student in the entryway.

That was until the living room lights suddenly flicked on. Luo Xiu sat on the sofa, staring at him expressionlessly, looking exactly like a cuckolded husband catching his spouse cheating.

The college student froze for a second, then slapped Xin Zhui: “Are you crazy?! You have someone at home, and you still go out for hookups!” He stormed out furiously.

And so, only he and Luo Xiu remained in the room.

Xin Zhui unbuttoned his shirt, changed into slippers, and stumbled toward the dining room to get water: “Is it urgent? You didn’t even call. What are you doing waiting for me in the living room? You scared off my hookup.”

Luo Xiu spoke bluntly: “Someone identified your photo.”

It was the driver for the deputy mayor who said he thought he had seen Xin Zhui. But that shouldn’t be the case; Xin Zhui had been by Luo Xiu’s side the entire time.

“Such a low-level attempt to sow discord,” Xin Zhui smirked indifferently, draping his arm over Luo Xiu’s shoulder. “You came looking for me just for this?”

He laughed, his breath reeking of alcohol.

Luo Xiu rubbed the space between his brows: “I originally came to talk to you, but you weren’t here. Did you have to mess around at a time like this?”

“I’m under a lot of stress. Your dad nags me every day, telling me to knock you out and drag you back. He was the one who wanted you to come here in the first place, but the moment things look bad, the wind changes direction fast.” Xin Zhui’s tone unconsciously carried a hint of sarcasm. In his raised hand, the water in the glass sloshed violently. “You’re his only son. He treats you like a treasure. Why don’t you just listen to him?”

Luo Xiu grabbed his collar, pinned him to the sofa, and locked eyes with his deep red pupils for three seconds.

Xin Zhui shoved the water glass into Luo Xiu’s face, slightly dissatisfied: “You made me spill my water.”

Luo Xiu said slowly, “There’s a press conference at 8:00. Don’t be late.”

He walked to the door, opened it, and left. Only then did Xin Zhui realize Luo Xiu hadn’t even changed his shoes.

The smile on Xin Zhui’s face slowly faded. He stared at the closed door. A long time later, he raised a hand to cover his eyes and let out a weary sigh.

Gusu City was in deep water, with undercurrents surging. Most of the public was still kept in the dark, completely unaware that the highly anticipated vaccine research had hit a dead end.

__

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away, the Eternal City was flourishing. Even the wild chives by the roadside were growing more gratifyingly than usual.

A passing cafeteria auntie stopped, unable to resist harvesting a patch of chives, planning to make chive pockets for dinner.

She pressed her palms together, her expression devout: “Thank the Lord for bestowing us with chives.”

This was her old prayer; the only difference was that “God” had been replaced with “Lord.”

A few meters away, Xiao Fu stood by the roadside, tilting its head to look at her.

Gospel recorded: “The citizens have just been liberated by the base. For the past decades of their lives, they believed in God. Now, the ethereal God has a concrete form.

“I don’t know if this is good or bad. Perhaps the people on the surface simply need a spiritual pillar, believing that someone will save them from the miseries of life.”

Xiao Fu’s large, cannonball-like eyes darted around: “Speaking of which, this Divine Court nonsense was originally created by Ecclesiastes, who claimed theology was more suited to the current state of the surface.”

A child snuck up to Xiao Fu, crouched down in front of it, patted its metal head, and whispered, “Hey, little dog. I want to eat the chicken legs from the cafeteria; can you buy them for me?”

Xiao Fu: “I have no money.”

The child was startled by the deep male baritone it spat out and walked away disappointed.

Gospel: “Another strange policy Xiang Nanli implemented: robots can also receive wages. The base’s robots can use their wages to exchange for hardware and software. But the robots in the city can only exchange them for living supplies they can’t even use.

“I wonder who was the first to discover this bug, making robots buy things for them without having to pay. Most robots that have sprouted the Humanization Virus will comply. Is feeding humans inherently in every robot’s nature? Should I have Xiang Nanli patch this bug? It’s beneficial for the great unity between robots and humans, but it will also cause trouble. Who wouldn’t want a robot slave?”

…

…

Dongfang Qingdi had completed the debugging and repair of the radio base station. Without receiving any new directives, he didn’t exert his subjective initiative, but rather shifted his attention to things that interested him.

While Xiang Nanli was working, he sat on the sofa behind him, reading romance novels on a tablet.

The novels were saved in his database, and he had no idea why there was all sorts of electronic junk in there.

This book was called Me and My Robot Husband. The author had died hundreds of years ago, and it was a love story between a human and an AI. The role the AI played here was absolutely no different from an “Overbearing CEO,” “Best Actor,” or “Regent.”

Yes, he was genuinely studying. Even though he could load the text document with a single click, perhaps the act of reading would give him a different perspective.

Dongfang Qingdi’s expression was stern and focused; it was completely impossible to tell he was slacking off.

The story reached a point where the human used the robot’s trust to impersonate the robot’s authority, transmitting false data to “Alpha,” resulting in a lost war…

Outside the story, Alpha scoffed, thinking he would never be incompetent to that degree.

This robot was viewed as a traitor by its companions. In its rage, it subjected the human who used it to coercive love.

Dongfang Qingdi’s motion of turning the page couldn’t help but pause.

Harboring a subtle mood, he replaced the human’s name in the document with “Li Li” and the robot’s name with “Dongfang Qing.” The filthy language that followed finally became pleasing to the eye.

Dongfang Qingdi’s mental journey evolved alongside the plot as follows: Wait, we Omnics never commit domestic violence… but this author writes pretty well; I’ll tolerate it.

What kind of garbage plot is this? Operating like an electric piledriver for 24 hours straight—the human body would break down, right?? But it’s very easy to self-insert; I’ll tolerate it.

…Are you crazy?! How can a human get pregnant with a mechanical baby?! Oh, it’s cognitive modification. Surprisingly reasonable.

As he was reading, Xiang Nanli’s voice suddenly came from ahead: “Xiao Qing. We’re running out of money, and the city’s resources can only last another two months… Huh, why are your ears red?”

Dongfang Qingdi shut down the tablet in an instant and spoke calmly: “I was learning. My CPU is a bit overloaded.”

Xiang Nanli felt a profound sense of awe in his heart. What kind of complex model could make even Xiao Qing feel strained?

It must be a classified secret of the Omnic Legion; he’d better not ask.

Providing 70,000 people with a relatively decent life cost far more than the extravagant waste of 70 people. Originally, the gruel the serfs ate cost less than cow feed, which allowed the Eternal City to have surplus agricultural products for export. But now, the daily supply for the cafeteria alone was an astronomical figure.

After a brief thought, Dongfang Qingdi said, “Trade, technology, war. Pick one.”

Worthy of being called a war criminal by Xiao Fu, the word “war” was actually emphasized!

Xiang Nanli shook his head frantically: “War is a no-go. If the purpose of war is plunder, people will still be exploited. Technology… Xiao Qing, is the radio working now? Can we connect it to the laboratory?”

To make his work more convenient, Beichen had also installed a charging station in the laboratory. Usually, only he and 03 were here.

He was currently focused on calculating the concentration of the solution used to feed the fungi today.

After not seeing it for a week, the originally palm-sized experimental fungus had expanded into a carpet. It clung to a large rock in the corner, and pink, branch-like forks sprouted from the sacs on its surface. Those were new fungi.

Actually, the fungus had also evolved in other directions, but Beichen felt something was off and cut them all away. The severed parts were kept only as small samples and sealed in the freezer. The rest were sterilized.

As he calculated, the phone in the laboratory rang.

This phone was dismantled by Xiang Nanli from the broadcasting station’s equipment. Beichen always thought it was just a decoration and never expected it to actually ring.

He walked over and picked it up. Xiang Nanli’s voice came through: “Xiao Bei! Can you hear me? It’s Xiang Nanli!”

“Yes.”

“How is the experiment going? Have you encountered any difficulties?”

Xiang Nanli quickly paid the price for his politeness, because Beichen honestly detailed the difficulties he had encountered, and Xiang Nanli couldn’t understand a word.

Xiang Nanli: “Xiao Bei, it seems I can’t help with the experiment’s methodology. Should I call Xiao Fu over? Or Andrew? Do you remember Andrew?”

“They won’t do,” Beichen replied without a second thought. “I will list out the materials needed for the subsequent experimental design. If possible, please buy them for me as soon as possible. Otherwise, there is no way to proceed with the next step of the experiment.”

Beichen rattled off a dozen terms in one breath, which Xiang Nanli conveniently had Xiao Zhi record in the background.

These were specifically filtered by Beichen, taking Xiang Nanli’s meager funds into consideration. Most were cheap substitutes that would require secondary extraction once acquired. Aside from some common reagents, there were also very niche, highly concentrated botulinum toxins.

Xiang Nanli finally brought up the main purpose of this call: “Xiao Bei, I discovered a variant of the Black Silk Spore Fungus in the Eternal City. I sent it to you via a Hummingbird Drone. Remember to receive it. And what about those seeds you were cultivating before? Have they sprouted?”

Beichen’s gaze shifted to the other laboratory room. The temperature there was kept at a constant 25 degrees, and most of the seeds were soaking in semi-open glass containers: “Currently, the germination rate of the seeds is less than ten percent. The best-growing ones in the petri dishes are cruciferous plants, but I cannot guarantee the yield either. 03 has the experiment logs. Would you like me to read them to you?”

Xiang Nanli felt that a person shouldn’t bring humiliation upon themselves.

He hadn’t expected that not only had they failed to find a method to increase crop yield, but they now faced another urgent expense.

Just as Xiang Nanli was about to hang up, Beichen’s voice came through once again.

He said hesitantly: “By the way, although I haven’t successfully developed a recovery drug, I have synthesized an inhibitor. However, I haven’t conducted animal testing yet; the inhibitor is only theoretically viable.”

A brilliant light suddenly ignited in Xiang Nanli’s eyes.

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