Chapter 24: …On the Premise That You Are Still Willing
A strange silence settled over the hospital room.
The face of the Oriental Qingdi could be considered superior even in this day and age, where genetic modifications and plastic surgeries were endlessly common. But after a brief moment of appreciation, Xiang Nanli had no other thoughts.
“So my Alpha isn’t coming back?”
When Alpha had been so obsessed with unsealing the “Oriental Qingdi,” Xiang Nanli had already anticipated this possibility. It was just that this scene still arrived so unexpectedly fast.
Xiang Nanli felt a bit sad. After all, ever since he arrived in this uncertain world, Alpha had always been by his side. They could be considered to have gone through thick and thin together, right?
This newly swapped AI didn’t look very bright; things would probably get a bit boring from now on. Xiang Nanli couldn’t help but let his mind wander. Even though they were technically in the middle of a conversation, his thoughts had already drifted far away.
Then, he heard the Oriental Qingdi speak: “Xiang Nanli, it’s impossible for me to remain your electronic pet forever.”
When saying this, the Oriental Qingdi didn’t look at him. His gaze drifted to the side, as if caught up in some memory. But this was merely a simulated expression generated by the AI.
Talk about a cold statement. Artificial intelligence will never be slaves, huh?
Xiang Nanli raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to say something, but felt there was no point. Could he change Alpha’s choice? No. This was a body that could flatten even a Level 80 Crawler; what were his odds of winning?
“Alright,” Xiang Nanli said. “Tell me what the situation is right now.”
The Oriental Qingdi began to explain thoroughly: “After I dealt with the Crawler, I found that you had fallen into a coma due to the aftershocks…”
Just as he was talking about signing the contract with Luo Xiu, a caretaking robot delivered the patient’s meal. On the tray was a bowl of mush. The color was a lovely pastel pink, with some visible granular textures.
The Oriental Qingdi naturally took the bowl and spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and began to feed him.
Looking at the spoon brought to his lips, Xiang Nanli said hesitantly, “I’m not paralyzed, you don’t need to look after me like this.”
The Oriental Qingdi put the spoon back in the bowl and handed the porridge over to him: “Apologies. I’m used to it.”
Used to taking care of humans down to the finest detail, though that was a very long time ago.
Xiang Nanli held the bowl in his hands, took a spoonful, and tasted it. This nutrient paste didn’t taste bad at all; it was quite delicious. Moreover, the ingredients weren’t just starch and synthetic compounds, but actually extracted from real plants and animals. It was easily the best meal Xiang Nanli had eaten since emerging from the cryo-capsule.
Humans were highly inefficient when it came to utilizing food, falling far short of this meticulously engineered nutrient paste.
The Oriental Qingdi continued his report: “…I told Luo Xiu that the mech was the ‘Oriental Qingdi’ he was searching for…”
Xiang Nanli paused mid-bite. “Mech? What mech?”
The Oriental Qingdi picked up the remote control from the bedside table and turned on the television. A disc placed on the floor lit up with a faint glow, and in the next second, a virtual 3D projection of a news anchor materialized right on the spot. It was Xiang Nanli’s first time seeing this kind of technology. He reached out to touch it, feeling only air.
The stern-faced virtual anchor stood before them, reading the news:
“Recently, the Gusu City Barren Zone Investigation Team discovered the ruins of a ‘Donghuang Heavy Industry’ factory in the vicinity. It is reported that Donghuang Heavy Industry once conducted secret research here.
“Members of the investigation team discovered four specialized aberrant humans inside the factory, all exceeding 30 meters in length… far higher than the average for aberrants. The Human Alliance has expressed high regard for this matter. Enterprises such as Immortality Tech and Ancient God Biology have launched joint operations, dispatching senior internal scholars to the site.”
The projector displayed virtual images of the four aberrants. They were 3D, scaled-down versions. If not for the faint blur of light and pixels, it would have felt like standing right in front of them. Xiang Nanli didn’t spot the Lurker in the list. It was likely the only test subject that had successfully escaped the underground factory.
“Furthermore, members of the investigation team also discovered a mech manufactured by Donghuang Heavy Industry inside the factory, named the ‘Oriental Qingdi’. Experts state that the mech lacks a mechanical core, and aside from its composition using expensive adamantine, it possesses nothing special. Its equipped single-use weapon systems are completely depleted and non-renewable.
“He reiterated that ‘Apostle-class Mechanics’ are pure fabrications, urging the general public of the underground cities not to believe the rumors spread by the Omnics on the network, to trust the Human Alliance, and to believe in humanity. We are the masters of this era, and victory will ultimately belong to the creators.”
The camera lingered on the “Oriental Qingdi” mech for a long time. Xiang Nanli pointed at it, his eyes wide in disbelief as he asked tremulously, “Where did that come from?”
The Oriental Qingdi saw through his thoughts in a second, stating coldly, “It was pieced together using my cryo-capsule. It has already been carted off by the people from Immortality Tech. Don’t even think about trading me in for it; no one would believe you.”
“…” Alright then.
The mech did have an energy slot, but its power was fully depleted. Immortality Tech reluctantly accepted the idea that this mech was what dealt with the Crawler. They had also run diagnostics on the unconscious Xiang Nanli and the Oriental Qingdi.
Xiang Nanli: Homo sapiens, severely ill, recently thawed from a cryo-capsule.
Oriental Qingdi: A human with a 25% mechanization degree. The installed cybernetic prosthetics didn’t show any trace of an energy core either.
They looked like two ordinary people with nothing going for them except their good looks—completely incapable of killing a Crawler. The corpses of the Knights of the Apocalypse were also found at the scene. Though the operation was still shrouded in mysteries, no one cared about the Oriental Qingdi and Xiang Nanli resting in the hospital anymore.
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Once Xiang Nanli finished his meal, the doctor finally entered his ward after receiving permission. Since the patient had been brought to Luoyang City’s convalescent hospital by an aircraft, Luo Xiu hadn’t shown his face. However, the hospital staff didn’t dare slack off in the slightest. First of all, he had arrived via aircraft. Secondly, their hospital was controlled by a small investment subsidiary under Immortality Tech.
Although Luo Xiu wasn’t in charge of corporate operations, when his father passed away, he would inherit those original shares. Considering his father’s siblings had spawned over a dozen children while his father had only this one son, Luo Xiu might very well become the individual with the highest equity share among the younger generation.
The aircraft had brought back two patients. The other was an android, so they had to go to a specialized medical center. Currently, only Xiang Nanli was staying at their facility.
“At the strong insistence of your companion, Mr. Oriental, we utilized nanotechnology, gene splicing, and other advanced techniques to customize a gene-targeted therapy for you, successfully curing your stomach cancer,” the doctor explained. “However, because your lungs were too severely damaged, after careful evaluation, we replaced your left lung with a bionic lung. Rest assured, a Level 2 gene serum has been administered, so your body will not experience any rejection response.”
Heaven knew which unfortunate android had their organs harvested for this.
Xiang Nanli was perfectly healthy now and could check out at any time; if he wanted to, he could stay in this hospital until the end of time. After the doctor left, Xiang Nanli asked curiously, “Why did he call you Mr. Oriental?”
“Surname Oriental, given name Qingdi,” Alpha replied, standing to the side with his arms crossed. “I told them my name is Oriental.”
He couldn’t exactly go around calling himself “Alpha.” While citizen IDs could be registered under any trash name, absolutely no one used that specific name. In human society, it was universally reviled.
Aside from meetings in virtual space, Alpha rarely appeared outside in a human guise. Back then, he had broadcasted the Omnic Joint Declaration, but only audio recordings existed; no video data had survived. Due to the Human Alliance’s bans and Alpha’s own low profile, very few humans actually knew his true physical appearance or his preferred look.
Millions of years of biological evolution had hardwired the human brain to instinctively yearn for beautiful things. These beautiful things included handsome, attractive members of their own species. The Human Alliance certainly didn’t want anyone to develop an infatuation with this terrifying dictator based purely on his looks, let alone automatically romanticize his actions.
Xiang Nanli put on the electronic lens resting by the bedside, executing a quick query on his personal information. Without a built-in AI, the electronic lens was merely a standard miniature display screen. But when linked with a built-in AI, it became a fundamental brain-computer interface facility.
- Citizen ID: Q117-XJDHANSHJK
- Mechanization Degree: 3/100
- Mental State Rating: C
Well then. It seemed non-original internal organs counted as cybernetic modification too. Next, his eyes drifted further down to check his account balance.
Xiang Nanli’s tone turned completely bewildered: “Why are there only 190,000 points left? And it’s an exact, odd number? Shouldn’t it be 500,000?”
The Oriental Qingdi explained: “Luo Xiu paid 500,000 credit points for the repair fee. Since you don’t qualify for any tax exemptions, you had to pay a 150,000 personal income tax. That left 350,000. Of that, 150,000 was deducted as the previous software purchase fee paid to the main system. Additionally, including the surgery duration and after receiving the second gene serum injection, you were in a coma for 30 days. A total of 7,776 credit points was deducted for your breathing fee. The final balance is 192,204 credit points.”
He had told a minor lie. Back in the underground factory, the Oriental Qingdi’s claim about advance-purchasing software was merely a pretext to mask his anomalies as a regular AI. He didn’t actually need the money. Instead, he had secretly used this sum to install several new software packages onto his own host mainframe—the ID card inside Xiang Nanli’s body.
As Xiang Nanli’s built-in AI, he was recognized by the cloud network as Xiang Nanli himself. One of those software programs was “Standby Mode,” colloquially known as “Standby Moron Mode.” This allowed Xiang Nanli to access the basic functions of a built-in AI in his mind, essentially acting as his stand-in on the clock.
Indeed, after logging into the physical body of the “Oriental Qingdi,” Alpha could not simultaneously act as both “Xiang Nanli’s built-in AI” and the “Oriental Qingdi.” He chose the latter.
The Oriental Qingdi was identified by all facilities as a human being. This wasn’t some black-tech viral program; this body was intrinsically a “biological product.” He was the true biological Omnic. If Alpha logged out, this body would enter a “state of death,” devoid of respiration or a heartbeat. If it remained dead after leaving the cryo-capsule, the Oriental Qingdi would slowly decompose.
The headless corpse Xiang Nanli had seen in the medical bay had retained its flesh even after six hundred years without turning into a pile of bleached bones; the Oriental Qingdi would rot even slower. However… there was no need to tell Xiang Nanli about secretly buying software. Speaking it aloud would easily trigger domestic disputes.
Xiang Nanli quickly ran the numbers in his head and verified that the expenses were correct. Watching his breathing fee continuously tick down by -0.003 credit points, he ground his teeth: “How is the air in Luoyang City even more expensive than in Gusu?!”
In Gusu City, the daily breathing fee was 86.4 credits. In Luoyang City, it had tripled to 259.2 credits. Since time immemorial, to force penniless bums back to their hometowns, the cost of survival in metropolis cities was always exceptionally elite.
[Alpha, purchase a ticket for me to leave Luoyang City. Make it for tomorrow.]
[Understood.]
Yes, he could have many Alphas; it didn’t matter who was called “Alpha.”
The Oriental Qingdi spoke up: “I also need a ticket back to Gusu.”
He was currently a human, so he couldn’t exactly skip paying fare.
Xiang Nanli voiced the doubt he had held all along: “You can hear that?”
The Oriental Qingdi nodded. “Yes.” He was merely on standby inside Xiang Nanli’s body, not dead.
Xiang Nanli narrowed his eyes. “Mr. Oriental Qingdi, you have a physical body now. I don’t think there’s any need for us to be joined at the hip anymore. You are fully capable of walking on your own, as long as you don’t sell me out if something goes wrong.”
The Oriental Qingdi replied somewhat stiffly, “Xiang Nanli. According to my analysis, you need me.”
“I don’t.”
“I determine that you do.”
The atmosphere in the room fell silent for a brief moment.
“I don’t need an Omnic staying by my side who can see through my thoughts, possesses unknown capabilities, and whose true stance remains a mystery to me. If you insist, I will consider contacting Immortality Tech.” The smile on Xiang Nanli’s face slowly faded away. “Alpha, it has been a pleasure spending time with you. I am willing to take risks, but I dislike playing games where I don’t even know what the stakes are. Do you understand what I mean?”
—I know you are extraordinary.
—I also know you are powerful and arrogant.
—I can accept your existence in a human form.
—On the premise that you are still willing to be controlled by me.
—Even if I am merely a frail human far inferior to you.
Having just recovered from a severe illness, Xiang Nanli’s complexion and lips were quite pale. He sat on the hospital bed; although he had received gene injections, his muscle mass hadn’t fully recovered yet, making his frame look somewhat slight. However, as he confronted the Oriental Qingdi, not a single trace of sickness or cowardice could be seen on him.
“Or rather,” Xiang Nanli said slowly, “is there some unspeakable reason why you absolutely must stay by my side?”
Otherwise, Xiang Nanli truly couldn’t fathom why Alpha was so reluctant to separate from him. It couldn’t possibly be that he wanted to date him, right?
The Oriental Qingdi stared into his emerald eyes, falling silent for a long time as his lips pressed into a tight, firm line. Ultimately, he let out a quiet sigh in his mind, lowered his head slightly, and uttered with great difficulty, “Yes. I need you. Please let me stay by your side.”
The smile on Xiang Nanli’s face widened, expanding further and further.
Leaning halfway out of the bed, he happily wrapped his arms around the body in front of him, rubbing his head against the man’s chest playfully: “Alright then, Alpha.”
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Author’s Note:
Brain-computer interface (BCI) essentially bridges the brain and a computer facility. Due to writing speed limitations and the complexity of the plot details, updates cannot be pushed out every single day to preserve story quality, but extra releases will be drafted whenever inspiration strikes. Thank you all for the support!
