Among the several bioroids present, except for Sang Fan, all recognized the voice of the Teacher.
Although none of them had been directly trained by the Teacher, even these usually composed bioroids all simultaneously raised their heads when they heard the voice. Shocked, they couldn’t maintain their usual calm at such a critical moment when controlling their emotions was vital.
“Xing Bi, is that you?”
The Teacher’s voice came again through the receiver.
Xing Bi didn’t answer, but Qiu Shi could see the enormous emotional turmoil in him.
“How are you here?”
“Teacher?” Xing Bi asked.
“He’s not the Teacher!” Qiu Shi shouted, without hesitation jumping into the fountain pool, rushing forward to snatch the receiver. But Xing Bi held it tightly.
“Damn your entire eight hundred generations of ancestors!” Qiu Shi cursed at the receiver, trying to pull the receiver away from Xing Bi’s ear by tugging his hand.
But Xing Bi seemed somewhat frozen; Qiu Shi couldn’t pull him.
Ji Sui rushed over and slapped the hang-up button on the phone.
The call was cut off.
At the same time, Qiu Shi slapped Xing Bi across the face.
Xing Bi let out a soft sigh, slowly lowering his hand and putting the receiver back on the phone.
“That’s not the Teacher!” Qiu Shi said, looking at Xing Bi. “The Teacher is gone, doesn’t exist anymore. The memory in the General is only a tiny fragment of his consciousness, that’s not really him.”
“I know,” Xing Bi replied softly.
“You have to let this go,” Qiu Shi said.
“I haven’t…” Xing Bi looked at him. “I can’t let go, it’s just too sudden.”
“You’re a first-class bioroid, you’re a top-tier stealth guard,” Qiu Shi said, “Sudden? I already got over it!”
“I just wanted to hear his voice,” Xing Bi said, “It’s been so long.”
Qiu Shi said nothing. At that moment, he suddenly felt how close Xing Bi was to being human.
“The Teacher said, you don’t need him anymore,” Qiu Shi said.
“Hmm,” Xing Bi responded, then suddenly reached out and hugged him tightly.
“What’s wrong?” Sang Fan asked anxiously. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…No.” Xing Bi released Qiu Shi.
Qiu Shi glanced at Sang Fan, then added, “I’m not hurt either.”
“Okay.” Sang Fan nodded.
“That was 249,” Qiu Shi looked at the phone. “Honestly, the Teacher’s trick of speaking like this is ruthless but low-level. He used such a cheap method because…”
Because why?
Before he could finish, the super-bioroid silently raising its head suddenly emitted a high-frequency ringing sound that Qiu Shi had heard before.
It was to cause this.
To distract Xing Bi the moment he heard the Teacher’s voice, making him lose control over the super-bioroid.
But before Qiu Shi could react, Xing Bi punched the super-bioroid’s throat. His arm pierced through its neck and emerged at the back, blood dripping from his hand, which grasped the small cube at the back of the super-bioroid’s neck.
As the super-bioroid slowly fell backward, the red telephone rang again.
“I’m not answering,” Feng Zhi said.
“I will,” Qiu Shi said.
Contacting 249 was not easy. Now that 249 was coming to them, it was a rare opportunity. Regardless of 249’s intentions, it meant he could no longer hide online pretending to be a god.
Qiu Shi picked up the receiver.
He had never used such an old-fashioned phone before. After examining it briefly, he put it to his ear.
“Your coal stack has been disabled by us,” he said.
Only static came from the receiver, no reply.
“What? Are you finding there’s no one worth learning from in front of me? I have no parents, just killed my brother, no attachments at all.”
“Let Xing Bi talk to me,” the voice of Li Feng came from the receiver.
Qiu Shi was indeed taken aback. Even prepared, he was stunned.
The voice and tone were exactly like Li Feng’s. He immediately understood how Xing Bi had felt hearing the Teacher’s voice just now.
“Brother Shi,” the voice suddenly changed again.
“Zhao Lü?” Qiu Shi instinctively responded, then scolded, “So this is the little trick you can do.”
“My skills are limited, but you humans still go crazy over such a small trick. Humans and bioroids with human emotions are just this fragile,” the voice changed to a gentle female voice, “Xiao Shi, have you heard your mother’s voice? The lullaby she sang to you, you probably don’t remember it…”
Qiu Shi felt his breath hitch.
He had no memories or feelings about his parents—no love, no hate, no longing, and never thought about them.
But hearing “mother” spoken so gently, he felt emotions hidden deep inside him, emotions he had never noticed before.
At that moment, the anger inside him ignited like a fire.
“He’s trying to provoke you,” Xing Bi said.
“Let him provoke,” Qiu Shi cursed, “Who the hell do you think you are? Just a pile of empty data shells. You imitate very well, but have you ever met these people? Can you see them? Hear them? How long have you lived? Two hundred years? Three hundred? Where are you? Who knows where you are? No one’s seen you, no one knows you, you even have to steal others’ voices to speak…”
Qiu Shi shouted nonstop at the phone. The other side, 249, fell silent.
When Xing Bi reached to take the phone, Song Heng’s voice came through the earpiece: “The convoy just received news from Sister Xu, the symbionts near the river attacked the outskirts of Benquan City…”
Qiu Shi’s voice broke off.
At that moment, the voice on the phone stabbed his heart like a knife.
Li Rui’s voice, choked with tears, came through: “They killed my sister! They killed the people in the shop…”
“You’ve seriously underestimated humans,” Xing Bi grabbed the phone, “Those symbionts can’t kill people who are armed and experienced in combat.”
“Brother Xing Bi,” Li Rui’s voice was still heard.
“This world belongs to me,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi turned his head to look at him.
“Your symbiont is no match for me,” Xing Bi said, “Zheng Ting was also defeated by me.”
“Xing Bi.” The voice on the other end turned into Zheng Ting’s.
“I killed him twice already, and if I wanted, I could kill him a third time, a fourth time,” Xing Bi said, “As for you, I will seal you forever in darkness. I will wipe out your camp, kill all your puppets. You will shrink away in a corner no one knows about, you will return to nothingness, and you will realize you never existed.”
“Xing Bi,” the voice changed back to the teacher’s, “I don’t care whether there is a symbiont, whether there are humans, or whether you exist. I don’t care.”
“Is that so?” Xing Bi smiled, “What if there isn’t even you?”
The call was disconnected.
“What’s going on over at the river?” Qiu Shi asked, seeing the call drop, immediately picking up the walkie-talkie.
The walkie-talkie could directly contact the convoy; presumably, to avoid affecting their scavenging, the convoy had first contacted Song Heng after receiving Sister Xu’s message.
“Both teams from Xingchuan are searching,” the soldier in charge of communication replied, “So far, no bodies found, no bloodstains. The scene is a bit messy, more like an emergency escape.”
“Does Li Rui know?” Qiu Shi asked. “How is he?”
“He knows,” the soldier answered, “His emotions are stable. He believes someone will go help Li Xia and the others.”
“Song Heng,” Xing Bi spoke from the side, “Will Qi Jian and the others go over to help?”
“They will. I estimated the time and it should be enough, but I can’t reach them now,” Song Heng said, “They need to get to the contact station.”
“Let Li Rui talk,” Qiu Shi said.
The soldier handed the walkie-talkie to Li Rui.
“Shi Ge,” Li Rui’s voice sounded calm.
“We will reach the next contact station soon and will be able to get in touch with Qi Jian and the others. Xingchuan’s teams will keep searching for your sister,” Qiu Shi said. “Where does your sister usually go to hide if she encounters danger?”
“I can’t be sure about others, but my brother will definitely go help them. He has many places to hide people,” Li Rui said firmly. “I told Brother Sister Xu; Brother will go find them.”
“Mm, so far there’s no sign any of them are injured,” Qiu Shi said.
“My sister and the others will be fine. We will definitely kill 249,” Li Rui said.
“We will head back to the parking spot soon,” Qiu Shi said. “Stay alert.”
“Don’t worry,” Li Rui replied calmly.
The two sides ended the call. Xing Bi glanced at the symbionts previously controlled by them. These symbionts had already awakened but their consciousness was still sealed.
“Take them back to the convoy,” Xing Bi said.
“Take the phone?” Qiu Shi asked.
“No,” Xing Bi said, “We are going to sever the connection between 249 and the camp one by one.”
“Were you threatening him just now?” Qiu Shi asked.
“It was a declaration of war,” Xing Bi said. “He declared first, so let’s go.”
“Any plan?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Contact Li Feng back at the vehicle,” Xing Bi said, “and Deng Yeye. Can you reach her?”
“Xiaochong’s communication range is limited, I can’t reach her yet, but she should catch up,” Qiu Shi said.
“There’s one more thing, might be a bit difficult,” Xing Bi said.
“Hmm?” Qiu Shi looked at him.
“Are we looking for the homeless?” Feng Zhi asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi nodded.
“Damn?” Qiu Shi was stunned. “Why look for those crazy people?”
“They’re very strong fighters,” Ji Sui said. “Familiar with the terrain and fearless of death.”
Li Feng sat in the conference room, looking at the detailed material report before him.
Previously, the materials were mostly production and living supplies, mainly for survival, but recently he also had to review long-neglected mineral resources—Yun City Mining’s most overlooked assets.
Minister Liu glanced at the time; the meeting was still a bit away.
“Such large-scale production,” he leaned toward Li Feng, “will affect residents’ lives.”
“It never really didn’t affect them much,” Li Feng said. “Feedback in recent years has been that there’s not enough food and clothing. We’re not only strengthening military production but also expanding living supplies.”
“At first, some propaganda may be needed,” Minister Liu frowned.
“That’s your job,” Li Feng said. “Unite the people, ‘Yun City is made great by you and me,’ or whatever you’re best at at hyping people up.”
“Director Li,” Minister Liu said in a low, helpless voice, “You’re already in this position, your words and actions should be more leader-like. Some things…”
Li Feng leaned in close and whispered, “What position? I’m just the director of the support bureau. Can I really talk like a city lord?”
“You…” Minister Liu leaned back, shaking his head as he looked at him. “You really are…”
The meeting attendees entered the conference room on time.
“Let’s get the trivial matters out of the way first,” Li Feng said without wasting words. “Director Zhang, how’s the cooperation between the City Defense Bureau and the Urban Construction Bureau on the outer city reconstruction?”
“Everything is normal. The first phase didn’t touch existing gathering areas but directly expanded outward with simple housing construction. The first phase will be completed in a week,” Zhang Qifeng said. “Residents will move in according to the length of participation in Yun City’s production and construction. The second phase will expand and simultaneously renovate the old outer city refugee camps.”
“The City Defense Bureau is a bit more lenient. What we need now is cooperation from the refugees. The work relies mostly on them,” Li Feng said.
“Understood,” Zhang Qifeng said. “Zhang Sihai is supervising.”
“If it’s the good Zhang, I can trust it,” Li Feng nodded. “Finally, he has a position to fulfill his ideals of loving and protecting the people.”
Zhang Qifeng glared at him without saying a word.
Li Feng smiled at him and then looked at Colonel Yu: “Colonel Yu, the surrounding defenses and base construction need to be sped up.”
“Already arranged,” Colonel Yu said. “The third batch of new soldiers have finished training.”
“If the factory is short-handed, send the new soldiers there to work, train a bit, improve their fitness. Feed them well and have them work,” Li Feng said. “Have the weapon inventory counts been completed?”
“Yes. Previous stock is still sufficient. After supplementing the defense bases, there’s quite a bit left,” Colonel Yu said. “Counting your morning request for additional production, once completed, every soldier in Yun City’s current forces can be fully armed—enough to equip three Yun City armies.”
“Continue, but ensure residents still have enough food,” Li Feng said.
“May I ask what the plan is?” Colonel Yu asked.
“That’s the focus of today’s meeting,” Li Feng raised his eyes to scan the people in the room. “Qiu Shi and Xing Bi have passed through Benquan City and Yuzhou, two old cities, and found a symbiont camp near the Wangdongling mountain pass, and…”
Li Feng projected the updated map: “They got in touch with 249.”
Everyone in the conference room was shocked and looked at him simultaneously.
“Does this mean 249 has been alerted?” Colonel Yu asked.
“Hard not to alert him,” Li Feng said. “The roads east are all his camps. We can’t count how many there are, though not every camp is as big or powerful as the one at Xima Town, but just one super symbiont plus several first-level symbionts and a group of infected is already a devil’s base compared to scattered refugees.”
“So now we’re going to directly confront 249 and his symbiont army?” Zhang Qifeng asked.
“Not necessarily a direct confrontation,” Li Feng glanced at Chen Dang beside him. “But clearing the camps one by one with only Yun City’s army is unrealistic. We need to unite forces beyond Yun City.”
“I’ve already contacted some of the immune survivors on my side and sent the message over. It should take about three or four days,” Chen Dang said. “There’s still a part that needs Deng Yeye to get in touch.”
“Hmm,” Li Feng took out a cigarette, hesitated for a moment, then put it on the table. “Lin Sheng, have you gotten the situation report from Xingchuan?”
“Yes,” Lin Sheng replied. “Outside, there’s a cooperative organization of bioroids and humans. They plan to join forces and need us to send cleanup teams.”
“What’s their plan?” Colonel Yu asked.
“To cut off all the camps on the eastern route from 249’s communication. They pose a threat to 249,” Lin Sheng said. “Right now, 249 will be chasing after them. They’re bait, while simultaneously destroying camps to force 249’s replicated data back to its lair.”
“There are more camps than just those,” Colonel Yu said.
“So…” Lin Sheng glanced at Li Feng, “they need the vagrants.”
“Vagrants?” Everyone was momentarily stunned.
“Vagrants are the strongest human fighting force in the outside hell-world,” Li Feng said. “More insane than the Black Blood immune survivors, more fearless of death, and better organized. They can go clear the camps.”
“How will they cooperate?” Minister Liu said. “I’ve seen the Eastern Forest’s data on driving away vagrants. Those vagrants… they’re like lunatics.”
“We’ve put out the word: someone’s looking for the treasures in the camps — a small black cube hidden inside a telephone device,” Li Feng said, holding the cigarette in his mouth but not lighting it. “Whoever finds it can exchange it for any weapon they want.”
“What is that?” Minister Liu asked.
“Who knows,” Li Feng said. “Minister Liu, what’s your favorite color?”
“…Light green,” Minister Liu replied.
“Then it’s a small light green cylinder,” Li Feng said. “If found, they can redeem it at our supply points for any weapons they want.”
“Did you just make that up?” Zhang Qifeng asked.
“I’m serious,” Li Feng said, “and I even used Minister Liu’s favorite color. Although no one can find it, it’ll have the camps torn apart. If one wave can’t clear them, the next will come.”
“If they never find it, won’t they get suspicious?” Zhang Qifeng said.
“That’s why anything related to symbionts in the camps can be exchanged for goods at our supply points: food, ammo, medicine, everything,” Li Feng said. “Capturing symbionts alive is even more valuable. We’ll discuss the details later.”
“Do we want symbionts too?” Colonel Yu hesitated.
“Not all symbionts are willing participants,” Li Feng bit his cigarette. “No more new bioroids will appear in this world. These existing ones, as long as their goals align with ours, the more that survive, the better.”
Chen Dang held a lighter to his mouth and flicked it on. “Light it up. Don’t end up chewing it raw later.”
Li Feng lit the cigarette and took a drag. “Any other questions? If not, we can get into the details.”
“I have one, though it’s not urgent now,” Minister Liu said. “But we’ll definitely have to face it later.”
“Go ahead,” Li Feng said.
“These vagrants, after the camp missions are over, will become even stronger armed forces,” Minister Liu said. “If we can’t control them, it’ll be a big problem.”
“Mm,” Li Feng nodded. “As long as they want to exchange, there’s a chance to approach them. We’ll assimilate those we can. For those we can’t, just cause some minor conflicts to keep them divided. As long as they remain scattered small groups, they won’t pose a threat.”
The convoy stopped before a ridge. They needed to pass through a four-kilometer-long mountain tunnel — a length that, even for Qiu Shi, who had seen many tunnels and underground mines, was unprecedented.
Several bioroids got off the vehicles. Compared to the monitoring instruments on the cars, their senses were more sensitive to potential dangers in the dark.
The convoy followed Ji Sui and Feng Zhi at the front, slowly entering the tunnel.
“Yun City no longer has the capacity to dig tunnels like this, right?” Qiu Shi looked ahead at the seemingly endless tunnel illuminated by the car headlights.
“Tunnels like this, the bridge at the other end,” Xing Bi said, “hundred-story buildings — a lot of things now are just legends.”
“If our ancestors saw how we humans live now,” Qiu Shi said, “would they be disappointed?”
“Not much different from what they imagined the future to be,” Xing Bi said. “Humans are very good at imagining. That’s something bioroids can never achieve.”
“Maybe,” Qiu Shi sighed softly, “I definitely can’t. Before leaving Yun City, I couldn’t even imagine the outside world would be like this.”
Xing Bi smiled, grabbed his hand, and gently squeezed it repeatedly.
Qiu Shi quickly looked forward. The driver’s cabin was sealed. To ensure the driver’s safety, he glanced back to make sure Ji Sui and Song Heng, sitting in the back, had gotten out.
Ji Sui had gotten out to guard; Song Heng said he wanted to stretch. Qiu Shi guessed Song Heng probably just didn’t want to listen to the two of them chatting.
“Looks like you’re putting on airs,” Qiu Shi leaned back and nudged Xing Bi, signaling him to turn off the group call except for the earphones.
“Am I putting on airs?” Xing Bi turned off the call and touched his face. “I got slapped in the face today and I’m not even mad.”
“Damn,” Qiu Shi couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought you forgot about it.”
“You hit me,” Xing Bi said.
“You didn’t dodge. If you dodged, do you think I could hit you?” Qiu Shi said.
“I didn’t dodge because I was too shocked,” Xing Bi said. “Shi Ge really was going to hit me.”
“Don’t pretend. In that one second I raised my hand, your brain was probably spinning over eight hundred times,” Qiu Shi said.
“Not even a second. Less than one-tenth,” Xing Bi said.
“Still enough to spin over four hundred times,” Qiu Shi said.
“Yeah,” Xing Bi smiled, “I just wanted to take that slap.”
Qiu Shi turned his head and kissed him on the cheek.
Xing Bi quickly turned his face away.
“What was that for?” Qiu Shi looked at him. “We’re still on the car.”
“Why,” Xing Bi leaned over and gently brushed his lips against Qiu Shi’s, “do we have to get off the car to kiss for everyone to see?”
Qiu Shi didn’t say anything, leaned forward, and kissed him deeply. Warm breaths covered both their faces.
