CH 13

After the imperial spaceship departed, Su Zheyan regained his calmness. Silently returning to the capsule cabin, he started staring at the wall in a daze.

Chu Shici didn’t initially notice anything wrong until noon when he saw Su Zheyan consuming an entire box of nutrient paste.

Both he and the system were shocked.

Before this, one box of nutrient paste would last Su Zheyan for two days.

Today, Su Zheyan didn’t go out to search for supplies and sat quietly in the cabin after finishing lunch.

Holding a golden coin in his hand, his eyes were fixed on it.

Curious about what he was looking at, Chu Shici approached stealthily and discovered that it was the Empire’s emblem with a lightning symbol.

He spoke to him, but his response was indifferent.

The system whispered, “What’s wrong with the male lead?”

Chu Shici looked bewildered and said, “I don’t know either.”

He was puzzled when suddenly he heard Su Zheyan murmuring softly, “Do you need me?”

The system tilted its head and asked, “What did he say?”

“Just now, Vice Admiral Liu said that King Wang wanted him to return, that the Empire needed him. He’s repeating what the vice admiral said,” Chu Shici explained, his face puzzled.

This eerie state continued until the afternoon when Su Zheyan, seemingly lost in thought, sighed, changed his clothes, and went to sleep.

Chu Shici squatted beside his face and poked his nose, saying, “Yan ge, what’s wrong with you?”

Su Zheyan’s eyelashes twitched slightly, “Stop bothering.”

“You look really strange.”

Su Zheyan turned over, facing away from him, and remained silent no matter how much he was pestered.

The system exclaimed, “How strange! His vitality value increased by 3 points. He now has a total of 36 points. Could it be because he met an old comrade today?”

Recalling the scene from his rebirth, Chu Shici felt that it wasn’t related.

At that time, Su Zheyan had a gloomy expression and a confrontational tone. It seemed as if he could start fighting in the next second, showing no signs of joy after the reunion.

After pondering for a long time, Chu Shici’s mind came up with a bizarre speculation.

He unplugged the antenna on top of his head and tried to tune in to the Empire’s daily news.

As the broadcast sounded inside the capsule cabin, he noticed that Su Zheyan’s breathing rate slightly slowed down.

【”#At 5 am this morning, the spaceship that went to the barren star to retrieve the betas has returned. This time, a total of 17 beta criminals agreed to undergo gender transformation to become alphas. Among the current existing criminals on the barren star, there are a total of 23 third-class offenders who illegally joined the military, including General Su, who led the army to win the Guardian War.#】

【”#General Su has clearly refused the gender transformation, and the king feels regretful about this. However, the law is the bottom line for maintaining national stability and peace, and there is no concept of offsetting merits. The country will not provide any privileges to General Su due to his special status.”#】

Chu Shici wanted to observe Su Zheyan’s reaction through the news broadcast, but this news hit a nerve, so he quickly changed the channel.

Perhaps beta gender transformation had become a social focus, as most channels were discussing this matter.

He switched to a street interview channel, where the host randomly approached passersby and asked for their opinions on beta gender transformation.

【”#This technology has given beta citizens the right to choose their gender freely. Let’s interview this male O. Sir, what are your thoughts on this? Is B to AO conversion the trend?”#】

【”#Fuck trends! They’re driving betas out of their jobs, and if you don’t undergo transformation, you can’t afford to eat. And you’re talking to me about this fucking freedom! Animals!”#】

【”#This gentleman seems a bit agitated. It’s clear that he’s not in a good mood right now. Let’s interview the next enthusiastic citizen.”#】

Chu Shici: …

What did he just hear? Are all the omegas in this world so fierce?

Chu Shici silently turned off the broadcast, and the steady sound of Su Zheyan’s breathing resonated once again inside the capsule cabin.

This time, the system also noticed the anomaly. “Is the male lead eavesdropping on the broadcast while pretending to sleep?”

“He’s eavesdropping on something related to the Empire. The previous times I played entertainment variety shows, he didn’t react much,” Chu Shici replied.

After spending more than a week with Su Zheyan, Chu Shici had gained some understanding of him.

In the face of those alphas outside, he maintained a deadpan expression from beginning to end. The environment on the desolate star was too harsh, and the alphas were too disgusting. He appeared to be so disillusioned1 with life.

When spending time with Chu Shici, Su Zheyan showed a trace of liveliness. He would mock and taunt Chu Shici, and when he was in a good mood, he would even smile lightly. It indicated that he was relaxed in the presence of the robot.

What amazed Chu Shici was Su Zheyan’s attitude towards the Empire.

Some time ago, Su Zheyan was verbally attacked by alphas, feeling abandoned by the Empire and shedding tears under the covers.

Last night, he learned that the Empire was forcing him to undergo a gender transformation, which made him so angry that he couldn’t sleep.

This morning, he confronted Vice Admiral Liu with great anger. As soon as the other party said, “The King wants you to return, the Empire needs you,” he took a day off and ate two days’ worth of food in one go.

Chu Shici contemplated for a while and said, ” I’m a little confused about this pair.”

The system asked in a dazed manner, “Confused about what?”

“The heartless and unfaithful scum attacker from the Empire deceives the heart and body × the proud and sharp-tongued beauty, the tragic loyal general who turns into a pitiful puppy as the bottom.”

“?” “He risked his life for the Empire, but the Empire only sees him as a weapon. He was exiled to the desolate star, appearing cold and heartless, but all he thinks about is the rotten Empire. And I’m the gentle and affectionate supporting role, after healing the heartbroken loyal puppy bottom, he returns to the embrace of the scum attacker. I don’t know if there will be a chasing-the-wife crematorium later, but for now, the Empire’s attitude is very tough.”

“……”

“I was just kidding, joking with you. His love for the motherland has nothing to do with romance. I’m just puzzled as to why the Empire treats him like this.”

After playing around with the system, Chu Shici silently looked at Su Zheyan.

When the male lead risked everything to turn the tide of the war, he must have been aware that it would expose his gender, but he still went ahead without hesitation. Perhaps for him, he would rather be exiled to the Desolate star than witness the downfall of the nation.

Chu Shici admired him and praised to the system, “My Yan ge is a true man. I love him even more.”

“Snap out of it, you’re a robot.”

He circled around Yan ge several times, but Su Zheyan kept his eyes closed and ignored him.

Chu Shici nestled into his hand and found a comfortable spot to lie down.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, a cold voice came from above.

“After bothering me for so long, were you worried about me?”

Chu Shici mumbled in a dazed state.

Su Zheyan lowered his gaze and looked at the robot in his hand, using his fingertips to rub its small head.

【Vitality +2, current vitality level 38/100.】

…

When Chu Shici woke up, he found himself being held by Su Zheyan.

The male lead was holding a marker pen and writing something on his chest.

Chu Shici couldn’t see it himself, so he asked the system, “What is Yan ge doing?”

【He wrote the character “Su” on your chest, like a seal. Oh, by the way, he was holding a knife and gesturing on your body before. Probably wanted to engrave something. Maybe he was afraid of hurting you and gave up in the end.】

Chu Shici shivered and felt grateful for Yan ge sparing his life!

Su Zheyan took out a small iron ring from his backpack. “Put it on.”

Chu Shici leaned in to take a look. The iron ring had a small tag hanging from it with the words “Property of Su Zheyan” written on it.

The overall design resembled a dog tag a little. He took a few steps back and resisted, saying, “I don’t want it. Although I may not look like it, I’m a person.”

Su Zheyan remained silent for a long time, then threw the iron ring out of the capsule in front of him.

The system felt a bit regretful. 【He made it himself. If you wear it, his Vitality points  may increase by at least two points.】

“No, I don’t engage in collar play.”

【Very professional, as expected of the top student in the flower market.】

Chu Shici looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that the character “Su” on his chest was written particularly beautifully. It looked nice and he could keep it.

Taking a day off, Su Zheyan continued to meditate in front of the unknown pattern on the capsule wall.

Chu Shici already knew about this pattern; it was basically the route map of the original male lead dominating the desolate star.

But he couldn’t inform Su Zheyan about it. What if Su Zheyan asked, how should he respond…

No, wait. He’s just a little robot. What does he have to be concerned about?

Chu Shici tugged at Su Zheyan’s clothes, “I know about this. It’s the distribution map of the major forces on the desolate star. The first point represents the location of the capsule. Most of the criminals on the desolate star gather around these lines, and the pauses between the lines represent certain power points.”

He pointed and explained while showing it to him, only to realize that the interface of the pattern had been filled in with a black pen.

Su Zheyan was momentarily stunned, silently took out paper and pen, and reproduced the original pattern one-to-one.

Noticing that the robot was staring at him, Su Zheyan explained, “I remembered it the first time I saw it.”

“Then why are you still staring at it?”

“Because I’m bored.”

Su Zheyan neatly kept the drawing and looked down at the robot sitting beside him with a blank expression. “Why do you know about all this?”

Chu Shici started playing dumb, “It came with me from the factory.”

Su Zheyan seemed to fully believe him. “Right, you’re a product of Eternal Life Technology. There’s no reason for you not to know about the desolate star.”

Chu Shici didn’t understand the connection between this and his manufacturer.

Because he already had 38 Vitality points, Su Zheyan was not as gloomy as before.

Under Chu Shici’s persistent questioning, he asked with suspicion, “What are you wondering about? Eternal Life Technology created you, so you should know more than I do.”

Chu Shici held his head high, “I’m a children’s toy with a small brain capacity. I only know a little bit. By the way, what’s the connection between the desolate star and Eternal Life Technology?”

Su Zheyan looked at him with increasingly strange eyes. “Eternal Life Technology is highly active in the desolate star. They provide all the circulating currency here, including the national currency and private currency.”

“Private currency?”

Su Zheyan casually picked up the gold coin on the table, the same one that Chu Shici had found earlier.

Taking advantage of Su Zheyan’s good mood, he pointed to the woman and asked, “Who is she?”

Su Zheyan’s expression instantly became very strange, making Chu Shici’s hair stand on end.

“Eternal Life Technology is the cradle of AI. She is the founder of the brand, known as the Mother of Robots. Don’t even recognize your own mother. Are you a illegally produced toy?”

He stared at Chu Shici thoughtfully, his hand touching the knife at his waist.

“Or maybe… you’re not a robot at all.”

1

( disappointed because somebody/something is not as good as you first thought)