CH 14

Translator’s Note-Hey everyone, I’m feeling a bit down at the moment and wanted to share my thoughts with you. I came across another person’s comment section where they mentioned that if the translator didn’t like it, they wouldn’t post it.

Naturally, as the translator for the novel, I expressed my opinion, saying that I didn’t like it. However, to my surprise, my comment was swiftly deleted. It left me feeling disheartened and frustrated.

This experience made me realize that such behavior is often referred to as “sniping.” It’s akin to choosing a project topic first, only to have someone else copy and select the same topic. It’s disheartening because it diminishes the uniqueness and effort we put into our work.( ＞Д＜；)

Thank you for lending an ear, and let’s continue our novel.

Chu Shici lowered his head and looked at the knife against his neck, his heart unaffected.

The system panicked and exclaimed, “It’s over, it’s over! You’ve been exposed, and you’re going to be killed!”

Chu Shici remained calm. Su Zheyan risked his life to venture into the night market to find him. This showed that he held a high position in the protagonist’s heart.

Don’t be fooled by his vitality only being at 38 points. If favorability could be quantified, it would definitely be over 60.

Chu Shici held his ground confidently. He reached out and pushed away the knife in front of him, saying, “I’ve already told you I’m human, but you don’t believe me.”

Su Zheyan narrowed his eyes and looked at Chu Shici.

Because the small robot was produced by Eternal Life Technology, Su Zheyan wasn’t particularly surprised, even if its behavior resembled that of a real person.

More than a decade ago, Eternal Life Technology introduced simulation robots. They were indistinguishable from humans in appearance and speech. Compared to those high-end robots, this toy-like robot had nothing special about it.

Initially, Su Zheyan thought that Chu Shici had been updated with an internal version, without considering other possibilities.

Admiration for the founder was implanted into the chips of the robots during the production process. The robots produced by Eternal Life Technology regarded their creator as their mother. If Chu Shici didn’t recognize her, then he definitely wasn’t a robot.

Eternal Life Technology had the support of the royal family, and its influence extended to various star nations within the empire and even the entire star domain.

The 50-value currency of the empire featured the image of the founder of Eternal Life Technology. It was she who led the empire into the era of artificial intelligence and developed the suppressant vaccine, completely solving the problem of information manipulation of AO consciousness.

Perhaps some people didn’t know her name, but no one would fail to recognize her face. Since Chu Shici knew nothing about her, he certainly wasn’t human.

Looking at the robot currently confronting the tip of the knife, Su Zheyan fell into contemplation.

So what exactly was this thing?

The robot continued to shift blame confidently, completely ignoring his threats.

Su Zheyan poked him with the tip of the knife. The robot covered his chest in shock and looked at him, seemingly surprised that he could actually bring himself to attack.

After hesitating for a moment, Su Zheyan spoke coldly, “What are you?”

Chu Shici stood with his hands behind his back and replied, “Human.”

Su Zheyan’s face grew cold. “No one is as foolish as you, still trying to deceive me. Do you think I can’t live without you? Are you starting to feel invincible?”

He grabbed the robot with one hand and started prying open the cover on its chest.

Chu Shici felt a bit angry, but more than that, he felt guilty. He covered his chest and muttered softly, “Believe me I’m human, but if you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.”

Su Zheyan remained silent, his mind in disarray.

With the symbol of Eden printed on it, yet not an Eternal Life Technology robot. Clearly, it was a product within the empire, but not from the empire itself.

The Desolate Star blocked signals, so even with the most advanced technology, it could only capture signals from one side only. From a technical standpoint, it was impossible for someone to remotely control a robot to monitor him.

Out of caution, he should dismantle the robot, smash it to pieces, or bury it on the spot.

Su Zheyan remained silent for a long time, applying slight force to open the battery cover on the robot’s chest.

The robot lay in his hand, looking blankly at its chest, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.

He clenched his teeth and aimed the tip of the knife at the robot’s head. There was a joint there, along with a small screw. Covered in platinum-colored paint, it didn’t look conspicuous.

Su Zheyan took a deep breath and coldly stabbed at it, driving the tip of the knife into the joint of the connection.

The system blocked pain sensation, so Chu Shici only felt something poking into the top of his head. Realizing what the protagonist was doing, he quickly shouted, “Yan ge, Yan ge, I can explain! Don’t get agitated, don’t rush to conclusions!”

Before he could finish speaking, a slight sound came from the capsule, and a small screw rolled to the ground.

The system clicked its tongue twice, saying, “You’ve exposed the wire, my precious.”

Chu Shici touched his head and felt the wires inside through the joint.

Initially, he wasn’t too saddened by it. After all, Su Zheyan was a general, ruthless and meticulous in his actions. It wouldn’t be normal if he easily let him go.

But after touching the wires, he suddenly felt so sad. He had never realized so acutely before that he was just a broken robot.

Chu Shici trembled a bit and began wiping away his tears. Why did the gay from the flower market, after transmigrating, experience such forced violence and revelry every night? He transmigrated and became a toy, with his skull being opened from the beginning.

Whether in life or in death, he was always alone and destitute1. Everyone was a slut, but why was the gap so huge?

The more Chu Shici thought about it, the sadder he became. He hugged his thumb beside him, trying to comfort himself.

Since he started crying, Su Zheyan hadn’t made any more movements. His expression remained calm, but his eyes became extremely worried.

He frequently pursed his lips, trying to alleviate the restlessness in his heart. The tip of the knife remained suspended in the air, hesitating to fall, appearing ridiculous and laughable.

The robot curled up in his hand, trembling from crying.

Su Zheyan wasn’t surprised. The robot was so attached to him that it would definitely be saddened by such a situation. He just didn’t expect himself to soften.

After enduring for a while, he reached out to wipe the robot’s face, doing an assessment in his mind.

This was an unidentified creature that looked like a robot, acted like a human, and always leaked oil. Currently, it seemed to rely heavily on him. He could easily crush it with a punch, and its threatening nature was close to zero.

He had originally considered the possibility of the robot assassinating him, but it seemed incapable of holding a knife. All he needed to do was confiscate the iron nail to eliminate all risks.

After making up his mind, Su Zheyan took out a screwdriver from the toolbox and picked up the fallen screw, screwing it back in place.

The robot had been crying for four minutes already, and it seemed like it could cry even longer.

After reattaching the iron plate on its head, Su Zheyan put down the knife and furrowed his brows, asking, “I won’t harm you anymore. Why are you still crying?”

Chu Shici wiped his tears and choked, “You don’t suspect me anymore?”

Su Zheyan made a sound of agreement and noticed that the robot was still crying. He was afraid that its oil tank would dry up, leading to the robot starving to death, so he threatened it fiercely.

Whether it was intimidation or consolation, it had no effect. In the end, Su Zheyan reluctantly apologized, and Chu Shici stopped crying.

The matter was left unresolved, and Chu Shici was still waiting for Su Zheyan to ask questions. However, it seemed that the protagonist had already accepted his peculiarity.(a strange or unusual characteristic, quality or habit)

That night, while Su Zheyan was sound asleep, Chu Shici secretly crawled into his backpack and peeked at his diary.

He had written it with his back turned to Chu Shici before going to sleep, and the handwriting was somewhat messy.

Perhaps due to his uneasiness, he didn’t even note down the weather this time, going straight to the main topic.

【I couldn’t bring myself to kill him. Fortunately, he’s only the size of a palm and poses no threat. When I opened his head, I saw the light points imprinted on the circuits through the joints. That’s a special technology only mastered by Eternal Life Technology. From its structure, he can only be a product of Eternal Life Technology. Why doesn’t he recognize the Robot Mother?】

【Even if the robot is dismantled into parts, they won’t die. The Empire’s robots are disassembled and sent for maintenance every year, and opening their skulls is a normal occurrence, but he is afraid.】

【He is more like a living person than advanced artificial intelligence, completely considering himself as a human. Maybe it’s not just a device update, he has truly ‘come alive.’ But wasn’t the latter part of the Eden Plan sealed by Eternal Life Technology? They shouldn’t be doing this. They haven’t learned their lesson from the clone uprising and now they’re starting to research artificial humans? A bunch of lunatics.】

As they read the diary, Chu Shici and the system fell into contemplation.

Has Su Zheyan regarded him as a failed prototype of an artificial human?

(without any money, food or a home).