Chapter 53: Ambers of the Long Night (9)
The next morning, Tang Mobai got up listlessly, with dark circles under his eyes. As soon as he stepped out, he bumped into Yan Wuzhen, who also had panda eyes.
The two looked at each other and instantly understood—neither of them had slept. They both regretted being curious last night.
Tang Mobai brought out the cake he’d made yesterday and noticed a missing piece—Deville’s. After thinking for a bit, he cut his own share in half and went to the dining room with Yan Wuzhen.
Seth and Emmanuel were already there, talking about something. Ment and the others sat at other tables. To his surprise, Deville was there too—sitting alone in the corner, holding a nutrient drink he didn’t seem interested in drinking.
“Morning, everyone. Want some cake?” Tang Mobai set the cake down and couldn’t help but complain, “Your world really has too few seasonings. I wanted to make Chinese food, but I couldn’t even find soy sauce, so I barely managed to make this cake instead.”
Emmanuel said, “You could have reported the ingredients to Ment. I don’t know what Chinese food or soy sauce is, but ever since nutrient solutions were invented, the food market has declined a lot.”
At those words, two people reacted differently—one was Yan Wuzhen, who slightly raised a brow and glanced at Emmanuel.
On the surface, Emmanuel seemed easygoing, granting whatever they asked for—but Yan Wuzhen knew that was just an act. His vigilance had never lessened. Long ago, Yan Wuzhen had tested it: if something helped them level up, Emmanuel allowed it; if not, he’d tactfully refuse. And if one of the three wanted to go out, the other two had to remain on standby in the ship.
The man was clearly wary of them—only an airhead like Tang Mobai would think they were cooperating wholeheartedly.
Besides, Tang Mobai had complained about the tasteless food before, and Emmanuel never changed a thing. For him, food was just about efficiency and nutrition—nothing more. Even the ingredients for the cake had been ordered by Seth after his level went up.
So why was Emmanuel suddenly so agreeable today? Was there some hidden agenda? Yan Wuzhen began to suspect something.
The second person who noticed something wrong was, of course, Ment—who knew his boss too well. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stood up to intercept: “I’ll take care of that.”
Emmanuel shot his subordinate a look but withdrew his hand, disappointed.
Completely unaware of the undercurrent beneath this simple cake-sharing, Tang Mobai naturally handed the plate to Ment. “Here you go—everyone has a share.”
Ment noticed that each piece of cake had a name written on it in chocolate—even theirs. His eyes flickered with surprise, but he said nothing and distributed them as usual.
The last plate—clearly half a portion—was set in front of Deville.
Deville looked down at the messy chocolate letters spelling “Mobai” on the cake and softly said, “Thank you.”
Tang Mobai turned back in surprise, his eyes curling with a smile. “You’re welcome.”
Before Deville could respond, the jealous persona in his mind immediately warned: “Don’t tell me you’re getting won over by a piece of cake. That’s just his way of buying people’s hearts—don’t be fooled by appearances!”
“Of course I know that,” Deville snorted internally. “I’m not stupid.”
Really? Jealousy asked doubtfully.
Emmanuel might have missed the chance to use the cake as a conversation starter, but it didn’t matter—his real purpose for coming was to discuss how to increase their levels. He smoothly steered the topic toward the current scientific field’s development, and Tang Mobai, naturally intrigued, turned to listen attentively.
Without realizing it, Emmanuel’s seat drifted closer to Tang Mobai’s.
From the corner, Deville watched them talk, his hands tightening on his fork and knife. “What’s that blond snake plotting now? He’s definitely up to something.”
“Maybe,” Jealousy muttered. “But what’s that got to do with us? Just eat.”
Deville pursed his lips, forked the little chocolate piece marked “Mobai,” popped it into his mouth, and glared at the two still chatting happily—he wasn’t sure if it was the chocolate or something else he was grinding between his teeth.
Yan Wuzhen glanced at the glass in front of him, using its reflection to watch Deville in the corner. Then he lifted his head toward Emmanuel and exchanged a knowing look with Seth.
What the hell was going on? They’d only slept one night, not a whole week!
Never mind Deville—what was Emmanuel doing? If the cake thing was just him being in a good mood, this was getting suspicious.
Tang Mobai’s scientific curiosity wasn’t new. Yan Wuzhen had already organized all the data Emmanuel sent over—what more could he explain?
At that moment, Yan Wuzhen felt a tug at his sleeve. Turning, he saw Ment, who covered his mouth slightly and whispered, “Can we talk about something related to levels?”
The look in his eyes, however, was clearly aimed at Emmanuel.
Since both Yan Wuzhen and Seth shared the same suspicion, they quietly moved to Ment’s table while Tang Mobai was engrossed in Emmanuel’s lecture.
“What’s your boss playing at?” Yan Wuzhen asked directly. “New strategy for winning people over? Pretty bold of him.”
“No, you misunderstand,” Ment said with a weary smile. “Emmanuel probably just admires Mr. Tang Mobai’s personality.”
Seth cut straight to the point: “What kind of admiration?”
“Well… maybe he just finds his temperament appealing,” Ment said, rubbing his temples. “Actually, can I ask—does Mr. Tang Mobai have a lover?”
Please say no, please say no!
“If you’re planning to use a honey trap, don’t bother,” Yan sneered. “He already has one. Our sponsor, a big shot from the top—evil-skinned, and he’s a total romantic. Your boss doesn’t stand a chance.”
Ment’s face went pale. “He really… does?”
“Huh? You were hoping for it?”
“No, you’re misunderstanding,” Ment sighed, clearly in pain. He hesitated for several moments before finally forcing the words out: “Can I ask a favor? Please don’t tell Emmanuel that Mr. Tang Mobai has a lover…”
Yan Wuzhen’s eyes lit up. “Why? Your boss that fragile?”
If he was, Yan Wuzhen would definitely tell—and preferably when Emmanuel was head over heels for Tang Mobai. Emotional devastation was his specialty.
Ment looked grim. “Because… my boss has a tendency to fall for other people’s lovers.”
Silence.
Yan Wuzhen blinked, wondering if he’d misheard. “Emmanuel likes…?”
“Not exactly—it’s not that extreme,” Ment groaned, rubbing his forehead. “According to him, he’s just fascinated by people who are deeply in love. He finds the passion between lovers beautiful—the purer the love, the more he’s drawn to it…”
The entire imaginary audience went dead silent.
[Uh???]
[Isn’t that basically a wife/husband fetish??]
[Dude’s a certified NTR enjoyer.]
[Damn, and Tang Mobai kinda fits that profile lol]
Yan Wuzhen was speechless. “That’s not less perverted! He just enjoys the thrill of stealing hearts!”
“No, no,” Ment protested weakly. “Emmanuel doesn’t like people who like him. Once someone actually falls for him, he loses interest.”
Yan Wuzhen & Seth: “???”
Silence.
Heavy, bewildered silence filled the morning dining room.
[Bro, what…]
[This NPC needs divine intervention.]
[Doctor: even I can’t fix that.]
Yan Wuzhen’s face was pure confusion. “Wait—so he chases after other people’s lovers, but once they fall for him, he stops liking them? Is that it?”
“Uh… pretty much.”
“…That’s just twisted.”
Seth muttered, “Your boss’s kinks are messed up.”
Even the robot with rainbow-colored spiked armor would’ve agreed.
Ment sighed, clearly exhausted. “Anyway, I’m begging you—please don’t let him find out about Tang Mobai’s lover. Things are complicated enough without emotions in the mix.”
As if they wanted things to get messy! And really, how could Emmanuel possibly compete with their sponsor, a literal big demon boss?
Right then, Emmanuel—still talking to Tang Mobai—casually asked, “By the way, Mr. Tang, do you have someone you like?”
“Huh? Of course, I—”
Before Tang Mobai could finish, Seth jumped in fast: “Emmanuel, I’ve thought of a way to increase our levels. I might need your help.”
“Hmm?” Emmanuel turned, his attention shifting along with Tang Mobai’s.
Tang Mobai smiled brightly. “You’ve decided which field you’ll specialize in, then?”
Last night, after hearing Yan Wuzhen’s method of leveling up, they’d realized that although the AI divided their rank into five categories—virtue, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor—the society valued specialists over generalists. To rise quickly from level 0 to 80, you only needed one long plank, not a perfect barrel.
Yan Wuzhen’s own rise relied on intellect, labor, and physique. Intellect for his top-tier information skills; labor for contributing to society—he’d opened an online course that helped over 50 people level up in days; physique… well, that was pure cheating.
With his results proving Emmanuel’s plan workable, Seth and Tang Mobai no longer hesitated—they’d just focus on their best areas, preferably ones with societal value.
“I plan to start with medicine,” Seth finally said. “I’ve read the papers here—their medical field is behind ours. And since my body has a built-in medical program, I can perform about 80% of all surgeries perfectly.”
Both Tang Mobai and Yan Wuzhen froze at that.
At that moment, both of them remembered—the bearded man who died unjustly in the revival match… and Seth performing surgery while blind.
R–Really, are you sure this is okay???
Yan Wuzhen asked bluntly, “In this world, don’t doctors lose levels if they fail a surgery?”
Emmanuel replied, “Not for high-difficulty surgeries. But if it’s a medical accident, then of course they do.”
Tang Mobai carefully probed, “Seth… maybe we should pick another field? How about veterinary medicine? I mean, even if you like humans, getting complaints from patients in a hospital doesn’t sound great.”
[Why are they all reacting like that? Seth’s medical program works perfectly fine! Back in his old guild, he even filled in as a healer sometimes.]
The livestream viewers were confused.
The “Quack Squad’s” last operation happened late at night, and the stream hadn’t captured Seth’s “rule-breaking” moments, so the audience didn’t understand.
[Why would patients complain about Seth? Robots can’t hurt humans! If all doctors were robots, there’d be no shaky hands, no surprise billing mid-surgery—wouldn’t that be great?]
[Who even raises prices during surgery…]
[Don’t even start, I once met a shady doctor like that.]
[You guys must’ve missed earlier streams. I can kinda guess why patients complain about this guy, haha.]
At those words, Seth looked toward Tang Mobai and stayed silent for a moment before speaking, “Before, you asked which side I supported—yours or Yan Wuzhen’s. Whether to save or destroy… for me, there’s no real difference.”
He lowered his gaze to his cold, metallic hands. “Even though I have medical programs installed, I was ultimately designed as a war machine. I’ve destroyed enough already. But I’ve never tried saving anyone.”
“I want to try.”
With that sentence, every argument Tang Mobai and Yan Wuzhen had prepared caught in their throats.
“Well… then, good luck.” Finally, Tang Mobai exhaled deeply and smiled, giving his teammate his blessing.
Seth nodded and turned to Emmanuel. “I’ll need a doctor’s identity.”
“No problem, leave it to me,” Emmanuel said easily. Since Tang Mobai and the others weren’t objecting anymore, he had no reason to either. “I’ll go with you this time, just in case.”
Before departure, Tang Mobai hesitated, then approached Emmanuel. “Um… Mr. Emmanuel—”
“That’s too formal. Just call me Manuel.”
“Manuel,” Tang Mobai said, not dwelling on the name, “I’ll trouble you to look after Seth this time…”
Emmanuel smiled. “Of course. You’re all important partners to me. I won’t let what happened before repeat itself, and I won’t let anyone hurt Seth again.”
“Uh, no, I mean…” Tang Mobai took a deep breath, face grave. “If Seth suddenly starts hugging or clinging to patients—please don’t misunderstand. He’s not a pervert. But you must stop him.”
Emmanuel: “???”
Not a pervert? Then what does count as one?!
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
