Chapter 23: The 23rd Day of Livestream Selling
Reinhardt was truly certain that things between him and Lin Zhao were going very well.
It had been far too late last night, so they actually had not chatted much. He had simply first helped Lin Zhao take a look at the mechanical modules the other party had received.
Whether Reinhardt himself knew how to assemble them was no longer important. After all, even if he really did not know, he could wake up his second imperial sister, Elowen. Aside from buying, buying, and buying, his imperial sister’s greatest interest in life was mecha manufacturing. She had studied under five-star master Taylor.
In the words of his imperial brother, if Second Sister had not been too fond of playing around, she would have become another jewel of the empire’s mecha manufacturing industry.
But there was nothing wrong with liking to play either.
Who told their family that there really was a throne to inherit?
His imperial brother had no children for the time being, and his imperial sister was second in the line of succession. Even if she could not inherit the throne in the future, she would still be the sole grand duchess of the Duchy of Tara.
Before Reinhardt could “slaughter his sibling” for love, Lin Zhao first sent over a photo of the coffee table.
To be honest, for Reinhardt, who had taken mecha classes since childhood, this set of modules was so primitive it was like asking him what one plus one equaled. There was no need for anyone else. He alone was enough to answer every question Lin Zhao had.
He needs me!
And I like being needed by him.
The instant he realized this, Reinhardt found it difficult to precisely describe the emotions in his heart. If he had to describe it, he felt it was probably like being wrapped in warmth and satisfaction, his dried-up heart filled in an instant.
It made his entire person float, as if he had fallen into the clouds.
It was also like how Carlos had described going to pick up a kitten with his wife for the first time: whether it was clumsy or arrogant, it was all cute.
But it really had been too late at the time, so they agreed to assemble it together after Reinhardt finished his meeting the next day.
Meeting. Ha.
How could such an evil thing that wasted time exist in this world?
His Highness Reinhardt had grown this old and still could not understand it.
If not for his astonishing willpower and sense of responsibility, he probably would have directly skipped the meeting or called in sick today. Of course, many years afterward, he would always be grateful that he had not done so at the time.
Perhaps it was fate guiding him from somewhere unseen, or perhaps it really was just coincidence, but that day, he rarely paid serious attention for a moment and listened to what those politicians from various star system civilizations were arguing about.
Nebulae silently flowed above everyone’s heads, as though the entire universe were the dome of this meeting.
On the enormous circular table, projections of more than ten civilized star systems were displayed. They were like fragile embryos wrapped in pale golden halos, slowly pulsing in the darkness and giving off a strong, powerful glow of new birth.
There would never be anything more vigorous and full of vitality than star systems currently in their evolutionary period.
“—As previously stated, including the several brand-new planets recently discovered by the Far-Watcher Array, we once again have more than two digits’ worth of new members currently in their evolutionary periods. According to the expert team’s prediction, their fates will be determined within twenty standard cosmic years at the earliest.”
The steady voice of the Alliance’s rotating chair echoed in the deepest consciousness of every attending representative.
“And according to the ancient Grail Covenant, the Alliance will once again form a Watcher Fleet. Under the premise of absolute noninterference, it will observe from the outer periphery of each civilized star system.”
Mainly, the number of star systems that had failed evolution within the past century had already exceeded a certain threshold. The Universal Alliance’s warning mechanism had been activated, and that was why they had decided to send fleets to supervise.
In fact, they had already been arguing about this matter for some time.
The attitudes of the five major star systems remained the same as always. There were the motherly faction who supported giving more protection to seedlings, and there were also firm believers in survival of the fittest and natural selection.
As for the Yasa Empire…
They supported neither the former nor bothered with the latter. They had always been the indifferent faction.
—“No contact. No interference. Quietly wait for them to walk through the noise into inevitable entropy death, or… accidental, meaningless destruction.”
This had always been the Yasa Empire’s external principle.
All data regarding remote star systems would always be labeled “worthless” and stored at the bottom of the empire’s vast ocean of information. Only once in a while would one or two lucky ones, after entering the Universal Alliance and working hard for millions upon millions of years, finally obtain a true seat of their own.
Simply put, from the perspective of the vast Yasa Empire, some civilizations were not even qualified to be conquered.
They were merely an insignificant, noisy chemical reaction happening in a distant corner.
A speck of dust beside their endless conquest, not even worth being crushed beneath a boot sole.
This time, the other star systems also assumed that Yasa’s attitude would be the same. They did not dare hope that the Yasa would open their microphones on this matter.
Around the enormous round table of the meeting, the representatives’ mental projections came in all shapes and forms, and their energy fluctuations displayed their attitudes. When the executive officer asked who was willing to undertake this round of watching duty, everyone could not help looking toward the representatives of the ten major civilizations.
Because generally, it would begin with them, and also end with them.
Until the representative of the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation—a magnificent nebula that constantly shifted, with shadows of billions of living beings praying within it—softly expanded outward.
It caused some nearly imperceptible restlessness in the venue. Silent whispers appeared in the shadows of many delegations.
According to convention, even if the five major star systems wanted to state a position, they would not personally enter the field. They would be more inclined to let their younger brothers take the lead.
No one had expected the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation to speak directly this time.
No one rises early without profit. No one believed the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation had suddenly developed goodwill.
Even though the Divine Nation’s representative said exactly that:
“The principle the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation has always upheld is the coexistence of all spirits. Our power of faith can, precisely under the premise of no contact, provide the gentlest ‘environmental nourishment’ for these embryonic civilizations that have yet to be formally recorded. This is not interference, but rather… creating a more suitable evolutionary ‘cradle.’ All we need is priority friendly negotiation rights in the future interstellar route planning of these star systems.”
The “benevolent” proposal caused even greater energy ripples in the meeting venue.
Everyone knew that the power of faith was an excellent tool for the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation to expand its influence, and “route priority rights” meant immeasurable resources and potential control. The projections of some small-civilization representatives began flickering uneasily, but no one dared raise a clear objection.
This was probably the reason the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation had chosen to speak directly. They wanted to settle the matter in one blow.
Just as the rotating chair was preparing to proceed with voting according to procedure, a cold, hard, sharp mental force field, one that seemed capable of cutting through souls, silently swept through the entire meeting space.
Even the movement of the stars overhead seemed to pause.
“I object.”
The voice was not loud, but it rang clearly in the core consciousness of every being present.
On one side of the round table, the space around the Yasa Empire’s seat twisted slightly. His Highness Reinhardt, dressed in a silver-black military uniform, silver hair dazzling like a star, emerged from the void. The dark-gold crystal on his chest representing the Yasa royal family brought an unprecedented sense of pressure.
This Highness did not display a grand projection like the other representatives, but merely sitting there with one leg crossed over the other, he was already like a black hole that would devour all light and heat, possessing a terrifying deterrent force impossible to ignore.
As the Yasa Empire’s combat ceiling and a rare SSS-level mental power user, Reinhardt’s objection was an objection.
He did not need to explain himself to anyone.
Although they were called the five major star systems, there were still the upper two and the lower three.
Those violet eyes only swept over half the room without any emotion, and the direction of the council immediately changed.
“The evolutionary path of each star system is sacred and inviolable. The principle of Alliance observation is ‘absolute noninterference,’ and the core lies in the word ‘absolute.’ The Pan-Spirit Divine Nation’s proposal, regardless of its original intention, has already touched the red line in terms of the characteristics of its ability and its potential demands.”
His Highness Reinhardt’s voice was unhurried.
“I propose forming a pure fleet jointly supervised by the five major star systems in rotation, along with the other four major star systems and neutral technological civilizations. The fleet composition, patrol routes, and monitoring levels will be fully transparent. Major decisions must receive real-time authorization from more than two-thirds of the Alliance Council seats. We must eliminate the possibility of any single force using this opportunity to actively establish any form of premature contact with immature civilizations—whether material, energetic, or informational.”
Of course, if an unevolved star system took the initiative to make contact, that was another matter. If they could succeed, that only proved it was their ability.
In the past history of the Alliance, there had indeed been new civilizations that successfully used this as a springboard to come ashore. And every single one of them, without exception, eventually became a force that could not be underestimated.
As soon as Reinhardt said this, an uproar immediately swept through the room.
Not because this Highness’s proposal was not fair enough.
Rather, it was precisely because it was too fair that it did not seem like something these battle-crazy Yasa lunatics could say.
It was far too mature.
You planned this long ago, didn’t you? What kind of major star-system game is this? Could there be some huge conspiracy we small star systems currently cannot understand, or unimaginably large benefits hidden inside?
Although not all stellar energy was valuable, even mosquito legs were still meat. No one could fully guarantee whether there had been any tricks behind the large number of failed new-civilization evolutions before.
Or was it that the Yasa Empire had finally had enough of the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation being everywhere and wanted to use this as an excuse to pick a fight, preparing to launch a cosmic-level mutual attack where whoever backed down was a grandson?
“I will personally lead the team,” Reinhardt concluded.
The meeting instantly fell into deathly silence again. Only the overhead nebulae continued to flow, and those “embryonic” star systems pulsed faintly.
The nebula light and shadow of the Pan-Spirit Divine Nation flickered uncertainly, clearly weighing the sudden interference of the Yasa Empire intensely.
Reinhardt had already leaned back into his chair again, his dark-purple eyes half-lowered, as if the sharpness that had cut through all fog just now had never appeared. Only the tiny cracks appearing in the space around his fingertips as he unconsciously tapped the armrest hinted at the vast mental power beneath, the silently surging force and the will that brooked no refusal.
Almost everyone became certain that among these double-digit newly emerging civilizations whose depth could not be seen, there must be some astonishing energy hidden.
After all, the last time His Highness Reinhardt had spoken up had been to secure the dual-core star of A-8512.
The refugees he had saved on his warship in accordance with humanitarian spirit had not even had time to be sent to the resettlement planet yet.
Only Adjutant Carlos, standing ramrod-straight behind His Highness Reinhardt, had seen through the truth early on.
What conspiracy? What scheme? What enormous driving force?
Oh, no, the driving force was indeed rather enormous, because among those pending-evolution stars was Reinhardt’s partner.
He simply wanted to stay in the place theoretically closest to his wife.
To summarize in one sentence: everyone was holding a serious meeting, yet here he was, pondering what is love.*
The most hellish part was that there were quite a few top-tier love brains like this in the Yasa Empire. The fact that their star system had survived until now was truly a miracle of the universe.
The moment the meeting ended, Reinhardt chose to log out. Before he had even stood up, his hand was already impatiently sending a message through the communicator to Lin Zhao:
[Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m done. What about you?]
Of course, Lin Zhao was still lying around playing on his phone.
To be precise, he had not been awake for long. If not for insisting on recording his physical observation data after his body’s repair, he might even still have been lazing in bed. Of course, there was not much difference now. After washing up and measuring all his data, he had simply curled into a lazy sofa again.
His phone was so fun that he had not noticed the passage of time at all. If 1114 had not reminded him that the communicator app recently downloaded to his phone had a new message, he might still have been happily surfing the internet.
On the living room coffee table before Lin Zhao, those component modules from before he slept last night were still exactly how they had been before he slept.
The most eye-catching one was the polyhedral core whose surface was covered in honeycomb-like patterns. Without any external power supply, it was faintly emitting a flowing radiance that looked impressive despite being unclear in purpose. Around it were various component modules that, with Boss Bro’s help last night, had already been planned out in advance according to assembly order and marked with numbers.
To be honest, every late-stage procrastinator should have a J-type friend who could keep pushing progress.
At least Lin Zhao needed one.
If it were left purely to him, he would definitely drag it out until the end of time.
On Reinhardt’s side, he was instead somewhat worried that his tone was too forceful and might cause Lin Zhao’s dissatisfaction. He wanted nothing more than to become a field-snail boy and personally finish all the work for the other party overnight.
In fact, last night he had barely slept. He had burned the midnight oil and used AI virtual functions to actually make Lin Zhao a step-by-step 3D demonstration so detailed it was almost hand-in-hand teaching.
It was the kind with dynamic structural decomposition and frame-by-frame analysis. He had even been afraid of waking Lin Zhao, so he had waited until now, after confirming he was awake, before sending the video over.
[As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, assembling this set of modules isn’t difficult. What’s truly troubling you is only that they are disorderly and somewhat go against your common sense, leaving you unsure where to begin. But once we sort everything out, you’ll find that it’s actually quite simple, hm?]
To be fair, Carlos and Wyatt probably could never imagine in this lifetime just how talkative their hard-tempered, stubborn friend could be in communicator messages, even mixing in all kinds of self-taught gentle encouragement.
Carlos & Wyatt: Are you sure this is you?
Reinhardt only felt that they were nothing but barking dogs.
Whether this was him or not was unimportant. What mattered was whether Lin Zhao would like it.
Of course Lin Zhao liked it. After waking up, he had originally felt that his behavior of asking an internet friend for help was crazy. How was this any different from using Baidu to diagnose an illness?
Fortunately, Boss Bro on the other side was relatively reliable.
The first real difficulty Lin Zhao encountered was the power source.
Blue Star’s mechanical energy sources were usually either electricity or fuel, but these power modules from Kaman seemed to be based on an energy source called a “micro-fission battery”—a geometric cylinder no bigger than a palm, with a radiation warning symbol Lin Zhao had never seen before marked on its surface.
According to Reinhardt’s reminder, he first carefully tested it with a Geiger counter. The readings were all normal.
1114 had said before that before anything was transmitted back, all materials would be centrally disinfected and isolated in advance. Judging from the current situation, the disinfection had been very thorough.
And there was even no extra charge.
“Because the money is already included in the transport box. This counts as after-sales service,” 1114 said, shaking its head and wagging its brain. “Our mainframe still has a little humanity.”
Lin Zhao found it hard not to agree.
While nodding, he followed the 3D demonstration Reinhardt had given him and connected the polyhedral core to the micro-fission battery. There were no screws or buckles between these two modules. In theory, when the two approached each other, some kind of magnetic attraction would automatically form, producing a faint hum.
But the problem appeared at this step.
Lin Zhao discovered that when the two approached, there was indeed magnetic attraction, but they could never complete the final “locking” and energy activation. The dark-red light inside the energy observation window never strengthened, and the core’s pulsing flow of light was as slow as old men and women boarding a bus.
The 3D diagram also only said that the two “should combine,” without specific steps.
Lin Zhao tried pressing hard, rotating it, and even, referring to many mute designs on Blue Star, searching for hidden buttons or something similar. In the end, he returned in defeat.
For a while, he even suspected whether this energy block had already been depleted, but the record sent by Mechanic clearly stated: energy module pre-charged.
Lin Zhao felt that text was simply insufficient to express his current trouble, so he mentioned:
[Let’s just video call directly.]
His Highness Reinhardt on the other side almost threw the communicator away.
V-video call?
Wasn’t this progress a little too fast?
Although he had seen Lin Zhao countless times through videos and livestream cameras, Lin Zhao had not seen him yet.
He was still wearing the military uniform from the meeting. From head to toe, he reeked of work. No one would like this appearance.
Should he find an image consultant and preselect several outfits that could better highlight his temperament?
In the past, Reinhardt had always disapproved of his second imperial sister changing back and forth through more than ten outfits before attending an event. Now, he finally understood. Not all clothing could restore his good looks.
Although he was not a shallow person, he also had to admit that he truly wanted to attract Lin Zhao’s attention, by any means.
In Carlos’s words, a person with gong virtue had to first learn to serve beauty for love.
Just like birds courting in nature. Without beautiful feathers, who would look at you properly?
[Oh, no need.]
Before Reinhardt could decide on his outfit, Lin Zhao had already said:
[I went back and listened again. I was careless before. You clearly explained it already.]
Mm. His Highness Reinhardt, who had really taken out two hundred percent of his attentiveness for Lin Zhao, had already said in the 3D demonstration he gave the other party that in some civilizations, module interaction had not yet reached the more convenient level of direct adsorption. In such cases, it might need to rely on tactile sequences or energy modes for recognition.
When Lin Zhao’s fingers unintentionally touched two specific honeycomb grooves on the polyhedral core at the same time, the core suddenly emitted a faint hum, its pitch rising from low to high.
He then realized that this might require an activation sequence or some kind of protocol.
He carefully examined the surface of the core again. This time, he finally discovered that the flowing light inside certain grooves seemed slightly brighter, forming a faint ring-shaped pattern. He tried imitating the outline of a symbol that had flashed quickly across the data board—he had previously thought it was some meaningless decoration—and touched the brighter grooves in sequence with his fingertip.
Then, the core emitted a clear confirmation tone. With a click, the micro-fission battery smoothly snapped onto the polyhedron. The red light inside the observation window lit up steadily, and the core’s pulse also became strong and powerful, like a heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The connection between the two was extremely firm, as if they had naturally been one body. Probably no one would be able to tell they had once been two modules.
In Reinhardt’s view, this was an extremely primitive connection method. Even the models he built in elementary school handicraft class were more delicate than this.
But in Lin Zhao’s view, this was already unbelievable high technology.
At least he had never seen it before.
[Kaman is this impressive?] Lin Zhao could not help sighing.
He meant that if they had such powerful technology, how could they fight a war so quietly and unknown? Shouldn’t they have shocked the entire world long ago?
Reinhardt paused.
[Kaman?]
[Yes, Kaman. Do you know it?] Lin Zhao asked.
Reinhardt definitely did not know. He would not even bother remembering star system civilizations below A-rank, let alone this kind of low-level plane civilization that had not yet passed its evolutionary period.
But that did not matter. He also had an AI assistant. It was just that he usually did not like any voice ordering him around, so his AI mostly assisted the imperial mothership in sailing through the universe according to his will.
He awakened the AI avatar to answer his question.
Conveniently, Reinhardt had just gained full access to the Universal Alliance’s data on pending-evolution stars. In just two or three seconds, his AI had already finished searching through the massive ocean of information, streamlined and extracted all information related to Kaman, and displayed it floating before its Highness.
Civilization Level: D.
Evolutionary Status: Social collapse, regression to extreme pragmatism and principles of violence.
Technical Characteristics: Overly primitive.
Mental Power Reading: Weak.
Potential Value: Extremely low.
Threat Level: Negligible.
Final Assessment: Tenacious mold growing on the corpse of civilization. A corpse that still has twitching reactions. High probability of failed evolution. The only usable value has been included within the search range for destined ones.
Searching for destined ones was a lifelong theme carried out by the Yasa people. They would not let go of even the smallest possibility in this vast universe. This was also why, during the mission involving A-8512, they had prioritized humanitarian rescue.
In other words, aside from providing a minuscule possibility, this wasteland civilization called Kaman held no value at all to the empire.
What Reinhardt finally said to Lin Zhao was:
[Oh, Kaman. I know. Its technology tree has developed somewhat too abnormally. A very rare example.]
Lin Zhao was stunned by this.
So it was merely that he was ignorant and inexperienced. Boss Bro was indeed a rich person living in a 3S region, knowledgeable and widely experienced.
Then there was no problem.
Lin Zhao continued lowering his head and immersing himself in assembling the modules.
To be honest, it was quite fun.
When Lin Zhao was little, he had liked toys such as puzzles and LEGO very much. Now, he felt that this assembly was not too different from LEGO. It was just as Boss Bro had said. At first, because there was no instruction manual, he had become confused all at once. Now that he had finally found the door, he also found the fun.
It could even be said to be extremely addictive.
When he encountered problems, his first reaction also leaned more toward first thinking of a solution himself, because after truly solving something successfully, that refreshing feeling was like finally cracking a clever mechanism in a murder mystery game or escape room. The sense of achievement exploded.
For example, when connecting the telescopic joints, Lin Zhao discovered that if he followed the traditional logic taught by school teachers—“build outward from the center of the torso”—the joints would get stuck at a certain angle and could not reach the flexible range of motion shown in Boss Bro’s 3D diagram no matter what. He even installed two joints backward several times, causing one local structure to freeze completely.
Only after asking 1114 to slow the dynamic structure down tenfold did Lin Zhao find the key: in Boss Bro’s diagram, the force transmission path and the structural load-bearing sequence were shown first, not the physical order.
In other words, what he needed to do was first construct the “terminal unit of the limb,” such as a complete leg, then connect it to the polyhedral core, rather than first building the outer frame as he would with a puzzle.
And every time the specific grooves of two joints aligned, the liquid-metal sealing ring inside the robot would automatically melt and complete a seamless connection. Lin Zhao needed 1114 to shine strong light and enlarge the image to ensure each docking precisely aligned with those tiny positioning marks.
When the transport robot’s first “leg” was independently assembled, Lin Zhao held it in his hand and played with it. It could already bend flexibly in multiple dimensions like a biological limb.
Reinhardt had said in the 3D design diagram that reverse construction from functional terminal to control core could make it convenient to disassemble local modules from the outside without affecting overall operation, making quick repairs easier. Many mecha designs now used this concept.
Lin Zhao stared at the word “mecha” for quite a while.
Was he talking about Gundams? This immersive?
All right, then.
And Reinhardt’s only thought was: when will we have another chance to video call?
If I hesitate even one more second next time, I’m Pengpeng, the one my imperial sister keeps—a huge barbarized wild boar!
When the final assembly difficulty was solved, and the wasteland transport robot Unit 001 could finally respond smoothly and precisely to each of Lin Zhao’s complex voice commands, before he knew it, outside the window, it was already another silent night.
There was even a faint hint of dawn whitening the east.
When he saw the familiar daybreak outside the floor-to-ceiling window, Lin Zhao was dumbfounded.
But what made him most incredulous was that when he tried sending a message to Boss Bro on the other end of the communicator app:
[Boss…]
[Hm?]
The other party was still as concise as ever, reading and replying instantly.
What kind of person could do this after more than ten consecutive hours?
Lin Zhao could not help asking:
[Is your insomnia very serious?]
Reinhardt: [……Mm.]
He did not know why Lin Zhao would ask this, but according to the early-chat strategy Wyatt had told him, observe more, accept more, do not rush to deny. You can be any kind of person. First figure out the other person’s preferences and bottom line.
He assumed Lin Zhao asked this because Lin Zhao had insomnia.
If he also had insomnia, then would this not give them a common topic?
Of course, instinctively, there was some agitation in his heart.
Because compared with having more topics with Lin Zhao, he wanted even more to help Lin Zhao solve any troubles in his life. Even a tiny bit of discomfort would make him feel upset and restless over his own helplessness. Just as he clearly could have avoided making the 3D diagram so detailed, deliberately creating more opportunities for dialogue with Lin Zhao, yet he still had not done so.
Oh, then Lin Zhao understood.
Back when he had been anxious from work, his insomnia had also been serious. No wonder Boss Bro had an account name so heavy with resentment. Poor thing.
[I’ll send you some calming white tea? No charge, I’ll gift it to you. It used to work very well for me.]
Reinhardt: !!!
Who received a gift from Lin Zhao again?
Me!
After staying up for two big nights in a row and almost turning himself into an owl, His Highness Reinhardt was still glowing with vitality today, radiating a sparkling aura from head to toe.
There was no need to ask. His “romance” must have been progressing quite successfully.
Especially after seeing the white tea in his hand, he deliberately took out that uniquely shaped porcelain jar in the starship’s central cafeteria, when the most people were eating breakfast. He placed it in the most conspicuous position.
Then, when Carlos came to ask what he wanted to eat today, he said, “Oh, this is something Linlin gave me. It’s a specialty drink from their star system. From now on, I’ll only drink this in the morning.”
Who asked you?
Adjutant Carlos truly had a lot of dirty words he wanted to say to his grievance-inducing superior, but considering the comfortable life of his family of three, including the cat, he ultimately endured it just like every time before.
He only read flatly, “Is that so? How enviable.”
If he had not seen 1114 controlling Lin Zhao’s account, after Lin Zhao had already fallen asleep, sending messages to all the bosses who had added livestream membership, saying: we will have membership gift benefits in the future. As long as you have monthly membership, you will receive a specially customized gift at the start of the month. This month’s membership gift is…
Adjutant Carlos: Your Highness, have you truly not realized that you are not the special one?
“What is that look in your eyes?” Reinhardt became alert.
“Do you call him Linlin because that’s really his nickname, or because to this day, you still don’t know what his real name is?” Adjutant Carlos reminded tactfully.
Hurry up and get some real exclusive privilege, damn it!
Unfortunately, Reinhardt was a tyrant who could not listen to unpleasant but loyal advice. He immediately put down his knife and fork and said, “I’ve decided. Once we return, I’ll tell your wife that you actually don’t like the little cakes he makes at all, and every time you force yourself to finish them all, you secretly rub your stomach for a long time afterward.”
If only you used even one-tenth of that gloomy, tea-like energy you show when tattling to my wife!
I refuse to believe you still wouldn’t be able to date!
No, wait. You deserve not being able to date!
Fuck!
—
When Lin Zhao appeared in front of people again, it was already several days later.
Mm. As compensation for staying up all night, he very thoroughly slept until heaven and earth went dark.
By the time Qin Xiaoman was so frightened that he thought something had happened and came over with the spare key to open the door, he saw Lin Zhao staring in amazement at the transport robot he had assembled.
Although he had already marveled over it before, this kind of high technology always remained newly amazing no matter how often one looked.
Who could have imagined that this kind of robot had only cost him twenty thousand yuan?
At the same time, far away in Kaman, Mechanic was also sighing amid his abundant collection of books.
This kind of simple garbage robot actually had a sucker willing to exchange this many books for it?
Both sides felt they had profited. This was exactly the kind of good trade 1114 pursued.
The robot Mechanic provided Lin Zhao did not look human. To be precise, it looked more like a centaur with four legs and two hands. Its height only reached Lin Zhao’s knees, but when unfolded, it took up quite a bit of floor space. Its sensor was currently slowly rotating and scanning the surrounding environment, emitting an almost inaudible high-frequency operating sound.
“How do you start—”
Before Lin Zhao finished speaking, the robot’s core projected a holographic interface. It was a simplified command panel. He could understand all the symbols on the panel because 1114 had built in translation interaction ahead of time.
Basic Transport Robot 001:
Model: Scavenger Type 3.
Status: Assembly complete. Initialized.
Energy: 97%.
Expected service life: 15 years.
Please enter preset task.
Lin Zhao hesitated for a moment, selected “transport test” under preset tasks, then looked at Qin Xiaoman.
“Want to try?”
Although Qin Xiaoman had never seen this kind of high technology, he had already heard from his brother before that he had bought some transport robots from Kaman. He had not expected them to arrive so quickly. He was also eager to try and directly ordered, “Carry me to the sofa.”
Transport Robot 001 immediately stood up, its movements so smooth it did not look like a machine that had just been assembled. Under the guidance of its sensor, it went straight toward Qin Xiaoman. After scanning his entire body, it extended its mechanical arms, lifting Qin Xiaoman, who weighed at least one hundred forty jin, with astonishing finger flexibility and moderate grip strength, then steadily moved his whole person onto the sofa.
Lift gently, put down gently. Perfect motion.
After completing the task, the robot returned to its original position and quietly waited for the next instruction.
“Didn’t you say before that it still needed to be assembled or something? This doesn’t seem to need assembly.” Qin Xiaoman looked over their company’s future asset in disbelief. “Or did you assemble this yourself? You handled it alone? Or did Xiangxiang help you?”
Lin Zhao’s younger cousin, Lin Xiang, was his aunt’s only child.
As mentioned before, Lin Xiang studied in another city. To be precise, he was pursuing a doctorate under an academician in the field of astrophysics.
He had originally been at Yongji University, but a year and a half ago, for reasons unknown, he suddenly followed his academician supervisor and moved the entire laboratory to the satellite base in Tianquan City, one of China’s three major corps-level bases.
What specific scientific research project he was participating in was unknown. In any case, since then, Lin Xiang had never returned home, whether during winter or summer break, weekends, Spring Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival. If not for the fact that visits were still allowed, Ms. Lin Mingzhu would have wanted to call the police.
Lin Xiang could not leave the base casually, but family members were still allowed to visit. Lin Mingzhu had gone once before, afraid of disturbing her son’s work, and later restrained herself from going again. Even though Lin Xiang told her that when there were no launch missions, the satellite base also organized visits for ordinary people, and even arranged explanations, allowing elementary and middle school students to come for popular science study tours.
But Lin Mingzhu still insisted that video calls with her son were enough.
Lin Zhao was also on Lin Xiang’s only two registered family visitor list. His original plan had been that after observing his own physical condition and confirming the restoration potion had no aftereffects, he would fly to Tianquan City and pour a tube down his cousin’s throat too.
One tube of body restoration potion cost 240,000 yuan. Lin Zhao’s current savings, after deducting the cash flow needed for future purchases, were just about enough to buy two more tubes.
One for his aunt, one for his cousin.
Because they were the only two relatives he had left in this world.
His aunt, Lin Mingzhu, was no longer young after all. Lin Zhao always felt that taking this kind of medicine should be handled more cautiously with her. His cousin had thick skin and tough flesh, so there were not as many concerns.
Of course, before feeding the other party something of unknown origin, Lin Zhao would first ask for his cousin’s own opinion.
In person.
But when he called Lin Xiang and asked when it would be convenient to visit him, unexpectedly, Lin Xiang gave him an answer outside his expectations.
“I’m coming back for New Year this year.”
Which meant half a month later.
Before Lin Zhao could express happiness, on the video call, Lin Xiang was standing in front of a messy row of bookshelves in the dormitory, wearing a light-gray cashmere sweater. The camera angle was slightly low, only showing his upright figure and long neck, making him look even taller.
“I have something I must tell you and my mom in person. Brother, can you help me mentally prepare my mom first?”
“…Are you getting married? Is the woman not the type Auntie would like?”
Actually, Lin Zhao felt his aunt was quite open-minded. Even if the woman was divorced and had two children, she would probably cheerfully say, “I’m becoming a grandma, eh.”
“Not that kind of preparation.”
“Then what is it?”
Lin Xiang felt that one or two sentences could not explain it clearly. In the end, he could only give up and compromise helplessly with his brother.
“Why don’t you find some Jinjiang novels for my mom to read?”
After hanging up, Lin Zhao, who had just been acting normal, immediately changed his expression 180 degrees toward 1114. His good-looking face was filled with something indescribable.
He said to his system, “I probably know what it is.”
“What?” 1114 was also completely hooked by this mysterious atmosphere.
“My brother is going to come out.”
“?”
Author’s Note:
Nonsense Mini Theater:
Cousin, who is only preparing to tell his older cousin a secret related to the truth of this world: ?
“Everyone is holding a serious meeting, yet here he is, pondering what is love”: I forgot where I saw this line, but it probably isn’t my original creation. I just have this impression in my brain, so I’m noting it here.
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