Chapter 76

Chapter 76

"I made no mistakes." Zhan Chen said.

Yu Tang clung to Zhan Chen's arms. He wanted to speak, but the overly familiar temperature and breath enveloped him, and he suddenly lost all strength.

…

He seemed to have suddenly transformed back into the little ball of light that night.

Here in Zhan Chen, he learned many things.

I learned how to find cookies for myself skillfully, I learned how to circle Zhan Chen endlessly by the stove, I learned how to just smash the projector and I could comfortably nestle in the pile of pillows while playing games and watching movies.

I also learned other things.

He hid in the light of the street lamp, waiting for Zhan Chen to come home, but jumped out and suddenly startled Zhan Chen.

He failed to wait for Zhan Chen. It was the first time he looked at a map by himself, and he reversed the direction of the map and found the wrong way.

Under the streetlight were the humans he had seen.

Those humans would give him gifts, some he liked and some he didn't.There was a strange shiny silver instrument with a flashing red light. He liked it so much that he secretly hid it in the electronic storm and prepared to give it to Zhan Chen.

Those people also use machines to create a strange electronic pulse.

The frequency of that electronic pulse was very similar to his. Occasionally, it even had some meaning that he could understand.

He had never had a companion, and he had never seen the same frequency as his own. He thought there were other electronic storms in the world, and he happily fell into the trap several times.

He met Zhan Chen first, and he had gradually lost his original wariness against humans. When he was about to go over and ask for directions, the man in military uniform below also happened to speak.

"I'm warning you again, don't make matters worse."

The man's voice was low and somewhat gloomy: "Our original commission was to get rid of the special forces team suspected of mutiny. It must be clean and leave no trace. It is completely like an accident."

"We'll cover for you and won't interfere with your experiments, but you can't leave us with a reason to be caught."

The man looked cold and threatened in a low voice: "Think clearly, if you don't abide by the agreement, we will no longer be polite..."

Opposite him was a middle-aged man in a white coat.

A little stooped, with thinning hair, all his ambitions are hidden behind the thick lenses of old-fashioned glasses.

The white coat narrowed his eyes and said disapprovingly: "Is there any suspicion of rebellion?"

"If their pilot project is successful, the entire alliance will be reformed. Fighting as an individual unit will become a collective unit. Mechas will no longer have the absolute advantage they had in the past, and your current status will plummet..."

The man in the white coat said slowly: "When we do research, we also read military news."

The expression of the man in military uniform changed instantly.

His eyes were condensed, and his expression was so serious that he felt for the gun hidden behind him without leaving any trace.

"Why are you so anxious? It's been so long. Hasn't the captain already gone crazy according to your wishes?" The white coat said, "If we expose you, we will be in trouble too. Who would do such a stupid thing?"

The man in military uniform said hoarsely: "...It's best like this."

"That's how people are. Everyone has shady selfish motives, and no one can see the light better than anyone else."

The white coat said: "You want to get rid of an obstructive special forces team. We happen to need experimental subjects. Everyone gets what they need. What's wrong with that?"

The man in military uniform stared at him, his eyes changing.

White coat: "Don't worry, the appearance of the experimental subjects has been modified, and they can't find out."

"What's more... no matter how many times we investigate, it will always be just an accident."

The man in the white coat still spoke at a leisurely pace: "Why is it our fault? Isn't it because of the scourge of the electronic storm?"

"Everyone knows that electronic storms are an unstoppable disaster. They have caused so many troubles and harmed so many people."

"Only if we and you know, this is the treasure that will give us what we want."

The white coat said: "Go and watch TV and see the sororities of the victims' families. Don't people hate electronic storms? Even the experimental funds we applied to the Ministry of Science, on the surface, must be controlled.and expel electronic storms for the benefit of mankind..."

The man in military uniform interrupted him in a deep voice: "Save these words for your science department."

Knowing that he had convinced him again, the white coat lowered his head and smiled with satisfaction.

"I came here this time to remind you that the Special Investigation Section of the Ministry of Security is targeting you."

The man in military uniform said coldly: "I don't know if it's true or not... There may be agents from the Security Department among the experimental subjects you are observing."

"I don't know how they developed the inside information. It may be through your researchers, or it may be through the opportunities of those people to go out for publicity."

"Even among your experimental subjects, those with military backgrounds may not be able to resist your system even if they have been modified."

Man in military uniform: "You should also know what the consequences will be if someone from the Ministry of Security finds out about our affairs."

The muscles on the white coat's face jumped slightly.

His expression showed slight fluctuations for the first time, and he was silent for a while before asking again: "Is the news accurate?"

"We can't be sure, just reminding you."

The man in military uniform frowned: "Destroy them as soon as they are ready, especially those who can still maintain their own consciousness. Isn't your program very strong? Be smart about it..."

Their voices became lower and lower, and the white coats held their glasses and nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

…

Looking back on this memory again, Yu Tang can clearly understand all the subtexts in it.

Once Zhuangyu's pilot is successful, the entire military will usher in earth-shaking reforms.Return to the combat mode with combat teams as the basic unit, strengthen tactics and coordination, and maximize the role of the commander.

The individual combat system that originally centered on mechas, spent huge sums of money to build heavy-weapon mechas, and spent a lot of manpower and material resources to train mecha operators will completely cease to exist as time goes by.

The vested interests were unwilling to let this happen, so they approached Wen You's mentor under the guise of jointly carrying out research on "AI weapons" and "bionic man projects" with the Ministry of Science.

These people, including Sheng Tiancheng, secretly cooperated with Wen Er's mentor to deliberately protect the research team and took the opportunity to create an "accident", causing all Zhuang Yu's comrades and subordinates to disappear in the electronic storm.

"These people are busy fighting among themselves, busy guarding their own interests, and busy eliminating dissidents."

Yu Tang said: "They didn't expect that just ten years after the last war, there would be an insect invasion far larger than any previous one."

Zhan Chen didn't speak immediately and listened to him quietly.

"Even Wen You is just a pawn in their plan."

Yu Tang connected all the causes and consequences: "Wen You's mentor should not be satisfied with him... He is too paranoid. He lives in his own illusion. All his enthusiasm for electronic storms only comes from Pu Ying's shadow..”

"His mentor is more ambitious and crazier. It's a seamless collaboration."

"Each party gets what they need from the cooperation. The old guard consolidates their own interests. Wen Er gets the status and experimental conditions he wants, and his mentor gets the most perfect experimental subject."

"Madness, ambition and greed colluded together and broke their own sharpest knife. This knife had encountered the most ferocious insect swarm and experienced the most difficult battle. No one expected that the power to break them came from them.Behind them comes the part they risked their lives to protect.”

"…Then the entire alliance was drawn into a protracted and fierce battle."

"Without the sharpest part, without the backbone innovative force that should be in place, the alliance's army cannot stop the Zerg."

Yu Tang said too many words in one breath, and his voice was still hoarse through the changes in the mechanical sound: "This planet... this entire galaxy will be completely destroyed in the war without any suspense.If they collapse, mankind will come to an end. On the road to destruction, when they look back at this period, they——"

"Little light ball." Zhan Chen said.

Yu Tang's voice stopped suddenly.

He was somewhat grateful that he was installed in the mecha. The cold and hard iron shell could hide many details. If it were his original body, he might not be able to say these words.

But he couldn't say the next words.

…

That night, he finally didn't go to Zhan Chen again.

He can already understand human language, and he can already understand a lot of what the man in the white coat said.

He had no idea so many people fell into the electronic storm.

He did live in an electronic storm, but the scope of the electronic storm was so large that it would take a long time for him to make a complete circle. Occasionally, he would get lost in it because he couldn't remember the terrain.

… He never knew he was a nuisance.

He didn't bother to go back to find Zhan Chen. He went to watch what the white coat called "TV" and for the first time came into contact with people's undisguised hatred and hatred for the electronic storm in the world other than Zhan Chen.

He didn't think those people were wrong at all.

Before meeting Zhan Chen, he really couldn't understand human emotions.

But Zhan Chen taught him a lot. He could already understand the stories Zhan Chen read to him, the movies he watched with him, and he could experience the joys, sorrows, and joys of human beings.

He has been able to understand human suffering.

He saw the young man who was being led by his elders to attend his parents' funeral, with a confused look on his face.I saw an old man standing in front of the merit wall, wiping his son's photo over and over again.

He saw the memory of the alliance headquarters. The head of the military had red eyes. He was being urged to push back, but he still hit the table full of information hard.

"I can still stand here and listen to your nonsense!"

The person in charge of the military shouted hoarsely, his throat seemed to be soaked in blood: "Those are the best observers in the entire alliance, the best leaders in the history of the special operations team! They saved all of your lives! You investigateAfter so long, let me tell him that his men were swept away by some bullshit electronic storm and will never be found again!"

The person in charge of the military was held down, and he sat back in a state of collapse: "If you put your hands here, something will happen sooner or later... If the war with the Zerg breaks out again, we will no longer be able to stop it."

"The planet will be occupied, the galaxy will be swallowed up, and humanity will come to an end."

The military leader spoke hoarsely, like some kind of frightening sentence: "On this road, if you look back at this section, you will know that approaching the electronic storm is the beginning of your demise..."

…

The alliance's hearing was broadcast live, but no one expected that the military leader would suddenly say these words at this time. He was listening to those words on the TV outside the window. The next second, the picture suddenly changed toA snowflake fell.

The ever-changing light and shadow hit the windows.

The family just used the TV as a background sound. The male host and hostess were busy working on their own. Only the children who had just finished their homework were paying attention to the content.

Hearing the noise coming from the TV, the male host thought that the antenna was broken again. He looked up in confusion, took the remote control and changed a few channels. He found that there was no problem and put the remote control aside.

The kid walked over and asked his father, "Are electronic storms a bad thing?"

"Yes." The male host said casually, "Didn't the Ministry of Science issue a notice? Our galaxy has recently been in a high-risk area for electronic storms, and the public is asked to be more vigilant."

The child was a little scared and unconvinced, and retorted in a low voice: "My classmate showed it to me. The electronic storm is so beautiful, like the aurora we learned in geography class."

The hostess nodded his head: "When you are captured by the electronic storm, you will never be able to go home again, and you won't be able to see your parents. Let's see if you are still beautiful."

The father was half-joking, scaring his son: "I heard that electronic storms can understand what we are saying. As soon as you mention it, it will sneak up on you while you are not paying attention..."

The child was really frightened this time. He quickly shut his mouth tightly and threw himself into his mother's arms.

The hostess glanced at her husband half reproachfully: "What are you talking about?"

"Scare him, so that the children will not know the importance of the situation." The male host coughed, "His teacher contacted me two days ago and asked us to guide the child correctly."

The male host said: "Did you read his essay? He imagined the electronic storm as a human being, and actually wanted to throw a small note into the electronic storm, asking if it would come..."

Under the propaganda, the people of the alliance have accepted the statement that their interstellar region is located in an area prone to electronic storms.

More and more people are missing in electronic storms. Even if some people can come out smoothly, they will have various problems and require long-term treatment.

This unsettling depression, although not as much as the intuitive fear caused by the real insect tide, is also spreading silently throughout the alliance.

People are waiting for the electronic storm to leave, and are also waiting for news from the Ministry of Science, hoping that even one victim will be completely cured.

…

The TV was turned off.

The child was frightened by his father's jokes and refused to leave his parents to sleep alone. His mother patiently hugged him and coaxed him back to his room.

The male host was dragged to the study by the hostess, gave him an angry and funny lesson, and then went to apologize to his son honestly.

The lights in the living room were also turned off.

He could not move arbitrarily where there was no light. He could only stop outside the window and wait motionless for the moonlight to shine through the clouds.

That was the first time he desperately tried to learn to speak.

He also felt that he was extremely bad, but he was so wronged that he almost went crazy and could not stop trembling.

He cannot go crazy. He can vaguely sense the limits of his abilities. If he loses control here, the entire family will be swallowed up by him and decomposed in an instant.

There was no light outside the window, and he couldn't move. He used his electronic pulse to shout at these people as hard as he could.

Why don't you throw the note?

Even if a piece of paper may float to an invisible place and may be broken down by the electronic storm, if he throws ten, a hundred, or ten thousand pieces in, he can always see it.

Even if he doesn't know much about words, you can still draw pictures for him.

Zhan Chen often drew pictures for him.

Zhan Chen also praised him for being smart and a quick learner.

He had escaped for several days, and he couldn't help but want to go back to see Zhan Chen, but it was cloudy that night, there was no moon, and there was not even the slightest starlight.

For a whole night, the electronic storm, feared and cursed by countless people and wishing to disappear forever, was frozen in the bone-shattering darkness.

…

Zhan Chen's gentle but unquestionable voice sounded in his ears: "That's not the case."

Yu Tang was pulled out of the prison of memory.

"The anger of the military leaders is due to extreme powerlessness, and the resistance of the people is due to fear caused by lack of information."

Zhan Chen said: "When occupied by these negative emotions, it is often difficult for humans to stay rational."

Zhan Chen: "That's why we need to tell them the truth."

Yu Tang leaned on Zhan Chen's shoulder. He listened intently to Zhan Chen's heartbeat and listened to every word that was spoken along with the heartbeat.

...He remembered many things.

Things in the electronic storm will slowly disappear, just like the two popsicles Luo Ran tried hard to leave for his parents, turning into shapeless sweet water little by little in the hot summer air.

Only by placing it at the very core of the storm, in the eye of the storm, can it be preserved.

The shiny silver instrument with the small red light that he carefully hid and wanted to give to Zhan Chen was not a gift from those people at all, but a trait detector that was put in.

Shortly after that, Wen Er's mentor deduced the existence of consciousness in the electronic storm by analyzing electronic pulses.

Unlike Zhan Chen, those people tried every means to seduce and deceive him.After Zhan Chen turned into a two-story robot, those people even found several scammers to deceive him.

The swindlers all pretended to be very good. They tried every means to persuade him not to be sad, scolded those who dared to slander Electronic Storm on his behalf, and denounced with righteous indignation the ignorance and unreasonableness of ordinary people.

But he couldn't listen to this at all.

He could only listen to the truth that Zhan Chen explained to him over and over again and patiently.

These principles are not subjective in any way, but they are from the gentlest and most rational perspective.

For him, these principles are more direct and effective than any empty comfort and persuasion.

…

Yu Tang suddenly felt terribly wronged.

If he hadn't gone through so many books, he would have realized that when he was making the light group, his behavior of pulling Zhan Chen's collar apart and reluctantly getting in to hide was a bit inappropriate. He still wants to hide in now.

Zhan Chen held him with his palms, protecting him in a quiet warm glow.

Yu Tang hid in this dim light.

He sat quietly for a long time, the mecha covering up all the details. When he spoke again, he was able to regain control of his emotions.

"I know." Yu Tang said, "You taught me...I know."

Yu Tang: "I know, I remember it all, even after the concussion."

He was embarrassed to speak at this time and admitted that although he had not forgotten these principles, he had forgotten Zhan Chen and even mixed up a bunch of names.

Yu Tang thought for a long time and tried his best to make amends: "I also remembered... If you want something, you can't just grab it. You have to go to the mall to buy it."

A soft laugh sounded in his ears.

Soft and gentle, like the wind passing through the aurora.

"Learned well." Zhan Chen praised him well, "Fortunately you remember."

Yu Tang suddenly couldn't help it. He stood up from the swing and asked the person in charge of the mall: "How many experience points does it cost to hug the person in charge of the mall?"

Zhan Chen was slightly startled.

He had never encountered this kind of problem before, so he subconsciously searched the mall's database and couldn't get an answer.

Yu Tang just relied on the fact that the iron sheet was thick enough to avoid blushing. Before Zhan Chen could react, he had already changed the topic calmly: "This morning..."

The temporary blocking time has expired, and it has been reconnected to the outside world for five minutes.

S7, who was conscious overseas and had the comic books stuffed by his comrades from the entire special operations team, was distracted while fighting the mechanical bug and reminded him: "Senior Zhan, at this time, I want to hug you without any money."

Zhan Chen: "..."

Yu Tang: "..."

The adults were talking about business, and the young interstellar commander was shielded from consciousness again.

Yu Tang's entire mecha felt a little hot. He staggered around and was about to jump off the swing.

"Mr. Yu... I'm sorry."

Zhan Chen said: "According to regulations, the person in charge of the mall cannot have private contact with the host that goes beyond transactions."

"I know." Yu Tang just acted on a whim, and was interrupted by Shi Ji. He had already calmed down a lot, "Let's talk about it later, I -"

Zhan Chen put his arms around him.

Yu Tang was startled.

That hand was as stable as in my memory - it was an extremely firm and unquestionable support, with a clear stand and no reservations.

Just like in his first two books, every time he redeemed something weird, the mall would silently give him a temporarily generated character.

For example, the temporary cleaner who completely lifted the fig leaf of Sui Si's studio.

For example, the room service that secretly replaced the lucky bag with an electric shock device.

For example, the Sweeper brand pebbles that burst the tires of Wen Er's car.

…

For example, when dealing with Wen Er, he tested the bottom line of the mall's rules and exchanged half of the data in the terminal.

When he chose to exchange, Yu Tang was actually prepared to be rejected.

But the mall did not reject him.

The mall still accepted his application and generated a temporary righteous hacker for him.

It seemed that everything was still the same as it was in that small house, just a little naughty little fight that was not difficult to solve.

"How did you become a hacker?"

Yu Tang leaned into Zhan Chen's palm, and his voice became softer unconsciously: "Can I ask this? If not -"

"You can ask." Zhan Chen said, "There are no hackers."

Yu Tang: "?"

"I don't have such strong programming skills."

Zhan Chen: "I moved in by myself, and it took three hours."

Yu Tang: "..."

He leaned on Zhan Chen's palm and thought about the image of the majestic mall manager taking advantage of the dark light to diligently carry data out of the terminal one by one.

Yu Tang tried his best to endure it for a long time, but he couldn't stand it anymore and laughed softly.

Zhan Chen noticed the fluctuation in his data, and there was a smile in his eyes.

He just spent some time to create an exclusive purchase link. He just finished it and sent it to the selected lucky host in the background.

Yu Tang heard a voice in the background: "What's the news?"

"Because the host has inquired about the discount content, the mall will automatically send a push for value-for-money purchases."

Zhan Chen said: "It's a purchase link, it only needs one experience point."

One experience point is not even enough for bubble gum. Everything you buy is a profit.

"Grab it quickly." Without thinking, Yu Tang called up the control panel and quickly chose to agree to pay. Then he remembered and asked, "What are you selling?"

Zhan Chen: "The person in charge of the mall."

Yu Tang: "..."

Yu Tang: "?"

Yu Tang clicked on the virtual connection and looked at it carefully: "Can this also be sold?"

"There is no relevant prohibition order." Zhan Chen said, "Even if it is prohibited now, the previous transactions will not be invalidated."

The rules of Chuan Bookstore do not allow any private contact between the mall manager and the host in non-trading situations.

However, Chuan Shuju does not stipulate that the person in charge of the mall cannot put it on the shelves as a product.

Yu Tang's mood was a bit complicated: "Isn't it a bit too much for us to take advantage of this loophole..."

"As long as the purchase link is not deleted, returns are allowed."

Zhan Chen asked patiently: "Does the host want to return the product?"

Yu Tang quickly called up the control panel, opened the background, deleted the purchase link, and completely cleared the operation data.

Zhan Chen chuckled at his comma-free movement.

He stretched out his hand, took Yu Tang into his arms, and gently touched the mecha's back.

"Transaction complete."

Zhan Chen had a smile in his eyes and imitated Shi Ji's words in a serious manner: "Hug me as you like, no money required."