Chapter 29 – The First World 29

The robot was very obedient, appearing lively and active, yet sensible. When it wasn’t staying in Su Zheyan’s pocket, it was quietly perched on his head, observing the commotion.

It had been lost twice before, once stolen by someone and the second time suddenly disappearing, even pulling out several strands of hair before leaving.

Su Zheyan had a severe headache and still couldn’t figure out what had happened.

As he searched in the crowd, he called out in a low voice, “Xiao Ci.”

It was noisy all around, and no one responded to him. Occasionally, an alpha would approach with ill intentions only to be killed by Su Zheyan, who was filled with anger.

There were too many people here, and alphas were running rampant everywhere. Su Zheyan carried a machete as he searched for a long time, but he couldn’t find the robot and ended up covered in blood.

Su Zheyan irritably pursed his lips. He knew he shouldn’t have put the robot on his head. Once he found it, he would definitely tie it with an iron chain to keep it attached to him.

He had been searching for over an hour and still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the robot’s presence. It was as if it had vanished into thin air.

Su Zheyan recalled the events that had just occurred. A stick-wielding alpha ran past him, and then his robot disappeared.

There was a moment of silence from Su Zheyan, his cheeks flushing with anger.

He exhaled heavily, “Damn it, Ah Ci has been stolen again!”

Meanwhile, the robot was wandering in an alley.

Contrary to Su Zheyan’s imagination, it wasn’t pushed down or fell off; Chu Shici had flown away.

According to the observation system’s description, an alpha swung a stick and sent him flying dozens of meters. After landing on the ground, he ran a few more meters to avoid the chaotic crowd.

The area he was in was well beyond Su Zheyan’s priority search range. Unless Su Zheyan changed his approach, he would never be able to find the robot in his lifetime.

Chu Shici prepared to return to the place of the ambush and wait in an alley nearby for Su Zheyan to find him.

While searching for the protagonist, the system engaged in idle chat with him to prevent him from feeling uncomfortable.

“You’ve pulled out all of his hair.”

“It’s just thirteen strands.”

“Once they’re gathered together, it’s called patchy baldness.”

Chu Shici extended his hand, wiggling his eight mechanical fingers back and forth. “I was perched on top of his head, so I could only grab them separately. Don’t worry, my Yan Ge has exceptionally dense hair.”

The towns in the desolate star are self-established by criminals, completely lacking infrastructure, relying solely on individual awareness.

In order to do business, shops would install a few small lights on the main street. However, there was nothing in the alleys, and at night, it was pitch black.

The status light on Chu Shici’s head emitted a faint glow, barely illuminating the road.

The system began to find topics to chat about and engaged in idle conversation with him.

“Ah Ci, when did you realize you were gay?”

“Middle school.”

“So young? Did you meet a boy you liked, a classmate?”

“He wasn’t a classmate, he was a few years older than me. He saved me, and I developed some different feelings for him.”

The system became interested. “He saved you?”

“I ran away from home and slept on a park bench. Two guys asked me if I wanted to go to their place to drink. I told them to scram, but they dragged me into the woods. That brother suddenly appeared and gave them a few punches, then he pulled me away. When he heard my stomach growling, he even took me to a roadside stall to eat stir-fried noodles.”

“What happened afterward? Did you start dating?”

“No, I only saw him once. I just knew that his skin was very fair, and he rarely showed expression or spoke.”

“Fair skin and emotionally reserved, just like the male lead.”

After the system finished speaking, it chuckled and joked with him, “Are you treating the male lead as a substitute?”

Chu Shici looked at it speechlessly. “I’m not sure if I actually like him or if I’m just naturally gay. Yan Ge treats me so well, and it’s only because I have a lack of conscience that I can treat him as a substitute.”

The system was just teasing him, so it laughed it off and skipped that topic. “If your first love could stroll in the park at night, he must live nearby. Haven’t you gone to the park to look for him?”

“I was hospitalized, and after I was discharged, I had limited mobility, so I didn’t go to the park much.”

The system asked why he was hospitalized, but Chu Shici remained silent.

Afterward, he avoided answering any more questions. As the system was asking, it suddenly heard the sound of vitality points decreasing.

“Vitality decreased by 1. Current vitality points: 71.”

“Vitality decreased by 1. Current vitality points: 1.”(This is Vitality of host(MC)

Looking at the two prompts on the panel, the system slapped itself in the face.

Su Zheyan’s vitality points dropped, indicating that he couldn’t find the robot, and he felt very sad.

On Chu Shici’s side, it was purely the system being cheeky. It must have touched a sensitive spot in Chu Shici’s heart, almost plunging him into negative territory.

The system began to recall the questions it had asked earlier.

“Is your relationship with your parents not good?”

“Do you not like studying?”

“Do you have any close friends?”

Looking back now, these were probably three deadly questions in a row.

Chu Shici still appeared calm, but the system didn’t dare to ask any more questions. Instead, it started telling jokes to him.

In the quiet end of the alley, footsteps could be heard. Chu Shici instinctively covered the status light and hid in a corner.

A few alphas dragged a frail alpha into the alley and began engaging in activities that minors should not witness.

Chu Shici faced the wall and slowly moved outward.

Suddenly, someone above him exclaimed. It was an alpha who had been spectating but not participating in the fight. He reached out and picked Chu Shici up.

“Brother, there’s a robot here.”

Another person took Chu Shici and tossed him up and down. “There’s a big dent on his head. He’s defective trash. Why did you pick up this kind of garbage? Look, he doesn’t even move.”

After saying that, he casually threw the robot to the ground.

Chu Shici, who had just been playing dead, immediately opened his wheels and ran away in a flash, leaving several alphas staring at each other in place.

When he turned into another alley, he leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

He reached up and touched his head, feeling the obvious dent.

“System, why didn’t you tell me?”

“How could I tell you that you have a dent in your head? Isn’t that an insult?”

Although the system said that, it was actually afraid to tell him, fearing that it would hurt him. It felt a bit emotional, reminiscing about the days when it didn’t check the host’s vitality points and lived more carefreely.

Chu Shici had a good temper and always laughed and remained cheerful, never getting angry.

Chu Shici touched the dent on his head and murmured softly, “Defective trash.”

• ··

The system was lamenting the loss of the happy times, and when it opened the panel, the vitality points had dropped to 0.

System: Fuck.

Yan-ge! Yan-ge, help!

…

It had been a long time since Su Zheyan had been this angry.

In the midst of the melee, he found the man with the club and demanded that he hand over the stolen robot.

Not only did the man refuse to hand it over, but he also started to attack Su Zheyan.

The alphas around them also joined in, some feeling him up, others tearing his clothes.

He had to take some time to defeat the people in this area before he had a moment of respite.

Su Zheyan grabbed the man by his collar. “Where is my robot?”

The man was stunned, wiping the blood off his face. “What robot? I don’t know. Big brother, I was wrong!”

Su Zheyan searched through his clothes but couldn’t find anything.

Others also searched, but there was nothing anywhere.

Su Zheyan threw the man to the ground. “You lost him, so go find him.”

His icy gaze swept over the alphas scattered on the ground. “I’ll spare your lives, but I didn’t ask you to lie around here doing nothing.”

The man struggled to get up and looked at the beta in front of him. He was clearly shorter than him, with delicate and slender features compared to the alphas. However, those blue eyes were like deep trenches. Just a glance from them filled people with fear.

Threatened by Su Zheyan with a knife, the alphas who had just willingly come forward to cause trouble scattered, going into various alleys to find someone. They had thought about running away, but just because the beta couldn’t find a palm-sized robot didn’t mean he couldn’t find a full-sized person.

The street was still chaotic, and Su Zheyan stood on the main street, silently looking around.

If they couldn’t find it again, they would wait a few days for the fog to come. After the town was engulfed in dense fog, everyone would hide in their houses. It would be convenient to search when there was no one on the street.

Whether it was capturing alphas as soldiers in the night market or searching for people in the fog, both were extremely dangerous. The former would be tortured to death, and the latter would be devoured by monsters.

Su Zheyan lowered his head and looked at the bloodstained knife. It was just a mechanical toy, so why did he care so much?

Why doesn’t he just buy a new one? Why is he so nervous? His life doesn’t revolve solely around the robot.

In three days, the Imperial Army will attack the desolate planet. It will be a chaotic battle, and it will be even more difficult to venture into the unknown areas on the map.

If they don’t leave on time tomorrow, they won’t be able to reach their destination before the war begins.

Su Zheyan closed his eyes, and his subconscious told him that there was something important hidden there. He couldn’t remember what it was, but he had to make the trip.

Throughout the night, alphas gradually returned one by one, their faces filled with tension, cautiously reporting that they hadn’t found anything.

Su Zheyan remained silent, his gaze falling on a toy store not far away.

He walked in and asked for a new robot. He picked it up, put it in the pocket on his chest, and then tried putting it on his head.

No matter what position he tried, it didn’t feel right.

When Su Zheyan fought, the shopkeeper watched the whole time. Seeing him, the shopkeeper had a particularly good attitude. “Sir, that’s not how you play with it. There’s a button, press it, and the robot will run.”

As he spoke, he demonstrated, and the robot popped out its wheels and ran back and forth on the table. It could even sing and perform tricks, more advanced than his own.

The shopkeeper directed the robot to do somersaults and act cute, casually saying, “This is a third-generation robot, an old toy that nobody wants. If you buy it, I’ll give you a discount. It’s well-maintained, just needs some maintenance-free oil. I’ve installed voice packs, with loli voice, shota voice, ojou-sama voice, and shounen voice. You can choose one.”

Only then did he notice that the customer hadn’t spoken for a long time. The shopkeeper looked up and saw the beta with the same indifferent expression, but his eyes were slightly red, with a faint layer of mist.

There was still alpha blood sticking to his blond hair, and even though the shopkeeper was tempted, he didn’t dare have any ulterior motives.

He set the voice system to the shounen voice, and the robot happily ran up to the customer, calling out in a clear and lively voice, “Good evening! You can give me a name!”

Before the robot’s words could finish, they were interrupted by tears falling on its head.

The shopkeeper thought there was a play happening, but Su Zheyan wiped his face and turned to leave.

The shopkeeper’s face fell.

Someone covered in blood, carrying a knife, walked into his shop and specifically asked for the third-generation robot. He even tried it out, already planning where to display the toy, and even wiped tears in front of the robot. But in the end, he only looked and didn’t buy?

The shopkeeper put away the robot, clicking his tongue. Strange person.

Meanwhile, Chu Shici was wandering in the alley.

…

Many alphas poured into the alley, as if searching for something.

Chu Shici was hiding and dodging, afraid of being discovered by them.

As the night wore on, even he grew tired of running. The streets were still crowded, and he couldn’t find Su Zheyan anywhere.

Chu Shici returned to the place where he got lost, sitting at the entrance of the alley in the shadows, hugging his legs and lost in thought.

At that moment, he felt like a lost child, waiting for his parents to come and pick him up at the place where he got lost.

Chu Shici touched the dent on his head, and a wave of panic surged in his heart.

In the past, his parents never came to pick him up. Now, would Su Zheyan also reject him?

After all, he had a dent in his head and was a burden who had been lost twice.

But the system had said it was just a small world, and once the male lead’s vitality reached 100, he could leave.

The system sensed that he was not in the right state, [Your Yan ge must be looking for you. Didn’t he go looking for you when you were stolen before?]

“Before is before, now he doesn’t need me anymore.”

[Who said that? Where did you get that conclusion?]

“He definitely doesn’t want me anymore, just like those people.”

[???]

The system realized that the host was extremely depressed, and now he was on the verge of a breakdown.

A nearby alpha stumbled over, his face swollen and bruised from being beaten.

The moment he saw Chu Shici, he burst into a joyous shout, “I finally found you! Fuck, I found you! We don’t have to die!”

Chu Shici was lifted up by the person and carried in their hands as they ran wildly.

A group of people around them cheered and celebrated, as if they had encountered some happy event.

Chu Shici looked bewildered, but when the alpha who had been carrying him finally stopped, he was handed over to a pair of pale hands.

A familiar cold voice came from above, “You’ve gotten yourself dirty again.”

Chu Shici covered his head and looked up. Su Zheyan was covered in blood, with shallow scars on his face.

Chu Shici’s heart seemed to start beating again, and even his spirits improved significantly.

Those blue eyes remained calm as water, coldly staring at him.

Just as he was about to smile at him, he heard a slightly mocking voice.

“The night market is dangerous for me. Don’t give me trouble. If you keep running around, I won’t want you anymore.”

Chu Shici’s smile froze on his face, and he nodded silently.

The system that had been observing the whole time looked at the panel in disbelief. Regained and regained, the male lead’s vitality reached 75.

The alpha who had taken the initiative to help Su Zheyan pulled himself together after completing his task and, seeing that he didn’t object, dispersed immediately.

Su Zheyan was just about to find a hotel to stay in when he suddenly noticed that the robot had been clutching its head all along.

He pried Chu Shici’s hand open, revealing a large dent on the robot’s previously smooth head. It had also lost some paint, looking much more miserable than before.

Su Zheyan sent Chu Shici to the toy store, and a few minutes later, he emerged with a completely refreshed robot.

Even when Su Zheyan was getting ready to sleep, Chu Shici still seemed listless.

He placed the robot by his pillow and turned on his side, staring at him.

After a while, Su Zheyan couldn’t help but furrow his brow and say, “What’s wrong with you?”

Chu Shici didn’t respond.

“Are you hungry?”

“There’s a toy store here. If something doesn’t feel right, I’ll take you there for repairs.”

“A-Ci, answer me.”

In the past, he would answer any question, obedient and sensible like a little toy. Now, it felt like a completely different person.

Su Zheyan extended his finger, but the robot didn’t embrace it. He let out a cold laugh, turned over pretending to sleep, and after a while, turned back again.

His robot lay motionless on the pillow, unresponsive no matter what he did, even though the shopkeeper had assured him that there were no issues with the internal components.

The dent had been fixed, the paint had been touched up, so what could be the problem?

Su Zheyan rubbed the robot, pondered for a while, and came up with a possibility.

He held Chu Shici in his hands, held his breath for half a moment, and with a cold and firm tone, he said, “I lied to you. I won’t abandon you. It doesn’t matter how many times you get lost; I can always find you. I forgive you for pulling out my hair. If you don’t like the outside world, I’ll take you back to the capsule. If something doesn’t feel right, you tell me, and I’ll take you to see a doctor.”

I don’t know how long had passed, but Su Zheyan felt the robot in his hand was starting to leak oil.

Su Zheyan quietly guarded for a while, continuously stroking the robot’s head with his fingertips.

Once he was sure that Chu Shici had fully recovered, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

A notification sound echoed in the system space.

【Vitality +5, current vitality 5.】

Perhaps due to being exhausted from the night, Su Zheyan had a dream.

In the dream, he found Chu Shici first and was about to take the robot home to clean it when the robot suddenly jumped up and cried, saying, “You don’t want me anymore, I won’t go with you.”

In the dream, Su Zheyan frantically tried to explain, but he was not good at expressing his emotions. The robot got lost again, and he spent the whole night searching for it in the dream.

Early the next morning, Su Zheyan, with dark circles under his eyes, sat at the table in his room and wrote in his diary.

【Wednesday, clear. I’m so frustrated, I’m going crazy. I’m not angry with A-Ci, I’m angry with myself. Why did I talk back, scaring him, and now he wants me to comfort him. But even when I try to comfort him, I can’t do it well, and if I don’t comfort him, I feel uncomfortable.】

【I purposely called him A-Ci, and he didn’t react. I knew Xiao Bai was a better name. He hasn’t woken up yet, why am I so nervous? It’s all Eternal Life Technologies’ fault. If they hadn’t created those things, I wouldn’t have gone to the unknown area. I wouldn’t have needed to leave the capsule, and A-Ci wouldn’t have had psychological problems.】

There was a slight movement on the bed, and Su Zheyan looked over expressionlessly.

Chu Shici stretched lazily and waved at him, “Yan-ge! Good morning!”

Su Zheyan glanced at him coldly, then turned back to continue writing in his diary, 【You’re recovered, that’s good.】

Two notification sounds awakened the system, and it groggily looked at the panel.

【Vitality +4, current vitality 79.】

【Vitality +2, current vitality 7.】

Time was pressing, and Su Zheyan packed up and headed to the next town with Chu Shici.

Along the way, they saw some tattered clothes, and judging by the style, they belonged to the people from Eternal Life Technologies. Their small team of hundreds had already entered the wilderness one after another, exploring the unknown area to the southeast.

Chu Shici had a chain tied around his waist, with the other end fastened to Su Zheyan’s arm. He tugged at the chain and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

They didn’t encounter too many obstacles on this journey, and they arrived in the unknown area depicted on the map right on time, before the Imperial Army attacked the desolate planet.

It was a desolate wilderness, and a capsule pod lay there, all alone.

It resembled the one Su Zheyan had used before, but it was even older and covered in dust.

Lifting the pod’s cover, a cloud of dust greeted them.

Chu Shici held onto the chain and swung back and forth, peering inside.

As the dust settled, the scene inside the capsule pod became visible.

It was filled with densely packed black stones, and beneath the stones, there was a pile of papers.

Faintly, through the gaps between the stones, the words on the papers could be seen.

The handwriting was neat and handsome, square and upright—it was Su Zheyan’s handwriting.

Translator’s Note-Guys don’t forget to support and comment (^-^)