Just as Mo Yu was struggling with how to break the silence.
“Let’s split up to explore… and search for other clues,” Gu Jinzhi took the initiative to speak.
Mo Yu was startled.
Right, there was still hope. His task was utterly absurd; perhaps there were other people here, and if he ran into someone else, he might trigger a better task.
Or maybe the high-level player Gu Jinzhi would crack everything directly and let everyone leave together.
It wasn’t impossible!
Mo Yu nodded hastily.
“Alright. Good idea, I’ll go check out that side.”
After an awkward yet polite farewell, Gu Jinzhi turned and left. Mo Yu patted his chest and returned to the elevator once more.
This time, he keenly noticed a moving red dot above the elevator, giving him a distinct sensation of being watched.
So there was someone upstairs? He didn’t hide, staring at the red dot for a moment. To his complete surprise, the elevator doors opened again.
Mo Yu hesitated briefly before stepping inside.
The elevator ascended. When the doors opened, a corridor lay before him.
Standing straight by the entrance was a person, no, or rather… a robot?
His joints clearly revealed metallic alloys, yet his face was almost indistinguishable from a real human’s.
He had exquisite features, delicate skin, and a vivid smile that only faintly betrayed a hint of unnatural perfection.
Smiling at Mo Yu, he opened his mouth and uttered a naturally deep, synthesized voice.
“A69, do you want to head back first and try again in a little while?”
Mo Yu was startled.
He barely managed to compose himself. “Yes.”
The robot smiled, then suddenly picked him up in his arms.
Mo Yu: “??”
Is this… right?
Unsure of what plot was unfolding, Mo Yu refrained from struggling out of caution, remaining stiff instead.
The robot possessed immense strength, holding him up with one hand while using the other to pat his head. “It’s alright, you are my proudest creation.”
“Humans naturally develop feelings after, he will like you.”
Mo Yu: ?
Wait, does this robot want them to do it?
Carrying him, the robot walked down the corridor and arrived before a door.
The door scanned both of them and opened.
Opposite them stood an identical robot, who smiled at him once more.
“I will take you back.”
Mo Yu glanced between the robot on his left and the one in front of him, They truly were identical.
As expected, the first robot remained behind in the corridor.
However, if he only looked at the one in front of him, Mo Yu couldn’t tell they had switched at all, as their voices and expressions were completely indistinguishable. Furthermore, just now, they hadn’t engaged in any visible communication whatsoever to exchange all that information…
The original layout of this floor felt somewhat like an office, but looking at it now, its function was closer to a dormitory.
People lived inside the glass rooms lined along the walls. Some were even lying inside glass vats, looking quite bizarre.
The center area was partitioned into various zones.
Every few steps, an almost identical robot stood guard.
Glancing around, he spotted someone inside a small cubicle in broad daylight…!
In plain sight.
Mo Yu’s eyes widened in shock. He immediately turned his head away, his mind reeling. What on earth was this place?
Soon, the robot brought him to a glass room furnished particularly lavishly. Mo Yu guessed this might be his “room,” yet he stood rooted to the spot, refusing to move.
The robot turned back to look at him. His synthetic eyes were calm and deep, impossible to read.
“What’s wrong, 69?”
Mo Yu swallowed hard and tentatively pointed to a room across from them. “Can I talk to him?”
Mo Yu didn’t recognize most of the people here, but to his even greater surprise, there were many familiar faces. He even spotted an old friend.
“Do you want to go play with A419?”
Were these numbers really not intentional?
“However, your task for today is with S0…”
The robot considered it for a moment before leading him over anyway. Mo Yu secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Inside the room, a tall man with long hair was reclining on a lounger. His narrow, upturned eyes were slightly squinted as he ate snacks and played on a tablet. 419 looked up, saw him, and smiled.
“Why come looking for me? What do you want to play?”
Every time A419 opened his mouth to speak, Mo Yu’s expression grew a little stranger.
This 419 looked identical to his friend Fu Li, right down to his build, yet his speech mannerisms and habits were worlds apart.
Moreover, he was far too calm about his situation. Could he be acting for the robots standing around?
Because there was also a robot standing inside Fu Li’s room.
Mo Yu had no choice but to swallow his words. He played games with him for a bit first, then secretly checked his phone, but there was no response from it at all.
Where was the new task?
“Damn it, how are you so good today? I don’t want to play anymore.”
After losing just two rounds, A419 threw down the controller.
“…Let’s play a bit longer.”
Mo Yu glanced at his phone again, feeling that something was amiss.
The entire glass room was structured like a neat square office. The only separate cubicle inside appeared to be a bathroom.
“Come wash your hands with me.”
“Huh?”
Mo Yu pulled 419 up and dragged him into the bathroom without explaining.
“What are you doing? I didn’t want to wash my hands!”
“Fu Li!”
Taking advantage of the moment, Mo Yu pulled back the other man’s sleeve and saw a scar on his forearm.
It was left behind when someone caused trouble at a bar and smashed a glass bottle against Fu Li’s arm. This person really was his friend.
Mo Yu blurted out his name at top speed.
Yet 419’s face went completely blank, giving no expected reaction whatsoever.
After freezing for a moment, he actually flushed red and awkwardly wrapped his arms around himself instead.
“What ‘fox’? I say, 69, you must like me, right? You’re way too impatient, you didn’t even confess properly before making a move.”
The body clearly belonged to someone he knew, but the memories were gone, what was going on?
Mo Yu turned around to leave.
“Hey, where are you going? I didn’t reject you!” 419 called out behind him.
Over the next few hours, Mo Yu poked around the entire floor, but he couldn’t find anyone as clear headed as Gu Jinzhi and himself.
To put it harshly, the humans here seemed to merely be using the bodies of people he knew to act as NPCs!
Mo Yu gripped his phone, stealing a glance at the robot that had been following him all along. Fortunately, the robot maintained his unchanging smile, looking as if he couldn’t see the phone at all.
Mo Yu tapped the screen on.
After all that tossing and turning, the time on his phone was already pointing to 11 o’clock.
Furthermore, the task that was originally black had now turned red.
Mo Yu felt inexplicably uneasy.
Could it be that his only true companion was Gu Jinzhi?
The task had explicitly stated that… that event was supposed to happen tonight. If it wasn’t accomplished, would there be dire consequences?
As things stood, Mo Yu still had to go back and discuss things with Gu Jinzhi.
Seeing him head downstairs to find S0, the robot showed a satisfied smile.
Mo Yu arrived before the elevator once again. Unexpectedly, this time, the robot behind him followed him down as well.
“I will assist you.” That synthetic face smiled, maintaining the exact same curve.
Mo Yu: Wait, assist with what? Was he going to observe them doing it up close?
Mo Yu was feeling somewhat anxious.
Upon stepping out of the elevator, he felt his phone vibrate once more.
Hmm? Before Mo Yu even had a chance to check it, he saw a figure rapidly leap out from the darkness and knock down the robot behind him.
Ah, Boss Gu??
Mo Yu watched in shock as Gu Jinzhi snapped the AI robot’s neck, pinning it to the ground and smashing it violently until the robot’s head was completely severed from its neck.
He gasped sharply.
So badass?
Wait, no, when did the plan get this wild??
“Gu Jinzhi!”
Boss Gu didn’t even glance at him. Grabbing the robot’s head, he smashed it forcefully against the room’s glass wall.
With a loud crash, the glass shattered. Gobsmacked, Mo Yu hurriedly lunged forward to grab him just as he was about to jump out.
“Where are you going!” The task location was right here.
Before Mo Yu could finish speaking, Gu Jinzhi clamped a hand around his neck and pinned him to the ground.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting.”
In the darkness, Gu Jinzhi’s eyes were as cold as blade edges, filling Mo Yu with a profound sense of unfamiliarity, as if… he were a completely different person.
Mo Yu’s heart sank. “Gu Jinzhi! Snap out of it…”
“Think… who are you… urgh!”
Mo Yu’s face turned beet red, he unexpectedly couldn’t pry Gu Jinzhi’s hand off. When he raised his leg to kick, he was pinned down instead.
Damn it? What brand of protein powder did this guy eat!
“Hey… if I die, who’s going to edit your drafts!”
“Edit drafts?” Gu Jinzhi finally showed a reaction.
Damn capitalist, that’s the only thing you remember, huh? “Your company… is going to go bankrupt!”
“My company…” A spark flickered in Gu Jinzhi’s eyes. “…won’t go bankrupt.”
“The market share and brand awareness are clearly rising. Revenue for this quarter has been consistently growing.”
Mo Yu: ?
He was truly speechless. “But your employee turnover rate must be sky-high.”
More confusion flashed in the depths of Gu Jinzhi’s eyes. Mo Yu kept talking about work.
Only then did Gu Jinzhi slowly regain his senses. He immediately released him, looking at his own hands in astonishment. “I’m sorry!”