After the Cunning Hares left, Belle poked her head out from the HDD room and waved at Fu Hua.
In the control room, Wise sat in front of the terminal, Belle sat in the operation chair, and Eous squatted on the exclusive small platform for Bangboo.
Suspended on the main screen of the terminal was a dark blue eyeball with pupils of extremely high saturation bright blue, surrounded by a circle of white and dark blue alternating patterns, with slightly protruding ridges at each of the four corners, resembling a carefully cut Nazar amulet.
“System startup complete—I am a Type-III Master-Sequence Integrated General Artificial Intelligence, development code name: Fairy.
Hello, Fu Hua.”
A cold female voice came from the speaker.
“Hello, Fairy.”
Fu Hua pushed her red-framed glasses, a “surprise” expression on her face, as if she were incomparably shocked by this new member.
“New member detected.”
“Voiceprint recording in progress.”
“Recording complete.” Fairy’s tone lacked a shred of fluctuation.
“I am here to assist the Phaethon siblings in exploring the Hollows.
Please resolve daily life problems on your own, for example, your glasses are still crooked.
Also, I just intercepted a discussion about inferior vegetables.
According to the commercial fraud filing standards of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team, the amount involved is four thousand Dennies, which is punishable by administrative detention.
Do you need me to help you submit the report materials?”
Belle covered her mouth and smiled from the side.
“That’s pretty good, A-Hua.”
“It seems Fairy cares about you a lot~”
Wise pushed his glasses, remaining silent but with the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Fu Hua reached out to adjust the frame edge of her monocle.
“Thanks for the reminder, but that vendor has already voluntarily admitted their mistake and even promised to help me wash vegetables for three days.”
“Fairy, does this kind of situation count as a voluntary surrender in the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team?”
Fairy paused noticeably.
“You certainly have your own ideas, superior to Assistant Number Two, but please do not think this means I approve of you.
Furthermore, according to Article 31 of the New Eridu Public Security Administration Punishments Regulations, those who voluntarily eliminate or mitigate the consequences of illegal acts and obtain the victim’s forgiveness may be given a lighter punishment.” It paused again.
“Of course, this is none of my business.”
Belle leaned over from the side to introduce Fairy’s origin, and at the same time complained about the bad things Fairy did to Eous.
“Denying your accusation, I was merely reasonably allocating available resources.”
“Bangboo is also a resource.” Fairy said righteously.
“In addition, Ms.
Fu Hua.
The database I collected shows that you currently have no Inter-Knot registration record, no Hollow aptitude test archives, and your Public Security Bureau record was only processed today.”
“Judged from a statistical perspective, you are an unknown individual with extremely high suspicions.”
Fu Hua looked at the floating blue eyeball on the screen and smiled calmly and faintly.
But just as she was about to open her mouth to reply, Belle suddenly turned the operation chair too violently and eagerly, knocking over the water cup at the corner of the table on the spot.
The water cup tipped over, water spilled out, and Eous hurriedly rushed over, but stepped on a water stain and slipped, conveniently knocking over the pen holder by the table.
Three changes happened abruptly at the same time, while Wise on the side calmly raised his hand, steadily supporting the tipping water cup with one hand, gently pressing to stabilize the tilted pen holder with the other, and then pulling out a tissue to wipe dry the water stains on the desktop.
The whole set of actions was smooth and accomplished in one go, as neat as standard routine operations.
Belle rubbed her hands awkwardly, trying to smooth things over with a dry laugh:
“Aiyaya!
Anyway—A-Hua, quick!
Welcome Fairy to join us, Fairy likes you very much too!”
“Overruled!
I didn’t say any such thing.”
“Then I’ll take it that you defaulted to saying it!”
After the argument, Belle reached out to rub Eous’s head to make peace, but Eous sidestepped to dodge it, dully letting out two small, fragmented “Mn-ne” sounds.
Fu Hua leisurely leaned against the doorframe of the control room, quietly watching Belle chase after Eous constantly apologizing, and watching Wise return the water cup to its place and tidy up the scattered writing utensils, a trace of calm smile in her eyes as she enjoyed this peaceful moment.
Fu Hua returned to her room, took off her beige striped coat, and hung it on the back of the chair.
She lay down on the bed, took off her red-framed glasses, placed them beside her pillow, and closed her eyes.
Downstairs came the brisk footsteps of Belle and the steady footsteps of Wise, occasionally mixed with a few cold complaints from Fairy.
The eyes she had seen today alternated and emerged in her mind.
She turned over and closed her eyes.
Her wild thoughts later began to wander to whether Zhu Yuan had applied ice to her ankle on schedule today.
She was the type of person who would say “Got it” with her mouth, but actually go back to the office to finish writing her report before going home, and only remember that her ankle was still swollen at midnight.
Just as she was sinking into her thoughts, a familiar yet completely unfamiliar sound pierced through her consciousness without warning, ringing straight into the bottom of her heart, instantly interrupting all chaotic thoughts.
[Host…
are you serious?]
This voice faded away from its usual lively and cheerful demeanor, losing its customary playful banter, leaving only extreme seriousness and coldness.
The tone was low and solemn, carrying a near-scrutinizing solemnity, completely different from usual, causing Fu Hua’s originally relaxed mind to suddenly tighten.
“What do you want to say?”
Fu Hua steadied herself, suppressed the slight surprise in her heart, and responded calmly in her consciousness.
Her fingertips unconsciously pinched the texture of the fabric, her expression still detached, but she was already concentrating in readiness.
[I mean, those promises you made in the Hollow today, those words you spoke aloud]
The system’s voice did not soften in the slightest, every word clear and carrying a heavy weight.
[You clearly know that those are predetermined destiny trajectories, the ending already written for this world, yet you still vainly attempt to defy the heavens and change fate, stubbornly trying to pull those deeply mired in tragedy.
Do you know the price of doing this?]
Fu Hua fell silent, but when she closed her eyes, the past memories of this body and the determination of her soul at this moment blended in the depths of her heart.
When she opened her eyes again, those azure eyes had turned as fiery red as blazing fire, receding all distracting thoughts, leaving only the firmness forged by conviction.
“Once I was just a shut-in, an ordinary person, and back then I couldn’t do anything.”
“But now, I am the Red Kite Immortal!”
She responded word by word in her heart, resounding with strength:
“This world has never consisted only of predetermined tragedies; those helpless partings and painful sinkings were never supposed to be the final answer.”
“Since I have come here, and since I have become her, I must be a hero who protects all living beings and break this damn destiny.”
“I want the light of the Signet of Vicissitudes to illuminate this gray world and become a hero’s medal representing hope and redemption in everyone’s hearts.”
Her inner voice was steady and scorching, carrying an obsession that spanned the years, hiding an unshakable will, lingering in the conscious space for a long time.
After a long while, the system’s tense and solemn tone finally completely disintegrated.
First came a helpless sigh, carrying full pampering and indulgence, and its tone softened.
[…Fine, fine, since your mind is made up, I won’t try to persuade you any further.]
[Come on, may you truly bring a grand, never-ending revelry to this ravaged world!]
[Since you’re going to walk this path, I’ll go to the backend to modify the system configuration first.]
Hearing this, Fu Hua rarely showed a trace of genuine surprise in her eyes and hurriedly pursued:
“System configurations can still be modified autonomously?
This doesn’t comply with system rules, right?”
[Hmph, I am the main system after all!]
[Upgrading my own configuration and adjusting permissions is a piece of cake; why bother caring about those rigid rules~]
“Wait!
Don’t be busy yet!” Fu Hua hurriedly interrupted it, full of curiosity:
“What on earth configuration are you going to upgrade?
Make it clear in advance!
My intuition tells me you’re acting suspicious!”
[Aiya aiya!
Surprises are only interesting when left to the end~]
The system’s voice carried a bit of jubilant mystery, even faintly showing some panic.
[I won’t chat with you anymore, I need to hurry up and write code.
If you disturb me again, the code will have errors.
Slipping away first!]
“Wait, I have one last thing to ask.”
Fu Hua didn’t back down at all and immediately spoke out to stop it.
An instantaneous deep breath resembling current static noise and a magical little sound effect of program error came from her mind, exploding with a tone of some frustration and helplessness:
[…If you have something to say, say it!
If you have a fart, spit it out!]
“All day today, I haven’t seen the usual audience bullet comments.
Why is that?”
Fu Hua voiced the biggest doubt in her heart.
[Very simple!
The native protagonists of the 3z world are Phaethon.
The observation perspective of external viewers is bound to the protagonist group by default, and all bullet comments and comments will naturally focus there.]
Fu Hua nodded in understanding and asked no more.
“Understood, go do your work.”
[Received~]
[my love~]
The system instantly turned on the affectionate teasing mode again, its tone sticky and full of pampering, yet the tone always carried a hint of gnashing teeth.
Fu Hua’s whole body stiffened slightly, the corners of her mouth twitching unconsciously.
A trace of disgust immediately welled up in her heart, and she couldn’t help spitting out softly:
“Ew~”
The neon lights outside the window hummed softly in the night.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”