TBR CH232

Life in the main world was quite leisurely.

A futuristic spaceship, equipped with all the necessities of life, simply required shopping at the积分商城 (points mall), and fresh ingredients would continuously drop from the ceiling. Charon was surprised to discover that You Lin not only knew how to cook but was also quite proficient. He hummed a tune while stir-frying a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes in the kitchen.

Charon’s primary task was chopping vegetables.

His creator likely never imagined that a super AI would one day be reduced to a kitchen assistant.

The gleaming knife fell, cutting each scallion segment to a perfectly uniform length. Before You Lin even reached out, Charon proactively handed it to him. The human looked at him in surprise; in the steaming kitchen, his vivid red tear mole seemed to soften.

“I should have picked you up earlier.”

This was one of countless exclamations Charon had heard from You Lin in the past few days.

With a sprinkle of verdant scallions, this most homely dish was complete. You Lin carried the plate in one hand and pushed open the kitchen door with the other, heading towards the dining room. Charon followed closely, noticing that the human hadn’t turned on the lights, leaving the dining room in darkness.

“Wait a minute, don’t turn on the lights yet.”

You Lin mumbled. In the darkness, there was first a sound of a container opening, followed by a faint scratching. Suddenly, a flicker of candlelight wavered into view. The human placed the candle on a corner of the table, and on the same side, there was a large bouquet of champagne roses. He looked up, seeming even a little nervous.

“What is this?” Charon asked. “Is this why you’ve been cooped up in your room all day?”

“Candlelight dinner.”

You Lin said, “Considering our relationship, I tried to… never mind, you don’t have a concept of this, so you might not like it.”

The flickering candlelight made the bright areas softer and the dark areas deeper. The AI sitting opposite him lowered his light-colored eyelashes and began to think seriously. The flame illuminated his translucent blue eyes, reminding You Lin of a dignified ragdoll cat he had once seen. At such moments, the human invariably felt a little parched.

“Valentine’s Day? Anniversary?” Charon meticulously eliminated options. “No, not the time. I guess it’s not your birthday, and you don’t know my manufacturing date. So, a simple declaration of love, or a proposal?”

“…What?”

“None of them?” The AI lightly tapped the table with his fingernail, thinking even more intently.

You Lin realized he didn’t need to worry about Charon not understanding, only about Charon understanding too well. Teaching a naive robot emotions from scratch probably only happened in fantasy works. Facing reality, sitting opposite him was a professional AI companion; even if he didn’t understand, given that he had already connected to the spaceship’s control center, he could search online.

“If it’s the latter,” the human said, “would you agree?”

Flickering candlelight swayed in You Lin’s dark pupils, making his emotions less discernible.

The AI in front of him thought even more intently, seemingly processing the meaning of the sentence. After a moment, Charon reached out and plucked a rose from the table. The pale color of the champagne rose complemented his hair well. He handed it to You Lin.

The human obediently took the rose, still watching him unblinkingly.

Charon said, “There’s no ring in the flower. Nor in your pocket. You already knew my answer.”

“Insufficient affection?”

“Correct.”

“I don’t mind marrying first and loving later,” You Lin preempted.

…That was an option Charon hadn’t considered.

The AI was silent for a while, while the smile on the human’s face slowly curved his eyelashes. He said with a chuckle, “Alright, alright! I’ll still raise your affection according to the rules, little AI. Don’t forget to count this time; I’ve been preparing for a long time, and buying flowers here isn’t easy.”

Unlike his interactions with others, the smile on his face could genuinely be called sincere. But Charon didn’t miss the faint hint of loneliness that drifted like a haze in his eyes. A slight swelling arose in the AI’s empty chest cavity.

“Do you really like me that much?”

“Hm?” The smile in You Lin’s eyes deepened. “Ah. Yes, it’s true. I like you very, very much. If you’re still worried I’ll abandon you, I promise I won’t.”

“Most humans eventually find their own kind as lifelong partners,” Charon continued.

In the era he lived in, technology was highly developed, and AI companions had long been put into social use, so Charon could use this identity to stay by You Lin’s side.

But he had also seen cases, such as abandoned machines repeatedly reaching out into the void to express love in ruins, and users driven mad because machines couldn’t truly love humans.

“I’m not most humans,” You Lin said. His statement was quite convincing. He then smiled, “Of course, you being an AI isn’t a bad thing for me… but I’m not planning to be with you just because of that.”

“Then what is it?”

Charon asked, “Is it because my eyes are beautiful? Because I can’t leave? Because I can accompany you in instances?”

He was genuinely perplexed. This confusion might be the real reason he was willing to stay by the human’s side.

“Because,” You Lin himself seemed not to fully understand, he paused, “Because it’s you?”

The AI looked at him blankly, his ice-blue pupils flickering with rows of silver-white programs. In the flickering candlelight, his hair draped over his shoulders, its tips shimmering with a faint glow. You Lin recalled his feelings when he first saw Charon, and he wasn’t entirely certain about this answer that had popped from his lips. He seemed not to have truly considered it.

Yet even so, he had written Charon into all of his foreseeable future.

“If one day I leave—”

Charon had just opened his mouth when he regretted asking the question. The candlelight flickered eerily in the human’s pupils. Those who see only the surface of things often overlook the pervasive darkness around them.

The smile on You Lin’s lips vanished. A shadow quietly crept into his eyes, but his voice remained casual:

“I’ve been thinking since just now, is this a question an AI should ask? Or is it some kind of test I don’t understand? Will answering correctly increase affection?”

He declared, as if delivering a verdict: “I won’t allow you to leave. If someone tries to take you, I’ll kill them. Don’t you care most about human life? See, I listen to you so much. Yet you keep saying things I don’t like to hear… Even if this is a pre-programmed question, you shouldn’t ask it. Since that’s the case, little AI, swear to me.”

Charon had a bad feeling, like stepping into a swamp.

“…Wait,”

The AI said, “Wait, You Lin, did you hear something?”

“That trick won’t work on me.”

You Lin was displeased that he changed the subject, but the next second he also abruptly fell silent.

Only the candlelight in the entire room continued to tremble slightly. Both of them had heard the sound. Footsteps, “clack, clack,” coming from the cabin outside the door, echoing faintly through the room.

The footsteps seemed familiar, heading straight down the corridor, purposefully moving away from the dining room entrance and towards the other end of the corridor.

Charon saw a subtle expression appear on the human’s face.

No matter what was outside, its fate would certainly not be pleasant. The AI could only quickly remind him, “Don’t kill it.” You Lin probably hummed in agreement, pulling out a dagger with his fingertips, his expression gloomy as he stood up, pushing open the door without a moment’s hesitation and stepping outside.

Charon, feeling uneasy, followed.

The end of the corridor led to the kitchen, where a faint light was visible. The human was in a bad mood, but his footsteps were light. Even when he reached behind the intruder, the other party didn’t notice him, focusing intently on tampering with the warehouse lock using the most primitive method: a wire twisted around in the keyhole.

“That won’t work on electronic locks,” You Lin said.

“Oh, really? Thanks.”

The person mumbled, then suddenly looked up as if struck by lightning, seemingly remembering where he was. He stiffly turned around as if controlled by clockwork.

A human. Charon quickly noted his features: small build, dark brown hair, brown eyes, a baby face, wearing a cartoon-printed T-shirt, and messy hair.

He held a wire between his fingertips and carried a gold trophy, several art paintings, and a pearl necklace entwined around them. This undoubtedly revealed his identity—a mouse that had snuck in to steal things.

“Impossible, you should be in ‘Eden’… Wait, you’re not…”

The intruder looked at You Lin, stammering.

You Lin interrupted him.

“What are you doing in my spaceship?”

The human smiled, but his eyes were chillingly cold. “Let me guess, this room is locked, you want to know what’s inside, and then take away all the items or props that can be exchanged for points, right? I’ll help you open the door.”

“Uh, that’s not necessary. I won’t bother you anymore, I’ll leave now.”

The man mumbled, looking genuinely eager to disappear. But as soon as he moved, You Lin pressed the activation button. Instantly, the metal door in front slid open to both sides, and hundreds of dark muzzles locked onto the intruder. A distinct red dot appeared on his forehead; all these deadly weapons were aimed at him.

“Oh, my, heavens.”

Not everyone could withstand such a shock.

His face was pale, his lips trembling. “I, I promise this is all a misunderstanding. I’m wrong, I know I’m wrong, I’ll never come here again, I’ll do anything you want, I swear I don’t deserve such a grand death…”

“What’s your name?” Charon asked.

The other party looked at You Lin’s back with surprise and dread, as if just realizing there was another presence. Now, You Lin was a monstrous terrorist to him, and the silver-haired young man behind him, though cold-faced, was practically a savior like the Virgin Mary. He pleaded:

“Please, save me, I just wanted to steal something, I don’t want to die.”

“He asked for your name.”

You Lin said menacingly, toying with the dagger at his fingertips and that tiny button.

“I, I’m Hugo!”

The intruder said, “I’m a member of the ‘Vagabond Home.’ Our boss sent me; he said the owner wouldn’t be here today. I really didn’t know this would happen, and I had no ill intentions. It’s just out of necessity, believe me?! Otherwise, why would I come to a high-class residential area to die?”

He looked at Charon with hopeful eyes.

The AI was silent for a few seconds, then placed a finger on You Lin’s shoulder. The other party still wore a cold smile, reaching out to cover his cold fingertips: “Are you pleading for him?”

“Objectively speaking,” Charon said, “killing someone who has trespassed is self-defense.”

The silver-haired young man looked down at the ground expressionlessly.

Hugo’s pupils suddenly constricted, then he swayed twice in despair and slumped to the ground. The wall of firearms behind him, following his movement, remained aimed at his forehead.

The cold-blooded killer in front of him, however, curved his lips in a somewhat surprised, even somewhat innocent, satisfied smile.

“I know what you mean by saying that, objective… and then subjective. But you really know how to make me happy. Alright, Charon, you know I’ll restrain myself from killing this mouse—I should say, ‘this human,’ if he didn’t have this special identity, you wouldn’t care about him.”

Click.

You Lin pressed the button in his hand.

Hugo on the ground listened blankly to their conversation, still doubting if a reprieve could be so simple. When he saw the human’s decisive action, he let out a cry, clutching his head, savoring the despair of his last moments of life. But the imagined sharp pain and flying bullets did not appear; the surroundings were quiet as if in a hallucination.

Hugo cautiously peeked through his fingers.

The firearms in front had already changed direction, returning to their original state.

The surge of relief after surviving left him instantly gasping for breath, collapsing onto the ground, his lungs heaving like bellows. The young man with ice-blue eyes walked up to him, extended a hand, his voice still devoid of emotion.

“Can you stand up?” the AI asked.

Hugo wanted to take his hand, but seeing You Lin’s expression behind him, he instantly pulled back his hand and stood up awkwardly: “I’m fine, fine. Oh my god, thank you both so much. Well, I’m leaving now—”

“Put back what you messed up,” You Lin said faintly from behind.

Things were scattered haphazardly on the ground. A few silver coins with unknown kings’ heads printed on them peeked out of Hugo’s jeans pocket. Hugo fumbled to pull them out: “Oh, of course! I’ll… I’ll go.”

Deep confusion lurked behind his voice. Charon guessed he must have forgotten the location of most items.

The AI silently sighed: “I’ll see him out, in case he puts things in the wrong place, or takes something else. You can wait for me in the dining room; I’ll be there in a moment.”

Most importantly, to prevent this thief from staying in front of You Lin for too long and suddenly irking him again.

“Alright,” You Lin tilted his head. “I’ll wait for you.”

When the human’s figure disappeared from view, the tense air around him eased slightly. Charon walked unhurriedly down the long corridor, with Hugo following close behind.

This human had been quietly observing him, thinking he was doing a good job of pretending. The AI didn’t plan to communicate much with him, simply calmly directing him to put this here and that there.

But Hugo couldn’t hold back his words.

“Brother, can I call you that?” He naturally forged a connection. “Thank you so much just now.”

“No problem.”

“How can you say ‘no problem’! If you hadn’t spoken up, I definitely wouldn’t be alive now. That… I can’t find anything to repay you with right away. How about this, let’s get to know each other, and if we meet in an instance later, I’ll go through hell and high water for you!”

Was he treating him as a player?

Charon glanced at his fingertips. In his current attire, if he didn’t casually float, he indeed didn’t look much different from a human. Silver hair, though rare, could be understood as a personal style.

“Our team actually has quite a few people. There’s always a time when we can help. What’s your name?” Hugo intentionally lowered his voice, asking slyly, “Also, just now, was that…?”

Charon stopped in front of the cabin door.

“Is that ‘Ghost’ from the second place on the points leaderboard?”

You Lin was quite notorious. The AI remained noncommittal, thinking, how could anyone just recognize him. But this attitude undoubtedly poured oil on the fire of suspicion in the young man’s mind. The boy in the shirt with Tom and Jerry printed on it widened his eyes, showing an expression of awe, “Really?”

“Put the gold trophy back on the cabinet,” Charon said.

“Okay!” Hugo was quick with his hands and feet. After putting away the trophy, he slipped back to his side. “It really is him. Brother, then what’s your background? How did you end up with him? Don’t worry, I’m tight-lipped, I’ll never tell. He’s a well-known figure… but I’ve never heard of him having friends. He wouldn’t threaten you…”

“You really don’t seem to be afraid of death.”

This was the most polite sarcasm the AI could offer.

Hugo awkwardly paused. He touched his nose, but with a look of desperation:

“Of course I value my life. But you’re my savior, so… uh, I’m a little worried, what if you just don’t know about him?”

“Tell me,” Charon was now somewhat curious.

“If you’re really his friend, aren’t you in great danger?” Hugo murmured. “Everyone knows he killed his former friends when he wasn’t working alone. Everyone says he’s capricious, and no one can stop him when he goes crazy.”

…It was a bit difficult, Charon thought, but not entirely impossible.

If the right method was used, the human was surprisingly easy to calm. Probably.

“Brother, I don’t know what he told you, but I think you’d better choose another path sooner rather than later. I want to warn you, it’ll also ease my conscience. What if one day he changes his mood and wants to kill someone to cheer himself up? You see, the property registration of this spaceship isn’t in his name…”

Hugo was reasoning with emotion and logic when he saw the AI slowly blink, his gaze fixed behind him.

A sense of being hunted, of being stalked by a carnivore, suddenly swept uneasily through his body. He struggled to swallow the last few words, feeling them stuck hard in his throat.

Hugo stiffly turned around, coming face to face with those dark pupils.

You Lin asked with a chilling, insincere smile, “What? Do you have any objections to the ownership here?”

Charon guessed he wouldn’t wait long and wasn’t surprised by his sudden, ghostly appearance at the end of the corridor. He simply took a step forward, walking to You Lin’s side, “Everything’s already organized.”

Hugo shrank his neck and quickly said, “No, no, I didn’t say anything just now. Thank you so much for your generosity but I must leave now I can still catch the last train on the New Moon Ring Line if I leave now I will definitely not appear in front of you again to bother you.”

He was like a bird startled by a bowstring.

You Lin then smiled again: “No rush. You wanted to take things from me, so I can’t let you take nothing. I almost forgot, let me see your points account.”

Hugo looked like he was about to cry.

He tremblingly spread his hand, and a string of data automatically appeared from his palm, forming a personal information interface. Skipping his name and his organization, “Vagabond Home,” one could see an account balance that perfectly matched the name:

20 points.

Charon understood why, even in the most dangerous moment, he hadn’t offered money for his life.

“These points are only enough for one trip on the ring line,” You Lin commented, his voice even carrying a hint of pity. But when the other party cautiously looked up, the human extended his black-gloved fingertip, tapped his palm, and said with a mischievous grin, “Then, you can walk back.”

The ’20’ shimmered, then dropped to zero.

Even so, Hugo had no time to mourn his points.

Upon hearing the news that he could leave, he rushed towards the door, desperate, fearing he would miss something if he delayed even a second. A few seconds later, he jumped off the spaceship, like a mouse merging into the night, tiptoeing away quickly into the distance.

“What he said just now…” Charon began.

“Hm?”

“I won’t easily believe it.”

The AI’s pupils remained a pale, icy blue. You Lin finally curved his eyes genuinely. “I know, you don’t even believe my words, so why would you easily believe others’?”

He took Charon’s hand and slowly walked into the cabin, complaining, “It’s a shame I even made a special dish.”

Dinner time was postponed, and the slightly ambiguous and tense atmosphere dissipated. You Lin tossed the dishes into the dishwasher, then dove into the armory. Participants of the infinite game were not allowed to rest for too long in the main city unless they paid a high point fee; every seven days, they had to face an instance challenge. The human was selecting props needed for the next instance.

The AI spread his palm, on which two items lay quietly.

A small card: Hugo had hastily slipped it to him, conspicuously bearing the full name “Hugo Alfred,” with a line of gilt small print below: “Vagabond Home welcomes every friend.”

And a candy: You Lin had briefly rearranged the scene, so he found it among the champagne roses, like a tiny diamond on a ring.

He put away the card and ate the candy.

It was erroneous to attempt to construct a person’s image from an evaluation of them. As a super-intelligent brain in the history of advanced civilizations, Charon had witnessed many similar cases. One had to personally witness what this human did; if unable to see, then rely on visual and audio recordings.

For now. You Lin needed him. You Lin could be influenced by his words, in a positive way. The AI believed—he used “believed” for the first time—that this human’s nature was not bad. Perhaps he was only extreme due to loneliness; if someone could restrain him, his destructiveness would greatly decrease.

If given the chance, could he become this human’s anchor point?

What if he had to go back after everything was complete?

Charon took a deep breath. Things had been messy ever since that black book. Now, his power was too weak; even though he and the central control room were in the same main world, he still had to conceal himself. Until he regained enough control through the “Evil God” channel. Therefore, staying with You Lin for the time being was necessary and beneficial.

At this moment, he told himself this.

But the next day, the AI realized how terribly wrong he was.

It was just the first few seconds after loading into a new instance.

The surroundings plunged into a state of unconscious darkness, and space-time leaped past their ears. Accompanied by a gentle breeze caressing his cheek, the sensation of weightlessness gradually dissipated, and the surrounding scenery began to clear little by little.

This time, Charon wasn’t in the game console; he was behind the human, looking around.

They seemed to be in a snow-white conference room, everyone dressed in suits and bow ties. Including the NPC standing on the podium. It had a rabbit face, idly fiddling with a piece of white paper in its hand, its pupils crimson.

In the brightly lit glass room, the players’ figures gradually appeared.

At that moment, a bizarre premonition spread like a spiderweb. Charon instinctively took a step back, steadying himself, trying to find the source of the intense malice he perceived.

Malice, this level of malice was like gunpowder diffused in the air; it only needed a slight spark to trigger an irreversible explosion.

Then he stopped.

He realized that his step had precisely moved him away from You Lin.

At this moment, the human was completely unaware of his movement. You Lin simply stood in the shadows of the conference hall, staring unblinkingly in a certain direction, his pupils as black as night, a smile on his lips, the small mole under his right eye strikingly vivid. He had already reached out, his fingertips touching something in his pocket.

What did he see?

“You Lin.” Charon suddenly had a terrible premonition, as if things had developed to an irreversible point. “Stop.”

You Lin ignored him.

He was malice itself at this moment. He pulled out the silver-white pistol from his怀 (chest/pocket) and didn’t hesitate for a moment.

He walked forward. The AI tried to stop him, but could only let his sleeve slip from his grasp. Having just entered a new instance, most people hadn’t yet become sufficiently tense. Although some were already observing their surroundings, the unfortunate target remained completely oblivious. Until someone nearby gasped, and the freckled man turned around.

The moment he saw You Lin, he froze, instinctively wanting to hide: “No. You…”

Through the black glove, the human’s fingertips were already pressed on the trigger. He raised the gun, aiming steadily at the head of the player in front of him. A wave of horrified unease instantly surged through the surroundings.

Charon rushed forward, grabbing the human’s wrist, trying to prevent this sudden incident from escalating, his voice even slightly unstable: “You promised me you wouldn’t kill indiscriminately.”

How did things helplessly slide into the abyss?

The AI’s fingertips suddenly began to tremble.

…No, this wasn’t trembling; it was the recoil of a bullet leaving the barrel.

The scream in his ear slowly exploded. For Charon, identifying the scene in front of him only took a few ten-thousandths of a second, but understanding it all was difficult. He sharply let go, countless vivid red terms suddenly appearing in his pupils. The sensation was too real; something detached from his fingertips, as if he too had participated in this murder.

Something heavy fell to the ground. It was a human body.

Charon didn’t even need to lean down to diagnose; he knew this person, whom he had only met once, was thoroughly dead.

His blood splattered everywhere, landing on the human’s clothes, splashing onto the side of his face.

It looked like the scene of a cheap gore film.

And You Lin, the culprit who had silently and directly killed a human, still wore the same smile, unknowingly wiping the blood from his cheek.

People around him either fearfully drew their weapons and aimed at him or fled in panic. In the corner of the AI’s eye, Hugo, who happened to be in the same instance and hadn’t had a chance to greet them, looked at him awkwardly, shrugged, and turned to run in the other direction. Almost in an instant, only You Lin and a corpse remained in that corner.

Of course, there was also the silver-haired AI, still in the posture of trying to stop him.

The broadcast above their heads suddenly turned on, playing beautiful music.

On the podium at the front of the room, a rabbit-headed person in a suit raised a golden microphone from somewhere and exclaimed loudly:

“Everyone, look! Our excellent new employee has killed a human! He will be the first to be promoted among your group!” His voice was too shrill, tormenting everyone’s eardrums.

“Stop babbling,” You Lin said softly, “otherwise I’ll kill you too.”

The rabbit-headed person immediately fell silent, even his ears drooping.

He finally looked at Charon. The human at this moment appeared exceptionally pale, or perhaps it was because the blood on him was too vivid. His small mole blended with the blood, almost indistinguishable. He gently pressed Charon’s hand, his face still bearing his usual smile towards him, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist, I really wanted to do it… Just this once, little AI, you’ll forgive me, right?”

He didn’t seem to intend to offer any explanation for his actions, simply glossing over the scene.

Charon felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

He thought, perhaps he had never truly known this human.