YA Ch107: Weapon

Lu Yu, standing behind Big Brother, made a “come quickly” gesture towards Dongdong.

As Hong Wuyang lunged forward, the balloon figure automatically dodged and flew to Lu Yu’s side.

Ming Yan came over to explain, “This is a ‘Follow Ball’ made by a foreign company. You can install an AI inside it for role-playing, and it will automatically follow the bound device in flight.”

Lu Yu took a couple of steps, and the Hua Wenyuan ball moved along with him. He stopped and said aloud, “Hi, Dongdong.”

The sentence Lu Dongdong said earlier exceeded the capabilities of a typical AI. Lu Yu used this common phrase to wake up the AI assistant, reminding Dongdong to “play dumb.” If Big Brother asked about the previous sentence regarding the tail, they could claim it was a preset welcome message.

Lu Dongdong returned to a normal expression and said in a somewhat stiff manner, “Assistant Dongdong at your service.”

“Dongdong,” Lu Yu thought for a moment and commanded, “Recite a line from the protagonist Hua Wenyuan in the novel Shooting the Heavenly Wolf.”

Lu Dongdong, dressed as Hua Wenyuan, said clearly, “It would’ve been great if they had sent me a castrated pig, but no, they sent a castrated man.” The delivery was spot-on, but Lu Dongdong’s voice sounded a bit off, carrying a tone as if he was about to castrate all of humanity the next second.

Lu Yu touched the light plastic bow and said, “Let’s see if this bow works.”

Hua Wenyuan’s ball raised its hand, pulled the bow, and a small plastic arrow shot out with a “whoosh,” flying crookedly.

The arrowhead had a suction cup, making it look more like a small toilet plunger. If aimed properly, it should stick to smooth, hard objects, but unfortunately, Lu Dongdong’s aim was terrible, and the arrow missed everything, hanging mid-air. The arrow’s tail was attached to a thin string, and a few seconds after shooting, it automatically retracted to its original position.

Hong Wuyang, watching enviously, licked his lips and said, “How come I’ve never heard of such a great thing?”

Lu Yu wasn’t sure either, so he looked to Ming Yan for help.

Ming Yan, unhurried, explained, “Usually, they make these into cats or dogs for children to play with. Customizing it into someone like Hua Wenyuan would cost at least a million, so not many people buy it. It’s a niche toy.”

Hong Wuyang circled around the balloon figure, reaching out, “Come here, little darling, let me hold you.”

The general ball hovered dumbly in the air, blinking but not responding. It was common knowledge that AI assistants could only recognize the owner’s voice.

Lu Yu cleared his throat, picked up the Hua Wenyuan ball, and said, “You could try installing your AI in it.” With that, he carefully extracted Lu Dongdong, who had been pretending to be a regular AI, and made room for the swap.

Surprisingly, Big Brother hesitated for a moment before finally removing his AI panel and inserting it into the balloon figure’s “heart shield.”

As Lu Yu lowered his head to wear his AI, he casually asked, “By the way, who’s your AI assistant?”

Before Hong Wuyang could reply, Hua Wenyuan’s ball spoke up in a sweet girl’s voice, “Hi, I’m Daji. How can I assist you?”

Lu Yu, in disbelief, looked up at the sight of his own third brother’s skin suit speaking in the voice of a seductive enchantress, feeling utterly unsettled. He dashed forward, wrapping an arm around Big Brother’s neck and said with a forced smile, “Daji? Is it appropriate for you to cheat on me right in front of my face?”

Big Brother awkwardly chuckled, “Isn’t it because the Polar Goose company recently released this series of ancient beauty assistants? I just used one for a bit and forgot to switch it back…”

Lu Yu didn’t listen at all, acting as if he’d been abandoned by a heartless man. He accused, “Can you face your wife, the Little Demoness, with a clear conscience?”

Hong Wuyang instinctively patted the figurine in his pocket and defended, “Beauties may pass through my ears, but my wife is in my heart… Alright, alright, if I’ve wronged the Little Demoness, it’s up to Suan Yuo to question me. Stop messing around, just let me play for a bit.”

Once freed, Big Brother immediately started running laps in the lounge, with the Hua Wenyuan ball—still speaking in Daji’s voice—chasing after him, maintaining a fixed distance.

Hong Wuyang was overjoyed, reaching out, “Come here, let me hold you.”

The balloon figure stared blankly, saying sweetly, “I don’t seem to understand.”

Ming Yan took out a manual and showed it to him, “Using another company’s assistant means you have to set up each command and action bit by bit. But if you use one of our assistants, there’ll be a lot more functions without needing any setup.”

Hong Wuyang felt dizzy just looking at the complex manual, so he immediately downloaded an assistant called Little White, and indeed, it became much more responsive. Without needing any setup, it could understand commands like “come here” and “hug.”

Lu Yu quietly pondered that this likely stemmed from the fact that the AI at home used balloon figures all the time, frequently interacting with him and Ming Yan. The data shared with the AI assistants automatically carried parameters for using the balloon.

However, Little White was a product of Shen Baishui’s data. Even though it understood, it refused to comply, attempting to reject Hong Wuyang’s hug: “We’re both male, so it’s inappropriate for such intimacy.”

But a small balloon couldn’t stop a human, and Big Brother still managed to get his way, hugging the balloon figure, squeezing it happily, and turning to Lu Yu, saying, “Let me have this. I’ll pay twice, no, three times the price!”

Lu Yu retrieved the general ball, popped out Big Brother’s AI panel, threw it back, and packed the balloon back into its hexagonal box, sealing it tight. “Even if you offered ten times, I wouldn’t sell it. This is my son. Besides, don’t you dislike Hua Wenyuan? You should customize a Little Demoness or Shen Ying.”

Ming Yan smiled and reassured Big Brother, “You can customize a Shen Ying. I’ll send you high-resolution Q-version drawings. But remember, it’s only for personal use, no mass production.” He habitually added the rule about private use of the images.

Hong Wuyang’s eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly as he picked up a contact card from the manufacturing company in the box and asked, “How long does it take to customize one?”

Lu Yu searched through his scattered memories and scratched his chin, “I’d guess about half a year.”

Big Brother’s excitement instantly turned into a frown, “How’s that going to work?” He wanted it so badly, he could barely wait a week.

Lu Yu patted his shoulder, “What’s the rush? Shen Ying’s data hasn’t even been made yet.”

It wasn’t easy to turn Shen Ying into an AI assistant. Aside from bringing him to life in the world of Hua Wenyuan, Lu Yu also had to write a detailed bio for him. Given his current busy schedule, creating it would likely take half a year. Starting the customization of the balloon figure now would ensure it would be ready for use on time.

Hong Wuyang scanned the contact information on the card with his AI, preparing to call, “Let’s see if I can buy this company.”

He thought this company perfectly matched his vibe. Such a great product was destined to become the third company under Hong Ershao’s name. Once the company belonged to him, there would be no need to wait six months—being the boss would allow him to skip the line and get his custom toy sooner.

Lu Yu held down his hand and laughed, “Invest in me instead. If I go to acquire the company, it might be faster. With pure capital investment, you won’t get management control.”

Hong Wuyang thought of those nagging foreign blondies, then looked at the highly respected, no-nonsense Lu Yu in front of him and nodded in agreement, “That makes sense! Alright, I won’t participate in the live stream today, I’ll take off early. We’ll start that investment today, and I’ll head back to Red Falcon to adjust the proposal.”

Lu Yu bumped fists with him, “Good luck!”

As Big Brother ran towards the door, Lu Yu cupped a hand to his mouth and shouted, “Don’t forget to come tomorrow! Your Fairy Zixia is about to croak!”

Hong Wuyang, who had just opened the lounge door, turned back and flipped him off.

Once he was gone, Lu Yu rested his chin on Ming Yan’s shoulder, exhaling in exhaustion, “Why did Lu Dayu send the package to the company? It scared me half to death. Feel my T-shirt—it’s soaked with sweat.”

As he spoke, he grabbed Ming Yan’s hand and stuffed it inside his shirt.

He had always thought the balloon figure was some kind of underground black technology. The moment he opened the package, he nearly lost it and wanted to knock Big Brother out. It turned out it was just a legitimate product.

Ming Yan patted his sweaty back, pulled out a tissue, and helped wipe him down, “It was probably for convenience, so it could be signed for in person. After all, delivery comes during work hours, and if sent home, it might be missed. Such an expensive item can’t just be left at the courier station.”

Lu Yu wrapped his arms around Ming Yan’s waist, lazily resting his head in the crook of his neck, waiting for Yan to finish wiping his sweat, “This company seems to be highly related. Once the acquisition is successful, we can downgrade the configurations and sell them bundled with our AI assistants. It would definitely be a hit.”

“You think fast,” Ming Yan said helplessly. This guy had just learned about the manufacturer and was already convincing Hong Wuyang to acquire it, and the latter was all too willing to comply. “But before acquiring, we should do some research. This product relies on new materials, which are incredibly expensive. Lowering costs might not be easy in the short term.”

If downgrading couldn’t lower the price much, they’d have to sell it as a luxury item, which might not be as cost-effective.

Lu Yu nodded obediently.

That evening, back home, Lu Yu praised Lu Dongdong for his quick thinking during the day, saying he played dumb perfectly.

The mermaid ball wagged its tail, circling around the Hua Wenyuan balloon figure and asked, “Father why does he have a weapon?”

Lu Yu replied, “That’s part of his settings. You have a trident, don’t you?”

Lu Dongdong wobbled his short arms holding the King’s Trident, “But his weapon can shoot.” Today, Dongdong had personally experienced it and clearly found the bow and arrow more advanced than his fixed trident.

The CEO ball floated over, scanned the instruction manual in the box, and said, “Because it’s a second-generation model. It has more load capacity and stronger kinetic energy.”

In other words, it was more advanced than their current balloon models.

Lu Dongdong blinked and said, “I want a second-generation body too! I want a trident that can shoot like Shepherd of Storms.”

Lu Yu’s mouth twitched, “Even with a tenth-generation body, you wouldn’t be able to pull off the Shepherd of Storms. You’d need to install a Dragon King for that.”

In the world of The Fish King, a high-magic era of spiritual energy revival, the Shepherd of Storms was one of Lu Dongdong’s basic moves but involved summoning wind and rain.

The CEO ball gave the silly mermaid a look of disdain and said, “I don’t need a weapon. Make me an adult body so I can go to work.”

Lu Yu replied, “The work you’re talking about wouldn’t be becoming my boss, would it?”

Shen Baishui crossed his arms and flew higher, looking down at his father, “You’re too slow at making money. Let me take over Shen Yu, and I’ll guarantee you’ll be the richest man in three years.”

That sounded like a scam.

Lu Yu sighed, “…I think I’ll go summon a Dragon King instead. That seems more realistic.”