Chapter 83 p1
Inside Lou Mi’s car, the small black box, after rolling under the passenger seat, quickly opened, and a small, spider-like robot crawled out.
“Chirp—”
Its head scanned the car’s interior. It crawled to a blind spot beneath the dashboard, its thin, long legs reaching into the console, searching. After finding its target, it glowed red, then quickly dimmed, becoming as silent as if it never existed.
The black box closed again, as if it had never opened.
“Don’t bark!”
The original Chi Lin warned Tiger.
If the stupid dog barked now, it would wake everyone in the house!
Tiger didn’t bark, but it continued to glare at her.
It stood guard at the entrance to the yard. If the original Chi Lin wanted to leave, she would have to get past it.
“Damn…”
She was starting to sweat when she suddenly noticed a dirty, worn-out doll on the ground.
She recognized it; it was Tiger’s favorite toy.
Perfect!
The original Chi Lin picked up the doll and threw it far away.
Tiger immediately ran after it. By the time it came back, its owner was gone.
Stepping out of the Longrun Gardens community, the chill of the early spring morning almost froze the cold sweat on the original Chi Lin’s forehead.
Okay, okay, I’m out.
She chanted inwardly as she walked, I did it, I succeeded, I’m so awesome, I’m so awesome…
Reaching the seaside, she sat down on a bench, her legs still trembling.
She tried to force the incident from her mind, but the memory clung to her.
The image of the ugly, dirty doll kept replaying in her head.
What was that doll, and why did Tiger like it so much? I never bought any dolls…
She strained to remember. It seemed Lou Mi had bought it.
When she and Lou Mi first met, Lou Mi had been quite warm towards her.
She helped her with her homework, walked the dog, bought Tiger dolls to play with, and even bought her a birthday present.
It was she who rejected that closeness, she who was disgusted by Lou Lixing and couldn’t bring herself to get along with his daughter, that drove Lou Mi away.
Lou Mi hadn’t actually done anything wrong, had she…
The original Chi Lin trembled even more violently.
The sea breeze chilled her to the bone.
No, how could Lou Mi have done nothing wrong? Being Lou Lixing’s daughter was her biggest mistake!
The entire Lou family was disgusting!
The original Chi Lin scratched at her hand, almost drawing blood.
But, did she deserve to die?
When enraged, the original Chi Lin could demolish an entire building. Her temper was indeed explosive.
But to kill someone, to actually take a life…
The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became.
Images of corpses from movies and TV shows flashed through her mind.
—No, I can’t kill anyone.
Murder was too terrifying!
She now believed in the existence of souls, which meant things like the underworld and hell probably existed too.
Even if those two women protected her, she couldn’t live forever, she would eventually die.
And after killing someone, she would go to hell…
A wave of dread washed over her. She stood up and stumbled back towards Longrun Gardens, her mind in a daze.
At this hour, cars were already coming and going in the community. The original Chi Lin, head down, snuck into the garage and saw that Lou Mi’s car was still there.
She opened the car door and reached under the seat. Yes! She found it!
Putting the intact black box in her pocket, she finally felt relieved.
As she quietly slipped out, Tiger was lying in the pavilion, chewing on its toy. She left the community without any trouble and returned to the seaside.
Only after leaving did she remember the two women’s words.
What if she didn’t follow their instructions, and her time in this body ran out?
Complete annihilation?
The original Chi Lin’s vision darkened. This time, she had really dug herself into a hole…
She always acted before thinking, only realizing the consequences later.
She took out the black box, turning it over and over, muttering to herself:
“What am I supposed to do now?”
***
Coastal No. 1 Villa, East Side.
A Bao, munching on spicy strips, stared at the large screen hanging in the middle of the living room.
The screen displayed a close-up of the original Chi Lin’s dejected face. She had no idea that the black box was now empty and that she was being filmed by a state-of-the-art flat-panel photosensitive camera.
A Bao witnessed the entire process of the original Chi Lin completing the task, then panicking and retrieving the box.
“A waste of space is a waste of space, can’t do anything right.” A Bao propped her chin on her hand, her eyelids drooping, tearing at the spicy strip with her white teeth.
Xiao V stood behind her, carefully wiping a glass container with freshly shed snake skin. A wisp of red floated in the light blue, circular container.
“But, wasn’t her failure already part of your plan?” Xiao V said. “That’s why you put the actual AI in the box.”
A Bao, convinced by her words, smiled happily:
“I’m just so clever. It’s fine. As long as HighTowerMiyuki is gone from this era, a little twist in the plot isn’t something I can’t tolerate.”
Early in the morning, Lou Lixing and Peng Ziyuan woke up to find that Lou Mi had already left.
“This child, leaving without saying a word.” Lou Lixing was still shaken by yesterday’s events and worried that Lou Mi might go looking for trouble.
He had heard from his parents that Mi Mi had pinned Little Lin against the wall, showing no mercy.
How did things escalate to this point? Hadn’t their relationship always been good? They were even about to get married.
Lou Lixing searched his mind, but couldn’t find the trigger for this explosion.
Seeing Peng Ziyuan lost in thought, he asked her:
“Yuan Yuan, do you know something I don’t?”
Peng Ziyuan shook her head.
Lou Lixing felt slightly relieved. It seemed his Yuan Yuan wasn’t hiding anything.
Unexpectedly, Peng Ziyuan added, “I know many things you don’t.”
Lou Lixing: “…”
Having been too forceful yesterday, Lou Mi’s wrists were still trembling when she woke up this morning. Sitting in the car, applying a warm ointment, didn’t seem to help much.
However, the slight physical discomfort didn’t dampen her mood. Today, her mood was as bright as the sky, clear and sunny with occasional fluffy clouds drifting by, mirroring the excitement bubbling within her.
When she arrived at the club, the doors were still closed. Lou Mi let herself in, turned on the coffee machine, and poured herself a cup.
Huhu and Slay arrived together. Seeing Lou Mi greeting them, the two boys were surprised:
“Sister Mi, why are you here so early?”
“Early? It’s already 7 am.”
“Doesn’t the day start at noon for us esports players?”
“You two are also quite early. What are you doing here?”
“Isn’t there a trainee scrimmage this morning? Sister Buyu and Sister Fu Tu were in charge last week, it’s our turn this week.”
“Mm, good. What time are the trainees arriving?”
“They said before 8 am. We came early to prepare.”
Lou Mi noted that they were much more diligent than Xie Buyu and Fu Tu. Those two would consider themselves saints if they managed to arrive at the same time as the trainees.
Lou Mi, sipping her coffee, went to the fire escape stairwell behind the elevators and waited.
Close to 8 am, the trainees gradually emerged from the elevators. Lou Mi saw Jun Jun.
She came out with two other trainees. Lou Mi lowered her voice and called out:
“Chi Lin.”
She immediately closed the fire escape door, leaving only a crack.
She saw Jun Jun instinctively turn around, then look around blankly when she saw no one.
That momentary look of confusion, the furrowed brow and slightly parted lips, was identical to the Chi Lin she knew.
Lou Mi almost laughed out loud behind the door.
***
All the trainees had arrived, and the scrimmage officially began.
Huhu and Slay, armed with a mountain of snacks, brought chairs over to the live stream screen, leaving the center seat for Lou Mi.
Lou Mi didn’t sit down. Instead, she suddenly suggested, “I’ll join the competition too.”
Everyone present was shocked.
“Huh? Sister Mi is joining too?”
“Then what’s the point of playing? Whichever side Sister Mi joins will definitely win.”
Huhu also said, “Sister Mi, if you join, this match will be over in a minute.”
Lou Mi said, “Pressure brings out potential. Let me see what you’re capable of. There are ten of you. We’ll divide into a group of four and a group of six. I’ll join the smaller group.”
While speaking, Lou Mi occasionally glanced at Jun Jun. Jun Jun seemed to sense her gaze, but after their eyes met once, she refrained from looking back.
Just as the trainees were about to divide themselves into groups, Lou Mi stepped in and started assigning people: “You, you, you, and you, one group. The rest of you, another group. Okay, I’ll join this group.”
Lou Mi pointed to the group with Jun Jun.
“No way, isn’t this overkill? Jun Jun is already incredibly strong!”
The trainees murmured.
“Oh, are you scared?” Lou Mi smiled slyly. “In that case, Jun Jun and I will be a team, and the nine of you will be against us. If you win, I’ll treat you to lunch, anywhere you want, and I’ll also send a big red envelope in the group chat.”
“Huh? 2v9? I think… we might have a chance?”
“If four or five of us can’t take down one person, we have no face left.”
“Free lunch and a red envelope? I’m in!”
The trainees were eager to try.
Huhu and Slay sat on the side, munching on oversized potato chips, and shook their heads:
“Still too young, you have no idea how strong Sister Mi is. She became famous with her wheel wars and even took on a hundred people at once. What are these kids thinking? And now with Jun Jun added, even if it was just Sister Mi alone, even with ten more of you, it would still be an instant kill.”
“Let’s watch the show.”
“I also want to see,” Lou Mi looked at Chi Lin, “how strong the prodigy that Old Lin and Sister Lan praised so highly is.”
Chi Lin remained silent.
The current situation seemed like Lou Mi’s sudden whim, but it also felt premeditated.
She was still wondering if Lou Mi had figured things out, but then Lou Mi’s last sentence brought the atmosphere back to a trainee assessment, and Chi Lin wasn’t sure anymore.
Lou Mi and Chi Lin formed a team. The 2v9 scrimmage officially began.
The two groups entered Return to Jianghu. The randomly selected map was “Wind and Cloud Forest.”
The Wind and Cloud Forest had complex terrain, testing both reflexes and control.
After loading into the map, Lou Mi and Chi Lin appeared back-to-back in a gray bamboo forest.
Thick fog shrouded the bamboo canopy, and mist drifted all around. Lou Mi looked back at Chi Lin and said:
“Thanks for last time.”
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