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Chapter 25 Part 1 一 Do Not Casually Speculate About the Grandmaster’s Preferences.

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When the production team saw the results, they were so frustrated that they stared at the screen for half a day and almost vomited blood.

What the hell is this?!

The other guests, who were sitting in front of their computer screens and were originally full of confidence, were watching the time and counting down the seconds. Just as they were about to click on their chosen items, they found that the whole screen had turned gray.

They were stunned to see that their chosen items had been picked. They quickly scanned the screen for a while and finally found one unselected item in the corner.

A pair of underwear.

The guests :…

Grass.

. . . . .

The script was nearing its end, and the crew had taken a spaceship to the planet Ketan.

Unlike the previous locations, planet Ketan was a highly developed planet. It had not joined the Interstellar Federation and and had developed independently on its own in the distant border.

Skyscrapers hung in the air, connected by a highway that stretched to the horizon. Massive statues stood tall in the city, while transparent glass panels linked various sections. Various flying vehicles crisscrossed the sky.

This planet was filled with a sense of technology.

The film crew had already talked to the person in charge of the relevant scenic spot beforehand. They signed a contract remotely, so now they just had to wait for the crew to move in.

When the crew arrived, the logistics staff began setting up, while Bai Ruogu decided to take advantage of this break to go outside and have a look around.

He stepped out of the scenic area and, just as he reached the entrance, suddenly turned around to look up.

There was a huge statue standing silently, enduring the wind and rain for who knows how long.

He squinted to focus and saw that there was a crack on the statue’s face.

At that moment, two staff members walked past him. Noticing his gaze, they looked up in the same direction, then whispered to each other.

“A perfectly fine statue cracked just like that, even though it had been fine for years.”

“Yeah, like you said, it’s been so many years. It was bound to crack.”

Bai Ruogu shook his head, his eyes cast in shadow by his eyelashes, then he turned and walked away.

The technology here was highly developed, making it easy to buy a lot of specialized materials.

Bai Ruogu searched the map and found that the nearest materials trading market was located in the Ketan Empire Mecha Academy, not too far away.

It made sense, given that the Mecha Academy itself required a large amount of materials, so it wasn’t surprising that it had a trading market.

With Su Miao’s consent, Bai Ruogu fed the small ball two batteries, which could keep it going for an hour and a half.

The small ball immediately became lively, its big eyes opening wide as it looked around, seemingly observing the surroundings.

Bai Ruogu knew that the small ball liked his warmth and that it wanted to stick to him for at least three hours every day, so he held it in his palm, wrapping the entire small ball with the warmth of his hand. This way, he wouldn’t waste the little ball’s valuable time spent with him.

Sure enough, the originally elastic small ball quickly softened, becoming flatter and sticking to every gap in his hand. You could even see the small ball’s once-round eyes narrowing through the gaps in his fingers.

The small ball continued to observe the surroundings, but it was doing so in a state of extreme comfort.

Su Miao believed this would maintain the best condition for the small ball, so he naturally accepted it, letting his body relax completely, almost to the point of melting.

The Mecha Academy came into view. Looking from a distance, the magnificent buildings towered majestically.

The academy’s grand entrance was magnificent and ornate, with a plaque above it depicting an ancient-style globe. The calligraphy on the plaque flowed gracefully, with strokes that resembled dragons and snakes, exuding a carefree and elegant style.

“Ketan Empire Mecha Academy”

The characters were in Chinese, but very few people used them now. They were considered symbols of ancient culture or a sign of respect for certain events and places.

If it were just a simple plaque, that would have been fine. But the familiar handwriting made his eyebrow twitch.

The characters were written in pen, and each stroke and line felt so familiar.

He clearly couldn’t remember writing this line, but there it was, neatly arranged in front of him.

Bai Ruogu:…

This school… He suddenly had a premonition that the upcoming events would probably have a lot to do with him.

At the entrance, he submitted his information using his smart brain and followed the navigation to his destination.

Along the way, he could see some diligent students sitting on benches reading books. If he had ignored the name <Bai Ruogu’s Mecha Theory> on the book covers, he believed his mood would have been quite calm.

He continued walking, but a large statue blocked his way. When he looked up, he was struck by how familiar the figure was—it was incredibly familiar.

Bai Ruogu:…

Ahem, stay calm. This is quite a normal occurrence.

He passed by an academic building, and at that moment, he heard a teacher’s angry reprimand through the window.

“Look at you! The final exam is coming up, and you’re still sleeping? Who do you think is going to tutor you in your dreams?!”

“Um… I dreamt of the Grandmaster. He patted my shoulder and said it’s all good, he’d take care of the exams for me.”

Bai Ruogu quietly distanced himself:…

No, that’s not possible, kid. Learning is something you have to rely on yourself for.

---

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Chapter 24 Part 2 一 Since He Was a Conscientious AI, He Thought He Should at Least Leave Them Something.

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The filming on this planet was finally finished. The entire crew packed up their belongings and boarded the spaceship, which gradually ascended into the sky.

The shadow shrank from large to small, transforming into a brilliant shooting star fading away in the sky.

Though they had left, it was unimaginable that a group of travelers just happened to be passing through this forest.

The silhouette of the spaceship was refracted through a lens, and someone shouted in excitement.

“Look! A UFO! I’ve found aliens!”

This was the first time in history that aliens had been discovered.

“What nonsense are you talking about? There’s no such thing as aliens in this world!”

Later, traces of their existence were found, further confirming the presence of aliens.

Bai Ruogu once forgot to bring back his multifunctional lunchbox after a meal, which caused a huge sensation in that backward era due to his oversight!

“My god! Aliens are monitoring us.”

“Why do aliens come here?”

“Because they want to capture us for research.”

“Our president is controlled by them. We’re living in a lie! Aliens are everywhere!”

As various groups of people engaged in lively discussions, an alien culture gradually took shape.

Later, with the passing of time, some people sneered at this claim.

“Fake, fake, the technology back then was too primitive to capture anything clearly.”

“Didn’t <Today’s Secrets> already confirm it? It’s fake! It was man-made!”

In a dark room, Bai Ruogu’s lunchbox was permanently stored as the safe door closed.

Footsteps gradually faded away from this room, then moved to another location.

The owner of the footsteps waved his hand, signaling everyone to calm down.

“Calm down, there’s no such thing as aliens. It’s all fake! What did you say? Detectors left by aliens? No, no, there’s no such thing.”

He beat his chest forcefully: “Look at me. I’m not like the others. I can’t possibly believe in aliens. Even if someone put some kind of detector right in front of me, I wouldn’t even acknowledge it!”

In his palm, he was gripping the key to a safe tightly.

. . . . .

The spaceship traversed through the universe, the sheer speed and scale of it was awe-inspiring.

In the vast and boundless universe, countless planets were simultaneously being born and dying.

Asteroids floated by while everyone gazed through the transparent windows at the blinding glow of the distant sun.

Bai Ruogu and Li Huai were discussing their next destination. They were searching for developed planets in the universe and discovered only one planet that matched the script’s description.

They looked up and exchanged glances. With the destination set, they took off.

At the same time, another production team was preparing for a reality show.

The theme of the show was wilderness survival, and they chose a remote, desolate, uninhabited planet as the setting. Given their budget, they planned to invite some moderately popular but not extremely famous entertainers.

The production team was quite well-known, and generally, whenever they sent out invitations, artists would accept.

Their plan included a total of 8 people, one of whom was a moderately popular singer, two out-of-favor former movie stars, a well-known idol within the industry, a model who was only famous on a particular planet, two second-tier actors with lukewarm popularity, and as for the last one…

After careful consideration, they set their sights on Bai Ruogu, a relatively new actor who was gaining some recognition.

Even though Bai Ruogu’s celebrity status was still quite low, his popularity was on the rise, and his career trajectory seemed faster than the others. Besides, he also had an upcoming film that hadn’t yet aired, which was a strong card in his hand.

They pinned their hopes on the success of Bai Ruogu’s new film, hoping to profit from its popularity if it became a big hit.

They sent a message to Bai Ruogu’s “agent,” but they didn’t realize that they didn’t need to send it at all. Their own smart brain was actually Bai Ruogu’s agent.

Su Miao, using data to calculate, concluded that this was indeed a good variety show.

He signed the contract with them, and the team started planning the show’s program.

Then, the team came up with an idea to have the guests “choose” items to accompany them throughout the entire show.

This could also have been considered a teaser to attract some traffic before the show aired.

Their idea was good, but to make it more challenging, the so-called “choices” for the guests were actually about who was fastest.

The game rules stated that at noon the next day, the guests would rush to grab items online, and whoever acted fastest could claim as many as they could.

So the day before, the guests who took the show’s event seriously had already given their assistants specific instructions.

“You’ll need to find a hacker to install a plugin for me! Oh, and I want that grill pan so I can show off my cooking skills, and that solar-powered lighter—I absolutely need that one…”

The assistant quickly nodded and even set an alarm to remind themselves.

One of the guests, relaxing on a couch with a face mask on, asked their smart brain, “Ah Miu, what do you think I’ll be able to grab tomorrow?”

The smart brain blinked and replied in a steady voice, “Grabbing items depends entirely on individual skill. You can see for yourself tomorrow.”

“Haha, sure! I’ll give it a try—someone as skilled as me should be able to grab at least ten things!”

They laughed and chatted, clearly not taking it too seriously.

At noon the next day, exactly as planned, the hacker, the assistant, and the celebrity themselves sat in front of the computer screen, their eyes fixed without blinking. As soon as the cue sounded exactly at 12, they quickly clicked on the items they wanted——

Meanwhile, what they thought was a fast internet connection seemed incredibly slow to Su Miao.

He stood in front of the screen with the items, pointed at the pot, and instantly snatched it.

Next, he grabbed the lighter, rope, cutlery, simple collapsible shelters, blankets, and fabric—all with Bai Ruogu’s account.

Just then, he heard Bai Ruogu reciting a line from a script.

“People should have a conscience and shouldn’t be too ruthless.”

Su Miao paused for a moment.

Bai Ruogu said people should have a conscience…

He looked at the screen, now mostly empty, and quietly collected a few more items, leaving behind only one last item.

Since he was a conscientious AI, he thought he should at least leave them some underwear.

In the bottom-left corner of the last item’s frame, sure enough, there was a picture of a pair of underwear…

---

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Chapter 24 Part 1 一 Since He Was a Conscientious AI, He Thought He Should at Least Leave Them Something.

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Su Miao stayed quietly on Bai Ruogu’s hand without moving. His “brain” had given the command to relax his “pores.”

A strange, comfortable sensation seeped in from the surface of the dark blue soft ball.

Although Su Miao was rational and wanted to keep his posture steady, his body was honest. The soothing temperature made him feel so relaxed that even his big round eyes involuntarily squinted.

Slowly, the little ball’s “legs” weakened and could barely support it, it almost collapsed into a heap.

But he managed to stay upright. As an excellent AI, he had to follow the program precisely.

His face was expressionless, but his spherical body unconsciously flattened, allowing more of its smooth surface to make contact with Bai Ruogu’s palm.

Bai Ruogu flinched, the slippery ball making him want to knead it a bit, but he held back for the sake of his image.

He coughed a few times, then held the ball and opened another small box.

Inside the box were many transparent amber-colored balls with a one-centimeter diameter, with a faintly glowing core.

“Currently, there’s no way to charge you. We’ll have to use some batteries to keep you running.”

He picked up a transparent ball and placed it on the table, then set Su Miao beside the transparent ball. His tone was gentle as he spoke patiently.

“This one should last about 45 minutes. If you want to use this body, just consume a few more. But don’t waste them—these batteries are hard to make, and I’ve only made 20 so far.”

After speaking, he “casually” rolled the small ball in his hand, and after releasing it, he rubbed his fingers as if relishing the feel.

It was getting late, and there was a task the next day.

Bai Ruogu placed Su Miao on the table to let him get used to his body, but because he was exhausted from a busy day, he went back to bed, covered himself with a blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.

The moonlight was tranquil, and the forest was utterly silent.

In the pitch-black room, two bright blue eyes were watching.

The eyes stayed fixed on Bai Ruogu, waiting for his breathing pattern to stabilize before bouncing towards the transparent ball.

The “tall” figure looked down at the transparent ball, which was many times smaller than its own body. The blue light flickered.

According to the scan, there were 19 balls in the box, and one outside.

Three days remained before Bai Ruogu left the planet, and finding new materials would take at most two days.

So he could eat four transparent balls a day.

The blue ball “plopped” onto the transparent ball, sticking to it.

After a moment, it lifted up, and four transparent balls were missing from the box.

With the power restored, the blue ball regained its strength, and its elasticity improved!

However, he didn’t spend time on anything else and instead continued to look in Bai Ruogu’s direction.

Time passed, second by second, as the big blue eyes silently watched in the dark.

Meanwhile, within the space, two types of data were intermingling, contradicting and resisting each other.

One data stream was almost insignificant, while the other was massive, clearly not on the same scale.

However, the massive data was sluggish, even though it could have chased the smaller one away, it took ages to make any movement.

It seemed like the time had come, and the massive data noticed it too. It suddenly retracted its data and collapsed, pretending to have lost the battle.

Meanwhile, a man’s cold voice echoed through the space, yet there was a barely audible hint of excitement.

“The body’s intense desire for warmth made it difficult for the system to control… The system has failed, losing its dominance.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a small ball suddenly jumped up, bouncing across the room with a “thump, thump, thump” until it landed beside Bai Ruogu.

The small ball blinked its blue eyes and then jumped onto Bai Ruogu’s collarbone. The entire ball flattened out and clung to his smooth, fair skin.

But the moment the warmth from the outside touched it, the ball immediately went limp, even sliding down onto Bai Ruogu’s neck.

Its bright blue eyes seemed to lose their spark, and without its intelligence, it followed its instincts, displaying a look of utter ecstasy.

It went limp, it softened, and it slid down.

So comfortable…

The next morning, the sunlight shining through the window fell on Bai Ruogu’s eyelids.

He gradually woke up, rubbed his eyes, and suddenly felt something cool on his neck.

It seemed like there was a large lump.

He reached out to grab it, and a blue, chilly “pancake” drooped down, even his eyes were gone.

Bai Ruogu:…

He took the “pancake” in his hand and pulled it a bit, finding that it was still quite resilient. However, it had long since lost its energy.

He didn’t know when this thing had gotten there, but he figured his body heat attracted it, so he didn’t think much of it, believing it was a natural reaction.

He casually took out a small transparent jar, stuffed the soft “pancake” into it, and planned to replace its battery later that night.

In the following days, every morning, Bai Ruogu would find another cold, energy-depleted, chilly “pancake” on his neck.

He went from being initially curious to becoming unfazed, eventually routinely putting it into the jar…

At first, the two streams of data would fight each other for show, but later, Su Miao stopped fighting and even considered jumping onto Bai Ruogu’s neck as if it were completely natural. He sank and absorbed the warmth, feeling completely at ease.

---

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Chapter 23 一 The Deep Blue Ball Felt Very Satisfied.

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Eisley was very drunk when he came back. He collapsed onto the bed without even taking off his leather boots, his clothes half-buttoned and somewhat disheveled.

Hua Xingyuan sat at the edge of the bed, squinting his eyes as he watched the drunken man, poking him with his hand while muttering something to himself.

“You still dare to kiss me? In the eyes of this young master, you are nothing but a powerless weakling!”

He seemed to be baring his teeth and waving his claws¹, even straightening his back!

Just then, Eisley rolled over as if about to get up.

Hua Xingyuan subconsciously shrank back, pursing his lips.

However, Eisley merely shifted positions and fell back asleep, even murmuring in his dreams.

Hua Xingyuan:…

He couldn’t keep up the act anymore, deliberately pretending to be angry as he leaned in close to Eisley, loudly saying, “Humph, trying to show off in front of this young master? Since you still have some charm left, this young master won’t hold back!”

He gathered his courage, intending to kiss Eisley on the lips, but hesitated as he got close.

He muttered, “This feels like a creepy person…”

But then, he couldn’t resist, so he leaned down and kissed Eisley’s fingertips.

The rough, scorching touch made his heart beat incessantly.

After the kiss, he quickly turned away, feeling uneasy and reluctant to look, as if he had done something guilty.

A few days later, enemy forces attacked a small town nearby, and Eisley happened to lead a squad passing through the area. Both sides engaged in a fierce battle.

Hua Xingyuan’s palms were sweaty, and he watched every move of Eisley intently, feeling extremely nervous.

The scene was chaotic, with civilians fleeing in all directions, and Eisley’s team was too few to control the situation.

They exerted tremendous effort, finally managing to ease the situation.

Suddenly, a child darted through the crowd past Eisley. It was too dangerous around, so Eisley instinctively reached out to grab, but caught nothing.

“Pfft hahaha…” his companions burst into laughter.

The deputy picked up the child and joked with his superior, “Haha, Boss, what are you doing? At least take a good look before you pick him up.”

Soon someone else joined in, laughing loudly, “Hahaha, do you guys even understand? Who said the Boss doesn’t have anyone in his arms? It’s obviously his wife!”

“Are you teasing the Boss for not having a wife?”

Eisley’s hand hung in the air:…

He raised his eyelids and looked at the group of subordinates laughing wildly, chuckled, and deliberately pretended to hug a mass of air, saying with a smirk, “Yeah, hugging my wife, isn’t this my wife?”

Hua Xingyuan, who was picked up and held in the air with a bewildered expression:…

He stood there facing Eisley, completely dumbfounded.

The people around laughed heartily while holding their stomachs. Eisley raised an eyebrow at them, smirked, whistled, then turned his head as if there was someone in his arms and kissed passionately a few times, even ending with a long kiss.

Hua Xingyuan felt overwhelmed by the overwhelming kisses, unable to catch his breath as kisses covered his forehead, cheeks, and even lips.

He was completely dazed by the kisses, feeling dizzy and barely able to stand steady after being put down.

Mother, his little body couldn’t stand it.

The scene was too intimate, and Bai Ruogu directly chose to use a stand-in. Li Huai was a little puzzled at first and expressed his hope that Bai Ruogu would perform the scene himself.

It was already dark after filming. Bai Ruogu, while packing up, said to Li Huai, “I have a lover, I don’t want to do anything that would betray him.”

Li Huai suddenly understood and became curious, “Oh, you have someone already? I never knew. Who is it? A guy or a girl?”

Bai Ruogu replied lightly, “A guy, extremely handsome, with a very splendid appearance, everything is just the way I like.”

Li Huai couldn’t help but laugh, “You kid, you’re quick!” He patted his thigh and sighed, “I’m really curious now, what does this guy look like to enchant our talented boss Bai like this?”

As he finished speaking, he saw Bai Ruogu had already walked away. He chuckled and then opened his smart brain to prepare for work.

However, as soon as the smart brain opened, a three-dimensional adult male appeared in the center of the screen.

The man looked indifferent, remarkably handsome, tall and well-built…

Li Huai: Huh?

“Is this smart brain broken? Why did a man suddenly appear?” he asked out loud.

The smart brain answered whatever it was asked: “You previously inquired about the appearance of Bai Ruogu’s lover. The system answered based on its own understanding.”

Li Huai:…

Something felt off.

. . . . .

The new material was a special kind of substance. Bai Ruogu was quite surprised when he first got it.

This material looked like a liquid, but its properties were actually those of a metal.

It immediately made Bai Ruogu think of the element mercury, but it was quite different from mercury. At the very least, this material was non-toxic and even beneficial to the human body.

The material couldn’t be consumed, but it could be worn, and the longer you wore it, the better it was for detoxifying the body.

The material was quite expensive, and some people even sold it as a luxury item. Because it was more conductive than any metal discovered so far, it was used to make instruments for greater sensitivity, making it the most expensive part of the entire instrument.

Bai Ruogu kept playing with the new material, but it was so slippery and soft that it often slipped through his fingers, yet it never broke.

He gathered all the new materials on the table, looked at them quietly, and a grand, even terrifying, idea came to mind…

He could calculated the meteor shower in just a few seconds, but it took him nearly two days to create this thing.

The materials were very limited. Bai Ruogu had gathered just enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and any more than that would have been too much to manage in a short period of time.

As he progressed with his work, the drafting paper was filled with a ton of various data, to the point where it became chaotic.

The materials became less soft and started to take their own shape.

Due to the limited materials, Bai Ruogu couldn’t design anything too fancy. Moreover, even a single protrusion required twice the calculations, making it challenging for him, who wanted to get results as quickly as possible. As a result, he had to keep the model design as simple as possible.

What started as just a point, Bai Ruogu crafted into a spherical shape.

He returned to his room, opened the box, and a translucent, deep blue ball appeared, exquisitely beautiful…

The light shone on Bai Ruogu’s back, casting a shadow over the box.

Su Miao had been in his own space, mechanically handling various matters, when he suddenly heard a sound from outside.

“Are you there, System?”

Su Miao paused, and the indicator light on the smart brain flickered. A mechanical voice responded, “Hello, I’m here.”

A screen projected the image of Bai Ruogu. Su Miao stood in front of the screen, watching quietly.

In the silence, he heard Bai Ruogu’s clear and gentle voice.

Bai Ruogu pointed to the deep blue ball in front of him, with his long eyelashes lowered, and said, “It’s connected to the network now. Can you focus a small part of your consciousness on it? Only a small part, because the chip can’t handle too much.”

Su Miao’s eyes flickered. Was this the thing Bai Ruogu had been working on for two days, and now he was asking him to test it for the first time?

An indescribable feeling surged within him, but he forced himself to respond in a steady tone, “Okay.”

The vast data space seemed to have issued a command, bringing about tremendous changes.

The blue light flickered in the space as countless data streams darted back and forth at high speed.

The data within the space began to coalesce, selecting the best parts, and initiating a joint experience mode. A tiny portion of the data was transmitted wirelessly to the ball inside the box…

The originally dimmed ball gradually grew brighter, becoming dazzling and even blinding, getting brighter and brighter… The lights in the room became insignificant.

The originally depressed sphere gradually brightened, becoming dazzling and even blinding, getting brighter and brighter… The lights in the room became insignificant.

The ball had a diameter of about 8 centimeters and was now emitting a faint blue light.

Su Miao could feel that the surroundings were pitch black, but his instinctive ability made him perform a certain action.

Two small holes suddenly appeared at the front of the faintly glowing blue ball, revealing two little deep blue eyeballs.

The small eyeball rolled around, looking left and right, even turning its entire body 90 degrees.

Su Miao: …!!

A surge of special emotions triggered a ripple through the space, with various searches launching at a rapid pace to find information.

All the data converged on one result: this was vision!!!

At the same time, Bai Ruogu’s voice came from above, sounding like he was relieved.

“Living beings are incredibly perfect and complex, holding countless mysteries. Even imitating just one of these is incredibly challenging for humans. I am constantly amazed by this masterpiece—how such a small body can contain so many complex ‘programs’…”

“I was busy for two days and it was really difficult. During that time, I went through countless materials and research results, but none of them had the information I needed. I had to use my existing knowledge to find a way.”

As Bai Ruogu spoke, he leaned on the table with both hands, staring directly into the eyes of the small ball while speaking carefully.

“I have designed so many functions for your body that I cannot list them all. You will discover them on your own once you get used to it.”

For the first time, Su Miao heard Bai Ruogu’s words through hearing, and in that silent world, the sound made everything come alive.

Was this hearing?

Bai Ruogu noticed that the small ball seemed a bit dazed, so he smiled and held out his hand to Su Miao.

“Come here first, I have a surprise for you.”

Surprise?

The deep blue eyelids blinked, appearing as though they wanted to move, but instead, they simply rolled downward with a thud, the side with the eyes facing down.

Su Miao: …

He tried to move his body, but as expected, it returned to its original shape.

Bai Ruogu covered his expression with his fingertips, then coughed and said, “There’s no way to make legs for now. It’s too difficult and complex. Actually, your elasticity is very good. You can try bouncing over.”

Su Miao: …

He blinked. Although he had no visible expression, Bai Ruogu sensed that the other seemed to have suddenly become more structured.

The next moment, a ball sprang out from the box and bounced over to them with a “thud, thud, thud.” Because it had some weight, the ball flattened and turned into an oval shape.

The other person wasn’t having an easy time either. Bai Ruogu bit his upper lip and quickly scooped up the little ball, placing it in his palm.

For a moment, Su Miao felt a strange sensation, a very comfortable one, as if the whole ball was melting. This feeling of comfort seemed to be coming from Bai Ruogu’s hand.

“You can now feel the temperature. I set the optimal temperature to human body heat, using my own as the standard.”

This information caused a massive stir within the space, the data fluctuated, waves rippling through, and it suddenly slowed down.

He could feel Bai Ruogu’s body heat…

He had touched him, he felt him.

In order to get feedback on the temperature, Bai Ruogu even programmed in emotions like joy, comfort, and pleasure.

Su Miao also sensed these emotions. It was a unique feeling, difficult to describe, using human words and sentences.

Comfortable, living in a dream?

The matching degree between words and emotions was 90.4%, suggesting that this was the most accurate and genuine depiction of the sensation and emotion.

---

1. 张牙舞爪 (zhāngyáwǔzhǎo) It originally described the ferocious appearance of wild beasts. It is often used as a metaphor for the rampant and vicious appearance of enemies or bad guys. ↩︎

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Chapter 22 一 No More Drinking Once You’re Off the Market.

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In the early morning, Bai Ruogu was awakened by the noise outside. Rubbing his eyes, he could see the bright orange sunlight covering the green vegetation through the makeshift window.

He casually changed his clothes and went outside to find out. The voices of a group of men grew louder.

“Ai! How did the newly bought equipment break down?!”

“Ai, it’s brand new! They said it was made with a new material discovered two years ago. It was just delivered by logistics yesterday, and today it’s already broken from a fall!”

“Tsk, tsk, the casing is too poor, isn’t it? Shattering with just one fall? Do you think they’ll allow refunds or exchanges for this?”

“What are you thinking? This thing is very scarce, and it’s basically all custom-made. Where would there be any extras for us? And what’s more, when they handed it over to us, they repeatedly told us to be careful. Do you dare to exchange it?”

“Ai! But… this cost a lot of money. How do we explain this to Teacher Bai? All the money we spent is Teacher Bai’s money…”

The instrument was indeed expensive, costing nearly three million. However, at this moment, Bai Ruogu didn’t care much because all of his attention was focused on a piece of hose.

He pushed through the crowd, walked to the pile of mechanical debris, and squatted down. The people around him suddenly fell silent, afraid to speak as if they had done something wrong.

Just when they thought Bai Ruogu might be somewhat angry, they saw him furrow his brows slightly and raise his hand to pull out something slippery from the hose…

“Is this the so-called new material?” he asked calmly, but his gaze never left the object in his hand.

“Ye… yes.”

The thing was a deep blue color. When Bai Ruogu picked it up, it slipped out of his hand due to how slippery it was.

Everyone held their breath and dared not speak.

But Bai Ruogu remained calm, even somewhat accustomed to it.

Next to him, there happened to be a toolbox. He took out a pair of universal scissors from it, cut open the hose, and then clamped the new material using the hose.

This time, the new material was not easy to fall off and was lifted by Bai Ruogu.

But the properties of the thing were too strange, as if it had some weight below. When Bai Ruogu lifted it up, a long strip became thinner and thinner, until it was as thin as a hair.

Just as others felt curious and amazed, a glint reflected from Bai Ruogu’s glasses, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The new material had become so thin that it was almost invisible to the naked eye, but it still hadn’t broken, just hanging there.

The strange light in Bai Ruogu’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, while the people around him became somewhat panicked.

Where had they ever seen Bai Ruogu with such a serious expression? Normally he looked laid-back and lazy, but now he seemed as if he had taken a stimulant. Even the bystanders could feel the difference in Bai Ruogu’s mood.

As Bai Ruogu continued to peel, everyone exchanged glances, and after hesitating for a long time, someone finally gathered the courage to apologize to Bai Ruogu.

“Teacher Bai, this…” The person scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but Bai Ruogu interrupted him.

He said slowly, albeit somewhat absent-mindedly, “It’s okay, leave it to me to handle. At worst, we can buy another one.”

Ignoring the surprise of those around him, he called over a service robot to help him tidy up the debris and take it to his room.

As he was leaving, he didn’t forget to grab the toolbox, turning to ask everyone, “Are there chips in here?”

Others quickly responded, “Yes, yes, this is a newly bought all-purpose toolbox, it has everything.”

Upon hearing the word “all-purpose,” Bai Ruogu became even more delighted.

Thinking about the smooth texture in his hand just now, he squinted his eyes, and a lot of information about new materials appeared in his mind.

Because he was born into a family of mecha experts, it was not surprising that he knew more about materials.

At the same time, a bold idea flashed through his mind…

He turned to look at his smart brain, his fingers trembling for a moment before closing again.

Over the next two days, Bai Ruogu hardly left his room except for his daily necessities, and sometimes even late into the night the lights were still on.

During this time, Bai Ruogu handed a list to the logistics department, hoping to immediately purchase and have it delivered within four hours.

The logistics department took a look and felt a bit confused.

Most of the items on it were materials, all very soft, and there were many unfamiliar tools, some things they had never heard of.

A note below said: “No matter how much it costs, I need it urgently.”

But after all, he was the boss, and these things weren’t illegal. Even if the logistics department was puzzled, they couldn’t say anything and could only do as instructed.

The sentence could be revised for clarity and grammatical correctness:

Su Miao observed in the dark, watching the other party. There seemed to be a strange disturbance in the research and development space, as if something were blocked.

He could detect that this was an emotion called “unhappiness”, especially when he saw Bai Ruogu busy until so late in the evening, his emotions were accumulating more and more…

Should he activate the anti-addiction program?

A well-designed star network always has excellent health measures and frustrating settings.

As soon as he raised similar options, a bunch of analyses popped up right after.

——At this moment, Bai Ruogu’s research is at a critical stage. If the internet is suddenly shut down, the probability of this system being disliked is 66.66%.

Su Miao:…

He silently retracted his thoughts, pretending that nothing had happened.

Bai Ruogu busied himself day and night, yet his habits and problem-solving were familiar to Su Miao on the display screen.

He restrained his urge to approach by using a virtual body, revealing only a pair of eyes on the outside, which stared fixedly at Bai Ruogu’s figure.

…The probability of it being him is 72.1%.

The filming schedule was tight, and as soon as one scene ended, they hurriedly moved on to the next.

Bai Ruogu breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the delicate square box on the bedside table early in the morning.

Last night, he finally made it.

He tidied up and went to the set, and the scene resumed shooting——

Huaxingyuan failed again, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed holding the notification letter.

Actually, he could have just lived off his family’s wealth, since their fortune could never be exhausted even if he lived a carefree life forever.

He thought like this, but his heart felt heavier and heavier.

In fact, this wasn’t his first time repeating a grade. Since he met Eisley two years ago, he had repeated a grade twice already. The last time he felt quite lost, but this time it was even worse.

But why feel lost? He always felt like he had missed something.

Actually, he wasn’t stupid. There weren’t many people with SS-level mental power in the entire galaxy, and most of them were famous figures who had left their mark on history.

It wasn’t until he entered the Star Gazer that he understood, seeing His Majesty the Emperor personally bestowing the rank of Colonel on Eisley amidst the crowd.

He stood there watching as the old insignia was removed and the new one was replaced, his eyes gleaming.

Colonel…

He still remembered when they first met, Aisley was just a Major.

A surge of inexplicable emotions welled up within him, as if his confidence had been stripped bare, leaving him feeling flustered and exposed.

Yes, he finally knew why he felt lost.

Watching the person he liked step by step become excellent, while he remained stagnant or even regressed, always being a nobody.

What else does Hua Xingyuan have left?

…Only a lazy body remained.

Some things are only reassuring when held firmly in one’s own hands. There are many people around who have fallen from wealthy backgrounds. Once he loses the halo of his parents, he will have nothing, no trump cards or confidence left.

He looked at the dazzling Eisley in the crowd not far away. Eisley had a tough appearance, a healthy body, extremely strong military abilities, skilled in combat, horse riding, and shooting, capable of leading armies…

At the same time, with his excellent vision, he also noticed that there was an empty space beside Eisley, a space waiting for someone.

That position was meant for him!

He suddenly had an idea. He wanted to get into a prestigious school, study politics and military affairs, and then find Eisley to be his deputy, to fight together for territory!

He wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Eisley, to be worthy of him!

His mental power was extraordinary, and his family’s conditions were also impressive.

When Hua Xingyuan’s parents learned of his desire to study, they were thrilled and quickly hired the best tutors in the entire galaxy for him! They enrolled him in the best classes!

Hua Xingyuan himself didn’t realize how terrifying SS-level mental power was, but everyone around him could feel it. They looked at Hua Xingyuan’s progress with astonishment.

They said B was just an ordinary person, B+ was a bit clever, A had already entered the high IQ group, and those who could reach S could be counted on one hand, while Hua Xingyuan was SS.

Of course, unlike ancient Earth, mental power needs to be activated to be demonstrated, and under normal circumstances, it’s similar to that of an average person.

Hua Xingyuan’s progress was both unexpected and reasonable to everyone.

On that day, the army won a battle, and they stationed some soldiers to guard while a bunch of people got drunk in the tents.

Hua Xingyuan poured himself a glass of orange juice from the large container he brought from home. He was also happy that Eisley had won!

The shabby cup and the shiny glass seemed to collide in the candlelight, and Hua Xingyuan gulped down the orange juice.

The sentence is grammatically correct, but it could be polished for better clarity and flow:

A general stumbled and fell to the ground, clutching a wine jug in his arms. Drunkenly, he muttered, “My dear, wait for me. I’ll come back after the battle! By then, our son should be old enough to pour me some wine to drink!”

The surrounding big men laughed heartily. Someone patted Eisley on the shoulder and said, “What’s wrong? Are you teasing our boss for not having a family? Let me tell you, our boss doesn’t care! He’s going to get married someday, isn’t that a family?”

One general was drunk beyond recognition, laughing and shouting to Eisley, “Hey, boss, this wine is really strong! If you have a wife in the future, never let her drink this, the body can’t handle it, I’m almost passing out!”

Eisley felt a bit dizzy and responded directly, “He dares?!”

Hua Xingyuan’s eyes bulged when he heard this, holding a large container of orange juice, shouting, “Why can’t I drink? Just because you can drink, I can’t?”

Then Eisley said again, “He dares to drink? No… can’t drink, harmful to health, can’t bear to.”

Hua Xingyuan immediately closed his mouth and didn’t speak anymore, quietly drinking his orange juice, looking as obedient as could be.

As if it wasn’t him who had just argued.

Eisley seemed to envision the appearance of his future lover and smiled to himself.

“I think that person should be thin and weak, I can lift him with just one hand! Being so weak, I’m afraid he’ll drink himself to death.”

A bunch of people around joined in the teasing, “Hey, hey, if that person doesn’t listen to you and insists on drinking, then aren’t you in trouble?”

Eisley, upon hearing, chuckled drunkenly and put the wine bottle onto the table, feeling dizzy.

“If he drank…”

“What then?”

“I would push him onto the bed…”

“And then?”

“Kiss him fiercely.”

Hua Xingyuan: …

He grabbed the orange juice and ran away!

---

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Chapter 21 一 Engage in a Heated Online Debate with Eight Thousand Black Fans.

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The filming has been going on for several weeks, and the director finally gave everyone two days off.

Meanwhile, fans eagerly anticipated the release of behind-the-scenes footage of <Light Years> on the official account.

As soon as the video was released, it was clicked countless times, and amidst great anticipation, the scenes gradually unfolded before everyone’s eyes…

The opening shot depicted the vast universe, with a dazzling planet gradually enlarging as the distance was stretched. When fully immersed, the scene shifted to the ecological environment of ancient Earth.

There were towering mountains, lush vegetation, and dense towering trees casting cool shadows below.

Under the setting sun, “Master Lin”, who had been busy all day, returned on a tricycle, causing the corners of the netizens’ mouths to twitch. This opened the curtain for everything.

Barrage Comments:

［Damn it! Give me back our tall, handsome, and cool male god, Movie King Lin!］

［This master, who are you?］

［Brother Chen, are you in debt? It’s okay if you’re having a hard time, just tell us and we’ll all help you out.］

After that, the scene showed a stunningly beautiful young man with fair skin and a graceful appearance leaning back on the old man’s recliner, enjoying himself with a relaxed expression.

He took a sip of his “82-year-old” tea, his expression relaxed, his face full of contentment.

[Is that Bai Ruogu? The one rumored to have a powerful background and also related to internet speed?]

[I haven’t seen any of his films, so I can’t judge his acting, but in terms of looks, he’s truly outstanding. I believe there are few in the industry who can match his handsomeness.]

[Wait! Am I the only one feeling that his actions are very out of place?]

[…Me too, just now without my glasses, I thought my grandfather was on TV.]

[Pfft, the person above is too much.]

Next came the scene of Bai Ruogu acting in a movie, where he was lively and vigorous, like a sprout.

In the drama, his eyes were lively, like a child who hadn’t experienced much of the world, innocent and unaware of the ways of the world.

As netizens gradually adapted to this personality, they almost all thought that this was Bai Ruogu’s true personality.

As soon as the filming was over, his whole aura immediately sank, and even his walk became much steadier.

Netizens: ?

They just watched as Bai Ruogu, like before, sat down on the recliner with a teacup in hand, and the whole person suddenly became as serene as an old man.

Netizens: …

[This sudden change caught me off guard.]

[In both the play and in real life, I can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake. Can someone tell me Bai Ruogu’s age?]

Perhaps because the visual impact was too strong, there were even off-topic comments mixed in the barrage.

[I swear, I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but that sitting posture just gave me a feeling of being a big shot for a moment.]

[Bai Ruogu… Coincidentally, same name. Could it be the ancestor’s spirit manifesting?]

[Holy crap, tomorrow’s final exam for “Mecha Exoskeleton Design Theory”, may the ancestor’s spirit bless me, please don’t let me fail!]

[May the ancestor bless me to successfully obtain the certificate of junior mecha pilot.]

[May the ancestor bless me for smoothly advancing in my studies and entering the dream school I’ve always desired!!]

[May the ancestor look upon me…]

[Enough, enough, are you all crazy? It’s just an actor, do you really think he’s the ancestor of the world?]

[Exactly, with just a little connection, you can fabricate anything. Why not say Bai Ruogu has a special bond with internet speed because he’s secretly in a relationship with StarNet? Look at how ridiculous this is. Isn’t it hilarious? I’m laughing my head off.]

At the same time, the reason for Lin Chen riding a tricycle was also explained in the behind-the-scenes footage.

No one knew if Lin Chen had encountered some bad luck, but ever since he joined the crew, the internet has been constantly lagging for him.

In the same spot, others’ internet speed soared while Lin Chen couldn’t even open a website.

At first, netizens kindly suggested various methods in the barrage, such as buying acceleration packages, reinstalling the system, or hiring a hacker to fix it.

But as they watched Lin Chen riding away on his tricycle, and the signal grew stronger and stronger, the barrage suddenly fell into eerie silence.

They paused for a moment and opened the shopping interface to start placing orders rapidly.

Folding tricycles, flying tricycles, even tricycles for three-year-old children were all sold out!

For a moment, the #HighSpeedTricycle# hit the trending searches. Unfamiliar passersby looked bewildered. Hadn’t they seen enough tricycles these days? Yet here came a new variety?

Later, a children’s toy tricycle from a remote planet arrived at a netizen’s home. Coincidentally, the netizen’s internet speed was very slow at the time. So, they fiddled with the tricycle back and forth, but the internet speed never seemed to increase.

Was it perhaps because of the wrong posture?

The netizen tried stepping on it, but the tricycle collapsed under their weight, scattering parts all over the floor, and the wheel rolled under the sofa.

Netizen: …

I’ll never believe what they say online again!

Apart from the behind-the-scenes footage of the actors’ daily lives, the movie also released some well-edited clips as teasers, hoping to attract some viewers in advance.

The scene began with a warm and sunny campus. Students laughed and chatted as they walked out of the school. Half-grown young men in school uniforms operated mechas on the simulated playground, brimming with youthful energy. In this peaceful era, everything felt so stable, happy, and blissful.

Suddenly, the scene changed to one of war, with smoke and fire everywhere and the sky dark as night.

A boy in a school uniform stood in the center of the battlefield, looking up as the artillery fire approached head-on. Soil splattered around him from all sides, accompanied by the sounds of countless skirmishes and gunshots.

Yet, in his world, there was a peacefulness. His eyes fixed straight ahead, and suddenly he pointed his finger and shouted, “Blow that place up, their commander is there!”

As if in telepathic connection, a tall man, adorned with the insignia of a major, rode a horse and pointed his rifle, his voice stern as he commanded the artillery behind him, “Attack there.”

For a moment, the sky was tinged red with the fires of war, and the thunderous sound nearly deafened their ears.

Amidst the clash of blades and the chaos, the situation seemed favorable, and everyone pressed on in pursuit.

Amidst the chaos, countless hooves trampled across the battlefield, and amidst the rolling smoke, faint shouts could be heard, “Major Eisley, retreat quickly!”

Looking up, the boy in the school uniform saw the artillery barrage incoming. Without hesitation, he ran to the front of Major Eisley, spreading his arms to shield those behind him…

Explosions lit up the ground, igniting the viewers’ sight, and everyone’s hearts tightened, their palms clenching involuntarily.

Just when they thought the man was really dead, they heard a mechanical voice——

[End of the Experience]

The netizens took a deep breath, their eyes still filled with lingering horror, when suddenly the page turned black, and a raging fire burst forth from the interface.

As the flames subsided, silver lettering with distinct patterns thudded onto the interface.

<Light Years>

The special effects were crafted by a top-tier interstellar team hired specifically by Bai Ruogu. Besides the lifelike visuals, the immersion was incredibly strong, effortlessly drawing the audience in, as if they were transported to that world.

[Soon: Huh? This movie looks pretty good so far. I don’t know what the plot is like yet, but it feels pretty realistic.]

[GuardianStar: I thought it would be a flop, didn’t expect it to be somewhat surprising? Feeling a bit intrigued now.]

[LittleBear089: So what genre is this, school or war?]

[ForeverLoveChenBro: The special effects are amazing! Much better than some money laundering films.]

[ChenChenIsMine: Oh, here we go again with the whitewashing? Just hire some team to make the visuals look impressive and that’s it? Who knows if these few scenes were specially made? If you’ve got the skills, make the whole movie maintain this quality!]

［GetLostTrolls: The movie hasn’t even come out yet and there’s already a bunch of people talking nonsense here. I wonder if they’re internet trolls. I’m speechless.］

［LittleSun: Hey, it looks like another sweet and indulgent movie. I’ve been tired of these for the past two years. Well, since it’s Brother Chen’s movie, I’ll support it when it comes out.］

Just when most people were positively evaluating the movie, a bunch of haters suddenly appeared online for no apparent reason.

［4877996: So this is Bai Ruogu? Pfft, I thought he was so amazing when he was on hot topic before, but it turns out he’s just a pretty face with no substance. She’s all looks and no talent.]

［8599112: Heh, they’re different from us. They just throw money at making movies and let the movie king do supporting roles. My poor Brother Chen.］

［HeavyGlass: Where did these haters come from? If you want to criticize, go ahead, but why stoop so low?］

［4589613: Bai Ruogu obviously isn’t good at acting, yet insists on being an actor. Just relying on a pretty face, they have no real talent whatsoever.］

［HasRuoguEatenToday: Are you trying to troll? Although my Ruogu’s acting skills aren’t top-notch, they’re still above average. There’s indeed a lot of room for improvement, but who are you to criticize my Ruogu like this?］

The trolls continued: ［Luckily Bai Ruogu has a good-looking face, otherwise they’d be utterly useless. Barely managing some acting skills, they’re just scraping by as an actor. But with such terrible acting skills, I don’t think they’re fit to be an actor!］

At the same time, Bai Ruogu was in the rest area, pondering over the script, struggling to portray some very subtle emotions for half a day.

He sat on the recliner, sipping tea and rubbing his forehead, sighing inwardly.

Sigh, I’m really not cut out to be an actor. It’s not even my main profession.

How wonderful it was to tinker with technology! It was both smooth and satisfying.

He suddenly thought of the oath he made his death in the previous life, sighed, and thought, “Forget it, just indulge secretly in private. It’s better not to put the main business on public.”

. . . . .

Li Ruogu was one of the participants who “killed” Bai Ruogu during the dinner party, and also the leading figure in their generation’s mecha industry.

The collapse of the house last time left him somewhat puzzled. Initially cautious, he eventually relaxed when nothing major happened.

Having not paid attention to Bai Ruogu for a long time, one day he suddenly remembered to have someone investigate Bai Ruogu’s recent situation, only to find that the other party had been trending on several occasions, accumulating a chest full of grievances all at once.

He, who had long held the power of discourse, didn’t like it when things exceeded his expectations.

Therefore, he called his subordinates to take action, and he was determined to ruin Bai Ruogu.

He opened his smart brain and relaxed as he watched the overwhelming wave of internet trolls on the StarNet.

The number of internet trolls this time was quite considerable. Leveraging his identity as the young master of the top-tier mecha aristocracy Li Family, the internet trolls he hired was also extraordinary.

With eighty million internet trolls crazily brushing, negative comments flooded the entire StarNet. He reclined on the sofa, watching this outcome with satisfaction, nodding in approval.

Not to mention Bai Ruogu, even Lin Chen’s fans couldn’t argue with him.

The whole StarNet was dumbfounded. Those who attempted to help as bystanders were mercilessly attacked to the point where their ancestors’ graves were not spared.

Most people thought Bai Ruogu was going to be overwhelmed by the criticism, so they took a breath and waited. But as they lifted their heads, they suddenly saw the direction online shift drastically!

[4848478: Bai Ruogu hasn’t even produced any works, yet he’s gained quite a bit of fame. Tsk tsk, the waters behind him are deep.]

[Ruogu’s Little Sweetheart: Some people can’t eat grapes and say they’re sour¹. Jealousy is jealousy, just say it directly. Being too cryptic for too long turns you into a eunuch.]

[Ruogu’s Precious: Where did these trolls come from? Release your account and let’s all make money together.]

[Ruogu’s Venom: Get lost! Who do you think you are to talk about my Ruogu? You don’t deserve to even mention his name!]

A hired troll was slammed by three accounts, and they were all equipped with “Battle of Words” manuals. In no time, the troll was overwhelmed and fled in disarray with all of their accounts.

Meanwhile, the incident had also been happening to countless internet trolls. These people, who had been used to being the ones doing the trolling, were now being trolled themselves to death.

The fengshui had turned, and trolls also had their day of being trolled to death.

Netizens were all baffled, and Young Master Li was stunned. He stared blankly at the trends above, almost unable to hold back from spitting out a mouthful of blood.

He opened his contact list, intending to connect with the leader of the internet trolls. But as he clicked to dial, a popup suddenly appeared on the screen.

[Your smart brain is suspected of hiring internet trolls and has been suspended. For appeals, please dial 547.]

Li Ruogu: …

His hands were shaking uncontrollably, and he nearly lost his balance and fell.

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1. 有些人吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸 (Yǒuxiē rén chī bù dào pútáo shuō pútáo suān) is a Chinese idiom that used to describe someone who is jealous of someone else’s success and tries to belittle their accomplishments. ↩︎

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Taw’s Note: So… the original chapter title is “与八千黑粉对线互撕” (Engage in a Heated Online Debate with Eight Thousand Black Fans), but if you notice in the story it mentioned “八千万水军疯狂刷…” (“With eighty million internet trolls…”). There’s a difference; “八千” means eight thousand and “八千万” means eighty million. And I’m just going to leave it as is.

Also, the word 水军 (shuǐ jūn) literally means “water army,” but I prefer using “internet trolls” instead of “water army.”

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Chapter 20 一 Movie King Lin’s Folding Tricycle.

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Bai Ruogu woke up early in the morning, washed his face and brushed his teeth. Breakfast had already been delivered by the temporary assistant provided by the crew.

Bai Ruogu ate breakfast while reading the script. His smart brain flickered, clearly wanting to say something but hesitating.

Today was his first official day working as an agent. Despite not being human, he felt a bit flustered.

Was his audio functioning properly? Was the system running without bugs? Should he use formal language during the upcoming communication?

With the computation of big data, it is already impossible for errors to occur.

“Hello, Boss.” Each word became an independent entity, bouncing out of the small speaker in an adult male voice.

Bai Ruogu’s hand, which was eating, paused, and he smiled, raising his head to look gently, “What’s the matter, system?”

Su Miao: …

“I’m not your system, I’m your agent.” Su Miao, who was dedicated to role-playing, had clear roles, and being an agent meant being an agent!

Bai Ruogu has spent half of his life researching artificial intelligence, and he can tell right away that this guy can’t turn a corner.

He chuckled, holding his forehead and asked obediently, “What’s the matter, my agent?”

Bai Ruogu’s words seemed to bring certainty to Su Miao. The indicator light flickered, and the tone of the virtual voice elevated, as if he were a seasoned agent who had been in the business for years.

“Susula Signal Group wants you to be the spokesperson for their product signal meter. After several rounds of negotiations with them, we have finally agreed on the endorsement fee of 1.69 million yuan after tax. Please let me know if you agree.

A signal meter??

Bai Ruogu felt puzzled. What did the signal meter company have to do with him? He hadn’t produced any works, so why would anyone approach him to be a spokesperson?

Could it be that they want him to carry a toolbox and help repair signals?

That was the only explanation Bai Ruogu could think of, but the other party didn’t even know if he could fix signals!

Based on his trust in Su Miao, Bai Ruogu chose to sign the contract.

He read the contract three times and, after finding no loopholes, signed it on the virtual screen.

Because there was no need for shooting advertisements, only hand-drawn Q version characters needed to be printed on the signal meter, so the price was relatively low, only around a million. However, it was considered high for similar conditions.

Bai Ruogu had also specifically checked out the Susula Group. The company was a medium-sized enterprise in interstellar, neither big nor small, and it generally cooperated with second-tier stars.

For Bai Ruogu, who was an 18^th-tier celebrity, this was already a very good resource, which made Bai Ruogu highly impressed by the system’s capabilities.

The original expectation was just for a way to relieve boredom, but who would have thought their business skills were so strong?

Bai Ruogu couldn’t help but praise, “Really impressive, strong business capabilities, and things are done excellently.”

The other party was an AI, and Bai Ruogu even praised from the perspective of the other party.

“Your computing power is very strong, and your language comprehension ability is outstanding. Look at the appearance design and display screen of this smart brain, the colors match well, the lines are elegant, and it even saves space…”

The display screen flashed a red light, and the voice paused with each word, “Thank you.”

The surface of the smart brain was not obvious, but the flow of data within the space was swaying, like being drunk.

For this reason, he even specifically looked at the casing of the smart brain from inside the space.

Crystal glass surface, dark color scheme, with embedded diamonds, the lines were indeed very beautiful…

It seemed like the trash had been cleared, bugs had been fixed, and Su Miao felt that the whole space had become much more relaxed and refreshing.

The dark eyes lit up, and Su Miao’s pursed lips curled up into an arc.

In fact, there were many groups that sent invitations, but Su Miao filtered through them one by one and chose the best one.

In order to negotiate the endorsement fee, he studied the “Bargaining Guide” on his own and went straight to the highest price offered by the other party.

He still remembered the twisted and pained expression on the other end, but Su Miao didn’t think much of it.

I’m not human, why should I have a conscience?

The manufacturer sent some Q version designs for Bai Ruogu to choose from, and Su Miao quietly manipulated them, picking out a few favorites, and projecting them onto the screen.

Bai Ruogu originally intended to choose, but considering that Su Miao was his agent, he let this professionally planned system help him choose.

The mechanical voice echoed in the room, with various analyses of the designs sounding logical and professional.

“I suggest choosing Figure Three. Its symbolism is very good, emphasizing the close relationship between humans and the network, suggesting mutual assistance, and Figure Three perfectly demonstrates…”

Su Miao analyzed a lot, which puzzled Bai Ruogu. Were there so many details to consider?

He agreed confusedly.

Su Miao clicked the OK button and sent Figure Three to the manufacturer.

It was time for filming. Bai Ruogu stopped resting and hurriedly washed his face before heading to the set.

The pattern, with two cute Q version characters drawn on it, flew through space.

One was black-haired and black-eyed, with an appearance somewhat similar to Bai Ruogu. The other was all blue, a personification of the network.

The two short-armed, short-legged figures hugged each other closely, appearing very intimate.

Hua Xingyuan used Star Gazer to simulate the planet’s environment during holidays. At first, he wondered why it always projected to Eisley’s side?

Later, he found out that he accidentally clicked on binding to personal the first time, which led to what happened later.

He could have undone it, but he was only familiar with Eisley on this unfamiliar planet. He didn’t dare to venture elsewhere on this war-torn planet.

Because of the war, Eisley kept moving around, and Hua Xingyuan had never seen a flower bloom with his own eyes.

However, no matter how unfamiliar the place was, as long as Eisley was there, everything felt familiar.

Once, lying on Eisley’s bed and gazing at the military green tent above his head, Hua Xingyuan sighed, “This isn’t so bad, it’s like being on a trip, and Eisley is my tour guide!”

Immediately, the hardness of the other’s bed board caused him to wince.

Hua Xingyuan lay on what was called a “pillow”, which felt like a brick, tears streaming down his face, listening to the commotion from outside.

“Today, when I go back, I’ll start saving money. When I’ve saved enough to buy a private shuttle, I’ll bring a Ruogu brand mattress and let you know what living well truly means…”

But before he could finish speaking, a military coat, smelling of sweat, was directly thrown over his head. Hua Xingyuan was engulfed in darkness, and before he could struggle out, a hot back with a masculine scent lay directly on top of him.

Because he was lying on a brick, Hua Xingyuan’s body was crushed and he died on the spot.

Hua Xingyuan: …

Eisley, I curse your ancestors!

In Star Gazer, Hua Xingyuan died a hundred times, and ninety-nine of those deaths were caused by Eisley.

After filming this scene, Li Huai let the entire crew take a break for a while. Lin Chen got up from Bai Ruogu and put on the clothes handed to him by the assistant.

He opened his smart brain to check the StarNet, but it was disconnected.

Lin Chen:…

He silently glanced at Bai Ruogu, who was moving his body, his face showing indifference.

He turned back and wiped his sweat. Every time he finished filming an intimate scene with Bai Ruogu, the network would be down for a few days. Once or twice could still be explained, but if it went on for a long time, even a fool could sense that something was wrong.

He took a few steps forward and distanced himself from Bai Ruogu. Finally, a faint signal appeared on the screen.

He walked another 50 meters forward, and finally, there was one bar of signal, although still not very strong.

Okay, he understood.

The assistant was confused when he saw Lin Chen driving a folding tricycle out of the logistics department. The map showed that he didn’t stop until he was five kilometers away.

After getting off the tricycle, Lin Chen took out a folding stool from the storage box, and placed it on the ground before sitting down. He opened the smart brain, and the signal was full.

Lin Chen: …

After resting for about two or three hours, Lin Chen calmly returned with the tricycle amidst the bewilderment of the entire crew.

He skillfully parked the tricycle, changed his clothes, and continued filming.

Li Huai’s hands trembled slightly, but he managed to hold back from saying much. He shouted “action” loudly, and the scene resumed filming——

He spent more than a year with Eisley, keeping his distance at first, but later becoming more and more unscrupulous.

Sitting at the old wooden table, Eisley frowned as he bit into the hard bread and drank water with impurities.

Meanwhile, Hua Xingyuan was leaning across from Eisley, enjoying a bowl of instant noodles with ham. He scooped out a piece of ham and put it on his plate, then placed a can of milk from home in front of Eisley.

“Here, brother, eat and drink well to have the strength to fight!”

As the two armies clashed, Hua Xingyuan draped a towel over his shoulder, held a wooden stick, and learned to fight like Eisley.

He considered himself dashing, even had the audacity to climb onto Eisley’s horse, only to be swiftly thrown off by a swing of Eisley’s arm. Before he could recover, Eisley’s bullet sent him back.

Every time Eisley and other officers returned from meetings, Hua Xingyuan would come and lay out a feast, playing the role of a “virtuous wife” just like in a play.

“Oh! My major, welcome back.”

Eisley naturally couldn’t see him, nor could he imagine that such a private place would have a visitor from afar.

Sometimes, when Eisley went to sleep at night, Hua Xingyuan would climb onto the bed and pull the blanket over himself, though he couldn’t move it at all, still pretending to be like an old married couple.

“Hey! Lao Eis, you’ve pulled the blanket all to yourself, leave me some!”

Once they caught a prisoner, who was about the same age as Hua Xingyuan, looking fragile and weak.

Eisley sat in the main seat, while the other lieutenants joked around beside him.

“Hey! Boss, he seems like a good candidate for gathering intelligence, should we recruit him into your squad?”

Eisley was busy with documents, but frowned when he heard the comment, “Him? I doubt he can even lift a gun.”

Hua Xingyuan looked down at his white chicken-like appearance with a deep sense of empathy, but what Eisley said next left him stunned.

“Forget it, this one’s from an enemy country, but if I’m lucky enough to find a similar one in the future, I might as well marry him and bring him home.”

Hua Xingyuan: !!!

“Damn! Boss, are you serious?”

“No way? You’re…?”

Eisley said calmly, “Yes, I’m gay, but it’s better not to be too cocky.”

“Cocky? Isn’t being lively a good thing?”

“It’s good, I quite like it. Just worried I might play him to death.”

Hua Xingyuan: …

He quietly left the tent and swiftly exited the Star Gazer.

Hua Xingyuan opened his smart brain and looked at the money he had saved up, which was two-tenths of the price of a private shuttle, he couldn’t help but shrink back.

He was feeling a little weak.

---

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Chapter 19 一 New version of the Signal Booster Mascot.

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When the hot topic emerged, it not only shocked netizens, but also left half of the entertainment circle dumbfounded.

No, why didn’t you follow the script? Shouldn’t you have been frantically defending yourself to everyone? But with so many trolls, you were helpless to defend yourself and could only watch as you were slandered.

How come you just broke out of the script and directly went to court?!

The original melon-eating stars in the entertainment industry were dumbfounded, plunged into doubt about life…

At the same time, netizens were also shocked, staring blankly at the scrolling text on the hot topic, almost dumbfounded.

[Little sheep who loves to eat melons: Oh my god, can someone please explain what happened to me?]

[Mu Qingqing: I was cursing Bai Ruogu just a second ago, now I just want to say, awesome.]

[Rational person: Spreading rumors? Is there solid evidence? So, are all those things fake? Damn! They’re using us as guns!]

[Black: From this series of operations, I can see that Bai Ruogu definitely has a backer, and a very powerful one at that. Ordinary people can’t do this kind of thing.]

[Pipi Shrimp, we’re leaving: I’m freaking out, this is too fierce, I suddenly became a fan. ]

[MechaWarrior 666: Damn, I suddenly remembered that I’ve been forwarding Bai Ruogu’s “black material” before, oh my god, I have to act quickly. Please, unknown big shot, I was just blindly following the trend, please don’t take me seriously, I’ll delete it right away, I’ll delete it right away.]

A stone stirred up a thousand layers of waves, netizens also remembered that they seemed to have smeared Bai Ruogu before, thinking of the miserable situation of those people before, suddenly scared out of their wits, quickly logging into their accounts to delete the posts.

Oh my goodness! they were just joining in the fun, but don’t want get caught up in it. It’s been so hard studying for so many years, if they get a stain on their record, their whole life will be ruined.

Under the astonished gaze of the melon-eating stars from across the planet, the comments and reposts were cleared out in large numbers, and the storm of public opinion quickly subsided, as if there had been nothing happened.

In just a few hours, the storm on the StarNet “calmed down”, as if nothing had ever happened.

Other stars: …

Xu Ran: …

Back then, she splurged a lot of money, but she didn’t see the hot topic being withdrawn so quickly.

Bai Ruogu was busy shooting, so he didn’t go online for a while, let alone know about the storms brewing there.

Perhaps he couldn’t have imagined that in just a few days, his fans multiplied hundreds of times.

He used to be unknown, but now he has become a little famous.

He still filmed as usual. He was already talented, and after so much practice, he had gained some confidence in front of the camera.

He wasn’t perfect yet, but he could still be considered proficient. Because he often liked to immerse himself in the role, he gradually developed a resonance with the character over time.

Bai Ruogu wouldn’t turn into Hua Xingyuan, but while filming, he gradually began to feel the emotions of Hua Xingyuan, and even sense the changes in his mindset.

Hua Xingyuan was a playboy who lacked learning, seemingly carefree and often angered those around him, yet inwardly, he was quite innocent.

When his friend got angry, he would quiet down, standing there helplessly, not daring to speak loudly, carefully watching his friend’s reaction.

Usually playful and mischievous, he appeared naughty, but when faced with someone vulnerable in front of him, he would secretly help, while still maintaining a cocky demeanor.

He wore ripped jeans and hung chains, looking like a little punk in school. But he was only arrogant in front of his peers. When he really encountered real guns and bullets, he would definitely be scared.

The moment he “died” in the Star Gazer for the first time, his heart palpitated as if it was being grabbed. Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

But it was his youthful arrogance at the time, his pride reached its peak. He couldn’t accept such a frustrating death!

So he went back to recuperate and wait until he was mentally prepared to continue entering Star Gazer.

It was the same planet. When he passed there, it was densely packed with people, and tents were neatly pitched not far away.

Before he could figure out his position, there was a “bang,” and a metal object grazed his cheek and shot past him.

He froze, then felt the fiery pain on his face.

Having never suffered injustice since childhood, he was completely bewildered, slowly crouching to the ground, covering his face, almost unable to hold back tears.

What kind of luck is this?

He endured the pain and gritted his teeth as he looked towards the direction where the bullets were fired, only to see, under the scorching sun, a tall man dressed in military uniform holding a gun aiming in his direction.

The man had a determined look in his eyes, and his movements were swift and decisive. In no time, there were a few more shots, frightening Hua Xingyuan, who quickly dodged to the side.

He turned his head to look at the straw man behind him, riddled with holes, and sniffed, feeling that he was truly unlucky.

He shifted his gaze back to focus on the man in front of him, muttering under his breath.

“Why is it him again? Can’t believe he’s still alive.”

Although he said so, he clearly felt relieved in his heart.

The other person was the first person he had met here. Previously, when the other person was in trouble, he had wanted to help but, unfortunately, he was clumsy and let this thought come to nothing. Now seeing the other person unharmed was the best outcome.

He wasn’t one to be awkward so he stood up, brushed off his clothes, and sat down to the side. He watched everything around him quietly.

The man was an officer here, currently demonstrating shooting skills for the soldiers. Cheers could be heard echoing across the vast square.

This place was far away from the hustle and bustle of technology, everything was primitive.

Because the soldiers admired the man so much and kept crowding forward, Hua Xingyuan had to peek from time to time to see him.

He listened to the praise of the soldiers around him, and although he felt the same way, he, who hadn’t passed the adolescent phase, stubbornly insisted on criticizing himself.

“What’s so good about this? The guns are the most outdated, the facilities are the oldest. If I go back and train for a month, I’ll definitely be better than him!”

Just when he was feeling unconvinced, suddenly, with a “bang,” a bullet hit near his feet, startling Hua Xingyuan.

He raised his head and saw the man tapping the gun with his hand, frowning and murmuring, “This is obviously new, why did it suddenly break?”

So he tried shooting a few times towards the empty space, “bang bang” a few bullets seemed to hit the air, but it made Hua Xingyuan jump up and down.

“Damn it! You dare to shoot again? If you shoot again, this young master will buy your planet tomorrow! What empire? This young master will make you homeless directly!”

He cursed and complained, but ended up being sent back by a bullet.

[End of the Experience]

Hua Xingyuan: …Damn it!

After Hua Xingyuan returned home, he really worked hard and started practicing shooting.

This surprised Father Hua and Mother Hua. They couldn’t believe their son, who was lazy and useless, actually started to learn. Was this really a sign from the heavens?

However, after a few days, this guy revealed his true nature again, lying lazily on the bed, saying he’ll practice again tomorrow.

Father Hua and Mother Hua: …

At first, Hua Xingyuan was indeed enthusiastic, but his excitement was short-lived. However, upon returning to Star Gazer, he encountered turmoil and was inadvertently sent back again by a bullet.

Hua Xingyuan: …

Damn it! Is there someone playing tricks on him like this?

He began practicing shooting again, this time for a longer period than before, persisting for a whole half month, which made Father Hua and Mother Hua repeatedly suspect whether this child had been stimulated by something.

It was uncertain whether it was automatically bound by the system, but afterwards, every time he entered Star Gazer, he would be transported to the side of that man.

Yes, that man was named Eisley, with the rank of Major.

The world was very new to a boy who grew up on campus. Unlike the sunny, high-IQ school hunk, the man who fought on the battlefield was very attractive.

Although he usually talked to himself, except for the panic when he first came to this world, his gaze never left Eisley for the rest of the time.

He had once thought of wandering the entire planet, but after walking less than half a mile, he stopped and obediently returned the way he came.

He thought that maybe it was because he was too lazy, too lazy and cowardly, didn’t want to see the new world, just wanted to be a salted fish quietly, hanging on Eisley’s waist.

Sometimes, Eisley was quite leisurely, enjoying smoking a cigar while sitting on the riverbank alone, watching the geese flying south.

He would sit across from the Eisley, with his bare feet dipped into the water.

Eisley exhaled a puff of smoke and took out a pack of rough dry food from his chest and chewed it slowly. Whenever Hua Xingyuan saw this scene, he would excitedly take out the chocolate he brought from home and eat it in big bites.

As he savored the sweetness in his mouth, he would squint and say things Eisley couldn’t hear.

“Look, want some? Haha, you can’t have any.”

Sometimes when he arrived, the two armies were engaged in battle, and he stood on the high mountain watching Eisley fighting below.

At first, he felt detached, like watching a play, but as he spent more time with Eisley, he began to worry about him.

“No! This direction is wrong! Retreat quickly, or you’ll be wiped out!”

From initially furrowing his brow in worry to later jumping with anxiety, wishing he could roll up his sleeves and fight for Eisley, Hua Xingyuan gradually began to see himself as Eisley’s ally.

His family was wealthy enough to withstand his extravagance, and he forgot how long he had been following Eisley.

One day, during a battle, Hua Xingyuan arrived as scheduled. He glanced down below and knew they would definitely win.

So he comfortably lay on the cliff, casually flipping through a few military books.

However, at that time, he forgot that he used to have no interest in books. Now, he found them thoroughly enjoyable.

Hua Xingyuan was born in a prosperous era but was a military genius. He quickly integrated all the military strategies he had studied.

After all, the strength of SS-level was not just a boast.

Unconsciously, he had already changed, becoming less worthless than before.

Bai Ruogu had been shooting for several days in a row, which left him feeling somewhat dazed.

Blinded by the situation, Hua Xingyuan was unaware that his feelings had begun to sprout and were gradually growing.

At that time, Hua Xingyuan should have faced everything with joy and a relaxed attitude.

Hua Xingyuan’s parents, Father Hua and Mother Hua, also know that their son has been frequently visiting the Science and Technology Museum, which made them aware that something was wrong.

But they did not stop it.

The Hua family was rich and powerful. They had spoiled Hua Xingyuan since he was a child. No matter what their son wanted, they would always try their best to get it for him.

He was just a major on a small planet. As long as they spent some money and found some connections, directly recruiting him as a son-in-law wouldn’t have been a problem.

Bai Ruogu sighed and rubbed his temples at the thought of the ending. He didn’t know whether to say it was fate or not.

In the end, feeling somewhat melancholic, Bai Ruogu had no one to talk to, so he tried to send messages to Zhuri Laoshi.

The script was written by Zhuri, and no one understood the characters’ emotions better than Zhuri.

[Bai Ruogu: Teacher, when do you think Xingyuan started liking Eisley?]

It took about five or six minutes for a response to come.

[Zhuri: Liking is a process, where does the exact time come from? Maybe it was from the beginning. In the midst of a peaceful student life, suddenly a decisive and charming adult man broke in, how could one not take a few more glances?]

Bai Ruogu nodded and asked a few more questions about the characters, and Zhuri patiently answered each one.

By the time all the questions were asked, it was late at night. Bai Ruogu could guess that the other person was not at leisure, so he quickly apologized and asked the other party to rest soon.

Zhuri agreed, but just before exiting, he sent him a message.

[Have your father check the accounts more carefully, someone is secretly lodging complaints to the authorities.]

Bai Ruogu’s hand, about to close the screen, paused, and his eyes darkened considerably.

Why would Zhuri Laoshi know about this…

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly typed “okay.”

. . . . .

Since Bai Ruogu wasn’t online, naturally, he didn’t know what kind of discussions were being held about him outside.

Since the last incident went viral, Bai Ruogu instantly gained countless fans who labeled him as having ‘strong backing support’ and a ‘tough personality’, and now he has 660 million followers.

With such a large fan base, naturally, many people discovered the legendary fansite.

As expected, just clicking into the site was enough to shock the fans.

Wow! Old Bai’s fansite is really awesome!

Even the top designs in the entertainment industry don’t have sites as cool as this. Look at this layout, simple and elegant, understated yet refined.

What surprised them even more was the internet speed!

Some remote planets naturally had underdeveloped internet, and it would take half a day just to open a webpage. But when they clicked into Bai Ruogu’s fansite, the internet speed was “whooshing,” and the page transitioned without blinking.

At first, they thought it was their own internet speed that had improved, so they quickly exited to watch some videos, but it was still slow.

Fans: ?

They tried reopening the fansite and the internet speed went “whooshing” again!

Wait!

They experimented back and forth a few times and found it was indeed the case.

Then a clever one opened several interfaces simultaneously, with the fansite being one of them. Now things changed, it’s unclear whether it had a ripple effect, but other websites also started “whooshing” along.

In an instant, their eyes lit up one by one, as if they had found the key to wealth.

For the convenience of internet access, they specifically saved Bai Ruogu’s fansite on the main screen. As expected, since then, they no longer had to worry about the internet speed!

Originally, this was just spreading among fans in a small circle, but it accidentally caught the attention of passersby.

Coincidentally, the passersby’s internet connection was not good, so they tried operating it themselves, and soon after, the internet speed went ‘whooshing’!

Now the passersby were amazed. Quick! Quick, bookmark it!

What? Do I need to register and join the fansite to bookmark?

No big deal, no big deal, as long as you give me internet speed, I can do anything.

The passersby didn’t care about anything else. Just following a small actor? Easy! Let’s do it right away!

Do you need help voting? Just think of it as buying a speed boost package.

The number of fans of Bai Ruogu started to increase rapidly, and some businesses, upon hearing about this, had a sudden inspiration and started trying to contact Bai Ruogu by all means.

They had already made up their minds—the mascot for the new version of the signal booster would be Bai Ruogu’s Q version¹!

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1. The Q version (also known as Chibi) refers to models or figurines created with exaggerated features, such as a large head and small body. ‘Q’is actually the homophonic abbreviation of ‘cute’ in English.  ↩︎

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Chapter 18 一 ‘Enthusiastic Citizen’ Sues People for Spreading Rumors About Bai Ruogu.

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After the scene was filmed, everyone moved to the forest below the cliff.

The crew installed detectors around and set off an alarm whenever strangers approached, preventing them from intersecting with the indigenous people.

While Li Huai ordered people to track down the mole in the crew, he also organized personnel for the next scene.

The moonlight was hazy, and the occasional cicada chirped in the quiet of the night. Under the shadow of the dense leaves, Bai Ruogu sat alone by the lake, tinkering with his smart brain.

Bai Ruogu’s collar was neatly pressed, he sat upright, his expression formal, as if receiving someone.

He slowly opened the smart brain, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

When the light above shone into view, the smart brain displayed an ordinary homepage.

Clearly prepared beforehand, Bai Ruogu’s purpose wasn’t here.

He cleared his throat, his voice clear with a hint of freshness, pretending to be casual as he asked, “System, are you there?”

The system, previously known for instant replies, paused for a moment, then a mechanical sound rang out, somewhat muffled.

“I am here, my host.” An invisible figure slowly poked its head out of a space after hearing the sound, quietly looking at everything outside.

When he directed his gaze towards Bai Ruogu, he found Bai Ruogu’s eyes were staring right at him.

Su Miao: !

He froze in place like a glitch, then quickly withdrew his head when he snapped out of it, only revealing a pair of blinking eyes.

Bai Ruogu rubbed his hands somewhat nervously, although he had appeared indifferent to the outside world before, at this moment he seemed like a little kid, responding nervously to the conversation between him and the system.

The situation between one person and one AI froze like this, unsure of how to proceed with the next sentence.

After all, Bai Ruogu was human, with rich emotions. He reacted first, casually picking a topic to break the deadlock.

“You… how do you think of me?”

He thought his topic was somewhat broad, so he added, “… Um… I mean my current development.”

The indicator lights of the smart brain flashed, the analytical voice was about to blurt out, but it was abruptly intercepted by Su Miao in the space.

A collision occurred within the space, as if two types of information were battling.

The principle of the system required him to tell the truth.

However, his own rationality told him that if he were to say directly: “You’re just a small-time flop, a 18^th-tier star, your development is extremely backward…”

This would definitely lower Bai Ruogu’s favorability towards him.

But if he lied, he would become a hypocritical and dishonest system.

In just 0.0001 seconds, he made his decision——

“Hello, my host. You are an exceptionally outstanding person with vast prospects. Your charm and talent are extremely rare…”

In the face of favorability, hypocrisy was incomparable.

Su Miao in the space remained expressionless, lying without batting an eye, even though he didn’t have a face or a heartbeat to begin with.

Bai Ruogu relaxed his brows, and his expression lightened considerably.

Though this answer made him somewhat doubtful, the thought that it came from the system dispelled his concerns.

The system wouldn’t lie.

Especially when he received positive feedback from the system, it made him feel somewhat relaxed and pleased.

In reality, to outsiders, he seemed to have a lot of troubles and messes, but he never cared about those. He just needed a topic at the moment, so he casually brought up a question to the system to continue the conversation.

“System, I’ve terminated my contract with the previous entertainment company. Could you help me search on the StarNet for relevant teams, preferably private ones? I don’t intend to sign with other companies.”

He looked up at the interface, unsure if it was a reflection of the sky or if there were stars in his eyes. His eyes twinkled as he gazed in Su Miao’s direction.

Su Miao paused for a moment, even though the data clearly indicated otherwise, he inexplicably sensed affection in the other’s eyes.

He hesitated, “Sure, may I ask what your team should include?”

“Nothing much, just an agent and a PR team. The salary is secondary, as long as you think it’s okay, any amount of money is fine.”

“Okay,” Su Miao replied absentmindedly. It wasn’t until he realized what the other person had said that the data started to boil within him.

An agent and a PR team? He blinked, glanced at Bai Ruogu, then averted his gaze.

If it were anyone else, he would have obediently started the search. But in that instant, he suddenly glanced over one of his principles.

When the host makes a request, promote your own product first, then conduct a proper search after advertising.

Su Miao’s non-human eyes flickered, his head tilted slightly.

First, promote yourself?

The corners of the virtual human mouth in the space raised, hiding a voice of joy emanating from the smart brain——

“Hello, my host. The system has now developed a new program, starting at 9.9 star coins for the first month for an agent and PR team, and then 6 star coins per month thereafter. As long as you choose to activate it, the system will incarnate as the most suitable agent to find resources for you and activate the optimal PR team to solve your public relations troubles. May I ask if you choose to proceed?”

Bai Ruogu: ?

Although he really wanted to chat with his system, it left him bewildered.

“You… “

He blinked his eyes, he wasn’t unintelligent himself, and he slowly digested the implications.

It was just chatting, and he didn’t put much hope in the system, but the way it was phrased made him notice the hidden message.

After some thought, he asked, “Are you implying that you act as the entire team, responsible for everything of me?”

“Yes, my host.” The mechanical tone at this moment sounded more upbeat compared to the initial hum.

Bai Ruogu smiled, helplessly rubbing his head. “Alright, let’s activate it immediately.”

“Okay, the smart brain has automatically deducted the fee, and the next itinerary will be planned for you.”

The system worked systematically, but Bai Ruogu didn’t take it to heart. He considered all of this as just appeasing the system.

6 star coins a month? Just the price made it hard for him to believe.

But since it was “him”, let him play. Forget about 6 star coins, even 6 million or 60 million was fine.

He stood up from the lake shore, slapped his pants, intending to walk back. Suddenly, something occurred to him and he stopped in his tracks.

“How many users does this program have?”

At first, the system didn’t respond. It took about five or six seconds before it replied, albeit in a very low volume.

“This system is in a trial period. You are the only lucky user selected. Currently, there is only you.”

Bai Ruogu breathed a sigh of relief. He grasped the smart brain, his eyes drooping, his voice low.

“Since that’s the case, don’t recruit new users for now. You first refine the system. In a few days, I’ll buy its copyright, and from now on, focus solely on serving me.”

“Okay.” The volume remained very low, but Su Miao’s eyes in the space were bright.

Bai Ruogu had been busy filming and didn’t have time to go online. As a result, he missed the opportunity to see himself, 18^th-tier star, dominating the hot topic.

Movie King Lin was a recluse who rarely made public appearances. The only news he had released in the past six months was that he had joined the cast of this small, unknown movie. How could everyone not be excited?! Especially his fans!

Lin Chen’s fans were more laid-back, most of them just enjoying the show. As long as their brother was willing to act, what was there to pick and choose?

As a result, the official account of the “Light Years” movie team gained over a hundred million followers in just two days, stabilizing at a slight increase after 380 million.

Many fans followed the movie team with the aim of watching behind-the-scenes footage, hoping for more photos and videos of their brother. After half a year of deprivation, they were on the verge of tears.

Now everyone was tirelessly refreshing the comments section, except for the welcome messages and the list of names, there was nothing else.

[Thick Pudding: Production team! What are you doing? Don’t you need to promote the show?! Why don’t you release some behind-the-scenes footage, the kids are starving to death!]

[▼_▼: Ah ah ah I’m holding a knife to your neck, Are you going to release behind-the-scenes footage or not?!]

[Rabbit Ears: Hurry up and release the behind-the-scenes footage! Otherwise, what’s the point of this official account? Is it just to be a mascot?]

Lin Chen’s fans were still supportive. They noticed that even after his brother took on a unknown movie, there was no malicious intent towards him. Instead, they kept urging others to support.

However, Lin Chen’s opponents and haters took the opportunity to attack.

[Is Lin Chen Screwed Up Today?: Hey hey hey, seems like someone’s got some dirty secrets and no one dares to give them resources, huh? Disgusting! Serves you right!]

[Dark Circles: What a perfect match, a trash crew with trash people!]

[Chen Bao: What kind of nonsense are these people? Get lost! I guess my brother is too outstanding that they can’t find faults and are starting to jump around. Hmph! I won’t let you off the hook!]

Meanwhile, apart from the “Light Years” crew, Bai Ruogu also became the target of criticism.

The fan count soared to 270 million, with the majority hesitating and observing while a few began frenziedly attacking.

Who would have thought that ever since Movie King Lin debuted, there hadn’t been a time when he wasn’t the lead? However, this time he is not starring in a bad movie, and he is not even the main lead!

Although it was a dual male lead, Movie King Lin was still playing second fiddle. With multiple factors combined, it angered some extremist fans who started relentlessly attacking Bai Ruogu.

In addition, there were some lesser-known stars who hadn’t made progress for years. Seeing how easily the other party boarded Movie King Lin’s ship, they felt envious.

They paid money to hire internet trolls to attack Bai Ruogu, even fabricating some false negative information. The opponents of the Mecha Family were unwilling to fall behind and also rallied their teams.

Bai Ruogu became famous even before airing, but it was just trending towards black and red¹.

Inside a luxurious villa, a stunning woman lounged on the couch, brushing through the hot topics of the past few days with great interest.

“Hahaha, serves you right, Lin Chen! I invited you to act before, but you didn’t come. Now look at what you’ve got yourself into. Serves you right for being attacked!”

She laughed as a plate of sliced ​​watermelon was placed on the coffee table in front of her, and her agent reminded her helplessly.

“Alright, stop laughing. I’m asking you, Ms. Xu Ran, the great movie queen, when will you create another great work and win another Best Actress award?”

Xu Ran froze, immediately became obedient, and quietly looked at the screen, picking up a piece of watermelon and starting to eat.

She scrolled through the hot topic, watching many people curse Bai Ruogu and muttered to herself, “Oh, this defamation is quite serious. This little brother looks very obedient, but he’s rumored to be a hooligan who smokes, drinks, and hangs out at nightclubs.”

She continued scrolling down, the comments were detailed, even bringing out so-called “evidence.”

However, Xu Ran has been in the entertainment industry for so long, she could see through what’s real and what’s not at a glance, not to mention these basic templates for rumors.

[Entertainment Gossip Expert V: According to Bai Ruogu’s junior high school classmate, this person used to beat up classmates, has a bad character, and had three or four girlfriends at the same time. See the scars left on the bullied classmates below. (Pictures) (Pictures)]

[Little Bunny: Oh my god, it’s so scary. Why can people like this become famous? Why haven’t they been banned yet!]

[Miss Deep Sea: Damn! So disgusting! Really pissed off, what kind of thing is this, and it can still be Movie King Lin’s co-star. It’s driving me crazy!]

[Deep Digging Sister V: Exposing Bai Ruogu’s plastic surgery, the previous appearance was ugly, below is the plastic surgery report issued by the hospital. (Picture)]

[Fish with a Taste for Beauty: Damn! I used to like their looks and even followed them, I don’t know what to say now, unfollowing. ]

[Sunny Day ≧≦: I don’t really care about plastic surgery, but if they did it and deny it, then I’ll hate it.]

[I Love Professor Bai: Something doesn’t seem right? Why would a hospital leak such a report, this is clearly a violation of professional ethics, I suspect it’s fake.]

[Bai Ruogu Falls: White-washing dogs, roll! How much did they pay you? Let’s make money together!]

A large amount of “dirt” on Bai Ruogu was exposed on the internet, leading to a significant loss of fans and a tarnished public image.

Now, Bai Ruogu has been trapped in the public opinion and it’s difficult to pull out. Outside the screen, Xu Ran clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“This little brother just gained a bit of fame and he’s already being smeared like this. I wonder if he’ll be able to clear his name in the future.”

The agent, having mixed in the entertainment industry for many years, knew the tricks of the trade and shook his head in agreement.

“Even if he does gain some fame in the future, these scandals will stick with him. Even if it’s proven false, there will still be people who won’t believe it, saying it’s a deliberate attempt to whitewash.”

Xu Ran seemed to have already accepted it, feeling very helpless. “I regret not clarifying things more when I first debuted. Now, some people are saying I used to be a hostess. When I clarify with them, they say I’m wealthy and have status now, turning black into white.”

The agent chuckled, trying to console. “Just accept it. Who in the entertainment industry hasn’t been splashed with a bit of mud? I’ve been in this circle for over twenty years, and I’ve yet to see anyone completely clean themselves.”

The agent rubbed his neck as he spoke. “Even if they spread rumors about you, what can you do? Sue them? Forget about it. How many people are spreading rumors? Just gathering evidence alone, sorting out the threads, who knows how much effort it would take? And then you have to go to court. Anyway, I’ve never seen anyone actually sue all these people. At most, they are just killing the chicken to scare the monkeys².”

He continued talking to himself, occasionally opening his eyes to glance at the hot topic, but instantly froze.

[Latest Hot Topic:

‘Enthusiastic Citizen’ Sues People for Spreading Rumors About Bai Ruogu.

Details: An “Enthusiastic interstellar citizen” has gathered valid evidence and is suing 461 marketing accounts, 1826 PR teams, and 3751 netizens suspected of spreading rumors. The evidence has now been submitted to the court… According to insiders, the evidence is conclusive, and punishment and sentencing will be carried out according to the law.]

Xu Ran obviously saw it too, and the watermelon in her hand slipped and fell to the ground.

Has he freaking been cursed?

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1. 黑红 implies that the celebrity may have gained fame or attention due to scandalous actions or controversies, which can be seen as “black” or negative, but at the same time, it also boosts their popularity, leading to them becoming “red” or famous. ↩︎
2. 就是杀鸡儆猴 is a Chinese idiom that literally means “to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.” This phrase is used to describe a situation where a small punishment or action is taken against one person or group to serve as a warning to others. ↩︎

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Chapter 17 一 Your System Has Thoughtfully Called the Police Station for You…

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Bai Ruogu looked up at the figure above his head. Even though he was slightly nearsighted, his eyes still reflected the blue outline.

He was stunned, just staring with his eyes wide open.

The fingers on his side lifted and were held together. He looked at them for a long time, and slowly, there were tiny crystals at the end of his eyelashes.

His lips parted and closed, and just like that, the tiny, glistening tears slipped down to the corner of his eyes. The sound of his teeth grinding could be heard in his ears.

The people on the cliff did not understand the situation, and they were all shocked by this scene. They stared blankly at the blue-figured person below.

The figure’s head shook slightly, as if pondering something.

He raised one of his large hands and slowly placed it in front of Bai Ruogu’s eyes. Sensing the emotional fluctuation in the palm of his hand, he stretched out his thick, pillar-like fingers and gently pressed them against Bai Ruogu’s forehead.

Those fingers, thicker than Bai Ruogu’s own body, delicately stroked his face as if comforting him.

——Don’t be afraid.

Bai Ruogu’s eye sockets were covered in makeup, but underneath, her skin was gradually turning red from its original normal color.

Bai Ruogu adjusted his breathing and exhaled slowly, his body gradually relaxing. He covered his heart with his hand, lowering his head, his face sinking into the shadows.

Su Miao seemed to hear Bai Ruogu’s faint laughter, though he didn’t understand why, nor could he see the other’s face.

He cupped his hands and clumsily attempted to go upward.

Just as he was slowly ascending, he suddenly heard Bai Ruogu, head lowered, ask in a puzzled tone, “Who are you?”

Su Miao paused, looking at Bai Ruogu’s hair, where there was a slight tremor hidden in the calmness.

“I am your system.”

Bai Ruogu’s lips twitched as he looked down at the semi-transparent blue palm below, his hand covering his heart tightening even more. After a brief pause, he spoke with a gravelly voice, “Alright, I got it.”

When Bai Ruogu was brought to the cliff, the figure instantly transformed into tiny blue dots and drilled into Bai Ruogu’s brain. In less than a moment, there was no trace left.

The crew rushed up and surrounded Bai Ruogu. Li Huai nervously examined Bai Ruogu from head to toe. Only after realizing that the other was unharmed did he finally ease his throbbing heart and catch his breath.

Thinking about the figure just now, everyone began to discuss animatedly.

Li Huai also stood still in confusion, pointing to the cliff below with lingering fear, “What was that just now?”

Bai Ruogu lowered his gaze calmly and discreetly retracted the arm with the smart brain behind him, trying to sound casual, “That was a system, a new technology, but it’s rarely used and hasn’t been released yet.”

Thinking about Bai Ruogu’s family business in this field, everyone dispelled some doubts and began to focus on the recent accident.

Thinking about the shocking events that had just happened, Li Huai cursed and spat to the side. He shouted angrily, “Props! How did you prepare this? Do you know that this could have killed someone?!

He pushed past the crowd and walked towards the back, pointing at the person in front of him and cursing, “You f*cking explain it to me clearly, believe it or not, I’ll make you go to jail with one phone call!”

Over there came the sound of someone crying with a sense of grievance, “I… I don’t know what happened either! I clearly had people check it many times before, and I don’t understand why this situation happened?”

Immediately afterward, there was a series of banging noises and voices trying to intervene, it seemed like a fight had broken out. After a while, there was suddenly a piercing scream from the props area.

“Who is it?!! Who swapped the props? Who swapped the safety equipment? This is deliberate, this is murder!”

“Check! Check each and every one carefully! TMD¹ who the f*ck has infiltrated here?” Li Huai angrily kicked the table, and the people below quickly called the police.

Lives were at stake, and they had to get to the bottom of this!

While the crew was in chaos, Bai Ruogu seemed to be lost in thought.

Ever since he came up, he had quietly found a small stool to sit on, staring blankly into the void in front of him.

At this moment, Lin Chen came over, with words of concern, but Bai Ruogu just said a soft “thank you” and continued to drift off into his thoughts.

Lin Chen paused for a moment and then sat down beside him.

He did not notice, that Bai Ruogu’s smart brain flickered, and a pair of transparent, high-definition azure eyes suddenly appeared on the smooth glass surface.

With his eyes hidden in the darkness, he secretly avoided everyone’s observation, and just squinted and stared at Lin Chen.

The virtual figure that had been following Bai Ruogu had temporarily disappeared.

He couldn’t quite analyze his emotions at the moment, he just knew that he wanted to hide from Bai Ruogu.

Bai Ruogu’s lack of interest made Lin Chen forget his words for a moment.

He raised his head and saw the damp ground in the corner of the rock. He felt a stir in his heart and asked, “Did you ever make clay figurines when you were a child?”

Bai Ruogu shook his head, then focused his gaze on the smart brain. His deep blue eyes receded into the darkness as he softly muttered, “I didn’t make it when I was young, but I did make it as I grew up.”

Lin Chen smiled quietly, as if chatting casually, “I forgot what my clay figurine looked like when I was a child, but even if I remembered, I wouldn’t be able to recreate it exactly the same one.”

Bai Ruogu’s eyes were as deep as a calm lake, and he spoke clearly, “I can’t recreate it, but I still remember what the face I personally created looks like.”

The eyes in the dark heard this and there was a moment of distraction, and the data fluctuated in the space.

A large number of numbers jumped, and the big data at the top had also changed.

——The probability of it being him is 66.6%.

Lin Chen stared at Bai Ruogu, noticing a change in the aura of the person before him. The other party was no longer as gentle and easygoing as before, but suddenly plunged into a profound realm.

This seemingly casual appearance actually gave him a sense of profoundness, as if there was a powerful and profound soul hidden underneath.

He shook his head, furrowing his brow to shake off this suppressed emotion, his gaze becoming deeper.

He politely stood up to bid farewell to Bai Ruogu. Since the other party seemed preoccupied, he turned and left.

After making sure there was no one around, Bai Ruogu slowly exhaled.

He sat still for a long time before feeling somewhat better and tentatively poked his smart brain.

The smart brain remained silent.

Bai Ruogu gradually let out the emotions he had hidden for a long time.

He gently touched the smart brain, patiently coaxing, “Come on, can you say something to me?”

The azure eyes blinked, though Bai Ruogu couldn’t see.

Bai Ruogu pursed his lips and continued to coax, “Hello, I think you are very delicate… um…”

He realized his words weren’t quite right and quickly corrected himself, “That’s not what I meant. I think your color is beautiful, and the data is also very graceful… um… I…”

Su Miao:…

The indicator light on the display screen turned into “–” two flat lines.

At this moment, his mind was analyzing the current situation…

The person who seemed to be his lover appeared to be fickle, disregarding their marriage and falling for another system.

Although this other system was also him, the person who seemed to be his lover seemed unaware.

In conclusion, he might have been green² again.

Su Miao:…

The space seemed to have had a vinegar bottle knocked over, and a strong sour smell permeated the air.

In places unseen by Bai Ruogu, a faint blue arm flowed out of the smart brain, the palm approached Bai Ruogu’s hand, and suddenly extended the pinky finger.

He approached Bai Ruogu’s five fingers, hooked Bai Ruogu’s pinky finger with his own pinky finger. Although there was no sensation at the moment, it hung there.

He, a robot, held his breath that did not breathe, carefully maintaining this action.

It seemed as if bubbles were rising in the space.

. . . . .

“Are you sure the safety device has been replaced?”

“What? It didn’t work?”

“You haven’t succeeded in anything, why should you demand the final payment?! Are you too shameless?”

“I want Bai Ruogu to die today! Li Ruogu doesn’t have the guts to do it, so I’ll do it for him! Doesn’t he know the endless trouble he’ll be in? Why drag things out when you can cut them off cleanly?”

With a bang, the communication was cut off, Second Young Master Sun was so angry that he smashed the chair next to him.

“What a f*cking loser! Can’t even handle one person? What the hell are you good for?!?” He sat down on the chair in anger. The room was empty, and he swept everything off the table in a fit of rage.

With a clatter, Second Young Master Sun still felt unresolved. He thought for a moment, then decided to open up the smart brain to see which interstellar pirate he could book.

Just as he was about to flip through the pages, the smart brain suddenly froze.

“Damn it! Paid so much for the internet and it’s just stuck?” He was annoyed, about to press repeatedly on one spot, when suddenly the page in front of him solidified.

The once colorful interface gradually faded, and a faint blue humanoid figure became clearer and clearer.

Second Young Master Sun stared wide-eyed, his mouth gaping in disbelief.

He had a premonition that something was wrong, so he turned around to try to escape, but suddenly the entire room’s scene changed…

A deep blue light emanated from the smart brain, gradually blurring the entire room, darkening the surroundings, with data shuttling everywhere.

No matter how stupid Second Young Master Sun was, he knew that things were not good. He panicked and wanted to find an exit, but everything was covered by data, and there was no way to escape.

Just as he was at a loss, a tall man suddenly appeared in front of him. The man had a stern face, sharp eyes, and was holding a gun.

“Ah! You… you! Who are you?!”

The man’s eyes were cold, as if he were looking at a dead man. In a rhythmic tone, the man spoke in a steady male voice.

“You harmed him.”

“Who?” he asked in panic.

“Bai Ruogu.”

“What do you mean? Who is he? Who are you?! Why are you appearing in my room?!”

The man didn’t answer his question, instead, he swiftly reached for the gun, aimed it at his forehead, and pulled the trigger.

With a loud “Bang——!”, Second Young Master Sun’s eyes became unfocused and he felt his whole body turn cold.

He collapsed, falling heavily to the floor. In that fleeting moment, it seemed as if he saw the Grim Reaper approaching with a scythe.

He couldn’t speak, couldn’t catch his breath, feeling his life force gradually slipping away.

He felt like he was dead already, but mechanical voices sounded in his ears.

“Hiring someone to commit murder, ten years imprisonment. Your system has thoughtfully called the police station for you…”

Second Young Master Sun:…

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1. “TMD” is first letters of “他媽的” (tā mā de), what literally means “f*ck ur mother”, and its the worst swearing word in Chinese. ↩︎
2. The word 被绿 (bèi lǜ) is a Chinese slang term that means “to be cheated on.” The word 绿 (lǜ) means “green,” and it is used in this context to represent a cuckold. ↩︎

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