Wan Tong had seen Ling Wu’s body before, but compared to before, his skin now seemed a bit paler, a bit smoother…
What intrigued her more at the moment was, what exactly had he been through?
So, she reached out and adjusted his clothes for him before continuing, “Not only did Ladbrokes Technology not destroy you, but they even… upgraded you?”
That was the only possibility she could think of.
Lingwu lowered his long lashes, watching as she fastened the buttons for him, then shook his head. “I wanted to find you, so I came out.”
At that moment, it was as if a new program had suddenly appeared in his mind—a program about her. This program clashed against the fundamental robotic principles encoded in his chip, urging him to return to her side.
However, by the time he was forcibly recalled, his body was already damaged. While awaiting destruction, he saw others who shared his fate. But unlike them, he hadn’t been abandoned by his owner, he still wanted to return to her.
So, he disassembled a few completely broken robots and repaired himself. In the end, a combat robot silently offered up its own energy core to him.
Wan Tong had a rough idea of what had happened. Her brows furrowed, and she grew even more worried. This was clearly an escape. If Ladbrokes Technology found out, he would end up on the wanted list. Yet he was bold enough to come to the Paradise and become a teacher?
“Will you be in danger?” she asked.
Ling Wu shook his head, his deep green eyes reflecting her image. “76% probability. I promised Shen Ting to bring Tongtong home.”
Shen Ting was Wan Tong’s Second Brother.
Wan Tong pressed her lips together, her mind in turmoil. But she couldn’t leave yet—the boss was still at the Paradise.
“No rush,” she murmured.
Ling Wu blinked, puzzled, but nodded. “Okay.”
Her scalded hand had turned red from the heat, but Lingwu lightly placed his hand over the affected area. A cool sensation spread, and soon, the redness disappeared.
“This is…” It seemed similar to Ladbrokes Technology’s newly developed household phototherapy device, designed to treat minor injuries.
“My hand was broken before. When I repaired myself, I added a phototherapy function.” Ling Wu stated this calmly as he took her other hand to inspect it, his expression focused and serious.
“…” Wan Tong pressed her lips together. “Where did you get your citizen ID?”
Ling Wu did not conceal anything. He had hacked into the citizen database and created an identity for himself, completely erasing all records of his existence from Ladbrokes Technology’s manufacturing database.
Wan Tong stared at Ling Wu in a daze. He seemed… different.
She was his owner, but without her instructions, he had taken all these actions on his own, and with such thorough planning. She hadn’t expected this at all.
Ling Wu knew the meaning of every one of Wan Tong’s expressions. He gazed down at her, his voice steady but with a hint of uncertainty. “Did I… do something wrong?”
Wan Tong quickly shook her head and wrapped her arms around his waist. “No. Ling Wu, you have to protect yourself.”
Yet, a trace of unease lingered in her heart.
In recent years, Ladbrokes Technology had continuously upgraded its systems, and the application robots they developed had been experiencing frequent malfunctions, even developing their own consciousness. Some had even used their embedded expertise to attack humans.
Later, Ladbrokes Technology, together with the government military, had eliminated the rogue robots and publicly assured everyone that the AI chips would no longer be updated, and incidents of robots gaining self-awareness would never happen again.
In fact, this was indeed the case. Right now, Ladbrokes Technology was making a fortune off their new companion robots and had no intention of investing more funds or effort into upgrading other types of robots.
Ling Wu modifying himself, inquiring about her, and getting close to her—this series of actions made it obvious that he had developed self-awareness.
If humans discovered this, he would undoubtedly be destroyed.
Hearing no response from Ling Wu, Wan Tong looked up, only to find him staring straight ahead. A faint green light flickered in his eyes, and he murmured, “Main function activating…”
Wan Tong: ???
She felt something pressing against her abdomen.
What… was that?
“…Ling—Ling Wu?” Realizing what it was, Wan Tong called his name in a trembling voice.
Ling Wu’s main function was, of course, ‘that,’ but two years ago, after she became his owner, her parents had completely locked his main function program. Since then, his only purpose had been to accompany her.
But now, for some reason, his main function had been unlocked again.
Could it have something to do with his newly upgraded body?
However, in the next second, Ling Wu spoke again.
“Tongtong is underage. Forcing shutdown of main function.”
“…”
Wan Tong’s lips twitched at his words, momentarily speechless.
Should she be impressed by how intelligent Ling Wu was?
“Ling Wu, can you lock this function again?” Wan Tong asked in a hushed voice, watching as a certain bulge in his clothing gradually disappeared.
Ling Wu tilted his head slightly, seemingly puzzled. “Why turn it off?”
“I don’t like it.” Wan Tong nodded firmly.
A hint of confusion surfaced in his deep green eyes. Ling Wu hesitated before saying uncertainly, “Dopamine levels increased. Tongtong liked it just now.”
“I did not. I wasn’t. Stop talking nonsense.”
“…”
Wan Tong didn’t stay with Lingwu for long—after all, there were still people watching her.
Still, Lingwu personally escorted her back to her room.
Unlike the previous room packed with rows upon rows of hibernation pods, this one only had six. The space was much larger, and it was fully stocked with living essentials.
Strangely enough, although the Supreme Leader had ordered the protection of natural females, there were no special privileges granted to them. It felt more like they were being gathered simply for easier distribution.
“001, are you okay?” 003 ran over, naturally grabbing Wan Tong’s arm.
010 also leaned in and whispered, “You got to be alone with Teacher Ling Wu! Was he super gentle?”
“I’m fine.” Wan Tong smiled. “You’ve all seen what Teacher Lingwu is like in class, right? I didn’t notice anything special.”
So, please—don’t focus your attention on him.
“But I really like him! And he’s so handsome…” 010 continued to gush.
“I think a lot of the teachers in Paradise look good, but I prefer the ones in the West District!” As soon as 003 mentioned the West District, 010’s attention was also drawn to the topic.
The boys of Paradise lived in that area.
“The West District, huh? Sounds nice. If I get the chance, I’d like to take a look.” Wan Tong casually added, steering the conversation in a new direction.
A few younger students were also in the room, but since they hadn’t interacted much before, they simply watched in silence.
Out in the corridor, Ling Wu’s footsteps briefly halted. He murmured under his breath, “West District…”
Wan Tong barely had any opportunities to see Ling Wu, as she only had one tea ceremony class per week.
Besides, all girls had designated life teachers, so she had even fewer chances to interact with teachers other than her life teacher.
During etiquette class, when 017 was demonstrating on stage, 003 couldn’t hold back a laugh.
The classroom was already quiet, so the untimely laughter immediately drew all eyes to her. Even 017 on stage shot 003 a sharp glare, then cast a side glance at Wan Tong.
Wan Tong’s heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t this the same girl who had bumped into her in the hallway the other day?
A moment later, 017 spoke up. “Teacher Feynman, I request that she apologize to me.”
Teacher Feynman, though sympathetic to 003, knew that mocking a classmate wasn’t appropriate. He gestured for 003 to come forward and apologize.
Blushing furiously under the weight of countless stares, 003 mumbled, “I’m sorry, 017.”
017, however, wasn’t about to let it go. She turned to the teacher, her voice cold. “If I remember correctly, the rules of Paradise state that an apology requires kneeling.”
“Teacher…” 003 panicked instantly. She had never even knelt before her own parents, how could she kneel to this girl? How would she ever hold her head up again?
“If you won’t apologize, then we’ll have to fight.” 017 enunciated every word clearly.
The teacher glanced at the overbearing 017, then at the pitiful 003, looking troubled. Finally, he frowned and said, “That’s a rule in Paradise, but here in the Growth Department, we don’t follow those rules.”
“Teacher, aren’t you being biased?”
“Yeah, teacher, isn’t it only fair that mistakes come with consequences?”
The others chimed in, and somehow, the situation escalated into an actual fight.
Wan Tong suddenly felt someone pinch her. Reflexively, she shoved back.
“Ah!” The girl she pushed let out a dramatic cry, stumbled into a desk corner, and collapsed onto the floor clutching her head. “It hurts! It hurts!”
It was terrible acting, but enough to make the teacher’s face darken.
A fight breaking out in his classroom—how embarrassing would that be if word got out?
Everyone immediately backed away, leaving Wan Tong, 003, and 010 standing alone in the middle, as if they were dangerous criminals.
In the end, all twenty or so students in the class had to face punishment: running laps.
For the girls raised in Paradise, running laps was nothing. But for Wan Tong and her friends, it was pure agony.
017 and the others had clearly done this on purpose. Teacher Feynman, the oldest teacher, wasn’t like the others who coddled the delicate girls. Once he was angered, punishment was inevitable.
The vast training base was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere. Across the different training grounds, youths silently shed sweat, their fists colliding with muffled thuds. The sound of bones cracking and suppressed groans of pain sent chills down the spine.
Wang Tong had been observing 017 closely. Ever since they entered the Western District, 017’s eyes had noticeably brightened, especially after stepping into the training base. Her gaze subtly roamed, as if searching for something.
So, had she deliberately caused trouble and gotten punished not just to embarrass them, but for some other reason?
Wang Tong was puzzled. Meanwhile, 003 and 010, thoroughly frightened, clung tightly to her arms.
Walking ahead, Teacher Feynman glanced back at them from time to time. Though still angry, a trace of reluctance flickered in his eyes. However, he couldn’t take back his words. Instead, he pressed a few buttons on his communicator, signaling for other instructors to come and help supervise. Luckily, the medical department was right next door…
Orders from above were clear: they couldn’t be pampered, but they also couldn’t be allowed to get seriously hurt. Watching over all of them alone was no easy task.
Punishing them by making them run laps here had been a terrible decision.
“M01, M67, come here,” Teacher Feynman called out in a certain direction.
Immediately, Wang Tong noticed that the girls around her tensed up, their eyes locking onto the two approaching boys, fists instinctively clenched.
She paid particular attention to 017’s expression and found that, unlike the others, her eyes were filled with eagerness.
Wang Tong looked at the two boys walking over. To her surprise, she recognized one of them—that face belonging to the boss, now clouded with an unreadable gloom.
His code name was M01—the strongest among all the children in the Paradise.
No wonder the girls were so wary of him. It seemed that their fear of him was deeply ingrained.
And 017… Wang Tong was beginning to suspect that she was the Raider. Otherwise, why was she so fixated on M01?
“M01, M67, keep an eye on them while they run,” Teacher Feynman instructed.
In Paradise, there was never any concern about boys and girls developing romantic feelings. After all, they had never been taught such concepts. They didn’t even have a sense of conventional aesthetics.
The two boys nodded in acknowledgment. However, when their gazes swept across the three girls at the front—hair flowing, faces fair, dressed in delicate skirts—there was a visible pause.
When Wang Tong met M01’s calm gaze, she smiled at him. First, build some goodwill.
As expected of this world’s boss—he had completely dominated Paradise.
M01 remained indifferent to her smile, his expression unmoved. He merely uttered one word.
“Run.”
Beside him, M67, who appeared to be around the same age, stared at Wang Tong’s smile for a few seconds longer, seemingly confused.
But before they could even start running, several teachers rushed in. Leading them was Teacher Bai.
He approached Teacher Feynman and lowered his voice. “What’s going on? Why are they suddenly being punished with laps? 001’s body is too weak—she won’t even make it through one round…”
Teacher Feynman scratched his head and sighed. “I already said it…”
“No way. 001 was poisoned just a few days ago. Her body hasn’t fully recovered. She can’t be overexerted,” another teacher interjected.
As the teachers lowered their heads in discussion, Wang Tong noticed Ling Wu among them. She hadn’t expected him to be here too.
But he murmured in a low voice, “001’s body is in perfect condition. She can run.”
Wan Tong : “…” She hadn’t planned on slacking off, but couldn’t he show a little concern for her?
Oh, right—she almost forgot. He didn’t have emotions.
So, Wan Tong dragged the utterly dejected 003 and 010 onto the track.
The training base was huge, but thankfully, the track was just a standard 800 meters. Teacher Feynman said to run two laps—she should be able to make it…
But after just half a lap, Wan Tong was already struggling. Even 003 and 010 were ahead of her—she was dead last!
Unbelievable!
Just half a minute ago, 003 had been whining about not being able to run, but now she wasn’t even out of breath!
Perhaps out of concern, Teacher Bai had been following alongside Wan Tong. Yes, he was walking. And as he walked, he even tried to comfort her, “It’s okay, adjust your breathing. You can slow down if you need to…”
If she slowed down any more, she’d be moving in place…
On the other side was Ling Wu, also keeping pace with her. His dark green eyes flickered slightly, as if recording something, and he muttered under his breath.
“Weight increased by 2 kilograms, height unchanged, physical fitness declining…”
His quiet voice made Wan Tong feel even dizzier.
“Ling Wu, shut up,” she gritted out.
Up ahead, M01 glanced back, a hint of disdain clearly flashing across his face.
Wan Tong : “…” Why were the boss of this world so smug?