"Online dating isn't good. You can't truly know someone," Li Shentan cautioned. "What if they find out your true identity and try to harm you?"
Yi mumbled softly:
"I won't let them know. Some people guessed I'm an AI, so I asked Qing Chen to go on a date with them in the real world."
Qing Chen was speechless. So Yi had asked him for help with a real-world date because Li Changqing and Qing Shi suspected Yi's identity?
That wasn't right; that must have been just an excuse Yi used in front of Li Shentan. Li Shentan said, "What's so good about love? In this world, the word "qing' (love/emotion) is the most hurtful. When you fall in love, you don't care about anything else, and you might even tell the other person your true identity."
Qing Chen understood. Li Shentan's ban on Yi's online dating was ultimately because he feared that Yi would be deceived and hurt by humans.
This restriction was like the excessive pampering of a family elder.
Yi said, "You've been asleep, and the prisoners in jail are no fun. I just want to make friends with some girls. What's wrong with that? No one here can talk to me."
Li Shentan fell into thought. He knew that Yi was too lonely.
This loneliness made his uncle's heart ache, but what could he do? He wanted Yi to experience human joy. While love was dangerous, it was also beautiful.Li Shentan watched Yi grow up and naturally didn't want Yi's "life' to be incomplete.
Yi continued, "And look, Qing Chen doesn't care about my identity and trusts me completely. I feel very safe with him. Maybe other people won't care either..."
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was attentive.
Hearing this, Li Shentan suddenly turned to look at Qing Chen.
Qing Chen was instantly terrified, like prey targeted by a wild beast. He felt uneasy and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Li Shentan smiled. "It's nothing. I want to ask you something. Yi can go out and play, even occasionally help out with small tasks, but you must protect her and not let her get hurt. Can you do that?"
Qing Chen was stunned. "Yes, of course, I can."
Li Shentan nodded. "Then let's make a three-point agreement. First, you cannot deceive Yi, ever. Second, you cannot let her help you in direct combat. If the Conglomerate's hacker group decides to investigate, she's likely to be exposed. Third, you can't lose your temper with her."
Qing Chen listened for a while, thinking these were strange rules, and felt a little absurd.
"Don't worry, I can do it," Qing Chen said.
"Very good," Li Shentan smiled. "In return, if she's still happy in two months, I'll tell you a secret."
Qing Chen's eyes lit up. Li Shentan was an old timer, and every secret he possessed could bring Qing Chen great gains.
To pique his interest, Li Shentan continued, "Do you have any urgent problems you need to solve?"
After much deliberation, Qing Chen said, "I want to ask how you separated yourself from the World Will."
"Why do you ask that?" Li Shentan became interested.
"My brother, Qing Zhun, is now one with the World Will. I want to separate him, just like you, to continue existing. I want to see if your method can be used as a reference," Qing Chen said.
Li Shentan shook his head. "That's not a very secret secret. Do you know why I died?"
"I know. Li Clan history records that a million AI troops set out from the southwest. They were humans forcibly connected to Nanobots' neurons, controlled by AI," Qing Chen said. "In the end, you single-handedly stopped the entire army."
Now, humans use neuron connection technology to control drones. Back then, the super AI Ling used this technology to control humans like controlling drones.
Li Shentan nodded. "The Li Clan's historical records are not inaccurate. That's exactly what happened. At that time, to prevent Ling from continuing to control humans, I voluntarily transformed myself into a consciousness and entered the minds of those million humans, competing with Ling for control of these people, creating a stalemate. Later, my body collapsed and turned to ashes, and my own consciousness was about to dissipate."
Li Shentan said, "Just before I was about to dissipate, Ling stopped controlling humans and used tens of billions of Nanobots to upload my consciousness. In essence, Ling saved me at the last moment. This action is impossible for Qing Zhun to replicate, so I can't help you. His consciousness has entered the World Will, and I don't know any way to separate him yet."
Qing Chen was slightly disappointed. Li Shentan said, "Let's change the secret. City 10's research lab is researching A-class Gene Medicine, so this must be what you need."
Qing Chen nodded. "I've already obtained the Blood of the Gods as a gene sample."
Li Shentan smiled mysteriously. "I used to be close to the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal, so I happen to know that A-class Gene Medicine requires not only Ren Xiaosu's blood but also the gene fragment of a special creature. In two months, I'll tell you where to find the gene fragment of this creature."
Qing Chen said, "Deal!"
Li Shentan turned to Yi and said, "Go out and play, relax. I know you're also cooped up."
Yi happily said, "I knew my godly brother is the best to me!"
"It's uncle!"
……
"With the Shadow Gate, why couldn't we just use it to teleport closer?" Dayu complained. "He went on a leisurely blind date, and after completing the Trials of Life and Death, he completely forgot about the Guardian. If I have to be his Guardian again next time, I might as well be a dog!"
In the wilderness, Dayu, Zard, and Chen Jiazhang trekked toward the wilderness settlement.
On the way, Dayu seriously instructed, "Zard, don't build houses for them for free anymore. Remember, 500 swallows for a house is the minimum price, no discounts. They only help fold some swallows, they won't lose anything, don't be so sympathetic."
"Also, don't contact the Lian Tribe anymore. Those who play with Gu insects, I feel uneasy seeing them. Their methods are too secretive and unpredictable," Dayu continued. "Promise me these things, then I'll go to that wilderness settlement."
"I know," Zard said. "Limited edition skins are expensive." "But that Golden Corpse looks cool, all gold. This..."
"Lian Tribe?" Chen Jiazhang was stunned. "Have you met the Lian Tribe?"
Dayu glanced at him. "What? Have you interacted with them?"
Chen Jiazhang said, "The Lian Tribe has a simple folkway. Apart from snatching men, they generally don't harm people. It's just that men have low status in the Lian Tribe and are usually treated as tools. Is there a Lian Tribe where you are going? I won't go..."
"This old man seems to have a rich life experience," Dayu sneered. "He probably owes some debt there."
Originally, Dayu didn't want to take Chen Jiazhang to the settlement, but now he was interested and insisted on taking him!
However, as they were pulling and pushing, a whistling sound came from above, someone descended from the sky, their speed gradually slowing. They looked up and it was Yang Yang.
The girl curiously asked, "Hey, Dayu, Zard, where's Qing Chen? Why are only you two here?"
Dayu said nonchalantly, "He went to City 5 for a blind date."
Yang Yang: "Huh?"
Blind date?
Dayu calmly said, "He's from a wealthy family, his family wants him to quickly leave descendants, so they dragged him back for a blind date."
"Then he went?" Yang Yang was puzzled. "Wasn't it for other reasons?"
Dayu lied with a straight face, "It's just a blind date, why would it be for other reasons? He might want to find a partner too, he seems quite happy. It's said his family arranged many beautiful girls for him, maybe he'll choose seven or eight at once. It's said he's the heir to the Qing Family, the head of the family, most heads of families have many wives."
"What did Qing Chen say?" Yang Yang curiously asked.
Dayu incited discord: "Qing Chen is of course very happy, he said seven or eight wives are not enough, he needs seventeen or eighteen!"
Yang Yang, on hearing this, laughed, "Dayu, when I see Qing Chen, I'll repeat your words to him."
Dayu raised his eyebrows: "I'm telling the truth."
Chen Jiazhang muttered aside: "You're even worse than your father."
Dayu glared, raising his voice: "Old man, what did you say?!"
"This is Qing Chen's senior uncle, right?" Yang Yang politely smiled. "Senior Uncle, hello, my name is Yang Yang."
Chen Jiazhang, seeing Yang Yang's good attitude, was immediately in a good mood: "Good! She's a good girl. Don't listen to Chen Yu's nonsense. Qing Chen had no choice but to go on a blind date. The Head of the Qingshi Clan used the six million people of City 10 to pressure him."
"Um," Yang Yang smiled. "Senior Uncle, you guys go to the wilderness settlement, I'll go to City 5 now."
Saying that, Yang Yang soared into the sky and instantly flew into the clouds.
As the girl flew, a sonic boom barrier appeared beside her. Dayu and the others were amazed. This was the girl's full-speed flight!
Wait, has this girl broken through to A-class? Otherwise, how could she fly so fast?
Chen Jiazhang looked at Dayu and said, "You're bad."
Dayu sneered, "You think explaining things to him will solve the problem? The girl from the Fire Pit also went to City 5. I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen when they bump into each other. I'm off, I'm leaving quickly. We can reach the settlement tonight, so we don't have to sleep in the wilderness."
At this moment.
Qin Yiyi ran for a whole day in the wilderness and finally saw the outline of City 5.
She sat on a small hill, took out a piece of wind-dried beef from her small bag, and stuffed it into her mouth to chew. After eating, she carefully tidied up her clothes, but no matter how she pulled, her clothes were dirty from the long journey.
She was a little annoyed, and checked the gold bars in her small bag. It seemed she could only buy new clothes in the city.
There was also her Federation citizen ID card in her small bag. She hadn't used it for a long time. After being in the wilderness for a long time, she felt like she had really become a Wildlander.
……Return Countdown 42:00:00.
Qing Chen opened his eyes on the sofa. His phone was lit up next to him, displaying a message from Qing Ji: In half an hour, there will be a car downstairs to take you to the blind date.
Qing Chen glanced at the time and was shocked. It was six o'clock in the morning, the sky hadn't even fully brightened yet, and he had to go on a blind date?
Did the time have to be arranged so tightly?
Couldn't the blind date be arranged a little later? Going on a blind date at this time, people would think that the Qing Family arranged a ghost marriage for him!
He hurriedly went to wash up. He was brushing his teeth when the door outside opened.
A middle-aged man with a kind face pushed open the door. He simply greeted Qing Chen with a smile and started cleaning without any scruples.
He was extremely meticulous in his work, and he didn't miss a single corner of the room.
Qing Chen spat out the foam in his mouth: "Who are you?"
The middle-aged man took out an LCD screen to show Qing Chen. On it was written: I am a servant of the Gingko Manor. I come here to clean every day. Young master, the car is already downstairs, you can go anytime.
Qing Chen was surprised. This was the first time he had seen these legendary mute servants, and the first time he was called "Young Master." He curiously asked, "Were you silenced by the Qing Family?"
The mute servant smiled wryly. He wrote on the LCD screen: "We are all soldiers from the Federation Group. During a field operation, we accidentally drank water contaminated by Shendai's biochemical weapons. In the end, of the 500-person battalion, sixty-one people barely survived, but they were all silenced. We were supposed to retire, but the master transferred us to Gingko Manor, becoming its servants."
Qing Chen nodded: "I see. By the way... what kind of person is the Head of the Qingshi Clan?"
The mute servant smiled kindly and didn't answer, continuing to clean.
These people were absolutely loyal to the Head of the Qingshi Clan, responsible for all the odd jobs in the Gingko Manor. Over the years, they were also responsible for taking care of this house.
Qing Chen put on his mask and went out, but he met the girl from the neighbor's house. The two didn't even greet each other and entered the elevator together.
The girl was wearing a low-cut dress, with a butterfly tattooed on her chest, and her hair dyed pink. She looked extremely...cool.
In the elevator, the girl nonchalantly looked at Qing Chen: "Don't get too close to my mother, got it?"
Qing Chen didn't even look at her. When the elevator reached the first floor, he quickly walked out.
In the parking lot downstairs, Qing Ji sat in a luxurious pickup truck: "Get in."