Chapter 237
At night, everyone was still sitting on the sofa watching the Spring Festival Gala program. Shen Shuyu figured it was about time, so he stood up and said, “Feng Xing invited me out to play, I’m heading out.”
He thought he would be questioned, but Mother Shen instead said, “Go on, go. You’ve been restless all night.”
Shen Shuyu touched his face. Was it that obvious?
However, there was no time to keep waiting. He said, “I’ll make sure to come back early later.”
Shen Yisi said, “If you come back late, there won’t be any New Year’s red envelopes for you.”
Shen Shuyu declared, “I will definitely get my red envelope!”
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh.
Shen Shuyu wrapped his scarf around himself and walked out of the house. He and Xiao Yi had agreed to meet at the house near the school. Since today was New Year’s Eve, there weren’t many cars out at night. Shen Shuyu waited a long time before finally getting a car.
By the time he reached his destination, it was already past ten-thirty. He returned to the base of the building but wasn’t in a hurry to go up, as he still had to wait for Xiao Yi.
He didn’t know how long he waited, but Shen Shuyu finally saw Meimei’s figure. Its chubby, fleshy body jiggled with every step it took, but it didn’t affect its agile pace.
Shen Shuyu crouched down, reached out, and rubbed its head, unable to hold back a laugh. “It seems Meimei’s diet is truly getting better day by day.”
Since it was the New Year today, Meimei was even wearing red clothes, looking both cute and pretty.
Xiao Yi said, “Tonight I ate a bowl of chicken dumplings, they were really delicious.”
Its speech still carried its unique mechanical tone, but coming out of Meimei’s mouth, it also carried a bit of that clingy affection characteristic of cats.
Shen Shuyu picked Meimei up and turned around to head into the building, but sensing something, he turned his head and glanced into the dim residential complex.
Strange.
He clearly felt someone looking at him, but when he turned around, he didn’t see anything.
Shen Shuyu withdrew his gaze. Xiao Yi asked from his arms, “What’s wrong?”
Shen Shuyu carried it inside. “Nothing, I’m probably just overthinking it.”
Since it was New Year’s Eve, there were quite a few people playing in the residential complex today. It might have just been a gaze that unintentionally drifted over. Getting down to business was more important.
Now things were pretty much clear. Tonight, they were prepared to deal with the Luck System, and after that, there would be nothing else left to do.
He took a deep breath and carried Xiao Yi upstairs.
He hadn’t been back since the holidays started, but the house was still immaculately clean. It seemed Shen Yisi had arranged for someone to come over and clean it for him a couple of days ago, leaving the place spotless.
He closed the door, put Xiao Yi down, and fished the injection syringe out of his pocket.
This was what he had prepared for Wen Jiafei previously, but since Wen Jiafei hadn’t used it at the time, he brought it back. Just in case, if Xiao Yi couldn’t get in later, he would inject the medicine to force Xiao Yi inside.
The Luck System was still dormant.
Shen Shuyu sat on the sofa. Xiao Yi gave a light jump onto the coffee table. The person and the cat looked at each other and nodded.
Shen Shuyu took a deep breath and lay down on the sofa. “Come on, I’ll call it out. Let’s finish this quickly, I still have to rush home by twelve o’clock.”
He’d get up early tomorrow morning and go see Wen Jiafei.
Xiao Yi let out a meow and became serious. It leapt and landed precisely on Shen Shuyu’s stomach.
Shen Shuyu grunted, opened his eyes again, and said helplessly, “Couldn’t you go around from the side? Do you have no idea how heavy you are?”
Xiao Yi mimicked Meimei, letting out “meow meow” sounds, pretending not to have heard what Shen Shuyu just said.
Shen Shuyu closed his eyes again. He said, “I’m calling it. Wait for the right moment and aim well.”
Xiao Yi gave an “Mn.” Its data network had already been spread out the moment they entered. This time, it would definitely be able to bring the Luck System to the Master Mind!
Shen Shuyu fell into a deep sleep.
[Luck.]
The Luck System showed signs of being about to emerge.
[Luck.]
Shen Shuyu called out once more, and this time, the Luck System emerged.
[What are you doing?] After the Luck System said this sentence, it sensed that something was wrong with the surroundings.
It felt a sense of fear. It sensed a system even stronger than itself nearby, and the room was entirely covered by that system’s mental code network. It felt a tremor in its core, and instinct drove it to want to leave this place.
Then, only a “meow” was heard.
The Luck System shouted frantically:
[Shen Shuyu! Open your eyes! Open your eyes!]
A system inherently looked at the surrounding world through its host’s eyes before it finally released its own mental code network to perceive things.
But right now, it couldn’t perceive anything at all. In the face of an absolute opponent, it was completely defenseless.
Furthermore, this power was very familiar. Last time, the power it had sensed inside Wen Jiafei’s body seemed to be this very same one!
But Shen Shuyu showed no reaction whatsoever.
No matter how stupid the Luck System was, it finally realized what was going on.
When it had fled in a panic from Wen Jiafei’s body earlier, it had seen Shen Shuyu. It hadn’t thought much of it then, but this was the second time he had appeared.
This Shen Shuyu had been deceiving it from the very beginning!
The Luck System wanted to “sever its tail to survive” like it did before, but this time they were clearly fully prepared. The Luck System could only scurry around frantically inside Shen Shuyu’s brain, unable to find an exit to pry open.
Shen Shuyu furrowed his brows. He fell into a deep slumber and began to dream again.
Only this time, the dream was neither his own nor the protagonist group’s, but rather… the Luck System’s.
He saw the Luck System completing missions in perfect coordination with its first host. The two of them kept each other company, traveling through one small world after another.
Finally, the host completed his mission, went to the world he yearned for, and said goodbye to the Luck System.
AI had no emotions, but the Luck System was a very smart system. In every world it traveled to with its host, it constantly grew, eventually becoming a system possessing the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures.
Soon, it began to guide its second, its third… and its umpteenth host. Then, it arrived at the place where it had been manufactured.
The Master Mind said, You should be destroyed.
Coldly, devoid of any warmth.
Shen Shuyu sat up on the sofa, gasping for breath. A lot of sweat had broken out on his forehead, dripping down in large drops.
“Meow~ Meow~”
Shen Shuyu felt a tongue licking his hand. He looked down—was it Meimei or… Xiao Yi?
Shen Shuyu called out tentatively, “Xiao Yi.”
[Master! I missed you! I’m back!]
In Shen Shuyu’s mind, Xiao Yi returned to its familiar puppy form, rolling around in his mind.
Shen Shuyu placed both legs on the floor and leaned back against the sofa. He still held Meimei in his arms. Meimei was a bold cat; it didn’t even wonder why it was here, obediently nestling in Shen Shuyu’s embrace, purring like a running motorcycle.
Shen Shuyu bent forward, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the dense sweat from his forehead. He asked:
[Did you catch it?]
[It’s already been contained.] Xiao Yi said: [I will send it to see the Master Mind right now, so I’ll need to leave for a few days. I also have to handle the subsequent cleanup work for it. Once I come back, we should be able to evaluate the completion rate of your mission, Master.]
Shen Shuyu let out a long breath and rested the back of his head against the sofa. “Okay.”
It’s finally going to end.
Xiao Yi’s indicator light flashed twice:
[Master, wishing you a Happy New Year.]
Shen Shuyu also replied:
[Happy New Year, Xiao Yi.]
Xiao Yi’s indicator light went out.
Shen Shuyu’s gaze landed on the wall lamp. He thought only a few minutes had passed, but unexpectedly, more than half an hour had gone by.
It was already past eleven o’clock. He still had to bring Meimei back first, and then rush home.
There was no time to delay. Now that everything was clear and the tasks were completed, Shen Shuyu felt incredibly relaxed.
He picked Meimei up and scratched it under the chin. “I’m taking you home. Be a good kitty later.”
I forgot to prepare a cat carrier.
Shen Shuyu stuffed Meimei into his coat, supporting it from underneath so its head poked out, which also prevented it from escaping.
Shen Shuyu gave Meimei another rub, then walked toward the front door. Pressing down on the handle, he opened the door, looked up, and his steps came to a halt.
Right at his doorway, Wen Jiafei was standing quietly, holding a cat carrier in his hand.
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