Chapter 47: 9527 is Getting a Name!
The doctor didn’t waste any words, signaling Zheng Xiao to hold Yu Shi down to begin the pheromone extraction. Yu Shi didn’t even have a chance to resist before he was injected with an anesthetic and lost consciousness.
Twenty minutes later, he slowly came to.
A needle-like pain radiated from his gland. This wasn’t a surface-level ache; it felt as if a twenty-centimeter needle had been driven deep into his spine.
The intense discomfort made him tremble with his eyes closed. His breathing grew heavy, and he felt alternately hot and cold.
Qin Yinās voice sounded nearby, questioning the doctor. “Why does he have a fever?”
“Replying to the Major: under normal circumstances, extracting a small dose of pheromones shouldn’t be an issue. However, he has been using anesthetics frequently lately, and his immunity has dropped. Thereās no need for concern; Iāll just prescribe him some nutrient supplements.”
The doctor gripped the collection tube behind his back. The volume inside was more than double what was required for the experiment, but his face remained impassive.
“Go, quickly,” Qin Yin said with a wave of his hand. “Tell Zheng Xiao to wait for me in the meeting room.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man stood by the bed for a while, seemingly studying Yu Shi. After a moment, he reached out to smooth the furrow in Yu Shiās brow, his cold fingertips brushing over the Omega’s eyes.
Yu Shi wanted to turn away in disgust, but he couldn’t muster even a shred of strength.
The feeling of being completely at someone else’s mercy was abysmal.
Qin Yinās hands were pampered. Unlike hands that had undergone years of military training, his fingertips were soft and cold, like a cold-blooded animal lurking at the bottom of the ocean.
That hand trailed down the bridge of Yu Shi’s nose, pausing at the mole on the tip.
Yu Shi had a high bridge but a slightly low root, which made him look significantly younger than his actual age. It was as if he hadn’t quite fully grown into his features even after twenty years, possessing a certain raw youthfulness that sat between man and boy.
Qin Yin said, “Are you going to keep pretending to be asleep?”
Yu Shi opened his eyes, his gaze full of unmasked loathing as he used all his strength to pull away.
Qin Yinās smile vanished, and he looked ready to snap, but catching sight of Yu Shiās slightly stiff right arm, he suppressed his anger.
He said calmly, “We are almost at the Seventh Zone. I advise you not to go looking for trouble.”
Yu Shi said coldly, “If you want to study my pheromones, thereās no need for this elaborate performance.”
“You think Iām studying your pheromones?” Qin Yin asked curiously.
“You had the doctor drain so much of my pheromones. Aside from trading them for massive profit, they have no other value to you,” Yu Shi said. “Who did you sell them to?”
Qin Yin shook his head. “No. I have never given your pheromones to anyone else. They are simply for a small experiment.”
“A gland transplantation experiment?” Yu Shi frowned.
“Of course not. I would never do something so cruel. This involves military secrets, so I cannot tell you for now. I won’t hurt you.”
Seeing the mockery on Yu Shiās face, Qin Yin continued unhurriedly, “However, if you are willing to serve our military, I will naturally be open with you.”
He spoke with forced patience. “You are a rare genius, and I have always admired your abilities. If you agree to defect to Olo, I will give you a new identity and a position of power that no one can challenge. Don’t you want to focus on your research? You can have any lab in Olo you want; Iāll even build a new base just for you. I can give you anything you desire.”
Yu Shiās brow was tightly knit, his chest heaving slightly. He turned his face away and remained silent.
Qin Yin sighed. “You are still very young; you have plenty of opportunities to start over. Don’t get stuck in a mental quagmire, bound by a nebulous sense of morality. Think over my proposal carefully. You are welcome to join us anytime.”
He lowered his voice, adding a lure: “Besides, I might even be able to help clear your father’s name.”
That last sentence made Yu Shiās body tremble.
Qin Yin flashed a triumphant smile, stood up, and walked out.
Yu Shi leaned against the cold bulkhead, his heart feeling just as frigidālike a midwinter snowfall that had frozen everything for a thousand miles.
He had been moved to a new room, one considerably larger than the last. There was a new window by the desk, offering a view of the vast sea of stars.
His mind was a mess, crowded with various thoughts.
Those sordid experiences, the things Yu Songwei and Liu Yin had said, Qin Yinās proposal…
The more information he had, the more confusing it became. He thought for a long time but couldn’t find a clear thread.
In the end, he simply cast his thoughts aside and stared out the window.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of the photos Xie Ren used to send.
The interior of a Falcon Regiment warship was different from this place; it had silver-white decorative walls. Through the reinforced glass, one could see shimmering star clusters, supernovae reaching the end of their lives, brilliant orange-red stars, and the invisible ripples in space-time caused by the spiral collisions of black holes.
Xie Ren had recorded them all one by one, sending them to him with the message:
[ I see these on every journey, but in the past, I had no one to share them with. I never felt like taking photos, so I missed out on recording so many rare celestial events. ]
Yu Shi had replied at the time: [ You have so many friends. How could you have no one to share them with? ]
Xie Ren had thought for a bit before replying: [ I expressed myself poorly. I don’t want to share them with them. I only want to share them with Instructor Yu. ]
When Yu Shi had seen that message, he was in the middle of a class break. He had just finished chewing out several students for their terrible homework, and the students below had witnessed a bizarre sight.
After his outburst, the corners of his mouth had lifted into a small smile.
Zhao Yi had rubbed his eyes and snapped a secret photo to send to Xie Ren: [ Brother, I think Iām hallucinating from staying up too late. The Little Fish Demon King was scolding people one second, and the next he was smiling at me. Holy crap, is my charm really that high? ]
Xie Ren had laughed even harder than him, sending back a screenshot and excitedly asking what “Little Fish Teacher” was laughing aboutāwhether it was because of his message. He had prattled on like a loudspeaker, full of self-satisfaction.
Yu Shi had rolled his eyes and sent back two words: [ Lunatic. ]
Now that he was seeing the scenery from those photos with his own eyes, he truly had no one to share it with.
It was beautiful, but also incredibly lonely.
He suddenly understood Xie Renās perspective. No matter how beautiful the view, looking at it alone is ultimately dull, especially once your heart has someone you want to share it with.
Yu Shi pulled his gaze back and took 9527 out to continue the repairs. It took several full rotations of the clockās minute hand before he finally pressed the start button.
“Gurgle, gurgle.” 9527 rebooted and blew a bubble. “Where did I stop crying? Waaaah, Teacher Yu, I don’t want you to die…”
Yu Shi covered the speaker. “Shh, stop howling. Neither of us is going to die.”
He used a wire to prick his fingertip, squeezing out a few drops of blood. 9527 cried out, “Whatāwhat are you doing?!”
“Do as I say. Extract my pheromones.”
Yu Shiās face turned pale. His gland couldn’t release pheromones normally, so this was the only way to produce a sufficient amount.
“Wait… wait, Iām almost ready.” 9527 scrambled about, and after a moment said, “Extracted! What do I do next?”
Yu Shi said, “Follow the program I set earlier. Connect to the owner of the pheromones.”
9527 froze, asking uncertainly, “Connect… connect to you?”
“Aside from me, search and feel carefullyāis there a similar pheromone signature on this starship?”
9527 went quiet, entering its search state.
After more than ten minutes, it cried out, “There really is someone with the exact same pheromones as you… I get it! It’s that bionic, isn’t it? Someone injected your pheromones into it!”
Yu Shi instructed, “Once we land, I will cause a distraction. You will pilot the bionic to take my place and deal with them for me. For the next twenty-four hours, you must practice continuously. Keep the connection stable; it absolutely cannot be interrupted.”
He set up the program so that, within a certain range, he could sever the connection and retrieve 9527 at any time.
It asked nervously, “Youāre planning to swap identities with the bionic? What if weāre caught? I… I might not be able to act like you…”
Yu Shi stroked its insulation layer, soothing it. “There is no ‘what if.’ I believe you can do it.”
9527 snuggled close like a puppy and sat down beside him.
It said in an energized tone, “Okay! I won’t short-circuit this time. Weāre going to escape successfully! When we do, Iām going to tell Yu Zhizhi that Teacher Yu upgraded me to be super powerful. It can only control mechas, but I can connect to humans!”
Yu Shi said gently, “When we get back, Iāll help you connect to a mecha too.”
“Waaaah, that sounds so cool! Iāve dreamed of piloting a mecha!” 9527 looked up at him expectantly. “Yu Zhizhi said that a name is a special title. Once you have a name, people remember you. Teacher Yu, can you give me a name?”
Yu Shi asked, “You want a name?”
It rubbed against him shyly. “I know Iām just a robot, but every time you talk about Yu Zhizhi, IāIām so jealous of it. Itās like itās your child.”
Yu Shi thought about it. “Strictly speaking, you are both my children.”
9527 couldn’t help but feel delighted, emitting a series of purring sounds from its vents, mimicking a cat acting spoiled toward a human.
Yu Shi said, “How about this: once weāre back, Iāll have Xie Ren give you a name. After all, youāll be following him from now on. Itās only right that he names you.”
“Will the master agree? Heās so fierce; 9527 is scared of him,” it complained in a small voice.
Yu Shi laughed. “Iāll make him do it. He won’t dare refuse.”
9527 cheered, “Yay! 9527 is getting a name! Today is another happy day!”
It snuggled lightheartedly into Yu Shiās embrace, falling fast asleep as current surged through its body. The warm sensation against Yu Shiās chest made him feel a little less lonely.
Over the following period, 9527 made multiple attempts to connect to the bionic. Based on the time and frequency it took, Yu Shi deduced the bionic’s location on the ship. As expected, it wasn’t in a container like regular cargo, but in a small, rudimentary laboratory.
By the time the starship was flying over the Seventh Zone, they had finally established a long-term connection.
9527 woke up on a cold operating table. There was no sign of a doctor nearby. It skillfully piloted the bionic body off the table, the map Yu Shi had previously programmed automatically generating in its mind. It began to creep toward the room where he was being held.
It was currently the resting period for human biological clocks. The guarding soldiers were all drowsy; it shouldn’t have attracted any attention.
However, 9527ās luck was too good. After walking only two meters, it ran into trouble, coming face-to-face with a sentry.
The sentry asked suspiciously, “Why are you out?”
9527: “…Caācoffee needs milk.”
A cold sweat broke out on its back as its language system became a jumbled mess.
Fortunately, the sentry assumed it was the bionic and didn’t make a scene. He said, “Go back to the lab. The doctor is going to inject you with pheromones soon.”
Seeing that he wasn’t going to cause trouble, 9527 let out a massive sigh of relief. Yu Shiās reassuring voice sounded in its ear: [ Tell him the doctor sent you to get a catalyst. ]
9527 immediately said, “There was an issue with the pheromone diffusion. The doctor sent me to the warehouse to get a catalyst.”
Yu Shi couldn’t help but marvel again. It really was becoming more human step by step; even its tone of voice was a perfect imitation, and the excuse was logical.
The sentry was confused. “But he just came out.”
9527 said, “He went to take care of something else and told me to get it myself. If you don’t believe me, you can come with me.”
The sentry had a designated patrol route; it was impossible for him to run off to the warehouse.
Yu Shi praised it in the earpiece: [ Well done. ]
It almost couldn’t hold back a laugh. Seeing that the sentry was still studying it, it quickly suppressed the urge, straightened its back, and walked away.
The interior of the starship was almost exactly as Yu Shi had drawn it. Following that map, 9527 quickly reached the room where he was held, but there was a hurdle: two guards were stationed at the door.
“Knock them out,” Yu Shi said. “The alarm might go off soon. Do as I sayāthis body contains my pheromones. Try to release an attack signature.”
9527 shrunk into a corner and began to release it quietly. The domineering S+ pheromones were like an invisible weapon, casting a suffocating net over the corridor.
By the time the two guards realized something was wrong, their bodies were already weak and powerless. At that moment, Yu Shi kicked the door open from behind, easily taking them down.
Instantly, a piercing alarm blared through the corridor.
Yu Shi looked at the bionic. After a brief glimpse, his heart skipped a beat. It was even creepier than looking in a mirror; it really was exactly like him, down to the last strand of hair.
He quickly closed the door and dragged 9527 into a nearby storage closet.
“Take off your clothes,” he said in a low voice.
9527ās face flushed red as it stammered, “Iāmy pheromones seem really strong. I can go out and fight them…”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Yu Shi said. “At most, you can take down two more before the gland is empty.”
It could control the body, but it couldn’t feel the capacity of the gland. A bionicās gland truly couldn’t replicate pheromones.
Yu Shi swapped shirts with it. 9527 fumbled with the clothes with its eyes closed, its face red. “What do I do?”
“Go out into the hallway first. Act as if you just escaped from the room. If Zheng Xiao or Zheng Miaoran shows up, say this…”
Yu Shi quickly explained the plan. 9527 listened intently, subconsciously gripping his hand. Yu Shi glanced at their joined hands; the bionic’s sweat had wet his palm.
This body was made so realistically that it even had sweat glands. If it really went back to the Third Institute in his place, he wasn’t even sure his mentor or parents could tell the difference.
The thought gave him goosebumps.
He gently patted 9527ās head. “Don’t be nervous. You won’t slip up.”
9527 nodded forcefully, its confidence slowly building as it stepped out of the closet.
It walked past the two fallen sentries. A moment later, it encountered someone it hadn’t expected.
Qin Yin stood there with several guards behind him. He said in a deep voice, “Where do you think youāre running to?”
9527ās mind cleared instantly. It realized it was playing the role of Yu Shi now and could not afford a single mistake. If caught, neither it nor Yu Shi would ever escape.
They were very close to the storage closet. Yu Shi couldn’t make a sound, and it couldn’t receive any hints.
It swallowed nervously, the image of Yu Shiās face and mannerisms surfacing in its mindāthe way he spoke, the way he arched an eyebrow, the frequency of his breathing…
It took a silent, deep breath and said coldly, “On a starship in transit, where exactly could I run?”
Qin Yinās gaze was scrutinizing as he looked at the floor. “And thatās your reason for knocking out the guards? It doesn’t seem very convincing.”
9527 said steadily, “My AI is missing. I came out to find it.”
The imitation was so perfect it almost fooled itself.
Qin Yin scanned the area the bionic had come from, saying slowly, “Is that so?”
His gaze was incredibly sharp. For a split second, it felt as if he had seen through the ruse.
Had it said something wrong? No, it had imitated him perfectly.
Qin Yinās eyes fell on that door. Suddenly, he strode toward the storage closet and reached for the door handle.
9527ās heart leaped into its throat, every hair on its body standing on end.
Its first thought was that he must not be allowed to open that door. Its second thought was: So bionics really do have hearts. Mine is about to explode!
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