Zhan Chen picked up Yu Tang and gently placed him on the sofa.
He methodically took out a tube of glucose from the medicine box and slowly fed it to Yu Tang. He unbuttoned Yu Tang's shirt, re-treated the wound, applied medicine and bandaged it properly.
Zhan Chen touched Yu Tang's forehead, stood up and went back to his room, took out a thin blanket and covered Yu Tang with it.
The system recognized the small blanket and said in surprise: "Host—"
Zhan Chen said softly, "Shh."
There was no one else in the room. The system didn't know who he was talking to. It was stunned for a moment, and then the little red light flashed in confusion.
Zhan Chen stood up and went back to the kitchen.
Yu Tang curled up in a pile of pillows.
He was half asleep, and affected by Shi Ji's physical condition, his complexion was still not very good, and his breathing was slightly faster than usual.
As if trapped in a nightmare, he grasped the edge of the thin blanket with one hand and exerted a little force.
There was no peace and tranquility as usual. Yu Tang closed his eyes, his brows knitted silently.
The system floated in the sea of consciousness. It didn't know whether it should wake up the host, but it instinctively lowered its volume.
The next second, Yu Tang woke up to the approaching tempting sweet fragrance.
Yu Tang was no longer in a nightmare. He opened his eyes and stared at the white porcelain bowl in Zhan Chen's hand.
The system held up a small speaker playing hypnotic white noise: "… "
"If you wake up, get up and eat something."
Zhan Chen put down the bowl and smiled at him kindly: "President Nie asked me to come and see you. Is your name Shi Ji?"
…
Before meeting Shi Ji in person, Zhan Chen had just been dragged out of the laboratory by the dean of the wingman major and was angrily scolded.
The content of the lecture was roughly asking Zhan Chen to fully cooperate with Shi Ji, show no mercy, and crush those bastards from the Mecha Academy to death.
As long as Zhan Chen can do it, the dean will find a way to help him find the person he is looking for.
This condition convinced Zhan Chen, so he left the laboratory early tonight and returned to the dormitory, waiting for Shi Ji to come back.
"We each take what we need." Zhan Chen roughly explained the situation. "What is your opinion?"
Yu Tang looked up from the biscuits soaked in hot milk.
He did not answer immediately, but asked the system in his sea of consciousness: "Who is Zhan Chen looking for?"
“It’s not in the book.”
The system said: "This character was originally a marginal tool, and should be a very unimportant plot line. It was not mentioned in the original work..."
Yu Tang said nothing and took a sip of the hot sweet milk.
The system will only check for illogical parts. From the perspective of the current plot, there is really nothing wrong with Zhan Chen’s character.
But put back into the original work, compared with the "genius senior" and "scientific madman" who was obsessed with the laboratory and obsessed with building mechas and tinkering with inventions, there are undoubtedly some subtle deviations.
Yu Tang asked, "Can we detect other employees in the same book?"
"Does the host suspect that Zhan Chen is also an employee of Chuanshuju?"
The system thought for a moment and said, "In principle, it cannot be detected... Once we are introduced into the plot, we will become characters in the original novel."
"And... if I'm recognized as an employee of the bookstore, it means that in the plot line, some of my behavior deviates from the original character setting."
The system said: "The character is ooc, and will be punished by the headquarters."
Yu Tang nodded.
This answer was not surprising. In the book where he was Yu Tang, Nie Chi had undoubtedly recognized him, but he did not try to contact him.
From beginning to end, Nie Chi didn't even have any contact with him beyond the plot.
Nie Chi probably also received a warning from the system. If he crossed the line, even if he just said one more word that was irrelevant to the plot, Yu Tang would be judged as ooc and punished by the supervisory department.
The system hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "And—"
Yu Tang asked, "What?"
The system couldn't answer and flashed the red light several times.
It always feels that Zhan Chen is not like an ordinary employee who plays a specific role in the bookstore and is responsible for promoting the plot.
"I've heard from other leaders that the Supervisory Department occasionally randomly imports characters to secretly investigate the hosts' work enthusiasm."
The system quietly informed Yu Tang: "This kind of secret visit is very strict, and they may even set up checkpoints to test us. Even if it's just a little ooc, the corresponding experience points will be deducted at the time of settlement."
The system brought up Shi Ji's settings: "For example, Shi Ji prefers cake and cola, and doesn't like milk very much..."
Yu Tang: “…”
system:"… "
Yu Tang picked up his small bowl and drank the hot milk in it in one gulp.
The system was startled: "Host—"
"You can deduct money." Yu Tang said, "W&P just promoted me and gave me a raise."
system:"… "
The system was persuaded involuntarily. It flashed a small red light, recorded the aroma of sweet milk, and made a sea of consciousness perfume for Yu Tang.
Yu Tang put down the empty bowl with a dignified look and regained his composure: "Okay."
He returned to the role of Shi Ji, with a friendly smile in his eyes, but his words were serious: "My ownership has been transferred to you. I will obey whatever Senior Zhan says."
Zhan Chen didn't seem surprised. He nodded and handed Shi Ji two clean tissues.
Before returning, he had already heard about Shi Ji's general situation from the dean: "In this case, we have a deal."
Yu Tang looked at the hand that Zhan Chen extended to him.
He stood up and was about to reach out his hand, but then stopped imperceptibly.
Yu Tang prepared for a rainy day and typed in his sea of consciousness: "System."
The system cooperated tacitly and quickly flipped through the character settings: "Shi Ji has no communication barriers. He is familiar with human etiquette and can shake hands with people..."
Yu Tang felt relieved.
There was still a little milk foam on the corners of his lips. In line with his character, he curved his eyes towards Zhan Chen, stretched out his hand, and held the other's slender and slightly cool palm.
Zhan Chen and Shi Ji have no habit of exchanging pleasantries.
After the cooperation was reached, the two did not return to the room immediately, but stayed in the living room and briefly discussed the next plan.
Zhan Chen’s idea coincided with Yu Tang’s—he also planned to make an automated mecha for Shi Ji.
In addition, he also plans to make a portable leg exoskeleton for Shi Ji to restore the function of Shi Ji's left leg as much as possible.
"It should be the inertia of the plot."
The system quietly discussed with Yu Tang: "We made some changes to the plot, causing Zhan Chen to meet Shi Ji earlier, so the subsequent plot was also advanced to a certain extent."
Yu Tang was curled up on the sofa, typing on the computer, concentrating on his work. He nodded in his mind.
He had already taken a rough look at Zhan Chen's design plan.
As an observer, Shi Ji's most suitable partner is not actually a powerful assault-type mecha.
Sheng Yi's mecha is indeed very destructive, but it lacks mobility. And because Sheng Yi's operating style focuses solely on lethality, it has almost become a moving target.
The last time Shi Ji was hit by the opponent's mecha in a team battle with Ye Hanfeng, it was because Sheng Yi's mecha had unknowingly blocked most of his evasive routes in order to hunt down Ye Hanfeng's wingman - and the only remaining evasive position was to the left and rear of the wingman.
At that time, Shi Ji's left leg had completely lost its strength.
"I would recommend a sniper-type mecha, which can cooperate with your surprise attack and defeat the enemy in one move."
Zhan Chenxin made a design drawing, took it and handed it to Yu Tang: "I will consider the materials and equipment, and add long-range laser weapons, giving priority to flexibility and concealment."
Yu Tang took the pages of paper in his hand.
All the professional equipment are in the laboratory. The drafts drawn by Zhan Chen as an apprentice are as rigorous as if they were typed out by a machine. The details are accurate to the millimeter, and all the components and functions are clearly marked.
Yu Tang looked it over carefully, made a few adjustments, and circled a small area on the side of the mecha: "Here, we can add another set of infrasonic cannons..."
Zhan Chen asked: "Are you okay?"
Yu Tang looked up: "What?"
Zhan Chen paused to think for a moment, smiled, and shook his head: "... It's okay, I remembered it wrong."
He took the draft drawings, noted down the places that needed adjustment, returned to the desk in the living room, and sat down to revise them again.
Yu Tang held the computer, typed two lines of basic program code, and then deleted them bit by bit.
He looked at Zhan Chen's back.
I just tried it briefly, and now it seems that Zhan Chen is indeed not the original character in this book.
Shi Ji’s inability to withstand infrasound waves began after he began to transfer his talent to the wingman as requested by Sheng’s father.
In the original plot, the day after Shi Ji discovered that his leg injury could not be cured, he had already begun the irreversible fusion with his wingman.
But this time, because he had been surfing with dolphins for half a year, Shi Ji had to devote all his time and energy to restorative training.
Shi Ji had to prioritize Sheng Yi's final grades, and originally wanted to postpone the integration until the end of the final exam. But as soon as the ring match was over, he was thrown into the logistics major, so he never found an opportunity.
… This series of changes has resulted in Shi Ji not having enough time to start merging with the wingman until now.
If Zhan Chen was just a character in the book, he would have no chance to know these things and would not have asked this question when Yu Tang mentioned infrasonic weapons.
If Zhan Chen had obtained Shi Ji's information from the dean, he would have known that Shi Ji's current brain wave test was completely normal and could withstand the range of infrasonic weapons.
The only reasonable explanation is that Zhan Chen knew the original plot, but did not fully understand the changes they caused.
And it is very likely that this is a fishing expedition|law enforcement by the supervisory department.
He wanted Zhan Chen's cookies, but Zhan Chen said he also wanted to deduct his experience points.
Yu Tang had long felt that this dangerous living room was a human trap. Looking at Zhan Chen's calm and reliable back, he couldn't help but sigh: "You can know a person's face but not his heart..."
The system flashed a small red light: "Host, what did you say?"
Yu Tang calmed down and said, "It's okay."
Even if it was really a secret visit by the supervisory department, the areas where Zhan Chen was good at still made up for Yu Tang's shortcomings in hands-on ability.
If they want to break this situation, Zhan Chen is an indispensable part.
Yu Tang felt the dangers of the human world in his heart.
He was just about to check the balance in his salary card to see if it was enough to deduct a bowl of milk and a plate of biscuits every day when Shi Ji's cell phone suddenly hummed, breaking the tranquility of the living room.
Yu Tang took a look and raised his eyebrows calmly.
… A call from Sheng Yi.
Yu Tang took the phone and answered it.
The voice on the other end was particularly hoarse and gloomy, and extremely cold: "Shi Ji, come downstairs."
Yu Tang did not respond.
He quietly retreated back to his sea of consciousness and handed his body over to Shi Ji and the anti-ooc program in his body.
"Come down, I know where you are hiding!" Sheng Yi said sternly, "I want to ask you, what's going on with Gan Lifei and the others?"
Sheng Yi said in a cold tone: "Didn't I tell you not to pick on my friends? What did you tell the school?!"
Shi Ji paused, looked up at Zhan Chen, quietly stood up, and returned to his room: "Xiao Yi..."
Sheng Yi said coldly: "Who do you think you are to call me that?"
Yu Tang was in his sea of consciousness, flipping through the book "1000 Common Phrases in Human Quarrels" with the system: "I am your father."
In reality, this sentence was translated by the anti-ooc system and was whispered by Shi Ji: "I am your guardian... I need to be responsible for you."
"You are responsible for me?" Sheng Yi laughed as if he had heard something particularly funny. "Is this how you are responsible for me? Sending my friend to a military court?"
"You said you were responsible for me, but where were you when I was being pointed at and poked in the back for the past six months?"
Sheng Yi asked him questions like a machine gun: "Do you know what kind of life I live? Anyone can laugh at me, anyone can come to see my embarrassment! Where were you when I was training desperately? Where were you when I needed to observe me?"
He was used to being willful, and only knew how to push the responsibility onto Shi Ji, venting his anger: "If it weren't for them, I would have been trampled into the mud long ago! You just can't stand someone helping me, right? Whoever helps me, you will deal with him, how long are you going to control me-"
Shi Ji said: "That night."
Shi Ji was silent for a while. It seemed like he was trying to say these words for the first time, and his voice was a little stumbling: "They said that you asked them to ambush me that night."
There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line.
Shi Ji did not have the mood to blame Sheng Yi. He paused for a moment before continuing cautiously, "They said that you helped them delete the video. This matter may be traced back to you. If the college comes to you, you must be prepared."
On the other side, Sheng Yi seemed to be angry and embarrassed, and seemed to be completely out of control because of his attitude, and kicked something hard.
A loud bang was heard, coming from the cell phone and the corridor.
Shi Ji frowned: "Xiao Yi, this is the dormitory building for the logistics major, you can't come up..."
"Do you think it's my fault that you became like this?" Sheng Yi asked.
Shi Ji held the phone tightly, his voice getting softer and softer: "That's not what I meant. I don't mean to pursue you—"
"You didn't?" Sheng Yi interrupted him with a sneer, "Aren't you blaming me?"
"How do I know you're such a loser that you can't beat those people?"
Sheng Yi was touched in the sore spot, and his tone became even more sharp and sarcastic: "Aren't you the first observation officer? Why didn't you destroy them at that time? Who knows if you took this opportunity to run away for half a year and surf on the sea every day with your broken dolphin?"
"Ginger-eyed wolf!"
The system was so angry that it flipped the camera and turned a page. It shouted in the sea of consciousness: "Don't know what's good for you! Repaying kindness with hatred! Dog bites Lu Dongbin..."
"...Xiaoyi." Shi Ji said, "I—"
He suddenly lost his voice.
The system was stunned. It thought it had broken Shi Ji's system and was a little scared: "Host..."
Yu Tang: "Shh."
The system quickly turned off its own speakers.
Yu Tang was concentrating on sorting out the data flow in Shiji.
Earlier in the cafeteria, when the dean of the wingman major got furious about Shi Ji’s leg injury, Yu Tang vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
Shi Ji wanted to talk more with the dean.
It's not that he was completely unaware of the dean's emotions, nor was it that he had no response.
Yu Tang completely switched his sea of consciousness into data mode.
The vast amount of data flows constantly changing and flowing, and ordinary people would feel dizzy after just one glance, but he remained extremely focused, peeling and screening them in an orderly manner.
Finally, he stopped in front of a nested loop program.
That program was set as the highest priority, blocking more subtle data fluctuations.
Those fluctuations could not break through the blockade no matter what, and the quiet cycle slowly dissipated and dispersed into countless data streams again.
It's like it never existed.
…
In reality, Shi Ji was quiet for a while before asking in his usual gentle tone: "Xiao Yi, have you eaten?"
This time even the system sensed something was wrong, and it whispered to Yu Tang: "Host, what did Shi Ji originally want to say just now?"
Yu Tang: "He himself doesn't know."
Shi Ji didn't have time to figure out what he wanted to say.
Those emotions, which he himself did not even know what they were, were strictly blocked by the programs in his body once they arose, and would never be able to pass through that solid barrier.
"It's not that Shi Ji can't have negative emotions." Yu Tang said, "He's just not allowed to ask for help."
The system froze.
Yu Tang found the data set containing the nested program, copied it in its entirety, and moved it into his own sea of consciousness.
Humans are naturally sensitive to negative emotions, and it is impossible for electronic storms to completely eliminate them.
Even Pu Ying, who had lost his most emotional body in the storm, felt "uncomfortable" at the first moment he began to recover.
The program implanted in Shi Ji deleted his ability to say that he was "uncomfortable".
So when Sheng Yi was hysterical and making a fuss, the only things Shi Ji could say were "Are you hungry?" and "Do you want ice in your Coke?"
Because the remaining emotions, those tremors in the deepest part of the body, were strictly blocked and there was no way to express them.
"This program is difficult to remove... If we are not careful, it will destroy Shiji's brain."
Yu Tang said: "We have to let that little—"
The system watched helplessly as Yu Tang's voice turned into a muted prompt: "... What did the host say?"
“… the young of a shelled animal in the class of reptiles, phylum chordata,” said Yu Tang.
system:"… "
"We need to make him shut up." Yu Tang said, "I'm going to go out for a while."
The system was stunned: "What is the host going to do?"
"Shi Ji can't say it or do it, so we can do it for him."
Yu Tang put on his coat: "Ooc for a moment, it's okay, just hide it well."
The system was holding the anti-electric bubble gum, a little anxious: "Host! I won't leave-"
Yu Tang took the bubble gum and put the system into the sack with a built-in small black room.
According to Shi Ji's personality, when Sheng Yi was furious, he would not have any conflict with Sheng Yi. He would only try his best to ease the atmosphere and try to find a way to make Sheng Yi calm down.
It didn't matter if he ignored the call. It was also possible for Shi Ji to listen to Sheng Yi scolding for more than ten minutes as usual, and then hang up the phone quietly after Sheng Yi had vented enough.
After all, Yu Tang’s mission this time is to make Sheng Yi fall into the abyss of despair.
The most powerful and direct way is to ignore these messy trivial matters, endure the humiliation and partner with Zhan Chen, and let Shi Ji's wingman cooperate with the Dolphin to return to the peak.
When that time comes, there will be plenty of ways to force Sheng Yi to see clearly to what extent Shi Ji has been dragged down by him.
…
But there is another way.
On the way back to the top, he temporarily went OOC for five minutes, disobeying the program implanted in Shi Ji and going to beat up Sheng Yi.
This is also very important to Shi Ji.
Every time these emotions were blocked, rejected, and every time they self-dissolved, it caused invisible and serious harm to Shi Ji's body.
Yu Tang prepared two combat skill cards in his sea of consciousness, put on his coat and walked out of the bedroom.
On the phone thrown aside, Sheng Yi was still scolding indiscriminately, and his voice could be faintly heard through the microphone.
Yu Tang didn't care and turned down the volume.
This call was bound to come sooner or later.
Even if Gan Lifei and the others hadn't acted as the trigger, Sheng Yi would have scolded Shi Ji harshly one day - in the original book, this unbridled hysterical attack happened the day after Shi Ji was discharged from the hospital.
The day Shi Ji chose to merge with his wingman.
Shi Ji stayed in the wingman for the whole day. He poured himself an iced Coke, played the violin for himself, and massaged his injured leg carefully, trying to smooth out the scars, but he couldn't do it.
The scars left behind cannot be removed completely.
Yu Tang buttoned up his coat. He knew Zhan Chen was still there, and was about to say hello to him when he walked into the living room, but he didn't see anyone.
The dormitory door was open, and the cool night breeze blew in.
Yu Tang followed the sound and walked to the door.
Zhan Chen sat on the fire extinguisher in the corridor.
He had his back to the door, wearing the glasses he only wore when drawing, and his face was expressionless.
Compared to when he was in the dormitory, he was much more like the weird-tempered "weird guy" and "genius senior" in the original book.
In front of him, Sheng Yi's face was distorted, he was in so much pain that he couldn't make a sound. He hugged one of his legs with both hands and fell to the ground, curled up in a ball.
Zhan Chen lowered his head and asked him: "Did you break the robot I made?"
"You deliberately let your robot attack me!" Sheng Yi stared at him and shouted hoarsely, "Who allowed you to put these dangerous things in the dormitory building?!"
"Are these still dangerous?"
Zhan Chen pushed his glasses up: "How do I know you are such a loser that you can't even beat them."
Sheng Yi's words were all stuck in his throat.
His face flushed red, staring at Zhan Chen who looked indifferent, gritting his teeth: "You—"
Zhan Chen flipped open a notebook as thick as a brick and found a page: "Your disciple's fighting performance ranks first in the academy. A few robots are no match for you."
Zhan Chen said, "I have reason to believe that you can't stand losing, so you made up an excuse and broke your leg on purpose, hoping to put the blame for your final exam on me."
"fart!"
Sheng Yi was in so much pain that he was shaking with anger, and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "I'm here to find Shi Ji!"
Zhan Chen asked: "Didn't you ask someone to hand him over to me?"
"When did I-" Sheng Yi's eyes widened in astonishment. He suddenly remembered what he said at the beginning, and his heart sank unexpectedly, "I just said it casually!"
It was not until this time that Sheng Yi felt real fear in his heart.
He knew better than anyone how obedient Shi Ji was.
Shi Ji would obey all his orders. If he asked Shi Ji to practice without stopping, Shi Ji would practice until he passed out. If he asked Shi Ji to come to the logistics department and it was embarrassing, Shi Ji would of course pack up and come to the logistics department.
But he asked Shi Ji to come to Zhan Chen—
"He is my observation man, how could I possibly give it to you!"
Sheng Yi struggled to get up: "Let Shi Ji come out!"
Sheng Yi screamed: "I want to see him, I have something to say to him! He only obeys my orders! I—"
The rest of his words were muffled by a hand.
Zhan Chen covered his mouth, picked up Sheng Yi and threw him into the pile of semi-finished robots.
Zhan Chen stood up: "He is not your observer anymore, he is mine..."
Sheng Yi widened his eyes in horror, he could no longer hear what was said next.
Sheng Yi went upstairs to find Shi Ji, but as soon as he reached this floor, he suffered a lot from these glowing red iron lumps.
These robots will not stop. If Zhan Chen leaves, he will have to stay with these iron lumps that don't feel pain and have flashing red lights all night.
Sheng Yi struggled desperately to call for help, but before he could make a sound, he was skillfully thrown to the ground by one of the fighting robots.
Zhan Chen pushed his glasses, closed his notebook, stood up and went back to the dormitory.