Zhan Chen's original appearance was actually slightly different from that of his senior who majored in logistics.
In other words, it was not until the integration of Zhan Chen's own data that the Frankenstein, who was only mentioned briefly in the original novel as "gloomy and lonely", finally added real and tangible warmth.
The real Zhan Chen, at first glance, appears to be much calmer and gentler.
But it only seems so.
Unlike the special forces' standard uniforms which were mainly black, his uniform was mostly pure white, with the discipline buttons also in the same silver-gray color scheme, and the cuffs and lining were a restrained and appropriate navy blue with thin gold lines drawn on them.
Zhan Chen's figure was solid. He stretched out his hand and took the mecha into his arms.
The military uniform was straight, concealing the smooth and strong muscles. Although he looked gentle and refined on the surface, he still exuded an irresistible heroic spirit.
When he saw his military uniform clearly, Shi Ji suddenly let out a soft "eh".
Yu Tang had not yet fully adapted to the body of the mecha. After groping for a long time, he finally put himself into the mecha's arms and supported himself between Zhan Chen's arms.
For some reason, the world seemed upside down before his eyes.
Knowing that Shi Ji was driving his wingman like a windmill, Yu Tang didn't pay attention to this upside-down world. He took two tentative steps and opened the communication: "What's wrong?"
"No." Shi Ji said, "Mr. Yu... wore it backwards."
Yu Tang: “?”
Zhan Chen coughed lightly and turned over the mecha that was walking upside down on his arm.
Yu Tang: “…”
The original host, whose identity had just been exchanged, became furious and seized control, temporarily blocking the outside world's direct observation of the sea of consciousness.
…
Under Zhan Chen's patient guidance, Yu Tang spent twice as much extra time and finally turned around through the iron lumps with his arms and legs inserted incorrectly and moved back to the correct direction.
The upside-down world finally returned to normal.
"It's not your problem."
Zhan Chen patiently explained: "As for the data, it only needs to be directly connected to the control center of the mecha. There is no need to consider whether the head is on the top or the bottom like humans do."
Yu Tang was very grateful for his comfort. He jumped up and knocked Senior Zhan's face hard with his head.
Zhan Chen coughed lightly, suppressed his smile, and casually drew a floating ball of light.
In the violently fluctuating sea of consciousness, he seemed unaffected. He placed the mecha model steadily on the workbench and sat in front of it.
Just like Yu Tang making skill cards, there are no restrictions of the real world in the sea of consciousness, and making physical objects is almost like some kind of wonderful magic.
Wherever Zhan Chen touched, three-dimensional lines extended rapidly from points to lines and converged into shape in the three-dimensional space.
Yu Tang sat on the ball of light, practicing diligently and attentively on controlling the mecha.
Zhan Chen said in a gentle voice: "Don't worry, Shi Ji is in good condition."
He noticed that the mecha was still trying to turn its head to look at the light screen, so he took the time to reach out and help turn the light ball slightly.
Zhan Chen: "He just cooperated with the Dolphin to dismantle more than a dozen mechanical bugs... The AI intelligent control program you made is far more powerful than we thought."
Yu Tang remained unmoved and stretched out his arms calmly.
"According to the current battle situation, we will be able to safely survive this insect swarm crisis after daybreak."
Zhan Chen said: "Wait a moment, I'll make breakfast for you two."
Yu Tang shook his legs grimly.
Zhan Chen modeled the general shape of the swing: "What color do you want?"
Yu Tang: “…”
Yu Tang couldn't resist the question: "Silver."
Zhan Chen raised his eyes, a quiet and gentle smile appeared in his eyes again, and he touched the head of the little mecha.
He looked at the little mecha working hard and whispered, "Do you remember—"
Yu Tang asked, "What?"
Zhan Chen paused for a moment and changed his words temporarily: "Shi Ji just said that Sheng Tiancheng's house belongs to Sheng Xiao."
"Remember." Yu Tang was also thinking about this. "I also asked Team Zhuang before whether they could confirm whether Sheng Tiancheng was dead or alive."
There is a logical deadlock here.
If Sheng Tiancheng really died in the insect tide, according to the requirements of the anti-OOC system, Shi Ji, as an observer, must have died before the main mecha was destroyed.
Shi Ji was able to come back alive, which meant that according to the observers' judgment, Sheng Tiancheng was unlikely to have died in that insect tide.
Although what Shi Ji wanted to say just now was interrupted by the sudden tide of mecha beetles, it undoubtedly proved this point.
"Let's not talk about why Sheng Tiancheng disappeared. What is his real purpose in deliberately setting up this smoke bomb?"
Yu Tang said: "Based on what we know so far, we can at least be sure of one thing."
Zhan Chen put down the screwdriver in his hand: "There are still people from this faction in the military."
Yu Tang nodded.
Regardless of whether Sheng Tiancheng was dead or not, in the military's external statements, Sheng Yi's father had been judged to have been sacrificed.
Because he is the orphan of a sacrificed soldier, Sheng Yi was given the green light all the way. Even though he had caused so much trouble, he was still able to participate in this exercise with his mecha.
But at the same time, all the property left by Sheng's father, even if not transferred to Shi Jiming as the guardian, should at least be temporarily sealed and handed over to Sheng Yi after he comes of age.
If none of the above were true, the current situation should not have occurred.
"Unless there are still people in the military covering up for Sheng Tiancheng."
Yu Tang had gradually mastered the trick. He propped up the light ball and sat cross-legged: "I have been wondering what plots this book has hidden from me."
Zhan Chen watched his movements, his eyes warmed up, and he reached out to take the mecha.
Yu Tang still wanted to prove his athletic ability, so he waved his hand, shakily stood up from the ball of light, held his breath, and prepared to jump onto the swing himself.
The wingman was shaken by the change in airflow caused by the insect swarm.
Yu Tang's momentum was suddenly interrupted, his feet slipped, and he fell headfirst: "..."
Zhan Chen's voice sounded gently: "Focus."
Yu Tang was slightly startled.
Zhan Chen held the mecha, measured the distance between the two sides, stretched out his hand, and made a springboard for him.
…
A brief picture suddenly flashed through Yu Tang's mind.
He hid in some corner, refusing to show his light or come out.
Zhan Chen extended his hand to him.
There was a hint of anxiety in those moist, dark eyes that wasn't there usually, but they were still as focused and serious as usual.
It seemed like he would never be able to resist those eyes - Zhan Chen was never like other humans, staring at him with greed or fear, treating him as a treasure they wanted to possess, or a disaster they had to avoid.
He jumped out, landed on Zhan Chen's palm, and then dived into Zhan Chen's arms.
He wanted to bring Zhan Chen back home, but he knew he couldn't do that.
All the treasures he liked and brought back were gradually swallowed up and dissolved by the electronic storm, becoming part of the electronic storm and disappearing in it forever.
…
Zhan Chen's voice brought him back from his memories.
Yu Tang sat firmly on the swing and raised his head.
The shaking of his sea of consciousness was cushioned by the two pendulums of the swing, and the remaining vibration was very small, which finally allowed him to temporarily escape from the dizzy state.
"What do you want to ask?" Zhan Chen asked.
Yu Tang stopped exploring his memories for the moment, regained his composure, and thought about it.
He had doubts about whether the plot could be solved.
After Shi Ji was sacrificed, Ye Hanfeng was the most gifted observer. Born into a military family, he had the typical arrogance of a military kid and would only submit to the truly strong.
According to the plot, Sheng Yi has a chance to be destroyed by the opponent in the attack and grow again.
But because of Ye Hanfeng's pride, he was not willing to stop for such a person.
"Given Ye Hanfeng's personality, why didn't he give up on Sheng Yi? Is it just because the top and bottom of the protagonist must be together?"
Yu Tang remembered Zhan Chen's identity, and without waiting for his answer, he added in time: "It doesn't matter if you can't say it."
Zhan Chen was about to speak, but paused when he heard this, apologetically saying, "In principle, I really can't say it."
Yu Tang was prepared for this and nodded.
He has discovered the rules and logic of Chuanshuju.
The system has no conditions to access it, nor can it actively provide hidden information to the host. Even the entire plot of the deleted version requires the host to actively exchange experience points to obtain it.
When it comes to completing tasks, the actual punishment imposed on employees is minimal, just the deduction of experience points and a minor ban on speaking. The worst that can happen is just a quarter's salary going down the drain.
Compared to the human "host", the real restrictions of the bookstore are data and systems.
… In other words, Chuanshuju can only restrict data and systems.
Yu Tang was not eager to continue exploring this question. He was ready to change the subject and chat with Zhan Chen about breakfast after school: "I want to eat chocolate..."
"In principle," Zhan Chen said, "we cannot tell the host any hidden information."
Zhan Chen: "For example, as long as the host does not ask, we cannot proactively tell you where the most favorable discount coupons are, which products have price fluctuations and increases, and which randomly listed products can be snapped up for a single experience point. The quicker you act, the better."
"..." Yu Tang always bought at the original price, and was suddenly shocked: "Is there a coupon?"
Zhan Chen: "There is a 70% discount, there is no upper limit."
Yu Tang: “…”
Zhan Chen: "You can also do group buying, with a 10% discount, and get 10 experience points back for every 100 experience points you spend."
Yu Tang: “…”
Zhan Chen looked at him with a faint smile in his eyes, and continued: "There are still some questions that we cannot answer even if the host consults us."
But as we all know, the criteria for judging whether a book is a good book or not have always been very old-fashioned and rigid.
The system is simply not allowed to give an answer.
"For example, if you were to ask me, in the original novel, did the strength of the military conservatives completely overwhelm the reformists, and did this indirectly lead to Ye Xi's fall from power?"
"Did they support Sheng Yi as a new puppet? Did Ye Hanfeng choose to be an observer for Sheng Yi in order to protect the few remaining reformists?"
"Back then, the spearhead team was killed in the electronic storm. The decline of Zhuangyu over the years was caused not only by those ambitious mad scientists, but also by the conservatives who colluded with them for their own selfish interests."
Zhan Chen met Yu Tang's gaze and blinked: "... I can't answer these questions."
Yu Tang cleared his throat, but couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing.
He hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time. The smile seemed to well up from the deepest part of the aurora. Something that had been restraining him was cut off cleanly and thoroughly in the warm and pure voice.
The mecha couldn't make too many movements. Yu Tang rubbed his eyes with the stiff mechanical arm and swung twice on the swing.
"Senior Zhan," Yu Tang said, "I have another question."
Zhan Chen had given him the answer to this question.
When he refused to shine anymore and hid himself in the corner under the sofa, and even biscuits and hot milk could not coax him out.
Zhan Chen put the small white porcelain bowl aside and gave him the most accurate answer very seriously and without question.
He has always insisted on doing what Zhan Chen said.
Patrol the electronic storm once a year and throw out everything you can see.
Try to stay away from people, collect and save the particles scattered in the electron storm, and wait to return them to the owner.
Not attracted by the familiar electronic pulse frequency, that was not a companion, but the generator that induced his appearance.
…
He remembered Zhan Chen's words very clearly. He believed that Zhan Chen was not lying. No matter how those people in white coats and military uniforms described the electronic storm, he no longer cared.
He just couldn't help but want to listen to it again.
He wanted to hear Zhan Chen coax him again.
Yu Tang closed his eyes, hiding in the quiet space created by Zhan Chen, and said in a hoarse voice: "It's the people who are bad, and Electronic Storm didn't make any mistakes... right?"