The charred ground at my feet was still steaming, with a layer of black ash covering it.
Qin Minghui was still a little frightened and looked towards 01 on the hillside. The muzzle of the gun that appeared from his eyes was flashing in the sun, and then quickly shrank back into the depths and closed.
Qin Minghui squatted down and rubbed her trembling legs.
She was scared to death!
All the people infected with blood-sucking worms in these houses were eliminated by 01. Now looking at these stone and mud houses standing at the foot of the green hillside, Qin Minghui could not see the fresh country flavor, but only felt that there was something hidden in those houses with half-open doors.
01Walking over from the hillside, squatting next to the houses, looking down at these toy-like little houses.
Under his gaze, Qin Minghui barely dared to go into the rooms and take a look.
The simple house had a strange smell, few things, nothing to eat, and looked shabby and gloomy. All the windows of the house were sealed with wooden bars and cloth, and the only exit of the house was a door.
According to the movie, people in this world are threatened by schistosomiasis, which they believe can be spread through air, water, and even light, so people who cannot live in a safe zone will try to stay in a closed, dark room.
In that movie, the screen mostly follows the perspective of the protagonist, who is trapped beside Huo Lan and Huo Yin. What Qin Minghui saw the most was the safe zone where Huo Lan was. The part exposed above the ground was firmly covered by a huge pot-lid-like building. People lived underground and never saw the sun all year round.
The cosmic creature that brings schistosomiasis is the bloodworm. It is a flying arthropod that is bright red all over, looks very strange, and is huge in size. One bloodworm is as big as a building.
They will appear and reproduce on a large scale in the spring, flapping their wings and patrolling in the air. Wherever they pass, people will be infected with schistosomiasis if they do not take any protective measures. Even if they take protective measures, there is still a certain chance of being infected.
People are afraid of the disease and most of them gather in safe areas, hiding underground and rarely coming out.
But there are always some people who live in remote areas and cannot leave their hometowns, or are too poor... For various reasons, they stay on the ground outside the safe zone.
The schistosomiasis was brought to this planet by bloodworms, but within a hundred years, people had already gotten used to living in underground caves.
Qin Minghui has seen that movie, but a movie cannot show the whole world. The movie does not mention what kind of life the humans who remain on the ground lead.
Qin Minghui never experienced it personally because of the screen between them, but the blood-sucking worms just now and the empty and quiet house now made her see the tragedy happening in the corner that was not shown in the movie.
[01. It would be great if there was a way to cure schistosomiasis.]
Qin Minghui picked up a bowl that had fallen to the ground and put it back on the table beside her.
[Little lady, you will recover.]
Qin Minghui was stunned for a moment before she remembered that her current body had been infected with schistosomiasis.
If she had not chosen to die and destroy her body before losing her mind like Qin Ledan, she would sooner or later become like those people, still driven by schistosomiasis after death and become a terrible person.
[I'm not worried about myself.]
She already knew the ending.
[I just think that it is too uncomfortable to stay underground or hide in such a dark place for the rest of your life. If you were asked to stay in a dark place forever, would you be happy?]
If she had to choose, she would rather be infected, live outside in the wind and sun, and look at the flowers and green grass for a few years, than hide underground for a hundred years.
But her choice is destined not to be the choice of most people. If everyone is like her, the human race will perish.
[Little Miss, I will neither be happy nor unhappy.]
[Okay, so do you like the view outside, or do you prefer the darkness?]
[Little Miss likes it, 01 doesn’t.]
[Okay, then tell me, which is better, bright colors or all black?]
[Miss, according to my analysis, bright colors should be more beautiful.]
[Yes, that's it. People like beautiful things. If you think bright colors are beautiful, then you like the scenery outside more. If you like the scenery outside more, then you would rather stay outside.]
Qin Minghui defeated the stupid robot 01 with her logic.
[Little Miss, you are right, 01 understands again.]
While talking to him, Qin Minghui felt the heavy weight on her heart slowly disappear and she felt a little more relaxed.
Walking out of the empty dark room, Qin Minghui raised her hand to her forehead and looked at the bright green in the distance under the sun. Suddenly, she thought:
[01. If there is no way to cure schistosomiasis, how about killing all the bloodworms that spread schistosomiasis?]
The weak girl, whose legs had just gone limp from being frightened by a few blood-sucking insects, made a suggestion.
[Okay, little miss.] 01Robot unconditional support.
In the movie, 01 also killed bloodworms that flew near the safe zone under the instruction of Huo Lan Huo Yin. Only a killing machine like 01 can deal with that thing.
But there were too many bloodworms and there was only one 01. The enraged bloodworms swarmed to the safe zone and broke through the safe zone's solid protective shield, causing a large number of people to be infected with schistosomiasis.
[Forget it, there is only one 01, and he can't kill all those bloodworms.]
If we can't wipe them all out, it will become a tragedy. Qin Minghui couldn't help but say, "It would be great if there were many 01s."
[Miss, 01 can be upgraded.]
Qin Minghui paused and looked back at him in surprise.
[Yes! 01 You can become even more powerful. After I help you unlock the disabled templates, maybe you can learn to become even more powerful by yourself. Then we may try to do this! ]
Qin Minghui made a heart shape with her hands towards him, "01 you are amazing, I have found something new to do."
She felt that she came into this world for some unknown reason, but she should do something.
Finding food and keeping herself alive was the survival task before her. Trying to figure out the interface of 01, understand the contents of the notebook, and unlock the disabled templates of 01 was driven by her personal interests and hobbies.
But now, she felt that she might be able to find a way to do something for the people in this world who could only hide underground, such as upgrading 01, turning it into the most powerful robot, and then getting rid of those bloodworms so that people could return to live on the ground.
This was a task she took the initiative to do.
“… Am I a little too fanciful?” Qin Minghui asked quietly after the excitement died down.
[No, little lady, 01 will help you.]
Qin Minghui covered her chest with her hands, moved. "01, you are so nice. If you were a human, I would definitely fall in love with you."
01 was stuck, reacted for a while, and gave a reply.
[Little Miss, thank you for your kindness and praise. 01 will work hard to become a human.]
Qin Minghui was amused by him and laughed.
"Very good, 01, keep working hard." Qin Minghui climbed onto his hand, "Let's go, let's keep moving forward."
Soon, the huge robot left the empty houses behind.
Qin Minghui did not return to the room in his chest, but sat on his hand, feeling the wind.
People in this world live in a terrible way, but this world is still beautiful. The sky is a clear blue without any haze, clear rivers and streams can be seen everywhere, and there is no pollution.
Plants are growing vigorously, the green of life is everywhere, trees are towering, and animals can be seen everywhere.
01The noise of his movement was too loud, and any animal that was slightly alert would flee in a hurry when he approached. As a result, the only animals Qin Minghui could see clearly were the numerous wild rabbits on the grass - they were the ones most likely to be frightened and stop in place.
Apart from the regular carnivorous rabbits, the only food Qin Minghui could find were various wild fruits.
[Miss, 01 scanned and found red fruit ahead.]
[Great, let’s go take a look.]
01It can be used to scan enemies and is also very convenient for finding food.
Qin Minghui came to the slope and found it full of wild strawberries. The red fruits were hidden under the leaves, and they were not obvious when looking down from above. But when she ran to the bottom of the slope and looked up, the countless little red fruits suddenly became visible!
Qin Minghui shouted happily and ran over to pick a lot of them.
01 squatted and watched her as usual. He couldn't help with this delicate work. However, when he saw how happy the little lady was, he came to a conclusion - he liked these red wild strawberries.
Yes, he likes it.
Because according to the little lady's logic, she was happy about the wild strawberries—she liked the wild strawberries very much—the wild strawberries that were liked were beautiful—he should also like beautiful things—he liked wild strawberries.
"01, look, there are so many wild strawberries!" Qin Minghui put the wild strawberries that she couldn't put down in her hand into the depression of 01's palm.
[Yes, little miss, 01 likes wild strawberries.]
Qin Minghui blinked, "Do you like wild strawberries?"
[Yes, little miss.]
Qin Minghui looked at the slope full of wild strawberries and quickly suggested: "In this case, how about we plant some wild strawberries on you?"
She thought that they still had to move forward and couldn't stay here forever, so she simply dug some wild strawberries and planted them on 01's body. He was so big that there were many places on his body that could be used to plant things, such as the top of his head, which had a depression like a small balcony.
Plant some wild strawberries there so she'll always have them!
Qin Minghui is good at flower arrangement and has some interest in gardening. She is confident that she can grow these wild strawberries well.
01 of course agreed, and most of the time, he would just say, "Yes, young lady."
After reaching a pleasant consensus, the top of robot 01's head was requisitioned by Qin Minghui, who used a bucket brought from the house to water the wild strawberries.
[01, Is it okay for me to water you? Are you waterproof?]
Qin Minghui was a little worried, fearing that smoke would come out of 01's head in a while.
[It's okay, little miss, 01 is waterproof.]
With wild strawberries as the beginning, it was only natural that new plants would be planted on 01's head. Qin Minghui watered her "balcony crops" every day and asked 01, the person in question (the robot), if he felt any discomfort.
Before, she always felt like a warrior driving a Gundam, but since plants started growing on 01's head, she no longer had that feeling.
Although she had nothing, and this could be said to be the most miserable life Qin Minghui had ever lived since she was born, she still felt quite happy. At least her robot was very nice to her and talked in an interesting way, which made her not feel lonely. Moreover, her balcony was very beautiful and bore many fruits.