C112 —[5.7 — False Them]

The song ended quickly.

 

 

 

During the singer’s break, a fan noticed the rose in Jiu Shu’s jacket pocket.

 

 

The bright red rose was especially noticeable today, as Jiu Shu wore a simple white shirt and trousers.

 

 

This made many fans think that Jiu Shu loved roses.

 

 

Soon, the vicinity of the stage where Jiu Shu was projecting was filled with colourful roses that surrounded the entire stage in a cluster of flowers.

 

 

Those were high-grade roses that were even more delicate and colourful than the flowers Zero Three had gifted.

 

 

 

It was something that a low-status bionic like Zero Three couldn’t even buy with money.

 

 

Jiu Shu looked happy.

 

 

He looked like he liked those roses.

 

 

Zero Three looked at the smile on Jiu Shu’s lips, somewhat out of his mind, and his fingers subconsciously tightened.

 

 

Standing in the shadows of the audience, he could only look at those humans under the lights cheering at Jiu Shu without fear.

 

 

Humans had always been more direct and reckless than the bionic’s restraint.

 

 

 

There were many people screaming their love, “I love you!!!”

 

 

“Jiu Shu, ah ah ah!”

 

 

The bar seemed to have instantly turned into a personal concert filled with screams.

 

 

The human idol on the stage also smiled and looked at the crowd below the stage.

 

 

 

Under the lights, the young human’s black hair and red lips formed a strong visual impact.

 

 

Catalysed by Jiu Shu’s song, it was like the most powerful stimulant, making the people around even more excited.

 

 

 

In the crowd of spectators, Zero Three was still quietly looking at Jiu Shu, who was unable to take his eyes off the audience.

 

 

Zero Three’s performance was far less exciting than the rest of the audience.

 

 

 

The emotional stabilisation mechanism of the new model of bionic humans would stabilise the emotions of the bionic human when it was in an emotional state, so as not to overload the body and burn out the central system.

 

 

That was why he seemed out of place with the humans around him.

 

 

Compared to their fervour for Jiu Shu, Zero Three was more like a stranger who had no feelings for him.

 

 

However, he never took his eyes off of him.

 

 

It was as if he was trying to record every single image of Jiu Shu.

 

 

It wasn’t until the end of tonight’s performance, when Jiu Shu stopped playing the strings with his fingertips, that Zero Three withdrew his gaze and looked at the time.

 

 

 

Today’s mission was to spy on members of the resistance.

 

 

But it was already close to midnight, and he still hadn’t found those bionics.

 

 

 

This kind of work efficiency was considered unprofessional by Zero Three, who had always been dedicated to his job.

 

 

 

In response, he could only find a reason in his mind.

 

 

 

It was because those bionics were too cunning and didn’t appear today.

 

 

 

“Bye.”

 

 

 

On the stage, the young idol, whose eyes were impeccably beautiful, held a smile on his lips, his peach blossom-like eyes curving up in a mesmerising way.

 

 

He then turned off the projection and disappeared from the stage.

 

 

All of them were disappointed and depressed.

 

 

After a night of listening to Jiu Shu’s songs, it was hard to accept the loss of that beautiful voice, making people a little uncomfortable.

 

 

Ignoring these disoriented humans around him, Zero Three tapped the screen of his mobile phone and looked at the songs he had recorded before putting them away after a long time.

 

 

He took one last look at those randomly placed roses on the stage and turned around to leave the bar.

 

 

As opposed to the young human who had just sparkled on the stage, his figure gradually faded into the darkness, so dim that no one noticed his departure.

 

 

 

Inside the apartment building, Jiu Shu finished his performance for the day.

 

 

Removing the live streaming device from his ear, he rubbed his brow a little wearily.

 

 

 

Recently, he had been busy investigating the background information of this world and was slightly tired.

 

 

 

The intensification of the conflict between humans and bionics in this world was, in the end, the cause of class solidification; the upper and lower classes of humans had almost become two opposing races, each with their own interests.

 

 

 

Bionics had become a victim of the two.

 

 

The upper class continued to create bionics to facilitate their own lives, while the lives of the lower class were constantly being squeezed, causing the conflict between humans and bionics to become deeper and deeper.

 

 

The government, influenced by the upper class, also sat back and did nothing.

 

 

As long as it didn’t affect the interests of the upper class, it allowed the conflicts to intensify.

 

 

This resulted in the poor becoming more and more depraved and the government treating the poor less and less like human beings.

 

 

 

Such a contradiction stemmed from the deep-rooted class nature of human society and was quite insoluble.

 

 

Therefore, in the original story, the bionic human resistance army at their wits’ end created a half-baked artificial intelligence in a vain attempt to subvert the rule and get rid of human control.

 

 

But it was a failure.

 

 

As bionics, their fate was never up to them.

 

 

If no other force intervened in the fate of the object of discipline, then even if he didn’t die because of the heroine, he would have been sent to the robot graveyard as his useful life expired.

 

 

Doing the math, the new model of Bionics was already on sale when the original novel’s object of discipline received the email.

 

 

 

After receiving the email, he went against the norm and threw away his past sanity, impulsively giving everything he had for a strange human’s request.

 

 

Perhaps it was also due to the realisation that his lifespan was coming to an end.

 

 

 

In the process of fighting hard for the heroine, he thought he had finally become a bionic being cared for by humans, but in the end, he was still just an abandoned tool.

 

 

Jiu Shu’s fingertips gently stroked the wilting roses in the vase.

 

 

He hoped he’d be happier this time.

 

 

 

[Downtown Light! A voice even more beautiful than Lian Qi’s!]

 

 

 

On the mobile phone, the headlines of the news were filled with exaggerated exclamation marks.

 

 

After clicking on the news, it was also filled with words of extreme praise, all of which were used to describe an ordinary idol from the Lower City.

 

 

 

When an underground idol from the lower city was associated with the description of a beautiful singing voice, it was inevitable that people would think that the news was hinting at something.

 

 

 

Something about body trading.

 

 

After all, underground idols were the ones who would sell their bodies for money and do many things that broke through the lower line, and in this era where money was the most important thing, such transactions were a normal thing.

 

 

 

In any case, it wouldn’t be thought that a singer with a voice comparable to that of a current famous star had actually appeared in the lower city.

 

 

 

But it wasn’t until the viewers clicked on the video link in the news and heard that person’s gentle singing voice that they truly understood the meaning of the so-called wonderful singing voice.

 

 

It was indeed a voice that was even more beautiful than that of Lian Qi.

 

 

The song could almost be called beautiful.

 

 

 

Just listening to him singing was a pleasure.

 

 

 

It wasn’t that there weren’t singers in the past who liked to sing classical music, but this singer’s voice was extraordinarily different.

 

 

There was an incredibly compelling feeling that made anyone who heard the song uncontrollably enthralled.

 

 

 

[I almost thought I was drugged; I listened to it over and over again. It’s obviously a very old-fashioned song, but I just think it’s so good; even the original singer didn’t sing as well as him!]

 

 

[He’s everything compared to Lian Qi. Lian Qi is just making a fool of herself.]

 

 

[Don’t make too much noise upstairs, or Lian Qi’s fans will come along for the ride.]

 

 

[I used to love to listen to heavy metal rock; I never thought I’d have a day when I could listen to old songs in a single song cycle; it’s really good; I want to know where he is; I want to see him!]

 

 

The comment section under the news was densely packed with many comments, most of which were praising the human idol for his beautiful singing voice.

 

 

Occasionally, they would argue over the news headlines about Lian Qi.

 

 

Lian Qi was one of the most famous singers in uptown today.

 

 

 

As a legitimate singer, being used as a comparison to a downtown idol was indeed considered insulting.

 

 

Especially since Lian Qi’s new song had recently been released and the popularity was at its peak, now that such news appeared, there was indeed a suspicion of foul play.

 

 

 

But this was just a gossip tabloid, and it didn’t attract much attention.

 

 

 

Just with the spread of Jiu Shu-related videos on the internet, they had gradually gained a considerable amount of popularity, and perhaps they would accumulate in the future.

 

 

Zero Three looked at the news on his mobile phone, his gaze sweeping through the comments that were constantly confessed to Jiu Shu.

 

 

 

Only after a long time did he raise his head and look at the holographic projection on the building across the street.

 

 

 

It was the promotion of a new song by singer Lian Qi.

 

 

The young human woman with long, fiery red hair had a bright expression as she greeted the crowd walking under the building.

 

 

Lian Qi had always been known for being bright and unpretentious, her most popular personality trait among her fans.

 

 

 

After all, with Seven Two, the bionic who loved to chase stars, after staying by his side, even Zero Three, who didn’t follow the entertainment world, had heard of her.

 

 

 

But her looks weren’t as good as Jiu Shu’s, and her voice wasn’t as good as Jiu Shu’s.

 

 

 

The magnified holographic projection could only show the flaws in her face.

 

 

Her eyes and mouth that had undergone adjustments were obvious.

 

 

 

Zero Three thought about this and looked at the surveillance screen on his mobile phone again.

 

 

 

There wasn’t a single spot on the monitor where Jiu Shu, who was doing exercises to stretch his muscles in the room, he was perfect, and there was absolutely no trace of artificiality.

 

 

 

Even if there were, it didn’t matter, because he was perfect, even better than that so-called popular female singer.

 

 

 

Zero Three wasn’t a fan of anyone; he simply felt that way.

 

 

After saving all the news clips and videos from the news about Jiu Shu, Zero Three then put away his mobile phone.

 

He was currently holding a large bouquet of roses in his hands.

 

As a bionic, it was true that he couldn’t buy flowers that were too high-class, and he couldn’t even enter the doors of those rich district shops.

 

 

But he tried his best to pick what he thought were the freshest flowers.

 

 

 

Each and every flower was carefully selected.

 

 

Looking down at the flowers in his hands, after a pause, Zero Three looked again at the paper flowers placed beside him.

 

 

That was the rose paper flower that he had only finished making this afternoon.

 

 

Although he subconsciously felt that Jiu Shu might like paper flowers, Zero Three was still a bit hesitant after this evening.

 

 

Compared to the flowers given by those human fans, the paper flowers he had made with his own hands seemed too humble.

 

So Zero Three still bought a bunch of flowers.

 

 

His pale fingers picked up the paper flower he had made.

 

 

 

Turning it gently, the petals spread out in layers, soft and light, just like real flowers.

 

 

Would he like it?

 

 

 

Zero Three was silent as he carefully placed the paper flower into a handful of real flowers.

 

 

If he didn’t like it, then at least there were these real flowers to make up for it.

 

 

 

On the dimly lit streets, Jiu Shu was casually strolling around.

 

 

 

The lower city wasn’t as busy as the upper city; there would even be a night market during the evening hours.

 

 

 

After staying in the room for a long time, it was necessary to come out for a stroll once in a while.

 

 

Jiu Shu walked between the stalls and watched the vendors sell the goods from their stalls, only a pair of beautiful eyes showing on his masked face.

 

 

 

His dark orbs glittered with light in the reflection of the cold lamps on the side of the street.

 

 

“Found him.”

 

 

Not far behind Jiu Shu, a bionic man, also wearing a mask, stared at him.

 

 

A syringe filled with anaesthetic was also in his hand.

 

 

He looked at the target of the mission, Jiu Shu, and raised his steps to slowly approach.

 

To humans, even the older models of bionics had a great power that they couldn’t fight against, and that was the reason why they were gradually eliminated by the bionics.

 

 

 

To the bionic man, this defenceless human was easy to deal with and would be at his mercy with just a single shot.

 

 

But just as he was about to get close to Jiu Shu, a large, pale hand covered the lower half of his face.

 

 

 

The huge difference in strength prevented him from even resisting; he was unable to make a single sound, and he was instantly dragged into the dark alley next to him.

 

 

The black-haired, black-eyed human idol seemed to hear movement, and he twisted his head to look behind him.

 

 

 

Under the cold light, there was only the empty street and the silent alley next to it.

 

 

 

There was no one.

 

 

Jiu Shu looked for a few moments before he withdrew his gaze thoughtfully and continued walking towards the front.

 

 

It was time to go home and rest now.

 

 

“Uh-uh…”

 

 

The bionic man struggled with some alarm, wondering how he had suddenly been dragged into the alley.

 

 

Raising his eyes, he only saw a pair of dark, dead eyes behind him.

 

 

His pale skin grew paler in the darkness.

 

 

It was Zero Three!

 

 

Zero Three was actually following that human!

 

 

 

As a member of the Resistance, he had also heard of this bionic that specialised in hunting his own kind.

 

 

He was indeed the embodiment of the most advanced technology of humanity, with unparalleled power compared to old models, and he seemed even more horrible upon close contact.

 

 

But why did he appear here?

 

 

Why was he following an unknown human? Shouldn’t he be on a mission?

 

 

The bionic man, who was still unaware of the resistance’s leaked plans, struggled desperately.

 

 

It was only after a crisp clicking sound that his eyes widened, and he fell limply to the ground.

 

 

 

The last thing reflected in his pupils was the pale, cold face of the tall man behind him, looking down expressionlessly.

 

 

 

Zero Three looked at the remains of this bionic human, whose central control system had been destroyed, and carefully wiped the artificial blood between his fingers with a paper towel.

 

 

 

Only then did he pick up the rose that was placed aside.

 

 

 

He had to hurry up, or he’d be late.

 

 

Inside the apartment building.

 

 

Jiu Shu stepped out from inside the shabby lift door and caught a glimpse of the roses outside the door of his room.

 

 

Still dainty, real flowers.

 

 

Snap-snap-snap.

 

 

 

The human approached the roses.

 

 

Zero Three calmly watched the human’s back, his gaze sweeping over the tips of the snow-white ears that showed through his hair, and then withdrew.

 

 

He was a little afraid to look at the expression on Jiu Shu’s face when he received the roses.

 

 

 

For the time being, there seemed to be nothing special to give.

 

 

Jiu Shu stopped in his tracks and picked up the roses on the doorknob as usual.

 

 

The fact that it wasn’t on the floor this time was an improvement.

 

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