C124 —- [5.19– False Them]
by UntamedSBonus Chap
Thanks for the ko-fi 🌟🌟🌟flyingulls🌟🌟💛
The building covered an area of just under two kilometers of radiation.
In other words, all the bionics in the building now knew his secret.
All of them would tell the truth to Jiu Shu.
Tell the truth that he was hiding his true identity and trying to hurt his colleague.
Click-
Zero Three crushed the chip in his hand and let the bl-ood bubble out of his palm, it fell and gathered into a pool of blo-od on the ground.
At the same time, Adam’s data within the Resistance stronghold skyrocketed once again.
“Found it! Found Adam’s location! It’s right here!”
The Resistance researchers were ecstatic; they finally followed Adam’s mental fluctuations to find the location of his consciousness.
The researcher pointed to a red dot on the screen.
The location was exactly where the rotten building was.
The reason they were able to find it was because Adam now had a great deal of malice towards the bionic consciousness in this area.
A malice that wanted to destroy them all.
“We need to hurry; Adam’s mood isn’t right.”
Resistance leader Cory looked at the data on the screen with a heavy expression.
Through those chaotic data streams, it was as if they could see a bionic consciousness on the verge of madness.
Once it really went mad, they couldn’t undo it all.
Especially this time, Adam’s malice didn’t only seem to be directed at humans but also many bionics.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the researchers’ suppression, Adam would have broken through the defenses and attacked the targets.
What had happened to make Adam so agitated and so hateful of his own kind?
Cory didn’t know; all he could do now was send more people to find Adam’s consciousness.
And destroy those existences that made Adam’s emotions fluctuate.
*
“The main purpose of this program is to let you all experience the life of the poor.”
The director of the program stood beside the camera and explained so.
The real purpose was certainly not just that.
It was mainly for the program’s ratings.
Their program’s ratings hadn’t been good lately, and they had to chase the trending topics to gain traffic.
For this reason, they even went so far as to invite all the underground idols from the lower city.
For the always-arrogant uptown media, this was really the next best thing.
With this in mind, the gazes of the program team couldn’t help but fall on the young man not far away.
A video that exploded in popularity in the past two days made this young man appear in the public’s view.
The beauty of the youth in the video was really amazing.
But that ID photo was far from satisfactory.
Now, after seeing him in reality, they realized that the masked Jiu Shu was even more beautiful than the one shown in the video.
The fact that he was wearing a mask and was even more beautiful than the one shown in the video made people want to see what he looked like underneath the mask.
They didn’t know if he was really as mediocre and almost ugly as the ID photos circulating online.
However, it was best not to immediately reveal the highlights of the program.
The program director understood this very well.
So he didn’t ask Jiu Shu to take off the mask but was prepared to wait until the right time to get it off.
For example, he’d ask Jiu Shu to take off his mask after admitting his preference for bionics and disregard for humans in front of the camera, showing his mean face.
This way, the contrast between beauty and ugliness was more exciting to get the best effect.
“It’s already on. Next, we’ll introduce the arriving guests to all the viewers.”
The program team invited five or six guests.
Most of them were half-popular, not popular, or used to set off the main character of the stars, in which Jiu Shu had the lowest status of them all.
The person with the highest status was the big star, Lian Qi.
Lian Qi was standing with a singer of similar status to herself, and the two of them were talking and laughing.
“I really didn’t expect you to come to this show as well; I thought you wouldn’t agree to the show’s invitation.”
Lian Qi smiled heartily, and in front of her was a handsome male singer with strong artificial traces.
“It’s in order to promote the film I recently acted in. Well, of course the other reason is to see what the main character of that video circulating on the internet really looks like.”
The male singer-songwriter said and looked towards Jiu Shu.
At this moment, Jiu Shu was looking at his mobile phone with his eyes downcast, his expression faint.
As an underground idol with a low status, he didn’t seem to feel any excitement from being on the show.
The male singer could only see the side of his beautifully curved face.
The sheer beauty that was revealed even with the mask on caused the male singer to lose his concentration for a moment.
The news of Jiu Shu was all over the internet in the past two days.
Not to mention the Seventh Metropolis, every other major city was filled with people interested in Jiu Shu.
No underground idol had ever made it this far.
With just a single interview video with not-so-clear picture quality, he became an overnight sensation, and even those who watched his video with a skeptical attitude couldn’t help but be fascinated by his unique and soft voice.
He was a natural singer.
Not to be confused with his beauty.
“But he shouldn’t be as beautiful as senior Lian Qi.” The male singer said politely as he came back to his senses.
It was true that Lian Qi was the most recognized beautiful idol singer in the singing world these days.
Completely replacing him, who was previously praised for being indistinguishable between male and female.
A pure and pretty face had attracted an unknown number of fans that originally belonged to him.
However, the male singer had been in the entertainment industry for many years and had long been used to the fickleness of his fans, so he didn’t have a problem with it.
“It’s not that exaggerated; Brother Li is too flattering; I didn’t have this kind of sensational effect in the first place, hahaha!”
Lian Qi laughed haughtily, and her gaze was also placed on Jiu Shu.
Out of her previous expectations, this underground idol did look appealing.
Even she couldn’t help but look at him again and again.
It was just a pity that the face under the mask was most likely not considered good-looking.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been wearing a mask all the time.
“In a moment, we will have several groups of guests entering this building separately to record the show, although the first few floors have already been cleared, but the higher floors above—even our program team doesn’t know the specifics, so please be careful.”
The program director was announcing the program arrangements at this time.
But it was different from the introduction.
Everything was actually scripted and arranged long ago.
Even who would encounter what on which floor had been written in the script in advance.
After all, they were all decent people from the uptown area; it was impossible to really let anything happen to these stars.
The only exception was Jiu Shu.
As an uptown TV program team, even though they were able to condescend to invite Jiu Shu, an underground idol, to participate in the program, the arrogance in their bones still could not be concealed.
They hadn’t given Jiu Shu any scripts and had even arranged traps in advance.
They were just waiting for Jiu Shu to make a mistake when recording the show, thus attracting more netizens to watch the show on the live broadcast and increasing the show’s popularity.
As for the issue of Jiu Shu possibly losing face on the show, the program team didn’t care.
He was just a pauper from the lower city anyway, and it would have been his greatest fortune to be able to come to the show.
“Mr. Jiu Shu was the last one to enter, so he’ll be the last to pick the floor to go to!”
The director turned to the camera as he spoke.
It seemed that he was giving extra favorable treatment to Jiu Shu.
But everyone knew that there weren’t many floors that the last person could choose from in the first place.
Instead of saying that there was a chance to choose, it was actually just picking a better one out of the equally bad choices.
Only the first few floors in the rotten building could be cleared.
The front floors that were safe and free of danger would soon be picked off, leaving the back with nooks and crannies that housed paupers and bionics.
There was no telling how much danger there would be.
Jiu Shu was originally looking at a message on his mobile phone when he looked up at the director.
The eyes with clear pupils were stunningly beautiful under the camera.
The director had opened the live broadcast in order to gain eyeballs.
Right in the center of the screen was Jiu Shu.
This stunning glance was also captured by the camera.
The comments within the live broadcast room that had been constantly bouncing were calm for a moment, then more comments erupted like a blowout.
[Although he is a mask ki-ller, his eyes are really quite good-looking.]
[That post has just become popular, yet he’s on a show; he’s really good at taking advantage of his sudden popularity; Lian Qi seems to be on the show too; this guy is really lucky to be on the same stage as a goddess!]
[Can’t this ugly guy get away from me? He isn’t good and hasn’t been called out enough!]
[Why don’t you take off your mask? You’re not sure, are you?]
[Right, take it off quickly!]
The director watched with satisfaction as the number of people in the broadcast room grew.
Ignoring the comments asking Jiu Shu to remove the mask in order to whet people’s appetites.
Jiu Shu calmly looked at the program team’s obvious small-mindedness.
Then he redirected his gaze to his mobile phone.
He didn’t have the time to pay attention to these little things right now.
Just now, the forces on Paradise Technology’s side had sent word that there was a new move on the Resistance’s side, and it seemed that they had sent someone over to this building.
And it was still hidden from Paradise Lost Corporation.
Then this matter probably had something to do with that AI.
Jiu Shu pondered for a moment but still sent someone to follow the resistance’s steps.
He also made a point of revealing the news of the Resistance’s unauthorized actions to the Paradise Lost Corporation.
Together with the provocations that Jiu Shu had secretly arranged over this period of time, these two seemingly inseparable allies were probably about to tear their alliance apart.
Looking over the information on Paradise Lost’s recent declining market capitalization, Jiu Shu’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The plan to bring down Paradise Lost was already in the process of being implemented.
This plutocratic giant that was dominating the Seventh Metropolis, making the Resistance fearful, and even making the government look up to it was just a stumbling block that was easy to deal with for Jiu Shu.
It only needed a little more time to be completely defeated.
Currently, only the AI was still out of his control.
That was indeed an uncertainty.
However, if the ki-lling power of that half-baked AI was not that far from the original, he would be able to deal with it completely.
Once he found out where the AI was located, he could bring it under control.
Jiu Shu pondered and flipped the dialogue interface with Zero Three again.
In fact, since the dialogue just now, he had always felt that something was wrong.
Was there really nothing wrong with Zero Three?
Touching the wristwatch in his pocket, out of his understanding of the sensitivity of the disciplinary target’s mind, Jiu Shu thought about it and asked bluntly.
[Are you okay? I’m a bit uneasy about you.]
The message was quickly replied to after sending it out.
[Don’t worry, of course I’m fine; I’m just a little tired from work and miss you even more. [Love]]
Jiu Shu raised an eyebrow. The object of discipline had become more skilled at sweet talk.
And this kind of sweet talk usually meant a weak heart.
Jiu Shu thoughtfully glanced at the ceiling above his head, which was still empty and unending.
There was no longer any vague silhouette of the person who had stood before.
[As long as you’re fine, let’s go out together again tonight! [Love]]
[Okay, let’s go out together tonight. [Love]]
Fingertips gently stroked the love hearts on the screen; Zero Three revealed warm eyes.
The pale and handsome face became gentle, completely different from his indifference just now.
It was just that the pile of bionic people behind him, who had fallen to the ground and were powerless to move, revealed terrified gazes as they looked at Zero Three.
Zero Three put away his mobile phone and looked at the various chip parts disassembled at his feet.
Artificial bloo-d dripped all over the ground, staining the soles of his shoes.
In a while Jiu Shu might come up to record the program and discover the existence of the bionic people; in order for him not to discover the corpses, as well as to save time considerations, Zero Three didn’t dispose of these rebel bionics.
He only temporarily destroyed their mobility, so that they had no way to tell Jiu Shu the truth.
But this was still too slow.
The gentleness on Zero Three’s face gradually faded, and his eyes became gloomy again.
He indifferently glanced at the bionic people behind him who were letting out silent wails and turned around to walk out of the room.
It was necessary to speed up before leaving.
Zero Three walked slowly towards the depths of the corridor; beyond the railing was the bottomless void of floors.
There were still hundreds of floors to deal with.
*
The recording of the program began.
The halls of this rotten building were originally inhabited by paupers, but now they had been casually dispatched by the show’s team with a sum of money.
Some of the paupers had taken the money directly to go dashing off to entertainment venues, while others wanted to join in the fun and stayed outside the building to watch what was going on inside the hall.
Originally, most of them came to see Lian Qi.
After all, she was one of the most famous here.
Even those who were in the slums had heard of her.
But as they watched, all of their gazes couldn’t help but fall on the back of a youth.
Although many of them hadn’t seen that video, they just couldn’t help but be attracted to this youth.
However, as the program started filming and the stars went to higher floors, the crowd couldn’t see him and could only reveal expressions of frustration.
“By the way, before the show starts, I also want to inform you that if you see a bionic man in hiding, don’t be afraid; our show is equipped with security personnel.”
“It’s possible they’ll k-ill those rebel bionics on the spot.”
There had been quite a few incidents of bionic people k-illing people in the Seventh Metropolis lately, and such security measures were there for the taking.
But the director purposely spelled it out also to show Jiu Shu’s lack of knowledge of right and wrong.
Having already harmed humans, to actually have a soft spot for bionics was something that many people couldn’t forgive.
“Don’t be afraid, Jiu Shu; when you encounter bionic people, you can just have them ki-lled.”
The starlet arranged by the director spoke out conspiratorial words according to the script.
If he was the persona in the video that mouthed off about feeling sympathy for the Bionic people, Jiu Shu should have immediately and sternly refused right now.
This was the only way to maintain his kind persona.
But at the same time, it would also make the curses against him in the live broadcast room even worse.
And if he didn’t refuse, it would mean he was hypocritical.
In order to make the conflict more intense, the director purposely released the public screen of the comments in the live broadcast room.
It was projected through a flying camera before the path the crowd was walking on, making sure it could be recorded by the camera.
At the same time, the focus of the camera was directed at Jiu Shu’s beautiful eyes.
Just to record Jiu Shu’s every reaction.
But what even the director didn’t know was that there were a lot of people who were subconsciously recording the screen even though they were sneering at the live broadcast.
Just to record these eyes that were so beautiful that they made people’s hearts flutter.
“If they haven’t k-illed anyone, there’s no need to strike them down.”
Jiu Shu acted calmly.
Bionics that had k-illed people were prioritized, and there were definitely bionics that had k-illed people in this rotten building, but more were still bionics that had been innocently abused.
The ones who were truly guilty were dealt with a long time ago.
Jiu Shu’s comment, which was completely different from the mainstream discourse, caused an uproar in the broadcast room, as the director had predicted.
Cursed words constantly appeared.
[Indeed, he’s ugly, and his heart is also ugly!]
[I can’t stand watching this; I really want to take a knife and cut a person like you into meat paste!]
[Are the bionics your parents?]
Lian Qi frowned at the obscenities on the projection screen, a bit unable to stand this program crew.
How can they say anything?
However, Lian Qi really admired Jiu Shu’s mental quality a little bit, he actually didn’t react at all in the face of these insults.
“It seems like Jiu Shu has a soft spot for bionics, so the interviews in the previous video were all from the heart too!”
The young star continued to question with sharp words.
For his part, Jiu Shu glanced at the video clip released by the show’s crew.
“The voice in it isn’t mine.”
“But it’s a good point.”
He did have sympathy for bionics.
There was no prejudice.
“So you’d fall in love with a bionic like the video said?” The starlet’s voice was tinged with disgust, but her gaze was straight on Jiu Shu’s face.
As a matter of fact, pretty much the entire crew had their gazes focused on Jiu Shu.
This made Jiu Shu more or less disturbed.
Even wearing a mask couldn’t stop their gazes.
“I don’t mind if the person I like happens to be a bionic.”
Jiu Shu was succinct.
Within the endless white corridor, Zero Three heard Jiu Shu’s voice.
He walked over to where the voice came from and saw seven or eight bionics sitting around in a dilapidated white room watching the live broadcast of a projected program.
It was Jiu Shu’s masked face.
Pretty peach eyes looked absently at the camera and curved up slightly.
After scanning the iris, Zero Three confirmed the identity of the rebel bionics.
And they recognized the police uniform Zero Three was wearing.
“Can you please arrest us after a while?”
A bionic man pleaded carefully.
They just wanted to watch the live broadcast.
The Bionic people were fascinated by every word of the singer named Jiu Shu.
“It’s so nice that he’s not prejudiced against bionics…”
“His singing voice is good too, really good!”
Jiu Shu was the only human they had seen in the last ten years or so who dared to speak out in front of the public about his sympathy for bionics.
“I already have a lover, but if he is a bionic human, I won’t have any resentment; he will always be my lover.”
Zero Three stopped the hand in his hand that was about to remove the rebel bionic’s chip and looked at the screen, his originally sombre eyes taking on a slight brightness.
Jiu Shu’s unconcerned bluntness in the live broadcast made Zero Three’s mouth curl up in a smile.
The projection in the room continued.
The bionic people didn’t notice the change in Zero Three behind them, staring at Jiu Shu in the projection with their own fascination.
To them, humans were objects they had always longed to be close to.
They loved every human with all their hearts, but the abuse and k-illing done by humans made them run away.
Even after hiding here from the humans, they couldn’t forget the love in their hearts for them.
They were attracted to the incredibly beautiful and gentle human in the picture when they saw that video yesterday.
They watched the video over and over many times and purposely squatted by the projector just so they could be the first to see the show.
Jiu Shu was the only human who said something like he would fall in love with a bionic human.
The tone of his voice was still so soft and gentle that it was mesmerizing.
It was unbelievable that there were really humans out there who were kind to bionics.
“If only I could become his bionic human in the future…” a bionic human murmured.
After saying that, he revealed an increasingly despondent look.
A few other bionics did the same.
Because they all knew it was impossible.
They were about to be captured.
And the best thing that could happen to them if they were captured back was to be thrown to the robot graveyard.
None of them would have a future.
Jiu Shu was like a beautiful dream for them—only a brief moment of fantasy.
With that thought, they carefully looked behind them at the bionic police officer.
Zero Three was still looking at the projection, more focused than the rebel bionics next to him, and a little bit of frustration and struggle welled up in his eyes that were originally taken over by madness.
It was eventually suppressed again.
Concealment was the most unacceptable thing for a lover to do.
He had been wrong from the start.
Therefore, even though it was highly likely that Jiu Shu did not mind his identity, he had to keep hiding it in order to keep the relationship going.
Zero Three simply couldn’t accept any hint of the possibility of losing Jiu Shu.
Zero Three looked at the screen; his complexion dimmed, but his gaze filled with love never left Jiu Shu.
However, when Zero Three saw a corner of the screen, his gaze stopped.
His eyes suddenly became extremely gloomy.
At a position about ten floors above Jiu Shu’s head, there was a black shadow that was moving.
It was impossible to see with human eyesight, yet it was easily spotted by Zero Three.
It was Seven Two.
Seven Two, who had his body control system removed, was moving with difficulty in the corridor just to find Jiu Shu.
Who had saved him?
Zero Three was too late to find out.
He only knew that Seven Two was close to finding Jiu Shu.
And once he found it, everything would be over.
“…”
The rebel bionic people who secretly observed Zero Three’s expression suddenly revealed a look of fear, withdrawing their gazes in trepidation.
Not daring to look at Zero Three again.
Dingdong-
The message sound of a mobile phone rang out.
Zero Three, who was just about to go to Seven Two, was stunned, his bl-ood-soaked fingers a little slippery as he gripped the phone, and saw an additional selfie of Jiu Shu on the screen.
[Still at work, are you? [Picture]]
In the live projection, Jiu Shu was sitting on the sidelines taking a break, apparently taking advantage of the break to send a message to Zero Three.
In the picture, he was smiling and looking at the camera, his brows fully relaxed.
Zero Three couldn’t help but follow suit with a smile.
After hesitating for a moment, he somewhat cautiously took a picture of himself, following Jiu Shu’s example.
Although he was eager to rush over and take care of Seven Two, since Jiu Shu had taken a picture and sent it to him, he had to take a picture as well.
Zero Three didn’t want to let Jiu Shu feel that he was being the slightest bit perfunctory, so he carefully replied to every one of Jiu Shu’s messages.
The photo was quickly taken.
Inside was only the pale wall and Zero Three’s slightly raw expression.
After wiping away the blo-od on his face, only his handsome face and soft eyes remained, with a shy smile at the corner of his mouth.
It was as if he was really just working seriously.
There was no police uniform stained red with artificial bloo-d in the photo, nor were there any of the rebel bionic people in the corridor who were piled up together, revealing desperate gazes.
After taking the photo, Zero Three sent it over.
Jiu Shu looked at Zero Three’s calm face in the photo and blinked, tapping his fingertips on the screen and replying with a message.
[Is the place you’re in also the Ninth Abandoned Building? It’s similar to my background, ah.]
[Speaking of which, I think I saw you just now; I’m not too sure, was it you?]
Zero Three looked at the message and his pupils dilated.
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