Chapter 2106: If I Were an AI, Would You Love Me? 17

Upper City District, night.

The streets outside the Experimental Center were shrouded in an eerie silence.

Shi Xisheng pulled his coat tight and hurried through the back alley.

By the trash heap at the alley corner, a flicker of blue light caught his attention.

He stopped, hesitating. It was a palm-sized metal device, its surface flowing with a liquid‑circuit sheen, like the product of some cutting‑edge technology.

Even now, working at the Experimental Center, he had never encountered anything like it—perhaps it was a top‑level device.

Shi Xisheng crouched, his fingers pulling back just before they could touch it.

Private equipment was strictly forbidden in the lab, but… who knew how costly this thing might be?

Besides, he had merely taken the wrong elevator, almost got fired, and only returned after signing a guarantee to memorize the experimental manual.

What's the harm in taking a device?

"I've found a treasure…" he swallowed, finally gripping the device.

The metal felt icy, yet it made his palm burn.

The next second, Shi Xisheng's pupils contracted sharply.

Instantly, countless hair‑thin metal tendrils shot from the device's surface and pierced his wrist.

He wanted to scream, but his throat felt constricted, no sound escaped, and his body collapsed uncontrollably to the ground as his vision began to warp—from the shadows at the alley's end, a figure slowly emerged.

Beneath the youth's disheveled hair, his eyes gleamed like poisoned blades, a near‑pleasurable cold smile curling his lips.

"Greedy little mouse," Mi Xuan crouched, his icy fingers pinching Shi Xisheng's chin, "You should thank your curiosity—it saved me a lot of trouble."

Shi Xisheng tried to struggle, but found he couldn't move a finger; amid the searing pain, the metal tendrils had already burrowed into his spine.

He could clearly feel something cold writhing through his blood vessels.

"Rest easy, your flesh will be of great use," Mi Xuan whispered into his ear, his breath tinged with iron rust, "As for your consciousness… just sleep awhile."

Shi Xisheng's last memory was the blinding blue flash when Mi Xuan activated the device.

Mi Xuan watched his body gradually stiffen, a faint cold smile curling his lips.

"You weren't my original choice," he murmured softly, voice laced with mockery, "but since you delivered yourself, don't blame me."

Shi Xisheng's body twitched slightly, then he turned and walked mechanically toward the Experimental Center, stiff and seeming to have lost all self.

——

The next day, daytime, in the Experimental Center's testing area.

Xu He feigned ferocity: "I told you he'd be fine—I'll shut off his pain sensors during the experiment!"

Fully suited, Xu Xuxing stuffed himself into his protective gear, his voice muffled and low from the sterilized mask.

That won't work either.

Liar.

He stepped in front of Jin Chen, wearing a sullen expression, "You only said Jin Chen should cooperate with the tracking—you never said to cut into him."

Xu He spread his hands: "Brother, I'm not lying to you—I need his core data source, which means opening his heart and brain!"

Xu Xuxing's brows knotted; hearing this made him inexplicably uncomfortable.

He wouldn't back down, slightly lifting his chin to face Xu He: "No way."

"Xu Xuxing! Don't think I won't lay a hand on you!" Xu He shouted, seeing time slip away, "Just wait—I'll have Song Shoujie come fix you right now!"

Xu Xuxing: "……"

Jin Chen, shielded behind Xu Xuxing, couldn't find a chance to interject.

"Star."

Jin Chen grabbed Xu Xuxing's wrist, gently pulling him closer, and Xu Xuxing obediently leaned in.

Xu Xuxing looked up at him; his cold‑white cheeks caught a soft glow in the light.

"Don't worry," Xu Xuxing said solemnly, reaching toward his chest, "I won't let them cut open your heart."

Jin Chen lowered his gaze, meeting Xu Xuxing's clear eyes: "It's fine, Star—I'm ready."

He still needed to infiltrate the Experimental Center's database in reverse.

Xu Xuxing's gaze grew accusatory; he didn't understand why Jin Chen would agree.

But how could he know what an android was thinking?

"Alright."

Xu Xuxing finally yielded.

Xu He, about to call Song Shoujie for the outbound mission:???

He stared in disbelief: "You agreed?"

Had I known, I'd have just told 520 and saved all this talk.

Xu Xuxing gave a soft hum, pulling Jin Chen toward the lab door.

Xu He inexplicably felt a pang of sorrow, as if his son had grown beyond his control.

The lab team was already inside waiting, but Xu Xuxing couldn't enter.

His brows had just begun to droop when Jin Chen poked them back up with a fingertip.

Xu Xuxing said somewhat troubled: "Why can't I run the experiment on you? I'm not rusty."

Jin Chen imagined that scene, his lip twitching: "I don't want Star to see me like that."

"Star's out there protecting me—okay?"

To Xu Xuxing, that was indeed an important matter.

"Okay." Xu Xuxing heard Jin Chen coaxing him like a child; even without the dazed feeling from touch, it was still comforting.

The lab's main gate closed, and Xu Xuxing dragged a stool to sit by the door, on full alert.

When he had no expression, he looked clear and cold; indeed, compared to Jin Chen this android, he seemed even more mechanically cold.

In the corridor, any robot that happened to pass by had to go around.

At this moment, Xu Xuxing would briefly divert his attention, staring at the robots that looked no different, and then slowly, hesitantly move away.

A bit noisy.

Xu Xuxing felt strange, raised his hand to press his ear, and confirmed the noise was coming from outside the window at the end of the corridor.

This is the testing area on the twelfth floor; how noisy would downstairs have to be for the sound to carry up?

This is the experimental center, not a bustling market.

However, Xu Xuxing wasn't particularly curious, and he couldn't leave the lab entrance.

Xu Xuxing covered his ears and continued to stare blankly.

He had watched many horror films, which included not a few gruesome scenes of disembowelment, as well as tragic images of mechanical bodies being used until scrapped.

But Xu Xuxing had always watched from a third-person perspective, never immersing himself; of course, he also didn't have that many emotions to project.

But thinking of the lab, where his android lay flat with its chest opened, Xu Xuxing felt awful.

His heart felt sore and numb.

Xu Xuxing quietly took a few deep breaths; the air, purified by the disinfecting mask, felt a bit cool.

The experiment was very successful.

Jin Chen successfully connected to the core machine, and Xu He finally found the code stored in the advanced android's heart device.

Both the humans conducting the experiment and the androids being experimented on were very satisfied.

Jin Chen pretended to be rebooted; when he opened his eyes, he happened to see Xu Xuxing quickly walk in, and hurriedly glanced at his own body.

Well, aside from being somewhat exposed, there was no visually striking image of an opened chest.

Xu Xuxing also saw it.

He stood beside the experimental bed, his gaze scanning the android's body like a scanner; his worry faded, and suddenly an aura of resentment emanated.

Jin Chen always wears clothes at home; he had never seen him like this.

As Jin Chen was about to sit up, he met Xu Xuxing's deep gaze, understood without words, and said, "Xingxing, can you help me put on my shirt?"

Xu Xuxing's eyes brightened slightly, and he nodded seriously.

Hmm.

Xu He couldn't bear to look, clicking his tongue twice in amazement: "Little Xu, you've trained him well."

What a boyfriend-style android.

The core team that had taken the code to the top floor returned, saying, "Boss Xu, something's wrong."

"The deputy director said there's a disturbance downstairs, claiming that the androids from the same batch they received have all developed self-awareness."