Chapter 423 |
[This is what you wanted, isn’t it?]
Looking at the last line of the note...
Fang Qi was silent for a long time.
...Yeah.
This really was what he wanted.
Every word An Lian said...
was right.
Her suggestion to have Liguang remove her crimson eye—they had already tested that in that first loop, on that lonely island surrounded by the ocean.
She had personally plucked out that crimson eye, left it on the shore somewhere else, and then they drifted on a raft toward the deep sea.
The two of them squeezed onto that small raft, and it felt like only they existed in the whole world.
That was the closest they ever got to “being together forever.”
Come to think of it, that time had been forced by An Lian too, hadn’t it?
Heh.
Fate sure was strange.
Anyway...
An Lian was right.
Every word she wrote... was serious.
Fang Qi’s breath trembled.
He clenched the note in his hand!
An Lian, Sister An Lian...
She was really something special.
She wasn’t like Lin Xiaoyou.
Miss Genius was too smart—smart enough to deduce the nature of this world from the tiniest clues, brave enough to gamble her life on a rollback.
Being around her was so stressful.
Every time she led him by the nose, every time she calculated everything down to the last detail.
Every time he realized she was running an experiment on him again, he felt like a fool.
And she wasn’t like Gu Xi either.
Officer Sister was his “helper” from before he lost his memory, the core executor of that plan he didn’t even remember, the one called “Using Oneself in the Game.”
Gu Xi knew a lot he didn’t.
The way she looked at him held frustration over his failings, emotions too complicated to read, and that kind of restrained patience like “you’ll understand sooner or later.”
Being around her...
Always made him feel like he owed her something.
Something he couldn’t even remember promising.
...But An Lian was different.
Different from all of them.
Maybe she wasn’t that smart. Maybe she didn’t know the essence of the world.
She didn’t know about the people from beyond the sky, the code constructs, the plan of using oneself in the game.
In her eyes...
Fang Qi was just Fang Qi.
He was Aunt Su and Uncle Fang’s son.
He was the child of her benefactors.
He was the little Xiao Qi she’d wanted to protect since childhood.
He was just...
an ordinary person who needed her help.
Her protection was the purest kind, with no strings attached.
Not because he was “someone from beyond the sky.”
Not because he had the power to roll back time.
And certainly not because he carried some “permission” or whatever.
Just because...
He was Xiao Qi.
He needed protection.
Fang Qi’s eyes felt hot.
Sister An Lian was right.
He really was just an ordinary person.
He didn’t know what his pre-amnesiac self had been planning.
All he knew was that the current him...
was just a Galgame player!
He loved Liguang to the bone. He wanted to be with her forever!
That was it!
And everything An Lian had said—
Removing the crimson eye, leaving the city, going somewhere with no people, living simply day by day, spending a lifetime with her...
That really was what he wanted!
Gu Xi had offered up her soul, wanting him to complete that plan he didn’t even remember.
Lin Xiaoyou always smiled and joked, but every contact stuffed a new mystery into his hands.
Only An Lian.
Only this cheap sister he once dragged by the hair into the hallway and forced to look at the wreckage...
Had given him, in her own way, the simplest and easiest escape route.
She had even used her own life as the final bargaining chip, hoping to trade it for his and Liguang’s safety.
That sentiment...
Made his heart tremble.
Fang Qi took a deep breath...!
He picked up the pen.
Below An Lian’s last line, he pressed hard and wrote, stroke by stroke:
[No matter what, I won’t let you die!]
The pen tip tore through the note paper!
[You are my sister.]
[My mom said you almost really did become my sister.]
His handwriting was messy!
[I won’t watch my sister die for me!]
He shoved the note hard across to An Lian!
An Lian stared blankly at those lines.
She bowed her head and stayed like that for a long, long time.
Her eyes were trembling.
Then...
She let out a soft laugh.
Bitter.
Relieved.
Her fingers gently pressed against those words, her fingertips shaking.
“Just like...”
She murmured.
“In that dream?”
...?!
Fang Qi’s hand tightened on the pen.
A dream...!
An Lian whispered to herself:
“Turning death into a dream, and then...”
“Starting everything over?”
Fang Qi’s heart jolted.
He stared at An Lian, his eyelids twitching!
She had noticed it too.
Of course...
She had noticed it too!
Yeah... dreaming over and over again, waking up morning after morning...
Those heart-wrenching memories, those repeated dawns and mornings...
How could she not have sensed anything?
They were “prophetic dreams”!
An Lian gently shook her head again.
“...Xiao Qi, I really can’t figure you out.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“Sometimes, you’re like a clueless, foolish child.”
She picked up the pen again and continued writing on a fresh note.
Her handwriting was shakier than before.
[But sometimes, you’re so smart and mysterious that you scare me.]
[You really are... as mysterious as Aunt Su and Uncle Fang.]
[Maybe you don’t need me to...]
She scratched out that line.
Then she looked up.
Her clear gray eyes had lost all their distance.
Only a faint gentleness remained, along with exhaustion she couldn’t hide.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something...
But in the end, she just pressed them together softly and wrote one final line on the note:
[No matter what happens, remember—protect yourself.]
[Destroy these notes.]
After writing, she gently placed the pen on the table and put the rest of the notepad back into the toolbox.
Fang Qi stared at her, stunned.
Her expression gradually returned to cold composure.
The gentleness and exhaustion in her gray eyes were layered over again by a thin sheet of ice.
“This maintenance check is complete.”
She was back to being that professional, steady maintenance specialist.
She looked at Fang Qi, her gaze still icy:
“Mr. Fang, all of Liguang’s indicators are within normal range.”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
She stood up, gave a standard slight bow to Fang Qi.
Then she picked up the silver toolbox and turned toward the door of Liguang’s little room.
Without hesitation.
Fang Qi stared blankly at her retreating back.
Long black hair.
Dark uniform.
A straight spine.
An Lian, his sister, was using her most professional posture...
To bury that heartfelt conversation beneath this cold shell.
He stood up abruptly!
“Sister An Lian—!”
An Lian’s steps stopped.
Her hand was already on the doorknob. She tilted her head slightly.
The corner of her gray eyes glanced at him as she gently shook her head.
Then she looked back at the silver-haired girl sitting quietly beside the charging dock, fast asleep.
For a fleeting moment, her gaze softened again, full of exhausted tenderness.
"...Liguang can be turned on now."
She spoke softly.
"Spend more time with your Liguang."
With that, she disappeared behind the door.
The sound of high heels continued.
"Click, click, click."
A bit faster than before.
Through the hallway, through the living room, and then...
"Click."
The security door was opened.
"Bang."
The security door was slammed shut.
...Inside the room, everything fell silent.
Fang Qi stood in Liguang's small room, staring at the wide-open door...
He was frozen for a long, long time.
...She was gone.
In the living room, there was no sound at all.
Outside the window, the occasional distant honk of a car drifted in.
An Lian had left.
She had come risking her life.
She had even prepared herself to die.
She left him the simplest escape route, the safest way out.
And as for herself...
She hadn't planned on leaving.
Fang Qi slowly lowered his head, looking at the sticky notes on the table that had yet to be destroyed.
The handwriting was neat and delicate.
[This is what you wanted, isn't it?]
His fingers tightened slightly.
Ah...
What the hell...
Really...!
He raised his hand, trembling, and pressed hard against his temples!
Some things...
His brain just wasn't smart enough to figure out.
Right now...
He needed a brain sharper than his to analyze things!
He looked down.
The silver-haired girl sat quietly beside him, her eyes closed. The bun she had tied up had loosened slightly from the earlier stumble.
Her body looked soft. In her powered-down state, her synthetic muscles were completely relaxed, making her feel like a lump of cotton without any bones.
...Liguang.
His Crazy Girl.
...She was so smart!
She was way smarter than him!
And she was his wife!
She had to help him analyze this!
Liguang, time to wake up!
Fang Qi took a deep breath, bending down. He slipped one arm under her knees and the other behind her neck...
And lifted her into his arms.
She was very light.
There was no power switch on her body.
Fang Qi remembered that in the game's setup, AI companions didn't need to be shut down.
They could enter sleep mode automatically.
So, unless their batteries ran out, they generally couldn't be forcibly turned off by others.
To boot her up...
She needed a charge.
With that, he carefully placed her into the charging dock.
Her silver hair spread across the dock's walls. Her beautiful face, still faintly flushed with warmth, tilted slightly to the side.
He gently brushed aside the silver hair at the nape of her neck, finding the charging port.
The warmth of her skin made him feel a little more at ease.
Her body heat was still there.
He took a deep breath...
And activated the charging dock!
A connecting cable extended from inside the dock.
Fang Qi paused for a moment.
Come to think of it...
This was the first time he'd seen Liguang charge in the dock like this.
The cable automatically and gently clicked into place, locking onto the port at the nape of her neck.
And the moment it connected...
Liguang's body jolted violently!
From limp to rigid!
Her spine straightened, her shoulders tensed!
Those slender hands that had hung limp at her sides curled their fingers suddenly!
Then...
Her eyes snapped open!
In her right crimson eye, a surge of scarlet data streamed wildly!
In the instant her mismatched eyes opened, they began scanning frantically!
The ceiling!
The walls of the charging dock!
Fang Qi's face!
The whole room!
"Ligu—!"
Before he could even finish, Fang Qi saw a blur—
A powerful force slammed into his chest!
He was knocked backward!
"Thud——!"
His back hit the floor hard.
Hiss...!
He gasped sharply.
That hurt!
And the silver-haired girl was now straddling him!
Her knees pressed down on his thighs!
Both hands clamped tightly around his wrists!
Pinning him completely to the ground!
She leaned over him, her silver hair cascading down both sides, brushing against his face.
Her head was still turning side to side!
Those phoenix eyes were wide open!
In her crimson pupil, scarlet data streams flickered crazily!
She was looking for An Lian.
And on her stunningly beautiful face...
Fang Qi's eyelids trembled.
What a terrifying expression!
It seemed expressionless, but those phoenix eyes...
Were open so wide! Her pupils were slightly dilated!
...Terrifying!
"Liguang!"
Fang Qi hurriedly spoke first.
"An Lian just left!"
"Are you okay? Calm down first... hiss!"
His wrists ached from her grip.
The silver-haired girl lowered her head.
"Master...?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Just now... what happened."
Her phoenix eyes were wide open, staring straight at him without blinking!
"Why..."
Her voice wavered a little.
"Did Liguang suddenly shut down...?"
"Just now..."
"What did you and Miss An Lian do?"