“Didn’t sleep with the Commander.”

by M1zushi

The first‍‍⁠‍‌‍‌⁠‌⁠⁠‍‍‍‌‍‌‍⁠ ray of morning light pierced through the window, illuminating his sleepy golden eyes.

An Yu yawned, glanced at the tightly shut metal door, then dragged his octopus plush toy out of the Commander’s room. As he pushed the door open, he came face to face with Billy, who was standing in front of his own door, about to knock.

Billy’s bird-like eyes widened, erupting with a series of exceedingly complex expressions.

An Yu yawned, squeezing past him. “Morning. Didn’t sleep with the Commander.”

“Alright, alright,” Billy said, manually pushing the corners of his mouth, which had stretched to his ears, back into place. He put down the breakfast he’d brought for An Yu. “Ahem, that, um, Flame Xi is here to pick you up.”

An Yu half-closed his eyes as he finished washing up, then took a bite of the thick sandwich.

He actually didn’t particularly like food with too many textures; being a commoner, he preferred chewing on rough, simple bread. He swallowed the sandwich in two or three bites. “Where’s the Commander? There’s a night prayer meeting at the church for tonight.”

“Things are a bit unstable outside recently, involving aberrants. He has to participate in Black Tower decisions, so he wants you to go to the night prayer meeting with Codex. Codex has no infection risk and can freely enter and exit the Main City,” Billy said distractedly, quickly scanning the skin exposed at An Yu’s collar and cuffs. He sighed disappointedly. “Didn’t Law just finish his experiment? He should be needing to vent and de-stress… Is he not in the mood, or does he lack the energy?”

“Huh?” An Yu’s Brain stalled. After a moment, he said, “Maybe… neither is ideal.”

“Oh…” Billy understood. “Then you need to care for him more. Seize this opportunity.”

“I’m already trying my best,” An Yu grumbled as he walked towards the elevator. “Everything Ling Qiu taught me, everything Zhu Tao taught me, I’ve used every trick I know.”

Billy’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Zhu Tao taught you?! As expected, I always suspected he also…”

The elevator doors slowly closed between An Yu and Billy. An Yu asked in surprise, “He also what? What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying…”

The moment the elevator doors closed, the entire world fell silent. An Yu expressionlessly waved goodbye to Billy, watching that impatient face disappear as the elevator descended.

However, the elevator only descended for a second before slowing down, stopping on the 198th floor. Lumen stepped in. Just like last time, those beautiful, bright eyes merely glanced at An Yu before he turned his back and pressed the gym floor button.

His mouth had an extra circle of metallic ornamentation around it, with metal plates embedded into his skin, forming intricate, beautiful, yet eerie sound wave patterns. The Spire had many Protectors who installed auxiliary technology on their bodies, but this was An Yu’s first time seeing something embedded around the mouth. That circle of cold, silver metal suited Lumen’s temperament, merging with his cold aloofness and adding an indescribable quality.

An Yu looked down and messaged Billy. Billy replied,

That’s called an ascetic aura

An Yu frowned.

What does that mean?

You wouldn’t understand. Don’t ask. Lumen is very arrogant, extremely difficult to charm. Not suitable for a social novice like you.

Oh… Is that thing an ornament?

Of course not. Lumen abnormal type is leopard and crimson finch. It’s said he displayed astonishing tracking, burst attack, and rushing abilities in the locust plague mission. Additionally, he exhibited some sound interference abilities derived from finches. Once developed, he’ll be a talent capable of multi-terrain missions across plateaus, swamps, and skies.

However, his sound waves are a bit weak, and he didn’t express any wing features. Flame spent a fortune creating facial metal amplifiers for him to enhance his sound waves. Furthermore, a pair of mechanical wings exclusive to him are under development. Rumor has it, those few metal pieces around his lips cost over a million points. There’s no need for them to be so beautiful, but Flame is a perfectionist and almost drove the researchers to death.

An Yu’s hand trembled at the mention of “over a million,” barely stopping himself from dropping his terminal.

Lumen heard the sound, turned back to glance at him, and said calmly, “Be careful.”

“Sorry,” An Yu quickly said.

When Lumen turned away, An Yu continued to message Billy.

Lumen’s voice is very pleasant.

Of course. He’s a superstar of this era, after all. It’s said Flame has been his fan him for a long time, but since Lumen wasn’t an before, Flame simply acted like a gentleman and didn’t approach him.

How much do those mechanical wings cost?

I don’t know. They’re still under development, but the design fees alone are said to be close to a million. Flame is truly extravagant, worthy of being the sole surviving heir of the Main City’s wealthiest family.

An Yu silently stared at the screen for a moment, then clumsily took a screenshot and sent it to the Commander.

Qin Zhilu seemed busy. An Yu only received a reply after getting off the car at the bakery street corner.

Your bakery is worth ninety million points. Expanding to the convenience store next door is seventy million. Renovation and expansion fees have already cost over a million points. Any questions?

An Yu suddenly braked in the crowded street and immediately replied,

No questions. The screenshot was a mistake due to a shaky hand. I was just wishing you good morning.

Hmm, morning.

A notification popped up at the top of his terminal.

[Points Transfer] – Law just transferred 2,000,000 achievement points! (Memo: Buy four new ovens after the expansion, and hire two more assistants. Don’t work Maddie to death.)

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Commander, you don’t seem to have an obligation to pay for the bakery’s equipment and staff.

Compensation for sleeping over last night.

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Can I still come tonight?

No need. You sleep too soundly. I couldn’t sleep even more.

I’m very sorry…

***

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This young old-looking man looked a bit more presentable than when An Yu last saw him. To An Yu’s untrained eye, although he was still wearing a plaid shirt, the fabric felt much better. He instinctively turned his head to look at Molly, the virtual idol on the electronic screen of the building opposite. He hummed dryly, “You don’t act as a bread scalper anymore?”

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“…” Guo Xin looked at him coldly. “You seem to be insulting me. Molly does require very high technical skill. An entire team jointly realized her code, but I’m the core designer. She’s my child. She’ll become my eyes, seeing the whole world through the network, replacing me. She’s omnipotent, and I will be omnipresent.”

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An Yu watched him jog into the office building opposite, then glanced at the sleeping beautiful girl on the screen. People in the queue were taking selfies with the sleeping Molly.

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An Yu nodded and took her phone. Then he frowned at the little girl being chased by a dog on the screen. “What’s this?”

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Leave me alone, I’m busy! AI concept stocks and consumer stocks are leading the gains today. Your heavily invested energy stocks have hit the daily limit down.

An Yu’s gaze immediately sharpened as he looked at Xu Shuangshuang.

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The app automatically popped open on the screen. The first step was to upload a photo.

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[Please enter the Assistant’s name, your address for the Assistant, and the Assistant’s address for you.]

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Why did this thing resemble the orphanage’s registration process a bit?

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An Yu selected “Serious,” “Intimidating,” “Doesn’t like to smile.”

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An Yu hesitated for a while. The scale moved little by little from the far left, stopping just past the middle.

[System recognizes your relationship as “Can chat a bit.”]

An Yu moved it a large section further to the right.

[System recognizes your relationship as “Talk about everything.”]

An Yu hesitated for a while, then moved it back a section to the left.

[System recognizes your relationship as “Quite familiar.”]

An Yu frowned, then tentatively moved it to the right again.

Moving it back and forth, there seemed to be only one tag between “talk about everything” and “quite familiar.” He reluctantly let the scale stop within that tag’s range.

[Confirmed: Your relationship is “Rapidly developing.”]

Soon, a two-headed octopus-human appeared on the screen. It had Qin Zhilu’s face and stared seriously at An Yu. After staring for half a minute, it suddenly gave him a slightly unnatural smile for 0.5 seconds, then quickly reverted to seriousness.

An Yu was surprised. This effect seems pretty good?

[Please upload dialogue for AI learning. Real screenshots, audio recordings, or text input are all acceptable!]

An Yu screenshotted his daily conversations with the Commander one by one, then pulled up the task voice recordings stored randomly on his terminal, filtered out anything with mission content, and uploaded the rest en masse.

Soon, the learned octopus-human sent its first screen message.

Why did you make me into an AI? Don’t you know this could constitute a privacy leak?

An Yu looked up at Xu Shuangshuang in shock. “That’s amazing.”

“Right? My daughter can already help me with a lot of investment decisions. Her thought process is identical to mine,” Xu Shuangshuang yawned. “Did you model him after yourself? Perfect, you can have him think up a promotional copy. Technology benefits the lazy, haha.”

An Yu nodded, seriously taking pictures of both new bread product description cards and uploading them into the chat box.

Commander, this is the new product I told you about before. Could you please help me think of an official announcement copy?

Leave this kind of thing to Billy. The Commander doesn’t do this.

“He’s too similar…” An Yu stared, dumbfounded, continuing to type.

Billy and I are equally uncultured.

Please.

…Ling Qiu was right. You truly are useless.

“Uh,” An Yu hesitated again, turning to Xu Shuangshuang. “It seems it’s not completely identical.” The Commander had never directly criticized him so bluntly. Based on his understanding of the Commander, this situation wouldn’t seem to occur.

Fine. I’ll help you this once. Don’t expect it again.

An Yu’s eyes lit up.

Thank you!

A few minutes later, Corner Bakery’s official social media account published a new announcement.

@Corner Bakery: This season, we’re launching two new products: “The Unextinguishable Candle Biscuit” and “Protector’s Thorn Tree Stump Bread.” See product description cards at the end of the post for details. Boss’s AI caption: “Bread is merely sustenance. Just glance at the description card and be done with it. Do not dwell on others’ pasts. Reserve compassion for those who matter and wait for the future with courage and love.

Author’s Note:

An Yu’s Bakery Diary: 03 – One of the New Products from the orphanage

The expanding Corner Bakery seems to be operating at full throttle.

Just as the Candle Biscuit’s popularity soared, the blackboard next to it displayed the second new product’s hand-drawn information.

Protector’s Thorn Tree Stump Bread

“The bread crust is hard, infused with 100% cocoa liquor, making it very bitter. But break it open, and the soft bread layers unfold. Taste it carefully, and there’s a faint, unforgettable sweetness.”

“A great tree was felled by snowstorm, leaving only a powerless stump. It stubbornly insists on sheltering its surroundings, diligently extending its broken branches, yet unexpectedly, the thorns on them cause the dying seeds in the soil to become even more withered.”

“But even if unappreciated, it is still a sincere protector.”

“Friendly reminder: Chocolate thorns may prick your mouth, but since you’ve encountered them, please do not resent them.”

M1zushi: one of my favorite arcs is here!!

I put Commander’s Ai to be a blach chatbox bcs i think it fits his octopus theme~ and it wouldn’t make sense to AIs not to have personalized chatboxes~

did i spend way too much time making this pretty? hmm maybe lol

An Yu’s Bakery Diary: 03 – One of the New Products from the orphanage

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