Understanding

An Yu‌​‍⁠​​‍‌⁠‍‌​​⁠‌‍‌⁠⁠​​⁠‌⁠ tossed and turned until dawn before finally falling asleep. When he woke up, it was already after sunset the next day. Night was just beginning to fall, and the Main City was bathed in a pale layer of lights.

“Mngh…” He buried his face in his two ears. “Sorry, Commander. I really had insomnia last night.”

Qin Zhilu sat not far away, gazing at him. After a long time, he finally spoke, “It’s alright. We can just catch Ling Qiu’s time at the bakery.”

An Yu immediately hopped off the bed. “What’s Molly doing? Did 21 blow his cover?”

Qin Zhilu remained seated, unmoving. “Molly had a fulfilling day of university life. She finished her night run half an hour ago and is now eating with friends at the barbecue restaurant next to the bakery. 21 and 716 were at the shop during the day. Before sunset, they already returned to the Spire according to your previous routine. They didn’t run into her.”

An Yu let out a breath of relief and rubbed his face hard. “Then let’s set off now—What’s wrong?”

Qin Zhilu’s expression was solemn, more noticeably so than during any previous mission crisis.

An Yu was stared at by him for a long time. The fur all over his body gradually stood on end. He asked warily, “What happened?”

Qin Zhilu continued to stare at him without saying anything. An Yu had only seen such an expression once before—on the snowfield, when the gun barrel was shoved into his mouth. The gun’s owner had stared at him just like this, contemplating his life or death.

An Yu’s heart gradually crumbled. He immediately began to actively search for what had happened in the real world.

After the civilian network was suspended, the real world’s computation network became very simple—only the dome, the three major institutions, and the small cluster around the bakery showed traces of data transmission. Strangely, the computational load should have been concentrated in Brain and the dome, but at that moment, the largest information flood was converging towards the Spire.

An Yu queried those servers in confusion. After a few seconds of decryption, he finally saw the high-definition images frantically circulating among all the Protectors’ terminals.

They were photos of 716 and 21, taken secretly from various places—the dining hall, the elevator, the Spire lobby, even in front of the statue of Qin Zhilu’s father.

In those photos, 716’s expression was aloof and majestic, while 21 was, as usual, indifferent and blank. They looked flawless.

—But, 21’s mouth corners were red and swollen. Large patches of varying shades of red spread ambiguously on the side of his neck, extending all the way to his collarbone.

Qin Zhilu suddenly spoke, “21 completed a day of role-playing with hickeys, and even sat in the shop all day—You might find it hard to believe, but even though the civilian network is paralyzed, the bakery customers managed to spread this gossip through half the Main City using just their mouths and legs.”

An Yu’s three-lobed mouth worked for a long time before he couldn’t help but ask, “Did he sleep with 716?”

“……”

The expression on Qin Zhilu’s face had never been so complex. After a good while, he stiffly shook his head. “No.”

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“Maybe because I’m also… no, I had also once been considered a blank slate.” An Yu looked earnestly at his Commander. “716 didn’t make 21 cover the marks either. It seems it has fully learned your disregard for others’ opinions.”

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He sighed, then rubbed the bridge of his nose with some annoyance. “Forget it. We need to return to the real world as soon as possible. We can’t let these two AIs continue to do whatever they want.”

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“These should all be human consciousnesses that ascended from the real world. Just like you can meet Ling Qiu, they must have also tasted the sweetness of the cyber world. If this continues, a large number of people with weak wills are going to give up returning to their consciousness,” Qin Zhilu said, inserting an earbud into An Yu’s fluffy ear. “We need to identify the backup body among the remaining three targets as quickly as possible. We’ll split up. Stay in contact.”

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The green light lit up. The security personnel stood up from behind the screen and leaned down to look at him.

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An Yu’s ears drooped down relaxedly again. He nodded and hopped inside.

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An Yu jumped up to press the elevator button. “So, in the real world, Brain knew about his ambition, but still approved his application?”

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There was a momentary flicker of astonishment in those golden eyes.

“Commander…”

Qin Zhilu calmly interrupted him. “Allowing curious individuals to investigate me isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unconditional trust in any power can potentially lead humanity to ruin. Moreover, as researchers, Brain should always maintain objective neutrality.”

An Yu hopped into the elevator. “The logic is indeed sound, but…”

“Let’s not talk now. Ling Qiu appeared. I need to fabricate a plausible identity familiar to you, so he’ll tell me everything.” Qin Zhilu’s voice quickened. “Contact me anytime if anything happens.”

“Okay. Good luck.”

The call disconnected, but An Yu remained dazed. It took him a while to remember what he needed to do. He used his access code to swipe the B1 button.

He understood every word the Commander had said, but the one thing he couldn’t understand was the Commander himself—not being trusted, yet approving of those who distrusted him—always thinking from humanity’s perspective, completely disregarding his own emotions.

Oftentimes, he seemed even less human than An Yu.

The elevator arrived at the B1 level. As An Yu hopped out the door, he suddenly took the initiative to reconnect the channel. “If Ling Qiu doesn’t believe we know each other, you can try giving him the code phrase.”

Qin Zhilu was just reaching out to push open the bakery door. He asked casually, “What code phrase?”

“Tell him, if he isn’t happy in the army, he should go back to Bait City, or at least call me to complain. Because when I was little in the slums, I wouldn’t make a sound even if people beat me. He had been very worried and repeatedly taught me—”

An Yu paused, lowered his gaze, and said softly, “You don’t have to understand the world, nor be understood by the world, but you have to learn to whisper your troubles to the person closest to you.”

The wind chime rang. Qin Zhilu’s steps abruptly halted.

The half-opened glass door’s reflection captured the momentary lapse in focus in those dark eyes.

In his earpiece, An Yu’s voice was calm as usual. He said quickly, “Commander. We’ll stay in contact.”

After saying that, he quickly cut the channel.

The shop owner stood up and looked towards the door, calling out, “Is this your first time here, customer? Come in quickly. Do you need my recommendation?”

Qin Zhilu immediately composed his expression and asked coolly, “Do you have whole wheat bread?”

Ling Qiu, who had his back to him, immediately turned around. Seeing his face, he said in surprise, “Sir… You look just like a high-level member of the Spire…”