He sat back down beside the charging dock.
On the screen, the numbers were still jumping slowly.
[Battery: 0.64%] [Battery: 0.65%] [Battery: 0.66%]...
Fang Qi rested his chin on one hand, staring blankly at the digits.
Had he really gotten stronger?
Suddenly stronger?
And...
He squinted slightly.
It seemed it wasn’t just his strength, either!
Those collars...
He had seen them clearly at the time! Very clearly!
The code had been spinning incredibly fast, line after line racing by at high speed!
Normally, with text moving that quickly, there was no way he could read it!
But just now...
He had seen every single line, clear as day.
Even though he had no idea what any of that code meant, he had still read it perfectly!
All those "if" statements and... whatnot...
Yeah.
He forgot.
It was all a jumble.
How could anyone remember that stuff?
Clearly, his brain hadn’t gotten sharper...
But his dynamic vision had definitely improved!
Along with his strength—both had gotten stronger!
Fang Qi blinked, raising an eyebrow.
...Oh?
Now that was exciting!
After all, what guy didn’t want to get stronger?
Getting stronger meant he could protect his Wife better!
Instead of the way things were now, where he was the one always being protected by his Wife!
Every time danger came before, it was Liguang who stood in front of him!
Laser blade sweeping, crimson eyes flashing, her core running at overload...
And all he could do was stand behind her, shielded tightly, unable to do anything.
Tsk.
...Just thinking about it was embarrassing!
But now, it seemed he could actually do something?
Fang Qi took a deep breath!
His head didn’t feel dizzy anymore either!
He felt refreshed and clear-headed!
Great!
Perfect!
From today on, he could protect his Wife!
Come to think of it, if this kept going...
Maybe someday he could even overpower his Wife in a fight...?
Heh heh...!
Ahem!
His expression instantly turned serious.
He was a proper man, thinking proper thoughts!
So...
He tilted his head.
Why had he gotten stronger?
When did it happen?
Just now? Did it happen just now?
Because he had torn apart those two "collars"?
No, that didn’t make sense...
Before he even grabbed the collars, he could already see those strings of code clearly...
So had he already...?
...Huh?
A flash of insight struck Fang Qi’s mind!
He sat up straight instantly!
He suddenly remembered something... something that didn’t seem all that important at the time!
Something he had never paid attention to before!
Back in the last loop!
At that time, An Lian had slipped and died crashing into something, Xiaoqing had called him, screaming and crying, telling him Lin Xiaoyou was dead too.
Instead of reloading the save right away, he had taken Liguang out, deciding to test whether the two of them would be affected by "fate."
He remembered then...
He had pulled Liguang out of Chenxi Community. At the community gate...
A few young employees from Chenxi Corporation, just off their night shift, had been muttering about something!
They said, "That guy looks kind of familiar!"
They said, "Doesn’t he kind of resemble someone?"
Then Liguang had slightly turned her head and glanced at them. Those young people immediately fell silent and walked away.
As they left, they lowered their voices and muttered:
"Crap, forgot the custom AI companion has super sharp hearing..."
Something like that, right?
At the time, he had silently complained in his head—
They were talking so loud, even he could hear them clearly!
But thinking about it now...
Fang Qi squinted slightly.
Back then, those few people had seemed to be whispering in the distance the entire time, hadn’t they?
...Across a community path!
They were on the other side of the road, heads lowered, voices hushed, muttering as they walked.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way he could have heard what they were saying from that far away!
He wasn't Liguang, after all!
Even a normal person with the best hearing couldn’t catch someone’s whispers from that distance.
But...
He had heard it, clearly and distinctly.
Back then, An Lian had died, and Lin Xiaoyou had died. He was in a low mood, so he hadn’t paid it much mind. He hadn’t thought it strange.
But now, looking back...
The sense of dissonance was really strong.
So...
It hadn’t been that they were speaking loudly. It was...
His hearing had gotten sharper?
He hadn’t even noticed it himself!
...Huh?
Fang Qi’s pupils slightly lost focus.
...He hadn’t gotten stronger because of today’s events.
Back then...
There were already signs of him growing stronger!
So what was the reason...?
A glimmer of faint blue suddenly surfaced in his field of vision!
His pupils contracted, and his focus sharpened!
It was Liguang inside the charging case.
The silver-haired girl had now turned on.
Behind the transparent door, she slowly opened her eyes.
In her amber pupils, a trace of blues swirled. In her crimson pupils, a faint stream of scarlet data reanimated.
Ah, his Wife was awake.
But...
She still couldn’t move yet.
She was leaning against the wall of the charging case, her posture unchanged.
But her eyes were alive now, watching him through the transparent door. She blinked gently at him, her lashes fluttering softly.
—Master, Liguang is awake.
Fang Qi, however, stared at her blankly.
...Huh?
Wife...
Could the reason I got stronger be... you?
What had he done before that was different from usual, something special?
He gazed at these gentle heterochromatic eyes...
The corner of his eye twitched sharply!
...Wasn’t it just that he’d been dragged into her virtual world by this little yandere in front of him?
And inside, he’d lived for an entire decade!
And...
That one night!
The wedding night!
They had consummated their marriage!
The next day, An Lian had even teased him about “pacing yourself.”
And after that... he had gotten stronger?
It had been after that, hadn’t it?
So...!
Fang Qi slowly widened his eyes, staring at the silver-haired girl in the charging case!
Could it be...
Was it really because he had consummated his marriage with Liguang that he had grown stronger?!
No way...?!
His Wife had this kind of ability?!
Fang Qi opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words.
He was genuinely stunned!
What kind of principle was this?!
Dual cultivation?!
He and his Wife had dual cultivated?!
Was that even part of the setting?!
Liguang remained still, quietly watching him.
Her gaze...
Was so gentle.
So gentle that it gradually calmed his restless heartbeat.
Reassuring.
Fang Qi’s shocked thoughts suddenly came to a halt under that tender gaze.
He was frozen for a few seconds...
Forget about getting stronger for now...
Wife, this look of yours...?
Come to think of it, earlier at the gene door, hadn’t she...
Called him “Aqi” instinctively?
...There was nothing wrong with that.
In those ten years of life, black-haired, black-eyed Xiaoguang had called him that name for ten years too.
She was Xiaoguang.
In her excitement, it was only natural to blurt out “Aqi.”
But her gaze... was so gentle.
So...
“Master.”
The silver-haired girl suddenly spoke. Her voice was still soft.
“I can move now.”
She gave a slight blink in his direction.
Ah...
She called him “Master.”
Fang Qi opened his mouth.
Master...
...Forget it.
He lowered his gaze.
...What was he thinking!
Whether her memories returned or not, Liguang was still Liguang!
His wife was still his wife!
It was just that this little yandere always got stuck in her own head!
All day long, she was jealous of herself!
He relaxed and smirked.
Anyway, it was good that his wife was awake!
“...Liguang, you're finally awake!”
He immediately stood up and stepped closer to the charging pod!
Through the transparent hatch, he looked at the silver-haired girl still charging inside.
She seemed to be in good condition, but...
“How do you feel?”
He was still a little worried!
“Your head was smoking earlier, your core overloaded so badly—are you having any problems?”
He fired off a string of questions.
A ripple of watery light moved through the silver-haired girl's amber left eye.
“Master, rest assured. Liguang is not injured.”
Her voice was soft, the curve of her lips obedient.
“It’s just that my energy consumption was too high, and my core became a bit hot.”
“After charging, I’ll fully recover. There won’t be any lasting effects.”
Fang Qi finally sighed in relief.
“That’s good!”
He straightened up.
Liguang’s side was settled!
Now it was up to An Lian and Lin Xiaoyou!
But...
Fang Qi glanced toward B2, his mouth twitching slightly.
Speaking of which, those two should still be lying on the floor!
Should he have carried them over just now...
Hmm.
Now that his wife was awake, that kind of thing was definitely out of the question.
He plopped down onto his seat, leaned back, and relaxed a bit:
“Then Liguang, charge up quickly!”
“An Lian and Xiaoyou should still be lying unconscious over there—you can bring them over later! Or...”
He winked at Liguang.
“...it’s not good to leave them on the floor, so how about I go and carry them over?”
The silver-haired girl blinked back...
Then narrowed her phoenix eyes with a sharp look.
“Of course, Master,” she said.
Her voice was gentle and docile, sounding perfectly obedient.
“It’s true. We can’t leave them lying on the floor.”
She tilted her head slightly with a warm smile, a faint glimmer of blue flickering in her amber pupils.
“Go ahead, Master?”
Fang Qi: “...”
Wife, that smile of yours...
Could you please not make my back crawl like that!
If you don’t want to, just say it! You don’t have to talk like that!
Every time her native core awakened, she became so calm and calculating again!
It’s really creepy!
“...Forget it!” he said with a stern face and righteous tone.
“I’m too lazy to move!”
“I’m not going. I’ll leave it to you, wife. You focus on charging!”
Liguang let out a soft laugh, the corners of her mouth curving upward.
Fang Qi sat on the stool, watching the numbers on the charging pod screen tick up slowly.
After a moment of silence, he lifted his head and looked at Liguang again.
“Liguang, this time...”
He dropped his playful demeanor, his expression turning serious.
“Did we manage to save them?”
Liguang’s dual-colored eyes turned toward him.
A stream of deep blue data flowed slowly through her amber left eye.
Her expression also became serious, and then...
She gave a slight nod.
“Yes, Master.”
Fang Qi slowly widened his eyes.
It really worked…?!
“Master is truly impressive.”
Liguang gave him a gentle wink:
“The ‘threads of fate’ on them…”
“Have been completely unraveled by Master.”
Fang Qi’s heart suddenly relaxed!
…Good!
Yes, yes, yes!
Just as he thought!
So this time, he wouldn’t have to rewind!
A smile began to curl at the corners of Fang Qi’s mouth.
Excellent.
He had finally conquered this underground research facility!
For the first time, he was going to walk out of here alive…!
“But, Master…”
Liguang spoke again, softly.
Her eyelashes drooped slightly, and a flicker of deep blue glimmered beneath them.
“This time, they won’t be waking up.”
Fang Qi’s smile froze instantly on his face.
…What?
“And as for us…”
Liguang looked at Fang Qi, her gaze trembling.
“Master, this time…”
A faint static crept into her voice!
“We have already…”
The deep blue in her amber pupils suddenly flickered in disarray!
“…cannot wake from the ‘dream’ using the previous method.”
She said quietly.
Fang Qi: “…?”
What…
does that mean?
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