Under the passionate kiss, Natarle's grip gradually weakened before she actively wrapped her arms around Zhou Tianming's neck.
Their lips and tongues engaged in a fierce battle.
A minute later, they parted.
With a smile on his face, Zhou began, "Na—"
Before he could finish, a tremendous force struck his chest. Caught off guard, Zhou Tianming instantly tumbled off the bed.
Natarle propped herself up, covering her mouth, her face as red as a ripe apple. Without a word, she dashed out of the room.
"Oww~ oww~"
Zhou Tianming theatrically moaned while lying on the floor. Seeing that Natarle had run off without even glancing back, he sat up.
Licking his lips, he grinned. "Thanks for the treat."
Half an hour later, Zhou Tianming carried breakfast while humming a tune as he walked down the corridor leading to the Bridge.
At the door, two White Rabbits stood like sentinels on either side.
Unbothered, he strode forward.
"Halt! Natarle doesn't want to see you!"
The White Rabbit's tone was calm, but its words were incredibly arrogant. Its small white paw, adorned with pink pads, rose to block Zhou Tianming.
"Shoo! Since when do you call her 'Natarle'? How rude. Move aside."
The White Rabbit's red eyes glowed as its tiny claws split open, revealing hidden screwdrivers, wrenches, chainsaws, and other tools pointed at Zhou Tianming.
Silence. They stared at each other.
Zhou Tianming deadpanned, "You took a bribe!"
The White Rabbit averted its gaze.
Amused and exasperated by this Artificial Dumbass, Zhou sighed. "There's no network here—what kind of payment did you even receive? Cash—"
The White Rabbit pulled out a green U.S. dollar bill from the pouch on its belly and waved it. The crisp sound of money echoed.
"Natarle, what era are you living in that you're still carrying paper money?" Zhou Tianming shouted toward the Bridge.
"None of your business!" Natarle's voice rang out from behind the door. "I don't want to see you. Go away!"
Her tone was noticeably different from usual, and Zhou Tianming chuckled.
She's just too adorable!
After a moment's thought—
There would be plenty of time later; no need to rush now. Pushing a cold beauty too far could genuinely lead to violence.
He shoved the breakfast into the White Rabbit's paws. "Give this to her for me."
At the same time, with lightning speed, he snatched the dollar bill. "Confiscating illicit gains! How dare you!"
The White Rabbit panicked, stomping its tiny feet as it charged at him.
Zhou Tianming spun out of the way and yelled, "I'm heading to the Psycommu Alloy research facility later. Stay safe!" With that, he bolted away.
"Master!!!!"
The White Rabbit's voice remained calm, but its pitch skyrocketed.
As he ran down the corridor, White Rabbits popped up everywhere, attempting to intercept him, but Zhou Tianming dodged them all.
Arriving at the changing room, the White Rabbit tried to follow him inside, only for Zhou to tap its forehead. "Safety zone. Rules."
The swarm of White Rabbits halted but still crowded the doorway, with more clones continuously arriving from the corridor behind them.
With a smile, Zhou Tianming changed into his spacesuit, pleased with the White Rabbit's human-like behavior. Though he knew these actions were still just basic programmed responses, he believed they could gradually be nurtured.
It felt like raising a digital pet.
Who could resist a digital pet?
Once suited up, he stepped outside to find the path completely blocked.
Zhou Tianming folded a dollar bill into a paper airplane, blew on it for luck, and flicked it forward with his fingers.
The dollar plane wobbled as it flew down the corridor, and the White Rabbits surged after it like zombies, trampling over each other in waves.
Watching the scene, sweat beaded on Zhou Tianming's forehead. "Did I maybe make too many of them?"
An hour later, Zhou Tianming arrived at the underground warehouse storing the Psycommu Alloy.
Before him stood a heavy double metal door, the two halves slightly ajar with a gap just wide enough for a person to slip through.
He tinkered with the door's control panel nearby.
It wasn't a big issue—he could fix it. Once powered, the door should open, but...
He glanced back at the path he'd taken. This place was five floors underground, and the research facility was over 50 kilometers from the repair shop.
"Maybe I'll look for a way to blast a hole later. Hauling this up would be too much trouble."
Entering the warehouse, he was met with pitch darkness. But as he approached, the nearby Psycommu Alloy reacted, emitting a faint white glow. Venturing deeper, he surveyed the stock.
There were ten stacks in total, each consisting of rectangular metal ingots neatly arranged.
His eyes burned with excitement.
In his mind's eye, the Psycommu Alloy shifted and morphed, forming the Gundam Frame he envisioned.
A fully Psycho-responsive Framework.
The Vermilion Bird had used less than a ton to amplify the effects of Mental Commands. With ten tons, he might just be able to push a satellite out of orbit. But the thought sent a sudden jolt through his heart, his head throbbing faintly. A metallic taste filled his mouth and nose, as if he'd overlooked something. Thinking deeper, he realized: Sense would flood his mind with massive amounts of data. If amplified by a Psycho-responsive Framework, his brain might explode. He'd need to install a limiter—otherwise, he might not survive piloting it.
After confirming his objective, Zhou Tianming returned from the underground to the research facility, heading back to the control room littered with corpses.
He hadn't thoroughly investigated earlier, too eager to leave.
Too eager to leave?
The thought puzzled him, and he narrowed his eyes.
Had the Black Tortoise's destruction happened right then?
Bzzz—
A violent ringing in his ears, accompanied by pain like nails being driven into his skull.
"Hah..." Zhou Tianming laughed through gritted teeth, clutching his head as he gasped for breath. "That gives it away—a mental attack with specific triggers."
The pain intensified, and he could clearly feel his memories twisting and blurring.
Drenched in sweat inside his spacesuit, he muttered, "Not yet..."
A moment later, his dazed eyes cleared.
Zhou Tianming shook his head, feeling heavy and dizzy. "An abnormal reaction... shouldn't have happened."
For someone like him, steeped in anime and novels, these strange abilities weren't surprising. A little thought was all it took to categorize them.
Plugging his own situation into the equation, the answer came quickly: cognitive or mental-type abilities.
Moreover, he'd already determined the attack wasn't continuous—adverse reactions only occurred when he thought of certain things.
And those "certain things" were obvious, weren't they?
The truth behind the destruction of the Black Tortoise and the Vermilion Bird.
With a defined scope, he consciously avoided thinking about those matters to prevent triggering an attack.
There was another issue he needed to clarify.
Was the attack triggered because the enemy was still nearby, keeping watch, or was it purely a passive setup with keyword triggers?
The former had a time limit—since they hadn't killed him, they couldn't possibly surveil him forever.
The latter was more troublesome. Though rigid, without a defense, it would be a dead end.
Letting out a sigh, Zhou Tianming set the matter aside for now and began investigating the control room.
The equipment appeared undamaged, and the circuits were intact—just lacking power.
Zhou Tianming dismantled some components and handcrafted a power supply.
During a break to return to the Vermilion Bird for lunch, he left it charging.
While eating, he teased Natarle, only to have her block him and cut off the communication line.
Attempting to contact the White Rabbit, he found himself blocked there too.
Furious, Zhou Tianming decided to dismantle a few White Rabbit clones in front of it later as a warning.
In the afternoon, he returned to the control room with the fully charged power supply and spent some effort adjusting the connections.
Soon, the hum of machinery and cooling fans filled the air, though accompanied by intermittent clattering noises.
The dark screen flickered several times before lighting up, displaying a distorted, wavy image—audible but unclear.
After further adjustments to the circuits, the picture still had some graininess but was now watchable.
Through these modifications, Zhou Tianming realized the equipment wasn't outdated—in fact, it was highly advanced.
Though the Black Tortoise was no longer a new ship, most of its systems remained at the cutting edge of current technology.
Yet, compared to the devices here, they seemed at least two or three generations behind.
Driven by curiosity, he began searching through the computer's data.
What he found left him stunned.
-Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/QueenTL
Thanks!