"DNA Authentication locked, intelligent initialization—5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0." A sweet, soft voice resonated in Du Cheng's ear, as if from nowhere. When it reached "0," Du Cheng saw a virtual screen, as large as a television, appear before his eyes.
"Intelligent initialization complete." "Please select your intelligent partner: male or female."
Immediately after, the sweet female voice sounded in Du Cheng's ear again, and at the same time, two virtual figures appeared on the virtual screen.
On the left was a man in a black tuxedo, whose physique was simply perfect. His presence made the handsome and refined Du Cheng feel somewhat inferior. Even as just a virtual figure, he was simply too perfect.
On the right, a young woman of stunning beauty, dressed in a purple evening gown, looked like a fairy, personifying beauty and elegance. It was a sacred and inviolable beauty, so striking that Du Cheng almost lost his breath.
"Select your intelligent partner. You can choose with your thought or by touching the virtual screen." Just as Du Cheng was marveling, the sweet female voice spoke again.
'With thought?' Du Cheng wondered, perplexed. 'Does it mean... telepathically?'
"Exactly. Thought is the power of your mind," the female voice replied, surprisingly answering his thought. "You can communicate telepathically with your intelligent partner using it."
"First, you can select your intelligent partner, and your intelligent partner will answer all your questions."
"Alright, then I choose the woman." Du Cheng hadn't expected it was really possible to communicate telepathically. As for the answer, it was quite obvious. Du Cheng didn't want an intelligent partner so handsome he'd feel inferior, and besides, he had no such inclinations.
As soon as Du Cheng made his selection, the scene on the virtual screen changed. The full-body virtual image of the man disappeared, and the full-body virtual image of the young woman moved to the center of the screen.
"Hello, Master, thank you for choosing me as your intelligent partner. To facilitate better communication between us, please choose a new name for me."
At that instant, the young woman on the virtual screen seemed to come to life, smiling sweetly at Du Cheng. Her voice was like a celestial melody, bringing him a sense of refreshing pleasure.
"We'll call you Xin'er."
The young woman's sweet smile reminded Du Cheng of Gu Sixin. While the young woman's beauty was extraordinary, compared to her smile, Gu Sixin's pure and sweet smile resonated more with Du Cheng, because although the young woman's smile was sweet, it seemed somewhat mechanical.
"Does Master wish to change the way I address you?" Xin'er asked again.
"Call me Du Cheng…" Although he found it very pleasant to be called "Master," especially by such a perfect young woman, Du Cheng preferred to change the way she addressed him.
"Du Cheng, please select a personality system for Xin'er, or choose Xin'er's self-generated personality system." After thinking for a moment, Du Cheng said, "Let's choose Xin'er's self-generated personality system." Xin'er was almost perfect in every aspect, so Du Cheng didn't want to change anything.
"Settings complete, intelligent system saved." At that instant, the female voice sounded again, and the image on the virtual screen suddenly went dark, as if a computer were rebooting. After about three seconds, it lit up again. Upon restarting, Xin'er's virtual figure reappeared in the center of the screen, her eyes closed. Her purple evening gown had disappeared, replaced by... a black lace outfit.
Slowly opening her eyes, Xin'er, at that moment, seemed to have a life of her own. Her lively eyes radiated a captivating sparkle, and a sweet smile appeared on her face, completely devoid of any mechanical traits.
"Hi, Du Cheng! The Intelligent Assistance Biocomputer Model 7309 is ready to serve you! With updated systems and data loaded from the year 3009 AD!"
Hearing Xin'er's response, Du Cheng became even more confused. The year 3009 AD, a thousand years in the future...
'Time travel...' he thought, stunned, '...How is this possible?' Then Du Cheng asked, "So why did you appear here?"
Hearing Du Cheng's question, Xin'er did not respond immediately. She fell silent, as if frozen, and the charming smile on her face disappeared.
"Data anomaly, cannot answer." "Data anomaly, cannot answer." "Data anomaly, cannot answer."
After ten long seconds, Xin'er finally spoke in a mechanical voice, repeating those words with her eyes shut tight. She seemed frozen again, like a broken system.
"Hey, cripple! What are you doing just standing there? Have you gone crazy?" Just then, a somewhat sarcastic voice sounded next to Du Cheng, and then a young man in a tank top and torn jeans approached Du Cheng.
The young man had some tattoos on his body and, along with his sarcastic tone, gave the impression of a street thug. Hearing the voice, Du Cheng realized he had been standing there for several minutes. However, upon seeing the young man, his expression changed slightly.
"Brother Qiang, do you need something?" Du Cheng knew that young man. His full name was Li Qiang, and he was a well-known low-level thug in Zhenlin. While not entirely evil, fights and extortion were common for him, and Du Cheng had already been extorted by him many times.
As Du Cheng spoke, the virtual screen in front of him became transparent. While it didn't disappear, it also didn't obstruct his vision.
"You owe me money and won't pay it back. I was wondering why I hadn't seen you lately. So you've been hiding here, huh? Pay up, quick." Li Qiang had somewhat thick calves, like radishes, and his sloppy gait gave him the air of a thug. His ordinary eyes glared at Du Cheng, and his tone was threatening.
"I don't owe you money, and besides, I don't have any," Du Cheng said, taking a step back. The supposed debt was nothing more than a pretext for Li Qiang's extortion. Given Du Cheng's character, it was impossible for him to borrow money from someone like that.
"Damn it, still talking back! Let me teach you a lesson, see if you dare not to pay." Li Qiang was clearly used to bullying Du Cheng. Moreover, Du Cheng was a cripple and stood no chance against him, unable to even run away, so he became even more reckless. He lifted his foot and delivered a hard kick to Du Cheng's stomach.
Du Cheng, with his lame leg, could barely move, so how could he dodge Li Qiang's kick? He took a direct kick to the stomach that sent him collapsing onto the cement ground.
Li Qiang's kick was powerful. Du Cheng, lying on the concrete, curled up, his face pale, clearly in extreme pain.
"Tell me, are you going to pay or not? If you don't, I'll cripple your other leg too," Li Qiang threatened with a sneer, showing not the slightest pity despite Du Cheng's disability. As he spoke, he reached his hand toward Du Cheng's pockets.
"I don't owe you money," Du Cheng replied, his face pale, curling into a fetal position to prevent Li Qiang from searching him.
"Damn it! Still talking back? You want to die?" Unable to search him, Li Qiang gave Du Cheng another kick in the rear.
Luckily, the buttocks are fleshy. Although the kick was strong, it didn't hurt as much as the one to the stomach.
"External force detected. Initiate defensive counter-attack system?" At that instant, Xin'er's voice resounded again, though still in a mechanical tone. Furthermore, Xin'er, on the virtual screen, remained motionless, her eyes shut tight.
Du Cheng didn't understand what Xin'er meant by "defensive counter-attack system," nor why she had suddenly changed. However, he had no other choice and no time to think, so he simply selected "Yes."
"Defensive counter-attack mode activated, entering neural control mode." When Xin'er's voice sounded again, Du Cheng realized that, except for his eyes, he had completely lost control of his body. Even the pain he felt had disappeared.
At that instant, Xin'er, on the virtual screen, suddenly opened her eyes and became conscious. She turned her head within the screen to look at Li Qiang, clenched her fists, and said indignantly, "You bastard, how dare you hit my beloved Du Cheng? I'll teach you a lesson!"
As soon as Xin'er finished speaking, Du Cheng clearly "saw" himself execute a reverse spinning kick, knocking down Li Qiang, who was about to search him again, and then effortlessly getting to his feet.
Li Qiang also got up from the ground. Du Cheng saw Li Qiang's face darken, becoming even more ferocious, as he clenched his fists and lunged at him.
If it had been Du Cheng, he undoubtedly would not have been able to dodge. However, Du Cheng leaned slightly, using his injured leg as an axis, and with an elegant sidestep, skillfully dodged Li Qiang's punch. Then, with a swift hand-chop, he landed a heavy blow on the back of his neck.
After being hit by Du Cheng's hand-chop, Li Qiang immediately lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, knocked out.
From dodging to counter-attacking, it was all one fluid and perfect movement. The actions were incredibly agile and practiced, even utilizing the injured leg, as if it were a pre-programmed sequence.
"How about that, my dear Du Cheng? Isn't Xin'er amazing?" After dealing with Li Qiang, Xin'er, on the virtual screen, finally turned her gaze to Du Cheng and said proudly.
At that moment, Du Cheng once again felt the pain in his body, having clearly regained control of his own organism.
Du Cheng hadn't expected this intelligent biological computer to have such a function. He exclaimed, "Truly impressive!"
After speaking, Du Cheng looked at Li Qiang, who was still unconscious, and then continued, "How is he? Is he okay?"
"He's fine, fine. I just gave him a few light taps. He'll wake up after being unconscious for a little while," Xin'er said confidently. As she spoke, her delicate hands even made a few punching gestures as if she wanted to hit Li Qiang directly.
Du Cheng was almost speechless. Xin'er's personality was far too human. Except for not having a physical body, her personality, behavior, and tone were practically identical to those of a normal person.
However, this was no time for admiration. Du Cheng had to leave without being seen. He didn't want to be seen and cause any misunderstandings.