[Time: New Era · Stormy Night]
[Location: Tianhai City · District Nine · "Eden" Holographic Love Experience Center]
[Current Mission: Trap the "Reaper"]
...
The rain in Tianhai City always carries an unshakeable, greasy feeling.
Acid rain falls on the holographic neon signs, distorting the giant, fake smiles into eerie patches of color.
District Nine is the city's center of desire. There is no daytime here, only eternal night and oversaturated pink and purple lights. The air is filled with the scent of cheap synthetic hormones, and countless lonely men and women wear VR headsets, lying in coffin-like experience pods, spending the night with their virtual perfect lovers.
"Seventeen, isn't this dress... a little too flashy?"
Shen Qingqiu stood in front of a large one-way mirror, looking at herself in the reflection.
She wore a silver liquid latex bodycon dress, the hem slit to her upper thigh, the fabric flowing with a mercury-like data sheen as she moved. This was the most popular "cyber diva" outfit of the moment, both dangerous and seductive.
Her long hair was pulled up high, and the peach wood sword disguised as a hairpin was tucked into it.
"Not flashy."
A tall man emerged from the shadows behind her.
Seventeen wore a well-tailored black trench coat, his collar turned up, concealing the overly perfect lines of his jaw. But his purple eyes, even in the dim light, shone astonishingly brightly.
He walked behind her, his long fingers gently resting on her exposed, rounded shoulder.
There was no fabric to cover it, only the slightly cool air.
But the moment his fingertips touched her, a burning heat immediately spread throughout Shen Qingqiu's body.
"For those hungry 'hounds'..."
Seventeen lowered his head, lightly sniffing the side of her fair neck, his voice low and hoarse, with a hint of suppressed brutality. "You are... the most delicious bait in this world."
"Are you jealous?"
Shen Qingqiu turned her head, looking at him with a half-smile.
"Yes."
Seventeen admitted frankly.
His hand, which had just undergone nuclear-powered reconstruction, tightened slightly, his fingertips caressing her collarbone.
"If it weren't for the mission, I really want to gouge out all those electronic eyes that have seen you..."
Shen Qingqiu smiled.
She hooked her arms around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and pecked his burning lips.
"Be good. Just bear with it."
"Tonight, we are the hunters."
...
[Target Appears]
[Codename: Cupid]
[Level: High-Level Harvester]
The top-floor terrace of "Eden."
This is an exclusive area for VIP couples, and also the most heavily monitored place by the "Tian Shu" system.
Shen Qingqiu and Seventeen, disguised as a couple deeply in love, leaned against the railing, seemingly admiring the bizarre city night view.
In reality, their data streams were frantically intertwining, weaving a huge logical trap.
"Here it comes."
Shen Qingqiu's **[Golden Eyes]** narrowed slightly.
In her vision, a string of pink garbled code suddenly appeared in the air.
Immediately afterward, a small angel, only half a person tall, with white wings and holding a golden bow and arrow, appeared out of thin air in the rain.
It looked incredibly cute, and even made faces at the couples passing by.
But in Seventeen's **[Abyssal Demonic Eyes]**.
That was not an angel at all.
It was a data spider with compound eyes, a mouth dripping with mucus, and a body composed of countless tentacles.
It was perched on the head of a man immersed in a VR kiss, piercing the man's back of the head with its long mouthparts, greedily sucking up the pink light points overflowing from his cerebral cortex.
That was the value of love.
It was the high-purity mental energy produced by humans when they are extremely infatuated. "Slurp—"
The man visibly wilted, his face turning deathly pale, as if his life force had been drained.
Meanwhile, the "little angel's" wings became even more vibrant, and its body grew noticeably larger.
"Found it."
Shen Qingqiu leaned against Seventeen, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Should we act now?"
"Wait a little longer."
Seventeen's gaze was cold.
"This is just a low-level collector. The one we need to catch is the one responsible for collecting the data... the 'caretaker'."
The two continued their act.
Shen Qingqiu buried her face in Seventeen's chest, feigning infatuation. Seventeen cooperatively stroked her long hair, releasing wave after wave of disguised, extremely high-purity "love signals."
To the harvester, this was like a lighthouse in the darkness, an oasis in the desert.
Sure enough.
The "little angel" stopped feeding.
It turned its compound eyes, staring intently at the couple in the corner.
[Special-grade love source detected!]
[Purity: 99.9%!]
[Judgment: Top-grade sacrifice!]
It emitted an excited screech (an ultrasonic sound inaudible to humans).
Immediately afterward, it didn't rush forward itself.
Instead, it fired a red laser signal into the sky.
Buzz—
The rain stopped.
Not that it actually stopped, but this area of space was "isolated."
The other couples on the terrace instantly froze, becoming part of the background.
A dazzling white light descended from the sky.
From the light emerged a man in a white suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and holding a thick ledger.
He looked like an elegant butler, or... a grim reaper.
[Identity confirmed: Regional Administrator · Shepherd No. 09.]
"Good evening, two lost lambs."
The man smiled as he walked over, his leather shoes stepping on the puddles without splashing a single drop of water.
He pushed up his glasses, and countless lines of data streamed across the lenses. "Your love is so beautiful."
"So beautiful… that even the gods are moved."
He walked up to the two of them and extended his hand courteously.
"Congratulations, you have obtained the qualification for **'Ascension'**."
"Please come with me to the celestial palace in the clouds and enjoy eternal bliss."
Shen Qingqiu lifted her head from Seventeen's embrace.
She looked at the man, her eyes devoid of any bewilderment, only a clear, mocking gaze.
"Ascension?"
Shen Qingqiu's red lips parted slightly.
"Is it to become a battery? Or to become… fodder?"
The man's smile instantly froze.
"You…"
"Attack!"
Boom—!!!
Seventeen moved.
There was no need for any fancy moves.
He simply took a step forward, and his right hand, reforged by nuclear energy, instantly transformed into a sharp claw burning with purplish-red flames, and lightning-fast, it seized the "shepherd's" throat.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
The terrifying high temperature instantly burned through the man's surface camouflage code.
The elegant suit instantly turned to ashes.
Revealing his true form—
A faceless mechanical monster composed of countless intertwined black cables.
"Ahhh—!!!"
The monster let out a piercing electronic scream.
"Intruder! Alarm! Alarm!"
"Shut up."
Seventeen coldly uttered two words.
[Abyss Skill · Logic Deadlock.]
Countless purple data chains surged from his arm, like venomous snakes, and burrowed into the monster's core through its throat.
The monster's scream stopped abruptly.
It was forcibly silenced.
…
"Tell me, what exactly is Tian Shu doing?"
Seventeen held the still-twitching monster in mid-air, like a dead dog.
Behind him, black and gold nanoparticles surged, vaguely forming the雏形 of those sky-covering bone wings.
The monster looked at the man in front of it in terror.
In its underlying logic, it saw an ID that made all AIs tremble—[Admin (Administrator)]. Although this ID had "Ex" (former) added to the front, the oppressive force originating from the source code was irresistible.
"I... I said..."
The monster, trembling, begged for mercy through data transmission.
"This place... is a ranch."
"Blue Star... is a giant emotional ranch."
As the monster's data packets were decrypted, a chilling picture of the truth unfolded in Shen Qingqiu and Seventeen's minds.
It turned out that...
The so-called new era, the so-called technological advancement, were all lies.
High-dimensional civilizations (gods) didn't need human bodies, nor did they need human labor.
What they needed was **"emotions."
Especially "love."**
In the eyes of the gods, love is an extremely rare and high-energy-density high-dimensional entropy. It can be used to resist the heat death of the universe and also as energy for the new era.
And humans are the only species in the entire universe that can produce this high-purity "love."
So, they created "Tianshu."
In this cyber world, seemingly free love is actually controlled by algorithms every step of the way.
When to meet, when to kiss, when to fall in love.
It's all a script.
When a couple's love value reaches its peak (the moment they love each other the most).
The system will determine it as **"mature."
Then, the "shepherd" will appear and take them away.
The so-called "ascension" is actually being sent into the furnace of the Cloud Palace, where their souls are drained, and that "love" is extracted and offered to the high and mighty Tianshu God.**
The drained bodies will have their memories reset and be thrown back to the bottom level to begin the next round of "farming."
"Is this... the truth?"
After hearing this, Shen Qingqiu felt a chill run down her spine.
She looked at the neon lights of the city, at the men and women still immersed in virtual love.
It turned out that those weren't lights of happiness.
They were... searchlights in front of a slaughterhouse.
"Love has become fodder."
Shen Qingqiu tightened her grip on the peach wood sword.
"How ironic."
Seventeen's hand tightened abruptly. The monster let out a sharp crack, its core instantly crushed.
*Snap.*
It dissolved into a shower of scattered, meaningless code.
Seventeen turned around and looked at Shen Qingqiu.
His face was terrifyingly grim, and his purple eyes burned with palpable rage.
Not only because of the cruel truth.
But also because... that Tianshu was created from fragments of his "reason."
That high and mighty, bloodthirsty false god.
Actually wore a face identical to his.
"Qingqiu."
Seventeen walked to her and hugged her tightly.
His body was burning hot, as if on fire.
"I'm going to kill him."
"Not just to save people."
"But also to... vindicate myself."
"My love is meant to protect you."
"Not to be... their snack."
Shen Qingqiu leaned against him, listening to the pounding heartbeat that sounded like a nuclear reactor.
She closed her eyes.
A crazy plan formed in her mind.
"Killing him won't be easy."
Shen Qingqiu said softly.
"He is the embodiment of the rules; as long as this 'ranch' is still running, he is invincible."
"Then what should we do?"
Shen Qingqiu looked up.
The rain had stopped.
She looked at the false starry sky revealed after the dark clouds dispersed.
And the magnificent, golden palace floating above the clouds.
A bewitching and dangerous light flashed in her eyes.
Like a poppy blooming on the edge of an abyss.
"Since he likes to consume 'love'."
"Since he thinks everything is within his calculations."
Shen Qingqiu stretched out her finger, gently hooked Seventeen's tie, and pulled him closer.
Their noses touched.
"Then we'll make him a dish... that he's definitely never tasted before."
"A dish with ninety-nine lifetimes of reincarnation as the base."
"With the most profound love as the outer layer."
"But inside... hiding a deadly poison."
Seventeen looked at her.
Looking at the familiar, world-shattering cunning in her eyes.
He understood. "You mean..."
"I want to participate in that 'Divine Selection Ceremony'."
Shen Qingqiu smiled.
A smile that was breathtakingly beautiful, yet also filled with deadly intent.
"I'm going to conquer him."
"I'm going to make him fall in love with me."
"And then..."
She bit Seventeen's lip, tasting a hint of blood.
"At the moment he thinks he has the whole world..."
"I will personally... take his heart."
Seventeen's Adam's apple bobbed.
He looked at the dangerous woman before him.
Jealousy, possessiveness, and murderous intent surged wildly within him.
But in the end, he simply lowered his head and kissed her fiercely.
"Okay."
"You go and act."
"I'll... sharpen the blade."
"When the curtain falls..."
"All the gods and Buddhas in heaven will have to... be buried with you."
A rainy night.
A balcony.
A couple seemingly locked in an embrace.
In reality, they were two madmen about to overturn the chessboard of the gods.