Shi Tou stopped and turned, pulling a steel pipe from the body of a defunct, uncontrolled robot with a heave.
His sturdy frame, holding the steel pipe, moved towards the source of the sound.
Then, as the robust Shi Tou clearly saw the situation inside, he froze.
He saw a woman, arms crossed, weeping as if flowers were scattering.
The woman seemed utterly terrified, with injuries on her body and tears on her face. She looked up with tear-filled eyes, meekly watching him.
"No... don't kill me, please..."
In the sky that was already growing cold, the woman wore an extremely thin slip dress.
As Shi Tou took in the appearance of the woman before him, a memory was violently struck in his heart.
This woman looked strikingly similar to the person in his memory who had been killed when he left.
Tears traced paths down the woman's face, each drop falling with a "pat," directly onto Shi Tou's heart.
-
Man Yi Xuan had always managed her own businesses with ease.
All her business chains were within her plans, steadily growing and flourishing.
Recently, she had been scouting for land, wanting to buy a larger plot to construct a sufficiently vast space for a laboratory.
However, lately, she felt she was experiencing bad luck, a sense that nothing was going her way.
Any place she fancied was always acquired by someone else before her.
Even when she had negotiated with a seller and was about to sign the contract, the other party would suddenly renege.
Business people are very superstitious about feng shui and luck, and Man Yi Xuan was no exception.
Man Yi Xuan thought she should consult a feng shui master and considered buying something to ward off bad fortune.
Moreover, just two days prior, her most inconspicuous bar had been visited by the police.
Someone had reported her for conducting illegal business there.
Man Yi Xuan was very cooperative with the police.
Her bar was originally a non-profit facade, primarily used as a meeting point and communication hub for their members when hunting uncontrolled robots.
There were rarely many customers.
The patrons who frequented her bar were respectable individuals, definitely not involved in gambling, prostitution, or drugs.
She didn't offer such services.
But strangely, on the day the police arrived, contraband was indeed found in her bar.
Fortunately, Man Yi Xuan had extensive connections, and after spending a considerable sum to smooth things over, the matter was resolved.
Even so, her bar had to suspend operations for a while.
However, she hadn't anticipated.
In the subsequent period, several of her businesses encountered problems one after another.
And these weren't minor, insignificant issues.
This gave her a headache and left her temporarily unable to attend to other matters.
-
Zhao Fu Gui had been experiencing immense happiness during this time.
He used to have friends, friends he grew up with at the orphanage.
But after his good friend was killed by an uncontrolled robot, despite his young age, he no longer had any friends his own age.
He always felt he was doing something extraordinary, and his peers were too immature.
And adults who weren't immature would find him childish due to his personality and wouldn't befriend him.
The only people Zhao Fu Gui had contact with were the members of the celebrity hunting team. Their interactions were limited to when they were on missions.
On weekdays, whether it was Gou Zhe, the celebrity, Man Yi Xuan, who managed numerous businesses, or Shi Tou, who had to take on odd jobs and risk his life to make a living, they were all very busy.
In short, outside of missions, Zhao Fu Gui was essentially in a state of social isolation.
But recently, Zhao Fu Gui had made a good friend his own age.
This friend greatly admired his style of dress, they shared remarkably similar hobbies, and their conversations flowed effortlessly...
Lately, besides going to hunt uncontrolled robots that had taken lives, Zhao Fu Gui spent all his other time with this good friend.
He had become visibly much happier.
-
As for Gou Zhe, he had been hospitalized for his injuries during this period.
Logically, he should have had ample free time.
But often, things didn't go as planned.
Although Gou Zhe was injured and unable to participate in the evening part-time job of hunting uncontrolled robots, he still had his main profession as a top-tier celebrity during the day.
His agent, Jiang Yue, had already selected several scripts she favored for Gou Zhe in a short period.
Gou Zhe hadn't filmed movies or television series for two years.
There had always been invitations from producers, but Gou Zhe had consistently refused.
Even though she was his agent, at Gou Zhe's level, if he said no, Jiang Yue, as his agent, could do nothing about it.
But recently, due to Gou Zhe's injury delaying subsequent work, the investors were offering him very high fees, and correspondingly, the liquidated damages for breach of contract were exorbitantly high.
Jiang Yue naturally had to find a way to minimize losses.
The current solution offered was that Gou Zhe would not have to pay liquidated damages if he agreed to star in a television series they were currently investing in.
Given the exorbitant amount of liquidated damages, even someone as wealthy as Gou Zhe would feel the pinch.
Therefore, Gou Zhe was essentially cornered, unable to advance or retreat.
He was now lying in his hospital bed, selecting scripts and using his recovery time to familiarize himself with them.
As soon as he recovered, he would join the crew according to Jiang Yue's schedule and make up for all the missed work.
In short, Gou Zhe would be extremely busy in the coming period.
Recalling the matter concerning uncontrolled robots, which had finally seen some progress, Gou Zhe rubbed his temples.
He would sort out these work matters first before dealing with the issue of uncontrolled robots.
Gou Zhe reasoned this way.
-
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Wen Bai arrived precisely on time to pick up 575 and bring him home.
After meticulously inspecting that all the damage on 575 had been perfectly repaired without any flaws, Wen Bai nodded with a neutral expression.
575 changed into the clothes brought by Wen Bai, as reminded by System 001, and stood in his designated position behind Wen Bai.
Before Wen Bai left with his robot 575, he was informed that regarding 575's eye color issue, a project research team had been established. The feasibility was not high, but they would give it their all.
Wen Bai stated that they should proceed with full confidence and that if any requirements arose regarding funding or other aspects, they could directly approach Director Li; these were not problems.
Having received Wen Bai's assurance and confirmed that no further meetings were needed, Lin Qi felt relieved and committed himself wholeheartedly.
-
With the return of 575, the entire System 001 was filled with joy. They even ordered a small cake to celebrate 575's successful repair.
Wen Bai, driven by 575, directly went to the villa's garage.
As soon as Wen Bai sat down on the sofa after returning home, the doorbell rang.