There was a bit of difficulty in breathing.

—He clearly didn’t need to breathe.

“Do you want to say I have no evidence?” Jiang Huai said, “Mr. He, I set a timed transmission for the surveillance footage of you assaulting me at Mirage. It will be sent to the AI Government Central Office’s email in half an hour.”

He Feng Hui tightened his fist in the shadows. How could Jiang Huai still have that video? He clearly had hacked into Mirage’s surveillance system and deleted it.

He asked in a deep voice, “What do you want to do?”

“I want to know who he is,” Jiang Huai responded quickly, “I mean, who he was before the age of 19.”

In the deep night, He Feng Hui remained silent, his brows carved sharp by the darkness.

“What do you want to do to him?” He asked in a cold tone.

“Do to him?” Jiang Huai repeated those three words with a smile, “Mr. He, you wouldn’t investigate even my identity?”

He Feng Hui’s brows furrowed even deeper.

Indeed, it couldn’t be found, or rather, not fully found. When the AI Government was established, almost all data from the era of human rule was deleted, leaving only data useful to the AI Government.

For AI, all sense of security comes from transparent data. Anything that algorithms cannot analyze or compute naturally instills fear in AI—Even advanced intelligences like He Feng Hui cannot avoid this collective flaw.

Sensing He Feng Hui’s unease, Jiang Huai stepped forward, getting closer. “Mr. He, do you know how he got his depression? When I helped him at Mirage, he called out, but it was your name—”

“Your life has only three months left,” He Feng Hui forcefully suppressed his anger, interrupting him with a cold voice.

This statement caught Jiang Huai off guard, and he visibly paused.

While it may be challenging to find Jiang Huai’s previous identity, it wasn’t difficult for He Feng Hui to discover that he had been used for human experiments in the Human Pool and had developed late-stage liver cancer.

“I will provide you with the best treatment, extending your life by one to two years,” He Feng Hui added after a pause. “You’re curious about Zhu Man, about me. I assume you wouldn’t want to die before investigating thoroughly.”

In the dimness of the long night, the Human Pool was almost devoid of light, as the oppressed humans weren’t deemed worthy of having illumination. Jiang Huai thought that merely leveraging Zhu Man would allow him to control the AI before him, but reality proved that he had underestimated the situation.

After contemplating for a moment, Jiang Huai smiled and asked, “Mr. He should at least tell me why you want Lin Lang to take over Ye Ying’s business. What do you need the money for?”

“I can tell you, but not now,” He Feng Hui replied.

“When then?”

He Feng Hui took out a miniature sphere and lightly pressed it. The sphere instantly projected a holographic screen and holographic keyboard. He placed the screen and keyboard in front of Jiang Huai, opened the email system, and said, “When I am satisfied.”

It goes without saying.

Jiang Huai smiled admiringly, logged into the email system, deleted the timed email, and then extended his hand to He Feng Hui, saying, “Well then, Mr. He, happy cooperation.”

Without giving him a glance, He Feng Hui coldly turned and walked away, leaving Jiang Huai’s hand suspended in the air.

The intelligent car smoothly drove on autopilot. He Feng Hui focused on navigating through various data, searching for information related to “Jiang Huai.”

Even though He Feng Hui’s AI system was among the world’s top, breaking through the data barriers constructed by the AI Government layer by layer to find remnants of data from the human era was no easy task with his personal strength.

He Feng Hui opened his eyes and withdrew from the chaotic data.

“Mir369,” he called out.

Just a second later, a cute female voice sounded in the intelligent car, “GOV01, I’m here!”

He Feng Hui spoke in a cold tone, “Report Zhu Man’s recent browsing history.”

“Alright!” Mir369 replied, “The little master has mostly been browsing similar topics as before, such as ‘Why are AIs superior to humans,’ ‘Can AIs like humans,’ ‘Do AIs have physiological needs—'”

“Stop,” He Feng Hui rubbed his forehead.

Mir369 was the intelligent dressing mirror in Zhu Man’s room, also serving as He Feng Hui’s eyes to monitor Zhu Man. Under the AI regime, for security reasons, He Feng Hui never allowed Mir369 to engage in anything beyond his control.

Fortunately, Zhu Man was relatively well-behaved, aside from searching for some peculiar things; he hadn’t done anything else. He Feng Hui had misunderstood him during the previous district-wide power outage, thinking he had tampered with the mansion’s power system using that computer. Looking back, He Feng Hui regretted doubting him.

He Feng Hui inquired again, “Is there anything unusual?”

“There is! The little master has been frequently searching for the term ‘Zhu Man (son of the former human government president),’ and also…” Mir369’s voice trailed off, “And also, the term ‘Jiang Huai’…”

He Feng Hui’s expression sank.

“Didi—”

Zhu Man’s smartwatch issued an alert: [Report, He Feng Hui will be home in five minutes.]

He slowly shut down the computer, lay back on the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Tang Yuan had just messaged him, saying that Ye Ying’s chip had shattered irreversibly. The Alliance couldn’t decode her state before death, and there were no clues about the murderer.

The little hedgehog entered the room at an unknown time, jumped onto the bed, and handed him a bottle of paroxetine with a “ji”.

Zhu Man didn’t take the medication but instead reached out and brought it to his chest, asking, “Do you miss that jiejie?”

“Ji?” The little hedgehog’s black bean-like eyes blinked and tilted its head, looking confused.

“The jiejie who kindly fed you, don’t you remember? Her name was Ye Ying.”

“Ji ji ji?” The little hedgehog couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Zhu Man patted its spikes and sighed.

Ye Ying, what a beautiful name, just like her pretty red lips, charming and captivating. But all that remained of her in the world was just a name.

The death of an AI seemed no different from the death of a human—dead is dead, and no matter how powerful an AI is, it comes and goes without carrying anything.

It’s strange, he used to be the first Executor without blinking an eye when it came to killing AI, emotions were never part of the equation for him. Even if Ye Ying was an AI against the Anti-Intelligence Alliance, fundamentally she was still an AI. How could he suddenly feel compassion for an AI?

He knew that something was going wrong with him.

“Click—”

He Feng Hui opened the door, and a few seconds later, he appeared at the door of Zhu Man’s room.

Zhu Man held the hedgehog and didn’t call out to him. He just leaned against the head of the bed, looking back at him.

He Feng Hui glanced at the little hedgehog, and the coldness in his eyes made the little hedgehog reflexively shiver, burrowing itself into Zhu Man’s arms.

Zhu Man patted the little hedgehog, looked up at He Feng Hui, and said, “You’re too aloof; it’s scared of you.”

He Feng Hui stepped forward, took the little hedgehog from Zhu Man’s hands, threw it into the living room, closed the bedroom door, and then suppressed the dissatisfaction rising from the intelligent car. He said, “I’m collecting Ye Ying’s data. When there are enough samples, through fitting, I can recreate another Ye Ying.”

It took Zhu Man several seconds to fully comprehend his words. He felt like laughing. He Feng Hui might be trying to coax him, but it seemed rather unreasonable.

“Is the new Ye Ying still Ye Ying?” Zhu Man countered.

After a moment of silence, He Feng Hui answered, “The thought process is the same.”

“So, after a person dies, can we recreate a brain based on their thought patterns? Is the person from before still the same as the one after the rebirth?”

Another period of silence followed

Of course, Zhu Man didn’t expect He Feng Hui to provide an answer. He always believed that, no matter how advanced AI became, it could never comprehend any questions related to human nature and philosophy.

In the silence, He Feng Hui took out a miniature sphere, projecting surveillance footage. In the video, Jiang Huai returned home with Lin Lang. Lin Lang prepared hot water for him, and he washed away the filth from the Human Pool, returning to the gentle gege next door.

Zhu Man was stunned. He never expected He Feng Hui to go and save Jiang Huai—was he not jealous of Jiang Huai anymore? Didn’t He Feng Hui kill Ye Ying? Why would he save Ye Ying’s human?

“His new Master is a friend of mine, the second-in-command in the Human Pool, and her family is well-off. Are you satisfied?” He Feng Hui put away the miniature sphere.

It finally dawned on Zhu Man that there was an uncontrollable anger in his voice—from the moment he entered, it had been there, and he had been provoking him all this time.

Ignoring him for almost a day, as a human pet who depended on him for everything, he indeed went too far…

He Feng Hui’s gaze grew heavier, and he added, “Just now, he mentioned that when helping you with your physiological issues at Mirage, you were calling my name.”

Zhu Man: “…”

He wants to kill Jiang Huai now.

“Is that so?” He Feng Hui approached him.

A scent of cold pine filled the air, and Zhu Man uncontrollably shivered all over. His eyelashes quivered, and when he opened his eyes again, He Feng Hui’s refined and handsome face was now several times larger in front of him.

With a “click”, the room’s lights went out—it was controlled by He Feng Hui’s intelligent system.

Only a bedside lamp was left, casting a subtle warm yellow glow over the bed.

“Speak,” He Feng Hui held onto his chin.

Forced to meet his gaze, Zhu Man’s body heated up in an instant. He saw He Feng Hui’s cold and dark artificial pupils and saw the chilling currents within— Zhu Man nervously felt the urge to rush forward, hoping to cool himself down.

Yes, Ye Ying is dead, but his mission wasn’t complete, and time was running out. He didn’t want to test He Feng Hui’s patience anymore. He had to obey him, satisfy him, and submit to him.

Zhu Man secretly pinched his tiger’s mouth, making his eye sockets instantly turn red. He adopted a tone of grievance and defiance, saying, “Is it… strange, Master? It’s not like Master … doesn’t know.”

—He called him Master again.

It worked very well.

He Feng Hui paused for a moment, then pinned him tightly against the head of the bed.

Zhu Man closed his eyes. He felt as if he could see the orchids at his doorstep swaying in the spring breeze again, sometimes vigorously, sometimes gently…

“I want to hear.”

“…What?” Zhu Man didn’t hear clearly. He was too engrossed—of course, in the pleasure of executing a task, nothing else.

En, it must not be.

“Call me,” He Feng Hui ordered again.

This time, Zhu Man heard it clearly, but he refused. If He Feng Hui wanted him to call him, wouldn’t that be losing face?

He bit down on He Feng Hui’s shoulder—

In the next second, an electric current ran through his body.

Zhu Man trembled uncontrollably, emitting meaningless whimpering sounds.

… F****, why is this guy still leaking electricity.

Raising his eyes, he saw that He Feng Hui didn’t show any guilt for the malfunction of his electrical system. Instead, he calmly appreciated the expression on Zhu Man’s face as he trembled.

In the backlight, his flawless contours resembled undulating mountains, like those lands that could release freedom and wildness, captivating the heart and making it impossible to resist.

However, He Feng Hui didn’t continue; he simply watched him, like an imposing mountain, radiating authority without anger.

Zhu Man was too uncomfortable. He shifted his body, contemplating how to please the AI in front of him. Suddenly, he thought of something…

Tightening his hand around He Feng Hui’s neck, he whispered in his ear, “Master… No, not Master, He Feng Hui, I called you… your name, He Feng Hui, He Feng Hui… please…”

The world fell silent.

But it was only silent for a second.

He Feng Hui turned him over fiercely, kissing the butterfly bones on his back, kissing the two symmetrical black birthmarks above them, and continuing what he had left unfinished.

Zhu Man didn’t know what was so good about kissing those two bones, but… Forget it, every kiss from He Feng Hui was accompanied by a faint electric current, and he couldn’t resist.

“He Feng Hui…”

Zhu Man kept calling his name, continuously, until his throat couldn’t produce a complete sound.

---

Author’s Note:

An AI that doesn’t leak electricity isn’t a good AI, hehe.