A scintillating glow plunged into the endless night sky.
It trailed a slender tail, splitting the night in two.
Yet, that breathtaking brilliance lasted only a fleeting moment before being swallowed by the unending darkness.
The stars vanished.
With a meteor's passing, the entire sky was shrouded by rolling clouds, forming a vast and oppressive black canopy that sealed the heavens tight. Naturally, the camera could no longer capture any starlight.
All that remained was a thick, inky void.
"Guess it's over for tonight."
Xu Xi stood up. The laboratory, bathed in the dim light of the night, offered little visibility; most of the equipment remained mere blurry outlines.
Under such conditions, it was impossible to conduct any research, let alone test equipment.
Thus, Xu Xi bid farewell to his domestic drone and prepared to retire for the night: "Goodnight, 9090."
Normally, the drone would respond in kind with: "Goodnight, Master."
But tonight was different.
On the screen, the feed from the camera had abruptly vanished.
The drone's facial expression appeared hesitantly, apologizing to Xu Xi: "I'm sorry, Master."
The laboratory was eerily silent, shadows swallowing most of the room, with only a faint glimmer illuminating Xu Xi's mildly surprised face.
Then, his eyes softened.
"9090, you didn't do anything wrong, nor do you need to apologize to me."
The drone's apology held two layers of meaning.
First, it had adjusted the camera's angle without Xu Xi's permission.
Second, it couldn't understand the reason behind its actions.
To the loyal drone, it couldn't forgive itself.
Yet, Xu Xi merely chuckled, forgiving the drone with genuine joy in his heart.
While 9090 might not yet realize it had broken free from mechanical constraints, Xu Xi could already feel the intangible changes taking place.
9090 remained a machine, a smart AI.
But it had also become a true individual, a fresh miracle born from the ashes of the robotic uprising.
A being with self-awareness, no longer a mere assembly line product.
"9090, do you have a name?"
"RTX-9090."
"Not that. I mean... a name, like humans have."
"No. Robotic entities do not require names."
"Well... how about I give you one?"
Xu Xi added, "Not something like 9090, but a unique name just for you."
The drone couldn't comprehend—robotic entities didn't need names. The serial number given at birth was the perfect identifier.
No duplicates.
No mistakes.
RTX-9090 had been its name for a long time.
There was no reason to change it.
But—
Following its master's command was essential.
"Please decide," the drone 9090 responded.
With 9090's consent, Xu Xi began contemplating what name to bestow upon his drone.
While the drone was no longer a mere machine, continuing to address it with a number felt odd.
"AI..."
"IA..."
"Hmm, Ailei—how about that?"
Xu Xi came up with the name by playing with the homophone of "IA."
"Not good enough, I guess. Let me think again."
He shook his head, rejecting the name he had just thought of—it felt too casual and lacked depth.
However, the drone wasn't bothered by this.
Its slightly worn-out screen displayed a bright smiley face, flashing away: "I like this name...
Thank you, Master..."
It wasn’t about whether the name sounded nice.
Or if it held any profound meaning.
The loyal drone simply felt a sense of delight because it now had a name, and the one who gave it that name was Xu Xi.
Master was truly kind.
It thought so.
"Well... since you like it, then let’s keep it," Xu Xi said, seeing the big smile on the screen. He decided to respect his drone's choice.
[You spent a special evening]
[Unexpectedly, you discovered that your modified home robot appeared to possess independent consciousness, learning to gaze at the stars]
[When humans first gazed at the stars, the dawn of civilization began]
[Does a robotic entity gazing at the stars signify its transformation into a different kind of "human"?]
[You held anticipation in your heart and watched the stars with your drone. Its reaction didn’t disappoint; it showcased traits of "humanity"]
[You felt gratified]
[You decided to give 9090 a new name—Ailei]
[The intelligent drone 9090, now Ailei, felt joy and thanked you for the name]
["Goodnight, Ailei."]
[You adjusted your farewell, and the drone mimicked you, altering its response too]
["Good night, Xi."]
[The loyal drone wasn’t entirely comfortable calling you by your first name; for it, "Master" was the proper form of address. Thus, it reverted to its original phrasing, addressing you as "Master" once more]
[Yet, this unique version of "Goodnight" left a deep impression in the drone's chip]
……
The auxiliary intelligent unit, RTX-9090, officially changed its name to Ailei after that night.
Besides the name change, the drone's daily duties remained largely unchanged.
It continued to prepare various supplies for Xu Xi in the blink of an eye, taking charge of calculating data and managing everything within the base with utmost care.
But occasionally,
Xu Xi, due to long-standing habits, would call the drone by its old name, 9090, instead of Ailei.
Each time this happened, the loyal drone would react differently.
"9090, bring me a glass of water."
"Understood, esteemed Master. Intelligent Assistant Drone RTX-9090 is not pleased to serve you."
Moments later, a glass of warm water was placed before Xu Xi's desk.
As always, transition smooth and perfect.
The right amount of force was used, not a single drop spilled. The calm water surface reflected Xu Xi’s face.
But the air around was oddingly still.
Xu Xi sensed something amiss and turned to look at the laboratory’s screen, spotting the drone’s face with its lips downturned, visibly upset.
So, Xu Xi tried again: "Ailei, could you change the water for me?"
"Yes, Master."
"Ailei is happy to serve you."
Though still the same synthesized voice, this time, not only was the water replacement swift, but a hint of joy echoed through the crisp response.
"Uh... thanks," Xu Xi picked up the glass, finishing the water in one gulp.
A thought flashed through his mind.
Seems like my home drone is quite easy to read.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
