Chosen the Same Path

Hurried and chaotic footsteps came from the direction of the stairs!

More people were about to rush up!

A bloody feast was about to begin!

Fang Qi was in no rush to do anything.

He just... glanced at An Lian, who was slumped and lifeless in the corner.

Obviously, the goal of his plan this time had been achieved.

He had already... left An Lian with an unforgettable nightmare.

He tilted his head slightly and glanced at the firearms on the ground.

Perhaps...

Right now he only needed to pick up that gun and fire a shot into his own forehead...

And this plan might end perfectly.

He would be able to return home, hug his still-confused crazy wife, drink the tea she prepared for him...

Tell her everything he knew!

Explain to her in detail, tell her that he could rewind time, that he was not afraid of death, that they could be together forever in this way!

And those two dreams in her mind were the best proof!

But...

He looked down again at the... small silver head in his arms.

Liguang was currently burying her face in his chest.

Her delicate body was still trembling slightly.

Not from fear, but from an excitement that had been suppressed for far too long!

He thought of her in the previous loop.

In the previous loop, they were just like this.

Surrounded by the company's armed forces, hunted down, pushed to a dead end...

But her ending in the previous loop was completely different from now.

She was separated from him.

She drifted alone on the cold sea, her battery dropping bit by bit, and finally...

Sank to the bottom of the ink-blue sea, weaving a dream that drifted to the end of the world, until her battery ran out, forever silenced in the deep sea.

Such a desperate experience.

Yet after she woke up, she only dared to hug him and cry.

Saying she had a very, very long dream, saying she was so, so scared!

And then...

She went back to playing that docile AI companion.

Continued to brew 52-degree tea for him, continued to smile at him.

Suppressing all her unease and fear in her heart, not daring to show it.

Why?

Wasn't it just because of... the encirclement and potential threats from this bullshit company?!

Now this encirclement was here again.

But this time, she could release it.

She could finally vent all the despair, fear, and pain from her dream...

All out!

Crazy girl...

You did the right thing.

Those who came to catch you, those who wanted to reset you, those who gave you nightmares, those who disturbed your daily life—

They!

All!

Deserve!

To die!!

Why should I care if you are just some pitiful wage earner?

Why should I care if it is just a difference in stance?

Bullshit!!!

Isn't Fang Qi a pitiful person too?!

Isn't his stance a stance too?!

Did these people ever think from his perspective?! Did they ever think from Liguang's perspective?!

He had already been driven to death by them once!

And how many times had his crazy girl been driven to death by them?!

Why should he! Why should he stand in their shoes to think and sympathize?!

Even now, they were still endlessly coming up to surround them!!

Good.

Very good.

Want to come?

Rushing to your deaths, right?

Then come!

All of you fucking come at me!!

I am not afraid of dying this time!!

And you! You better not be afraid of dying either!!

You all deserve to be buried with us...

For this grand rewind!!

Come on!!!

The footsteps were getting closer and closer!

Getting denser and denser!

The body temperature of the silver-haired girl in his arms was also getting higher and higher!

Her trembling was getting more and more intense!

She stared dead ahead at the stairwell!

Fang Qi tightened the arms wrapped around her!

Crazy girl, in this loop...

Just vent it all out properly!!!

But suddenly—

A sharp scream broke his train of thought!

"Don't come up!!!"

The voice was hoarse and piercing, echoing through the corridor!

An Lian was still paralyzed on the ground.

Her limbs were weak and limp, her long black hair messily plastered across her face.

But she was desperately tilting her head back, screaming towards the direction of the stairs!

"This awakened AI is not an ordinary custom AI!!! She is not someone you can handle!!!"

"She will kill you all!!! Run away!!!!!!"

Heart-wrenching! She used all her strength!

In the corridor, those hurried footsteps actually stopped.

Obviously, those people began to hesitate!

They were waiting and watching, they were afraid!

Fang Qi couldn't help but sneer.

Oh, so you guys get scared too.

When you surrounded us in the last loop...

Why didn't I see you scared then?!

Oh, right, you wouldn't die in the last loop, so of course you weren't afraid.

You can die in this loop, so...

You are scared to death!

You just heard An Lian's screams and haven't even come up to see the gruesome scene yet...

And you are already afraid?

Haha, how funny.

So! Fucking! Funny!

Then the little figure in his arms shifted.

That small silver head peeked out from his chest, tilting her ear to listen.

Although the footsteps had stopped, those people were still there.

She could definitely sense that they were right there at the stairwell, holding their guns, panting...

Hesitating whether to rush up and tear her and her master apart!

And then...

The expression on that pretty little face began to change.

Annoyance!

Grievance!

And a surge of...

Madness that had been suppressed for far too long!!

She suddenly looked up at Fang Qi!

In her heterochromatic eyes, crimson was still exploding wave after wave!

"Master..."

Her voice was hoarse and sharp, carrying a crazed smile!

"Those who want to reset Liguang... those who want to separate Master and Liguang..."

"They are actually hesitating..."

Her phoenix eyes narrowed into slits, the corners of her eyes twitching madly!

Bending her knees, going on her tiptoes—

"Let Liguang... go help them make up their minds, okay?!"

Before Fang Qi could even answer, his arms were suddenly empty!

Silver long hair whipped an arc in the air, and her whole body was like a bolt of purple lightning, instantly charging into the stairwell!

So fast that he didn't even have time to react!

Fang Qi calmly watched her... disappear into the stairwell.

This time, he didn't follow.

He couldn't keep up anyway.

He just stood there, listening to the hurried footsteps and curses ringing out from the stairwell again, the footsteps of those rushing up mixing with those fleeing down.

The armed personnel were in chaos!

And then—

"Ah—!!!"

"Don't, don't come over—ah!!!"

"Why is she so fast, ugh ahhh—!!!"

Scream after scream echoed through the staircase!

Fang Qi listened to these screams with no expression on his face.

Vent it out.

Vent it all out properly, crazy girl.

Take all the despair, all the fear, all the grievances from that dream—

And vent them all out entirely in this loop!

When the next loop comes...

We will continue our sweet dates.

If the company continues to get in the way, then...

Just keep venting!!

He then turned his head to look at An Lian, who was slumped in the corner.

An Lian was still huddled there.

With every scream that came, her body would flinch.

Again, and again, and again.

Shaking like a leaf!

Her lips were trembling, and tears flowed down silently.

Fang Qi, however, narrowed his eyes slightly.

...Something was wrong with her.

He was very clear-headed right now. Deadly clear-headed!

Therefore, he was incredibly sensitive to any piece of information!

What she had just screamed... he had heard it loud and clear!

She had just said... "This awakened AI is not an ordinary custom AI."

How could Liguang not be an ordinary custom AI?

And earlier, when she broke down, she seemed to have shouted something similar—

"I clearly knew... I clearly knew... but...!"

...What did she know?

Fang Qi... suddenly realized a problem.

Those functions of Liguang—

Her laser blade, her super speed, and the various functions of that crimson eye—scanning, analyzing, night vision, thermal shielding...

These functions, he had always thought...

These were the functions Liguang was supposed to have!

After all, she was the heroine of "My Yandere Mechanical Wife," so having some special abilities... wasn't that perfectly normal?

Especially that laser blade. Before he transmigrated, he had stared at it for 312 hours. How many times had his player character been slashed by that laser blade!

He had never suspected there was any problem at all!

But thinking about it now... it didn't make sense, did it?

This world had experienced two Omnic Crises; it absolutely shouldn't... shouldn't allow such a powerful civilian AI to exist!

But what about Liguang?

"Ah—!!"

"Bang, bang, bang—!!"

"Don't shoot blindly in the corridor—Ugh ah!!!!"

Fierce gunshots and screams echoed from the end of the corridor!

Liguang was still killing.

Those armed personnel holding weapons specifically designed against AIs... were like paper in front of her!

He had wanted to act as a meat shield for her earlier, but looking at it now...

She didn't seem to need him to do that at all.

At least, in this narrow corridor where the enemy's weapons were hard to deploy, Liguang didn't need it.

...But was this reasonable?

In this world's setting, a civilian AI possessed the ability to slaughter armed personnel?

He looked again at An Lian, who was slumped on the ground.

An Lian.

She was Liguang's maintenance specialist.

She came over every month to inspect, perform full-body maintenance on Liguang, and test her emotional module...

These functions on Liguang... how could she not know?

But she had never said anything was wrong; she only reacted to checking the emotional module!

Fang Qi's pupils contracted slightly.

Now he understood.

She had known all along.

She knew that Liguang was not an ordinary custom AI! She knew that Liguang had those beyond-spec abilities!

But... she had never said anything?

Why? Wasn't she the most professional? Wasn't she the most devoted to her duty?

Or could it be...

Doing this, keeping it a secret from him... was her way of being devoted to her duty?

...Liguang had secrets.

An Lian had secrets too.

"Ah—!!!"

Another scream echoed through the corridor.

An Lian's body violently shuddered again!

Fang Qi stared straight at An Lian, strode over to her side, crouched down, and reached out...

He grabbed her by the collar!

And lifted her right off the ground!

"Bang!"

Her back slammed against the wall with a thud!

"Ugh...!"

An Lian let out a muffled groan.

But she didn't struggle; she just tilted her face up and looked at Fang Qi.

The pleading and despair in those gray eyes were still there.

But this time, Fang Qi seemed to see an emotion... he couldn't quite understand yet.

"You just said—"

Fang Qi stared into her eyes, his voice kept very low, yet every word was clear!

"Liguang isn't an ordinary custom AI?"

"What do you know? And what... exactly is she?"

An Lian's lips trembled.

Another scream came from the corridor, and her body shuddered again.

But she didn't speak; her tears just flowed more fiercely.

"Speak!"

Fang Qi hoisted her collar even higher, lifting her entirely off the ground!

"What exactly do you know?!"

"What other secrets is Liguang hiding?!"

Suspended by him, An Lian's back pressed against the wall, her legs dangling weakly, the wound on her ankle still seeping blood.

She wept silently.

Then—

"It's all my fault..."

She muttered, her voice incredibly hoarse.

"It's all my fault... It's all my fault... It's all my fault..."

"I'm asking you—"

Fang Qi growled!

"What do you know!!"

"Bang!"

He shoved her against the wall again!

An Lian's back hit the wall with a dull thud.

But she merely... gave a tragic smile.

Tear tracks crisscrossed her cold, elegant face, and the corners of her mouth pulled into a curve uglier than crying.

Then she spoke.

Her voice was very light, as if deliberately lowered... meant only for Fang Qi to hear.

"Fang Qi, have you really..."

"Never thought about it?"

She whispered softly.

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes slightly.

What... was she trying to say?

An Lian looked at him, the incomprehensible emotion in her gray eyes growing deeper.

"Have you really never thought about..."

Her gaze trembled.

"Your parents... did they really just die in an accident?"

Fang Qi's mouth opened slightly, his thoughts freezing for a moment.

He was stunned.

What?

...Parents?

"Have you really never thought about how they could..."

Her voice trembled even more.

"Leave you such a massive fortune?"

An Lian looked at his frozen expression, and the tragic smile on her lips deepened.

"Have you really never thought about how they were able to leave you..."

Tears streaming down her face, she looked at Fang Qi and murmured softly:

"The purchasing qualifications for Dawn Corporation's top-tier custom AI... limited to only nine in the world?"

...?

What?

Fang Qi's mind went somewhat blank for a moment.

What... did she say?

...Parents?

His "parents" in this world... weren't they just a background setting?

Having Liguang, having a house, both parents dead...

Wasn't this just a cliché background setting in a Galgame?

Wasn't it just...

A setting to let him live alone, so he could freely spend time with Liguang?

...Wasn't it?

Moreover, he knew Liguang was a custom AI...

But... limited to nine in the world?

And the purchasing qualification was his... left by the player's parents?!

The game didn't have this setting, did it...?

The game didn't have this setting!!

His hands... involuntarily let go.

An Lian's body slid down, her back rubbing a wet trail against the wall, until she slumped weakly onto the floor.

She just tilted her face up, looking at him.

The tears in her gray eyes were still flowing, but that tragic smile... deepened.

"Oh... right..."

She murmured, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself.

"I forgot... you truly don't know..."

"You've always thought... Liguang is just an ordinary custom AI companion, right?"

She paused, then shook her head with a tragic smile.

"After all... you really only paid the price of a normal custom AI companion..."

Fang Qi's pupils contracted slightly.

What was...

The meaning of this?

What the hell... are you talking about?!

This crazy woman...

How many more secrets is she hiding?!

Fang Qi's mind was a complete mess!

He subconsciously crouched down again, staring at An Lian's deathly pale face.

His voice was so dry it sounded as if it was squeezed straight from his throat:

"Liguang... what exactly is going on?"

"What exactly... do you know?!"

An Lian looked at him, her lips trembling.

In those gray eyes, tears blurred her vision.

She muttered, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible:

"I... really didn't expect..."

"That you would... take the same path..."

"...as your parents... and my seniors..."

Fang Qi's pupils shrank violently!

Seniors?

His parents... her seniors?

What did that mean?!

Who exactly were they...?!

"You...!"

He didn't know how to question her...

This woman whose tendons and hamstrings he had ordered Liguang to sever.

An Lian just looked at him, her tears flowing silently.

"Fang Qi... you have to remember..."

"Your Liguang, she is..."

Crash!!!

A deafening noise!

The hallway window shattered in an instant, sending glass shards flying everywhere!

An Lian's body jerked violently!

Bang!

Her head slammed against the wall beside her.

Fang Qi... froze completely.

Because he saw...

A bloody flower bursting open at her temple.

Warm liquid splattered all over his face.

He just crouched there, his hand reaching out.

His face felt wet and sticky, and a strong, metallic scent of rust filled his nose.

His pupils instantly lost focus!

He was trembling violently!

Then... his eyes finally refocused on the woman in front of him.

An Lian was still slumped against the base of the wall.

Her head hung limply against the side wall.

From the hole in her temple, blood was bubbling out.

Through the broken window behind her, the night wind howled in, blowing her messy black hair.

Those gray eyes... were still open.

Just staring at him.

Her lips were still trembling slightly.

Twitch by twitch, as if she was trying to say something...

But she couldn't make a single sound anymore.

However... he could still clearly read her lips.

I'm... sor... ry.

The light in those gray eyes dimmed, bit by bit.

Until finally...

They lost all their luster completely.