Master 02

The screening room was very quiet.

Fang Qi sat in his seat, holding the soft, silver-haired girl in his arms.

The uncle was looking at him, his gaze carrying a mix of appreciation and scrutiny.

He didn't beat around the bush any longer and asked directly:

"Uncle, this time..."

"It was you who lured Liguang and me here, wasn't it?"

He looked straight at the middle-aged man in front of him.

The uncle's eyebrows twitched slightly, and then he smiled, a very candid smile.

"Yes."

He admitted it just like that, without any hesitation.

"From the moment you searched for a movie theater, all the push notifications, all the recommendations, all the 'coincidences'... were arranged by us."

He held the hand of Xiaoyue, who was sitting beside him.

After Fang Qi asked that question, the mature woman in the black dress stopped crossing her legs.

She sat up straight, her hands folded on her lap, her posture dignified and elegant.

Fang Qi didn't speak; he just looked at the uncle, waiting for him to give an answer.

The uncle also turned serious, his expression becoming earnest and his gaze deepening:

"Fang Qi, the purpose of our operation this time is actually very simple."

He looked at Fang Qi, his tone turning solemn:

"We just... want you to know what you are carrying on your shoulders."

"And we also want you to know that there is an organization in this world called 'Dusk'."

He looked straight into Fang Qi's eyes, his tone solemn:

"If possible, we would like to... invite you and Liguang to join us."

The figure in his arms shifted slightly, and the small head buried in the crook of his neck lifted to look at the middle-aged uncle opposite them.

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes at the uncle in front of him.

An expected olive branch.

From the moment those "audience members" took the initiative to make way, he had a faint feeling—

These people could perhaps become "companions."

That was also why he had come back to finish watching the movie.

The movie wasn't bad.

The Fang family, a prominent business family, the second young master of the Fang family.

Fang.

And he remembered the line Xiaoyue's owner had said in the movie when his mother pressured him to get married:

"Doesn't my brother already have a wife? You've already got a grandson, so why are you rushing me..."

In the movie, this was just a passing line.

At the time, he was busy "messing around" with Liguang and wasn't really paying attention to the movie. He heard it, but didn't think much of it.

But thinking about it now...

The uncle surnamed Fang in front of him, although his partner was an AI, had an older brother. And his older brother had a child surnamed Fang.

Fang Qi's gaze locked onto the face in front of him.

The gentle brow and eyes, the smiling corners of the mouth, and the facial contours that closely resembled the movie's protagonist...

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly:

"Uncle, you're inviting us to join..."

His voice was very calm, and he enunciated every word slowly:

"Is it because of Liguang, or is it because of..."

"My dead parents?"

His gaze grew sharp.

The smile on the uncle's face paused slightly, and then deepened.

"You are very smart."

He said, his tone carrying a trace of emotion.

"Smarter than I imagined."

He looked at Fang Qi, the smile at the corners of his mouth growing deeper.

Then he suddenly spoke:

"Fang Qi, let me tell you a story too."

He paused, his gaze becoming distant, as if looking at a place very, very far away:

"About... my older brother, Fang Chu's story."

...?

Hmm?

Fang Qi's eyelids twitched slightly.

What was his older brother's name?

...Fang Chu?

Fang... Chu?

...Ah?!

His eyes widened instantly, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the warm softness in his arms!

The silver-haired girl let out a soft noise, lifting her small head, her pretty face still carrying a trace of bewilderment.

But Fang Qi's attention was completely nailed down by that name!

Fang, Chu.

He was far too familiar with this name!

His father in the real world...

Was named Fang Chu!

The exact same name.

Exactly the same!

Come to think of it... from the time he transmigrated until now, he had never heard the names of his parents in this world.

At first, he even thought his parents were just a setting and didn't have names at all!

But now, the uncle had spoken...

His real-world dad's name?!

...Hey, hey, hey!

He suddenly felt a bizarre sense of overlap! A hair-raising sense of dislocation!

...A chill ran down his spine.

He subconsciously glanced at the silver screen.

For some unknown reason, he suddenly felt a bit scared.

Scared that in the next second... the screen in front of him would suddenly display the living room of his real world.

Damn it...!

Fang Qi shook his head vigorously!

Don't overthink it... don't overthink it!

The father in this world having the same name as his dad... that's only natural!

It must be... automatically generated based on his memories!

This is perfectly normal, don't think too much about it!

Besides... this is actually pretty good!

At least the information is clear now!

Now he could basically confirm... the older brother of the uncle in front of him was his father in this world!

Fang Chu!

...Calling his biological dad by his first name always felt a bit awkward.

Moreover, with his dad's face floating before his eyes, he suddenly felt a bit...

Homesick.

Fang Qi: "..."

He shook his head vigorously again!

Anyway, this uncle... is his uncle!

His second uncle?

...Family!

Hmm, good!

Family is good! Very good!

He took a deep breath and stared at the uncle, his voice dry:

"Okay, go ahead."

In his arms, Liguang's arms suddenly tightened. That little head nuzzled deeper into his embrace.

It seemed she understood too. She knew that this uncle who suddenly appeared was her master's blood relative.

—Master truly has family this time.

What was she thinking now?

Fang Qi really couldn't guess this time, nor did he have the energy to...

Because all his attention was focused on the uncle in front of him!

Xiaoyue was also sitting quietly, looking at the uncle with a gentle gaze that carried a hint of heartache.

After receiving Fang Qi's reply, the uncle nodded gently:

"Alright, then I'll tell you a little bit about it."

...

He took a soft breath and exhaled.

Gathering his thoughts for a moment, he finally looked at Fang Qi calmly and spoke:

"Fang Qi, you should have seen the Fang family in the movie."

He wore a smile.

"Our Fang family is a very powerful business family."

His smile carried a trace of nostalgia:

"But actually, our Fang family only slowly started to rise after the First Sentient Machine Crisis."

He paused, his gaze becoming even more distant:

"Before that... our family was actually just an ordinary family."

"The very ordinary kind."

Fang Qi listened quietly, his arms still holding tight. The figure in his arms listened quietly as well.

The uncle continued:

"When my brother and I were young, our life wasn't considered wealthy, but it was complete and happy."

"Mom and Dad were both there; our family was whole, living in a house that was neither too big nor too small."

"My brother was five years older than me. He was exceptionally smart from a young age."

As he said this, a smile curled at the corners of his mouth, as if recalling some amusing past events.

"He loved studying all kinds of high-tech things."

"Back then, our family bought a robot vacuum. He would take it apart and put it back together every single day. In the end, he tuned that thing until... tsk tsk."

He shook his head with a smile.

"Can you imagine? That robot vacuum... could actually automatically draw traditional landscape paintings on the floor, and they were randomly generated too."

"My brother wasn't even ten years old at the time."

Fang Qi's eyelids twitched slightly.

Was his father in this world... really that talented?

The older man continued.

"And then there was all the AI smart furniture in the house, like the automatic curtains, smart lighting, voice-controlled gadgets..."

"He dismantled, tweaked, and even wrote new code for all of them."

"One time, late at night, he set all the furniture in the house to 'clubbing mode'."

He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"That night in the living room, the lights were flashing, the curtains were opening and closing, the speakers were blasting dance music, and even the sofa was vibrating to the beat..."

"My dad rushed out holding a slipper."

The lingering tension Fang Qi had felt earlier dissipated.

...So his father in this world was quite the little troublemaker when he was a kid, huh?

The older man continued.

"Later, when I was five..."

His voice suddenly grew somewhat low and deep.

"A disaster destroyed our everyday lives."

The air in the screening room seemed to freeze for a moment.

The older man's gaze became distant, as if piercing through time and returning to that faraway era.

"I was still young then, only five, and had no idea what was happening."

"I just remember that night, my parents suddenly shook me awake from my bed. Their faces were terrifyingly pale."

He paused, his voice becoming more even.

"It was only later I learned that on that night, an 'Awakening Virus' had infected all the smart machines worldwide through the internet."

"Those machines, originally meant to serve humanity, all went mad overnight."

Fang Qi listened quietly.

He knew about this.

The First Smart Machine Crisis. Commissioner An Lian—his sister and teacher—had taught him about it in history class.

Many people died, counted in the billions.

"But our family was very lucky."

The older man said with a sigh of emotion.

"No one in our family died, and no one was even injured."

"My dad's reaction was very prompt. When he heard the news, he shouted: 'Smash everything that can connect to the internet! Hurry!'"

"So we started smashing."

"The robot vacuum, the smart speakers, the automatic curtains, the smart stove... we smashed everything we could and threw out the rest."

He gave a bitter smile.

"I was only five at the time, I didn't understand why we had to smash them at all."

"But seeing my brother smashing things with such enthusiasm, I joined in, and even found it pretty fun afterwards."

"The sky outside was ablaze with fire, and I thought someone was setting off fireworks."

"Later... we were quickly rescued by a rescue team."

"We were sent into an underground air-raid shelter. The soldiers said they were going to eliminate the surface threats, but because they no longer had AI-assisted centimeter-level precision guidance, they might have to resort to blanket firepower coverage, making it too dangerous to stay outside."

Fang Qi's brows twitched slightly.

So ordinary people had entered air-raid shelters during the First Smart Machine Crisis.

"Life when we first entered the shelter... really wasn't pleasant."

The older man's voice grew even lower.

"There were simply too many people in the shelter. It was densely packed; there were people everywhere."

"The first few days were fine. Supplies were relatively sufficient, and we could eat our fill. But... that didn't last long."

"The farms and food processing plants outside had long been occupied by those crazed, awakened AIs."

"When everyone realized that humanity temporarily only had stockpiled food left, they started restricting rations."

"Two meals a day became one meal a day, and later... that little bit of food wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between your teeth."

Beside him, Xiaoyue gently held his hand. The older man held hers back, gripping it tightly.

"But we were still very lucky. At least our whole family was still together."

A hint of relief entered his voice.

"Mom, Dad, my brother, and I... the four of us squeezed into a tiny room."

"Even though we couldn't eat our fill, even though people were dying every day, even though a bunch of crazed machines could burst in from outside at any moment..."

"We were all still alive. Compared to those whose families were torn apart, we had it so much better."

Fang Qi listened in silence, holding the figure in his arms a little tighter.

Liguang shifted slightly, her slender fingers slowly caressing the back of his neck, causing a ticklish sensation.

"My brother was very smart. He was only ten at the time, but he was already very mature."

The older man continued, a trace of pride in his voice.

"He started taking the initiative to interact with the soldiers in the shelter. He helped them run errands, hand them things, and do whatever was within his ability."

"At first, the soldiers didn't pay much attention to him, but later they found the kid to be quite clever and started teaching him a few things."

"Then one day, those soldiers were chatting with my dad, asking how our family managed to survive that disaster."

The older man paused, his eyes flickering slightly.

"They asked, 'Not a single one of the AI tools in your house awakened? That's unbelievable. Were you not connected to the internet?'"

"My dad was baffled at the time and said, 'They were all connected. How can you use AI tools without the internet? They wouldn't be able to sync up, right?'"

"The soldiers were amazed and said, 'Then you guys are incredibly lucky! The odds of that are simply one in ten thousand!'"

He paused for a moment, his gaze growing deep.

"At the time, my parents and I felt very fortunate, thinking our family had just been struck by dumb luck."

"But my brother, he was different."

"I remember it very clearly. That night, our whole family was squeezed into that little room resting, and there was faint crying coming from outside the door."

"I'm a light sleeper, and the crying outside kept me awake. Just when I was finally drifting off into a daze..."

"My brother suddenly spoke."

The older man looked at Fang Qi, an emotion Fang Qi couldn't understand flashing in his eyes.

"He said, 'Mom, Dad... I think our AI furniture might not have just failed to awaken in time.'"

"'It's because I had tweaked all of them.'"