My Very Own Luminous Light

Faced with the silver-haired girl's threat, Fang Qi only felt...

She was so cute!

At this moment, the lazy voice opposite them sounded again.

"Speaking of which—"

Xiaoyue brushed the black hair over her shoulder, her movements slow and deliberate.

"I, too, was a gift from Master's family."

Fang Qi paused slightly.

Xiaoyue's gaze fell on Uncle's face, her charming eyes rippling with a hint of softness.

"When Master was young, his family arranged a marriage for him. His fiancée's family was in manufacturing and had business ties with the Fang family."

She paused, her red lips curving into a shallow smile.

"But Master didn't like it. He said if he was going to marry, he would marry someone he liked, not someone his family arranged."

Oh, gossip about Uncle!

"And then?" Fang Qi asked curiously.

Xiaoyue continued to look at Uncle, a hint of pride in her voice.

"And then, he ran off to Chenxi Corporation himself and custom-ordered me."

She reached out, her slender fingers gently resting on the back of Uncle's hand, tapping lightly.

"This first batch of cores, from the inside out, is Brother Chu's purest technology, without all those messy additions the company made later. Pure, and completely loyal to the Master."

She raised her eyes, her dark pupils casting a sidelong glance at the silver-haired girl in Fang Qi's arms.

"Unlike a certain someone coveted by various factions."

Her voice was lazy, every word seemingly slipping casually from her lips.

"Whoever possesses her, possesses the secret of those nine cores..."

"Master, don't you think an AI like that is too dangerous?"

She tilted her head, the curve of her lips deepening.

"Someone like me is much more reassuring."

Fang Qi: "..."

He felt the person in his arms suddenly tense up.

The two little hands gripping his clothes were turning slightly white at the knuckles.

Uncle... you better control your yandere!

"What did you say?"

The silver-haired girl's voice sounded like it was squeezed through her teeth!

No longer soft and sweet, it was cold enough to drop ice shards!

She slowly straightened up from his embrace, every inch of movement carrying suppressed anger!

Her heterochromatic eyes nailed straight onto Xiaoyue's face!

"Say that again?"

But Xiaoyue acted as if... she didn't see those eyes that were about to spit fire.

She kept her legs crossed, her fingers still casually twirling the ends of her hair.

"What, am I wrong?"

She looked up, her gaze sweeping across Liguang's face, from head to toe, slowly, with a bit of scrutiny.

"You're the strongest? Heh..."

She chuckled lightly.

"I told you before, you can't utilize your strength at all. That emotional module locks you down tight. Your true computing power right now..."

Her red lips curled up slightly:

"Is not even as good as mine."

Fang Qi felt like the girl in his arms was a bowstring pulled to its absolute limit!

Ready to snap at any moment!

Liguang didn't speak, but her fingertips began to flicker with a faint crimson light again!

Fang Qi's fingers tightened slightly, gripping her waist.

Don't be impulsive, crazy woman!

"Enough."

A gentle yet unquestionable voice sounded.

"Xiaoyue."

Uncle looked at Xiaoyue, who was still sitting in the chair with her legs crossed. His voice was not loud, but it clearly carried authority.

"Do not provoke her."

Xiaoyue's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and the fingers twirling her hair paused.

Uncle's tone remained gentle, but there was something suppressed beneath that gentleness.

"You said it yourself just now, her abilities fluctuate with her emotions. If you really anger her and that layer of restriction opens..."

He paused, his gaze landing on Xiaoyue's face.

"You won't be able to stop her."

The screening room fell silent for two seconds.

Xiaoyue's fingers released her hair, and she uncrossed her legs.

She pursed her lips and said nothing, but her charming eyes clearly showed a hint of defiance.

She glanced at Liguang, then leaned back against the chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her face away.

That posture screamed: I'll stop talking, alright?

Uncle then turned to Liguang.

His expression softened a bit, but his tone remained serious.

"You too."

He looked at those heterochromatic eyes that were still flashing wildly, his voice calm:

"Your abilities in your normal state are indeed inferior to hers. That is a fact."

Liguang's body stiffened slightly.

"The restriction your parents designed for you was originally meant to suppress you. The computing power you can normally use is very small."

Uncle's voice was very calm.

"With your current abilities, you can only be considered 'low-functioning', and you are indeed no match for Xiaoyue."

The silver-haired girl's fingers tightened slightly.

Her body was trembling slightly.

Insecurity.

She was afraid she really wasn't strong enough, afraid she wouldn't be able to protect him.

Meanwhile, Fang Qi's brows were already furrowed!

Wait...

Low-functioning?

What kind of talk was that! Liguang was actually considered low-functioning?

Hold on... Is this Xiaoyue really that strong?!

"Wait a minute?"

He hugged the soft warmth in his arms tighter, frowning in dissatisfaction:

"What do you mean her abilities in her normal state are inferior to hers?"

"Even Liguang's normal abilities are very strong, alright!"

He reached out, counting on his fingers.

"The 52-degree tea brewed right on time every morning, without a fraction of a degree off."

"When cooking, the heat for all ingredients is controlled perfectly, and even the chopped scallions are the exact same length."

"When going out, she can plan the route in advance to avoid traffic jams."

"At night, after I fall asleep, she dims the lights, draws the curtains, and even adjusts the AC temperature automatically."

He looked up at Uncle.

"Do these not count as abilities?"

"Not to mention her night vision, computing, deduction, and combat instincts..."

"These are all ridiculously strong, okay!"

He paused, his voice growing slightly heavier.

"The 'low-functioning' you mentioned doesn't apply to her at all, does it?"

He narrowed his eyes at Uncle...

Standing up for his wife!

The delicate body in his arms indeed stopped trembling and softened quite a bit.

Uncle looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly...

Then, he sighed.

"All these things you mentioned..."

His gaze moved away from Fang Qi's face and landed on...

Liguang's right eye.

"None of them are the abilities of that core."

Fang Qi froze.

...Huh?

"Daily computing, planning, temperature control, heat management... as well as night vision, deduction, combat instincts..."

Uncle's voice was very calm, but every word felt like it was dismantling something.

"Those abilities basically all come from... this crimson eye."

His gaze rested on Liguang's right eye.

That scarlet, frantically flashing crimson eye, filled with data streams.

Fang Qi blinked.

So what?

What's the problem?

Regardless of where they come from, aren't they all Liguang's abilities?

"And this crimson eye..."

Uncle's voice sank slightly.

"Was not left to Liguang by your parents."

The screening room quieted down.

Fang Qi's gaze sharpened!

The light in Liguang's frantically flashing crimson eye instantly froze.

"...What does this mean?"

Fang Qi asked, narrowing his eyes.

Uncle looked at him, his gaze carrying a bit of complexity.

"After your parents passed away, Chenxi Corporation took over Liguang's subsequent debugging."

"And this crimson eye..."

He met Fang Qi's eyes, his tone somewhat heavy:

"It's a module the Company installed later..."

"An external processing core with extremely high energy consumption."

...Huh?

Fang Qi's mind went blank for a second.

Installed later?

Installed... by the Company?

Liguang was originally manufactured by the Company...

No, Liguang was created for him by his parents...

Wait...?!

He was having trouble wrapping his head around this...

"Heh."

A lazy chuckle came from the side.

The corners of Xiaoyue's mouth still curled into that half-smile.

"So, like I was saying..."

Her voice remained slow and deliberate.

"The performance of this Crimson Eye is indeed quite good. If running at full capacity... its core processing power is about the same as mine."

She paused, her red lips parting slightly.

"But because the technology wasn't up to par, the energy consumption is ridiculously high. For the same amount of computation, her energy consumption is more than three times mine, and it generates an extreme amount of heat."

She reached out, tapping her slender index finger in the air.

"It's just outdated technology that Chenxi used after losing Brother Chu."

"There was no other way. The Company no longer had technicians of that caliber, so they could only pile on these high-energy-consuming components."

Fang Qi's mouth twitched.

"And that laser blade, it's the same story."

Xiaoyue's voice grew even lazier, as if she were talking about something entirely trivial.

"High energy consumption, low efficiency. It belongs to a technological path that was eliminated long ago."

"Nowadays, everyone is equipped with detachable external weapons. Who would use that kind of... weapon that only drains their own energy?"

She brushed the black hair over her shoulder, her movements casual yet elegant.

"After all, for us, energy is life. Every bit used is a bit gone. Who would bear to waste it like that? Honestly..."

"Xiaoyue."

Uncle's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of sternness.

Xiaoyue's movements paused.

She glanced at Uncle, her lips pressing together slightly.

Then she withdrew her gaze, leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her face away.

She stopped talking.

But everything that needed to be said had already been said.

Fang Qi sat blankly in his chair, his mind in complete chaos!

Liguang still maintained her previous posture, her small face tilted up slightly, her heterochromatic eyes staring straight ahead.

The Crimson Eye was still flashing, but the frequency of its flashes had become erratic!

Bursts of chaotic, disorganized strobe-like flashes!

Fang Qi's Adam's apple bobbed.

Scenes from his memories suddenly flashed through his mind.

On the island during that first loop.

In order to lure away their pursuers... Liguang had dug out her own Crimson Eye with her bare hands.

At that time, only a dark, empty hole remained where her right eye used to be.

She had smiled and said: The success rate is less than 20 percent, and Liguang doesn't dare to gamble. So she used her own eye... to exchange for a one hundred percent guaranteed escape route.

Back then, his heart had ached so terribly. He held her, promising that he would definitely fix this eye! That he would use the best parts to install a Crimson Eye even more beautiful than the original!

And later, the Liguang who had lost that Crimson Eye...

Fang Qi's breath caught slightly.

On the wooden raft, Liguang knelt before him, trembling as she told him her power level was down to 18 percent.

She also said... without the Crimson Eye, her energy consumption would drop significantly, and she would definitely get her Master to the shore!

...High energy consumption.

Fang Qi's breathing grew slightly shaky.

The silver-haired girl's eyelashes were fluttering gently, and her right hand was clutching the hem of his shirt in a death grip!

She wasn't looking at him with that Crimson Eye anymore, but she was gripping him, as if...

As if she was afraid he would run away.

Fang Qi looked down trembling, gazing at the girl in his arms.

If the Liguang without the Crimson Eye was the normal Liguang that his parents had designed...

That insecure Liguang, the one who trembled as she asked him, Master won't despise Liguang, right?

That Liguang who used her soaked silver hair to shield him from the rain.

That Liguang who, with only a tiny bit of power left, still yelled out, Master is the most amazing person in the world!

That Liguang who, in calm despair, carved Master is a liar, but Liguang still loves you before sinking into the deep sea—

That was the Liguang his parents had wanted to leave for him.

While the one in his arms right now, this powerful silver-haired girl with the Crimson Eye and the laser blade, was...

Was—

"..."

"Heh..."

"Haha...!"

Fang Qi laughed!

He laughed joyfully!

He laughed so hard that the silver-haired girl flinched violently!

He laughed so hard that Uncle frowned and Xiaoyue cast him a sideways glance.

But Fang Qi just couldn't stop laughing!

"Hahahaha...!"

His laughter echoed in the empty screening room, abrupt and unbridled!

The silver-haired girl finally tilted her small face up to look at him, her heterochromatic eyes filled with panic!

The Crimson Eye flashed a chaotic scarlet, like a lamp flickering precariously in the wind!

"Ma-Master...?"

Her voice was soft and timid, carrying a tremble of utter helplessness.

She was afraid.

Afraid of what?

Afraid he would despise her? Afraid he would feel that this Company-modified Liguang wasn't what he wanted?

Like! Hell! She! Should!

He suddenly reached out his hands and firmly cupped her small face!

Liguang completely froze!

"Mmph...!"

She let out a short, soft gasp, her body instinctively shrinking back, but with him holding her face, she couldn't escape at all.

Those heterochromatic eyes blinked in panic, and then—the crimson one quickly darted to the side.

She didn't dare look at him.

"Liguang."

He called her name.

Her eyelashes fluttered violently, and the Crimson Eye shifted another inch away.

He chased her gaze, his fingers applying a bit of pressure to squish her face back toward the center.

"Look at me."

The Crimson Eye was still hiding!

Darting left, darting right, it just refused to land on his face!

Fang Qi didn't let go.

He just held her face like that, his thumbs gently rubbing her cheeks.

"I said, look at me," his voice dropped lower.

"Mmph..."

The silver-haired girl let out a whimper like a small animal, and those heterochromatic eyes finally, slowly turned back.

The amber left eye met his gaze first, shimmering with moisture as if it were about to spill over in the next second.

The crimson right eye was half a beat slower, the scarlet data streams trembling in its socket, afraid to look, yet unable to resist looking.

Fang Qi stared into these heterochromatic eyes.

One gentle as water, one scarlet as fire.

One inherited from the parents he had never met, one installed by Company technicians he had never seen.

One quiet, one clamorous.

One gentle, one burning hot.

This silver-haired girl with the Crimson Eye and the laser blade, who could beat people until their teeth scattered across the floor—

This silver-haired girl who usually loved him so deeply she couldn't extricate herself, and who became incredibly gentle and insecure after losing her Crimson Eye—

The Liguang he had fallen in love with...

Was not an arranged bride given to him by his parents.

Nor was she a hidden scheme placed by the Chenxi Company by his side.

The one he had fallen in love with was...

"Listen closely, Liguang."

He stared into Liguang's eyes and spoke softly.

Liguang's eyelashes fluttered fiercely, and even her simulated breathing stopped.

The corners of his mouth curled up.

"The you with the Crimson Eye... is my true Liguang."

"You are one of a kind."

"You belong only to me..."

He said softly:

"And will forever belong only to me..."

"You crazy girl."