I am a rather conservative person

Fang Qi groaned inwardly.

Crazy woman, you even dare to get jealous of a maintenance specialist!

But he had to maintain his composure on the surface, forcing a smile as he led An Lian into the house.

Fortunately, Liguang's acting skills were always on point in front of outsiders. She quickly lowered her eyelashes, returning to her impeccably docile appearance.

Bowing slightly, her voice was soft and compliant: "Please come in, Miss Specialist. Liguang will go brew some tea for you."

Saying so, she turned to head to the kitchen.

Her movements were natural, the hem of her skirt fluttering lightly, and the little star earrings on her earlobes swaying.

Seeing this, Fang Qi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It seemed his wife Liguang was sensible after all. At least she knew this was a critical moment and she shouldn't cause trouble...

"There is no need for tea."

An Lian's cold voice rang out. Her gray eyes calmly swept over Liguang before falling back to the metal tablet in her hands.

"We will begin the routine body maintenance directly. Please take me to your charging and maintenance space."

Her tone was strictly business, without the slightest hesitation.

Liguang's footsteps paused. She turned around, a smile still on her face: "Okay, please follow me."

She led An Lian toward her little room at the end of the corridor.

Fang Qi hurried to follow them, feeling anxious and uneasy.

The room wasn't large, and the furnishings were extremely minimalist.

The most conspicuous thing was the pure white, streamlined charging pod against the wall. It emitted a faint blue standby light, looking highly futuristic.

An Lian walked into the room and placed the silver toolbox she carried on a small table nearby. She opened it, revealing various precision instruments that Fang Qi couldn't name.

She looked up at Liguang, who was standing quietly in the center of the room, and said in a professional, calm tone:

"Item one: full external body scan."

"Please remove all clothing. Do not keep anything on."

Before she even finished speaking, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

The perfect, docile smile on the silver-haired girl's face... instantly stiffened!

Fang Qi: "...Huh?"

He subconsciously looked at Liguang.

He saw her slender body tense up slightly.

After a moment of sluggishness, her heterochromatic eyes subconsciously glanced at Fang Qi, revealing a trace of panic!

A layer of pink rapidly spread across her fair cheeks, reaching all the way to the roots of her ears. Her delicate earlobes turned bright red, and her star earrings trembled violently!

She opened her mouth but made no sound. She only looked at Fang Qi with those wet, pleading eyes, her fingers unconsciously clutching a corner of her light blue skirt.

She looked exactly like a pitiful girl about to face a public execution!

Fang Qi's brain also blanked out for a second.

Wait, what An Lian just meant was...?

...In front of him?

...There was such a step in maintenance?

Holy shit!

What did I miss in the game!

The maintenance process in the game had always been glossed over. He really had no idea this step actually existed!

But... come to think of it, it made sense. After all, a physical inspection of the body was required, so wearing clothes was indeed inappropriate...

Looking at the clearly shy and helpless Liguang, a hint of romantic fantasy arose in his heart.

But it was immediately suppressed by Liguang's reaction!

The current Liguang had a flushed face and a trembling body... her head was practically smoking from embarrassment!

Isn't this emotional expression a bit...

Fang Qi's heart tightened, and he subconsciously looked at An Lian.

An Lian, however, looked as normal as ever.

She even nodded slightly, expressing approval of Liguang's vivid reaction: "Not bad. The emotional module is functioning well."

Ah... thank goodness.

An Lian thought this was a normal emotional simulation...?

He breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But he quickly grew nervous again!

He knew Liguang all too well! This crazy woman was quite proactive when it came to hugging, cuddling, and sticking to him normally, carrying a sense of coquettishness and possessiveness...

But this kind of completely passive situation, especially having to expose her entire body stark naked under the gaze of a third party...

Fang Qi could almost imagine that if he continued to stand here and watch helplessly as Liguang took off her dress piece by piece, revealing the exquisitely perfect bionic body underneath...

Liguang's little head would definitely overload and smoke on the spot!

Then, her red eye would shoot out crimson light, data streams would go haywire, and laser blades would pop out from her fingertips...!

GAME... OVER!

Fang Qi snapped back to reality immediately. He took a step back and said to An Lian with a dry laugh:

"Since that's the case, I'll go wait outside. Miss An, please go ahead with your work. I won't disturb you..."

Saying that, he turned around and was about to slip away!

"Wait a moment, Mr. Fang." An Lian's cold voice called out to stop him again.

He froze, groaning endlessly in his heart.

What now...

An Lian turned to look at him. Her light gray eyes were very calm, only revealing a trace of a professional's confusion:

"Why... do you need to step out?"

Her voice carried a natural and professional puzzlement:

"You are Liguang's owner. Observing the maintenance process on-site will help you intuitively understand your partner's body condition. Furthermore, this is part of the standard procedure."

She paused, her gray eyes sweeping over Fang Qi's somewhat unnatural face. As if realizing something, a hint of understanding entered her tone:

"Could it be... as Liguang's owner, you have not yet utilized all of Liguang's partner functions to this day?"

"Pfft—"

Fang Qi nearly choked on his own saliva!

And off to the side, the silver-haired girl violently lowered her head!

Her silver hair slipped down to cover her profile, but one could still see... that pretty face had instantly turned so red it looked like it was going to bleed!

Her hands, hanging by her sides, were clenched tightly into fists, her knuckles turning white...

Steam was already starting to hiss out from the top of her head!

Moreover, the data in her red eye really began to spin in circles!

Fortunately, An Lian had her back to Liguang at this moment and didn't see this obviously revealing scene.

"Ahaha... well, about that...!"

Fang Qi quickly took over the conversation to draw An Lian's attention back to himself.

He forced himself to explain: "I am a bit of a... uh, conservative person? Yes, conservative!"

He started spouting nonsense: "I think that feelings should be cultivated slowly, and we should respect each other! Even if it's an AI partner, she should be given basic respect!"

"So, Liguang and I indeed... haven't reached... uh... haven't reached that step yet."

He spoke a bit haltingly, even feeling himself that this excuse was a bit ridiculous.

However, An Lian looked thoughtful upon hearing this.

"I see."

She nodded gently. On her usually expressionless face, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

In the gaze she directed at Fang Qi, there was an added trace of... admiration?

"Mr. Fang, you are a gentleman. A person who can maintain such a respectful attitude even towards a female AI must definitely be a man with great courtesy and a sense of boundaries towards women in real life."

Fang Qi's mouth twitched, and he offered an apologetic smile. "You flatter me. It's only right, it's what I should do..."

In his heart, however, he was roasting himself like crazy:

Oh, my dear sister, you just haven't seen the way she broke my legs, locked me in a cage, and even wanted to turn me into a body pillow!

If I wasn't terrified of her, I would have mounted my steed and gone three hundred rounds with her ages ago, okay!

A gentleman? I'm a gentleman my ass!

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to burst into tears!

He really was a frustrated and incompetent master...!

...Forget it, I need to slip away right now.

Glancing at Liguang, whose eyes were still spinning and who looked like she was about to completely format herself out of sheer embarrassment, Fang Qi quickly tried to slip away once more:

"So, I think I'll just leave. You can con—"

"No."

An Lian interrupted him yet again.

She had already picked up the palm-sized silver scanner and turned to Liguang, whose entire body was still stiff as a board:

"Precisely because of this, Mr. Fang, I suggest you stay."

"...Huh?" Fang Qi was dumbfounded. The leg he had just lifted to step away froze in mid-air. "Why?"

An Lian explained in a calm tone, "Liguang is currently exhibiting a high degree of simulated 'shyness' response. This is a complex social emotion that places a heavy load on her emotional core."

"As the main object of her emotional projection, you may cause further fluctuations in her emotional module."

She looked at Fang Qi, her gray eyes filled with pure professional scrutiny:

"This is an excellent opportunity to test the stability of her emotional core."

"Therefore, please stay where you are, Mr. Fang, and simply act naturally."

Fang Qi: "...Huh?"

Liguang: "...!"

Both the human and the AI were instantly dumbfounded, standing frozen on the spot.

Without waiting for Fang Qi's agreement, An Lian's gray eyes calmly turned back to the frozen silver-haired girl:

"Maintenance commencing."

"Please remove all of your clothing."