Scared the Rules

"Master."

Liguang suddenly spoke softly, her voice a bit ethereal.

Fang Qi was staring blankly at the colorful charts and graphs on the screen; he turned his head to look at her upon hearing her voice.

Inside the right eye socket of the silver-haired girl, fine patterns shimmered.

Her amber left eye was slightly lowered, its lashes trembling gently.

"Liguang has lost the crimson eye... It feels like..."

She murmured.

"...I've turned back into that useless thing at sea again, unable to help Master with anything."

Fang Qi: "..."

His wife, having lost the crimson eye, really was in a terrible low mood!

The slightest thing set her off into self-deprecation!

So without a second thought—

"Smack!"

He slapped her lightly on the head!

"Ugh...!"

Liguang was knocked forward by the slap!

Her silver hair swayed wildly!

She covered her head and looked up; the anxiety in her amber eye was dispelled, replaced by a look of grievance.

"Master..."

Fang Qi glared at her!

"What do you mean you can't help?"

He crossed his arms and started lecturing Liguang!

"Back then, when it was pouring rain at sea, it was Liguang who used her hair to shield me from the rain!"

Liguang blinked her one eye, her lips pouting slightly.

"That... that was just blocking the rain..."

Fang Qi's eyes widened again.

"If Liguang hadn't blocked the rain, Master would have been soaked like a drowned rat!"

"Probably would have caught a cold and a fever!"

"Running a high fever on that lousy raft—whether I'd have survived to drift ashore was a real question!"

Liguang pouted and blinked her eyes, but a gentle smile crept onto her lips.

Oh, she was in a better mood now!

"Besides!"

Fang Qi continued, cheering up his wife:

"In that 'dream,' Liguang gouged out the crimson eye for me, lost it, couldn't find it!"

"But now..."

He jabbed a finger at the crimson pupil connected to the core calibration device!

Then he whipped back around, grabbed Liguang's soft cheeks with both hands!

And pulled them apart left and right!

As he tugged, he spoke to her with mock irritation:

"Your crimson eye is still right here; I can put it back in anytime!"

"What, don't trust your Master's skills, huh?!"

Liguang's face was deformed by his pulling.

Her mouth was stretched into a horizontal line, her cheek flesh squeezed between his fingers, and her head wobbled back and forth from his tugging.

"Waaah...!"

She protested indistinctly!

Her teardrops-filled amber eye stared at him, but her brows curved up slightly.

"So—!"

Fang Qi gave two more firm tugs before letting go.

He stared into Liguang's wet, lone eye, his tone softening but growing more serious.

"Don't say such downbeat things anymore."

Then he gently pinched her nose.

"If you do, Master will have to punish you!"

Liguang blinked her amber eye...

A faint blush slowly crept across her face!

"...And how does Master want to punish Liguang?"

Her voice suddenly turned soft and sweet.

Her lone eye curved slightly, her lashes fluttering gently.

Fang Qi: "..."

Was that the important part?!

His wife had definitely turned into a silly little thing!

Without another word, he raised his hand and "smack" hit Liguang lightly on the head again!

"Ugh!"

Liguang covered her head again, looking at him with a pitiful expression.

"What are you thinking about?!"

Fang Qi glared at her with mock severity.

"If you don't understand, sit quietly and behave! I'll handle the reading!"

"Don't leave my side for even half a meter, got it?!"

Liguang covered her head and quietly said, "Oh."

Then she shifted slightly, moved closer to Fang Qi, stood obediently at his side.

Her small hand reached out and gently tugged at the hem of his sleeve.

Timidly, softly.

Fang Qi glanced down at the sleeve being pulled, then looked up at the obedient silver-haired girl beside him.

Then he put on a stern expression as he turned his head!

Sternly looked at the calibration screen!

...Well, well.

The tables had turned!

Now that his wife was weak and had turned into a silly little thing, and he...

He had gotten stronger!

He felt like he could really turn the tables!

He could pin his wife down and—!

"...Ahem!"

Fang Qi coughed forcefully twice.

Calm down, calm down.

The situation was urgent; he shouldn't be thinking about such nonsense!

He shook his head hard to shake off the strange images that had popped into his mind...

Then focused and looked at the various data on the screen.

Since he could use this machine, maybe if he looked carefully, he could understand the data too?

Fang Qi took a deep breath to steady himself...

Then flipped through the pages one by one.

His expression was serious and solemn!

His brows were slightly furrowed, his gaze focused, putting on an air of "I'm trying to analyze this."

Mm, this part probably meant this, right?

That part meant that...

After flipping a few pages, the corner of his mouth started twitching slightly.

A few more pages...

His expression fell a little.

Then, after flipping the last few pages...

It completely collapsed.

...No way.

No way.

He couldn't understand it.

This was Chinese, right?

Even though it was all Chinese, even though he recognized every character... he really couldn't understand it!

All those overly technical terms, all those messy charts and graphs...

What the hell was an "Emotion Vector Space Mapping Layer"?

A "Quantum State Coherent Interface"—sounded super advanced!

And there was...

A "Self-Iterating Recursive Module"?

...What kind of nonsense was that?!

For him, a complete layman, it was totally incomprehensible!

He snuck a glance at Liguang beside him.

The silver-haired girl was standing obediently by his side, her amber eye quietly watching him, her little hand still gently tugging at his sleeve.

When she noticed him looking, she blinked softly.

Fang Qi quickly averted his gaze and continued staring at the screen, pretending he was still reading!

But cold sweat was starting to bead on his forehead.

What was he supposed to do now?

He didn't understand anything, and he didn't dare do anything either!

This was his Liguang's eye!

What if he pressed the wrong button or set the wrong parameter and ruined the crimson eye?

Where would he find another one to compensate his wife?

But he had already taken Liguang's eye out; to just put it back without doing anything?

Or...

Not install it for now?

Just go with this cycle as is?

Fang Qi bit his lip.

...It seemed like that was the only option for now?

...Forget it, he wouldn't mess with the crimson eye this cycle!

Once they got out, he could always reset anyway...!

"Master."

A meek voice suddenly came from beside him.

Fang Qi turned his head.

Liguang was looking at him, her remaining amber eye fixed seriously on the screen.

Inside the right eye socket, fine metallic patterns seemed to flicker with a faint glow.

"Maybe... it would be better if Liguang handled it?"

She looked at the screen and said softly.

...!

Fang Qi's eyes widened slightly:

"Liguang, you're okay now?"

Liguang gently shook her head.

"Liguang is not okay; the computing power Liguang can use is still very limited."

Her voice was soft, but her tone was serious.

"But..."

She turned her head to look at Fang Qi.

"Even though Liguang's analysis speed has slowed down a lot, Master shouldn't forget what Miss An Lian did before..."

Her amber eye playfully blinked.

"Showed Liguang the relevant materials."

She even tilted her chin up slightly, a smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

"So at least Liguang can understand them."

"Not like the owner, can't understand it even when looking at it."

She tilted her head, her eyes curving into crescents as she looked at Fang Qi.

"Dummy owner, hehe."

Fang Qi: "..."

Damn it.

His brain seemed even worse than this small, silly Liguang...

Still...

The anxiety in his heart eased a little.

It was true!

In the last timeline, An Lian had actually given them a file!

Back then, he couldn't understand it, so he directly handed it to Liguang. The silver-haired girl took it and flipped through it at lightning speed!

That file...

Wasn't it none other than the data for Liguang and the other two super AI companions?

There must be information related to that red pupil inside!

An Lian, as Liguang's maintenance specialist, had always been responsible for suppressing and calibrating this red pupil!

The archive would definitely contain detailed parameters and calibration guides for the red pupil!

Huh!

What a coincidence!

He quickly pressed further:

"Then, Liguang, did you notice anything just now?"

Liguang's amber eye blinked, then she lightly pursed her lips.

"Owner, you were turning the pages way too fast..."

Her gaze carried a hint of grievance.

"The current me really can't keep up..."

"I need to look at it page by page, carefully, now."

Fang Qi was left speechless.

Right, she no longer had that powerful processing power.

It felt like her ability in this area was about the same as an ordinary human?

She really was a little dummy now!

He immediately stood up and gave up his seat.

"Liguang, you take it!"

But Liguang gently waved her little hand.

"No need, you sit. Liguang will just stand—"

"Sit down and read properly!"

Fang Qi pressed her shoulders, pushing her down into the chair!

Pinned in the chair, Liguang blinked her single eye and looked at him.

Fang Qi stood beside her, arms crossed.

"I'll be right here, guarding you!"

Liguang lightly bit her lip, a slight smile curving at the corner of her mouth.

"Yes, owner."

Then she turned her head, her amber pupil locking onto the dense data on the screen.

She took a soft breath, her slender fingers resting on the control panel, and began flipping through one page at a time.

The movements were slow.

So much slower than the frantic scanning speed from the last timeline.

Her brow gently furrowed, her single eye focused as she read line by line.

Occasionally, she would pause, her lips moving slightly, as if silently reciting some parameter.

Fang Qi stood beside her, quietly watching her like this.

At this moment, Liguang was like...

An ordinary young girl checking documents and studying hard.

She didn't seem like a super AI anymore.

Her current processing power was low.

Her learning ability was almost the same as an average human's.

This posture...

Fang Qi's mind wandered a little.

It was exactly like Xiaoguang from those ten years ago.

Sitting by the window in the library, biting a pen cap, brow knitted, staring at practice problems.

He'd pretend to ask a question and lean in, and she'd scoot over to make room for him, then...

Explain the problem in that soft, gentle voice.

Xiaoguang...

Fang Qi shook his head hard!

Now wasn't the time for memories!

Liguang was working hard; he couldn't just stand here appreciating his wife!

He had to do something too!

So he turned and narrowed his eyes at the surroundings.

Those cyan specks of dust were still floating about four or five meters away.

Dots of faint light twinkled in the air.

Embedded in the wall cracks, drifting slowly across the metal floor.

They were still keeping their distance, a clear four or five meters away, not a single one daring to cross that invisible boundary.

Fang Qi squinted.

They must be avoiding Liguang.

But... why?

Liguang couldn't even use her native core now, and the red pupil had been removed.

Her current state...

He figured he could even take her in a fight!

So why were those fragments even more afraid of her?

The distance was too big.

Instinctively, he took a step to the side, wanting to get closer and observe the fragments...

Suddenly, a small hand grabbed his wrist!

"Owner...?"

Fang Qi turned back.

Liguang was still sitting in the chair, slightly turned sideways.

Her remaining amber pupil was fixed on him.

Staring at him intently.

Unblinking.

Deep within her pupil, something was slowly gathering, something that sent a chill down one's spine!

It was like...

A docile kitten suddenly constricting its pupils!

She just stared at him like that, unblinking.

"Are you... leaving Liguang?"

Her voice was still soft, gentle, and yielding.

But coupled with that unblinking, intent amber pupil...

A wave of goosebumps crept up Fang Qi's back!

"Li—!"

He was about to explain...

When the cyan specks at the edge of his vision suddenly surged!

"What?!"

Fang Qi looked over instinctively.

He saw the cyan specks that had been floating four or five meters away...

Suddenly retract outward!

A few flickering specks of cyan "whooshed" away, instantly retreating to seven or eight meters!

Like they were fleeing for their lives!

More specks followed, scrambling to push themselves even farther away!

The invisible boundary that had been four or five meters was now...

Expanding to seven or eight meters!

...What?

Fang Qi stared blankly at the scene.

Then slowly turned his head back, looking again at the "one-eyed silver kitten" staring at him.

In that amber pupil, there was no trace of cyan data streams.

Not even a hint.

But that look, that intent look staring at him, still made him shiver slightly.

Hiss...

And under this gaze, the surrounding fragments of rules frantically scattered!

Fang Qi looked at the silver-haired girl before him, his eyelids twitching slightly.

Wife, it seems you've...

Even scared the "rules" around here...