Silently Watching You

Fang Qi stared, stunned, at Uncle An, who was still laughing and bickering with Aunt Li.

A cop...?

An Lian's father was a cop?

...Just like Gu Xi.

Which meant... he...

Was one of the officials? Huh?!

Fang Qi was completely thrown for a loop!

He raised a hand and rubbed his brow hard.

Or... was it that...

This world line had changed too much, and wasn't quite the same as theirs?

After all, even Dawnlight Corporation didn't exist in this world...!

...Wait.

Fang Qi's eyelids suddenly twitched a few times.

...A cop?

Suddenly, he remembered the Second AI Crisis.

That crisis had led to the tragedy that befell An Lian's family.

But...

He'd actually always felt a bit puzzled about what happened to her family.

The name "Second AI Crisis" had always been somewhat of a misnomer.

In that crisis, AI companions were more of a trigger.

The whole crisis that followed was more like an internal meltdown among humans themselves.

And AI companions, only at the very beginning of the disaster, killed a few people through various covert means.

Those victims were mostly people who might have posed an obstacle to their owners' interests.

Their owners were people from the upper echelons.

So those who got killed were also basically all from the upper class!

Because of that, during the Second AI Crisis, those who died directly from AI companions were mostly limited to the upper class!

Ordinary people, frankly, never suffered direct harm from AI companions at all!

This was also why Dawnlight Corporation managed to make a comeback later. His own father, Fang Chu, even got hailed as a "hero" again because of it.

Because the public believed that the AI companions he created had "purged" the rotten upper class of that era!

But...

Fang Qi slowly turned his head toward An Lian.

An Lian was sitting by the couch, watching her parents glare at each other, a helpless look on her face.

She took a sip from her teacup, and when she noticed Fang Qi looking at her, she gave him a small shake of her head with a resigned smile.

—They've always been like this. You just get used to it.

That's what she seemed to be saying.

But Fang Qi took a deep breath!

Yet An Lian had told him herself that her family...

Had been among the very first victims of the Second AI Crisis!

Her parents had been killed directly by those AI companions.

And that's what led to her and her brother fleeing and wandering during the global crisis that followed.

That's what led to her brother starving to death on the streets!

That's what led to her ending up in an orphanage!

That's why she'd always been so opposed to AI companions after that.

And that meant...

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes.

Her parents had been people who might have posed an obstacle to the AI companions!

But people like that...

Fang Qi turned his head again toward Uncle An.

Yet they lived in this old, shabby house.

If they weren't "ultra-rich," and they weren't "political elites," then the only possibility was...!

Uncle An was sipping his tea, smacking his lips as he set the cup down.

Seeing Fang Qi look over, he waved a hand and said:

"Xiao Qi, have a seat. An Ming and his family should be here any minute. You're about the same age, so I'll just leave you young folks to chat."

Then he started muttering again.

"Otherwise, before I know it, I'll start nagging about marriage again..."

An Lian immediately shot him a glare!

Uncle An hastily waved his hands, his tone sheepish:

"Alright, alright, no nagging, no nagging!"

Then he smiled again at Fang Qi.

"Actually, I was thinking of having you come by noon—the food would've been ready by then, and you could just eat straight away!"

"But your sister here got worried about you, and went and dragged you over herself."

He shrugged.

"Look how this turned out. You're here way too early—the food hasn't even gotten started!"

Fang Qi stared at him in a daze.

If not "ultra-rich," and not "political elites"...

...Then the only possibility was that they'd been cops investigating the case back then!

Cops, huh...

...He thought of the movie "The Last Heartbeat" again.

In the movie...

There were cops who came to question the protagonist!

They'd even sharply noticed something off about Xiaoyue!

If those cops had dug any deeper, they'd inevitably have been seen by the AI companions as "potential obstacles to their owners"!

So they'd have been killed for it...

It all fit perfectly!

He turned his head again, somewhat stiffly, toward An Lian.

An Lian...

An Lian was frowning slightly at Uncle An, a hint of displeasure in her tone:

"I was already going there, so of course I'd bring Xiao Qi along!"

"Besides, we're all family. What's wrong with coming early? It's fine—Xiao Qi can help me cook."

Uncle An chuckled twice and said nothing more.

She turned to look at him too, giving him a light wink.

Fang Qi stared back at her, dazed.

...No wonder.

No wonder.

No wonder An Lian's brother had starved to death on the streets to protect his little sister.

No wonder An Lian had held steadfastly to her promise to Aunt Su, secretly protecting him all these years, even at the cost of her own life.

Because...

That was what they'd grown up absorbing.

Because their father had been a fallen cop.

But...

Why had the children of a fallen cop ended up in a shady orphanage?

...Ah!

Fang Qi's pupils trembled.

It hit him.

He pressed his lips together.

Why else could it be?

The Second AI Crisis had been a systemic institutional collapse.

Government structures around the entire world had nearly ground to a halt. Under circumstances like that...

Who would've had time to look after a couple of kids?

And it wasn't like Uncle An had been high-ranked back then—he'd probably just been an ordinary cop, right?

In a world-scale catastrophe like that...

You died, and you were just dead.

No one came to investigate.

No one came to compensate.

Two kids just got swept up in that disaster.

One starved to death on the street. The other gritted her way through an entire childhood in an orphanage.

Fang Qi's gaze trembled slightly.

Right, and there was also...

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A sudden knock at the door jarred Fang Qi from his thoughts.

"Dad! Mom! Open up, I'm home!"

A bright, upbeat voice called from outside.

Aunt Li immediately set down her teacup, her face lighting up in a huge grin!

She headed for the door, muttering "Coming, coming—yelling this early in the morning!"

As the door swung open, a young man strode in with long steps.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, with features that bore a certain resemblance to Uncle An's, but a stronger, more chiseled jawline.

He wore a dark-blue jacket and carried two bags of fruit.

Behind him was a gentle-looking woman, holding a little boy of about three or four in her arms.

The boy was peeking over his mother's shoulder, looking all around, big eyes darting curiously!

The young man spotted Fang Qi standing up from the couch, and his eyes lit up!

"Xiao Qi! You're here so early!"

He dumped the fruit on the floor and walked right over with two long strides!

"Slap!"

A hand landed square on Fang Qi's shoulder.

The force was barely lighter than Uncle An's!

Fang Qi's mouth twitched.

This family's enthusiasm really was genetic!

Then something bumped into his shins.

He looked down. The little boy had already wriggled out of his mother's arms, his little legs pumping as he scurried right up to him!

He tilted his head up, his two little arms reaching out to hug Fang Qi's leg!

"Uncle!"

His voice was crisp and loud.

Fang Qi blinked, a little taken aback.

This kid really didn't have a shy bone in his body.

An Ming's wife shook her head with a smile from behind.

"This kid has been going on about Uncle Fang Qi coming over today since he woke up this morning, saying he wanted to come early too, so we came on ahead. I didn't expect Xiao Qi to get here even earlier."

Aunt Li was already beaming with joy beside them!

She took the things from her daughter-in-law's hands while saying,

"Xiao Qi has been a natural leader of kids since he was little! He's always been popular with children! And he's still popular with them now that he's grown up!"

Fang Qi looked at the smiling faces of this family.

Uncle An sat on the sofa watching the scene with a gratified smile on his face.

An Lian went to pick up the fruit, saying, "Brother, don't just toss the fruit on the floor."

Fang Qi's eyes trembled slightly.

What should he do...

His feelings were so complicated.

These people...

They were all alive, right here, right now.

Uncle An bickered with his wife, getting glared at by his daughter.

An Ming's smile was bright, and the little boy clung to his leg, looking up and calling him "Uncle."

For him to find Liguang, he had to...

Return to the original timeline.

The one where Liguang was created.

But in that timeline, these people...

None of them existed.

An Lian's parents and brother were all dead.

This "sister-in-law" might still be alive, but...

She definitely wouldn't be this gentle, warm woman smiling as she watched her son act cute.

And An Lian—

He looked at An Lian sitting by the sofa.

She was holding a teacup, watching the little nephew clinging to Fang Qi's leg, the corners of her mouth lifted, her eyes full of tender affection.

In that timeline, when had Sister An Lian ever smiled like this?

Fang Qi suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

His chest felt heavy.

But...

Giving up on Liguang was absolutely impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

He had to find Liguang!

He must!

That was non-negotiable!

But...

Fang Qi slowly closed his eyes.

Miss Genius had also said...

She said she wanted it all.

She said she would make sure this experiment was a "complete success."

So...

Maybe in the future, there really would be a way to have both?

For now...

Fang Qi took a deep breath, then suddenly snapped his eyes open!

He didn't know how long these people would still "exist."

Would this alteration of the timeline be corrected at some random moment?

And then vanish from his sight completely?

He didn't know.

But if this was the end...

He didn't want them to keep thinking...

That he was so "heartbroken" that he couldn't even smile.

He would...

For now, become part of their family!

Blend in with them!

And so...

He immediately lifted his face into a bright smile!

"Sure, sure!"

He bent down and scooped up the little boy in one go!

He ruffled his fluffy little head hard!

The little guy giggled uncontrollably from the rubbing!

"Uncle will play with you!"

...

What happened next, Fang Qi felt wasn't quite real.

But he did throw himself into it for the time being.

He played with the kid.

The little boy was full of energy, running around the living room!

Fang Qi chased after him, laughing until he was out of breath!

An Ming watched from the sofa, laughing out loud every now and then, and called Fang Qi over to chat.

"You're part of our family too. If anything comes up, just say the word directly!"

An Ming patted his shoulder, being very straightforward.

Then Fang Qi learned...

An Ming was also a cop.

Just like his father.

An Ming's wife brought over some fruit, saying with a smile that whenever the father and son went out on missions, they never came home, and that she, their mother, and little Lian had long gotten used to it.

The little boy declared in his babyish voice: he was going to be a cop when he grew up too!

An Ming laughed heartily, saying that he couldn't even keep a toy police car from breaking apart and should probably forget about it.

Then Fang Qi and An Ming went into the kitchen together to help.

An Lian was washing vegetables, and when she saw the two of them come in, she looked at Fang Qi with a suspicious glare:

"Xiao Qi, do you even know how to cook?"

Fang Qi grabbed a handful of greens with complete confidence:

"Of course I do!"

My wife taught me how to fry eggs in an iron pan!

And the results were permanently preserved by my wife!

Then he clumsily chopped half a carrot, cutting it all crooked and almost slicing his finger.

An Lian immediately snatched the cleaver out of his hand and shoved him out of the kitchen, pushing and pulling!

"Don't make more trouble, go keep the kid company!"

Fang Qi slunk back to the living room in defeat.

The little boy saw him in that state and laughed his head off, imitating An Lian's tone, saying, "Uncle, you're so clumsy."

Fang Qi flicked his forehead, then couldn't help but laugh himself.

Sunlight poured in through the window.

In the living room, Uncle An and An Ming, father and son, started talking about work, getting a bit serious.

From the kitchen came the soft sounds of An Lian and her sister-in-law chatting and laughing.

Aunt Li was setting out the dishes in the dining room, and the crisp clinks of the ceramic plates were pleasant to the ear.

The little boy was lying on the coffee table drawing, having made a crooked little figure that he claimed was "Uncle."

Fang Qi looked at this sight...

The curve at the corner of his mouth turned a little bitter.

...This is nice.

Really nice.

Wife, if only you were here too.

Could our future be one where we're together in a warm, loving world like this...

"Ding."

His phone suddenly rang.

Fang Qi snapped out of his daze.

He pulled the phone from his pocket and saw a new message pop up on the screen.

[Lin Xiaoyou]

...!

It was Miss Genius!

His gaze suddenly sharpened, locking onto the name!

Was she...

Already done enjoying the "success of the experiment," and ready to start making her move?

He instinctively turned his head slightly, glancing at the laughing, warm-hearted family.

Yeah. It was about time...

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Messages kept coming in!

Fang Qi: "?"

What's going on?

Why so urgent?

He immediately opened the texts!

[Lin Xiaoyou: Oh right, senpai, you can't read code, can you?]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Then there's something I forgot to tell you in advance!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Liguang is really impressive. In the last loop, she should have obtained a portion of the "highest authority"! So...]

[Lin Xiaoyou: I don't believe for a second that she's completely disappeared from this world!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: So my guess—and I'm just guessing here, senpai—is that your Liguang is...]

[Lin Xiaoyou: P, r, o, b, a, b, l, y, w, a, t, c, h, i, n, g, y, o, u, r, i, g, h, t, n, o, w!]

Fang Qi: "...?!"

...What?!

[Lin Xiaoyou: Like... some kind of eyes!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Q, u, i, e, t, l, y, w, a, t, c, h, i, n, g, y, o, u!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Maybe she can even know what you're thinking!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: So be careful, senpai. Don't get too close to anyone else, or else...]

[Lin Xiaoyou: Hehe!]

[Lin Xiaoyou: It's just my speculation. Whether you believe it or not is up to you!]

Fang Qi: "??????"

His eyes went wide, staring at the phone screen!

Seriously...

Lin Xiaoyou!!!

Something this important, and you're telling me NOW?!?!

But...

Liguang is still here?!

His breath caught, and then a wave of ecstasy hit him!

Liguang hadn't disappeared! She hadn't!

But... wait...

Hold on...

Fang Qi's mind suddenly went blank for a second.

Liguang was watching him? Watching everything he did?

Like...

The eyes of the world?

Then today...

Fang Qi tilted his head slightly.

Did I do anything too close with anyone today...?

Did I think anything... I shouldn't have?

Fang Qi's eyes slowly widened.

I...!

?!?!