CHAPTER 1155: CHAPTER 889: SHADOWS ON THE DOCK

Xu Cheng left without looking back.

On the street, the law enforcement drone quickly ascended, demanding Xu Cheng to pay the credit points required to live in the city center.

"Quack!" Xu Cheng glared at it angrily. Both her and Bubble’s credit points were in the single digits, not enough to live in the safe and beautiful garden center. They had to leave quickly.

"Detected low-quality personnel, please leave promptly." The drone raised a small electric shock cannon, aiming at Xu Cheng.

Low-quality? Low-quality! Anyway, I don’t want to stay here! Xu Cheng stormed off, she vaguely heard Chishiki chanting Xu Cheng’s name behind her, but she didn’t care. Chishiki, Chishiki, you’re the biological child, go ahead and enjoy!

Xu Cheng took off running, Bubble hurriedly caught up with Xu Cheng.

They boarded the Shuttle Machine to enter the garden center, but due to insufficient credit points, were chased out all the way. Alarms blared everywhere, demanding people to stay away from the low-quality Xu Cheng and Bubble.

Along the way, citizens on the roads strictly controlled their turning heads according to the law.

Xu Cheng passed through them, unsure which of these citizens were real, and which had been replaced.

Jialong Slope secretly replaced members of society, minimizing panic. The pinnacle of Synthetic Human technology was employed here, cleverly programmed with some illegal, unethical behaviors to help them portray flawed characters, executing negative behaviors probabilistically.

Xu Cheng felt most of the city was robots, pretending to be law-abiding citizens, public servants, actors, singers, merchants, and white-collar workers, designed with high consumption needs, spending most of their earnings on purchases, completing the commercial cycle.

She realized everyone else was the accompanying runners and performers, masters like game NPCs, all part of the script, performing for the entertainment of the Kojima Family and decorating Chishiki and their colorful lives, satisfying their vanity and sense of superiority.

Every day and every event in the city unfolded like a drama for their viewing pleasure. Xu Cheng realized she was just a grain of sand in Jialong Slope and merely one of the actors providing a joke for Kojima Kanako. She had to leave, or she would be swallowed eventually.

She dashed through the streets of Jialong Slope, panting as she reached the electric curtain door.

Law Enforcers opened the electric curtain, urging them to leave, and deducting from their credit record, turning it negative.

Next time, intruding into the city center would lead to arrest, possibly being replaced by a robot. Xu Cheng turned around, seeing Bubble lagging behind, exhausted across a street.

"Wait for me—" Bubble’s voice was soft and weak.

Xu Cheng reached out, pulling Bubble out of the city district boundary.

Law Enforcers reactivated the high-voltage electric grid behind them, preventing unauthorized entry.

Bubble clung to Xu Cheng’s embrace, terrifyingly watching the crackling electric barrier behind them. They gasped heavily, sweat dripping off their bodies.

The high walls isolated the inside from the outside, with the exquisite bright streets, bustling commercial areas, and high-rise buildings all disappearing, leaving only the dirty and chaotic Jialong Slope Port to accompany her.

Lianhua and the Shahua Sisters stood on the old gray street, waving as soon as they saw them, Lianhua’s eyes almost radiating bloodthirsty light: "Good baby!" she raised her hands high, running towards Xu Cheng.

"Quack! No money!" Xu Cheng slapped Lianhua’s hand away, still irate.

Lianhua noticed she was small but strong, involuntarily stepping aside.

"What’s wrong with her—" Lianhua watched Xu Cheng’s back.

"Hey..." Bubble was sad, "...if you have the patience, continue following her with me, or wait another day or two."

Xu Cheng lost her will, hands clasped behind her head, her mind empty, pacing on the embankment of Jialong Slope Port.

She walked till dusk, the Port District became quiet, dark clouds gathering in the sky, and a sinister and cracked Moonlight rose above.

Xu Cheng was shocked hearing Bubble’s footsteps following her, amazed they tolerated her tantrums?

"Quack?" she turned her head.

Bubble had followed Xu Cheng for four hours, already exhausted with pale lips, limp hands, but still smiled.

"I’m still here!" Bubble said weakly.

Energy started refilling Xu Cheng’s mind, she turned around, leaning against the wooden railing, beneath lay a stacked artificial coast, fog already encroaching, radiating colorful starlight.

She felt heavy inside, her calves heavy and sore, mist curled around her ankles, Kanako’s voice echoed in Xu Cheng’s mind.

"Quack quack." Xu Cheng didn’t understand why Kanako was so harsh.

Bubble patted Xu Cheng’s shoulder with her skeletal hands: "Don’t listen to her, let’s follow our own path, leave Jialong Slope, go far away."

Bubble’s words soothed Xu Cheng a bit, like gently caressing her soul.

"What about you all?" Xu Cheng turned to see Lianhua and the Shahua Sisters also following her.

"A commission for a billion bonus is before us, we can’t give up at a time like this, can’t, can’t..." Lianhua’s tongue almost fell out, the fake gemstones and broken decorations jingled on her body, she needed real money to buy real jewels.

"Hmph...hmph..." Shahua just followed her sister desperately, with no other thoughts.

Xu Cheng saw a huge silhouette faintly appear in the mist, it advanced like a Phantom, reaching the pier extending into the sea.

At this moment, some people had already gathered on the bridge. It stretched out a black tongue like a tentacle, wrapped one of them up, and then swallowed them into the mist, disappearing.

The others were numb, waiting for their turn, without any intention of fighting the mist!

"Quack?" Xu Cheng pointed toward the pier reaching into the seawater.

"That— that is a cheap device," Lianhua glanced, "Ever since the mist approached Jialong Slope, people come to the pier every day. That monster is called The Willow Prophet and provides them with a simple, cheap way to end their pain."

The Willow Prophet looked like a pale figure, with dark eyes and eerie long hair, extending tentacles with eyeballs from its back, seemingly scanning and scrutinizing the minds of intelligent beings.

Many people on the pier had already vanished; they all silently waited for their turn. Some couldn’t bear the massive pressure and cried, unwilling to return to Jialong Slope. Some wanted to leave Jialong Slope, to leave forever.

Xu Cheng opened her mouth, dazed, walking over without a word.

She stepped onto the concrete bricks, climbed onto the pier, and walked toward the black fog.

Bubble let out a sound close to a sob, bowed, and followed Xu Cheng.

Xu Cheng breathed in a daze, advancing stiffly, while Bubble whispered next to her, repeatedly saying "I’ll be with you," "I’ll be with you."

Lianhua and Shahua stood at the starting point of the pier.

"We, we don’t stop them?" Shahua trembled, looking at everything in front of her.

"It’s just human nature," Lianhua said with hands in pockets, "Only the money we were about to get slipped away."

The Willow Prophet’s tentacled eyeballs observed Xu Cheng, it let out an eerie scream, piercing through the fog, then reached for Xu Cheng.

Bang!

A golden energy block struck The Willow Prophet, melting much of its form.

It retreated into the mist, rapidly regenerating in the starry-hued fog, though more cautiously.

A swift figure leaped over Lianhua and Shahua, picked up Xu Cheng and Bubble from the pier, pulling them back onto the land.

Immediately, this figure swiftly and steadily shot at The Willow Prophet in the mist, continuously firing a semi-automatic rifle, until it was completely repelled.

Xu Cheng turned to look, and there, unexpectedly, was a machine woman!

Her synthetic skin was flawless and pale, with large eyes, styled in a Hime-cut, a beautiful hairstyle leaving long hair at the back, bangs at eyebrow height, hair on either side of the ears down to the chin, quite attractive.

"Ming Gongqiao, entrusted by Miss Chishiki, here to protect," machine woman said meticulously.

Bubble tightly hugged Xu Cheng, head pressed against Xu Cheng’s shoulder.

Xu Cheng dazedly patted Bubble’s shoulder, still recovering from the recent events.

She didn’t know why she’d walked onto the pier, perhaps the Willow Prophet took advantage of her defenseless moment. Monsters in the restricted area were full of danger, and she should have been prepared, staying away from the mist.

Xu Cheng steadied herself, reassessing Ming Gongqiao, seeing her wearing a combat uniform of gunmetal gray, made of tough and lightweight material, with a black triangle emblazoned on her cheek, below which was the Jialong Slope’s regulation robot identification QR code, revealing some of her profile.

Unlike those robots confusing the citizens, Ming Gongqiao was specially designed for combat and emergencies.

——Scanning——

Name: Ming Gongqiao

Manufacturer: Kanako Xisheng Corporation

Model: G-Hishimori (Combat and Security Automata)

Framework: Reinforced alloy inner skeleton; high-polymer synthetic skin; Titanium A ablative armor

Computing System: Prototype positronic artificial intelligence, Xisheng combat model. Specializes in artificial intelligence battlefield combat protocols, threat analysis and response, combat maneuvering, and close-quarters combat algorithms

Visible Weapons: Nestor V-type Plasma Rifle; Short Katana; Electromagnetic Grenade

Threat Level: Extremely high (A highly dangerous military synthetic human, may use lethal force in threats. Extreme caution advised)

——End——

"Follow me," Ming Gongqiao turned her head, "Miss Chishiki wants to meet you."

"Pah," Xu Cheng hated Kanako, along with Miss Chishiki and her entire family.

"Miss Chishiki said there’s something you can’t refuse— news about your father," Ming Gongqiao said coldly.

News of Xu Yang.

Xu Cheng looked up at the dark and twisted sky, took a deep breath, and decided to follow Ming Gongqiao.