Android Girl 2B

Chapter Thirty-One: Humanoid Machine 2B

Name? The strange little girl was clearly taken aback when she heard the word. She seemed to be searching her mind for a way to answer the question. Did she have a name? She probably didn't, since her owner had never called her that.

"I have no name, and machines don't need names. They only need codes and identifiers. You can call me a humanoid machine..."

I can't figure out what this person wants. He's not here to ask me for information. Judging from the way he's acting, he's probably in cahoots with the maid on the screen who killed my master, so he should kill me too. But why hasn't he made a move yet and is even asking for my name? This person is very strange.

"No name? No name? That's great! How about I give you a name? Looking at you like this, I've decided to call you 2B. From now on, you'll be called 2B. Aren't you happy? Aren't you excited?"

Looking at the humanoid robot girl in front of her, Shen Gonglin said excitedly. After seeing her, the name rushed into Shen Gonglin's mind. This mask is really too interesting. No matter what, Shen Gonglin has to call her 2B.

"No need. There's absolutely no need to name the machine. Besides, I sensed a strong sense of malice in this name. Are you insulting me?"

The android girl resolutely refused. She didn't need a name, and besides, this name was too strange. Why did this boy have such an excited expression? Was giving people all sorts of weird nicknames a hobby of his? What a strange person, actually thinking of naming a machine. He's an oddball.

"Insult? I didn't mean that. It's just that... Hey, isn't that Theresa and the others? They've come to this city too? 2B, zoom in a bit, I want to really see Mei and Bronya's stunning beauty."

Shen Gonglin didn't know how to explain it to this little robot girl. Shen Gonglin was very familiar with girls who treated themselves like machines. In these situations, she couldn't just go along with them; she just had to do her own thing. Fortunately, Shen Gonglin was particularly good at this kind of thing. She was a free spirit by nature. After seeing Theresa and the others on the screen, she was immediately drawn to them. She hadn't seen them for a long time, and she missed them quite a Shen Gonglin.

"Don't order me around, I don't have time to mess around with you... What are you doing, threatening me? And you still say you're not a bad person."

The android 2B resolutely refused Shen Gonglin's request. She had to follow her master's instructions and had contingency plans for such unexpected situations. She needed to download all the terminal information into her brain and didn't have time to mess around with Shen Gonglin. However, she then saw Shen Gonglin's actions. He grabbed a handful of cables, and Shen Gonglin electricity flashed on his fingers. The threat was obvious.

"When did I ever say I wasn't a bad person? Now listen to me, or I'll unplug your internet cable. These things are important to you, right? Hurry up and shove the camera over there. I need high-definition pictures that can even show a pimple."

Dealing with normal people is not human for Shen Gonglin, and dealing with this difficult girl who calls herself a machine is equally excessive Shen Gonglin. Don't expect her to say anything gentle. Shen Gonglin Jingu has a congenital defect in that area, so what use is gentleness? Shen Gonglin still prefers to achieve her goals in her own way.

"...I see."

After weighing the pros and cons, the android 2B girl made her choice. It seemed she could only delay for a while. If Shen Gonglin unplugged the network cable, a large amount of information would be lost, which would affect her master's commands. Forced by circumstances, the girl had no choice but to pull up the surveillance footage again. This guy was definitely not a good person.

"Your Excellency, I have made contact with Gray Serpent as instructed, but unfortunately, he has refused to cooperate. Mr. Gray Serpent is unwilling to provide any valuable information."

On the other side, Rita connected to the communication and reported this information to Otto. The other party's unwillingness to cooperate was also a headache for her, so she had no choice but to use some special methods.

Oh? Is that so? Then we don't need him.

Otto's voice was even colder in the communication. Since the other party refused to cooperate, there was indeed no use in keeping him. The other party should be a member of the World Serpent. If he was unwilling to provide assistance, then he had no value whatsoever.

"Yes, I've already taken care of the aftermath. Regardless of whether the traitors contacted him or not, he has to be kept silent. However, what's concerning is that he said something before he died: 'Now, you are also in the eye of the serpent.'"

Now that she had received the money, Rita had to do her job perfectly. She had to deliver on her promises so she could earn more money in the future. She told Otto everything that had happened. There were some things she didn't know, but he would surely give her some clues, since he knew a lot of things she didn't.

[...This guy is World Serpent's agent planted in Sky City. So World Serpent has finally started making its move.]

After a brief silence, Otto spoke of the organization again. This organization was even more troublesome to him than Anti-Entropy. The World Serpent, which had been silent for so long, had finally shown its fangs.

"Could this intelligence actually be fake? Is it just bait thrown out by the World Serpent to create chaos?"

Rita raised this possibility, but Otto didn't delve any deeper into the matter. His original intention wasn't for Rita to investigate the origins of the World Serpent; it was more important to deal with the immediate issues first. Now that the Gray Serpent was in such a state, what were this maid's plans?

"I'll handle the World Serpent matter; you don't need to worry about it. Regardless of the information's veracity, with Gray Serpent dead and the trail going cold, Theresa will definitely be more vigilant. Rita, you should have been prepared for this impasse."

Otto's tone betrayed no disappointment; on the contrary, he had complete confidence in Rita. This maid was impeccable in carrying out her mission, and she also had her own plan of action. Otto did not want to interfere, because he believed that Rita must have some backup plan.

"Of course, Your Excellency, please rest assured, doing things halfway is not my aesthetic. This is only the first step, and what follows..."

The maid gave a kind smile into the communicator, while Otto remained silent.

I think it will cost you more money to implement the next part of the plan, right?

"Your Excellency, I must admit, you are truly intelligent."

Chapter Thirty-Two: Intentionally Left Message

Now that Otto had so sensibly transferred the money, Rita, having seen the text message, cleared her throat and continued speaking. She had no choice; she didn't want to appear so greedy, but she had Shen Gonglin to feed at home. After all, Shen Gonglin needed to be pampered; he was like a cat. If she didn't provide him with good food and drink, what would happen if he went to find another owner? This was a very important matter.

"Yes, Your Excellency, this is exactly the result I hoped for. All of Gray Serpent's electronic devices require authentication from his biological components to be activated. I don't have the time to try them one by one, nor do I have the ability to forcibly crack the devices. So I have to remove his biological components and take away his electronic devices... In this way, we can cut off the possibility of the traitors obtaining information from him."

As she explained her plan, Rita paused slightly. Seeing that Otto didn't intend to interrupt, the maid continued. She still had some professional ethics; after all, she had already received the money, so she had to do it perfectly.

"However, for such important information as the Herrscher of the Void, Gray Serpent would definitely have left a backup in their base. Lady Theresa must have thought of this as well. After hiding for so long, and having taken such a great risk to come to Sky City, how could they possibly return empty-handed? So when I removed the electronic components, I deliberately left something behind. I left them the authentication chip on the inside of Gray Serpent's wrist. There is a top hacker in the Far East Branch, Bronya Zaychek. If it were her, she would definitely not miss such information. She might try to go to Gray Serpent's base and use her hacking skills to infiltrate the system and obtain intelligence. This gift I left for her will open a door of convenience for her. She can't refuse such a temptation. Then, wait for the traitors to enter Gray Serpent's territory, kill the guards along the way, infiltrate the system, and search for intelligence... At the last moment, that will be my turn to strike. If they are lucky, they will not only obtain information about the Herrscher of the Void, but also recover the traitors of the Far East Branch."

She explained her plan in detail. After all, Rita was just a maid. Although she had worked hard to learn various skills, she still had some shortcomings in certain highly specialized areas, such as hacking skills. In this regard, Rita could not match Bronya's skills even if she tried her best. So, she had to rely on the strength of others. Since she could not do it herself, she would let others do the work for her, and she only needed to get the results.

[What a brilliant deduction... but a deduction is just a deduction; whether it will succeed depends on whether Theresa will actually take action as you suggest.]

He clapped his hands in approval of Rita's plan. Although the maid seemed to have fallen into the trap of money, her work ability was still undeniable. Rita was probably the most versatile person under his command. Durandal wouldn't be as useful as her. This money was well spent.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will set up an ambush near the Gray Serpent's stronghold and wait for them to take the bait."

The maid bowed slightly and then cut off the communication. The girl under the night sky touched her lips. Logically speaking, she was one of Shen Gonglin's people, and Lady Theresa and the others were undoubtedly in Shen Gonglin's group as well. How could she have schemed against them like this... Never mind, she could deal with these things later. After all, she was also Valkyrie of Schicksal, and in this situation, she should be their enemy.

Having figured this out, the maid slowly walked towards the Gray Serpent's stronghold. By now, Lady Theresa and the others should have already discovered the Gray Serpent's corpse, right?

"So much mech wreckage... Was there a battle here just now? All the defensive mechs are destroyed, and Gray Serpent himself... Has the trail gone cold again?"

They arrived at the agreed-upon location, but all that appeared before Theresa and the others was a ravaged battlefield. Looking at the lifeless corpses lying on the ground, Theresa's face was grim. They were too late; Gray Serpent was already dead, and Kiana's whereabouts would be unknown.

"Judging from his appearance and attire, this person is Gray Serpent. Headmaster, we are too late."

Mei was also quite helpless about this. The only person who might know the clues about Kiana and Shen Gonglin Jingu was dead. Judging from the looks of it, the battle would end in no more than twenty minutes. It was just a little bit short.

"Wait a minute, Headmistress, Mei, now is not the time to despair. This murder should not be a coincidence. Let Bronya examine Gray Serpent's body."

Theresa and Mei had already given up, but Bronya found the key. The girl used Heavy-duty Rabbit to launch a scanning mode. Sometimes, a corpse can provide a lot of information, let alone the corpse of Gray Serpent.

"The murderer used only one knife, clean and efficient, indicating a professional. Valuable items... seem to have been taken in large quantities. The perpetrator is likely a money-grubber like Shen Gonglin. Personal devices such as cell phones and computers are also missing, suggesting a greedy intent. However, considering the involvement of murder and the destruction of so many mechs... the perpetrator is probably no ordinary person. Gray Serpent underwent multiple surgeries and implanted numerous prosthetic devices before his death, and all of these devices were taken by the murderer. The bionic eyes and neural plug-ins that should have been there... are all gone."

After scanning Gray Serpent's remains, Bronya had already made a judgment on the current situation. If it was just greed, they wouldn't have taken so many prosthetic devices. The only possibility is that the murderer wanted to obtain information from Gray Serpent, so the murderer killed Gray Serpent and took the bio-components used for authentication to unlock the intelligence equipment. Indeed, they were a step too late.

"Bronya, do you mean we came all this way for nothing?"

Upon hearing Bronya's report, Theresa felt utterly deflated. She had worked so hard for so long, only to receive such a result. She was so angry! She had been so close, just one step away from finding out the whereabouts of her niece and that unfortunate child. She had been so close!

"No, it's possible, but not necessarily. There's a biochip on the inside of Gray Serpent's wrist, which is specifically used for intelligence identification. It was obviously left behind by the murderer in negligence. Bronya can use this to investigate and crack the backup intelligence in Gray Serpent's base... Hmm, it should be feasible."

Bronya calmly added, "It's not time to be disappointed yet."

Chapter Thirty-Three: Shen Gonglin Wants Everything

"That's great! To think that something so important would be left behind. It must have been something the murderer left behind unintentionally. Even the best plans can have a flaw. Bronya, now we're counting on you."

Mei was overjoyed to see this. It was like a ray of sunshine after a long slump. She had thought this mission was doomed to fail, but she never expected such a turn of events. She took this mission very seriously because it was the closest she had gotten to Kiana and Shen Gonglin in a long time. If possible, Mei really didn't want to give up!

"No, this is far too dangerous. Although Gray Serpent is just an information broker, no one has dared to lay a hand on him in Sky City for so many years. But this time the murderer is so brazen. I'm afraid the Schicksal is also involved in this. If we expose our whereabouts, we'll be in big trouble. Every minute we stay in this city increases the danger. I order you to abandon the mission and return."

Theresa shook her head and made this decision. She couldn't risk Bronya and Mei just to save Kiana. Each of them was her most precious treasure. Himeko, Kiana, Shen Gonglin, and Fu Hua... They were no longer by her side, so Theresa had to hold on to the people she had now. Bronya and Mei absolutely could not be harmed!

"Headmistress, Bronya has a different opinion. Bronya knows what it feels like to be manipulated and lose yourself. Kiana is suffering the same pain now. No matter what, Bronya must rescue Kiana ... And Shen Gonglin, Bronya is also worried about leaving him to act alone with Kiana outside."

The emotionless girl turned to look at Theresa. Bronya's tone remained calm, but Theresa could hear the sincerity in her words. She was Kiana's friend, and it wasn't Bronya's style to stand idly by when a friend was in danger or trouble. Besides, this wasn't just Kiana's problem; Shen Gonglin was with her now. If they found Kiana, they could find Shen Gonglin's trail. One was her friend, and the other was the most important person in her life right now. Bronya knew what choice she had to make. If she didn't do it now, she would definitely regret it.

Bronya will not let that happen.

"I...I understand, but if the situation changes later, we will abandon this operation immediately."

Theresa was also a sentimental person, and she was equally eager to know Kiana's whereabouts. Now that Bronya had said so, she, as Kiana's family, had no reason to back down. Although Shen Gonglin was by her side, she was a person who was both reassuring and unreliable. The sooner she found them, the sooner she could put her mind at ease.

"Okay, Headmistress, Bronya will begin the decryption... Complete. The base location is only the first layer of encryption, which is easy to crack. Headmistress, let's move on. I will shut down all mechs within the scope of my permissions, but autonomous mechs cannot be shut down in this way. During the time Bronya is decrypting, please protect me well with Mei."

For a top-tier hacker like Bronya, pinpointing the exact location of the information aggregation within the chip wasn't difficult. The problem that stumped Rita was no problem for her either. Thus, guided by Bronya, Theresa and the others approached the Gray Serpent's stronghold. Rita, having already learned of this through Bronya's channels, lay in wait, waiting for their prey. However, Schicksal...

What Theresa and the others didn't know was that Shen Gonglin was right in the center of their target's attention.

"As expected of Bronya, her data decryption ability is probably even better than mine. 2B, look how amazing my little loli is. If she is, you can just praise her directly without going through the formalities."

In the data room of the Gray Serpent base, Shen Gonglin grabbed a bag of compressed biscuits and took a big bite. Although the little girl next to her said she was some kind of machine, machines obviously don't eat. But these compressed biscuits and mineral water were clearly prepared for her. It seemed that Bronya and the others were on their way. It had been a long time since she had seen them. Shen Gonglin planned to greet them properly. Although she had promised Kiana not to take her back, it was obvious that they had come looking for her.

Therefore, I can't say that I broke the agreement.

Seeing how quickly Bronya obtained the information about this place, even Shen Gonglin couldn't help but gasp in amazement. This girl was truly amazing. Shen Gonglin usually cracked the code using electricity. Although his ability always manifested as electricity, it was actually electromagnetic control. Bronya, on the other hand, cracked the code purely with hacking skills. If you had to say, their hacking abilities were about equal. Bronya was truly impressive.

"Don't call me 2B, call me humanoid machine. Danger detected approaching, but it doesn't seem to be the person who killed the master, so we don't need to activate the final plan for now. Execute Plan Two and evacuate this base."

Knowing that Bronya and the others were about to arrive, the android girl stood up and prepared to leave. It was no longer safe here. Although she was protected by so many mechas, it did not give android girl any sense of security. Her master had already set up a contingency plan for this situation, and she only needed to execute it.

"Okay, 2B, but are you leaving now? What about all these things? It's such a waste to just throw them away. Can you give them to me?"

Seeing the android girl preparing to leave, Shen Gonglin planned to stay there and wait for Bronya and the others to arrive. However, the compressed biscuits and bottled water on the ground caught her attention. She and Kiana had suffered quite a bit outside, and although these things didn't taste good, they could fill their stomachs. It would be such a waste to waste food. If she and Kiana had had these things when they were in the wild, they wouldn't have been in such a miserable situation. Now, looking at 2B, was she planning to throw away these food supplies?

Could I take it back and store it with Kiana? Well, I've been living a hard life for too long, even Shen Gonglin has learned to plan ahead.

"Please dispose of it as you see fit; we have plenty of these at other outposts."

The android girl clearly didn't care about these things, but these words made Shen Gonglin's eyes light up. She could have as many as she wanted. Alright, it seemed she had to go with this android girl again. Only children make choices; Shen Gonglin was prepared to have them all.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Holding Back

Cracking complete, database scan begins, starting to query relevant information...

Theresa and Mei were dealing with the remaining autonomous mechs that couldn't be shut down due to lack of access, while Bronya was fully focused on completing her own mission. Each person was doing their part, and doing their job well was the strongest support for their companions. With the help of Heavy-duty Rabbit, Bronya finally cracked the chip she obtained from the wrist of the Gray Serpent's corpse. However, the massive amount of information inside made Bronya's eyes widen. What was going on with all this information?

"Bronya, how is it?"

After temporarily clearing out the mechs in this area, Theresa found it hard to imagine where Gray Serpent, an information broker, got the ability to control so many mechs. Could intelligence work be so lucrative now? The headmistress shook her head and walked to Bronya's side. Fortunately, Bronya, who was skilled in hacking, was there with her, otherwise they would have had to take the chip back for Einstein and Tesla to study.

"It's terrible. There's a massive amount of information, without any categorization, tags, or indexing. It seems that Gray Serpent has saved all the online information circulating in Sky City. What's astonishing is that he doesn't seem to have organized such a huge amount of information at all."

Bronya rubbed her head. Just looking at the information made Bronya head ache. The information was all over the place, from major city construction projects to minor online forum posts and insults. It seemed like all kinds of information were there. Bronya's brain was indeed very sharp, but even the sharpest brain has its limits. This was not something that could be done by human brain alone.

"Is there no information about Kiana in this?"

Theresa didn't quite understand what Bronya was saying. Theresa was concerned about was this: if all the city's intelligence was here, then Kiana and Shen Gonglin's whereabouts should also be inside.

"Maybe... but Bronya will need a week... no, it will take several days to find out the result. This is already the limit for Bronya's information processing speed."

Only Bronya could make such a decision, given the sheer volume of information about the entire city. This massive amount of data was a considerable challenge for Bronya.

"It's been so long... Can we take all this data with us?"

Staying here for several days was simply unrealistic, so Theresa came up with another idea: bring it back to the Anti-Entropy branch and then slowly organize and study it. That was also a solution.

"Impossible. With such a massive amount of data, the migration process would take even longer."

Bronya shook her head. The method proposed by the headmaster was not realistic. She was currently using this chip as a medium to access the Gray Serpent's database. Downloading all this information would take more than a few days. If she thought about it carefully, there should be other ways.

"Bronya, is there really no other way?"

Knowing absolutely nothing about this, Mei could only place all her hopes on Bronya. She wanted to help, but when it came to professional questions about information, she couldn't keep up with Bronya even by a few dozen points. Suddenly, she felt like she was really useless.

"For an intelligence broker, collecting information indiscriminately is rather illogical, unless this is what Gray Serpent wants. Could it be... Let Bronya check... Found it, all the data Gray Serpent retrieved points to one port... It seems he has an intelligence processing tool beyond imagination, or rather, not a tool, but her, a Cyborg, a Cyborg."

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to Bronya. Her fingers danced across the virtual keyboard as she investigated all the ports through which Gray Serpent mobilized intelligence. In the end, Bronya discovered that all this data was sent to Gray Serpent from a single source, and that source was a girl.

"Cyborg? Someone who received a prosthetic body transplant like Gray Serpent?"

Mei asked in surprise, "This kind of thing is not common. And this time, besides Gray Serpent, there is another person. Does this reflect some kind of information?"

"That's right, and this Cyborg modification surgery... is a bit crazy; she practically modified the entire brain."

Looking at the data displayed on the screen, Bronya said something that was hard for the three girls present to accept. To have her entire brain altered was terrifying.

"Her brain was fitted to the engine of a quantum computer, thus possessing astonishing computing power. In that case, there is indeed no need to integrate the data that is monitored from Sky City every day, because for that Cyborg, filtering intelligence according to the master's requirements is just a matter of blinking an eye. The monitoring system shows that she is still in this base, and her movements... are not fast."

Bronya looked up, and the red dot on the screen was the location of the Cyborg. Tracing it back through the information port was not a problem for Bronya.

"Hoo... I sense the enemy is approaching. The best thing to do now is to split up and act separately."

Under the cover of night, two figures were moving with difficulty. The girl, whom Shen Gonglin called 2B, looked up and calmly put forward this idea: This guy is too troublesome. Before we can get rid of the pursuers, we must get rid of him as well.

"Don't even think about it! Don't think I can't see your eyes and therefore don't know what you're thinking. If you try to run away by yourself, I'll cling to your legs and cry. Come on, instead of wasting time on this nonsense, let's work together. One, two..."

Shen Gonglin ruthlessly rejected the android girl's suggestion. At this moment, the two of them were carrying a box of compressed biscuits and mineral water towards another android base. The android girl originally planned to move by herself quickly, but Shen Gonglin insisted on coming along. Not only that, he also wanted to take the box of compressed biscuits and mineral water. Shen Gonglin wasn't very strong, and the android girl was even more delicate and weak. The two of them, who were physically weak, moved very slowly while carrying the box. This guy, he really is in cahoots with the invaders.

"Dump all this stuff. We can have as much as we want once we reach the evacuation point..."

"Don't even think about it. These are mine, and having them in your hands is the best thing. So put some effort into them, I... I can't lift them anymore..."

Chapter Thirty-Five: Reunion

Because of Shen Gonglin's delay, the humanoid 2B couldn't evacuate quickly. For some reason, she insisted on taking these compressed biscuits with her, which was why they were moving slowly and couldn't retreat in time. But now, the humanoid 2B couldn't do anything about it. Shen Gonglin was very determined about this, and since she couldn't get rid of her, she could only grit her teeth and endure it. Why was it so heavy? Even if she was a machine... she wasn't a machine specifically designed to carry heavy objects.