Pretty Young Lady

By the time 99 woke up that day, it was already late. When she opened her eyes, she found a young lady standing beside her little bed, one whose smile was unbelievably cute. Gentle and beautiful, 99 liked her at first sight.

"99, time to get up. Big sister will carry you up, okay?"

Wow, her voice was so nice too. 99 stretched out her tiny little hands, and the young lady picked her up and carried her to the window.

The area there had just been arranged into a beautiful playground, colorful and perfect for a baby her age.

99 did not think too deeply about why such a gentle, adorable young lady had come to keep her company. She assumed the owner of the laboratory did not want to take care of a baby's feeding, bathing, and other needs, so she had hired someone.

So, 99 happily played with the young lady. With her company, 99 felt that life had become much easier.

Wei Lanshan often watched videos of 99 interacting with the companion robot.

Because 99 was especially adorable when she played with the companion robot.

The time they spent together was a happy time for one person and one machine.

Another month passed like this. One day, Wei Lanshan wanted to measure 99's physical data, but she stopped at the door.

Inside the laboratory, the companion robot was playing music for 99. Lying in her little bed, 99 had her eyes closed as she listened. Perhaps because she found the music pleasant, her tiny hand could not help waving along with the beat.

99 felt very comfortable. The music was inexplicably pleasant to listen to. While that woman and the cold, hard shell were away, she decided to relax properly. Before long, she was getting drowsy, a smile still lingering on her lips.

The baby 99 had yet to realize that the impossibly beautiful woman before her was a machine. She thought Heaven had favored her; after coming here, Heaven had actually bestowed a beautiful young lady upon her.

The young lady was even willing to care for her every need as a baby. It was simply perfect, so 99 especially enjoyed the time she spent with the pretty young lady.

Watching her look so comfortable, content, and sleepy, Wei Lanshan found it quite amusing. This tiny baby had lively eyes and rich expressions, as though every look told a story.

When little 99 had first been picked up by the robot, she had been very happy. She had even reached out to touch the robot's face, her little face showing an expression of disbelief and wonder. Wei Lanshan had thought she was seeing things.

She knew that a baby barely over four months old could not make many expressions, yet 99's expression at the time had clearly been one of disbelief. That left Wei Lanshan with doubts once again.

99 had remained under her surveillance from the embryonic stage onward, and nothing had gone wrong along the way. The only difference between her and other babies was that the M Virus gene had been written into her during the embryonic stage.

Was that why 99 was more intelligent than other babies?

Yet the other four test subjects shared the same origin as her, and they were no different from ordinary babies. Why was 99 alone so exceptional? Her Mental Power and physical ability surpassed those of ordinary people, and she was very intelligent as well. Wei Lanshan could not understand it.

Although she had never been a mother, she knew that, for a baby only a few months old, both the 99 from back then and the 99 of today were far too intelligent.

Wei Lanshan did not pursue the matter further, because she did not want to focus her attention on 99 and risk unnecessary emotional entanglements through too much contact.

Their connection would not last long. Once the experiment succeeded, she would leave, and the Ye Family would likely handle babies 95 through 99 themselves.

As for her talent, Wei Lanshan had no intention of informing Ye Yunhan about this anomaly.

If Ye Yunhan found out, he would definitely bring 99 back to the Ye Family at any cost. With her current infant body, she would not survive even half a month under Ye Yunhan's wife, Tang Yongyu.

Ye Yunhan could not protect this baby every moment of every day. Even if he entrusted her to another member of the Ye Family, someone with ill intentions would eventually find an opportunity.

In a family like the Ye Family, a child without a mother would find it difficult to survive to adulthood.

This world was far more cruel than people imagined. There were countless hidden disputes between star systems, and internal strife within the great star-system families was even more common.

Wei Lanshan knew Tang Yongyu, Ye Yunhan's wife, better than anyone.

Tang Yongyu would never allow the existence of another daughter of Ye Yunhan's who might surpass her own daughter in talent.

Much less when that daughter had not come from her womb and had no connection whatsoever to the Tang Family—a stranger, even if this highly gifted child was merely a test subject.

Wei Lanshan had met Tang Yongyu and knew she was domineering and somewhat unreasonable, with ruthless methods. The Tang Family was famous throughout the Jinghui Star system for its methods.

Tang Yongyu and Ye Yunhan's marriage was a union between two star systems, making them the most steadfast of allies. Since they were allies, how could they allow the Ye Family to produce a genius without Tang Family blood?

Tang Yongyu would only consider her own interests and would never look at this matter from the Ye Family's perspective.

One more gifted child could take the family further, but the Ye Family's resources would inevitably have to be divided in two. How could Tang Yongyu allow such a thing to happen?

Still, none of that prevented 99 from growing up healthily for now. In Wei Lanshan's eyes, she was unbelievably lively.

After hearing Wei Lanshan's footsteps, 99 opened her eyes and met Wei Lanshan's black gaze.

No matter how many times she saw Wei Lanshan, 99 was still startled by her.

Wei Lanshan was different from the young lady who cared for her. Her appearance carried an edge; her beauty was bold and unrestrained. One would be drawn to her at first sight, yet also know that this beauty was not someone to provoke.

After obtaining the data she wanted, Wei Lanshan returned to her workroom.

She called Wu Yuan over and began preparing for comprehensive experiments. 99's body was in excellent condition. They needed to speed things up.

Life underground remained peaceful. Wei Lanshan observed data, conducted experiments, and prepared medicine every day. Several more Tianning Star Months passed, and 99 was already over eight months old, starting to babble as she learned to speak.

Over those eight months, 99 had gradually calmed down from the strange shock of first opening her eyes and had come to understand her situation.

This place was clearly a laboratory, not a hospital. Her body should have been healthy, yet she had never left this room. Only a sweet young woman—her nanny?—took care of her.

As for the somewhat older woman whom the big shell called "Lord Lan," 99 did not want to mention her.

She only came into this room when conducting experiments. Whenever she came, it was an inhuman torment for 99.

She had actually become a baby used for experiments from the moment she was born. More accurately, she had been born because of the experiments.

99 sighed inwardly. Being a baby was hard.

Gradually, Subject 99 grew considerably. Like any other child, she loved to smile and loved listening to stories.

Wei Lanshan discovered that 99 had a strong thirst for knowledge. When she was five or six months old, she would have the robot carry her around to familiarize herself with all sorts of things in the laboratory.

As for how 99 commanded the robot, she had not begun learning to speak at the time. Wei Lanshan guessed that she used Mental Power; there was no other explanation.

She also discovered that the companion robot's data system would bypass the central system and automatically download knowledge beyond the scope of its chip and programming.

Wei Lanshan was astonished.

The robot's commands were fixed. Unless its owner upgraded its chip and added programs, no one could alter it through external means.

She had not expected this tiny child to possess such remarkable talent.

99 had no idea that the things the pretty young lady had recently taught her exceeded its programming limits. She had merely chatted with the gentle, lovely young lady because she wanted to know more things, never realizing that she had invisibly issued it commands.