Automatic Equipment

Hao Ren was deeply suspicious of whether Raven 12345 was actually a member of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. In any case, he absolutely couldn't believe that such a mighty super-civilization was made up of unreliable people like her. Unfortunately, he still hadn't had the chance to meet any other members of the Time-Space Administration Bureau or senior officials from the Xiling Empire. Raven 12345 had said that this place was remote and impoverished, with an administrative rank too low to matter, so it was entirely possible that no one had come by for years...

But regardless, Hao Ren no longer doubted Raven 12345's identity or the authenticity of that super-civilization. For one thing... a mansion located in an alternate dimension, along with all the high-end, impressive, refined, understated, luxurious, and sophisticated facilities inside it, was absolutely beyond anything humans could build! Take the place he was in now, for example—the room known as the new employee reinforcement center... It looked like something straight out of a science-fiction movie.

Raven led Hao Ren through the mansion in a winding maze for half a day. Along the way, they passed many strange rooms filled with crystals or bizarre equipment. By the end, Hao Ren was walking around open-mouthed like a country bumpkin. Just as he was beginning to wonder whether this huge mansion even had an end, Raven led him into a hall that was utterly different from the rest of the building.

The hall was filled with a technological atmosphere and had a regular hexagonal shape. Every wall gleamed with a metallic silver-white sheen, while blue-white streams of light slowly pulsed across them like veins. The hall was extremely tall, and many faintly glowing crystals floated beneath the ceiling, filling the entire room with a pale blue radiance. Lining the walls in a circle, Hao Ren saw many strange devices he couldn't understand. They looked like some kind of control consoles, but had no buttons, joysticks, or anything similar. Holographic images floated above each "console," while the only possible control component on the "consoles" themselves was a hexagonal crystal panel—completely different from any machine on Earth.

"This is the Reinforcement Center, just a miniature version," Raven 12345 said, pointing at the equipment in the hall with considerable pride. "In the beginning, inspectors had to go to the Imperial capital, Shadow City, for centralized reinforcement and assessment. Back then, the Time-Space Administration Bureau wasn't so large, and there weren't as many affairs in the Macro World, so we could still manage. But that won't do anymore. Now the assessments, basic training, and reinforcement for newly appointed inspectors have all been delegated to various nodes and even the basic worlds. Our place is rather remote, and it takes several jumps to reach the nearest void node, so I simply applied to have one of these built in my own home. Actually, I originally wanted to apply for magical-energy equipment. I really can't handle these technological devices... but I made a mistake while writing the application..."

Hao Ren listened in a daze. One of Raven 12345's problems was that she talked entirely to herself. Once she started speaking, she didn't care whether her listener could understand her or not. Hao Ren was completely bewildered by all the basic knowledge about the Time-Space Administration Bureau, and this White-Haired Demoness had just rattled off a whole bunch of stuff. Who could understand any of it?!

"What exactly is this 'reinforcement' you're talking about?" Hao Ren finally managed not to get overwhelmed by the flood of information, maintaining at least a bare minimum of vigilance. The atmosphere here made him think of those research centers that spent all day studying how to slice people apart. And in his mind, the Xiling Empire was still an "alien group." After all, he had maintained his atheism for more than twenty years, and the word "deity" was far less comprehensible to him than "alien." Just think about it: an Earthling falling into an alien biochemical laboratory and being subjected to reinforcement... If this plot landed in the hands of Hollywood directors and didn't result in a screen splattered with blood, they would have completely wasted the premise, wouldn't they?!

The people in novels who immediately cheered when they heard that aliens were going to reinforce their bodies obviously hadn't thought things through as deeply as Hao Ren. Of course, if you insisted that Hao Ren was simply a coward, there was nothing he could do about that...

"It's just an ordinary physical adjustment. Relax, you won't have any trouble getting used to it, and it won't harm you," Raven 12345 said as she pushed Hao Ren toward the center of the hall. "Hundreds or even thousands of newly appointed inspectors undergo reinforcement every day, and not a single accident has ever occurred. Just relax! We've always followed a humane standard... Stand here and don't move! I'll raise the Adjustment Pod."

Hao Ren stood there trembling with fear. Then he saw Raven reach out and press the air several times. The floor beneath him began to tremble slightly, and a highly advanced-looking device slowly rose from a long rectangular opening that had appeared in the ground.

It was a silver-white metal box more than two meters long, roughly rectangular in shape, with one end larger than the other. It was exquisite and ornate, and had a lid with a cross assembled from crystals on top...

The lid of the metal box slowly slid open. The more Hao Ren looked at it, the more puzzled he became. "...Why does this thing look familiar?"

Raven 12345 immediately widened her eyes. "How could it?! This is the latest model of the Universal Adjustment and Reinforcement Integrated Pod. It was only unpacked a couple of days ago. Where could you possibly have seen it?"

Hao Ren thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead and shouted, "I remember now! This shape is obviously a damn coffin!"

Raven 12345 smacked Hao Ren on the shoulder. "Have you forgotten the Employee Code? No swearing in front of a superior! If you absolutely have to swear, wait until the superior has finished speaking!"

Hao Ren twisted his shoulder and desperately tried to back away. "You're seriously asking me to lie down in this box? I'm telling you, I have principles. The shape alone is creepy enough... Hey, don't push me! I'm absolutely not going in! Just because you plated it silver doesn't mean it isn't a coffin! It even has a cross on top, and you still..."

Raven 12345 lifted Hao Ren with one hand and tossed him into the "coffin." "You're a grown man. Stop being so fussy! In you go!"

Hao Ren was completely unable to resist the insane White-Haired Demoness. After a dizzying spin, he found himself lying inside the large box. At the same time, a transparent barrier extended from the four walls of the metal box, trapping him completely inside.

Hao Ren could only resign himself to his fate. But after waiting for quite a while without seeing anything else happen, he craned his neck to look to the side and found Raven 12345 standing nearby, engrossed in a Data Terminal. He pounded hard on both sides of the metal box. "What now? What do I do next?"

Raven 12345 didn't even look up. "Don't shout. I'm looking for the manual... Why do technological devices have to be so complicated? Where's the switch on this thing?"

Hao Ren said, "...F**k! I'm quitting! I'm breaking the contract! I'm out! You're completely unreliable! I..."

"Oh, found it!" Raven 12345 slapped a spot beside the "coffin." Hao Ren's grand protest abruptly cut off, and the last thing he saw was a dazzling white light that pierced straight through his retinas.

Darkness, cold silence, boundless chaos. Space itself seemed to have lost all meaning. Hao Ren felt his soul leave his body in that instant, drifting through an ethereal, indescribable dimension. He desperately searched for even the slightest familiar sensation, but found nothing. There was no sound, no light, no warmth or touch. A person's mind was locked inside a tiny bottle, drifting all alone...

Well, he probably drifted for around ten seconds. Then Hao Ren heard a loud bang beside his ear. Immediately afterward, someone grabbed him by the arm and pulled him upright, while his vision gradually began to return.

The light and lines in his vision condensed into the shape of a person. It was Raven 12345's beautiful face and her trademark silver hair. She patted Hao Ren on the shoulder, looking delighted. "All done."

Hao Ren sprang upright and only then realized that he was still standing inside the coffin-shaped metal box. He nearly lost his balance and fell out. After steadying himself, he cautiously jumped to the ground. "That's it? Why does it feel like it only took a moment?"

"Yep. Twelve seconds." Raven 12345 waved the Data Terminal in her hand. "Just like the manual says: press the switch, select idiot mode, wait twelve seconds, hear a 'ding,' see the red light come on, and the lid opens automatically. Then the user is taken out—but you jumped out yourself."

"Is this thing a microwave or what?!"

Raven 12345 shrugged. "The method is more or less the same. Aren't all idiot-proof devices used like that?"

Hao Ren was left speechless by the White-Haired Demoness's calmness and shamelessness. In the end, he could only console himself: at least there hadn't been an accident, and all the parts of his body seemed to still be there.

He then clenched his fists, as if checking whether this alien reinforcement technology was reliable and whether he had truly embarked on the path of those snow-white-clad, wind-swift masters from novels. But after examining himself, he was surprised to discover—next chapter.