Nano-Machines

That evening, after returning to the villa, Zhang Hao went down to the basement. The place had been completely transformed. Every wall was clad in gleaming silver steel panels, and the machinery was nowhere to be seen. He stared in surprise. "Where did everything go?"

A huge television hung on the wall. As soon as he spoke, its screen suddenly lit up, and a line of text appeared.

All the equipment has been moved underground.

Zhang Hao looked at the Hole Entrance he had originally dug. It had vanished, too, and the floor was made up of steel plates. He was utterly astonished. "This... how do I get down there?"

Before he could finish speaking, a doorway opened in front of him.

"Holy crap! An elevator!"

The sight left him stunned. An elevator had appeared without a sound, hidden behind the wall, and he had no idea how it had been built. He couldn't help admiring Nano-machine.

He stepped into the elevator, and a few moments later, it stopped.

"How many underground floors are there?" Zhang Hao asked as he checked his phone and stepped out of the elevator.

Seven so far. The plan is for seventeen.

Zhang Hao nearly dropped his phone. That was terrifying. Was this thing planning to build an underground skyscraper?

The entire first basement level was brightly lit and considerably larger than the basement above. Huge reinforced-concrete pillars supported the ceiling. By Zhang Hao's estimate, the area was close to a thousand square meters, if not quite that large. At least several dozen "big ants" were hard at work.

He was completely dumbfounded.

There were all kinds of machines arranged along the walls. Zhang Hao couldn't make heads or tails of them and had no idea what they were for.

Zhang Hao gave a rueful smile. "Great One, what are you planning to build?"

You wouldn't understand! Even if I explained it, you still wouldn't understand!

It was just a line of text, but Zhang Hao got the distinct impression this guy was looking down on him.

Zhang Hao sighed. He couldn't even get angry; all he felt was deep helplessness. The gap between them was simply too great for him to even think of resisting. He said meekly, "Fine, fine. I really don't understand, and I'm not planning to figure it out. I just wanted to know a little about it—enough to have a general idea of what you're doing."

Another line of text appeared on his phone.

Do you want to truly understand this knowledge?

Zhang Hao said, "What's the point of wanting to? Let me be clear: just listening to stuff about machinery and electronics gives me a headache. Don't make me study it. I couldn't learn it anyway."

You won't have to study it.

"What do you mean?"

You can understand it without studying. You only need to take one additional step.

If you want to, just say yes. If you don't, you don't have to answer. I won't force you.

Zhang Hao rolled his eyes. "Obviously, if I can understand it without studying, I want to. Yes! Yes, I agree!" He'd have been an idiot to turn down an offer like that. He genuinely wanted to know what all these things were for.

Go to the sixth underground level and take the elevator down.

Zhang Hao turned and headed for the elevator. It descended, and a few seconds later, he reached the sixth underground level.

The place was full of glass-walled rooms, and the view was truly spectacular. The stark white lights gave Zhang Hao goosebumps. He couldn't help saying, "Why does this look so creepy? It's like some kind of horror-movie laboratory..."

Following Mifeng's instructions, Zhang Hao entered a room by himself. Its four walls were silvery white, and he had no idea what kind of metal coated them. Fine golden lines ran through the silver, making the whole room look bizarre.

A long, white table stood in the room, with no chairs or anything else to sit on. On the table sat a glass dome containing seven spherical objects, each slightly larger than an egg. They were red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet, all the same size.

Zhang Hao stared in surprise. "What are these?"

The phone displayed: In your language, they're called "nanorobots." Of course, there are major differences between the two, but you can think of them that way. Otherwise, you still wouldn't understand.

Zhang Hao shook his head with a rueful smile. "Great One, do you really have to look down on me like this?" He was puzzled. He understood the basic idea of nanorobots: incredibly tiny robots. But these seven balls in front of him, in all their bright colors and slightly larger than eggs, didn't look like robots at all.

I'm not looking down on you. It's just difficult for you to understand our... technology...

For once, Mifeng hesitated before expressing an opinion.

Zhang Hao asked, "Can I take a look?"

Yes!

Zhang Hao lifted the glass dome and picked up one of the balls. To his surprise, it was incredibly light, like a ball of foam, and he could barely feel its weight in his hand. Its surface was also smooth as a mirror, almost slippery to the touch.

Zhang Hao asked curiously, "What does this do?"

It was made especially for you. Would you like to try it?

"For me? How do I use it? What does it do? Is it... dangerous?"

There's no danger at all. It can check your physical condition and detect dangerous illnesses. It has many benefits.

Looking at the phone screen, Zhang Hao hesitated. He glanced at the ball in his left palm and thought for a moment before quickly making up his mind. If Mifeng wanted to hurt him, it wouldn't need to go to any trouble. With Mifeng's abilities, killing him would be far too easy.

"Fine. I'll try it."

Before Zhang Hao had even finished speaking, the ball in his left palm suddenly melted and spread across his hand in an instant.

It was a red ball. As soon as it melted, it spread across his entire body in a matter of seconds. He could almost immediately see that his right hand had turned red, too. If he took off his clothes, he would have seen that it wasn't just his hands—his entire body was red, including his face and even his scalp.

"Oh, my God!"

A few words appeared on the phone screen.

Don't panic. Pick up the violet ball.

Zhang Hao picked up the violet ball.

Put it in your mouth!

Zhang Hao steeled himself and put the violet ball in his mouth.

Close your mouth.

Zhang Hao tried his best to close his mouth. It was only a little bigger than an egg, but it was still quite a stretch to fit it in and close his lips.

Suddenly, the ball in his mouth melted, too. It felt like he had taken a sip of water. Before he could swallow, it flowed straight down his throat, frightening him into crying out, "It melted!"

If anyone else had been there, they would have been scared to death. Zhang Hao's face had turned bright red, as if it had been dyed with red paint, while his tongue and even his eyes had turned violet.

Under a high-powered electron microscope, countless tiny objects would have been visible. These were the nanorobots Mifeng had made—or, more precisely, nanomachines.

Zhang Hao had no concept of machines this unimaginably small. But it wasn't over yet. A cylinder thirty centimeters in diameter suddenly rose from the tabletop.