Control

My phone displayed: Place your palm on top.

Zhang Hao reached out and covered the top of the cylinder. A cyan light shone through, and a moment later, a person appeared.

The figure was only a hundred centimeters tall. Zhang Hao stared in shock. Wasn't that himself? Fortunately, the figure was made of light. He'd long since grown numb to Mifeng's methods. "Is that me?" he asked.

Yes!

A single word appeared, startling Zhang Hao.

It was displayed on his retina, not on his phone.

He blinked hard, then closed his eyes. "How did you do that?"

The two nano-machines had already collected every bit of information about your body. Reconstructing it with data is easy.

Even with his eyes closed, Zhang Hao could see the line of text perfectly clearly. It appeared right on his retina, and there was no way to block it. The sensation was utterly bizarre.

Zhang Hao opened his eyes. "Is... is there anything wrong with my body?"

Yes!

Zhang Hao's heart skipped a beat. He asked cautiously, "W-what's wrong? Is it serious? Do I need to go to the hospital?" Everything else was fine, but being in poor health would be miserable.

They're all minor issues. They'll be fixed shortly.

Then a long string of characters appeared on his retina.

As the characters appeared, red dots kept flashing on the figure on the desk, marking all the problem areas.

After glancing over the list, Zhang Hao immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was long, every issue was as minor as could be: athlete's foot, a wart, moles on his skin, and lower back strain from sitting too long. All were extremely mild. None was serious; they were nothing more than minor ailments.

Even the dullness of his skin, caused by pigmentation, counted as an issue. Zhang Hao found that both surprising and amusing.

The only relatively serious problem was his lungs. Smoking had caused a few minor issues.

"How do you treat them?" Zhang Hao asked curiously. "These little problems... there's no way to treat them, right? Maybe they'll go away after a while."

They'll be gone soon!

In an instant, Zhang Hao felt an unbearable itch all over. He couldn't help crying out, then felt a sharp twinge in a few spots. After that, he felt nothing.

Done.

Zhang Hao couldn't believe it. "They're gone?"

His skin immediately began to itch again, but only for a few seconds. Zhang Hao stared in amazement at his bright red hand. In just those few seconds, the redness had vanished, and the skin on the back of his hand was now smooth, soft, and pale, like a baby's. He'd had several small scars there, but now not a trace of them remained. They'd disappeared completely.

"What happened to the nano-machines?" Zhang Hao asked in surprise.

They're inside your body. There are five more on the table, and three others as replacements. The remaining two are on your wrist. These seven nano-machine spheres are extremely precious. At present, we can only produce seven. Five of them are there to keep you healthy and improve your physical condition. You're too weak.

The other two have additional uses. Just wear them on your wrist.

Zhang Hao looked at the egg-sized nano-machines, puzzled. "Wear them on my wrist? How?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the yellow and blue spheres collapsed, then reassembled into two strings of beads, each bead the size of a soybean. Their colors had changed to alternate between yellow and blue, and their texture seemed different, too. He picked them up and found them heavier, yet cool and smooth to the touch.

There were more than two hundred beads. He'd have to wrap them around his wrist many times.

"This is incredible. What... what are they for?"

I'll teach you how to use them when the time comes. For now, just wear them on your wrist.

"So mysterious..." Zhang Hao muttered, then asked, "By the way, if nano-machines can cure diseases, can they turn me into a superhuman?"

You're getting ahead of yourself!

"It's not that I'm getting ahead of myself," Zhang Hao said. "Your technology is so advanced. Even if you can't make me a superhuman, you should at least be able to make me stronger, right?" He still wasn't ready to give up.

How do you define "stronger"?

"Being able to take on ten thousand men! An immortal body!" Zhang Hao blurted out nonsense. It wasn't as if it mattered if he got it wrong.

Mifeng was even more ruthless, ready to dash Zhang Hao's hopes.

According to your system of knowledge, you are a carbon-based life form. Such life forms are incredibly fragile. Your genes determine that transcending life and death is extraordinarily difficult. As for taking on ten thousand men, you have no need for that now. Do you want to go around killing people, robbing them, and becoming a bandit?

Zhang Hao was left speechless.

After a long pause, he said, "Didn't you say... that I could..." Then he realized that Mifeng had never promised he could live forever.

"Fine. Forget I said anything..."

Now that Mifeng was communicating with him through his retina, he didn't need to look at his phone or computer.

What Zhang Hao didn't know was that the two nano-machine spheres had already begun invading his blood vessels. In just a moment, they had spread throughout his body. Miraculously, his immune system didn't attack the tiny nano-machines. It was as if they were family. So, aside from the itching and pain he'd felt at first, Zhang Hao no longer felt anything.

All right. Communication will be much easier now.

Zhang Hao shuddered in fright. This time, the words weren't displayed on his retina. He could hear the voice loud and clear!

"Whoa! H-how did you do that?"

A thin layer of nano-machines had attached itself to Zhang Hao's eardrum. When the nano-machines vibrated, he could hear Mifeng clearly.

Because the sound acted directly on his eardrum, it couldn't be heard outside. But Zhang Hao could hear it perfectly. It was that incredible.

The moment Zhang Hao came into contact with the nano-machine spheres, he had become one with Mifeng. Whether he wanted it or objected made no difference anymore. Zhang Hao was a cautious person, but he was no match for strange alien technology like Mifeng's. Lured in bit by bit, he had ultimately become Mifeng's puppet. Of course, as far as he was concerned, being this kind of puppet wasn't a bad deal.

Zhang Hao understood the logic in an instant.

"This... doesn't that mean you control whether I live or die?"

Yes!

Mifeng answered honestly.

We're partners, so I'm only interested in how you live. I'm not interested in how you die, and I'll do my best to keep you alive. As partners, our status is like our share of the profits: I get seven, you get three!

Zhang Hao asked, "If you wanted to control someone else, could they become your partner, too?"

I have you, so there's no need to control anyone else. Only you can be my partner!

Zhang Hao froze. "I can control people? How?"

The beads on your wrist are a powerful tool for controlling people. If you want to control someone, all you have to do is shake their hand. Then one of the beads will enter their skin. In just a few minutes, it will reach their brain and implant a control command.