The Secret Base.
"One thousand one hundred and twenty... one thousand one hundred and twenty-one... one thousand three hundred... huff, huff... I can still keep going! One thousand three hundred and one..."
In a training room filled with all kinds of exercise equipment, a small figure was doing fingertip push-ups, his entire body drenched in sweat.
Sweat soaked the hair over his forehead, revealing a resolute gaze!
Kakarot? Was that you?
"Hey, Er Mao!"
The little figure stiffened at the voice. His fingers could no longer support his body, and his face hit the floor with a thud.
"Ow! That hurts..." He sat up, clutching his nose, tears all but streaming from his eyes.
Once the pain finally eased a little, he turned to look at the two men approaching with mischievous grins.
"Come on, seniors, could you please stop calling me that..." Er Mao said weakly.
"Heh heh, that's the code name the boss assigned you. If we don't call you that, even the Brain Chip's friend-or-foe identification system won't recognize you!" Lao San chuckled.
Er Mao: "..."
Why the hell did this Brain Chip's friend-or-foe identification system have to be so damn unconventional?!
Never mind fancy methods like facial recognition, iris recognition, or soul-signature recognition. At least give it an 'aliases' field, you bastard!
Over the past two days, as he became more familiar with the Brain Chip and his own body, Er Mao had gained a profound understanding of Nie Yun's formidable technological capabilities. What little remained of his memories and experience told him that he had been captured and dragged into the lair of a world-class final boss!
His odds of escape... hmm... zero. Not even "almost zero"!
His odds of resisting... uh, fine, he hadn't even dared to think about that...
The control exerted