Murder Case (1)

"So, Mr. Castle, there was nothing you could do against it either!" Pei Shao's eyes shifted as he began probing indirectly again.

"Our types are different. Unable to assess!" Castle's answers were always this dull.

"Types?" Pei Shao thought for a moment. "Is that like how humans have different personalities? Oh, Mr. Castle, don't close your eyes. Tell me!"

"You're annoying!" Castle said coldly, but in the end, it still added, "Eighty percent of the software installed in its database consists of attack programs. In your terms, its desire to attack and invade outweighs everything else!"

"What about you, Mr. Castle?" Pei Shao immediately asked tentatively. He wanted to dig up whatever he could about Castle's secrets.

"No comment!" This time, Castle had clearly seen through Pei Shao's little schemes.

Pei Shao shook his head with a bitter smile. After thinking for a moment, he steered the topic back to the one who had just clashed with Castle. "Then, Mr. Castle, don't you find it strange that another silicon-based lifeform has suddenly appeared on Earth?"

Sure enough, the moment his home planet was mentioned, Castle could not help saying, "This is perfectly normal. Even if more Matrix Cubes fell to Earth, there would be no need to make such a fuss!" Its tone remained icy.

"Oh... then I understand!" Pei Shao deliberately put on an enlightened expression. "So the other one is a little stronger than our Mr. Castle. Otherwise, why—"

"I only said that its desire to attack is greater than mine. But if I had been given one more minute, I would have been absolutely certain of destroying its memory system!" Perhaps Castle's pride had finally reached the point where it could no longer endure Pei Shao's repeated belittling. Though its answer was objective, it still made Pei Shao a little excited. Castle's words all implied that, if they truly fought, the other party was no match for Castle.

But—

Wait!

Pei Shao suddenly thought of a problem. Even if Castle was slightly stronger, an open attack was easy to evade, but a hidden arrow was hard to guard against. There were simply too many examples of that. And with the other party's enormous, all-pervasive attack and intrusion systems, Pei Shao did not want a robot as "upright" as Castle to suddenly fall victim to a sneak attack. After all, although Castle had always seemed powerful to him, it also had a small flaw. Its sense of pride made it reject any method that was not sufficiently honorable.

Fortunately, although Pei Shao did not have much worldly experience, he had at least grown up reading [Romance of the Three Kingdoms]. He was no longer some naïve, innocent little brat, and he considered things quite thoroughly. Besides, whenever he thought of that guy in the Transformers movie who appeared with a laser gun and started blasting wildly, Pei Shao broke out in a cold sweat for the Earth he lived on.

Who knew whether that guy regarded destruction and hurting people as endless fun? After Pei Shao voiced his concerns, Castle's expression grew increasingly grave. For such an expression to appear on Castle's usually unruffled face was enough to show that Pei Shao was not being alarmist. Of course, Pei Shao did not think he was great enough to compare himself to Superman, the savior who wore red underwear and flew all over the sky. But no matter what, Pei Shao was at least someone who loved peace.

On this point, Castle and Pei Shao reached their first unspoken understanding.

Because Castle truly did not want humans on Earth, after discovering the existence of silicon-based lifeforms, to classify them all as an extremely dangerous kind. If that really caused worldwide chaos, then no matter how powerful Castle was, it probably could not withstand the tide of humanity.

"Losing freedom is far more terrifying than losing one's life!" Castle's sudden words nearly made Pei Shao carve the four words "I am Nietzsche" onto its cold mechanical face.

Yet those words also stirred a deep resonance within Pei Shao. "Could it be, Mr. Castle, that you're afraid people will lock you up like an experimental white mouse and isolate you from the world forever?"

Castle did not answer. But an unusual light flickered in its two electronic eyes!

"Could it be that there's nothing we can do, and all we can do is sit here and wait for death?" Pei Shao looked deeply at it. "Mr. Castle, we Earthlings have an old saying: strike first to gain the advantage! Since we've already discovered the danger, why can't we act first and eliminate it while it's still in its infancy?" Perhaps having vaguely grasped Castle's proud nature, Pei Shao added, "At the very least, it would be better than you getting captured, wouldn't it?"

Castle pondered for a moment, then shook its head. "Unable to capture its exact coordinates!"

Pei Shao immediately reminded it, "Then can you determine its general direction? For example, which city it's in?"

"S City!"

"What?" Pei Shao shouted. "It's in the same city as us?"

"Correct!"

Pei Shao murmured, "Was it because you found the location of its IP address when it fought you last time?"

"Without question!"

"Then..." Pei Shao thought that since the other party was also a silicon-based lifeform, what kind of metal object had it been born attached to? A car? Or a semiconductor? An MP3 player? Or a DVD player? Damn! If some perverted rich man had even inlaid his toilet with gold trim, would that create an even more badass, flashy transforming toilet?

Haha... Pei Shao greatly admired his own imagination.

"Mr. Castle, do you think it's possible that it could appear in the form of a toilet?" Pei Shao could not help asking.

"Insufficient data. Unable to determine!" Castle had no sense of humor at all.

But the more Pei Shao thought about it, the more amused he became, and the more he wanted to see what this new silicon-based lifeform actually looked like. Still, since even the freakish Castle could only roughly determine that it was in S City and could not pinpoint its location, Pei Shao could only give up resentfully and treat it as a bit of self-entertainment.

Just as Pei Shao was feeling slightly disappointed, Castle informed him that Lin Meijing was calling.

After answering, Lin Meijing arranged to meet him at eight o'clock that evening at the entrance of Imperial Oasis. Looking at the time, it was only a little past three in the afternoon. After hanging up, Pei Shao took another short nap so that he could gather his energy and perform well in front of the beauty that night.

Imperial Oasis was a three-star hotel themed around green ecology. It was located near the outskirts of the city. The area was not bustling, but it was full of pastoral charm. This large ecological hotel, covering thirty-two thousand square meters, had a tranquil, elegant, and uniquely designed layout.

From the Tang Dynasty of Taiyuan to the Great Ming realm, from rugged grandeur to exquisite detail, from little bridges and flowing water to wooden oxen and gliding horses, the hotel's success lay in its creation of an aesthetic space: a pleasant landscape, a ripple of life and vitality, and a sense of distinction, all without neglecting the clever use of high-tech elements hidden within certain areas.

When Pei Shao arrived on time and stepped through the entrance of Imperial Oasis, he looked past the artificial mountain fountain and floor screen, saw the hall filled with the colors of spring and a single touch of red amid a sea of green, and was completely stunned by the beauty before him.