Ark Simulator: Didn't I Not Have a Physical Body?
The Nightingale suddenly started running.
Her blonde hair billowed behind her, the light from her staff pierced the night, and for the first time, her strong, healthy legs were running not for an experiment. Su Rui's navigation system was still guiding her, but at this moment she didn't need a map—the taste of freedom was the best signpost.
The alarm in the Absolver's Lab didn't sound until ten minutes later, by which time Nightingale had already boarded the Originium- powered vehicle heading to the Babel.
Inside the train carriage, as she watched the scenery rushing past the window, she suddenly burst out laughing.
"What's wrong?" Su Rui asked.
Nightingale pressed her staff to her chest, feeling the resonance between the Originium and her heartbeat:
"I was thinking..." Her eyes reflected the starry sky, "The expression on Shining's face when he discovers his staff is missing must be priceless."
Su Rui's projection rested on her shoulder, and the two of them gazed together at the distant Babel. The moonlight gilded the escape with silver, but the true dawn was just beginning.
However, Nightingale's physical strength was not outstanding, after all, she had been an experimental subject for so long.
As she ran, stopping and starting, Nightingale's breathing gradually quickened, and her golden hair clung to her cheeks with sweat. Although her legs were healthy, they had never experienced such a long run before.
"Take a rest," Su Rui's voice echoed in her mind, gentle yet firm.
Nightingale, panting, leaned on her knees, the light at the tip of her staff dimming slightly. She looked around—this was the abandoned mining area on the outskirts of Kazdel, where collapsed ore piles formed a natural barrier, and moonlight was fragmented by the jagged rocks.
"There's a mine shaft up ahead," Su Rui's projection pointed to an inconspicuous depression. "It was abandoned thirty years ago, and the surveillance system has long been broken."
As the Nightingale slipped into the cave, the damp air carried the scent of moss. She had just leaned against the rock wall when her eyes widened suddenly— Su Rui's phantom was drawing intricate runes in the air, and a semi-transparent storage space slowly unfolded.
"Although I'm just a consciousness..." As he moved, various beautifully packaged foods appeared on the ground as if by magic, "But I can still manage to store some snacks while traveling through time."
Moonlight slanted in through the cave entrance, illuminating an incredible picnic: Victoria honey-filled cookies, Bolivar tropical fruit fudge, and even a pot of steaming Ursus tea. Nightingale's fingers hovered in mid-air, as if afraid to disturb this beautiful dream.
"This is... such amazing technology." She carefully poked the teapot, feeling the real warmth emanating from her fingertips.
Su Rui snapped her fingers triumphantly, and more food tumbled down. "The fancy chocolate Swire gave me, the spicy jerky Chen secretly put in—ah, this box of macarons is from when Hoshiguma got drunk last time..."
His words trailed off as Nightingale took a bite of the lemon macaron. The girl suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes welling up with tears, like a fledgling tasting sweetness for the first time.
"So... this is what it tastes like normally." She murmured to herself, holding the biscuit. "The nutrient solution in the lab only tastes metallic."
Su Rui was silent for a moment, then suddenly pushed the entire box of pastries towards her. "These are all yours." His projection sat down beside her, "But eat slowly, your stomach muscles might not be used to it yet..."
Nightingale suddenly broke the cream puff in half and offered the larger piece to the void. "You eat some too."
The moonlight softened at that moment. Su Rui's illusory figure took the non-existent half of a cream puff and pretended to take a bite. Nightingale laughed, her shoulders trembling slightly, a bit of cream still dappled at the corner of her lips.
As the distant buzz of the Absolver's reconnaissance drone reached her ears, Nightingale was popping her third strawberry candy into her mouth. Su Rui quickly gathered up all the wrappers, the light from her staff drawing a warning line in the cave.
"It's time to go," he said softly, watching the Nightingale lick her fingertips with lingering affection. "But..."
As if by magic, he pulled out a cardboard box from behind his back—a limited edition Dossoles starry sky lollipop, containing glowing Originium microparticles.
"Eat it on the way." He slipped the candy into Nightingale's palm. "When we reach the Babel, I'll take you to eat real strawberry cake."
The Nightingale crumpled the candy wrapper, making a rustling sound, and suddenly leaned in to kiss Su Rui's phantom image. The kiss traveled through the data stream, like a butterfly skimming across a lake.
"This is the rent." Her face flushed, she grabbed her staff, and her figure disappeared back into the moonlight. Meanwhile, on Su Rui's navigation system, the green indicator representing stamina had returned to full strength.
As the first Absolver drone swept past the treetops, a dangerous smile curled at the corner of Su Rui's lips.
"Nightingale, bow your head."
The Nightingale immediately swooped down, and the drone's infrared scanner swept across her three centimeters above her hair—then suddenly, as if drunk, she wobbled and crashed into a tree trunk, puffing black smoke as she plunged into the bushes.
"What did you do?" Nightingale stared wide-eyed at the expensive military equipment twitching in the grass.
Su Rui's illusory image floated beside her, her fingertips dancing with data streams visible only to him. "Just telling their navigation systems a lame joke."
In the monitoring room thirty kilometers away, the technician from the Absolver stared at the suddenly blacked-out monitor and pounded on the control panel: "All drone signals lost! Repeat, all—"
His voice abruptly stopped. A line of flashing Sarkaz Ancient Language suddenly appeared on the screen: [Goodnight, you fool.]
Meanwhile, Nightingale watched as countless drones plummeted from the sky as if gripped by an invisible hand. Some suddenly began to dance a waltz, others frantically took pictures of the moon, and the most outrageous one even used a laser to draw a cat's head on the clouds.
"Su Rui!" She ran while trying not to laugh, the halo at the tip of her staff flickering with the movement of her shoulders. "This is way too obvious!"
The projected image of Su Rui shrugged and casually hacked into the attached broadcast tower. The next second, all the public screens along the Kazdel border simultaneously began playing <Sarkaz Folk Classics>, and Nightingale watched helplessly as her pursuers were forced to watch an AI-generated video of Shining in Shining tap dancing.
Volume 12, Chapter 678: Don't be afraid.
"They'll be in a scramble for at least twenty minutes now," Su Rui said smugly, twirling a non-existent dagger. "That's enough for us—"
His words were interrupted by Nightingale's sudden embrace. The girl's warm breath pierced through the virtual projection, carrying the sweet scent of strawberry candy. "Thank you." Her ears turned bright red as she released his hand. "This is the most romantic escape I've ever seen."
The moonlight illuminated the last canyon ahead, and the outline of the Babel was clearly visible. Su Rui suddenly pulled a virtual rose from the data stream, knelt on one knee, and presented it:
"Allow me to formally invite you, Miss Nightingale." The petals transformed into guiding lights the instant they touched the ground. "Welcome to the world of freedom."
As the last drone wailed and crashed into the valley, Nightingale stepped over the boundary marker that symbolized the frontier. Unbeknownst to her, Su Rui had just sent a photo to Shining's personal terminal—a picture of Nightingale's back as she ate a Starry Night Candy, captioned: [Thanks for the treat, the staff works great.]
Nightingale stood beneath the colossal Landship of the Babel, gazing up at this mobile fortress forged from steel and Originium Arts. The mottled war marks on the hull gleamed coldly in the moonlight, and the searchlights along the deck edge twinkled like stars.
She gripped the staff tightly, her throat tightening.
"Don't be nervous." Su Rui's illusory image appeared beside her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder—though it was only a touch made of data, it inexplicably brought a sense of peace. "Theresa will like you."
The Nightingale took a deep breath and nodded.
Just then, the side hatch of the Babel suddenly slid open, revealing a tall, slender figure standing against the light.
" --Su Rui."
It was a woman's voice, deep and gentle, with a hint of helpless laughter.
Before Nightingale could react, Su Rui's projection froze like a cat caught causing trouble.
"Uh, hi, Doctor."
The woman in front of the hatch slowly walked down the gangway. She was dressed in a simple black uniform and wore a signature tactical mask, but her exposed eyes held a smile.
"I knew it was you who did this." The Doctor shook his head and turned his gaze to Nightingale.
Nightingale instinctively took a half step back, but the Doctor simply reached out his hand to her.
"Welcome to the Babel, Nightingale." Her voice softened. "Su Rui's friends are our friends."
The Nightingale was stunned.
"You... you know me?"
The Doctor chuckled and glanced at Su Rui's illusory image, "A certain troublesome guy has been spamming my tactical terminal for the past three days, with messages ranging from ' Nightingale's personality' to 'How to keep her from being afraid'—it's hard not to know you."
Su Rui's projection instantly turned red, and the data stream even became disordered for a moment. "Dude, why did you say all this out loud? Answer me! Look me in the eyes!"
Nightingale couldn't help but laugh out loud, her tense shoulders finally relaxing.
The Doctor stepped aside to make way. "Come on, Theresa is waiting for you."
--
The central hall of the Babel was warmer than the Nightingale had imagined.
Theresa sat in an armchair by the fireplace, an ancient book open on her lap. She looked up when she heard footsteps, her golden eyes shining like melting honey in the firelight.
"Ah, our little Nightingale has finally arrived." She closed the book, her smile so gentle it brought tears to the Nightingale's eyes. "Su Rui really praised you like a star."
Nightingale stood awkwardly in place, twisting her skirt with her fingers. Su Rui's phantom gently nudged her, and only then did she muster the courage to step forward.
"Your Highness, I..."
Theresa stood up abruptly and gently patted her shoulder.
"No need to say more," she whispered in Nightingale's ear, "This is your home."
The Nightingale's tears finally fell.
The Doctor leaned against the doorframe, watching this scene with a slight smile on his lips.
"So," she turned to Su Rui's projection, raising an eyebrow, "When are you planning to formally introduce your 'tenant'?"
Su Rui's illusory figure drifted to Nightingale's side, her fingertips, formed of data, gently wiping away her tear stains.
Isn't this it now?
Nightingale sat on the edge of the bed in her new room, her fingers gently tracing the neatly made blankets. This was the accommodation Rhodes Island had arranged for her—bright, spacious, with Mobile City lights even visible from the window.
She turned her head and looked at Su Rui was floating by the window. His silhouette was more solid than usual, and his outline shimmered with a faint blue light in the moonlight.
"Su Rui," she suddenly spoke, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of disturbing something, "That progress bar... what's it at now?"
Su Rui paused for a moment, then brought up a holographic interface that only Nightingale could see—a semi-transparent progress bar floated in the air, displaying a value of [87.3%]. This was a right he had painstakingly obtained from the Upper System; Su Rui could now see the value too.
"It's rising faster than expected." He floated over, his illusory form sitting beside her. His fingertips, formed from data streams, lightly tapped the progress bar. "Once it's full, I can 'download' an entity."
The Nightingale's eyes lit up.
"Really?" She leaned closer, her blonde hair falling onto Su Rui's illusory image, passing through the flowing data. "What would you look like?"
Su Rui's projector suddenly froze for a second—it looked like a system overload.
"Uh, according to the simulation results..." He pulled up a 3D model, showing the image of a beautiful young man with black hair and black eyes, but with two small Sarkaz horns on his head and a long, thin tail behind him. "It will retain my basic features, but due to the influence of your Mental Landscape, it will most likely have Sarkaz 'accessories'."
The Nightingale stared at the miniature horns and suddenly reached out to touch them—of course, her fingers slipped through.
"So cute," she whispered, her cheeks flushing, "Like a young Sarkaz."
Su Rui's projection immediately bristled. "Hey! This is clearly a standard combat model!" He frantically pulled up the modification interface, "Look, the muscles are even..."
Nightingale suddenly pressed down on his hand (or rather, pressed down on the stream of data simulating tactile sensation).
"I love it." Her eyes shone like molten gold under the warm nightlight. "Now we're of the same kind."
The room suddenly fell silent. Su Rui's illusory image flickered slightly, like the fluctuations of a racing heartbeat.
"12.7% still to go," he said softly, his gaze falling on the Nightingale's eyelashes reflecting the moonlight. "Once the progress is full..."
However, just as Su Rui and Nightingale were having a pleasant chat, the next day, The Shining arrived at the Babel, and no one knows how she found her way there.
In Theresa's reception room, Su Rui told Nightingale about it, hoping she would come and see for herself.
"Do we really have to do this?" Nightingale asked hesitantly.
"What else? I think you'd better face it yourself and see for yourself. That would be best," Su Rui encouraged her.
"Don't be afraid, if all else fails, I'll have Theresa beat her up."
Volume 12, page 679: Go slap her.
Shining stood in the reception room of the Babel, her fingers clenching slightly beneath her black robes.
"Your Theresa," her voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable chill, "the Nightingale's experimental data is crucial to the research of the Absolver. Her mental adaptability is unique—"
Theresa sat in the main seat, her fingertips lightly tapping the armrest, her golden eyes slightly narrowed.
"Shining," she interrupted, "The 'experiment' you're talking about, is it locking her in a dark, sunless laboratory, torturing her mind day after day?"
Shining was silent for a moment.
"... This is a necessary sacrifice."
Just then, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open.
Nightingale stood at the doorway, her chest heaving, her long golden hair slightly disheveled from her hurried running. Behind her, Su Rui's phantom floated, her eyes flashing with dangerous data streams.
Shining turned around, and her pupils contracted slightly the instant she saw Nightingale.
"Nightingale," her voice unusually showed a hint of emotion, "You should go back."
Nightingale's fingertips trembled, but her gaze was more resolute than ever.
"Now," Su Rui whispered in her mind, "Slap her and tell her you've had enough."
The Nightingale took a deep breath--
Then, she raised her hand and slapped him with all her might.
Snap!
A crisp sound echoed in the conference room. Shining turned her face to one side, a faint red mark appearing on her pale cheek.
The room fell into a deathly silence.
Theresa's fingertip stopped in mid-air, and even the Doctor's eyes widened slightly.
Nightingale's palms tingled, but her voice remained exceptionally clear: