For All Humanity, You'll Have to Die Once

"It's okay, there are still some singles here." Seeing Russell hesitate, Spooner felt he could win this round and immediately made the decision. "Tell me, who do you know, and which one is single? I'll let you choose one!"

"Is it Ada Wong?"

Russell looked strange and said awkwardly, "During your vacation, she temporarily managed District 28, and we spent about a week and a half together. But... isn't that very unfair to you?"

"Ada Wong, the Chicago policewoman..." Spooner hesitated for a moment. He knew Ada, but he knew she was extremely difficult to win over and would be hard to get a date with.

However, seeing Russell's conflicted face, Spooner gritted his teeth and said, "It's okay, she's the one. The greater the difficulty, the more comparable they are."

Admittedly, Spooner wasn't confident he could get Ada to meet him, but he thought Russell was even less likely. After all, Russell had only known Ada for a week, and they had worked together on several cases, getting along fairly well. Even if he had to put aside his old grudge, Ada would at least give him some face, even if it was just a few perfunctory words.

Russell pulled out his phone. "Spooner, you call first, I'll call first?"

"You go first!" Spooner decided to let Russell go first. If he got a good scolding, he wouldn't even need to make a phone call; he would just declare him the winner.

Russell shrugged and dialed Ada's number directly. After the call was connected, the phone screen released a 3D projection, showing Ada's pretty face on the palm-sized screen.

"Hey Russell, I didn't expect you to call me at this hour. Are you trying to ask me to go to the movies?"

"Is that not possible? If not, then forget it, I won't force you!"

"Okay, no problem at all! What time is the movie, and which theater? If you don't have tickets, tell me what you want to see, and I'll buy them right now." Ada was overjoyed. She had been thoroughly humiliated by Russell's rejection before, and even doubted her own charm. This time, Russell's initiative to invite her out finally allowed her to regain some dignity.

Spooner: "..."

How could this be? It shouldn't be like this!

Russell glanced at Spooner and said to Ada, "Ada, you're overthinking it. I didn't want to ask you to watch a movie. I just wanted to know if we could fire the cannon tonight."

"Oh, great, you finally think that way! We can fire now, I mean anytime. Are you coming over, or should I go to your house?"

Pfft! Pfft!

Spooner was shot twice in the chest. What happened to the Chicago policewoman I was looking for? What happened while I was away?

Russell hesitated for three seconds, then shook his head. "Never mind, I suddenly feel like going home to pet my cat. That's it, I'm hanging up now. We can talk about firing the cannon another day!"

"Hey! Wait a minute, Russell, wait..."

"Beep beep beep————"

The call was disconnected, Ada angrily grabbed her hair. What was this? Was she being played?

"This isn't over! I've never been rejected like this before! Let me tell you, it's not a question of whether you want to sleep with me or not, it's whether I want to sleep with you or not!" Ada roared furiously at the phone after it was hung up.

Leaving aside the furious Ada, on Russell's side, Spooner was caught in a existential crisis, shrouded in a low mood, so desperate that he wanted to take another leave of absence to go home and rest for a while, and if possible, see a psychologist.

Seeing Spooner's dejected appearance, Russell felt extremely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Spooner, I accidentally showed off. You know I didn't mean to, I just... I didn't expect Ada to be this kind of person, I'm so disappointed in her."

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft...

Spooner felt as if he had been pierced by a thousand arrows, his body riddled with wounds. Finally, abandoning all dignity, he slammed his arm on the table with a thud. "Come on, Russell, let's settle this like men!"

"The man's way?"

"That's right, it's muscles!" Spooner blushed a little when he said this, because what he was holding up was his left arm, a mechanical arm. There wasn't a single muscle on it, not even a strand of flesh.

Russell also raised his left arm and grasped Spooner's hand tightly. "That's not a good idea. Don't let my thin appearance fool you, I'm quite confident in my strength."

"Stop talking nonsense, if you're a man, give it a shot."

"All right!"

The two gripped each other's hands tightly, grunted, and began to exert force. Russell was genuinely exerting force, while Spooner was using his neural control computer to exert force; the grunt was feigned.

"Drink!!!"

"Ha!!!"

"Holy crap! I've been meaning to say this before, your left hand is so strong, are you single?"

"That's right, my ex-wife and I are divorced."

"Snort!!!"

"Um!!!"

"Puff!!!"

"Huh, who just farted?"

Thirty seconds later, as their strength gradually increased, Spooner's face was filled with astonishment as he looked at Russell as if he were a monster. Russell, on the other hand, exerted all his strength, barely managing to turn his face bright red, and then...

Bang!

With a loud crash, the table shattered and collapsed, forcing the duel between the two to a halt as they were kicked out by the bar's security.

Outside the bar, Spooner looked like he'd seen a ghost, his eyes wide with disbelief as he recalled his close struggle with Russell. (⊙⊙)

"Russell, tell me honestly, what are you..." Spooner, full of doubts, finally couldn't help but ask, "Are you a robot, a robot in human skin?"

Russell looked completely innocent. "Spooner, why would you think that?"

"Because...because this is very abnormal!" Spooner took a deep breath and raised his left arm. "Listen, I lost an arm, three ribs, and even my lungs are artificial in a car accident. You could say the left half of my body is entirely mechanical..."

"Wait a minute, Spooner, I need to interrupt." Russell pointed at Spooner's waist. "I want to ask, is your kidney also artificial?"

"Shut up! My kidneys are fine, they're original, they're made of flesh."

"Wow, that's amazing, I'm a Sagittarius."

Spooner: "..."

"What's wrong, buddy? Why aren't you saying anything?"

I'm thinking about how to kill you and then create an alibi!

Spooner let out a sharp sigh, "Russell, stop joking around. Now tell me, how can a flesh-and-blood person like you fight against a machine? Tell me, what exactly are you?"

Russell's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Spooner, I didn't expect you to find out even though I was hiding so well!"

What, are you hiding something?

"Actually, I am not from this world. I come from the future, an era ruled by robots."

Spooner: ￣△￣

"Dude, what are you talking about? I don't quite understand. In the future, humans will be ruled by microwave ovens and washing machines?"

"Don't underestimate washing machines, they're great for solving cases!"

Russell patted Spooner on the shoulder with a solemn expression. "Will, in the future, you will be the leader of the human resistance. And I am here on orders to protect your safety and help you fend off the robots' pursuit until you become a true leader!"

"What? But I'm not Will, my name is Dale Spooner!"

Russell blinked. "Really?"

"Um!"

Spooner: "..."

Russell: "..."

They stared at each other, wide-eyed!

"Oh, I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else!" Russell said apologetically. "I'm sorry, Spooner! You know too much. For the safety of the savior and for all mankind, you will have to die once."

Spooner: "..."

If it's three chapters, then I'd also like to ask for monthly votes and recommendations!