Foolish Boy

Biodata

Power Progression

• Cheng Qi cannot immediately upgrade him further because he lacks another B343 prototype 3.
• His A24 body’s combat capabilities are considered respectable by Garbage Earth’s standards 40.

Background / History

Cheng Qi salvaged Foolish Boy from a garbage heap three years before the story begins. His speech system uses a Sichuan dialect, possibly inherited from his previous owner. Together, they searched garbage mountains for valuable equipment, with Cheng Qi locating salvage and Foolish Boy excavating it. After Cheng Qi’s grandfather died, Foolish Boy became his only companion 1 2.

When E Luo seized the salvage site Cheng Qi had reserved, he fired a missile at Cheng Qi. Foolish Boy wrapped his arms around his master and shielded him from the explosion. The blast destroyed both legs, half his torso, and the back of his head, shattering his memory transistors and draining his information-conducting fluid. He said goodbye before falling silent; Cheng Qi believed that repairing the body could not restore the companion he knew 1.

The Crystal Bracer then detected compatible technological constructs. Using Foolish Boy’s remains as the synthesis base, Cheng Qi rebuilt and upgraded him twice. The resulting A24 initially behaved like an unactivated factory robot, then abandoned the act and scolded Cheng Qi in his familiar voice. By the following chapter, Foolish Boy was admiring his restored body in a mirror 2 3.

Appearance

• Original body: Rust-covered humanoid frame with a brass head, optical eye lenses, and a mouth formed by a green line of energy. His worn machinery leaked oil and could shed screws when he moved 1 2.
• Upgraded body: A two-meter-tall alloy frame with thicker limbs, reinforced joints, and silver-gray mechanical hands 2 5.
• Eyes: Described as glowing red strips during Cheng Qi’s armor tests 8.
• Occasional clothing: Wears burlap on Bar Street and a scavenged chef’s hat while serving food 9 11.

Personality

Foolish Boy is talkative, sarcastic, and fond of theatrical jokes. He briefly claims he will refuse a dangerous outing, then immediately admits he is kidding and prepares to help. While excavating buried military waste, he jokes that he could finish in two years—by which time Cheng Qi’s grave would already be overgrown 5.

His vanity becomes especially pronounced after his restoration: he poses before a mirror and boasts that female nanny robots would fall for him. He also learns Cheng Qi’s dishonest card-playing habits, hiding jokers in his arm and later using the same invented “Audi A6” rule against Xiao Qiong 2 3 37.

Beneath the joking, he is loyal and practical. He sacrifices his original body to protect Cheng Qi, salvages a discarded safe rather than leave it behind, and carefully disguises the shelter entrance. When warned of the combat squad’s danger, he follows instructions and reassures Xiao Qiong that they will remain inside 1 11 48 50.

Abilities & Skills

Mechanical Strength

His original B343 arms could lift roughly three tons; his rebuilt body continues to perform heavy salvage work 1 11.

• Carries Hyena Luke’s 2.2-ton safe back to Cheng Qi’s shack 11.
• Moves enormous steel plates into position while constructing the shelter entrance 28.

Transformable Tools

Foolish Boy’s arms can deploy tools for cutting, excavation, and construction 5 16.

• Hydraulic cutters: Cut through tangled metal during scavenging 5.
• Flame-cutting torch: Opens metal plates, a sealed fuel tank, and Hyena’s safe 5 6 11.
• Excavator hands: Dig beneath a starship wreck to locate the Muon Research Center 16.
• Welding: Assembles the shelter’s sliding entrance and attaches scrap camouflage 28.

Scanning & Surveillance

He uses onboard scanning and shoulder-mounted equipment to investigate his surroundings 16 23 28.

• Scans the buried Kyoto site and estimates its depth at 260 meters 16.
• Deploys a small full-spectrum radar from his shoulder to listen to a nearby conversation 23.
• Uses a shoulder lamp to illuminate the shelter’s glass-lined tunnel 28.

Shelter Construction

Foolish Boy handles much of the shelter’s finishing, reinforcement, and concealment 28 29 48.

• Cools the newly excavated passage with expired coolant 28.
• Builds a sliding entrance from two starship steel plates, each fifty centimeters thick 28.
• Adds dozens of thick alloy braces before the Gray Storm 29.
• Works with Xiao Qiong on stairs, a platform, a walkway, and planted grass 46.
• Restores the surface shack as a decoy and camouflages the underground exit with secured garbage 48.

Domestic Care

His nanny-robot functions remain part of his everyday role 11 40.

• Prepares and serves a peeled apple while retaining the peel to avoid waste 11.
• Is instructed to stay beside Xiao Qiong whenever she leaves the shelter 40.

Limitations & Vulnerabilities

• His machinery can sustain physical damage; nanorepair robots repair his broken finger and later his legs 14 17.
• Cheng Qi’s electronic resonance can override his movements, demonstrated when Cheng Qi makes him dance involuntarily during a card game 37.

Equipment / Items

• Jet Turbine-Powered Shoes — Fit around his metal feet and allow him to fly alongside Cheng Qi. The synthesized model is rated for a flight altitude of 300 meters and a maximum speed of Mach 0.208 3 5.
• Back storage compartment — Carries Cheng Qi’s amorphous and high-entropy alloys during their scavenging trip 5.
• Playing cards — Keeps hidden jokers inside his arm and regularly plays cards with Cheng Qi and Xiao Qiong 1 2 37.
• Miniature Directional Stargate — Cheng Qi instructs him and Xiao Qiong to take one whenever they leave the shelter 40.

Relationships

• Cheng Qi — Master and closest companion. Their partnership combines mutual dependence, constant teasing, and Foolish Boy’s willingness to sacrifice himself for Cheng Qi 1 2.
• Xiao Qiong — Card-playing partner and shelter-building companion. Cheng Qi entrusts her safety to him; she jokingly calls him her “first pet,” prompting him to insist that he is handsome rather than foolish 37 40 46 50.
• E Luo — Hostile scavenger whose missile destroys Foolish Boy’s original body. After returning, Foolish Boy raises a middle finger at him; E Luo mistakes him for a replacement robot 1 21.
• Hyena Luke — Cheng Qi’s adversary and the former owner of the safe Foolish Boy retrieves. Foolish Boy insists that taking the discarded safe counts as collecting scrap, not stealing 11.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notable Quotes

“I knew all your little card tricks. The next robot won't let you win.” 1

“You just don't have the knack for keeping a thrifty household. In the end, you still gotta count on me!” 11

Trivia

• Chapter 23 calls him a B897 safety and protection nanny robot, despite his A24 upgrade in Chapter 2 and explicit identification as an A24 in Chapter 40 2 23 40.
• Iron Mom’s inventory sorting exposes nine issues of Playbot magazine that Foolish Boy had hidden among Cheng Qi’s possessions 29.