Chapter 97: All Alone, Hoping Someone Would Come…

In that instant, Xie Jianxun almost blurted out the classic response: You’re asking me? How should I know?

He locked eyes with Idis, who didn’t avoid his gaze at all, staring straight at him as if trying to uncover every secret on his body.

…What secrets could he possibly have?

Was he supposed to say that he’d dug this ancestor up from underground, that it was miraculously intact and lively despite being a twenty-year-old relic?

Xie Jianxun: “…” He was momentarily speechless.

Idis wheeled closer, the movement carrying an almost interrogative edge. “Where did you get it from? The channel? A Mechanical Puppet factory?”

“No, no, I encountered it on a border planet.” Xie Jianxun took a step back and sat down on the sofa again.

The mechanic had closed in within a foot of him. Just before their knees touched, he stopped, his eyes slightly downcast.

He leaned forward, his long hair falling, exuding unprecedented pressure.

Xie Jianxun, seated, was already a bit shorter than him, and sinking into the soft sofa made it worse. He had to look up, perfectly positioned to see the smooth line of Mr. Idis’s jaw.

He grabbed a throw pillow at random and shoved it between them as a barrier.

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but there’s no helping it—I’m telling the truth, Mr. Idis,” Xie Jianxun said with a headache. “The first time I saw you, even I thought it was unbelievable…”

Idis fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed, and the door lock at the entrance clicked softly, as if an invisible hand had quietly bolted it shut.

Xie Jianxun said in alarm, “What’s going on?!”

Idis looked down at him impassively. “There are only three possibilities for two identical faces. First, twins. Second, a face model used at the factory—but I’m not a Mechanical Puppet. Third, he and I come from the same unmodified genetic source.”

The third explanation was somewhat euphemistic. In fact, Xie Jianxun understood a blunter version better.

Like a clone.

The man crossed his fingers on his lap, his gaze heavy. “This could involve genetic theft. You should understand why I’m being so cautious—you, the current owner of this Mechanical Puppet, are the prime suspect.”

Xie Jianxun drew in a sharp breath, thinking Gu Xuning was spot on.

He’d said his teacher had been in a bad mood lately and told Xie Jianxun not to take it personally. Clearly, he’d accumulated plenty of experience.

Xie Jianxun said dryly, “It’s the commander from the Insect Clan invasion war, with a serial number in the Alliance system.” The implication was clear: if you want to investigate, go after the Federation, not him.

Idis had his own reasons. “Then tell me, how did it get damaged like that?”

“Beep beep boop beep boop… Beep beep!”

A cheerful humming tune suddenly rang out in the living room, instantly interrupting their conversation and pulling Xie Jianxun’s attention away from Idis.

He instinctively turned toward the source beside him, surprised. “Who’s singing?”

He hadn’t expected a response, but Idis calmly called out, “Yiwen, shut up.”

They were too close. Xie Jianxun felt uneasy.

He subconsciously shifted his legs, stood up sideways, and barely escaped the sofa’s oppressive zone, retreating to a smaller sofa on the other side.

The mechanic slightly turned his wheelchair. Seeing the guest retreat, a faint trace of displeasure crossed his face.

Only then did Xie Jianxun notice a mechanical arm fixed to the wall, with a striped display screen. The voice had come from its speaker.

“Mr. Idis, I thought you’d at least pour some water for our esteemed little guest.”

The mechanical arm slithered out from the wall like a snake, supple and agile with countless joints that allowed it to do anything—like bowing properly to Xie Jianxun before picking up the teapot.

The sound of tea brewing rose from the coffee table, accompanied by a gentle female voice. “No matter what, he’s a guest you invited home. You can’t treat him as roughly as those failing students’ papers.”

“I’m the one hosting right now, Yiwen. Your turn to speak comes after mine.”

Idis’s voice was extremely low, like a hissing whisper when he meant to threaten.

“Sir, your emotions seem quite unstable right now… Alright, calm down. How about acting like a mature gentleman?”

The mechanical female voice continued, “Drinking water helps ease the pace of the visit. Please, please.”

Idis: “Where did you get that from?”

Mechanical female voice: “It’s all over Star Net.”

The mechanic spun his wheelchair, and the mechanical arm, as if anticipating it, nimbly scurried back toward the wall. “You can’t—”

But it couldn’t escape the advanced mechanic who knew its programming inside out. He grabbed it like its vital point, yanking it toward him.

The mechanic sat steadily in his wheelchair, his forearm muscles taut. No matter how the arm struggled, it didn’t shake him in the slightest.

“I should have removed your networking module ages ago instead of letting you nag me all day.”

The mechanical female voice began to whimper. “Sir, you can’t threaten a weak, helpless mechanical arm. That violates the ‘Human-Mechanical Life Convention.'”

“Go ask the Main Brain right now if a mechanical arm even qualifies as mechanical life.”

The mechanical female voice went silent.

Idis took a deep breath. The top mechanic realized his emotions were boiling over, making his behavior somewhat unbecoming.

He let go, and the mechanical arm dropped to the floor, wriggling away in arches.

Xie Jianxun sat quietly on the small sofa, feeling like he was the truly weak, pitiful, and helpless one.

He tried to smooth things over for the arguing pair (or rather, one man and one mechanical arm). “This… mechanical arm is?”

Idis: “Yiwen. A practice project from a few years ago.”

A second mechanical arm whooshed out from under the sofa, saying timidly, “Sir, you’ve changed… You once said Yiwen was your greatest creation.”

It appeared out of nowhere, startling Xie Jianxun so much that he instinctively lifted his feet onto the sofa.

“You…”

Yiwen seemed to realize something. It twisted its head like a snake, its electronic eye flashing red faintly. The mechanical female voice was gentle and lively. “Ah, we finally meet, Xunxun. See? I really don’t look like a seafood supplier, do I?”

Her tone was playful and adept, like a naive, lively girl who loved pranks. Xie Jianxun instantly recalled the source of the familiarity.

He said in surprise, “You’re the one who…”

Mechanical female voice: “Mm-hmm.”

Xie Jianxun blurted out, “The one pretending to be Mr. Idis messaging me!”

Xie Jianxun: “…”

Mechanical female voice: “…………”

Idis said softly, “Yiwen.”

The mechanical female voice shrieked, “Idis! Hear me out!”

Xie Jianxun quickly witnessed that a top mechanic wasn’t as calm as he appeared. He was filled with cold… well, explosive force. With his bare hands, he tore apart every mechanical arm in the room, finally prying the integrated module from the chip embedder.

Xie Jianxun guessed that was the networking module, because the scattered arms on the floor lay motionless, while the voice from the speaker wailed like she’d lost her father.

Yiwen: “Wahhh, Daddy, you can’t do this to me…”

Idis said coldly, “Of course I can.”

“I’m heading upstairs. Carry on, everyone.”

He glanced at Xie Jianxun, slightly raised his right hand, and the Mechanical Puppet on the floor—along with all the dust on Xie Jianxun—vanished entirely, transferred into his Space Optical Brain.

The wheelchair carried him automatically into the stairwell, where the sound of an elevator hummed.

Only then did the shredded mechanical arms on the floor slowly stir, section by section reconnecting until they reformed in seconds.

It was an operation no ordinary person could dream up. Xie Jianxun stared as it reassembled, like watching an interstellar drama.

Yiwen glided smoothly across the floor, then extended countless tiny branches to anchor herself, climbing onto the door panel with two tsks. Somehow, the door lock clicked twice, as if unlocking.

Then she slid toward Xie Jianxun, muttering, “Your mental state isn’t great today. You need to adjust properly.”

It seemed safe now. Xie Jianxun relaxed a lot and sincerely praised, “You’re an amazing mechanical arm.”

Yiwen raised her head proudly and nodded. “Thank you. It’s Idis who’s amazing.”

Xie Jianxun asked curiously, “Does Mr. Idis usually work here?”

Yiwen: “No, he just holes up in that dark little room upstairs, all alone and lonely, hoping someone will come warm his heart—while stubbornly refusing to leave the house even if nine oxen couldn’t drag him.”

Xie Jianxun: “…Whoa.” It was like glimpsing another side of the mech master.

The two huddled in the sofa corner, whispering.

Xie Jianxun: “Mr. Idis doesn’t go out usually?”

Yiwen: “Correct, without error. Yiwen once suggested he attend the local singles mixer. Mr. Idis’s exact words: ‘No point. No one can beat me with a screwdriver.'”

Xie Jianxun… Xie Jianxun was utterly shocked, both by the mixer and the screwdriver brag.

He stammered, “Well, he’s not wrong, but people aren’t there to compete with screwdrivers!”

Upstairs, the elevator sound abruptly stopped.

Idis called out without inflection, “Yiwen, where’s my screwdriver?”

Xie Jianxun: “…”

Yiwen: “…………”

Xie Jianxun hurriedly lowered his head to sip tea. Yiwen burrowed under the sofa. In times of crisis, each fled for themselves.

In the end, Mr. Idis didn’t actually hassle the pitiful mechanical arm much. He just calmly told her he’d definitely unscrew her skull next time.

Once he vanished completely in the stairwell, Yiwen emerged from under the sofa with a long sigh of relief.

Xie Jianxun finally dared to lower his feet from the sofa, pondering their dynamic.

“Yiwen seems to be deliberately provoking Mr. Idis?”

No matter the topic, it carried clever guidance.

“Ah, Xunxun caught on.”

The mechanical female voice sighed. She poked her head out from under the sofa, looking a bit worried.

“To be honest, Idis’s emotions are usually frozen solid—more robotic than Yiwen. But on certain dates, they all erupt. If he’s not careful, he’ll hurt himself.”

“Yiwen is just a mechanical arm with no other options, so she stimulates his emotions a bit, giving him some fluctuations normally so he doesn’t reach a breaking point on those days.”

Xie Jianxun thought of a fitting metaphor. “Like a volcano.”

Once suppressed to the extreme, it would erupt catastrophically.

“Gu Xuning said Mr. Idis has been in a bad mood lately. But he seems okay now?” Xie Jianxun probed.

Yiwen: “Ah, when he truly erupts, he hides in the basement and won’t see anyone. If he’s out, it means he can control himself.”

At that moment, Xie Jianxun felt his stomach growling—he realized he hadn’t eaten yet.

He hesitated, stood from the sofa, and checked the time on his Light Brain.

“It’s getting late. Since Mr. Idis agreed to the project, I’ll head back to the hotel…”

The mechanical arm suddenly leaped up excitedly from the floor, circling in front of Xie Jianxun.

“I ordered a whole table of dishes! Xunxun, you haven’t had dinner yet, right? Eat with us!”

Xie Jianxun keenly noted, “Us?”

The elevator hummed again. One man and one mechanical arm turned to look, seeing the indicator light flash as the metal doors reopened. A small figure stepped out.

“You’re back!” Yiwen said happily. “Xunxun’s eating with us!”

The figure from the elevator paused for a moment, then walked straight to Xie Jianxun and looked up at him.

Xie Jianxun wasn’t surprised to see him here. He crouched down with a smile in his eyes.

Yiwen slid halfway around, introducing happily, “You two haven’t met before, right? He’s…”

Xie Jianxun grinned. “I know. He’s the little kid from the Idis family, right?”

The mechanical arm on the floor froze, bending her body into a question mark.

No response came. Xie Jianxun looked down in surprise. “Not?”

Yiwen: “No!!! He’s…”

“What she means is, I’m not a little kid.”

The little one looked up at him. His eyes were round and big, cute like a soft cotton candy—but his voice was that of a grown man, low and slightly hoarse, creating a stark contrast.

At the very least, Xie Jianxun was stunned into silence.

He introduced himself: “I’m Idis’s assistant, Ela. Idis doesn’t often leave his upstairs workshop, so I handle a lot of things for him.”

Yiwen: “Ah, right, right, right… Ah?”

The mechanical arm slowly straightened up, puzzledly tying itself into a knot.

Xie Jianxun didn’t understand either. He looked at the little one’s small stature and cute little face, feeling like the world had turned a bit fantastical.

He cautiously said, “Could it be that you’re… a dwarf?”

Ela said, “It’s just how I was born. No need to worry.”

With that, he took the initiative to grab Xie Jianxun’s hand and turned back to say, “Yiwen, isn’t it time for dinner?”

Yiwen thought to herself, You’re clearly possessed by a ghost.

Her electronic eye swiveled slightly, glancing toward the upstairs, and she let out a tsking electronic sound.

She figured it out now. A certain gentleman didn’t want the young guest to see his inconvenient legs, so he sent out his usual stand-in to divert Xie Jianxun’s attention.

Not to mention, this bionic person’s body was small and adorable, nimble and quick in movement. It could even rely on its appearance to hold hands or ask for hugs without it seeming out of place.

Just like now.

Ela tugged at Xie Jianxun’s finger, signaling him to lower his head and look at him.

Xie Jianxun looked down accordingly, puzzled.

Ela then prompted, “We hugged when we met before.” It was as if he was taking advantage of his current childlike appearance, eagerly and expectantly seeking some closeness.

Hearing this, Yiwen fell into a profound silence.

Xie Jianxun didn’t think too much of it. He squatted down, about to scoop the little one into his arms and give him a good rub, just like before.

But just as he was about to do so, he paused and hesitated. “Sorry. I always thought you were still little, so I didn’t hold back much… I need to apologize for my previous rude behavior.”

He had thought the guy was a kid, but it turned out he just looked young—he was actually an adult!

Ela paused, his fingers tightening slightly.

“It’s just a hug,” he whispered. “No need to overthink it.”

Yiwen: “Don’t— he’s actually…”

After learning that Ela was actually an adult and not the young kid he’d imagined, Xie Jianxun held back a bit. It became more of a courteous hug, not as casual as before.

The embrace wasn’t warm or enthusiastic enough, and Ela was visibly disappointed.

He turned his face to Yiwen and said, “But what?”

“…But he’s Mr. Idis’s most capable assistant, the renowned Mr. Ela.”

Yiwen said in a sarcastic tone, “He can even take on work for Mr. Idis and receive guests. How impressive.”

…

Ela neither confirmed nor denied it. He pulled Xie Jianxun to sit at the dining table.

After a short wait, mechanical arms extended from the kitchen one by one, placing the pre-prepared dinner on the table and thoughtfully providing a napkin for Xie Jianxun.

Xie Jianxun had only eaten some cake with chocolate beads that evening and was already very hungry.

The dinner passed without incident.

After the meal, Xie Jianxun opened his light brain and asked Ela for the address of the building. He needed to take a car back to his hotel to sleep.

Ela gave him the address, and Xie Jianxun inputted it into his light brain. He discovered that a ride back to the hotel would take over an hour one way.

This was an air sedan! It traveled via aerial routes—there shouldn’t be traffic!

Xie Jianxun: “…” He suddenly felt a headache coming on.

At that moment, Ela made a timely and reasonable suggestion: “You have a lot of work ahead, and you might need to come to the workshop here at any time. An hour-plus commute is too long. Why not consider finding a hotel nearby to stay?”

It was exactly what Xie Jianxun had been thinking.

Repairing the mechanical puppet was a massive project, with details needing his confirmation and adjustments at any moment.

His original hotel was too far away. Round trips nearing three hours would waste so much time.

It didn’t matter where he stayed anyway—changing hotels was fine.

Xie Jianxun nodded, deciding to find a hotel nearby and then go back to his current one to pack.

Hmm, I wonder where Xun Jia and the others will go after everything’s done.

As his thoughts wandered, he clicked to book a ride.

Just as he was aimlessly searching for hotels, he heard the mechanical female voice call out again: “Hey, Xunxun, no need to look for a hotel!”

Xie Jianxun looked down in surprise and saw the mechanical arm standing straight up, comfortably coiled around his arm like a newly hatched little snake.

It even flicked up its electronic screen, displaying a curved line smiley face.

“We have empty bedrooms at home,”

the mechanical female voice said thoughtfully. “Bedding and pillows are all provided—perfect for Xunxun to stay in.”