Awesome!
No more on that—Xie Jianxun quickly changed the subject. “I checked. This town isn’t far from Central City. Take the tram and you’re there quick.”
Xun Jia nodded. “Alright, let’s take the high-speed maglev tram.”
At the high-speed maglev station, not only pedestrians came and went, but also quite tall, imposing Intelligent Mecha providing security and other services for the station’s operations.
Intelligent Mecha were a specialty of the Silver Watchtower, divided into fully automatic and semi-automatic.
Fully automatic ones were straightforward—they were robots executing programs from their systems, rigidly and without compromise.
Semi-automatic ones required manual control for some functions, providing extra assistance to their owners.
The ones at the station were without exception fully automatic, monitored remotely from the control room.
“I’ve heard there are tons of Bionic Persons at Silver Watchtower.”
Xun Jia sidled up sneakily to Xie Jianxun, his mouth running nonstop. “Their high-end integrated chip industry is super advanced too. There’s even a huge biomech industrial park to the east…”
A large shadow blocked their path.
Xun Jia looked up instinctively and saw a two-meter-tall Intelligent Mecha in front of them, its screen displaying a smile.
Xun Jia: “Fuck, is it gonna grab us? Looks like our two hands together couldn’t match one of its fingers!”
Xie Jianxun politely asked, “We want to go to Central City. How do we do that?”
The Intelligent Mecha replied courteously, “Hello. To go to Central City, purchase an electronic ticket from the automated machine or your Light Brain… Also, I don’t have fingers.”
Xun Jia: “…”
The country boy wore an incredulous what the hell are you talking about expression.
Xie Jianxun smiled. “Thanks. How much?”
Intelligent Mecha: “15 yuan per ticket. You’re welcome.”
The high-speed maglev tram arrived, carrying the sparse passengers off into the distance.
Inside the car, Xun Jia grabbed Xie Jianxun and said dazedly, “That was awkward… I thought they’d just repeat lines. Didn’t expect such high intelligence!”
Xie Jianxun patted his shoulder. “This is one of the birthplaces of Bionic Persons. How could they still use those old repeating dialogue relics?”
Xun Jia grumbled, “Should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
The tram rumbled into a tunnel, emerging into sunlight ten seconds later.
Daylight flooded the car. Xie Jianxun, unaccustomed, blinked and felt exhaustion and drowsiness crash over him.
He thought, Once in the city, first thing: find a hotel. Second: sleep like the dead.
Jumping from the Siphon Whale at 3 a.m., swimming through icy seawater by 3:30, hasty breakfast at 7, boarding the Secondary Ship half an hour later for the jump migration, crashing into the night-shrouded Mechanical Capital.
A day’s time felt like an endless loop—day to night, and now…
He checked the time: 7 a.m.
Xie Jianxun: “…”
Damn it.
Shuttling between planets was a pain like this—not even the same time zone. He felt toyed with by time itself.
He shut off his Light Brain and sighed deeply, so sleepy he was like a cat that couldn’t lift its eyelids.
Xun Jia got tired of craning his neck and simply knelt on the seat, peering out the window.
After leaving the tunnel, the whole tram felt like it was flying through the sky. He stuck his head out and looked down—abyssal heights below, and the tram sped wildly, as if derailment was impossible.
Xun Jia pulled his head back and sat properly.
Xie Jianxun had already dozed off against the side, woken by the movement. He mumbled groggily, “…What?”
“Nothing, sleep,” Xun Jia said calmly. “I just discovered I’m not afraid of heights.”
He thought sadly that perhaps he should do like Xie Jianxun and take a nap—once he fell asleep, his legs wouldn’t feel so weak anymore.
Forty-five minutes later, the tram arrived at Central City Station.
Xun Jia shook Xie Jianxun awake, and the two of them followed the crowd off the train. When they reached the station entrance, a bustling modern city sprawled before them.
The streets teemed with traffic and thronged with people. Every now and then, a few air sedans zipped overhead (though the locals called them “angry airplane cars” because they roared loudly when you floored the accelerator), accompanied by startled exclamations from below.
Having successfully reached their destination, Xun Jia visibly relaxed.
Though the journey had its ups and downs, at least—at least there was no real damage… He comforted himself like this, though it was a shame about that expensive reconnaissance secondary ship.
“Though I’m really reluctant, we have to part ways now.”
He turned back to Xie Jianxun and said, “I’m going to find my fiancé. Let’s exchange contact codes. Maybe we’ll meet again someday?”
Xie Jianxun nodded and approved the temporary companion’s friend request. “Maybe we’ll meet again someday.”
He watched as Xun Jia glanced at his light brain and headed off in a certain direction, eventually merging into the crowd and disappearing from sight.
Xie Jianxun stopped at the station entrance, standing motionless as he thought for a long time. Finally, realization dawned on him, and he quickly opened his light brain.
A flurry of taps later, he directly booked a luxury suite on Star Net. The hotel dispatched a butler to pick him up at the station.
After much deep contemplation, the young master realized why he was overthinking this. After such an adventure, why not reward himself properly—
This was the Western Border, after all. No one here could control him, and he had plenty of money!
Was he supposed to save it for his next life?
At worst, he was a bit far from the Eastern Border Embassy, but Central City was so huge—the odds of running into someone who recognized him were probably one in ten thousand.
Soon, the hotel car pulled up to the station entrance and whisked Xie Jianxun away.
The luxury suite was enormous, with massive floor-to-ceiling windows, a giant TV screen, and an equally gigantic bed.
The room carried a faint incense scent, and the decor was retro and elegant. Plush, spotless carpets covered the floor, so guests could walk barefoot without feeling cold.
After the butler finished explaining everything, he asked if Xie Jianxun wanted to order room service for dinner, but Xie Jianxun declined.
The butler regretfully informed him that guests could take the elevator to the second-floor restaurant after six p.m. for the buffet dinner.
Xie Jianxun sent him off and eagerly tumbled into the soft, massive bed.
He slept like the dead.
He had checked in just before eight-thirty a.m., and when he woke, it was already six p.m.—right on time for dinner.
He slipped on his shoes, tidied himself up, and lazily took the elevator down. After swiping his room card at the restaurant entrance, he stepped inside.
The restaurant wasn’t crowded. The vast space felt almost serene, with diners scattered about.
Most of the guests sat at tables, chatting softly, while a few others stood by the buffet stations, selecting their food.
It was a high-end hotel—the prices reflected that, and so did the quality of the cuisine.
Buffet trays overflowed with delicacies from every territory. Even if he only took one bite from each, Xie Jianxun could eat until the wee hours.
He grabbed a plate at the entrance and focused intently on picking out his dinner.
“…Hey, Seles, check that guy out,”
His friend nudged his waist with an elbow, winking and gesturing for him to look the other way.
“You think that’s natural?”
Seles was concentrating on selecting noodle mains for his plate. He needed to twirl the long strands onto his fork, rolling them neatly one by one—proper etiquette for his class that his butler had drilled into him for ages, though he still wasn’t great at it. The noodles always unraveled, leaving him sweating bullets.
The nudge made the noodles scatter again.
He froze for a moment, then whipped his head around, ready to snap, “I’ll show you—”
But before the actual curse could escape, his friend whispered in admiration, “Is he here alone? I think I need to seize the opportunity… Tsk, such a pretty boy…”
Seles irritably looked up, his gaze cutting through the crowd to lock precisely onto a head of ashen hair.
From the back, it was a slender young man with shoulder-length ashen hair tied into a neat little ponytail, a few stray strands curling out by his temples.
When the man turned his head, revealing eyes like molten gold or honey, Seles was utterly dumbfounded.
His friend kept marveling, “What a face—and those eyes! Never seen that color before. Rare ethnicity or a mutation…? Whatever, Seles, I know this isn’t your type. I’ll take a shot then. I’d love to get his contact info…”
But Seles was already striding forward, plate of scattered noodles in hand, ignoring all decorum, sweat still beading on his forehead.
His friend gaped. “Seles!”
Seles rushed up to Xie Jianxun, still slightly out of breath. “You… hello.”
Xie Jianxun set down the serving tongs, puzzled. “Hello?”
The upright-featured, handsome young man in front of him said foolishly, “I’m Seles, guest in room six-oh-six, second son of Surging Group’s top director, height one-eighty-five… Can I eat dinner with you?”
