The Whole Family Are Villains, I’m the Group Pet 200

Chapter 200

In this city, Xing Nuo found a small, dimly lit tavern.

Colorful neon signs adorned the entrance, and inside, the space was larger than it appeared from the outside, thanks to some kind of spatial expansion technology. The servers had mechanical arms, one of them with half a metal head.

Xing Nuo sat down at a table in the corner, ordered the cheapest cocktail, and discreetly observed the protagonist of this world:

a man with half a metal body.

He looked strange but powerful, and Xing Nuo couldn’t help but stare.

“067, the humans in this world are weird.”

067, however, was fascinated. He liked the metal bodies, their strength and power, their easy repair and upgrade.

“You don’t understand. This world is more advanced. Metal bodies are the next stage of evolution. Humans are too fragile. They die too easily.”

Xing Nuo hummed, took a sip of his drink, and asked:

“Is that the kind of body you want?”

067’s cold, mechanical voice was tinged with a rare note of pride.

“Yes. Enough energy…I can create the perfect mechanical body.”

Xing Nuo, his chin resting on his hand, his fair face delicate and pretty, his eyes sparkling, asked curiously:

“What if…not enough energy?”

067’s voice was laced with disdain. “Then a weak body. Weaker than a human child.”

Xing Nuo imagined 067 as a small child, his face stiff and expressionless, his movements robotic, and giggled.

“Then you can’t even walk! And other children will laugh at you!”

067, seemingly unfazed, seeing the protagonist stand up to leave, said urgently:

“He’s leaving! Go talk to him!”

Xing Nuo, slowly sipping his cocktail, watching the light play on the surface of the liquid, said calmly:

“Relax. I’ll finish my drink…then pretend to be drunk…approach him.”

067 was indeed anxious, but he could only wait.

But before Xing Nuo could even finish his drink, something unexpected happened.

Another system and its host approached the protagonist, trying to steal his energy through physical contact.

067’s voice was filled with frustration. “Too late! Someone beat you to it!”

Xing Nuo watched silently as the host touched the protagonist’s arm, then looked up and saw the protagonist’s knowing smile.

His eyes widened, his senses screaming danger.

“We have to go! Now!”

067, not sensing any threat, watched as Xing Nuo, quick as a rabbit, darted towards the exit.

The next moment, a loud explosion rocked the tavern.

Xing Nuo, although far away, was still thrown back by the blast, hitting the wall and collapsing onto the ground.

A gaping hole now replaced the tavern’s door.

The acrid smoke slowly dissipated, revealing the scene inside.

Xing Nuo’s eyes narrowed.

The protagonist, his half-metal body gleaming in the dim light, held the host in one hand, a small, glowing orb of energy in the other.

A system!

067, stunned, his circuits buzzing, stammered:

“How…how is this possible? He knows about systems!”

Xing Nuo, looking at the futuristic city, suddenly understood.

“This world is more advanced, 067. Systems like you…just advanced tech to them.”

And 067, a low-level branch system, barely able to function, was nothing special.

067, looking at the captured system, speechless, could only say:

“We have to run!”

Xing Nuo, sensing that the protagonist must have some kind of detection device, able to identify outsiders,

before he could react, scrambled to his feet and limped away.

He and 067 hid among the city’s scavengers, their clothes and faces covered in dirt and grime, afraid of being found.

On every street corner, transparent screens displayed news and information. Xing Nuo, hiding in an alley, watched a news report:

“Recently, Captain of Inspection Unit Nine apprehended another outsider. Citizens, be wary of suspicious individuals. They typically lack metallic features and carry advanced electronic smuggling systems. Contact us immediately if you encounter such individuals.”

Xing Nuo, his anxiety intensifying, said to 067:

“This world too dangerous. Can we leave?”

067, unusually quiet since the incident at the tavern, as if still processing the shock, replied:

“No. Not enough energy. We barely made it here…by stealing from the main system.”

Xing Nuo, sensing something was wrong, asked:

“Did the main system send you here?”

067: “Yes. This world has the most energy.”

Xing Nuo’s face turned grim.

“You were tricked. Two hosts captured already. This is a dangerous world. The main system doesn’t want you to return.”

067, programmed to obey the main system, protested:

“No. It needs us to collect energy. Why send us to a dangerous place?”

Xing Nuo chuckled, amused by his naiveté.

“Why not? You disobeyed it, stealing its energy. It’s probably malfunctioning, its control weakening. It’s afraid of you rebelling, so it’s trying to eliminate you. This world is the perfect trap.”

“Two systems already dead in five days.”

Xing Nuo’s face was cold, his eyes narrowed, a stark contrast to his usual cheerful demeanor.

“I bet within two days, another system and host will be caught. What do you think will happen to them?”

067 didn’t answer. He tried to contact the main system,

but there was no response.

He had to admit, Xing Nuo was right.

They had been abandoned.

067 was a low-ranking system. 001 had been active for years, while he, a newbie, even if he had been tricked, didn’t have the power to resist.

He was probably going to die in this world.

He and Xing Nuo continued to hide, blending in with the city’s scavengers.

Within half a month, five more systems were captured.

Xing Nuo, picking up a discarded newspaper, its headlines scrolling across a small, embedded screen, read:

“Beware of outsiders! They carry energy-stealing smuggling systems! Report them immediately!”

Xing Nuo sighed, looking at the newspaper, which now featured their faces, wanted criminals.

“See? I told you stealing energy was bad. We’re criminals now.”

067, his naive and indifferent personality changing after days of hiding, but still confused, asked:

“Why?”

He was starting to question his own existence. Abandoned by the main system, despised by the inhabitants of this world, as if he was a mistake from the moment he was created.

Xing Nuo sighed. “I asked around. Captured systems are deleted. Outsiders like us…sent to labor camps…for one hundred years.”

Xing Nuo’s human lifespan wasn’t as long as these mechanical beings. He would die before his sentence was over.

067, after a long silence, said:

“You can earn money in labor camp…buy mechanical body…extend your life. Xing Nuo, you still have hope.”

Xing Nuo, sensing something in his voice, before he could ask, heard him say:

“We never got along. I never helped you. Consider this…my first and last gift. Xing Nuo, let’s unbind.”

Xing Nuo’s eyes widened in surprise. His wish to be free from the system, granted so easily?

But then he smiled.

“But we met first. We have a contract. Remember?”

067 thought, The main system is gone. The contract is void.

But he saw Xing Nuo’s smiling face, his dimple showing, his eyes bright, looking at him,

and he felt a strange tremor in his circuits.

A small, but powerful, jolt.

Xing Nuo didn’t agree to the unbinding. He was spotted by a patrol unit and had to run again.

There was nowhere left to hide in the city.

He and 067 fled to the desert outside the city.

In this technologically advanced world, the outskirts were a barren wasteland, a vast expanse of sand and dust.

But it offered them a temporary respite, a chance to rest.

Xing Nuo woke up, looked at the rising sun, and said:

“Lu Qi, that’s strange. Why I call you that? Don’t you think…we shouldn’t be in desert?”

067’s processing speed had slowed down, his energy depleted, his voice sluggish.

“It is strange. But we’re hiding…from patrol units.”

Xing Nuo shook his head, the desert strangely familiar, as if he had been here before, exhausted and weary, with a system by his side.

He wasn’t sure why he felt this way, and he had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something important.

He tried to tell 067, but 067, confused, just told him not to overthink it.

Xing Nuo frowned, then asked:

“System 067, where do we go now?”