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Join the Server“Xiluo’er, who is this?” Eve gestured subtly towards Turing.
“This is…” Xiluo’er opened her mouth, yet found herself at a loss for how to explain to Eve.
Turing’s true identity was certainly not something she could reveal to Eve. Given the circumstances, she had no choice but to concoct a plausible identity for Turing to get by.
“Uh, this is my… friend?” Xiluo’er’s hesitant reply caused Eve’s brows to furrow.
“We just arrived in Lund City, didn’t we, Xiluo’er? And you’ve already made a friend here?”
The word “friend” now carried a certain weight for Eve.
Back in Karna City, she had indeed been quite busy. Xiluo’er going out alone every day and making friends had seemed perfectly normal, and Eve had accepted it.
After all, they had left Karna City. Eve had even thought she could relax her guard for a while.
But they had been in Lund City for less than three days, had they not? And Xiluo’er had already made another friend?
‘Your ability to make friends is quite impressive, I must say.’
“Well, this is… a friend I just met today. I met them when I saw Albertson today…”
As Xiluo’er spoke, she noticed Eve’s intense gaze fixed upon her. Feeling a pang of guilt, she shifted her eyes away.
In Xiluo’er’s memory, this wasn’t the first time such a situation had arisen. A similar scene had unfolded when she met Irene in Karna City.
Back then, she had spent a great deal of effort to deflect Eve’s questions, but today, it seemed she would have to go through it all again.
Even though Eve didn’t know this little loli was Turing, it was still best for these two, who had no deep connection at this stage of the plot, to interact as little as possible.
This was to avoid any undesirable butterfly effects.
Eve had yet to speak, but Xiluo’er was already formulating a myriad of excuses in her mind.
A moment later, Eve finally spoke, and Xiluo’er’s heart tightened instantly.
“Sigh…”
To Xiluo’er’s surprise, Eve did not immediately barrage her with questions. Instead, she took two steps forward and gently stroked Xiluo’er’s head.
“Xiluo’er, I’m not against you making friends.”
In truth, Eve could understand Xiluo’er’s desire to make friends. After all, the child had probably never had the chance to socialize with peers before.
No matter how strong Eve’s possessiveness—*cough, cough*—protective instincts were, she knew she couldn’t monitor Xiluo’er’s every move at all times.
The main thing was that the little loli over there seemed even smaller than Xiluo’er. Eve didn’t believe such a small child could pose a threat to her.
Moreover, Eve had already ‘ascended.’ How could anyone compare to her? This was the composure of the rightful main wife!
“However…”
Eve’s gaze swept past Xiluo’er, settling on Turing, who remained seated and unresponsive.
“Xiluo’er, you might still be young, and some things you don’t yet understand.” Eve lowered her voice.
“You must be discerning when choosing friends. You just met this new friend today, and the two of you ended up in a place like this together.”
“Big Sister is just worried about you, understand?”
Eve’s words stunned Xiluo’er. She hadn’t expected Eve to say something like that, which rendered all her carefully prepared retorts useless.
However, upon reflection, it made sense. From the perspective of a normal guardian, one would naturally worry about the kind of people their child befriended.
Considering Eve had indeed ‘just met’ Turing, the two of them were then caught together by the guard patrol.
Though, whether Eve truly counted as her guardian was also debatable.
“I’m sorry, Big Sister Eve.” Realizing this, Xiluo’er lowered her head in shame.
“Today’s incident actually had another reason, truly. Please believe me, Big Sister Eve.”
Indeed, getting caught for joking with the guards was too embarrassing, no matter how she looked at it. She, Xiluo’er, was no mischievous child!
“It’s alright, Big Sister believes you.” Eve smiled gently.
“So, can Big Sister go and chat with that child? The guard said I can take both of you away directly in a bit.”
‘Ah, this…’
Eve’s request was perfectly normal, but hearing it, Xiluo’er’s body stiffened. Eve’s concern about her befriending questionable individuals was not an issue in itself.
Therefore, Eve wanting to chat with the other person to confirm things personally… *that* was an issue.
Xiluo’er suddenly remembered that Turing was currently ‘offline.’ In this state, she couldn’t hear anyone speaking.
Hadn’t the guard just mentioned that he had spoken to Turing for a long time, but Turing hadn’t responded at all?
It wouldn’t matter if an ordinary guard encountered this, but Eve was a different story. Eve was, after all, the protagonist, and Turing was an important character in this arc, with many appearances.
Xiluo’er didn’t want Eve to discover any clues because of this. One must remember that in the original plot, aside from seeing Turing’s corpse at the end, Eve had never known Turing’s true identity before!
“That… no!”
Eve was about to step towards Turing when Xiluo’er suddenly spread her arms, blocking her path.
“Um, Big Sister Eve, didn’t you say not to talk to her?”
Xiluo’er could feel that after she uttered those words, Eve’s entire demeanor shifted.
“Why, Xiluo’er?” The question was asked calmly, but Eve’s tone was distinctly different from a moment ago.
Their conversation had been normal until now, and her request was also perfectly reasonable. But now, Xiluo’er was suddenly stopping her actions.
This instantly raised Eve’s guard, which she had previously lowered. Could this kid, who looked even younger than Xiluo’er, really be problematic?
It was like a husband, harboring no suspicions, returning home and telling his wife he was going to rest in the bedroom, only for his wife to frantically stop him, saying she was cleaning the bedroom and he should rest on the sofa first.
In such a situation, even if he hadn’t suspected anything before… it would be hard not to now, wouldn’t it?
Adopting the mindset of ‘unusual occurrences signify trouble,’ Eve once again stepped forward, heading towards Turing.
“It’s fine, Xiluo’er. I’m just going to have a little chat with your friend, no need to worry.”
Come to think of it, she had noticed earlier that she and Xiluo’er had been talking for a while, but this new friend remained motionless, as if she hadn’t heard anything.
Eve was eager to meet Xiluo’er’s new friend and see what secrets she was hiding.
Seeing that Eve intended to force her way without another word, Xiluo’er grew desperate. She quickly hugged Eve’s waist, preventing her from walking further towards Turing.
“No, truly, Big Sister Eve, you can’t.”
Eve stopped, merely asking Xiluo’er ‘Hmm?’ with her eyes.
Xiluo’er instantly grew nervous. She had a premonition that if she answered now, she might be in trouble tonight. Perhaps she’d be in trouble in her own room, or perhaps in Eve’s room… who knew, hahaha…
“Um, this, that…”
Xiluo’er looked at Eve, then back at Turing, who remained motionless in her seat.
“It’s… like this. My friend, well, she has a bit of social anxiety.”
Xiluo’er bit the bullet and shifted the blame to Turing; after all, Turing couldn’t hear her right now.
“Social anxiety?” Eve glanced at Turing, who sat like a doll not far away, and questioned in confusion. She had never seen someone so socially anxious they dared not move a muscle.
“Mhm, mhm, yes, social anxiety.” Xiluo’er nodded vigorously several times.
“Not only is my friend socially anxious, but she’s also timid. Earlier, when facing the soldiers, she was so scared she couldn’t say a single word.”
‘What would Turing’s reaction be if she heard Xiluo’er slandering her like this?’
“Um, how about this, Big Sister Eve?” Xiluo’er continued.
“I, I’ll go and give her a pep talk first, and then you can talk to her, okay? Otherwise, she might not dare to speak to Big Sister Eve.”
Eve stared at Xiluo’er for two or three seconds, then nodded. It didn’t matter, as long as Xiluo’er didn’t stop her from ‘chatting’ with this person.
Seeing that Eve no longer insisted, Xiluo’er breathed a sigh of relief. Her idea was simple: if Eve just went over and talked to Turing, it definitely wouldn’t work.
Forget about responding, the ‘offline’ Turing would likely give Eve no reaction beyond breathing. She just needed to get to Turing before Eve and find a way to bring her back ‘online.’
But while it sounded simple, how exactly was she going to do it? Leaning close to Turing’s ear, Xiluo’er whispered.
“Wakey-wakey, wakey-wakey! Anyone still sleeping at this hour is a lazy dog of iron!”
“Hello? Hello?”
As expected, the Turing before her showed no reaction. Eve was watching their movements from not far behind, which made things a bit difficult for Xiluo’er.
Turing sat quietly in the chair, hands neatly placed on her knees, head slightly bowed, her gaze blankly fixed forward. Looking at her like this, Turing truly resembled a puppet.
But simply observing her, Xiluo’er had no idea how to awaken Turing. She didn’t know the conditions or methods for Turing to go ‘online’ or ‘offline’!
Even though she had played the game and considered herself a pro, Xiluo’er couldn’t recall the game ever mentioning how Turing specifically controlled all those puppets throughout the city. After all, such details weren’t important in the game!
Xiluo’er stroked her chin, pondering. Although she didn’t know the normal method, when Turing ‘went online’ with another body, wouldn’t her unconscious physical body be in an unprotected state?
Given Turing’s intelligence, she would surely not allow her main body to suffer an unknown attack in an unsupervised place without any protection. She would undoubtedly set up some safeguard mechanisms so she could sense it if her main body was threatened.
With this thought, Xiluo’er sighed and reached out her hand towards Turing. There was no other way. Given the urgency of the situation, she had to resort to extraordinary measures.
****
At this very moment, in the heart of Lund City, within the tallest building, the Clock Tower.
Turing, with her wavy golden hair, sat at the head of a long table. Wearing a gold-rimmed monocle, she listened as the man standing at the other end of the table passionately recounted his research findings.
This was a regular meeting of The Erudite Club. Although Turing was a hands-off leader who rarely participated in the club’s specific management affairs, she always attended meetings discussing research results.
Originally, Turing was very engaged in the meeting. She listened to the man’s speech, nodding occasionally. This gave the verbose man a sense of affirmation, making him speak with even greater enthusiasm.
Everyone in the conference room was attentive, listening to the man’s speech while privately discussing a point or two or jotting notes in their notebooks.
But suddenly, as if sensing something, Turing, seated at the head of the table, showed a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
With a ‘bang,’ and without any warning, Turing suddenly slammed her fist onto the table. An expression of anger also appeared on her face.
The man, who had been speaking so fluently, instantly fell silent, looking nervously at Turing.
‘Oh no, there shouldn’t have been any issues with what he just said, right? He had repeatedly verified these experimental results for a long time before presenting them at the regular meeting…’
The entire conference room fell silent, everyone looking at Turing, who sat at the head of the table, yet no one dared to speak.
“Um… Ms. Turing?” Finally, Albertson, seated on the other side, tentatively spoke.
“My apologies, I lost my composure. It’s nothing. Please continue your presentation, and Albertson, make sure to take good notes on the contents of this meeting.”
Turing’s tone was flat, sounding no different from usual. Albertson pushed up his glasses and spoke calmly.
“Understood, Ms. Turing.”
Having served as Turing’s assistant for so long, Albertson naturally understood that Turing’s implication was that she intended to leave and wanted him to record the key points of the meeting.
But why would Ms. Turing suddenly leave the meeting midway, especially when everything was going smoothly? And Ms. Turing had seemed quite upset just now…
Albertson didn’t know what had happened. He only knew that ever since meeting that child named Xiluo’er today, Ms. Turing had seemed rather strange.
The meeting continued, but Turing, though appearing no different as she sat motionless, listening to the regular meeting, her eyes had lost their focus.
****
Lund City Guard Patrol, interrogation room.
“Xiluo’er! Where were you touching just now! Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me!”
“Wuwuwu…”
Turing, who had been motionless moments before, suddenly ‘came alive.’ The sudden voice startled Xiluo’er, and she quickly reached out to cover Turing’s mouth, preventing her from speaking further.
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