Chapter 72: You Deserve the Best

Taking his briefcase from Sister Liu, Mu An couldn’t help musing that more people in the household really ought to have a driver’s license.

Once he realized he’d forgotten his bag, he didn’t even need to turn back; he merely had Sister Liu take the bag and drive out after him, costing him hardly any time at all.

The moment he returned to the laboratory, the girl who had given him chocolate yesterday waved and smiled at him, “Professor Mu, you’re here.”

“Mm.”

Mu An smoothed out his lab coat and walked forward.

“Professor Mu, Director Chen came looking for you just now, saying you should go see him whenever you’re free,” Shen Xiu reported to Mu An while completing her pre-work preparations.

“Alright, I’ll head over in a bit.”

Having already put on his lab coat, Mu An decided to finish yesterday’s remaining tasks first; after all, if it were something urgent, Director Chen would have called him eight hundred times by now.

***

Twilight gradually deepened, the horizon painted half in deep indigo and half in warm orange.

The moment Mu An’s car pulled into the courtyard, he saw a straight, upright figure draped in the warm twilight standing at the entrance, the evening breeze lightly stirring the stray hairs on his forehead as shimmering light glided across his pupils like gleaming gold.

Mu An dazed for a brief moment, only snapping back to reality when the car entered the garage and the carport blocked out the warm glow of the setting sun.

Yet in his mind, he was still turning over the words Director Chen had spoken to him.

“Mu An, do you think it’s possible for bionic androids to truly possess human emotions?”

“Would you be interested in joining our project? If androids can genuinely possess emotions, the revolution we bring to the entire world will be subversive.”

Mu An closed his eyes, and by the time he opened them again, 001 had already arrived before his car door.

“Master, welcome home.”

The submissive android opened the car door for him, his eyes flickering with the programmed emotional state representing warmth.

‘Androids cannot possibly possess human emotions.’

That had been Mu An’s answer at the time.

The instant he stepped out of the vehicle, a hand was swiftly placed over the top of the doorframe, protecting the crown of his head.

Mu An froze for a second and looked up at 001, whose eyelashes fluttered slightly, faint light rippling in his deep black eyes without any change in expression.

Resuming his movement, Mu An stood up and stepped out of the car.

“Master, dinner has been prepared for you. You may bathe after you finish eating.”

“Alright.”

Mu An casually pushed the briefcase into his hands.

“Find a place to put this, and remember to remind me to take it tomorrow.”

001 lowered his eyes to look at the briefcase in his hands, his movements pausing slightly.

“Understood, Master.”

A wisp of faint blue light flickered in the android’s pupils, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

After finishing dinner, Mu An went to the guest room to take a bath as usual.

Mu An looked at the bathtub brimming with cyan-tinted bubbles and the neatly arranged pajamas in the cubicle.

He knew that because he had once ordered no one to enter his bedroom, 001 used the second-floor guest room as Mu An’s bathroom, always preparing bath amenities for him there.

[Actually, wouldn’t it be fine even if 001 went into your room? Even if a robot saw the setup of his master’s bedroom, he wouldn’t develop any emotional reactions,] the system asked curiously, looking at the fully prepared toiletries.

“Better not.”

Mu An tested the water temperature and found it just right.

“Although 001 is an android modeled after Lin Yan, in the original host’s heart, he and Lin Yan can never be equal.”

“When a fake appears in front of the genuine article, it always makes one uncomfortable. Even just standing before Lin Yan’s photographs, the original host would feel ashamed, believing he had wronged Lin Yan.”

Mu An was determined to achieve a perfect score for his character persona this time, so he had specially researched the plot outline and the original host’s memories of Lin Yan, deducing the core nature of his persona.

He both wished for 001 to replace Lin Yan, while simultaneously feeling 001 was unworthy of replacing Lin Yan.

[As expected of Host! Focusing on the details truly brings out the character’s core; with you around, I can rest easy!]

Desperate to upgrade, the system promptly raised both hands in support of all the host’s efforts, championing positive reinforcement all the way!

As Mu An prepared to bathe, the system conscientiously retreated into the black room.

When his body was enveloped in the warm water, Mu An couldn’t help recalling Director Chen’s words once more.

He exhaled a heavy breath.

In the plot outline, 001 was merely canon fodder from beginning to end; right up until the original host left for distant lands, he never displayed a single trace of human emotional fluctuation.

Furthermore, no robot with human consciousness ever appeared in the main storyline, which proved that Director Chen’s concept was destined to remain purely in the realm of imagination.

Unless Director Chen was the male lead of this world.

Thinking of the balding spot on Director Chen’s head, Mu An laughed unethically, only to quickly press his hands together afterward, counting it as striking a wooden fish to accumulate good karma.

After finishing his bath, Mu An remembered that he still had one final task to do, so he retrieved a box of batteries from the laboratory and knocked on 001’s door.

Knock, knock, knock—

In the quiet corridor, only the sound of knocking echoed as light fell from the side, stretching Mu An’s shadow out along the wall.

Mu An waited at the door for a moment, but seeing no one come to open it, he couldn’t help shifting his gaze to the side, only to find a dark silhouette clinging to his own shadow.

“Master.”

A sudden voice spoke from behind, giving Mu An quite a start.

Turning around, he saw that 001 had arrived behind him at some point, his eyes slightly downcast with a dark glint.

Mu An breathed a sigh of relief.

“In the middle of the night, where did you go?”

“Cleaning the bathroom and garments Master used,” 001 answered honestly.

His gaze settled on the box in Mu An’s hands.

“What orders does Master have for me?”

“Inside first.”

Mu An opened the door himself and walked into 001’s room.

He was immediately engulfed by an ocean of cyan, freezing for an instant; though he knew what the furniture looked like, seeing it all put together was still undeniably striking.

“Master?”

Mu An collected himself.

“Lie down on the bed.”

001 paused, a glimmer of blue light flashing in his eyes.

“Master, do I need to remove my clothes?”

“Uh…”

Although Mu An knew 001 didn’t mean anything else by it and likely thought he wanted to inspect his skin condition, Mu An couldn’t help feeling guilty like a thief.

Without waiting for Mu An’s answer, 001 had already begun deftly unbuttoning his shirt.

Mu An started to reach out a hand to stop him, but pulled back, “No need, just lie down.”

“I’m replacing your battery,” he said, patting the box of batteries in his hand.

001 fell silent for a moment.

“Master, this room is equipped with charging equipment, and I charge on schedule. My power level is still at 80%.”

Mu An’s eyes darkened, his tone dipping lower, “Who gave you permission to consume such cheap electricity?”

001 froze blankly.

“You deserve the absolute best by nature, understand?”

Mu An seemed to be speaking to the real Lin Yan through him, his eyes filled with complex emotions that 001 could not decipher.

“Master, the power distributed through the national grid is all high-quality electricity and will not damage my internal components.”

Being contradicted, Mu An’s gaze turned abruptly cold.

In an instant, 001 lay down flat on the bed with his back to Mu An, revealing the charging port at the nape of his neck.

“Thank you, Master, for taking the trouble to care for me.”

Mu An hadn’t expected him to switch gears so quickly, leaving his own expression momentarily frozen; clearing his throat twice, he caressed the back of 001’s neck, “I only like obedient ones. Don’t make me angry again next time.”

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