Chapter 142: The Day the Code Fell in Love (12)

Shi Jiu finally sealed the glass jar and tucked it into his backpack.

Bai Yao glanced at the darkening sky; rain was likely on the way. "We should head back quickly," she said.

Shi Jiu nodded.

The moment they stood up and turned to leave, before Bai Yao could react, Shi Jiu suddenly tackled her to the ground, shielding her head with his arm, taking great care not to hurt her.

A second later, a black creature dropped from the trees and landed.

It was massive, its head indistinct, with several thin, long legs. It resembled a scorpion or some other reptilian creature from Earth, yet its tail was exceptionally long, the joints looking powerful, its entire body coated in a layer of disgusting slime.

Had it not been for Shi Jiu, the grotesque creature would have landed directly on Bai Yao.

Rustling sounds emerged from the surrounding trees; many dangerous gazes were hidden in the shadows.

The place was crawling with insects!

Bai Yao was pulled to her feet by Shi Jiu. With no time to think, they ran back along the path they had come.

These nameless creatures were incredibly swift, dropping from the trees one after another in a dense swarm. Bai Yao’s stun gun had little effect on them. They seemed interested only in living organisms, so their target remained focused on Bai Yao.

During their flight, Shi Jiu raised his arm to block a black creature lunging at Bai Yao’s head. Its legs and tail wrapped tightly around his arm, and as it opened its mouth to emit a piercing sound, sparks flew from the circuitry as Shi Jiu’s arm was ripped clean off.

It all happened in an instant.

Warnings flashed incessantly before Shi Jiu’s eyes.

[Warning, warning: severe chassis damage. Warning, warning...]

Bai Yao cried out, "Shi Jiu!"

He seemed to suddenly regain his autonomy from a state of distraction. Seeing Bai Yao kick away a black insect trying to approach, he ran back, grabbed her with his remaining hand, and pulled her forward.

Behind them, the alien creatures gave relentless chase. The two of them—or rather, the strength of one—felt so insignificant.

She was a smart person.

She should know that leaving him behind to block those creatures would be fine, because he was merely a machine; he could not "die." Just like when his emotion simulation function was turned off, he wouldn't feel pain even if he lost an arm.

Shi Jiu watched Bai Yao as she wove through the dark shadows of the trees. He said with a calm tone, "Miss Bai, I will block them. You go first."

Bai Yao gasped for air. "Stop talking nonsense! The spaceship is right ahead; run!"

Sharp branches scratched several bloody welts into her exposed skin, and her dress was torn in multiple places. Her ponytail, tied up earlier, had come loose from the frantic running, the ends of her hair brushing against his chest.

She was not an android; she could not replace her wounds with skin from others.

Shi Jiu looked at her quietly. In his dark eyes, a faint, murky red glow appeared once more.

The spaceship was near.

Bai Yao pulled Shi Jiu onto the boarding ramp, but before they reached the hatch, the alien creatures behind them caught up. In that instant, Bai Yao was shoved from behind. She tumbled forward, passed through the hatch, and entered the ship.

At the same time, outside, the black-haired boy blocking the path was being dragged away by two alien creatures biting into his body.

[Chassis damage has reached forty percent, fifty percent, sixty percent... System shutdown imminent. Warning, warning...]

Shi Jiu paid no mind to the text flickering before his eyes. He stared fixedly ahead, in the direction where she existed. "Miss Bai, close the hatch."

His body was being torn to shreds, yet his voice remained as calm as ever.

Bai Yao watched helplessly as he lost another leg. She didn't know what was happening to her; it was as if another shattered body appeared before her eyes.

Tears fell from her eyes involuntarily. Yet, contrary to the situation where crying might be defined as weakness, she scrambled up from the floor and grabbed the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall.

She rushed out. First, she used the extinguisher to smash the black creature biting Shi Jiu, then turned it on the other one. The moment the white, powdery substance sprayed out, it froze the creature into a block of ice.

Bai Yao kicked it to pieces, then aimed the extinguisher at another incoming black creature. The moment it solidified into ice, she smashed it with the extinguisher, filled with an inexplicable hatred.

It didn't feel like enough.

But more black creatures were rushing toward her. She threw the extinguisher at them, and while they dodged, she bent down and dragged the mutilated Shi Jiu into the hatch.

The boarding ramp retracted, the hatch sealed shut, and the danger was locked outside.

Shi Jiu lay on the floor.

He was missing an arm, a leg, half the skin on his face was shredded, and half his torso was bitten into a horrific state, with metal bones and circuits exposed to the air.

With his chassis severely damaged, he could not move.

He could only try to turn his disfigured side away. "Miss Bai, please do not look at me."

Warm liquid dripped onto his body, drop by drop. This temperature felt more alarming than any substance in his database.

But this was wrong.

When his chassis was damaged, he could no longer support the operation of various functions, and the emotion simulation function had been automatically shut down. He should not have the emotion of "alarm."

A pair of trembling hands turned his face back.

He saw Bai Yao, sobbing uncontrollably.

She was looking at him as if trapped in some kind of post-traumatic stress. Tears streamed down her eyes, her beautiful face deathly pale, adorned by tear tracks, appearing so fragile that she might shatter at any moment.

A strange light flickered in Shi Jiu’s malfunctioning eyes.

Why was she crying?

She hadn't cried when the escape pod malfunctioned, nor when they crashed onto the garbage planet, nor when they were inexplicably stranded on this desolate world.

[Analyzing the significance of this behavior...]

Shi Jiu’s database ran rapidly, peering through her micro-expressions to find the cause of her tears. But he was too severely damaged; it would take time.

Bai Yao, however, had already leaned down, pressing a warm kiss to his lips.

The invisible data jumping in Shi Jiu’s eyes froze in an instant.

After a long while, disregarding the warnings of his damaged body, he poured his remaining power into his one functional arm, raised it to press against the back of her head, and pulled her even closer to him.

The boy parted his lips slightly, his tongue darting into her mouth, intertwining with hers in a frenzy.

[Big data comparative analysis successful. The cause of this behavior—is love.]