Ch 2 – You keep laughing

This silent battle of wills ultimately ended in Kersz’s defeat. He was patient, but he couldn’t control his physical needs.

Kersz opened his eyes and looked at the man who was holding him.

The man gave him a radiant smile, and Kersz returned it shyly.

He was still analyzing the current situation. The man in front of him was clearly no ordinary human. His hair and eyes were both blue, with his hair being a deeper, almost blackish shade. His eyes, however, were incredibly bright, like a saltwater lake under the sunlight.

The mineral particles in saltwater lakes scattered the light, giving the water a beautiful cyan hue. Was there something unfathomable in the eyes of this man that made them so pure and beautiful?

The two lines on the man’s face resembled the grooves in a gun. Kersz noticed that the cyan lights fluctuated in brightness, and with the frequency of someone breathing.

Speaking of breathing, the person in front of him didn’t appear to be doing so. Kersz didn’t detect any airflow from him despite their close proximity.

Was this a human who had transformed his body into a machine, or a genuine android?

Kersz suppressed his curiosity. Unsure of the situation, he could only attempt to appear harmless and docile: “Hello, are you the one who saved me?”

Yu Xi tilted his head in confusion.

“Can you understand what I’m saying?” Kersz noticed Yu Xi’s unusual behavior.

Yu Xi tilted his head slightly again.

He was unfamiliar with the language this human spoke. It sounded like he was speaking with something stuck in his throat.

But Yu Xi knew very well that there was nothing wrong with this human’s throat.

Yu Xi found this human quite interesting. He wasn’t frightened, nor did he continuously ask where he was or why he was there.

This human was clearly observing him.

He was very polite, and didn’t even look around cautiously at his surroundings. He was very “obedient.”

But Yu Xi knew that such “obedience” was contrary to human nature. This was not an honest and well-behaved human. In actuality, this human was adept at assessing situations, and would put on a mask when he was unsure of the circumstances.

This was a difficult human to deal with.

Having come to this conclusion, Yu Xi gestured toward himself: “Yu Xi.”

After a moment of stunned silence, the human smiled and uttered two sounds: “Ei Qi?”^[1]

Kersz was certain that he had never heard Yu Xi’s language before. The sounds were produced by pushing air toward the soft palate, with a feeling that was like a hiccup lodged in his throat.

Yu Xi was amused by Kersz’s strange sounds. He laughed out loud, but quickly composed himself.

Kersz smiled back awkwardly, continuing to observe each and every one of Yu Xi’s reactions.

He seemed to harbor rich emotions, nothing like a cold, clinical android.

Kersz had encountered many androids, and no matter how well they imitated humans, they would never do such a thing as mock a human’s pronunciation.

The person in front of him even realized that he had misstepped, and managed to control himself after his uncontrolled burst of laughter.

“Uncontrolled laughter” was not a phrase compatible with androids. Kersz was now more inclined to believe that this was a human who had modified his body.

Kersz pointed at himself: “Kersz.”

“Kersz.” Yu Xi imitated the human’s pronunciation. He thought it would likely take some time before they were able to communicate. Learning an entirely new language would not be an easy task for Yu Xi, especially because his reference material was limited to the human in front of him.

Yu Xi got out of bed. Now that the human was awake, he needed to keep his distance.

Humans liked to have their own little space.

Yu Xi thoughtfully tucked the blanket around Kersz, but Kersz pulled it off.

Yu Xi: ?

He reached out again to adjust it, but this time, Kersz grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t you want to rest?” Yu Xi didn’t understand. He knew that the other person couldn’t understand what he was saying, but over so many years, he had become accustomed to speaking aloud everything that was on his mind.

Kersz gestured to his ear and waved his hand, indicating that he didn’t understand Yu Xi’s words. Then he pointed at his stomach.

“Hungry? Oh!” Yu Xi suddenly understood. He turned around to go fetch some food, but Kersz grabbed his wrist again.

Holding onto him, Kersz gestured repeatedly, mostly toward his lower body.

Yu Xi was briefly at a loss. He scooped the air in front of his mouth with his hand and mimed chewing something.

Kersz shook his head repeatedly, then pointed at the glass of water on the bedside table.

He repeatedly gestured as if taking a drink from a glass, then covered his lower abdomen.

“Water? But the water is right there. You….oh!!” Yu Xi understood. “You need to tinkle!”

Kersz didn’t understand what he was hearing.

“There’s a bathroom here. The door is over there, I’ll take you.” 

Yu Xi pulled Kersz to the bathroom.

Upon entering, Kersz immediately came to a stop upon realizing that someone was already using the toilet.

However, the figure quickly became transparent, then dissolved into blue striations of light and disappeared.

A hologram?

Was this guidance from Yu Xi? Was he worried that he wouldn’t know how to use it? How thoughtful.

Yu Xi gave Kersz a smile and patted him on the shoulder.

Kersz returned the smile in kind, and Yu Xi silently left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Kersz moved his arms around experimentally. His wounds were completely healed.

Ha, those guys didn’t know whether he was alive or dead, and probably wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully at night.

Kersz hadn’t expected to survive. Those people had put a lot of effort into pinning him down. They had locked all of the jump points on Kersz’s star map, which left him no choice but to venture into the vast, uncharted universe.

His starship was severely damaged, and the medical pod was no longer functional. Kersz really thought he had reached the end of the line.

But what a pity, ah. He didn’t die.

Kersz even felt a little sorry for those old bastards. If he was in their shoes and knew that Kersz the madman wasn’t dead, that he would one day sneak back and break into their houses one night, slitting their throats as they slept…..

Maybe it would happen ten years from now, or maybe it would happen tonight.

How difficult it would be to endure that uncertainty, ah.

Kersz considered himself to be a fine fellow who respected the elderly and cared for the young. Empathy gave him a deep understanding of their fear, and he longed to return immediately and end the suffering of those old-timers, granting them eternal peace.

Kersz felt like humming a tune, and even considered having a cigarette. But he clearly didn’t have that option right now. He didn’t know if there were any surveillance cameras around, so he could only continue to maintain his well-behaved demeanor.

The possibility of being monitored didn’t bother him at all, and his actions remained smooth and natural.

Yu Xi had not installed surveillance cameras in the bathroom, as he knew that humans needed their privacy. However, there was a device in the bathroom that monitored this human’s vital signs. He worried that this human had experienced something terrible when he was injured, and might have thoughts of suicide when he was alone.

But this was just a precaution. Subjectively, Yu Xi didn’t believe that this human was suicidal.

This was a cunning man.

There was no useful information remaining on Kersz’s starship. Its machinery had been reduced to a pile of scrap metal, and the computer chips inside were destroyed.

Yu Xi had no way of secretly learning about Kersz and his society through the starship’s equipment.

If Kersz was an innocent human who was ambushed and harmed, he wouldn’t have needed to go to such effort. He should know that by doing this, he had essentially destroyed his only way home.

Then was there something wrong with Kersz’s background?

This was obvious. His behavior itself was quite unusual.

Yu Xi had a bit of a headache. He had seen many people like this, always mired in endless trouble because they themselves were the biggest trouble of them all.

Yu Xi longed to meet a pitiful, unlucky human who wanted to get away from society. His planet was just the right place to heal such a downtrodden little soul.

The human would be healed, and Yu Xi would have a human again. It was a win-win situation.

But did this Kersz require healing?

Yu Xi was unsure. The other party was too on guard.

When had he begun to feel the urge to use the toilet? How long had he been holding it in? And yet he was still smiling and chatting with Yu Xi?

He wasn’t worried about developing kidney stones.

Yu Xi could only sigh.

But this human was good-looking, and a handsome appearance was a rare commodity. Thinking about it this way, it seemed that Yu Xi was fortunate.

Good-looking humans were like snares, always attracting other humans.

Then those humans would make more humans, and these new humans would create even newer humans, resulting in an endless number of humans.

Yu Xi was still unclear on how far Kersz and his people had progressed, and how long their lifespans were, but considering his own lifespan, Yu Xi probably wouldn’t live to see humans running around everywhere again.

This was a good thing. Perhaps one day these humans would also separate themselves from their physical bodies, slowly shedding everything that had once made them what they were as they became increasingly like the ‘gods’ they once worshiped.

And in the end, they too would perish.

Yu Xi was unwilling to witness all of this. It upset him.

“Yi Qi?” Kersz emerged from the bathroom.

Yu Xi turned his head to look at him. Upon realizing that he had tried to say his name, he began to chuckle.

Kersz: ……

Was his pronunciation really that amusing?

Yu Xi tamped down his smile, becoming expressionless again.

In order to make humans dependent on him, he had to learn human emotions. But this was a challenge for Yu Xi.

He was a cold, indifferent “smart butler,” ah. He had never been emotional.

Kersz was a little hungry. He made an eating gesture, but Yu Xi ignored him.

Yu Xi had clearly been looking at him just now, but after he made the gesture, he looked away.

Kersz narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yu Xi scratched his chin with his index finger. His eyes darted up and down, but never settled on Kersz.

Kersz reached out and tugged Yu Xi’s sleeve: “Yu Qi?”

“Hehe.” Yu Xi glanced at him. “You’re hungry?”

Kersz didn’t know what he was saying, but he felt that Yu Xi must understand what his gesture meant just now.

Yu Xi didn’t think there was anything wrong with his behavior. He was still wondering if helping this human was too altruistic. Humans such as this one did not cherish kindness that was easily obtained.

But he didn’t know how to be a bad person.

Kersz tugged at Yu Xi’s clothes. They were actually about the same height, but Kersz worried that making too big of a move would make him appear aggressive.

He wanted to ask more about the situation in this place, but could only use gestures to convey his thoughts: “You Qi.”^[2]

“Pfft, hahaha!”

Kersz went silent.

Language was merely a tool for communication. Yu Xi must be a formidable person, so why would someone like him laugh at his pronunciation?

Kersz insisted on pronouncing Yu Xi’s name as a gesture of respect.

“Paint, hahaha!’ Yu Xi hadn’t heard this ancient word in a long time.

Kersz didn’t want to talk anymore.

He didn’t want to talk ever again.

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[1] Ei Qi (诶其) sounds something like “what?” or “huh?” This kind of misunderstanding is a recurring theme throughout the chapter. ⮐

[2] You Qi 油漆 (this time he’s saying ‘paint.’) ⮐

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