Ch 18 – What Did Yu Xi Hear?

Under Kersz’s encouragement, Yu Xi went to visit Tau alone.

The main reason was that seeing him truly disgusted Kersz. He didn’t want to face this fake friend of his every day, then go and report the content of their conversation to Yu Xi.

In addition, Tau had begun to give up on the idea of resisting, and wouldn’t speak a word at all.

Kersz was infuriated by Tau’s attitude, but taking action against him would be too undignified. Either he would kill this person, or he would leave him alone entirely.

Yet Kersz found that his workload hadn’t decreased, because Yu Xi always needed some encouragement from him whenever he went to Tau’s room.

Yu Xi was worried that he might be faced with conflict, but upon finding Tau silent and wearing a blank expression, his worry gained a tinge of relief.

He now felt more comfortable being in Tau’s room.

Tau’s breathing was very soft, and Yu Xi had the illusion that he was the only one there.

In the end, Yu Xi invited Kersz to come to Tau’s room and play, because being alone was very boring and he wanted the company of a friend.

But Kersz felt that doing this would be a bit too strange. Yu Xi respected his choice and didn’t invite him again, resolving to find his own fun.

“Say ‘Great Blue Morpho Butterfly,’” Yu Xi told Tau.

Tau: …..

“Otherwise, I’ll capture your father and make him the queen bee, attracting all the other illegitimate children,” Yu Xi threatened quite smoothly.

Tau: “Gerbumoburfly.”

“Hehehehe.” Yu Xi was amused. The accents of these humans were always so odd.

Tau stared at him, and Yu Xi continued to chatter: “Luckily, you don’t have any sort of inherent nature at all. Really, once you understand someone’s past vulnerabilities and pain, it’s difficult to be so harsh on them.”

“I recently encountered this problem: my friend’s pronunciation no longer makes me laugh, because he’s making an effort to get closer to me.” Yu Xi heaved a sigh.

After a moment of silence, he added: “But I still do laugh occasionally.”

Yu Xi fell silent again.

Then he added further: “I laugh often, but he really doesn’t mind.” At any rate, Kersz’s heartbeat remained steady.

“Could you tell me about your past interactions?” This time, Yu Xi didn’t give Tau a chance to keep silent. “For your father’s sake, it’s best if you add more detail.”

“We didn’t spend much time together. I gave him the information he wanted, and he went crazy. That’s all,” said Tau.

Yu Xi defended Kersz: “I don’t think he went crazy. I think it was a form of rebellion after being oppressed. You know, when everything he cherished was destroyed, he needed an outlet.”

Tau didn’t argue with Yu Xi. He had lost interest in continuing his act. “You’re right.”

“Did you ever resist?” Yu Xi asked Tau.

Tau stared back at him.

Yu Xi: “You don’t want anything to happen to your father, do you?”

Tau immediately got the picture: “No. All those who resisted are dead.”

“Aren’t you curious about where your parents came from?” Yu Xi asked.

“They’re most likely dead. I’ll never have the chance to meet them.” Tau’s answer was so pragmatic that Yu Xi felt a little sorry for him.

“I’ve given you an examination, and your body is healthy. However, there are indeed some rather dangerous devices inside of you. I think they’re used to ‘dispose of’ you illegitimate children.”

Tau had already guessed that this was the case. But when all was said and done, he was alive and well.

“You don’t seem too worried.” Yu Xi tilted his head.

“Do you want me to worry?” Tau felt that something was wrong here.

Yu Xi should ask for more, whether it was information about the Supreme Governor or a request for Tau to do something for him. Yu Xi had to ask for something.

But Yu Xi only wanted him to live.

Yu Xi said that it was out of personal interest, but this was outside the realm of Tau’s comprehension.

Yu Xi felt that Tau was a rather difficult human to deal with: “Are you feeling uncomfortable right now?”

Tau nodded honestly.

Yu Xi: “It’s a good thing that you feel uncomfortable.”

Tau: ?

Yu Xi continued: “Aren’t you very comfortable with pain? You’re in pain right now, ah, and if your current life is causing you pain, you should be quite comfortable with it.”

Tau: …..

Tau felt like his brain had short-circuited.

“Do you need friends?” Unable to resolve his own confusion, Tau began to explore Yu Xi’s needs.

“I’m not looking for friends.” Yu Xi felt that Tau was incapable of being his friend due to his psychological issues.

“But you’ve become friends with that lunatic, Kersz,” Tau said.

“I think Kersz is actually quite normal.” Yu Xi didn’t think his friend was a “lunatic” at all. He was very good, and even cared about Tau.

“Are you calling a starship-piloting serial killer ‘normal?’” Tau asked.

Tau knew very well that he himself was abnormal, but he didn’t think that Kersz was more normal than him.

“In fact, your current civilization is in a state of imbalance. He wasn’t born abnormal – he was simply swept along in the current and became the way he is now,” Yu Xi said in Kersz’s defense.

“So you think he’s normal?” Tau asked.

“Very normal, ah.” Yu Xi nodded repeatedly.

“Then you’re not normal either,” Tau concluded.

“You’re so mean!” Yu Xi frowned.

Tau fell silent. Yu Xi looked through his system in search of a suitable TV program for Tau.

Early childhood education cartoons? Yu Xi personally had a great fondness for these, but he wasn’t sure if Tau’s interests lay in such things.

After a lengthy silence, Tau finally spoke: “Yu Xi.”

He had practiced his pronunciation.

Yu Xi clutched his chest: “I’m so touched.”

“I feel like your name sounds familiar,” said Tau.

Yu Xi: “Ah?”

“The pronunciation of your name seems familiar to me.” Tau sat up straight, looking more like a robot than Yu Xi, who was sprawled across the couch.

Tau continued: “Facai System.” This was standard ancient human language.

Yu Xi: “Ah?” 

“Facai.” Tau observed Yu Xi’s expression.

Yu Xi looked stunned.

“You know the Facai System. This isn’t your first time in our world,” Tau concluded.

Yu Xi: “Facai^[1] was once one of the strongest desires of humans on my planet.”

Tau: …..

Yu Xi translated the meaning of these two characters for him.

Tau suddenly understood. Then he expressed: “This is also one of the strongest desires of the humans here.”

“So does this mean you’re making a wish on me?” Yu Xi was puzzled.

“…..No.” Tau refused to speak again.

Unable to extract any further information from him, Yu Xi could only go back and ask Kersz.

Yu Xi was initially concerned that Kersz was unaware of the system’s existence, but Kersz immediately recognized it upon hearing the name: “Facai is a word from your local language? That explains it. I was wondering why I couldn’t find the origin of this system’s name….but ‘Facai’ is much easier to pronounce than ‘Yu Xi.’”

Yu Xi disagreed: “First of all, pronouncing my name isn’t difficult. Secondly, after studying it for so long, haven’t you already figured out the pattern? You’ve already discovered the connection between me and Facai, haven’t you?”

Kersz froze.

“But you concealed it. Oh~ your heart is beating faster again.” Yu Xi patted Kersz on the back. “Don’t be nervous. I’m not upset.”

Kersz: “Ah?”

“Perhaps you suspected something and wanted to investigate to uncover the truth.” Yu Xi knew that humans could be awkward like this. He and Kersz hadn’t known each other for very long, so it was impossible for Kersz to have complete trust in him.

Yu Xi could respect it.

Kersz looked at him.

Yu Xi tilted his head. He had a feeling that Kersz wanted to tell him something.

“It’s a little strange…..” Kersz pursed his lips. “I actually wanted you to confront me.”

Yu Xi: “Ah?”

“Then I would frantically explain to you that my suspicions arose before our relationship improved, and that I did investigate some things. After we started getting closer, I was afraid that coming clean would make you think I was a treacherous villain, so I was hesitant to confide in you.” Kersz heaved a sigh.

Yu Xi: “I feel like there’s an element of acting in your words.”

“Just a little.” Kersz smiled.

“So what were the results of your investigation?” Yu Xi asked.

“That system called ‘Facai’ is highly advanced, and requires special permissions to access…..actually, I feel it’s a bit like an AI,” Kersz said. “I don’t actually know when it was created, but it controls all of the Interstellar Alliance’s weapons of mass destruction.”

“I saw it once when I was still in the army, when we needed to activate a highly-lethal weapon,” Kersz said. “The form it used to communicate with us was a big white dog.”

“Big white dog?” Yu Xi was astonished.

“I heard it doesn’t like to be called a dog, and thinks of itself as a wolf. But in terms of appearance, it really….hold on a second.” Kersz asked Yu Xi to hand him a modeling panel, and he quickly recreated the system’s visage.

Upon seeing what it looked like, Yu Xi was quite certain that it was not a wolf, but a Great Pyrenees.

“Oh, right, he has a human form too.” Kersz constructed another figure, a man with white hair and black eyes, sporting a pair of large white ears atop his head.

“Does he look familiar to you?” Kersz asked Yu Xi.

Yu Xi shook his head: “I have no memory of him.”

“But his name is ‘Facai’ – that’s the language of the ancient humans….”

Kersz wore a troubled expression: “With all due respect, the humans around here basically only give names like that to their pets.”

“It’s the same with us.” Yu Xi stared at the white humanoid creature Kersz had just constructed. “You say he doesn’t like being called a dog? He has preferences? Feelings?”

Kersz: “I’m not sure. I never had an in-depth conversation with him.”

Yu Xi continued to gaze at that figure.

Kersz waited to the side.

“Your group of humans has domesticated dogs, right?” Yu Xi asked him.

“We have.”

“What about dogs that look like this?” Yu Xi asked.

Kersz: “There are similar ones, but this specific form has no precise name in our world.”

Yu Xi came to a swift decision: “I want to meet him.”

Kersz: “Unauthorized access to its communication system is a felony.”

Yu Xi emphasized: “They won’t catch me. I want to meet him.”

Kersz felt that Yu Xi was being far too impetuous. Especially since he was unable to handle human maliciousness.

But Yu Xi wasn’t going to listen to him. Kersz deliberately pitched his voice high, drawling in a snide, mocking tone: “Oh~ How heroic~”

Upon hearing these words, Yu Xi slowly placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head upward ever so slightly.

Kersz: …..

Was Yu Xi preening?

Kersz spoke again: “Oh~ How impressive~”

Yu Xi lifted his head a little higher.

He really was preening.

Shit, he forgot. Most of the time, Yu Xi didn’t pick up on sarcasm.

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[1] ‘Facai’ basically means to ‘get rich.’ ⮐

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Chapter 17 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 19