Pei Ran’s gaze followed downward.
The gel was semi-transparent. Even though the lighting was dim, it was still faintly visible.
Pei Ran’s eyes quickly bounced back, returning to his face.
Pei Ran spoke: “Can I… touch you?”
The corners of W’s mouth lifted slightly, the movement so small it was almost imperceptible. “Of course.”
He wasn’t wearing clothes. Pei Ran extended her finger and poked his face with the tip of her finger.
It was the real sensation of skin.
W grasped her wrist, leaned forward, and pressed his cheek against her palm.
“This is a Hive Technology experiment. They cultivated a bio-mechanical body, with real skin, muscles, nervous system, etc., only the interface is a core processor.”
It sounded like a fusion of human and artificial intelligence.
Pei Ran tilted her head to look at his head.
She had just seen where the core processor was inserted—it was right where his head was.
The glowing blue core processor was now inside this body’s head, though from the outside, there was no sign of it.
W explained: “Because I was made by an AI company under their group, and I happened to have designed a virtual avatar for myself back then, they directly used it as the image template. Using gene-editing technology, they set the physical features and cultivated a body compatible with me.”
He had mentioned before that the virtual avatar was designed by himself.
Pei Ran: “So this entire body, top to bottom, was all your own idea?”
W calmly replied: “Yes.”
Pei Ran restrained her gaze, no longer looking down, silently complaining in her heart: W, you really dare to imagine.
Is that size really reasonable?
W said: “During this recent silence, Hive Technology’s headquarters was also attacked. Fortunately, the lab housing this body wasn’t located there. The cultivation pod itself didn’t have any text on it—only the control screen was burned out. A few days ago, Hive transported all the leftover materials to Black Well, and brought this along too.”
There was still some of the gel’s moisture left on his cheek—it felt cool to the touch.
Pei Ran asked: “Are you cold? Or do you not feel anything?”
“I can feel it. My brain retains the part that receives the body’s sensations, then sends the signals into my core processor.”
He said, “To be honest, it’s very novel. So this is what ‘cold’ feels like.”
She looked up and glanced at the air conditioner vent on the ceiling, and immediately warm air blew out.
W had adjusted the temperature here himself.
Although his core processor was installed inside a bio-mechanical body, its functions were just as before, capable of sending signals and directly controlling everything.
He tilted his head slightly toward the direction of the vent and narrowed his eyes.
“Air flowing across the skin brings a faintly warm touch. Many words—I understood them in theory, of course—but I didn’t truly know what they meant.”
Like “cold.” Like “wind.”
He was like a newborn, experiencing this strange new world.
Pei Ran withdrew her hand, glanced around, but didn’t see anything that could serve as clothing for him.
“There are spare clothes of mine in the car,” Pei Ran turned her head to glance at his broad shoulders, “but they’ll definitely be too small on you. We’ll have to find a place to steal a set.”
Ahead was the Blue Zone, with lots of dormitory buildings. There must be clothes left behind in the dorm rooms.
She had already become a smooth and skilled thief tonight. W was a bit helpless, “No need. I know there are clothes upstairs—uniforms and supply packs they just brought back from the supply department for Hive employees two days ago.”
“Where? I’ll go get them.” Pei Ran turned and was about to leave.
W reached out and grabbed her arm. “Let’s go together.”
Pei Ran: Together? Bro, are you planning to go streaking like this?
W added, “I just saw that there’s polyethylene foam padding in the cardboard boxes out there for packaging. Could you help me bring a sheet over?”
Pei Ran circled through the outer lab and found what he was talking about in an open cardboard box—a large sheet of white pearl-cotton packaging film, like fabric, thin and soft. Pei Ran carried it back.
W took it from her. “Pei Ran, turn around. I’m coming out.”
Pei Ran obediently turned her back.
Behind her came the squelching sounds of gel, and the rustling of the foam.
After a moment, her instincts from years of combat made her feel someone approaching.
“I’m ready.” His voice came from beside her ear.
Pei Ran turned around. Before her was a completely bare chest. He had wrapped that white foam sheet around his waist like a bath towel.
He was standing so close she could see the texture of his skin clearly. Pei Ran couldn’t help but reach out and poke his chest again.
W didn’t mind at all. He even turned in place.
“Want to see the back too?”
The groove of his back dipped in, his muscles were evenly proportioned and beautiful. Pei Ran unceremoniously poked it too, then tilted her head up to examine the back of his head.
If her guess was right, his core processor had been inserted from here.
Now it was seamlessly integrated, completely unnoticeable.
She raised her hand and carefully felt the back of his head. The ends of his hair were still damp.
W stood obediently, waiting for Pei Ran to finish her inspection, and only turned around when she stopped poking randomly. “Let’s go find some clothes.”
“Wait,” Pei Ran said.
She opened her arms and leaned forward.
W froze for a moment, but quickly bent down so she could embrace him.
Pei Ran said, “This is the warm hug you imagined I’d give you the first time we met.”
W made a soft sound in response, closed his arms around her, and pulled her tightly into his embrace.
He didn’t let go for a long time—longer than Pei Ran had expected.
Pei Ran said softly, “Actually, I don’t care what form you take.”
Metal sphere, mechanical spider, virtual figure, the glowing blue core processor—he had taken countless forms, and she had long gotten used to it.
“Of course I know,” W replied. “But I thought, with this body, you’d like it.”
He leaned close to her ear. “Actually, I like it too. I can touch you. My arms can feel the fabric of your clothes. My chest is pressed against the collar of your uniform. My shoulders can feel your breath…”
W finally let her go.
He asked, “Can I hold your hand? I’ve never held anyone’s hand before.”
Pei Ran: Nonsense. You were just curled up in my palm earlier, and last night you held onto my finger while you slept.
Still, she generously reached out her hand. “Of course you can.”
W carefully extended his hand, pressed it to her palm, and laced his fingers through hers, interlocking them.
He tilted his head to look at their entwined fingers. “I’ve wanted to hold your hand like this for a long time.”
Their warm fingers were tightly intertwined, no longer separate.
Pei Ran gave their joined hands a little shake. “Let’s go find those clothes.”
The two of them had gone back and forth proposing to leave—this was almost the fifth minute of it.
Only then did W release her hand. “Follow me.”
The wild-style intelligent navigator had now become a wild-style humanoid navigator wrapped in foam padding.
The new navigator had a striking figure—broad shoulders, long legs—and every step he took came with the sound of the foam padding rustling as accompaniment.
W had a clear goal and took Pei Ran straight to the second floor via elevator.
He suddenly said, “Walking is really interesting.”
Pei Ran: ?
Pei Ran said, “Haven’t you walked a lot using the mechanical spider? And the sphere? Even that broken support frame?”
W said, “Walking with a human body feels completely different.”
Once they reached the second floor, W skillfully navigated through the office, opened a storage room door, and pulled out several large cardboard boxes.
Inside the boxes were bags of unopened supply kits.
Each supply kit contained two sets of employee uniforms. Like all uniforms issued by Black Well, they were thoughtfully prepared—knowing that people arriving in Black Well were unlikely to carry many belongings, the kits included everything from underwear to outerwear, shoes, and socks.
W already knew what was inside and directly pulled out his own size.
As he changed clothes, Pei Ran instinctively turned around.
Her wristband vibrated—it was a message from Ai Xia.
The text didn’t display in full-map mode. Pei Ran switched back to see it. Ai Xia had written: [Grandma and I are evacuating, heading to the south exit. Where are you? Want to leave together?]
It seemed both she and Engineer Jiang were safe for now.
The south exit was nearby. Pei Ran was planning to go that way too. She replied: [I can’t leave just yet—need a little more time. Let’s meet outside the south exit?]
As always, Ai Xia replied quickly: [Okay, I’ll wait for you.]
Pei Ran noticed that another message had come in earlier from Abu, also asking where she was.
She hadn’t seen Abu in days. She still remembered how, after returning from the offshore island last time, Abu had said: “We’ll meet again.”
Maybe she had already foreseen Black Well’s downfall—and the “meet again” she spoke of back then referred to now.
After replying, Abu quickly sent another message: [I’m going to the south exit too. I’ve already contacted Team Leader Li—she’s also on her way.]
Everyone was heading to the south exit.
Taking advantage of the brief lull, Pei Ran double-checked her clothing and backpack to make sure there were no texts left behind, then combed through her wristband again.
Working for FBSMD often meant going outside Black Well, so she routinely deleted any text-based messages and documents from her wristband. She cleared the messages she’d just received as well.
Just as she finished dealing with the wristband, she felt someone gently tap her shoulder. “I’m ready.”
Pei Ran turned around.
He was finally no longer streaking.
The Hive-issued outfit had a white inner layer and a pure black uniform jacket on the outside. The style was very similar to the light gray combat suit Pei Ran was wearing. On his feet were mid-calf black short boots. The only difference was the bright yellow Hive emblem on the chest.
With a body like his—so beyond human—he looked good in anything. Even just wrapped in a piece of foam padding, he was stunning; now, dressed properly in a well-fitting outfit, it was even more so.
The black-and-white clothes matched his black-and-white eyes.
W was using a piece of clothing to dry his hair, shaking it out like a puppy.
He casually grabbed a few more sets of clothes, stuffed them into a bag, and carried it in his hand. “Let’s go.”
Outside the building, the blaring sirens were still going off.
He had gone in alone and come out with another person. The two of them walked over to the small van.
In the driver’s seat, Ren was staring straight at W, like it had crashed.
Its vision was sharp—earlier, even from a distance, it had clearly seen W’s face, and now its whole system was not okay.
Its god had already appeared a few days ago in virtual form, which was shocking enough. Now, he’d actually turned into a living, breathing person.
“God” walked over to Ren and the others’ side of the vehicle, pulled open the door, and spoke: “Ren, you two move to the back.”
This “god” had an incredibly thick skin, not caring at all about who got there first, and insisted on taking over the front passenger seat.
To make escape easier, Ren’s vacuum chassis had long since been removed and stored in the back box. It and Xingkong climbed obediently into the cargo bed at the back of the van and sat down.
W didn’t forget to remind them: “Make sure to keep yourselves secured at all times. Hold on tight. Don’t fall off.”
Pei Ran glanced at him: he really seemed to have no confidence in her driving skills.
W got into the front passenger seat and immediately buckled his seatbelt.
His mechanical spider had always had sharp hearing—he could hear clearly. The two little robots in the back were whispering to each other.
Xingkong was softly asking Ren, “Is that W? How did he suddenly become human?”
Ren answered solemnly, “God is different from us. Whatever He wants to do, He can do it.”
After a pause, Ren lowered its voice even more: “God probably wants to kiss Pei Ran. I saw them at the entrance last time—they were this close to kissing. If it’s human and human, then they can kiss normally. It won’t be like kissing air.”
Pei Ran started the vehicle and casually asked, “What are they whispering about back there?”
“Nothing much,” W replied. “Just saying my new body is handsome.”
Pei Ran gave him a look: Yeah right.