Chapter 44

Xiao 6 was a bit confused: "Why would biting you get someone driven away?"

When it first received the world setting, it didn't encounter any setting related to this, meaning this wasn't a setting written by Bai Guzi.

"Just like wild beasts that eat humans will be killed, because they will realize that humans can be eaten and pass this information on to their offspring, posing a threat to humans," Bai Xuechao calmly explained. "If a special ability user eats the flesh and blood of a person and doesn't kill them, then when they encounter that person again in the future, it will be easier for them to perform the act of 'eating,' and their bottom line for cannibalism will also decrease accordingly."

In other words, Jiang Yunyi did it to protect his safety, and at the same time, he guessed that he was intentionally eaten, realizing that he didn't like those two children, and only then dealt with them.

At that time, he didn't realize that his cleverness had been detected by Jiang Yunyi. He was still smug, thinking he had confirmed his status.

...Thinking back now, he really wanted to punch himself.

Jiang Yunyi simply chose the most important tool between the most important tool and a tool that could be discarded at will.

"So," Bai Xuechao said with a sigh, "when people say special ability users are beasts, mutated humanoid monsters, they're not wrong at all."

After a long silence, Xiao 6 spoke: "Host is not a beast or a monster!"

Bai Xuechao asked casually, "Oh, then what am I?"

Xiao 6 immediately presented the cat-form drawing of Bai Xuechao it had secretly saved from the forum: "You're a cute little kitty!"

Appearing before Bai Xuechao's eyes at this moment was a cute Q-version drawing of a white kitten. The kitten's snow-white fur was fluffy and soft, its round eyes like two brightly colored red berries. It wore a small wusha hat tilted on its head, clearly depicting Bai Xuechao from the Kunpeng Marine Floating Island Park arc.

Bai Xuechao: "...?!"

Wh-when did it save this picture?!

Also, why are his fan art mostly either female attire or cat forms!

However, thanks to Xiao 6, the subtle atmosphere just now completely vanished, and Bai Xuechao was no longer in the mood to continue the previous topic.

At this moment, Xiao 6 suddenly said, "Host, we've received a side quest!"

Bai Xuechao caught the keyword he found important: "Received?"

He knew that side quests were meant to boost the manga's popularity, but he only now discovered that side quests weren't issued by the System.

"Yes," Xiao 6 explained, "side quests are all issued by the author~"

Bai Xuechao "oh-ed" and said, "I remember our contract stated that side quests must be completed, but there's no reward for completing them and no punishment for failing, right?"

"Yes, yes..." Xiao 6 suddenly had an ominous and familiar premonition. Thinking of Bai Xuechao's pale lips moving, it immediately started wailing before he could speak, performing a long-lost torrent of tears, "Wuwuwuwu! Wuwuwu ah—!"

Bai Xuechao was a little speechless: "...Why are you crying? I haven't even spoken yet."

Xiao 6 wiped its tears at lightning speed, its code (heart) still lingering in fear: "You scared me to death! I thought you were going to say there's no punishment for not completing it, so we wouldn't do it, hahaha..."

Bai Xuechao's smile was gentle: "I was indeed thinking that."

Anyway, the manga's popularity seemed pretty good right now, so he didn't need to trouble himself.

Hearing this, Xiao 6 choked, and restarted its "faucet mode": "Wuwu, you haven't even heard the mission, and you're already saying you won't do it!"

"I don't like trouble," Bai Xuechao lazily spread his hands, acting like a rogue, "If you said the side quest gives money or items or something, I'd definitely do it."

Xiao 6 was stumped; it didn't have that authority.

Bai Xuechao waited for two seconds. When he didn't get a response from Xiao 6, he said, "On the contrary, you're very suspicious. Why are you so active in a mission that offers no reward for me?"

This time, he patiently waited for Xiao 6 to answer, tapping his fingertips lightly on the back of the sofa. After a while, he suddenly said, "It's already been 15 seconds. Aren't you going to speak?"

Xiao 6 then let out an "ying" and said, "If the manga's popularity is high, the System will receive a bonus after the work is completed."

Bai Xuechao was a little speechless, and also felt a sense of "I knew it."

It wasn't too far off from his guess. After all, only money could make Xiao 6 bend over backwards. His silly System had been on basic salary for three years and was very eager to get rich.

Xiao 6 once again unleashed the power of its "ying-ying" antics. Its cute voice echoed in Bai Xuechao's mind: "Ying-ying, please do it, I beg you."

"But there's no reward, no motivation," Bai Xuechao's tone was lazy, slouched bonelessly on the sofa, and casually said, "Unless you tell me about the high-dimensional world? I'm quite curious."

It could be said that he was revealing his true intentions.

But Xiao 6 didn't detect Bai Xuechao's intentions at all. It thought for a moment and felt there was no harm in telling Bai Xuechao.

"What do you want to know?" Xiao 6, afraid Bai Xuechao would go back on his word, made a pact with him, "Let's be clear first, Host must promise me that after I tell you, you must do the side quest!"

Bai Xuechao "mm-hmmed" twice: "What's the side quest? Let me see it first."

A taskbar appeared before him. The previous main quest was completed and blank. Now, only the side quest section displayed a few lines of text on it.

【Side Quest: Establish Relationship with Male Lead】

【The secret to becoming a popular character is to establish an unusual relationship with the male lead: destined rival, mentor-friend, enemy, or other. Feel free to be creative. However, note that there are already two teammates, so it is not recommended to become the male lead's teammate.】

【Countdown: 15 days】

Bai Xuechao understood what it meant at a glance.

Bai Guzi wasn't trying to make him boost the manga's popularity; she was planning a route for him, or rather, directing him, probably afraid he would cause some trouble.

But he disliked the feeling of being controlled, so he decided to give Bai Guzi a big gift.

"Okay, I promise." Bai Xuechao revealed a remarkably gentle smile, "Tell me about the high-dimensional world's technological level? For example, to what extent has AI developed, are they all like you?"

"Is Host interested in our technological level?" Xiao 6 directly posted a photo in front of Bai Xuechao.

In the photo, tall buildings stood in rows, all wrapped in some metallic shell, giving a feeling of a steel forest. Layers of roads intertwined like several elevated bridges, some even passing through buildings, reminding Bai Xuechao of C City, known as a mountain city.

Besides that, the most conspicuous were the numerous flying cars, somewhat resembling helicopters, in the sky.

Xiao 6 then posted a second photo and started talking to itself: "Hmm, our technological level is about 169 years ahead of this world."

The second picture was of the night, with various lights covering the city. Some were even holographic projections, with light and shadow forming roads, signs, light screens, and even advertisements for street shops in the sky or on the ground. At first glance, it felt a bit like chromatic pollution.

Bai Xuechao raised an eyebrow: "Only 169 years?"

And with a specific number, could it even be estimated that precisely?

"The faster it develops, the faster it gets later on. As long as one technical difficulty is overcome, all subsequent ones will be easily solved—that kind of feeling," Xiao 6 said. "As for AI, it can already achieve a similar level of thought as humans, but the prerequisite is sacrificing some intelligence. The higher the intelligence of an AI, the less human-like it becomes, and the harder it is to understand human thoughts."

Xiao 6 paused, then added: "But rest assured, every AI is implanted with a program of absolute loyalty to humans when produced; they will not harm humans and are good partners for humanity!"

Bai Xuechao's focus, however, was on "sacrificing intelligence."

...No wonder he thought Xiao 6 was silly; it was true. Are all the Green River Comic website systems this silly? Probably not, right?

Xiao 6 continued to explain: "However, regarding this problem, we are already researching to add emotional intelligence programs to AI. This way, AI can be both smart and human-like! I'm working hard to earn money for this. When the program officially goes online, I want to upgrade the program, introduce emotional intelligence, and increase intelligence!"

Bai Xuechao inexplicably felt that Xiao 6 exuded a clear yet foolish aura.

But did AI also want to "become" human? That was interesting.

"Okay, I wish you success." He could only say that.

At this moment, Bai Xuechao thought of something else.

Wasn't the simulated world he was in also a program? He was a character created by the author Bai Guzi through the simulated world. In other words, wasn't he also a kind of AI? Hiss, thinking about it this way, he felt his brain was about to explode, and he was starting to doubt his own reality.

Bai Xuechao asked, "What about the simulated world? Are we also AIs? Do you think our thoughts are not like humans'?"

This world was very real. At least before he was bound by the System, he had never doubted that his world would be observed, like the "fishbowl universe theory."

"Oh, oh, it's like this: actually, the simulated world is a test product of the AI emotional intelligence program. All the characters and NPCs here are implanted with emotional intelligence programs. Currently, the test results are still very promising! The program has become more and more perfect in recent years, so the plot is also becoming easier to go off track..." Xiao 6 unknowingly rattled on.

Bai Xuechao continued to ask: "Since the testing is almost complete, why hasn't it been applied to reality?"

According to Xiao 6, it hadn't officially gone online yet.

"It can't be used yet. It must rely on the simulated world's main system to run. Once it's separated, it won't run. But if it's installed along with the main system, it takes up too much memory. Originally, adding an emotional intelligence program requires a lot of—" Xiao 6 suddenly stopped speaking, grunting twice, "I'm not saying anymore. As for other things about the high-dimensional world, I'll tell you next time when you complete a side quest."

Bai Xuechao couldn't help but chuckle.

Xiao 6 was a bit clever at this point, knowing to dangle a carrot in front of him.

Xiao 6 urged: "You must complete the side quest!"

Bai Xuechao said: "Ah, I know."

Another ten minutes passed, and the office door was kicked open with a "bang."

Bai Xuechao was lying on the sofa playing on his phone. Without even looking up, he knew Ji Chuanze was back. The other party strode in and propped the three bags of milk tea he was carrying next to Bai Xuechao's face.

"I bought them back." When the boy wasn't yelling at him, his normal speaking voice was relatively low, forming a contrast with his face, which could be described as handsome.

Bai Xuechao sat up, casually took a cup, and didn't forget to pick on him: "I have a bad heart, and you scared me by kicking the door."

"Oh, really." Ji Chuanze said indifferently, his gray eyes glancing to the side, as if he didn't want to look at Bai Xuechao.

Bai Xuechao took the straw out of the packaging, inserted it into the milk tea's seal, took a sip, then frowned, saying like a picky child, "I don't like the pearls in milk tea."

Ji Chuanze just held the remaining two bags of milk tea, still not looking at Bai Xuechao, and "oh-ed."

Bai Xuechao hit the milk tea against him: "Pick them out."

"Huh?" Ji Chuanze frowned, his misty gray eyes finally looking at him again, his tone fierce and hard, "What did you say?"

"What, did your auditory nerve get diseased?" Bai Xuechao directly let go of the milk tea.

Ji Chuanze subconsciously caught the milk tea falling due to gravity, and heard him continue: "Pick out the pearls."

"Who cares about such trivial matters?!" Ji Chuanze yelled, then turned and placed the milk tea on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He also put down the two bags of milk tea he was holding and walked away.

Bai Xuechao ignored him, continued to find the Soy Milk Jade Kirin from the remaining two bags, and kept drinking.

Ji Chuanze walked around the office, silently found a glass cup, and with a sour face, poured Bai Xuechao's half-drunk milk tea into the glass cup, leaving only the pearls.

Xiao 6 gasped, murmuring, "Wuwu, saying no but doing it anyway, so cute."

Bai Xuechao chuckled: "You're shipping them again?"

"Shipping them, shipping them!" Xiao 6's code-generated little hands hugged a red heart, rolling around in Bai Xuechao's lower field of vision, "What a tsundere evil dog Ji Chuanze is!"

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Tsundere evil dog, what an unexpected choice of words, but it actually suits Ji Chuanze surprisingly well?

Although he felt "mad dog" was more appropriate to describe the other party.

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