The Mechanic

Zhang Xun was very quiet, his eyes flicked across the bubbles that occasionally floated from the water, his expression was even serene, as if he was separated from everything around him by an invisible veil.

Adam secretly glanced at Zhang Xun's expression once or twice, feeling a little nervous because of the too long silence. He took out a pack of pastel de queijo, a snack purchased in the village, from his luggage. The deep-fried crispy skin was wrapped in meat and cheese, which was easy to carry and easy to satisfy. He handed the package to Zhang Xun, "Are you hungry?"

Zhang Xun's withered eyes finally had a trace of life, as if he suddenly woke up from a dream. He took the paper bag with some hesitation, took out a snack from it and took a bite, "How long is it?"

"Soon." Adam said, he opened his palm, and gradually separated out several miniature insect robots from the silver material. They vibrated their wings, flew out from his palm, and soon merged with the mosquitoes flying in the sky and disappeared.

Looking at the flying insects, Adam smiled brightly at Zhang Xun, "These robots are all made according to your design."

Zhang Xun twitched the corner of his mouth. He still remembers his younger self, shutting himself in the house for months to develop this tiny insect robot that was difficult for Eden to detect. When the children of the same age were playing and hunting outside, those tiny parts and crude tools were his only companions, but he didn't know what sadness was, and all his thoughts were on those metal parts.

Even if he lacks fatherly love, even if he lacks companionship, he can still enjoy himself, it's that simple.

Their destination was a dense forest not far from the river bank. Adam built a simple signal transmitter and receiver using parts he purchased from the black market. A small metal box was inserted into the back of his neck. Interface, connected to his mechanical brain. Adam sat on a piece of wood, his eyes glowed with a faint blue light, apparently his consciousness had extended to other places.

After installing several layers of encryption, he will quietly use some nearby networks to sneak into Eden's AI network, looking for an opportunity to contact Natalie Clausen. However, in less than five minutes, Adam suddenly turned dark again, grabbed Zhang Xun's hand without saying a word, and led him into the thick bushes.

Zhang Xun followed staggeringly, the sharp blade edge scratched his cheek, and his clothes were torn by the barbs on the branches. Suddenly his feet were empty, he lost his balance, and fell on top of Adam. Just halfway through the exclamation, Adam covered his mouth tightly.

After a while, there was a buzzing sound in the air. Three drones flew overhead.

Zhang Xun could hear the sound of Adam's heart beating from his chest, obviously he was also nervous, and his palms were even slightly sweating. Zhang Xun was surprised to feel that his nervousness was far lower than when similar situations happened before, as if the three aircraft had little to do with him.

It's only been three days since he injected the nano-robot, has it already started to affect him?

Could it be because he injected it at the neck, so it took effect faster?

Adam exhaled lightly, and the scorching breath swept over Zhang Xun's ears, making him tremble slightly.

"It seems that I have to be more careful. After I disconnected from Eden, he set up a lot of detection points against me in the network." Adam said softly.

Although Eden's drone has left, they still dare not move for a long time, fearing that there will be another move. And Zhang Xun found that Adam's heart rate didn't slow down much, and his skin seemed to be... slightly warm.

Zhang Xun suddenly felt something strange on his lower back, he moved his body uncomfortably, and his face became hot, "Adam...what are you doing..."

Adam coughed lightly, "I'm sorry...the instinctive reaction of the human body..."

"...Please control yourself!"

Adam tried to back away a little, thankfully now that Zhang Xun couldn't turn his head to see the embarrassment on his face.

After a while, they struggled to climb out of the plant-covered pit, their bodies covered in wet moisture and mud.

"Have you found any useful information?" Zhang Xun tried his best to ignore the little accident that happened just now, "How about Paradise Lost and Feather Snake City?"

"Pan and two other AIs controlled a portion of the extended AIs on the fringes, through which they caused major power outages in Washington and Los Angeles in the United States, plus several cities in Asia and Europe, but Eden took back several of them after two days The control of the main city, now it is besieging Feathered Snake City, but there is no progress yet. Paradise Lost has been garrisoned by Eden, and Heng Township has been connected to the Eden network. But these changes have caused some people who have not uploaded yet It is said that there was a serious bloodshed, and your father seems to have taken the opportunity to escape Paradise Lost during the process, so... this is good news."

Hearing Zhang Shuo's news, Zhang Xun's numb brain suddenly cracked. He grabbed Adam's arm, "My father escaped? Where is he?"

"I didn't find it. But at least he should be safe now." Adam looked at Zhang Xun seriously, and said in a soothing voice, "We will find him, but now we must move the location immediately."