vncnus Chapter 32 I can't stay for free.
Chapter 32 I can't stay for free.
In the following period, Yin Xiang went to Iron Fort more and more frequently, and she needed to borrow more and more materials, while the information available on her mobile device was very limited.
At first, she just checked whichever part was stuck, and only when she got stuck did she remember to call Orion's private channel. Later, gradually, she combined the attachments provided by the sound waves and figured out a lot of tricks on her own. She knew which words couldn't be written randomly, which partitions were complete traps, and which technical files looked similar but were actually completely different.
She arrived at a reasonable time that day.
The Iron Fort Archives still looks the same cold, orderly, and somewhat aloof place.
After she finished scanning her credentials, she entered the data layer and walked straight in along a path she was more familiar with. In the distance, she saw Orian sitting in a row of search terminals near the back, with several layers of semi-expanded file projections hanging next to him. He was looking down at a section of an old-structured directory.
The light-colored main armor looked very clean under the light, and the stable blue accessories on the shoulders, sides of the chest and forearms accentuated the lines of the entire suit beautifully, with a touch of red quietly set off on the edge.
Although he is an administrator, he doesn't look like some kind of living retrieval system assimilated by the archives; he's much more pleasing to the eye than the system itself.
Without pausing, Yin Vector walked over and returned the data board he had borrowed earlier.
Orion looked up at her and asked, "So early today?"
"It's rare to get an early shift." Yin Xiang sat down at the seat next to him, while pulling up the table of contents he had just written down.
Orion's gaze fell on the few pages of information she had displayed, scanning the structure names and parameter directories. He showed no surprise: "You've been digging deeper and deeper into things lately."
"There's nothing we can do." Yin Xiang leaned back, raising a hand to rub his temples. "The things outside are becoming less and less appealing. Looking back at those public overviews now is no different from learning technology from brochures."
Orion chuckled softly: "That means you've already moved beyond the beginner level."
The vector snorted, not denying it.
She unfolded one of the pages containing the table of contents slightly, glanced at it herself, and then tilted her head to ask, "I'm looking at this today, do you want to look at it too?"
Orion glanced at the layers of old-fashioned compatibility structures she had brought up, then at the directory he was checking, and lightly tapped the edge of the terminal to shrink the projection a little.
"Sure," he said. "I've actually seen part of this set before."
The vector nodded and made room for him a little.
The two planes were then seated side by side.
A faint light shone from the terminal projection between the two machines, with several layers of data unfolding overlapping. The cool light fell on their faceplates and forearms, and the only sounds were the slightest when turning pages, adjusting layers, or occasionally touching the interface.
Orion is indeed very well-suited for this kind of work.
He won't put on a doting, fatherly air, like he's going to test you.
He simply followed where she had already walked, and only pointed it out naturally when she frowned or lingered in a certain spot for a while.
"This is not a parameter conflict; the naming convention is the same as the old partition."
"These two directories are placed together not because they are similar, but because they share an early compatibility theory."
"What you need to look at now is not this page, but the original annotations two levels ahead."
While listening, Yin Vector flipped through the pages again, following the direction he pointed.
As she flipped through the pages, she suddenly felt a strange sense of relief.
Actually, the things she had were troublesome enough to give her a headache all day.
But that's precisely why the feeling of having someone sitting next to her, neither overstepping boundaries nor failing to follow her train of thought, is all the more precious.
She stared at one of the entries for a long time, then couldn't help but sigh.
"Who designed this place?" she said. "Why do all the roads have to be winding and circuitous before a machine can even reach something decent?"
Orion looked down through the mirror at the path she had just discovered.
"Because in its view, what you're touching now is something legitimate."
Yin Vector's lips twitched slightly as he looked at him with a hint of teasing in his tone: "You're starting to sound more and more like the system here."
"No, not at all," Orion replied calmly. "The system won't remind you that the previous partition took a long detour."
The vector stared at him for two seconds and couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright," she said. "Then you're much better than the system."
Orion looked at her, his lips twitching slightly: "You've certainly given me plenty of compliments."
Upon hearing this sentence, the quotient paused for a moment.
Then she leaned back and nodded openly.
"What's wrong with praising you?" she said. "If you weren't an administrator here, I wouldn't even want to come here. The system here is just too complicated."
Orion looked at her with a faint, comforting smile: "You've become quite adept at cursing the archives now."
"It deserves it."
The two machines then processed that set of data for a while longer.
Some she noticed herself, some were mentioned casually by Orian, and further still, she could even correct one of the misaligned classification paths before he even spoke to her.
Orion watched her move and exclaimed in approval, "You adapted very quickly."
Without pausing his work, Yin Xiang casually replied, "It was mainly because this place forced me to do it."
"Not entirely," Orion said. "You're a quick learner."
The vector fingertip paused on the interface for a moment, then turned its head to look at him.
Orion stated it as if it were a fact, his gaze still fixed on the projection, without making any attempt to emphasize his words.
That's precisely why it feels more realistic and makes the machine more comfortable.
After a half-second silence, the vector sensor suppressed the inexplicable unease that had risen within it and looked down at the data again: "...Your machine speaks much more normally than some others."
Orion glanced at her: "It sounds like there's a comparison point."
"That's too many," the vector said sincerely.
Orion didn't ask any further questions. He pushed aside a layer of documents in front of him to make room for her to see them more clearly.
-
She left Iron Castle earlier than usual that day.
Vector glided back to her residence in vehicle mode, deliberately performing a cool drift along the way. When she reached the door, she subconsciously glanced at the time, then belatedly realized that she had actually returned first today.
There's no machine inside.
It was very quiet.
She placed the data panel and access records on the table, stood there for two seconds, her gaze sweeping over the lockers and kitchen counter before she remembered: Zhen Tianzun's match today wasn't early, he'd probably be back a little later.
She could have ignored everything and sat down to review the information she had just found out that day. But after standing there for a moment, she turned around and went straight to the lockers.
Having lived here for so long, she had already figured out Zhen Tianzun's usual habits quite well.
What ratio should the high-concentration energy drink be? Which proportion makes him drink it the fastest? Should the temperature be slightly higher or slightly lower? What does he usually take first after training or a competition? Of course, he never said these things aloud, but she could tell.
She hadn't really focused on this before.
Things are different now; she's starting to think about paying it back.
It's not just about repaying the 200,000, nor is it simply about keeping accounts and transferring those small amounts of money back to Shanks.
To be more specific, it refers to her daily life here—living here, eating here, using here, and being casually looked after here.
When she had the ability, she didn't want to just keep taking it.
Of course, her opinion that the machine was a piece of junk remained unchanged.
She started preparing the solution, and after a while, when she put the high-concentration energy liquid on the table, she paused for a moment and looked down at the color and concentration.
It's pretty good, looks edible, and I didn't lose anything.
She didn't just randomly place the energy blocks next to her; she divided them according to Zhen Tianzun's usual habit of touching one type first and the other type later.
After she finished, she took a half step back, looked at the things on the table, and felt something was strange.
Hmm... she doesn't count as a Filipino maid.
When Zhen Tianzun returned, the first thing he saw when he opened the door was the things on the table.
My steps paused very briefly, almost like an illusion.
The high-concentration energy liquid was placed in his most convenient spot, and the proportions were clearly not haphazardly mixed. The energy blocks next to it weren't just randomly tossed open a box and onto the table; they were arranged according to his usual order of preparation.
Zhen Tianzun stood at the door, his gaze lingering on it for half a second, his eyebrows twitching slightly.
Then the corner of his mouth twitched as well.
The upward movement was very brief, barely a glimpse before it was suppressed again by itself.
Yin Vector walked out of the living room, leaned against the side, and looked at him.
"You're back?" she asked casually. "I got back early today, so I got ready first."
Zhen Tianzun grunted, walked over, picked up the cup of energy liquid, and glanced at it.
"Did you adjust it?"
"Of course," Vector crossed his arms. "Otherwise, how could it grow back on its own?"
Zhen Tianzun lowered his head and took a sip.
The concentration, temperature, and that final upward energy stimulation were all adjusted to his liking.
He put the cup down, his face still expressionless, and said indifferently, "It's alright, not as bad as industrial waste liquid."
Pointer vector: "..."
She was just about to go to her room to look at the borrowed documents when she heard this and stopped in her tracks: "Can't you say something normal?"
"I already said it," Zhen Tianzun glanced at her, "it's just that you didn't understand."
Yin Vector rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with him.
She didn't see that when Zhen Tianzhong picked up the energy drink, the corners of his lips still lifted slightly.
This old machine actually has a good eye.
Zhen Tianzun leaned back there, drank most of the energy liquid, and then his gaze returned to her, calling out to Yin Xiangzong, who was about to enter the room.
"Did you go to Iron Castle again today?"
"Hmm," Vector responded. "I went through the directories of a few old technical files, and Orion even helped me organize the paths for a while."
"Orion." Zhen Tianzun repeated the name, his tone indifferent, revealing nothing. He had simply heard that name quite a few times recently.
Without giving it much thought, Yin Zongxiang nodded and said, "He was free today, so we watched it together for a while."
Zhen Tianzun didn't say anything, lowered his head and took another sip of energy liquid, then spoke in a very calm tone: "You've been getting closer and closer to him lately."
This sounds like a statement, but for some reason, it just sounds a bit strange to me.
She stared at him for two seconds, but couldn't figure it out.
"What else can I do?" she said. "I can't be all lovey-dovey with the system every time I go to the archives to look up information."
Zhen Tianzun: "..."
He looked up at her, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just gave a very soft hum.
"The metaphors in your brain module are still just as bad."
"Then don't listen."
"It's a pity you always have to say it out loud."
The two machines exchanged a few words back and forth.
Vector glanced at the half-used energy block on the table, then remembered the small amount of Shanks he had just transferred out today, and said, "I transferred some more to you this week."
Zhen Tianzun didn't even lift his eyelids: "I saw it."
"It's not much," the vector paused, "but I will continue to pay it back."
This time, Zhen Tianzun actually glanced at her.
His gaze paused, lingering slightly longer than usual.
"I didn't stop you," he said.
"You didn't take less either."
"Nonsense," Zhen Tianzun said calmly, "You insisted on returning it, why shouldn't I accept it?"
The vector was blocked for a moment; that bastard machine actually had a point. She wanted to return it, and he accepted it; this made her feel more at ease to some extent.
Seeing her expression of wanting to refute but not knowing what to say, Zhen Tianzun's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he added casually, "Since you have this brain module, continue using it. Don't end up transferring money while being so poor that you have to eat the lowest-grade energy blocks."
After listening, Yin Vector twitched his lips with a mixture of amusement and helplessness.
This bastard's mouth is no better than Starscream's.
"……knew."