Interstellar World: Arc 8.10

Graverson sighed and gave Bai Lixin and Ghar a hard look from behind.

If you can lose sight of a droid right next to you, why don't you lose yourselves?!

Graverson's beard twitched as he blew out an exasperated breath.

Graverson suddenly stopped in front of a cloth stall.

With wide eyes, Graverson asked the stall owner, "Have you seen an old counter robot? very dumb, black metal and tall." Graverson asked viciously as he gestured to his height with his hand.

Anyone who could do business in the black market was no pushover.

The stall owner didn't care much about him. He continued counting the coins in his hand without looking up.

Graverson glared at him for a couple of moments, then suddenly his eyes lit up and he grabbed the stall owner's hand, "Say, where did you get the star coins in your hand?"

Although Graverson couldn't beat Ghar, the average person was a piece of cake for him.

He squeezed the stallholder's arm so hard that the stallholder raised his face with a pained look and begged, "Yes, I saw the robot. He bought cloth from me."

Dwarves have a penchant for crafting and moving everything around, and coins are no exception.

The dwarf had carved a small hammer symbol in an obscure corner on the coins given to them.

Graverson had seen the symbol on the 10 yuan worth of star coins.

"Where's that droid?" Graverson's eyes went wide, and the force in his hand increased.

"He bought a black cloth from me and was taken away by two men."

"Taken by two men?" Graverson frowned and let out a sigh, "To where?"

"Towards that little alleyway." The stallholder wailed in pain and reached out to point to the location of a dark little alleyway.

Graverson violently threw back the stallholder's hand and raced towards the little alleyway.

Bai Lixin and Ghar were also asking the shopkeepers one by one. Bai Lixin was so enamoured with Ghar that he had long forgotten about S419M. Until now, he hadn't remembered to ask S419M about Rubbish's whereabouts.

Finally, the bewildered Bai Lixin came to his senses and asked in his mind, with a slap of his head: [S419M! S419M!]

[Lord host! You finally remembered me!!! Wuu wuu wuu!!!] S419M cried. All Bai Lixin felt was a headache as S419M wailed.

Bai Lixin mentally sighed. It was still Ghar who was more considerate and understanding.

S419M's cries became louder as he heard Bai Lixin's thoughts: [It's only new people laughing, but old people are crying. How is this robot called Ghar any better than me?]

Bai Lixin: [He can do the laundry, cook and make the clothes.]

[He's not as knowledgeable as I am!]

[He does the laundry, the cooking, and the tailoring.]

[He's not as sweet as I am!]

[He can do the laundry, cook, and make clothes.]

S419M: [... Wow!!!]

Bai Lixin rubbed his temples: [Shut up! Did you forget that you can initiate a conversation with me? It's not like I cut the connection to the system.]S419M sighed resignation, [I was just jealous and trying to see how often you would remember me.]

But it turns out you really never even thought of me.]

[Well, I've remembered you now, haven't I? Help me find the counter robot, Rubbish.]

[As ordered, Lord Host. Beginning to locate Rubbish's geographic location. Ding, successful location. Will now transmit the route to Rubbish's location to the host. Ding! Route transmission was successful. The red line leads to the counter robot's location.]

Bai Lixin tapped Ghar's shoulder after receiving the route, "Let's go! I know where Rubbish is." Bai Lixin said as he ran, also darting straight for the small alleyway that Graverson had just run into.

The alley was dark, so Ghar radiated two rays of light from his eyes to illuminate Bai Lixin.

Within a few moments of running, two figures appeared in front of them. But they were more like a figure and the remains of a robot.

In the darkened aisle, the counter droid, which had been fine a moment before, now lay crooked on the ground.

The light in the red eyes had gone out, and its body was somewhat twisted and contorted, but a roll of cloth was still wrapped tightly around its arms.

The chest had been broken open in a violent manner, and the core that had been supplying it with energy had been dismantled.

Graverson was standing dumbfounded in front of Rubbish, his form forlorn and his body slightly huddled.

He suddenly roared, "Ma, who is it, who the hell dares to do this to Rubbish? I'm going to waste him!!!"

He twisted his head to look at Bai Lixin, his eyes glinting luridly against the dark sky.

Ghar took a step forward and shielded Bai Lixin behind him.

Graverson was furious and had already lost his reason as to who stood before him and whether he had the power to stand up to them or not.

With a roar of rage, Graverson lunged forward and struck Ghar's body with the head of his hammer.

However, Ghar did not fight back as he usually did; he stood there motionless, taking in Graverson's anger.

After a long moment, Ghar said flatly, "Rubbish is a robot."

Graverson growled, "Can't a robot have feelings?! He was my robot, the one I've spent three years with! "

Ghar paused, "I mean, Rubbish is a robot. Every robot has a memory chip. As long as he has a memory chip, he can be fixed perfectly. "

Graverson stiffened and looked up at Ghar dully, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, move Mr. Graverson. You're in my way. "

It was then that Graverson wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and made way for Ghar.

Ghar approached Rubbish and half sat him on the ground. He then felt around the back of Rubbish's head, and he found a hidden switch.

With a press of the switch, Rubbish's head slowly opened, and inside was a glowing blue memory chip.

Ghar took the chip and said without expression, "Let's go. I'm sorry, Mr. Graverson, but Rubbish's body has reached the end of its life because of its quality. Even without this trauma, it would have been unable to function in three years. I took a look, and concluded that there is no need for Rubbish's body to be repaired."

Graverson's eyes flared with anger once again as he listened, "What do you mean?! You're telling me to give him up? Don't think you can despise my robot just because you're a high-tech thing. "

Ghar didn't even bat an eyelid, "Mr Graverson, please hear me out. There is no need to repair his body because he needs a brand new one. Do you want me to create the same body for him as before, or create a body that is slightly inferior to mine but also high-tech? "

Graverson gulped, "Er, that… If he's made into a high tech gadget, will his... " He took a hand to his temple and swirled it a few times, " will it affect his intelligence?"

Ghar flattened his hand out in front of Graverson, "This is a memory chip. A robot's body is just a shell loaded with memories. As long as the memory chip is still there, it's still him. There's just one more problem. "

Graverson asked, "What's the problem?"

"If he gets a high-tech body, it could take a long time for Rubbish to get used to it. So what is your choice as his owner? "

Graverson licked his lips and hesitated, "Ah…can't we ask Rubbish himself?"

Ghar gave Graverson a deep look and nodded, "Fine, let's go back first then."

Graverson hesitated and glanced back at Rubbish's broken body. He gritted his teeth before turning back and picking it up, "Let's go back. The bastards who hurt my robot should count themselves lucky. I'll make them pay a thousand times over if I ever come across them! "

Ghar picked Bai Lixin and sat him in the crook of his arm and replied, "We'll find them."

On the way back, they passed a few stalls that they had shopped at earlier. Ghar scavenged a lot of parts, including the simulated robotic kinetic energy device that they had seen before but abandoned.

Rubbish's body was made of metal and was bound to be heavy, but Ghar didn't have any free hands to help Graverson carry it. He was carrying Bai Lixin in one hand and the materials in the other.

Graverson gritted his teeth and half-bent his legs as he struggled to hold Rubbish's body.

The body was worn out, but he didn't have the heart to throw it away, so he had to bear it.

Their actions were not conspicuous in this crowded street, and the other five they had moved with had not returned from their search.

Graverson had agreed to meet them in front of the dwarf's house at dawn, so he was not worried that they would be lost.

Once in the dwarf's home, Ghar found a reading machine to put the memory chip into.

Three bright spots slowly appeared on what had been a blue screen. Two above and one below, forming a simple face.

"Where is this? It's so dark." Rubbish's voice rang out from the speaker.

Ghar sniffed and turned on the camera, and Rubbish yelled, "Yikes! Master! You've become so tall and majestic! You too, Ghar, also Lord Bai Lixin! "

Graverson slapped the top of the quad box and said hatefully, "You're the one who's turned into nothing but a memory chip, idiot!"

"Look at this!" Graverson said in exasperation as he lowered Rubbish's broken body to the floor.