It's Not Easy To Be A Man After Travelling To The Future - by Madam Ru

Chapter 16 "Little Four Wants To Earn Money"

Little Four rolled around the floor once sheepishly, before rolling over to Ling Lan's side. "It's okay. After fighting with you, I feel much better. I was really very unhappy before ..."

"How so?"

"When we were in the hover car earlier and Ling-Zero-Seven spoke, I had thought that this world had someone like me. I was so happy ... since leaving Mandora, I have never met another of my kind, I was so lonely ... but, after secretly talking to Ling-Zero-Seven, I found that Ling-Zero-Seven is not the kin I'm looking for. Although he is very similar, but it's just ... different ... not the same ... do you understand what I'm saying?" Little Four asked, somewhat incoherently, his face full of hope. He couldn't be blamed for his confusion; his mental intelligence was at the level of a five to six year old child at the moment.

Ling Lan replied jokingly, "Just like a human and a monkey?"

Little Four's eyes brightened and he nodded vigorously, saying, "Yeah, just like that."

Ling Lan patted Little Four's head affectionately. "Little Four, you forget, I am also a solitary existence in this world. Since you are also alone, and I am also alone, let us continue walking forward as companions."

Little Four was puzzled. "You are my host, of course I will continue to be bound to you in contract and never leave."

Ling Lan pulled Little Four into an embrace, saying softly, "That's not what I'm saying. I mean like family, like siblings, like the best of friends. Let's entrust our backs to each other, and become each other's most trusted person." Ling Lan was willing to put her faith in Little Four, for Little Four was the one who had accompanied her through the end of her last life, and he was also the one who had given her this new life. All these experiences had made Ling Lan accept Little Four, viewing him as a younger brother.

Ling Lan was determined to compensate for the regrets of the past life with her new life, and so she wanted a healthy body, freedom and space, and also a friend she could talk to about anything. A younger brother who trusted her, who she could also trust in return ...

Laying in Ling Lan's arms, Little Four was a little lost. He could not understand — his core dictated that he must be loyal to his host, so why did Ling Lan say they should become each other's most trustworthy person? Did they not already have that sort of relationship?

This was the first time Little Four was thinking with his full processing power — even if his core chip became overheated, even if his processes started to slow, he still wanted the answer to this question. Because of this, he knew what it was to want for the first time. He did not want to see Ling Lan disappointed. Even though he knew this was against regulations, he wanted to be selfish just this once.

********

It was now two months after the fight, and during this time, Little Four had managed to infiltrate this world's internet through the bed's equipped network. Under Little Four's clarifications, Ling Lan had learned that the virtual net here was already very developed, fully able to stand as a secondary world on its own.

Ling Lan highly suspected that her mum was able to confine herself at home most likely because of the existence of this virtual network, allowing her to do whatever she wanted to without needing to step foot out of her home. Moreover, she wouldn't have to worry about her identity, and could choose to live freely.

From the information he gleaned on the internet, Little Four had discovered the true value of the gene stimulating agents, and had also found out the typical absorption rate of the infants here. After Ling Lan was informed, she thought back to her first session with fear — they had overdid it with the absorption of the agent that time after all. Fortunately, throughout history, there were still a few babies who had absorbed even more agent than her, so at least she wasn't breaking any records.