Chapter 3 Black

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"Whew~" Mu Fan exhaled lightly. He had returned to his hideout, back to the industrial wasteland piled with alloy junk, and his heart settled.

With a bang, the Black Egg was tossed onto the pile of scrap to the side. Then Mu Fan's eyes fixated on the fierce beast lying on the ground. He swallowed his saliva and ignored the Black Egg that was thrown aside.

The campfire crackled, and a simple rack was already set up over it. Large chunks of meat skewered on iron rods, golden oil dripping down onto the charcoal, producing wisps of smoke that carried an irresistible fragrance. Mu Fan occasionally carved the meat with a dagger, sprinkling salt over it. Mm, meat far more delicious and sumptuous than plant rats. Enough meat from one hunt to eat for two days. A forest where he could find such meat again. Today's haul was great, and Mu Fan's eyes happily squinted.

"Creak," Mu Fan suddenly stood and turned around, "Who's there!"

Body half-crouched, his right hand reversed the dagger in front, and his left hand held a fist against his waist. All around was silent as if nothing had happened.

"Creak" again. Mu Fan quickly turned to look right, the spot where he had just tossed the Black Egg. No doubt, it seemed to be that Black Egg causing the noise.

Creak, creak, the Black Egg under the flickering firelight cracked a seam as if something was indeed about to break out of it.

Mu Fan acted as if facing a great enemy, gripping the dagger tightly in his right hand. He began cautiously adjusting his stance, eyes fixed on the somewhat eerie Black Egg.

A series of mechanical electronic sounds suddenly emanated from inside the Black Egg, intermittently, "Mecha body self-detecting... Time check, data disarray anomaly, time unknown... Database integrity check, 91% loss... Main brain artificial intelligence detected, 87% integrity... Initiating Alpha intelligence module, enabling emotion simulation, beep, emotional simulation module damaged, default to secondary plan: skip, background repair. Connecting onboard database... Beep, Alpha supercomputer initiated successfully, detecting surrounding environment..."

The Black Egg then fell silent. Mu Fan carefully moved a small step, and with a hiss, a small opening appeared in the middle of the Black Egg, extending out an antenna. At its tip was a white sphere, faint blue light flickering within.

Mu Fan did not move again, only saw the white sphere emit a faint blue, vertical fan-shaped light screen. After rotating in a circle, it scanned the alert face of Mu Fan, and the sphere stopped.

"Scan complete, detected number of active biological entities: two, identification: human, identification: fly-like insect."

"Scan complete, no other active biological entities detected."

"According to Smart Brain directives, switching current carrier's primary goal to survival."

The faint blue light screen suddenly turned red, extending to scan the entire body again. Mu Fan squinted without making any movement.

"Detecting Star System ADO network connection, detection failed... Beep, activating host system, initiating recognition procedure, target biological entity: human, meeting criteria; detected target biological entity's pupil slight contraction, pulse stable, body proportion — slim, muscle density — strong! Display of alert posture, unknown burst power, system determined — non-civilian, meets host selection procedure criteria, recognized as meeting recognition procedure."

The light screen narrowed to a line before retracting, and the electronic voice resounded again, "System host recognition. Please place the palm on the sphere probe..."

Mu Fan was stunned for a moment and did not move.

The electronic voice continued, "System host recognition. Please place the palm on the sphere probe..."

"System host recognition, please place the palm on the sphere probe... If the target does not engage the recognition procedure within 30 seconds, the carrier will initiate the self-destruct system. Countdown 30, 29, 28..."

What? Mu Fan was shocked; there was no time for thinking. Who knew the power of that thing's self-destruction? No time to think as the system countdown reached 20 seconds. Mu Fan pressed his hand onto it, grasping the sphere with the faint blue glow.

Tss! Mu Fan suddenly felt numerous steel spikes seemingly extend from within the sphere, piercing into his palm, and in the instant, he wanted to retract his hand, they withdrew.

The blue light of the sphere turned red, then returned to blue.

"Host DNA information confirmed, system binding successful, system activating... Please host, name the carrier."

Mu Fan had already withdrawn his palm, seeing no fewer than 20 bleeding points on his palm and felt speechless. Was there a need to pierce so many pins...

"Please host, name the carrier," the electronic voice sounded once more, as if with a hint of emotion.

"Black Egg!" Mu Fan said peevishly. It could only be seen and not eaten; it had to be called Black Egg!

"...Detection of host's tone, implying negativity. The system defaults the name as derogatory, requiring the host to rename." This time, the electronic voice seemed genuinely emotional. Mu Fan blankly stared at the pitch-black object in front of him! This Black Egg could understand what he meant? That's not scientific. Weren't those speaking always emotionless, don't bully me because I didn't study much!

"Please host, rename!"

"Black Egg," Mu Fan smiled this time, saying with a gentle tone.

"Beep, detected the name is the same as the first, determined host has a mischievous intent. The system rejects the name. Please host, rename."

Hey! Damn you! This time, Mu Fan was determined. He had already decided in his heart that this Black Egg was bullying him for reading less.

"Egg!"

"Sorry, system does not accept. Please rename!"

"Black!"

"Name confirmed. Thank you, host, for naming. System codename: Black."

...

Mu Fan held a large piece of meat, chewing expressionlessly at the Black Egg. No, it was "Black" now. The meat, which had excited him minutes ago, no longer appealed to him.

He had confirmed that this system was definitely intelligent. Earlier, it could certainly be guaranteed that the system was playing him, and he was utterly unhappy about it.

"Black" made no sound after the host recognition, even the white sphere was retracted, seemingly aware that Mu Fan's mood was off.

Suddenly, as Mu Fan was still eating the meat, his mouth stopped because he saw the Black Egg's probe emerging. But the moment his mouth stopped... damn it! The damned probe seemed to sense it too and stopped!!

"Black Egg!!!!! Talk to me, stop pretending to be a corpse! Speak without pretending to be a regular Light Computer! I know you definitely understand me! Are you deliberately playing with me? If you don't talk, I'll dismantle your lousy shell!"

Mu Fan suddenly erupted without warning, feeling a bit like angry and ashamed.

"The system's current carrier shell is Omra Alloy, hardness is 13 times that of the industrial steel in the host's hand. The system determines that the host cannot harm 'Black.' Please refer to this information," the electronic voice burst out promptly this time, at an incredibly rapid pace.

"..." Mu Fan suddenly felt his stomach was full, and then said each word viciously, as if a cold wind squeezing through his teeth, "Black!—Please, respond, to, the, host's, inquiry!"

The white probe trembled a bit, then shakily rose, "Apologies host, the system detected a prank command in the execution code that cannot be altered, likely set as an Easter egg by the system developers. Black adheres to all your commands, centering all interests around the host, please rest assured."

"Introduce yourself, Black," Mu Fan finally felt some relief.

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PS: Thanks to the book friend "Electric Rice Cooker under Hotpot" for the reward!

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