Cervantes

Cervantes's hand, holding his top hat, froze in mid-air. He looked at the weapon hovering before his neck and the wary young women, smiling helplessly as he gestured to indicate he meant no harm. "How about we put down our weapons first? I believe there must be some misunderstanding between us."

He and his companions had received the Sky-Father's command to come to this tall building and await these young women. He had intended to be a bit mysterious, but who knew they would be so vigilant? The moment they met, the atmosphere froze to an icy point.

Seeing that the young women were still unwilling to lower their weapons, Cervantes sighed softly. "I am Cervantes, a disciplinary officer of Skyline City. As you can see, I am an android, and androids will not harbor ill will towards humans, so please rest assured."

Saying this, Cervantes pointed his fingertip to his neck. Xu Xiaoyou's gaze narrowed, and she carefully distinguished a line of identification code on the young man's white-haired, red-eyed neck, revealing his android identity.

Only then did everyone lower their guard and begin to scrutinize the frail young man standing before them. He was clad in a black silk disciplinary officer's robe, with an intricately pleated ruff collar at the neckline, and a white shirt hidden beneath a dark red diagonal placket. Two strands of fabric ribbon trailed down from the wide cuffs of his sleeves.

Cervantes wore a pure black silk top hat adorned with a broad feather, and his wine-red pupils also bore an identification code.

He stood quietly in place, his presence as faint as a sculpture in a museum corner. In contrast, the red-haired young man beside him was tall and muscular, his body sculpted like carved steel, his arms thick enough to lift a thousand-pound weight. Dressed in fire-red overalls and a sports vest, he was conspicuous wherever he went.

"Allow me to introduce you. This is my crop, and also my assistant, Sancho. He is also... er... a disciplinary officer."

"Disciplinary officer? What a sissy name. I'm Skyline City's disciplinary inspection commissioner. If any android violates the New Gospel Book and refuses to change after repeated education, I'll go to their home and smash their head in!" Sancho said, patting his chest.

Cervantes made no comment, seemingly accustomed to his assistant's rough demeanor. "Additionally, Sancho is also a 'tag hunter'. I imagine your time is short, and to explain all this in detail would be too long-winded."

"I think you need some help. Follow me; let's leave here first. I will help you get rid of your current troubles."

In the young man's hand lay a book with a plain cover, its pages filled with mostly obscure and difficult-to-understand text. This was Skyline City's New Gospel Book.

As Cervantes's eyes brightened, the New Gospel Book began to turn its pages automatically. The land-air vehicle in mid-air emitted a silver-blue light and began to descend, stopping before the group. As the vehicle door slowly opened, cold mist rushed out through the gap, assailing them.

That was liquid nitrogen. Androids' active skin and internal circulatory systems could automatically adjust and adapt to extreme environments, even operating at minus two hundred degrees. Therefore, their working environments were often filled with liquid nitrogen, which over time could significantly reduce the maintenance costs of precision equipment.

The five looked at each other and entered the land-air vehicle.

The door slowly closed, and the land-air vehicle ascended again. The pursuing enemies were all dumbfounded, only able to stare as they departed.

The thermostatic system activated, and the warm yellow lights inside the vehicle flickered on. In the blink of an eye, the sealed vehicle walls transformed like an oil painting imbued with color blocks. First a single spot, then as that spot of color spread rapidly, the entire carriage instantly became transparent and clear. The city's scenery was distinctly presented before them, with towering buildings rushing past on both sides.

In the distance, an incredibly magnificent arc-shaped building stood, nestled in the center of the city, its apex piercing the sky, like a colossal beast at rest.

"It's the Ark." As if guessing what the young women were thinking, Cervantes spoke calmly, his eyes reflecting the building.

The building named the Ark was where humans lived in Skyline City. The internal structure of the building was infinitely close to a beehive; millions of units were enough to accommodate all humans in Skyline City. Countless drones entered and exited the Ark daily, responsible for caring for the daily lives of the humans inside and cleaning metabolic waste.

Many humans in Skyline City had lost their mobility and required their support.

"Do you know what we're thinking?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.

"Of course, our creation was for the purpose of serving humanity. Our visual modules have tens of thousands of sensory components that can capture subtle facial expressions and understand human thoughts," Cervantes replied respectfully.

Xu Xiaoyou became interested, raising her chin and gesturing towards the red-haired young woman.

Akabane Tsubaki was resting her chin in her hand, sitting in her seat, staring blankly at the passing scenery.

Cervantes chuckled softly, lowering his voice:

"She wants to eat sweets."

The interior of the land-air vehicle was quite spacious, allowing for free movement. It was equipped with a small bar. Akabane Tsubaki, sensing something, looked around but didn't pay much attention.

Xu Xiaoyou then raised an eyebrow towards Bai Youyou.

"This young lady wants to... pick you up? I apologize, I don't quite understand her motivation."

Angelina glanced over, and Cervantes nodded. "She has a bit of acrophobia and some motion sickness."

"I don't get motion sickness, and it's impossible for me to have acrophobia," Angelina retorted coldly, her arms crossed. But the impatient tapping of her boot tip on the floor betrayed her.

Alright, Angelina admitted she was a little uncomfortable. Her senses were far sharper than anyone else's here, and she was particularly sensitive to such uncontrolled changes in sound, airflow, and direction.

She was just a little uncomfortable, that's all.

As for Tang Xin, the young woman smiled and looked over, and Cervantes's face stiffened. He looked at Xu Xiaoyou for help.

"She's thinking that if I dare to say her thought from a second ago, she'll silence me."

"What about me?" Xu Xiaoyou calmly pointed to herself.

After seriously confirming, Cervantes's eyes drooped slightly. "I apologize."

So, he silently turned off the 'micro-expression identification' mode.

The land-air vehicle glided smoothly through the air, heading towards the destination preset in its navigation system.

Inside the Ark, in a passage on a certain floating platform, an android disciplinary officer was conducting his routine inspection as usual, preparing for a handover. A lively young woman approached, waving in his direction.

"Hello, Miss Troy."

He didn't know her. All disciplinary officers shared the Hera Network, and he had retrieved her identity and name by scanning the identification code in her eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Ain."

The young woman skipped past him. The man vaguely felt something was wrong. He stopped and looked back at her retreating figure.

All data showed no abnormalities; all information indicated she was there to take over his post. Yet, he had an indescribable sense of unease. He knew most of the disciplinary officers who worked in his area, or at least recognized them. Recently, no new recruits had been transferred to the unit.

How could he have never seen this person before?

Just as he reached out, intending to call her back and question her, his entire body froze in place. His vision was instantly consumed by crimson. Dense streams of data rapidly crawled across his terrified eyes; upon closer inspection, they were clearly tiny spiders!

His vocal cords dripped onto the ground before he could utter a sound. All his systems were violently crashing. His skin, muscles, bones, every inch of his body tissue dissolved amidst the screeching system alerts.

The man collapsed to the ground with a sticky, muffled thud, soon melting into a pool of blood. His eyeballs, floating in the bloody organizational fluid, continued to roll until the very last moment.

The scene he witnessed before his consciousness dissipated was etched in his mind.