Chapter 244

Chapter 244 – Both Ends of the Scale 25

Before Kui Xin returned to the base with food, he was pondering what kind of state Four Leaves would be in after having Ambereye’s mental implant. Upon stepping into the base, however, Four Leaves as usual approached him.

“I like milk cereal,” he said. “And I like Maotoufu even more.”

Kui Xin stopped abruptly and looked at Four Leaves with a fixed gaze, then laughed a bit.

“Did Ambereye teach you this?” she asked.

“He only told me what liking something means,” Four Leaves blinked his eyes. “Now I know what it means to like something.”

Kui Xin glanced at Ambereeye, who stood leaning against the wall with arms crossed, although his brows were slightly furrowed, he did not try to stop Four Leaves from showing closeness towards Kui Xin.

How could Four Leaves understand deep emotions? He knew a little bit about it but did not know how to hide it. Seeing someone close to him always made him want to get closer, as if he wanted to express all his love and trust.

He learned a lot, but seemingly hadn’t grown much in people skills.

A mature person wouldn’t talk about liking so openly. Only children would do that. As people grow up, their feelings become more internal, and they find it harder to express the word ‘like’ to a specific person. They also understood the weight and significance of those two words.

“Let’s eat, Four Leaves, have you learned how to prepare cereal now?” Kui Xin handed him the bag.

Four Leaves replied, “Theoretically yes, but I haven’t practiced it yet. You first need a bowl, put the cereal into the bowl, then open up the milk package, mix them together.”

“Go on, that’s right,” Kui Xin said. “The bowls are in the storage cabinet by the wall.”

Four Leaves clumsily began his task.

“Still acting like a child,” Kui Xin muttered to herself.

“Away from just letting him understand things, make him know what actions to take in certain situations. Like loading him with pre-set programming, he will act according to that when faced with problems.” Ambereye said. “Other things still require him to experience and learn.”

“So you and Black Obsidian and Silverface grew up similarly?” Kui Xin asked curiously.

“In the early days, the mental implant technology wasn’t quite advanced; it was only a supplementary method. We left our tanks earlier and grew up more naturally. Mechanized Dawn would assign teachers to teach us knowledge, unlike Four Leaves, whose body and mind were hastened.” Ambereye stated.

Kui Xin was somewhat surprised, “You even had teachers…”

“Yes, at that time the technology wasn’t mature, using immature products risked them breaking down.” Ambereye nodded gently. “Teachers didn’t interact much with us, just taught us knowledge. Most times they taught us online, never personally tutoring us. Intellect is a standard for testing the qualifications of humanoids. If one can’t learn, they’re eliminated.”

Four Leaves clumsily brought three bowls of cereal and some sandwiches to the table, arranging the sandwiches beautifully.

Ambereeye was puzzled, “I never taught him that…”

“That must have been Hunter Falcon teaching him,” Kui Xin walked to the table, sitting down.

Four Leaves grabbed a sandwich and took a bite, “Wow, this is the taste! I like it for the first time!”

He hadn’t had the chance to taste most of the world’s food, so to him, every flavor was new. When he just came out of the nutrient tank, even the texture of fabrics was new to him.

Ambereye’s pupils softened.

This world was harsh for humanoids, but Four Leaves was full of vitality, perceiving the world with the purest of eyes, which to some extent alleviated Ambereye’s sorrow.

Kui Xin casually took a sandwich and bit into it.

Ambereye knew what her face looked like, whether masked or not. As soon as she took off the mask, Four Leaves immediately stopped chewing and stared at her face nonstop.

“What?” Kui Xin asked.

“I want it, remember what you truly look like,” said Four Leaves. “Now I remember it, I won’t forget.”

Ambereye hesitated momentarily before also picking up a sandwich and placing it at the edge of her lips. Kui Xin bought food enough for three people.

The scene of the trio eating together had an odd sense of warmth.

Ambereye had no idea what qualified as “warmth,” but the atmosphere at the table was quiet, not cold-quiet but serene and comforting—not unpleasant or uncomfortable.

Kui Xin had always thought Ambereye and Black Obsidian were the most self-aware humanoids, but she didn’t realize these two were still learning and understanding things half-heartedly.

They knew what family and affection were, what sacrifice and empathy meant, but knew nothing of other feelings. The atmosphere between Ambereye and Black Obsidian while eating was never peaceful; they ate quickly, rested punctually, trained regularly, and were ready to start another mission at any moment.

“It feels so strange,” Ambereye pondered oddly.

As soon as he thought of the detained Black Obsidian, his heart sunk involuntarily.

“This afternoon you’ll come with me for something,” Kui Xin said as she put down her spoon.

“Okay,” replied Ambereye.

“Someone new is joining us and we need to screen them lastly,” Kui Xin explained. “Your control ability fits perfectly for this job.”

Ambereye instinctively gazed at Kui Xin.

“You don’t fear I might…”

He closed his mouth, feeling both suspicious and astonished.

Mechanized Dawn, who even raised him, couldn’t fully trust his control ability. The ability to manipulate minds was too terrifying; Ambereye’s extraordinary abilities didn’t require any medium to activate, but Kui Xin’s hypnotic sound required voice. Not Ambereye, he could control and subtly alter thoughts silently.

Ever since Ambereye began working with her, he had never seen any other members of the Shadowless Organization. He understood why Kui Xin kept it this way – if he tampered with the members’ minds, Kui Xin would stand alone, which was indeed frightening.

“I’m not afraid,” Kui Xin picked up a metal mask and put it back on face. “I’ve also made a choice, I entrust you with a level of trust. I’ve proven my sincerity, and your performance reflects your integrity. Now, we can take our cooperation further. Don’t let me down or betray me, Ambereye.”

Four Leaves looked dumbfoundedly back and forth between Kui Xin and Ambereye, attempting to understand the conversation.

“I will do as we agreed, you let me stay to help and I’ll comply with it.” Ambereye said. “I don’t want to be your enemy, and I believe you don’t want that either. Having a friend is better than having an enemy.”

“Understood.” Kui Xin nodded, “Then we’ll head out shortly.”

She instructed Four Leaves, “Your physical training needs to start. Use the treadmill under low speed to get accustomed to exercising.”

“Okay…” Four Leaves responded.

Ambereye said, “Follow me, I will teach you how to use the treadmill.”

“Alright.” After finishing his cereal, Four Leaves followed Ambereye to the treadmill to learn it.

Kui Xin watched them fiddle with the treadmill.

Augus said, “That scene seems familiar.”

“Do you think so?” Kui Xin rebutted through the data link.

“The deeper collaboration we once had seemed like this.” Augus said, “From this, I’ve realized the principle of trust is reciprocal; it cannot be purely given nor solely taken.”

“Yes.” Kui Xin agreed.

“You chose to trust Ambereye because you believed in his intrinsic goodness, or because he hasn’t abused his abilities on Four Leaves unnecessarily?” Augus asked.

“Both are reasons.” Kui Xin replied calmly. “But neither are the primary reason.”

“Neither of the above is a reason?” Augus asked.

“I chose to use Ambereye because I had no suitable and mature underlings around, and Ambereye was readily available. Not using him would be a waste.” Kui Xin analyzed coolly. “Also, he cares about Four Leaves, and so does Four Leaves about me; my attitude towards Four Leaves could sway his attitude towards me. In other words, for all intents and purposes, Four Leaves is a card in my hand.”

“As expected, that explanation aligns with your style,” Augus said.

Kui Xin stood up from the table, saying, “It’s almost time, Ambereye.”

Ambereye turned to walk over.

Four Leaves waved goodbye to both of them, “Bye.”

A spatial vortex opened up, and Kui Xin led Ambereye in.

Dressed in gear and wearing his face-mask, Ambereye asked, “What do you need me to do?”

“One of the interviewees may be a spy or an outright liar,” Kui Xin said, “Your task is to control them.”

“Do you mean controlling them without killing them, aiming to extract information from them later?” Ambereye guessed correctly.

“Yes.” Kui Xin confirmed. “If we recruit more members in the future, our enemies will likely send spies to infiltrate our ranks. Since we can’t stop it, we’ll attempt to turn the situation around.”

“I see,” Ambereye responded.

They reached a deserted base, previously a pool hall that went bankrupt. The inside stuff hadn’t been removed yet. The conference table was covered in dust, but it didn’t matter; this was just a temporary meeting place.

There was a long conference table inside the base, and Kui Xin randomly pulled a chair and sat down on it. Ambereye sat down next to Kui Xin.

She sent a message through the communicator to Su Rong, “We can begin.”

Su Rong: “OK.”

After about two minutes, she added, “Scalpel has arrived at the designated location, ready for transmission.”

The meeting room instantly transformed into a dark blue spatial vortex. Out stepped Scalpel, who paused when he saw Kui Xin and Ambereye. The previous selection process was conducted remotely; this time it involved live interviews, catching Scalpel somewhat off-guard.

“Sit down,” Kui Xin instructed.

Scalpel complied quietly, saying nothing.

Su Rong: “Croaker has arrived at the designated location.”

Once more, Kui Xin activated the spatial vortex to bring Croaker there.

This repeated several times until all the short-listed candidates had arrived in the conference room.

Scalpel, Golden Ring, Croaker…

“That’s quite a crowd,” Santamato, the last to arrive, was surprised as he found a place to sit. He couldn’t help but glance at Kui Xin, seated prominently in the center.

Minutes passed, and a dark figure emerged abruptly from the floor.

Su Rong’s shadow double materialized, taking a seat beside Kui Xin, facing Ambereye.

Holding his gaze discreetly, Ambereye observed the shadow double, while Su Rong used it to observe Ambereye.

“Four are here, everyone that should be has arrived,” Kui Xin looked around the room and introduced herself. “My codename is Maotoufu, head of external operations from the Shadowless Organization.” She tapped her metal left hand on the surface of the table.

“You’ve all passed the initial interview. I am impressed by your abilities. However, our organization doesn’t tolerate disloyalty. You need to prove your trustworthiness.”

Silence filled the room.

Kui Xin leaned back slightly and spoke softly, “Among you, there is at least one prospective traitor… Guess who?”

Croaker lifted his head, scanning everyone. Scalpel’s back stiffened imperceptibly, and Santamato watched vigilantly, starting to ponder.

Jinyuan’s heart sank. “Maotoufu is going to play ‘Who Is the Spy’ right from the start!”