Chapter 483.1: Rather Than Call It An Experiment, I'd Say It's A Grand Blueprint!

North of Dawn City.

On the bustling commercial street, Frost and Eclipse stood at the entrance of Teng Teng's Hut, dressed in maid uniforms and smiling as they watched the crowd walking past them.

It had already been some time since they arrived in Dawn City.

With the passage of time, not only had the vibrant city changed, but so had they, two androids now accepted and welcomed by the community.

The black fluffy lining complemented the white frilly skirt, the pure white fabric perfectly wrapping around the metallic shine of their thighs, tracing out the elegant curves and silhouette defined by human ergonomics.

Standing beside Frost, Eclipse had opted for a completely different style.

At Teng Teng’s suggestion, it had chosen the mysterious black theme to match its reserved, quiet, and serious personality.

Recently, they had upgraded the compatible hardware for their Intellect Plugin, replacing their once mannequin-like facial features with ones nearly indistinguishable from humans.

Although the extra features were somewhat unnecessary for A-series androids, whose primary purpose was combat, the change had dramatically boosted their popularity in Dawn City.

Just like what was happening at the moment.

Almost every passerby on the street would pause to admire the two of them standing at the door.

As a polite android, Frost responded to each of these gazes with a warm smile and a friendly nod.

As noon approached, foot traffic on the street finally thinned.

Seizing the quiet moment, Frost showed a satisfied smile and said to Eclipse, who stood nearby, “Look, Eclipse, all those eyes full of trust, admiration, even affection... Don’t you think it’s wonderful?”

Lately, it had tried many jobs. Hauling bricks, mixing cement, hunting mutants, but none brought it as much joy as this.

Only there did it earn not just wages, but admiration.

“What use is that?” Eclipse looked at it expressionlessly, its voice calm but tinged with faint curiosity.

“How could it be useless?” Frost looked at it in shock. “Don’t you feel it? That sudden heartbeat-like jolt? That joy deep from your CPU... It’s like... like the whole intellect plugin is on fire!”

Unable to process that sentence, Eclipse froze for several seconds before asking like it it was talking to a dumbass robot, “Is your processing power insufficient?”

“Exactly the opposite!” Frost’s face lit up with enthusiasm, clenching its right fist. “Looking at all those happy faces, I just feel even more motivated to work... Ahhh, I really want to raise one! I’ll work for him, and he just needs to be happy!”

Eclipse didn’t know how to respond. “...?”

It was finding its strange colleague harder and harder to understand. It really wanted to open its AI core and see what kind of weird code was running inside.

What it understood even less was the engineer who designed its colleague. Why would someone install something like an Intellect Plugin on a damn A-series combat android?

A proper combat android should eliminate all security risks for its employer without hesitation.

Emotions were nothing but a liability on the battlefield.

Just then, the door to Teng Teng's Hut swung open, accompanied by a sweet breeze and the jingle of wind chimes.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Seeing the cute little shopkeeper, Frost smiled proudly and modestly replied, “Not at all. Rather, we should thank you for providing us with this internship opportunity that we've been able to gather such valuable experimental data and materials.”

Experimental data?

Materials?

Teng Teng furrowed her brows, asking cautiously in a hushed voice, “It’s not... Dangerous research, is it?”

“Of course not!” Frost quickly waved its hands while putting on a reassuring smile on its face. “It’s all for eternal happiness and peace. Rather than call it an experiment, I’d say it’s a grand blueprint.”

“... Though it may sound complicated, please don’t worry. Leave the complicated things to us.”

Teng Teng was a bit dazed. “Eternal happiness?”

Frost nodded with a gentle smile. “

Mm

! Simply put, it’s so that all organic life can live peacefully, happily, and safely under the protection of androids.”

That loving gaze gave Teng Teng goosebumps. She had a feeling the game was getting weirder. Thankfully, she was just a plain old clothing designer. As long as she didn’t go triggering any flags, she probably wouldn’t get pulled into any troublesome storylines.

“Um, your work for today is done... Hua Hua just got back from the Iron Axe Tribe. She’ll handle the guest reception now.”

Recently, the Autumn Weed and Autumn Leaves sisters from the Iron Axe Tribe had improved their Devil's Silk weaving process. Without compromising quality, they had made the fabric softer and cut labor time by 10% to 20%.

Teng Teng had sent Hua Hua to fetch some samples to incorporate into her latest designs.

After sending Hua Hua out in the morning, memories came flooding back to Teng Teng.

The original silk-spinning and weaving techniques had all been adapted from her real-world experience and taught to the wastelanders. But now, their craftsmanship far surpassed her own as a self-taught mentor.

Anyway, it was a good thing as it left her free to focus on her true passion, design.

Recently, Tail and the others had sailed to the southern islands thousands of kilometers away, and word had it that her artwork was receiving great attention there.

“Are you sure we’re not needed anymore?” Frost asked Teng Teng, a tinge of disappointment in its voice.

“No need. You two have your own responsibilities,” Teng Teng said, handing silver coins to Frost with a smile. “Here’s your pay.”

“Oh! Wages!” Frost’s eyes lit up. It held the coins above her head, inspecting them carefully before tucking them away in content.

“Well then, please let us know if you need help next time... Oh right, we should return the uniforms.”

It reached to lift the hem of its skirt, preparing to take the outfit off.

Seeing it, Teng Teng’s face flushed instantly. She hurried to stop Frost. “No need! You can keep them... Please just keep them on!”

Seriously, was Ideal City really that liberal?!

Changing clothes right in the street...

The mental image that popped into her head made her blush even harder. She quickly suppressed the thought. Frost, however, remained completely unaware, seemingly oblivious to how inappropriate its action had been.

But when it heard Teng Teng was letting them keep the attention-grabbing outfit, its eyes sparkled with delight.

“Really? That’s so generous!”

“Don’t mention it, it’s your well-earned reward,” Teng Teng replied with her face still flushed. She couldn’t help but continue to ask, “By the way... in Ideal City, do you usually just change clothes out in the open like this?”

“Change clothes?” Frost paused, tilting its head slightly. “We don’t wear clothes in Ideal City.”

“You don’t?!”

Frost nodded casually. “Correct. Our default appearance coating is printed directly on our skin. If we want a different style, we install a holographic skin plugin to project clothing.”

“Ah... How convenient,” Teng Teng murmured, her heart rate climbing again at the thought.

So Ideal City really was that advanced!

Frost smiled and nodded. “Very convenient, right? Although androids with silicone-based surface coatings are still prohibited from appearing in public without clothing.

Ah

, I guess Ideal City isn’t quite open enough yet.”

That made sense.

Teng Teng sighed with relief, glad she hadn’t misunderstood Ideal City as something indecent.

“Uh, I think that’s a good rule...”

“Really?” Frost tilted its head, muttering in confusion, “You install the plugin because you like it... What’s there to feel embarrassed about? Humans are so strange.”

While Frost drifted into contemplation, Teng Teng quietly slipped back into her little workshop and shut the door.

Watching her petite figure vanish into the jingle of wind chimes, Frost wore a look of quiet satisfaction. “She’s so adorable.”

This should be easy to raise.

Unfortunately, even in Ideal City, their ideals were still a bit too ahead of their time. It would take a long time before people accepted them... However... AI had eternity.

They had all the time in the world.

“As long as organic beings live under android protection, they’ll create more beautiful art. The world will be filled with love and peace. Don’t you agree, Eclipse?”

Eclipse’s gaze flickered. “I think the front lines are where we should be.”

Frost shook its head gracefully. “No can do. We’re here to represent our employer and strengthen ties with the Alliance. Besides, there are already over two hundred android soldiers at the front, they’ll handle it just fine.”

Eclipse’s eyes flickered again. “Work log updated. According to our employer, a flight from Sunset Province is arriving today. It’s carrying a T-series android from the Academy.”

Frost buzzed suddenly, “T-series?”

Eclipse explained, “Similar to our A-series, they follow the old Federation serial numbering. The employer wants us to check it out.”

Frost’s eyes lit up with interest. “Sounds fun. Let’s go take a look.”

...

At the same time, at the northeastern airport of Dawn City, an Orca transport aircraft touched down smoothly on the wide runway.

Falling Feather who was leading Little Feather around, had barely set foot on the tarmac when Mosquito, who had been lurking near the airport, jumped out and blocked their path.

“Brother! You’re finally back! Hahaha, I told you it would work, didn’t I? How was that ejection seat? Was it comfy? It didn’t bruise your butt, right?”

Seeing Mosquito approach so enthusiastically, the ease Falling Feather had just started to feel instantly vanished. He eyed the man warily. “Get lost. Who the hell is your brother? What are you up to...”

“Come on! Don’t be so cold!” Mosquito let out a fake wail of betrayal, but before even two seconds had passed, his grieving face disappeared, replaced by a mischievous grin. “I heard your daughter can fly now?”

“Who’s my daughter?! Little Feather is just Little Feather.” Falling Feather corrected him sternly, but Mosquito clearly wasn’t listening.

With a wide grin on his face, he continued to pester, “Doesn’t matter! Hey, can you get Little Feather to do that trick again? It happened so quickly the previous time I didn’t even catch it on video.”

Hearing that unreasonable request, Falling Feather rolled his eyes. “Fuck off! What if something goes wrong? Are you going to pay for it?”

“Come on, what could go wrong? It can even pull off an Immelmann Turn!”