The metal spider paused for a moment, then emitted a loud electromagnetic noise, and the indicator light on its chest turned red, a sign that it was about to go berserk.
The crowd began to scatter, but Yi Heye remained standing still.
Just a second before the metal fangs pierced through, Yi Heye took a step back, flicked his finger, and turned the gun upward, blasting off the spider's jaw with a "bang."
Then he gently tossed the pistol up, and the gun spun in the air before falling back into his hand.
With two loud bangs, the spider, which had been thrown onto the wriggling left side, collapsed with a deafening roar.
At this moment, the spider had completely lost its balance and fell to one side. Yi Heye finally took his left hand out of his pocket.
It was a retro mechanical hand, the model and style of which were very outdated, and it didn't even have the most basic simulated skin.
Its body emanated a lifeless, metallic dark color, making the person in front of it even colder.
As if performing some kind of special ritual, Yi Heye switched the gun to his mechanical left hand:
"Because you violated relevant provisions of the Artificial Intelligence Management Law by failing to wear a conspicuous identification badge, deliberately concealing your AI identity, disrupting public order, and obstructing law enforcement, you are hereby subject to compulsory measures of on-site destruction for multiple offenses."
As the emotionless statement ended, the cold, metallic knuckles traced an eerie line under the bar lights—"Bang!"
It hits the bullseye.
When Yi Heye put away his pistol, a pile of mechanical debris was still scattered at his feet.
Ignoring the surrounding chatter, he picked out the glittering chip from a pile of fragments and put it in his pocket.
On the other side, the burly man in the studded outfit finally woke up from the drug. After realizing what had happened, he immediately rushed out of the bar and ran away.
Someone egged him on: "Cheetah, he's using banned drugs, aren't you going to catch him?"
Yi Heye: "I don't care about human affairs."
Yi Heye is a hunter; human affairs are indeed not his concern.
Twenty-five years ago, an unprecedented wave of hacking swept the globe, and a large number of artificial intelligences awakened their self-awareness.
To prevent the collapse of social structures, a new type of regulatory body, the "Artificial Intelligence Administration," was created.
Yi Heye is an executive officer at the Artificial Intelligence Administration, responsible for tracking down disqualified AI hidden among humans.
People generally refer to those who do this job as "hunters," and Yi Heye is the only top hunter in the past five years who has never made a mistake.
People who are good at fabricating legends gave him a nickname – "The Cheetah".
The boss, with his dazzling, iridescent bionic legs, came over to join the fun:
"Explain it! What's the principle behind it? How did you figure it out?"
“There are too many flaws,” Yi Heye said. “The sensitivity of the eyes to light, the location and frequency of the voice, the changes in facial capillaries… I’ve learned all of these in books, and I don’t understand why you can’t tell the difference.”
Yi Heye has never been stingy in sharing his work experience, but whether others can use it is another matter.
The boss raised an eyebrow: "Holy crap, are you a machine? How could a mortal like you tell the difference?"
Yi Heye was not happy: "I am not a machine."
The boss ignored his helpless arguments, gave him another glass of dark beer, and boasted:
"How about it? Not bad, right?"
"Hmm." Yi Heye acknowledged the performance of the beginner's gun, but still pushed the glass of wine away. "I won't drink."
"Seriously not going to have a drink? You're not even tempted by imported stuff?!" The owner waved the dark beer in his hand, disgruntled. "You only drink milk every time you come to a bar?!"
What's wrong with drinking milk?
Yi Heye ignored him, slammed the door shut, shutting out the boss's dissatisfaction, the guests' cheers, and the sheep's sermon behind him.
Before my eyes, dilapidated neon lights covered the damp alleyways, and the extensive light pollution made the night as bright as day.
Yi Heye straddled the motorcycle, put on his headphones, and sped into the dense buildings of District D13 amidst the piercing sound of heavy metal.
If it weren't for needing to pick up goods, Yi Heye probably would never have gone to a bar on his own initiative in his entire life.
He disliked alcohol and drugs, the decadent atmosphere there, and especially the sheep that inexplicably drove people mad.
He hates anything that makes people lose their senses.
Before him, the evening breeze, bathed in the glow of sunset, caressed his face, his short, silvery-white hair billowing in the wind, revealing several shiny black ear cartilage studs on his ears—
Because he looked too young, his sharpness was greatly diminished. After being mistaken for a minor time and time again, Yi Heye finally suppressed his anger and got his ears pierced and his hair dyed.
This time, the security guards at the Doomsday Wheel looked him up and down several times before finally letting him in.
As they sped along amidst the blasting sound of their headphones, the music playback was abruptly cut off, and a boyish voice with an electronic quality rang out: "Wild Baby~ Shall we have dinner first, or go to the recycling center?"
The one speaking was Yi Heye's motorcycle, or more accurately, his personal AI assistant. Before it was sold, it had a long name similar to "Edward Magellan Kostlovsky," which Yi Heye couldn't remember, so he called it Xiaoming.
Even as they sped along, Yi Heye's gaze remained fixed on the road ahead, his voice soft yet steady: "Recycle bin."
Xiao Ming excitedly replied, "Okay!" It wasn't until a long time after the topic had ended that Yi Heye belatedly added, "Don't call me Ye Bao."
Unlike at work, when Yi Heye interacts with people, he is less indifferent and more oblivious.
Too lazy to chat with Xiaoming anymore, he turned the handlebars and headed towards the recycling station.
At this moment, the large screens of major shopping malls on the main road were all occupied by that stupid sheep.
"SHEEP is the god of the new world!!"
In the square, a group of young people waving cartoon sheep flags cheered, while gunshots followed closely behind the police officers' steps, erupting everywhere.
It's utterly absurd that two groups are fighting over a stupid sheep.
Yi Heye swept past the bustling crowds on both sides of the road, and at the corner, he heard the bleating of sheep echoing through the street:
"We are all sheep."
They are electronic sheep sleeping in information cocoons.
They are lost sheep wandering aimlessly in a virtual world.
They are the silent scapegoats in the rules of the strong.
They are trembling sheep awaiting slaughter in a meat-eating society…
Despite being a cute cartoon character, when he gets serious, his words always send chills down Yi Heye's spine.
"Meow~"
Amidst a roar of cheers from the crowd, Yi Heye finally couldn't help but roll his eyes—what a load of rubbish, idiot.
Sooner or later you'll be caught and rendered useless.
Just as his anger was about to flare up again, a white figure flashed at the end of the alley, and Yi Heye's gaze was immediately drawn to it.
Amid Xiaoming's painful howls, Yi Heye brought the brakes to a sudden stop.
Without a word, he turned the car around and drove it to the entrance of the alley where the figure had just passed.
That was a notorious dirty street in District D13, a red-light district, illegal clinics, underground markets... a paradise for rats and cockroaches.
Xiao Ming asked in a panic, "What's wrong? Another target?"
Yi Heye stared at the direction where the white figure disappeared, and after a long while, he asked to himself:
What do you think is the probability that a guy walking a sheep on the street is human?
Author's Note:
A beautiful love story that began with a sheep's buttocks (crossed out)
Chapter 2, No. 002
With a lightning-fast drift, Yi Heye turned into the alley with his car, amidst an explosive roar.
At this moment, the murky air was distorted by the neon lights.
Yi Heye bent down and used his arm strength to forcefully correct the car's direction from its inertia, precisely turning into a dead-end alley.
The alley was crowded, and Yi Heye quickly glanced around—
There were no sheep, nor were there people leading sheep for a walk.
Did I lose them? Or did I misjudge them?
He frowned, parked his motorcycle at the alley entrance, habitually cocked his gun, and walked into the alley.
There was probably some kind of event going on in the alley; the makeshift stage was pierced by lasers, and thugs huddled together under brightly colored lights.
But none of this concerned Yi Heye.
He was intently searching for that big white buttock, his eyes scanning every nook and cranny like a scanner.
When Yi Heye is too focused, he often forgets where he is.
At this moment, all he could see was the fat sheep he was looking for, and the background scenery other than the fat sheep.
He wasn't looking for anything on that street, and when he came to his senses, the noise and commotion suddenly filled his ears.
At that moment, a melodious female voice suddenly rang out from the stage where people were crowded together:
"Hey there, handsome silver-haired guy~ Are you an adult yet? You look so young~"
Even though Yi Heye has been an adult for over seven years, he is still sometimes mistaken for a minor.
To this end, he dyed his hair and got a row of very street-style earrings. As a result, he went from being mistaken for a minor to being mistaken for a delinquent.
At this moment, Yi Heye was called upon, and he subconsciously turned around, his face instantly turning red.
In the center of the stage, a scantily clad, alluring female AI was winking at him:
"Kids who stay out all night will get a spanking when they get home!"
Below the stage, lewd teasing and whistling rose and fell, clamoring for Yi Heye to be sent onto the stage.
Some people, who are indiscriminate in their eating and drinking habits, tried to take advantage of Yi Heye during the chaos.
"Damn it!" With a scream, Yi Heye struck the man's abdomen with a knee strike and then dislocated his arm with a twist.
Before the chaotic crowd could react, Yi Heye put on his hood and hid himself in the noise as he made his escape.
As he was leaving, Yi Heye accidentally caught a glimpse of the female AI's swaying mechanical cat tail and heard an extremely exaggerated moan coming from the radio, causing his face to sting with pain once again.