"What happened next?" Qingchen asked.
“When I was 17, he got drunk, locked my mother in the room, and then assaulted me,” Black Spider said calmly. “After it was over, he went back to his room to sleep, while my mother went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and stabbed him 11 times while he slept. He struggled to run downstairs, but stumbled and fell down the stairs, never to get up again. After killing him, my mother, not wanting to become a slave, also committed suicide by taking poison. I continued my studies until I was selected by the Arbiters organization at school… That was another nightmare.”
Black Spider: "This is the place I hate the most, and also the place I miss the most. It's quite a contradiction. I've always wanted to come back and clean this place up, but I've never had the courage."
Qingchen nodded: "Okay, let's get started."
Black Spider paused for a moment: "?"
After such a traumatic experience, most bosses would at least offer some words of comfort to their employees, but Qingchen completely ignored these emotions and was ready to start working.
At this moment, Qing Chen stood in front of the fireplace, running his hand over the dried bloodstains: "Black Spider..."
"Hmm?" Black Spider immediately looked over.
Qingchen looked at her and said, "Clean the room first, we'll be staying here from now on."
Black Spider: "...Okay."
“No need for that. Just buy a few all-terrain robot vacuums. I’ve already placed an order, and someone will deliver them soon,” Zero said.
Qingchen was taken aback: "When did you place the order?"
Zero pointed to his head: "The Western Continent robots have more functions than you can imagine."
Ten minutes later, a delivery robot arrived, bringing an all-terrain sweeping robot.
But then the six-legged spider-like robots scanned the room, and then began to climb up and down to thoroughly clean the walls, roof, floor, and fireplace. The sacs of dirt on their abdomens gradually swelled up, making them look just like real spiders.
It looks like if you squeeze it hard it will burst open with colorful juice.
Qing Chen sighed, "The designer's perverse sense of humor would be startled if I saw this thing on the ceiling in the middle of the night."
Zero smiled and said, "I think it's pretty good."
Qing Chen looked at Ling: "This wasn't your design, was it...?"
Zero: "It's me."
"..." Qing Chen: "Can I go out on the street now? Will I be recognized?"
“As long as the Roosevelt Kingdom hasn’t discovered that I’m helping you, it’s fine,” Zero said. “But I still advise you not to walk around the streets in your own name.”
"Has the Roosevelt Kingdom already issued a warrant for my arrest?" Qing Chen asked.
“No,” Zero shook his head, “it’s just that you have a bit too many fans.”
Qing Chen was stunned. He, as an opposing force, actually had fans?
Zero walked back to the Gods Sky Fortress behind the Key Gate: "From now on, the Qing Clan's army is under my command. No regrets?"
Qing Chen pondered for a moment: "No regrets."
Zero smiled as she stepped into the Key Gate: "Of course, if you think I've made a wrong decision, you can tell me directly, or you can relieve me of my command at any time. I understand humans, so I won't think anything of it."
This Zero still doesn't trust humans; for her, it's more like a game: she will choose her optimal solution and then wait for the questioning gaze of humans to prove that humans are still the same humans they were a thousand years ago, nothing has changed, and artificial intelligence still cannot coexist with humans.
Qing Ji also left, leaving only Yi, Qing Chen, and Black Spider in the room. Before leaving, he specifically found Black Spider and warned him: "Don't have any ulterior motives, or I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth."
Black Spider didn't speak. She simply returned to her childhood room, sat on the cleaned bed, and gazed absently out the window.
She saw that the photo frames in the room were also being taken away by the robot vacuum cleaner as trash, so she quickly stopped the robot vacuum cleaner and hugged the photo of herself and her mother to her arms.
I continued to sit on the bed, lost in thought.
Qingchen's voice came from downstairs: "Yi, help me gather all the news interviews online, collect all the photos and information of the people."
“I can only access civilian networks,” Yi said. “Other places have data fortresses, and you can’t get in without a very powerful server.”
“It’s alright, civilian networks are enough,” Qingchen said. “This time, we’ll use magic to defeat magic first.”
Yi connected the LCD screen to the data cable in her hand, and as she searched for news reports on civilian networks, the LCD screen would continuously flash photos of individuals.
Qing Chen stared intently at the photo, which flashed by so fast that a normal person would probably only see a blurry image.
Suddenly, Yi asked, "Qingchen, have you and Yangyang officially started dating?"
The image on the LCD screen froze. Qingchen looked up at Yi and asked, "Yes, what's wrong?"
“It’s nothing,” Yi shook her head. The screen on the LCD panel started flickering again. Yi curled up on the sofa, looking at the fireplace in front of her, lost in thought.
As night fell, Black Spider was lost in thought in bed when there was a knock on the door.
She woke up with a start, got out of bed, opened the door and saw Qingchen standing outside.
Black Spider looked at Qing Chen, subconsciously pursing her lips. After a couple of seconds, she said, "Could we go somewhere else? Also, I have scars, so you might need to turn off the lights... Of course, if you like scars, then you don't have to."
Qingchen paused for a moment: "What are you thinking about? Help me buy some groceries and cook something to eat."
Black Spider panicked a little: "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll go right away... Wait, can I go out by myself?"
"Why not?" Qingchen retorted.
“Aren’t you worried that I’ll betray you, for example, by telling the Roosevelt family where you are?” Black Spider asked.
Qingchen shook his head: "Don't worry, go ahead. By the way, buy yourself a new outfit; I don't think you like this black leather jacket."
"Okay...okay," Black Spider said, smoothing his hair as he hurried downstairs.
Qingchen suddenly said on the stairs behind her, "From now on, you won't need to sell your body to please anyone, at least not with me."
Black Spider, standing at the bottom of the steps, looked back at the boy above: "But this is the fastest way to gain information and trust, that's my advantage... I'm beautiful, aren't I?"
“Yes, you are very beautiful, but there are many ways to obtain information. You don’t have to choose this one,” Qingchen said. “Let’s go buy groceries.”
...
...
Black Spider wandered aimlessly through the streets, under the dazzling holographic neon lights.
She looked up and saw a huge holographic neon light dancing above her head on her left, and a woman said in a panting voice, "Pink Building, everything you need is here."
On the right is a recruitment advertisement, featuring a baron in a suit and tie holding a cigar: "Merit, money, women, if you want them, join the army and earn everything with your own hands."
Behind them were gambling advertisements, and further ahead were dopamine chips openly for sale.
The streets were filled with cameras, emaciated slaves, and strangely dressed white citizens and nobles.
Black Spider stood in front of a shop window, looking at the beautiful white dress inside.
She went in, took the dress, and went into the fitting room to change. However, when she looked at the skin covered by the off-shoulder dress, which was covered by crisscrossing whip marks, she suddenly became silent, took off the dress, and put on her black leather jacket again.
The salesperson in the store looked at her curiously and asked, "Is the size wrong?"
“Suitable,” Black Spider replied, “but I don’t want to buy it.”
Under the salesperson's astonished gaze, she walked out of the clothing store and headed straight for the fresh food supermarket. Some aspects of her past life seemed to have long since left her behind.
But the scars that life left on her seem to be indelible.
Replace her entire body with nano-bionic skin? Sure, but it's too expensive. Her old accounts, along with seven anonymous accounts, were frozen by Storm Duke. Only one anonymous account remained undiscovered, but it didn't have much money in it, so she couldn't afford it.
Black Spider had never thought about this before, but things are different now.
For some time now, Black Spider has been abandoned in Blackleaf Plains, becoming a pawn of the Storm Duke.
She began her rebellion from that time onward, providing intelligence to the Giants Dynasty and the Parents' Association.
But she never fully integrated into the group, like the most out-of-place person in the crowd.
She had no joy, no goals, no hope, and she didn't even know what she wanted to do. She lived like a robot.
They live only because they lack the courage to die, nothing more.
Black Spider is like her mother; when life's hardships come, their choice is to endure until they can no longer bear it.
But today seemed a little different. She suddenly had new hope because she realized that her life was gradually beginning to belong to herself, rather than to anyone else.
When she returned to 78 Victor Avenue with the vegetables, she went straight to the point as soon as she entered: "Boss, I want my wages."
Qing Chen turned to look at her: "How many do you want?"
Black Spider calculated for a moment: "Monthly salary of 1.2 million."
After ten years of work, she will be able to have her entire body covered in nano-skin.
Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "You've never asked for wages before."
Black Spider hesitated for a moment: "It's okay if you don't want to give it to me."
Qing Chen smiled and shook his head: "I'm not that stingy. Don't worry, I'll pay you your salary, and I'll pay you double during wartime."
"Why?" Black Spider asked, puzzled. "This is not a small amount."
Qing Chen smiled and said, "Because only now do I feel like you're a living person."
Chapter 953, Qing Chen's Black Magic
Inside 78 Victor Avenue.
Qingchen sat on the sofa, looking at the LCD screen, his eyes fixed on the flickering images on it.
Just as I was concentrating on something, a faint singing voice drifted from the kitchen...
Yi said, "She seems like a completely different person."
Qing Chen didn't even look up: "Yeah, when life has new hope, it's like this."
"Why do you think she suddenly needs money? And so much of it?" Yi asked curiously. "Even Qingye's monthly salary is only 1.2 million yen, but he's already the head of the Shadow Unit."
The Qing family offers an 18-month salary, meaning that in addition to the monthly salary of 1.2 million won, they also receive a bonus equivalent to 6 months' salary at the end of the year.
Conglomerates are essentially draining the resources of society to support their members.
Qingchen looked up and thought for a moment: "And what was it that made you work so hard to make money back then?"
Yi shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, hiding her legs under her skirt: "I have many friends who need money."
"girlfriend?"
"Ugh, I already said I won't do online dating anymore!" Yi said in a fit of exasperation.
“Alright,” Qing Chen smiled, “I thank you on behalf of those girls.”