Zhao Qiang said, "That's true, we'll talk about it later."
Yang Shiyun took out the water purifier. It wasn't very big, about the size of a soy milk maker's packaging box; otherwise, it wouldn't have fit in her backpack. Yang Shiyun used Zhao Qiang's X-ray glasses to scan the room's electrical circuits. There weren't any suitable lines, and the flow rates were all low. But she could take her time; she had plenty of time, and going to Shanghai wasn't urgent.
Zhao Qiang lay on the bed, eating snacks and watching Yang Shiyun tinker. His body's energy hadn't fully recovered, so he had to keep replenishing it; otherwise, if the assassin from last time appeared again, he wouldn't be able to take revenge.
After Yang Shiyun began absorbing energy, the light bulb above her head clearly showed a change, but presumably no one would turn on the light to observe at this time. Once she had absorbed enough energy, Yang Shiyun began to attack the water purifier using Zhao Qiang's method. She thought that if Zhao Qiang could do it, she could do it too, but her initial attacks all ended in failure. Although the water purifier, which was suspended in the air by the energy, made a crackling sound, it did not absorb Yang Shiyun's energy.
Ten minutes later, Yang Shiyun became enraged. She increased the absorption and output of electrical energy, fiercely attacking the water purifier. With a deafening roar, an explosion occurred in the room. Yang Shiyun, now fully unleashing her energy, had no external defenses. The shockwave from the explosion threw her into the air, hurling her towards Zhao Qiang's chest. Zhao Qiang quickly reached out and caught her, crying out in alarm.
With a crash, the water purifier lost its power, floated, and fell to the ground. Yang Shiyun, with her back to Zhao Qiang, landed on him. Zhao Qiang wrapped his arms around her, and Yang Shiyun angrily kicked her feet, saying, "Why can't it work? Is it because its energy is not the same as that of the cube?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Probably not."
Yang Shiyun nudged Zhao Qiang with her elbow: "Let go of me." Her face was flushed with embarrassment. How could she be held on top of her brother-in-law like this?
Zhao Qiang awkwardly released Yang Shiyun. He hadn't noticed when he hugged her earlier, and his arm had actually wrapped around Yang Shiyun's chest. Just as Yang Shiqi had said, Yang Shiyun's chest did indeed hide most of her strength; her cup size was quite impressive.
Knock, knock, knock. Someone was banging on the door. Yang Shiyun hurriedly straightened her clothes, and Zhao Qiang also climbed out from under the covers. Yang Shiyun opened the door, and it was a hotel employee. She poked her head in and asked, "Was there an explosion in your room?"
Zhao Qiang stood in the center of the room and shrugged: "What do you think? Did you see the explosion?"
The waiter glanced around and said, "This isn't your place. I'll go check next door."
Yang Shiyun locked the room again. Zhao Qiang pulled out the water purifier again, examined it carefully for a few moments, and then took out the black cube to compare it again. He said, "It should be the same material. Could it be that it's not working properly?"
Yang Shiyun said, "It must be. Why don't you give it a try?"
Zhao Qiang said, "If I try it, it might only turn on when I command it."
Yang Shiyun said helplessly, "But I've already done my best. There's no difference between you ordering it and me ordering it."
Zhao Qiang said, "Alright, but you have to protect me, otherwise something might happen."
Yang Shiyun said, "This amount of energy output shouldn't affect your combat power, right? If you're worried about unexpected events, we can wait until we're in a safe place before we talk about it."
Zhao Qiang kicked the water purifier back under the wall and said, "That works too." Men are much less curious.
Yang Shiyun looked at the water purifier going under the glass, thought for a moment and seemed unwilling to give up, and said, "Why don't you try it gently?"
Zhao Qiang said, "If I give it energy, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself."
Yang Shiyun gritted her teeth and said, "Okay." Women are just too curious.
Zhao Qiang had experimented with it before, so the sound he made when he used energy to strike the water purifier was much weaker. Otherwise, the waiter would have come in to check on him again. Even if he could cover it up, Zhao Qiang was still unwilling to do something that would annoy people.
Zhao Qiang wasn't in a hurry. He took it one step at a time, constantly testing the water purifier's response with energy, and then gradually increasing the intensity. He would occasionally pop some snacks into his mouth, looking very relaxed. This was the exact opposite of Yang Shiyun's hard work earlier. Yang Shiyun was both envious and angry. Zhao Qiang was clearly deliberately making fun of her.
Finally, Zhao Qiang thought the preparations were almost complete. He had a thorough understanding of the water purifier and was certain that it worked in the same way as the black block, except that it required much more energy, which was something Yang Shiyun could not handle.
Zhao Qiang slowly gathered energy, and the water purifier floated in mid-air, rotating slowly. Yang Shiyun asked nervously, "How is it going? If it doesn't work, just give up. Don't force it."
Zhao Qiang said, "You'll find out soon enough whether it works or not."
Yang Shiyun said, "How about I do it later?" At this moment, she hesitated, but Zhao Qiang was in a dilemma. He couldn't waste the previous work, so he didn't accept Yang Shiyun's suggestion. He added energy separation and concentrated it to impact the water purifier. With another loud bang, a large amount of energy surged into the water purifier.
Upon hearing the noise, Yang Shiyun immediately leaned against the door. Sure enough, a moment later, the waiter's footsteps came running over, and he started banging on the door.
Yang Shiyun said, "We are resting, please don't disturb us."
The waiter outside asked, "Is the noise coming from your room?"
Yang Shiyun said, "No, please don't bother me anymore, or I'll file a complaint against you."
The waiter's voice faded away. Yang Shiyun looked at the water purifier again; it lay quietly on the floor, showing no signs of change. Yang Shiyun said, "What, you failed too?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I don't know. Why don't you find some water and try it?"
There was a bathroom in the room. Yang Shiyun took a cup, filled it with tap water, and then placed another cup in the funnel at the bottom of the water purifier. Zhao Qiang pressed the first switch, and the water purifier emitted a slight hum. Yang Shiyun exclaimed, "It's on! It must be on! There's a sound response!"
Zhao Qiang said, "Pour in some water and give it a try." The reason he didn't see the water purifier emitting a halo was probably related to the sunlight outside. Last time it was at night, so any change in brightness would have been clearly visible.
Yang Shiyun poured water into the funnel, and it quickly came out of the bottom funnel. The machine vibrated slightly, which was related to the lack of a fixed support. Yang Shiyun picked up the water collected at the bottom of the funnel and asked Zhao Qiang, "What do you think this is?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I'm not sure, but it looks like water. We can try drinking it."
Yang Shiyun brought the water to her lips and asked, "It won't be poisonous, will it?"
Zhao Qiang said, "It's hard to say. We can keep it and find a research institution in Shanghai to do the testing."
Yang Shiyun put down her cup and thought for a moment, then picked it up again and said, "Forget it, no need to test it. We've already drunk the water it purified, so it's too late if it's poisonous. What's wrong with drinking it again?" With that, Yang Shiyun lowered her head and drank the water in the cup. Actually, it was only half a paper cup, about two sips of water, so drinking it all was effortless.
Smacking her lips, Yang Shiyun said, "It tastes strange, but it has a lingering fragrance, which is nice."
Zhao Qiang said, "You didn't even leave some for me to try. You're so selfish."
Yang Shiyun said, "What if it's poisonous and kills you too?"
Zhao Qiang said, "What's the point of me living if you die? We're the only two people in this world who can control energy."
Yang Shiyun blushed: "Nonsense, I have nothing to do with you. At most, my sister might scold you, and then you'll forget about me and go back to your lives as usual."
Zhao Qiang said, "It's not as serious as you make it out to be. I'll still have a drink with you. We'll share the good times and the bad, right?"
Zhao Qiang went into the bathroom, filled a glass with water, pressed the second button, poured the water in, and then dispensed it from the bottom. The color of the water didn't change, but the smell was completely different. Without hesitation, Zhao Qiang picked up the glass and drank it all in one gulp. After tasting it, he told Yang Shiyun, "It has a milky smell, but it tastes very good."
Yang Shiyun went into the bathroom again to get water, and then said to Zhao Qiang, "Since we've already drunk it, let's try the other buttons to see what they taste like."
Zhao Qiang said, "Okay, it seems this is just a beverage machine at most. I thought it could produce some strange gadgets."
Yang Shiyun said, "That's not so strange. You know, we added water to it, but the filtered water has a really strong taste, so you can't even tell it's water."
Zhao Qiang said, "Maybe this is a prehistoric coffee machine?"
Yang Shiyun said, "It could also be an alien beverage machine."
Zhao Qiang said, "We'll know once we dig out what's underground."
There were six buttons in total. Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun tried them one by one. Except for the second one, which had a faint milky taste, the others tasted very strange. They were definitely not the style of drinks that exist on Earth. Zhao Qiang said, "It seems that it really is an imported product."
Yang Shiyun said, "Not necessarily. It could be a prehistoric product. Human tastes back then were definitely different from now."
Zhao Qiang said, "But no matter what, these taste good, I just don't know about their nutritional content."
Yang Shiyun said, "We can verify this once we get to Shanghai."
Zhao Qiang said, "Now that you mention it, I'm actually a little anxious to go to Shanghai."
Yang Shiyun said, "Yes, I also want to know if it will have special effects like slimming tea."
Zhao Qiang said, "Why don't we stop here and head to Shanghai right away?"
Yang Shiyun raised her hand and said, "I agree."
Since that was the case, Zhao Qiang immediately went to check out of the hotel. The two bought some food and then drove straight to Shanghai. On the way, Zhao Qiang called Zhao Ling and Chen Xinxin and asked them to help contact a testing agency. The first thing to do upon arriving in Shanghai was to find out what was coming out of the water purifier. If it was really poisonous, it would be troublesome, because Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun had drunk quite a lot on the way.
Volume 2 [650] Car Accident
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun arrived in Shanghai in the early hours of the morning. Due to the temperature, thick fog began to blanket the area from the latter half of the night. If they hadn't entered the high-altitude area early, they would probably have been stranded outside. Even so, they encountered several car accidents along the way, which inspired Zhao Qiang to design an intelligent navigation and scanning vehicle system. With this system, they could rely on precise satellite navigation for autonomous driving. Even if the fog obscured their vision, they could use radar scanning to detect the road ahead. Of course, this system still needed many details to be perfected, which Hu Qian and Luo Wei would handle later.
Zhao Qiang called Chen Xinxin, "We're about to leave the mountain." It would only be a few minutes before he saw them.
Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling waited all night for Zhao Qiang's arrival. "We're at the high exit. You'll see us after you pass the tollbooth. It's very foggy here, and the entrance has been closed. Be careful on the way."
Zhao Qiang said, "Don't worry, see you in a bit."
A booming, vibrating sound grew louder as a heavy truck sped towards them, its cargo a full load of steel pipes, each as thick as a bowl. The driver, whether rushing or trying to save fuel, refused to slow down despite the extremely low visibility. Zhao Qiang was utterly disgusted; such a driver was utterly unethical, taking advantage of his large vehicle and full insurance coverage to disregard any potential accidents.
Yang Shiyun said, "We should stop it and give it a warning."
Zhao Qiang said, "Okay, I'll drive and you stop it." This implied that Yang Shiyun was meddling. The other person was driving normally, so how could he stop him? Before an accident occurs, no one can slap the person who caused the accident.
While the two were talking, the heavy truck had already driven several hundred meters away, and its shadow was almost invisible in the thick fog. Behind Zhao Qiang, two cars caught up. Both cars were extremely fast, and they sped past Zhao Qiang in a flash. Soon, the two cars were side by side, as if the two drivers were competing, neither willing to give way to the other. The two cars disappeared into the thick fog.
Yang Shiyun said, "Let's not stop it. If we're going to catch it, we should too. In this kind of weather, we should avoid doing anything dangerous."
Zhao Qiang was satisfied with Yang Shiyun's compromise. He looked at the navigation and said, "There's still one kilometer to the exit, so it's really unnecessary."
Zhao Qiang's car wasn't actually slow; three cars had passed in just a short time. The closer they got to downtown Shanghai, the heavier the traffic became, and safety was indeed a concern in this kind of weather.
As the tollbooth drew closer, perhaps due to extreme fatigue from driving for an extended period, the heavy truck carrying steel pipes continued its relentless, roaring forward. Two pursuing sedans caught up, driving side-by-side, the truck occupying a large portion of the road. As they continued side-by-side, a sedan's rearview mirror scraped against the truck with a screeching sound, then snapped off. The sedan sped past the truck, and the driver of the other sedan leaned out and gave the broken mirror the middle finger. The two cars then revved their engines and resumed their chase.
No one noticed that there was a toll station ahead, because the thick fog had caused a lot of traffic to back up at the exit. By the time the two cars chasing each other suddenly saw the vehicles stopped in front of them, it was too late. Boom! The two cars crashed into the rear of the vehicles in front of them one after the other. The heavy truck following closely behind them realized that the situation ahead was not good and immediately slammed on the brakes. There was a screeching sound of friction, and a plume of black smoke rose from the ground, which was caused by the high heat generated by the friction of the tires.
Although the Sinotruk truck applied the brakes in time, it would have been better if it hadn't. Instead of preventing the truck from crashing into the rear of the two chasing cars, the brakes flung out the steel pipes on board. Due to inertia, the steel pipes pierced through the cab and shot forward, leaping over the front of the truck. At the same time, the truck, still inertia, crushed the two chasing cars, deforming them instantly and squashing the occupants into a bloody pulp. Now there was no need for a chase anymore. The young man, eager for attention, ultimately met with a tragic end.
The heavy truck, which had crushed two cars, still couldn't stop. Steel pipes shot forward from one side, while its own weight caused it to overturn and roll forward. Ahead were numerous vehicles waiting to pass through the tollbooth, and outside the tollbooth stood Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling, eagerly awaiting Zhao Qiang's arrival.
Zhao Qiang's X-ray glasses weren't just for show; he could see everything clearly ahead. But things happened in an instant, and even if he could control his energy, how could he stop it? Some things are beyond human capabilities.
Although Yang Shiyun didn't have X-ray vision glasses, she could vaguely see the scene ahead as she approached the toll station. Combined with the sounds she heard, she realized there had been an accident, but she didn't know how serious it was.
Zhao Qiang slammed the transformation button, and the moving car immediately stood up, quickly changing shape into a running car mech. The occupants inside the car also successfully moved to the head of the mech to continue operating it.
With a snap, Yang Shiyun's hatch was opened, and her body was ejected with a whoosh. Zhao Qiang's voice roared in her ear: "Help me rescue Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling!" Zhao Qiang couldn't buff himself, and even if he did, he couldn't do it as well as he could for others, so he had to rely on Yang Shiyun.
After saying that, Zhao Qiang manipulated the mecha and threw Yang Shiyun away. With the added energy, Yang Shiyun was like a bolt of lightning, and she actually caught up with the flying steel pipe. At this time, the steel pipe had already pierced through the toll station's work area, smashing the glass window to pieces. Then it shot through the workbench and towards Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling, who were standing by the exit. Yang Shiyun crashed into it first. Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling realized that something was wrong and their armor had automatically activated. However, the force of the flying steel pipe was so great that even with the armor activated, they would still be injured by the shock. The two were at a loss and did not know how to dodge.
Yang Shiyun grabbed Chen Xinxin and then kicked Zhao Ling away. At that moment, a steel pipe shot past where they had been standing, smashing two parked cars to pieces. Yang Shiyun rolled several meters on the ground with Chen Xinxin in her arms before regaining her balance, while Zhao Ling was kicked to the ground but was unharmed because she was wearing armor.
The flying steel pipe was dodged, but the heavy truck that rolled across the road destroyed the tollbooth's work area and headed straight for the three of them. Yang Shiyun leaped up, threw her grappling hook into the air, and grabbed the tollbooth's rain shelter with a bang. Swoosh, swoosh, Yang Shiyun used the momentum to leap upwards, and at the same time, she shot out two more lines to entangle Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling. As the two women were pulled away by the lines, they narrowly missed the rolling heavy truck. Boom! The heavy truck crashed into the vehicle in front of it and exploded, producing a large number of steel fragments that scattered like an anti-personnel mine.
Yang Shiyun successfully rescued Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling from the crisis, but the subsequent explosion sent shrapnel flying like raindrops. Seeing that all three were about to be injured by the fragments, especially since Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling's armor didn't protect their heads, Yang Shiyun gritted her teeth and increased the pulling force, managing to pull the two women behind her before the shrapnel hit them. Almost all the flying shrapnel struck her body.
Zhao Qiang piloted his mecha to leap over the tollbooth. Behind him was a chain reaction of collisions. Vehicles coming through the thick fog had no idea what was happening ahead. Fortunately, they were close to the tollbooth, so most vehicles slowed down, preventing the collisions from causing more serious consequences. Even so, more than a dozen people were injured.
Boom! Another explosion! Zhao Qiang was now close to Yang Shiyun and the other two. Yang Shiyun's body floated in the air, blood splattering everywhere. Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling behind her looked bewildered. They were no match for Yang Shiyun; they were just ordinary girls. Seeing that there was no time to help, Zhao Qiang immediately released a burst of energy to envelop the three of them. The debris from the second explosion was immediately blocked. Then, Zhao Qiang landed in front of the three of them, scooped them up, and the Autobot jumped again, carrying the three away from the scene.
Chen Xinxin and Zhao Ling saw Zhao Qiang behind the bulletproof glass, and they were finally relieved. But when they looked at Yang Shiyun, she was covered in blood and unconscious.
Zhao Qiang dared not waste any time. He was not a doctor, so he had to go to the hospital to save Yang Shiyun. He didn't care about the consequences. Zhao Qiang activated the mecha's anti-gravity device and turned the propulsion system to the maximum. The sound of it cutting through the air was like a sharp whistle as it headed straight for Shanghai Central Hospital.
The hospital wasn't open yet, with only occasional patients coming and going from the emergency room. Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the courtyard, as if something had fallen from the sky. A cloud of dust billowed up, and several security guards ran over with rubber batons. When they saw a huge humanoid machine standing up, they were dumbfounded. Was this an alien invasion of Earth?
Zhao Qiang put Zhao Ling and Chen Xinxin down, then used the mecha's large hand to support Yang Shiyun. With his other hand, he punched through the emergency room door, bent down, and entered the emergency room. He placed Yang Shiyun on the gurney and shouted, "Help!"
The doctors and nurses in the emergency room were dumbfounded. What was this thing? Could it really be an alien?
Zhao Qiang panicked and kicked the emergency room doctor's table, smashing it to pieces. "Save her quickly! If anything happens to her, I'll tear the hospital down!" Fearing that they still wouldn't act, Zhao Qiang punched down a wall. The doctors and nurses were so frightened that they all moved away. Then they surrounded Yang Shiyun. This monster had brought the patient here, and if their demands weren't met, her life would be in danger. But with such a monster by their side, everyone was so scared that their stomachs were trembling, and they forgot how to save her.
Yang Shiyun was still conscious, though her face showed some pain, probably from the shrapnel inside her body. Seeing Zhao Qiang looking like an alien, she said, "Zhao Qiang, take off the mecha first."
Zhao Qiang then realized what was happening. The mecha immediately reassembled and shrunk, eventually transforming into a car. Zhao Qiang opened the car door and got out, then made the car drive out of the emergency room on its own. Only then did the doctors and nurses realize that the steel monster they had just seen was not an alien, but a Chinese person.
A doctor boldly said, "You, you damaged hospital property. You need to make up for the damage before we can treat her."