2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

262 Reality (18)

In order to pursue research studies about Xu Jinhai's powers, his parents were in cooperation with the top ambassadors of the galactic alliance. This meant that they were always surrounded by powerful people and their elite security.

Xu Jinhai himself was a powerful individual, and so for the longest time, the rebel forces in Yueji couldn't find a point of weakness for them to exploit. He had been shuttled from one research laboratory after another since he was young, resulting in a lack of opportunities to meet new people and make friends. Because of this, despite their various planning and scheming in the dark, all of it stayed on the drawing board.

However, all of this changed when Song Jia entered the picture. She was a new variable that didn't seem to have any protection around her, and what's more, Xu Jinhai even took her out on a date in Yujinxiang. Such an intimate action, surely it meant that she was precious to him, no?

That's why the rebel forces quickly grabbed the opportunity to take action and kidnap Song Jia.

"Has Yueji's government discovered the identity of the rebel forces yet?" Song Jia asked Nova.

She was inside the kitchen, cooking food for the both of them. Although Nova could access numerous food recipes through his database and therefore should be able to cook even the most complex of dishes, he was too lazy for the long process of cooking food.

"Prepping the ingredients, throwing it in a systematic order onto the pan, and waiting for it to cook," he said, curling his lip in disgust. "I know Yueji loves its traditional culture, but even banning maid robots that could cook? Pei, tradition is the enemy of progress."

Instead, he suggested for them to settle on ordering ice cream.

"It's something we can both eat and drink," he had pointed out, smugly raising his wineglass to the air.

Song Jia decided to ignore him and went into the kitchen herself.

"They've already identified lower-ranked members of the group, but as for the numero uno honcho and the major leaders, they're still tailing their confirmed suspects and waiting if they can catch a lead from them."

While answering Song Jia's question, Nova was also busy following a dance choreography tutorial on the wall-sized TV in the living room. It could scan one's body movements and automatically pinpoint the wrong move, before displaying the correct movement on the screen. Of course, being an A.I. himself, Nova didn't need the computer's instructions. He could automatically calculate the various angles and physical movements of the dance instructor, letting his database input it into his body.

Watching him pivot on his heel and stretching his arm around in an extravagant gesture, Song Jia shook her head. Somehow, she envied him for seemingly not having any worries. As soon as Nova had explained the entire situation to her earlier, she had him assign guards around Mu Wan, Yang Yimo, and Gu Chen. She also called her friends, lying to them about a work emergency.

Song Jia couldn't help but feel a bit bitter. It was so rare for them to meet up, but something like this happened. The next time those rebel forces targeted her again, she would surely strike them back. This grandma isn't some weak chicken that one could easily truss up, oh~ She was also no longer poor, so she would definitely buy a laser gun the next time she shopped at Hua.

After they ate dinner, Song Jia was gratified that Nova also helped clean the table. While she was washing the dishes, she asked him what he was planning to do next.

"We'll leave Yueji tomorrow," Nova said. "Xu Jinhai is at Yujinxiang, and furthermore, it would be difficult to keep you safe here. Because Yueji's laws put a limit to how many computer-based systems and machines a citizen could own, there's very sparse data for me to collect. I wouldn't have any access to the data I would need to make an informed decision. With that said..."

Nova came behind Song Jia and picked up a knife she hadn't yet finished washing. Before Song Jia could blink, he pulled her down to the floor as he flung his arm out, accurately sinking the knife into the assassin's throat.

"...it's not as if I'm completely blind," Nova finished.

Song Jia was shocked. "They found us already?"

Nova shrugged. He eyed their surroundings and his gaze landed on the fridge. It looked sturdy and knives wouldn't be able to penetrate it.

"Jia, if I pulled the plug and stuffed you inside, would you be able to breathe?"

Song Jia was speechless. "Of course not!"

Rather than the assassins trying to kill them, it seemed that the random ideas of her boss was much scarier.

Nova clicked his tongue. "No choice then. You still have your multi-colored balls, right?"

Song Jia took them out of her storage space ring and showed it to him.

"Good. At the count of three, throw it at their direction. Three!"

"..."

Where was the 'one' and 'two'?

Song Jia did as he instructed and felt Nova's hand grab her arm as the gas filled the air. Both holding their breath, Nova threw his keychain in the air and it transformed back into his hovercycle. He threw his leg over his hovercycle and started the ignition. Nova gave her a frying pan he just pulled out of the sink.

"Hold this. And when you sit behind me, make sure we're back to back with this pan in front of you. If they throw any of those vaporizing arrows again, make sure to serve it right back to them."

Song Jia no longer deigned to give him any reaction and simply did as she was told. Nova gunned the hovercycle and drove straight. He swerved the handlebars all the way left, and the rear tires spun as the back end of the hovercycle drifted sideways. Throwing a barbecue metal skewer in his hand like a dart, he once again managed to eliminate another assassin.

While the enemies have their eyesight blocked by the gas coming from Song Jia's multi-colored balls, Nova still knew their exact location despite the lack of computer monitoring cameras. Naturally, it was because the nanobots told him about their location.

Yueji had been the planetary system that experienced a pandemic so severe that the galactic alliance decided to scatter nanobots in the atmosphere. That was why despite Yueji's hatred of artificial intelligence, Nova could still move around freely in one of its domain planets. Had he switched places with APHI, she wouldn't be able to handle it half as well as he could.

Of course, he hadn't yet mastered controlling the nanobots to a degree that he would be able to inflict damage on their enemies. For now, simply giving him an idea of their location was enough.

With every swift turn of the hoverycle, another assassin died in Nova's hand. The frying pan in Song Jia's hand was mostly useless as before the enemy could know they were coming, Nova had already eliminated them.

There was almost no wasted movement as he expertly dodged furniture and manipulated the hovercycle to stop right before the surprised assassin, killing them in one blow. In fact, if Song Jia was being asked, her boss seemed to be almost having fun with it.

He had already used a knife, a metal skewer, kitchen scissors, a vegetable peeler, and a can opener...

As Nova was about to hunt for the last assassin with his latest weapon, a mortar and pestle, the assassin burst out of their hiding spot and knelt in front of them, raising their arms in the air.

"Wait, please! I surrender!"

Her voice was full of terror.