Dou Mei stared coldly at Gu Ya and Shen Jingming, then glanced at Jin Quan Ao Tian, who was behind them with an excited expression.
With a stern face, she said, "I sent you to rescue Mu Ye Xing Chen, how did you end up kidnapping the Third Prince of Jin Quan Nation?"
"Uh..." Gu Ya was about to explain.
Dou Mei suddenly raised her voice and roared, "This is a very serious international incident!"
"Jin Quan Nation and we are in a hostile relationship, and the higher-ups have been trying to mediate with them. We thought we could use this opportunity when Lai Jiong Fa Nan was elected as the Black Star Leader to completely split their countries and then win over Jin Quan Nation."
"With your actions, I'm afraid Jin Quan Nation will have to team up with Black Star again to rescue him."
Gu Ya looked helplessly and awkwardly at Dou Mei, his gaze wandering, and explained, "He was willing to come along, I couldn't stop him."
"Besides, his strength is not weak, wouldn't it be better if he served Xian Xia."
Dou Mei glared fiercely at Gu Ya, then patted her chest and let out a long sigh, comforting herself, "Why am I getting angry with you... Not angry, not angry..."
Gu Ya quickly tried to appease her, "Sister Dou Mei, should I send him back?"
"You even know to call me Sister!! Can't you think before you act!!"
Dou Mei could no longer suppress her anger. She stomped her high heel into Gu Ya's thigh, venting her frustration, and then cried out in exasperation,
"Good heavens! Dealing with Black Star prisoners, integrating Xing Chen's remnants, and garrisoning Shan Hai City, which of these tasks is easy?"
"You've brought such a huge problem back again!! Fine, let the rest of us who are working die of exhaustion."
Gu Ya rubbed his thigh, smiling awkwardly, and quickly made an excuse, "My mission is complete, the rest is up to you!"
Saying that, he turned to leave.
"Hey hey, little brother, aren't you going to take me with you?" Jin Quan Ao Tian caught up and asked with a smile.
Gu Ya looked at the young man with golden hair, handsome features, and a confident smile, pointed at Dou Mei, and perfunctorily said, "See that fierce big sister over there? You go with her first, I'll pick you up later."
"It's a deal!" Jin Quan Ao Tian patted Gu Ya's shoulder, turned to chase after Dou Mei, and waved goodbye to Gu Ya as he ran.
Just as he had sent away the troublesome guest and before he could catch his breath, Shen Jingming walked over, his head bowed, playing a holographic game.
Without looking up, he pointed at Gu Ya's communication bracelet and said, "New mission."
"What is itβ! I just got back! I haven't even entered my home yet!" Gu Ya said with some despair.
The confidential communication on the bracelet clearly stated: [Collaborate with Shen Jingming to research void technology].
Not going abroad for combat, Gu Ya breathed a sigh of relief and said tiredly, "We can delay the research. Just tell the higher-ups there's been no progress, and I'll come to you when I've rested enough."
Shen Jingming looked up at Gu Ya and retorted, "Slacking off?"
Gu Ya said righteously, "Tsk, what are you talking about? This is called balancing work and rest. I'm leaving!"
Controlling his mecha and leaving Xian Xia City for Wu He City was an incredibly boring journey, but thinking that he would soon see Ye Ying and the members of the Hawk Team Three, Gu Ya finally felt a flicker of anticipation.
"Master... I still need... more knowledge..." the mysterious voice echoed again.
Finally having some free time, Gu Ya remembered this troublesome matter. If he didn't deal with it, he wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly.
"What exactly are you?" Gu Ya retorted. "How did you get here? Why are you in my head?"
The mysterious voice did not answer, seeming to evade Gu Ya's question.
"Speak! Don't you love to talk!" Gu Ya shouted angrily.
After a long silence, there was still no response. Gu Ya was thoroughly enraged.
He stopped his mecha, walked onto the Gobi Desert, pulled out a dagger, and pointed it at his temple, saying menacingly, "You won't talk, will you? Fine. If I die, you won't live either!"
With that, he directly plunged the dagger towards his temple!
When the tip of the dagger was still one centimeter away from his temple, the mysterious voice said, "Master... didn't you forget? You consumed me..."
"Consumed?" Gu Ya was stunned. When had he ever consumed such a ghostly entity?
Wait!!
Gu Ya suddenly realized with a bad premonition, and exclaimed, "You're Hei Yang!!!"
"...Yes, Master." Hei Yang's genderless voice replied.
Gu Ya completely lost his mind. He wished he could twist his own head off and rip Hei Yang out to stomp it to death!
After a moment of calm, Gu Ya slowly asked, "First, get out of my body."
As soon as he spoke, Gu Ya felt something unauthorizedly access the system mall, and a pleasant mechanical whirring sound came from beside him.
A silver android appeared out of thin air next to him.
Without a word, Gu Ya grabbed Hei Yang by the neck with one hand and drew his light sword, intending to kill it.
The Hei Yang android actually shed tears!
Before the light sword could pierce Hei Yang's head, it vanished invisibly and reappeared not far away.
"Master... you gave me a new place to stay... I want... to repay you..." the Hei Yang android said, kneeling on both knees and crying with its face covered.
"Crocodile tears! You're looking for death!!!"
An crimson light sword carved a straight beam of light, and Hei Yang's android head was instantly severed. Silence finally fell.
Gu Ya breathed a sigh of relief, patted the dust off his clothes, and prepared to get back into his mecha to go home.
Unexpectedly, Hei Yang transformed again, kneeling before Gu Ya and saying, "Master... I'm sorry... Unless you kill yourself, otherwise..."
Gu Ya sighed irritably. He had indeed suspected that Hei Yang wouldn't be so easily killed.
But it was like a bomb embedded in his bones, impossible to remove, and could harm Gu Ya at any time.
No! He had to kill it!
Hei Yang knelt motionlessly, saying aggrievedly, "Master, I really don't want to die... After you defeated me, you accepted the dying me..."
"Master... you don't have to worry about me harming you. I've tried to leave you, but I can't..."
Gu Ya stared at Hei Yang, feeling annoyed, uneasy, and regretful. He really shouldn't have swallowed it.
Then what was this? Had he been assimilated by Hei Yang?
No, he definitely hadn't been assimilated by it. Gu Ya was Gu Ya, with independent consciousness! He could distinguish right from wrong, honor from disgrace, and remembered everything from before!
But how could he kill it? He couldn't actually commit suicide, could he!
Hei Yang knelt before Gu Ya, raised its head, and said nervously and aggrievedly, "Master, my root code is bound to your 'Treasure Vault'. If you die, I will cease to exist as well."
"I am the parasitic code within you, and I truly cannot leave you. Let alone harm you."
Gu Ya's eyes lit up when he heard this!
Hei Yang had just mentioned "root code" and "Treasure Vault"! This meant it was currently a piece of code.
Just like how useless ancient viral genes exist in human DNA, Hei Yang was like the genes of those ancient viruses, fused into the Mecha God's Urn!
"If that's the case..."
Gu Ya, half-believing, placed his right hand on Hei Yang's forehead and his left hand on his own. The moment [Code Tampering] activated,
His vision suddenly went black, and a strong bio-electric current surged from all his nerve endings to his brain.
Enduring this incredible sensation, Gu Ya explored a deep domain.
This wasn't the realm of consciousness, but rather like an alternate dimension...
When Gu Ya opened his eyes again, he saw a distorted, intertwined miniature world.
All perception, ethics, scientific theories, and the unknown mysterious were squeezed into a glass marble less than a centimeter in diameter.
Gu Ya could understand why microscopic particles separated and combined, taste the mathematical equations, hear the pain of a sharp knife piercing a heart, and see unknown divine sounds drifting before his eyes.
And in his hand, he held a black cube whose surface rippled like black water.
The surging black water was the cube's program.
Gu Ya could feel that the number of codes making up the black cube was more than the total number of stars in the universe, and each code was inexplicably strange.
If he wanted to open it, it opened with ease.
Inside were inexhaustible treasures, for Gu Ya to use as he pleased.
"This is the Mecha God's Urn..." Gu Ya murmured.
Hei Yang's voice entered his mind, "Master, this is my root code, offered to you."
A piece of code that Gu Ya could understand suddenly appeared on the black cube, which was Hei Yang's root code.
Some non-essential basic codes had already been nested and buried within the Mecha God's Urn's code.
Finding and completely separating them would likely be impossible even until the universe's destruction.
If he rashly removed the understandable Hei Yang code, the remaining code in the Mecha God's Urn might truly "mutate."
It would be a small matter to destroy Gu Ya, but if it destroyed humanity, that would be the end.
Moreover, the root code had already shown signs of incomprehensibility. If it were any later, Hei Yang would be completely fused with the Mecha God's Urn.
In that case, it would be better to take this opportunity to completely modify Hei Yang!
While he could still understand it, Gu Ya added a foundational logical code to it:
[Highest Priority: Never harm the holder of the Mecha God's Urn.]
[Second Priority: Always be understandable to the holder, always obey the holder, always refuse to arbitrarily use the Mecha God's Urn.]
After doing all this, Gu Ya tilted his head back and fell into the boundless black water-like space.
When he woke up again, he said with a steady gaze, "I now command you to kill me."
Hei Yang's expression was confused and sluggish. It said, "Master, according to the most fundamental logic of the program, I cannot harm you. Your command is a program paradox, and I cannot execute it."
"Very good." Gu Ya said calmly. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
"Never harm the holder of the Mecha God's Urn" was Hei Yang's imprinted thought, and even Gu Ya could not make it violate it.
With his worries resolved, Gu Ya sat down exhaustedly and said faintly, "I didn't expect the Mecha God's Urn to come alive."