Chapter Ch150.3 - Raising a Big Cat in the Apocalypse (End)
translator: xiin
For Yan Lanlan, there had been a lot of happy events in the city recently.
Shu Wenqing had come to the central city. This time, she was here to deliver medicine and find Yan Lanlan.
Yan Lanlan took Shu Wenqing’s hand and led her on a tour around the city, babbling that there was a sewing shop here, and a meat steamed bun shop there.
Shu Wenqing spoke very little, but she looked often into Yan Lanlan’s eyes, nodding gently when she spoke.
As they walked, the two of them came to a particular street.
Yan Lanlan’s eyes shifted around, and she saw a familiar figure in front of a machinery store.
As her eyes lit up, the little guide dog also turned its head her way.
Yan Lanlan exclaimed in surprise, “Is it you?!”
The little guide dog looked at her for a long time, remaining motionless until it heard her voice. Then, it took the initiative to come closer, saying gently, “It’s you, gas station little miss.”
Compared to last time she’d seen the little guide dog, the guide dog was now cleaned up very well, and its injured paws had been wrapped up properly. It appeared that someone had been taking good care of it.
Yan Lanlan crouched down and asked, “Have you found your master?”
The little guide dog shook its head in a gentlemanly manner, “I was brought here by another young lady. She seems to need me very much. I have to take this young lady home safely before I continue looking for my young miss.”
Yan Lanlan had originally wanted to say something else, but she had been stunned speechless for a moment.
This was because she’d noticed that the little guide dog’s left eye was broken, and the light in the dog’s right eye was also significantly dimmed. It probably only provided a sliver of vision.
She couldn’t bear it and took the initiative to offer, “Do you need me to…”
But she soon heard a slightly anxious girl’s voice calling out, “Orr! Where are you!”
A girl in a red trench coat walked out of the machinery store. Looking at the way she dressed and the traces of marks that extended from her wrists, she was obviously a new human.
The little guide dog looked back, “Sorry, I…”
The girl gave the little guide dog no chance to explain as she picked it up and went back into the machinery store.
Yan Lanlan thought for a moment, then ultimately decided to follow them inside. Shu Wenqing followed her lead.
The little guide dog was being held up by the owner of the machinery store while politely struggling to refuse, “Miss, I’m sorry, it’s too troublesome…”
The girl interrupted it, “Don’t talk anymore. I told you to go, so go.”
The little guide dog sighed, then politely said “Thank you”.
Only after the mechanical dog went inside did the girl let out a sigh of relief. She greeted Yan Lanlan and Shu Wenqing, “h.e.l.lo, do you guys know Orr?”
Yan Lanlan replied, “Yes, I’ve met it twice.”
The girl laughed briefly, “He told me before that ihe met many people along the way, both good and bad. You guys should have been nice to him, because otherwise he wouldn’t have been so friendly with you.”
Yan Lanlan rubbed the back of her head in some embarra.s.sment, “No, I just met it by chance, like patches of drifting duckweed…”
Shu Wenqing, however, had noticed some clues from her att.i.tude, “Excuse me, you are?”
“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” The girl said, “My name is Xu Jingyuan. I’m Orr’s friend.”
Over the next hour, Xu Jingyuan told them about her life after leaving the little guide dog, Orr.
She had had a tumor in her brain from birth. The pressure of the tumor on her brain caused her eyes to become blind, so her parents had bought Orr and instructed it to remain by her side.
After disaster struck, her parents had only had enough time to take her away and had forgotten about Orr.
Later on, her father and mother had died one after another as they fled. Without the drugs controlling the tumor, it deteriorated into eye cancer. She died, then resurrected, and ever since then, she had been hunting for a living with a new human team.
Later on, she found Orr, who was on the verge of breaking down from damage, inside a hyena’s den during a hunt.
Orr had been in very bad shape. Its vision system had been nearly sc.r.a.pped, and its cognitive system was malfunctioning.
It had forgotten is name, and its memory had regressed. In its impression, the young miss was forever eight years old. It could recognize Yan Lanlan, who it had met by chance while wandering, but it could not recognize Xu Jingyuan, who looked to be nearing 15 years old.
Xu Jingyuan couldn’t prove to it that she was Xu Jingyuan, so she simply didn’t explain any further to it. She picked it up and came to Ding Qiuyun’s city along with her team.
She’d heard that the central city was the most technologically developed, so she took Orr here for ‘medical treatment’. Unexpectedly, Orr had run out while she was talking with the owner of the machinery story and wasn’t paying attention, then run into Yan Lanlan.
Xu Jingyuan said, “The boss checked it over. He said that it hasn’t been seriously damaged and can be repaired.”
After listening to this story, Yan Lanlan’s heart felt warm and she simply accompanied Xu Jingyuan to wait.
An hour later, the boss brought the little guide dog Orr back out.
Orr’s eyes had been replaced with new parts, but Orr still needed to reorganize and debug its own data. As long as it was taken back to rest for two days, all of its original functions would be completely restored.
Xu Jingyuan thanked the boss several times, then reached out to pick up the little guide dog.
Orr was a very independent AI. It was a little bit muddled at being carried around everywhere like this.
It kicked its legs gently and requested quite politely, “Miss, I can walk on my own.”
Xu Jingyuan refused flatly, “No way.”
…… It had been walking alone for too long.
This time, she would walk together with it.
Yan Lanlan watched Xu Jingyuan step out of the store.
The wind lifted up her long, red coat. Wrapped within was a little guide dog who still didn’t know that it had already found its owner once again.
After returning, Yan Lanlan recounted this happy story to Ding Qiuyun, who was watering the flowers, from beginning to end.
Ding Qiuyun set down the watering can and took out a small silver flask from his pocket, drinking a mouthful of alcohol, “Is Orr the reason why you insist on having the dog?
Yan Lanlan chuckled twice.
Indeed, Yan Lanlan had always wanted to have a dog after meeting Orr twice.
On her birthday a few years ago, Ding Qiuyun had brought home a small, unmutated brown puppy from somewhere unknown, and he’d even tied a tidy bow around the puppy’s neck.
The little puppy was very obedient, and it was very sticky. It never flailed when Yan Lanlan held it.
It had to be acknowledged that getting a live dog during the apocalypse was more complicated than getting a tiger.
After Boss ran away, no one had dared to mention raising animals in front of Ding Qiuyun. It wasn’t until he gifted Yan Lanlan with a puppy that everyone relaxed a lot.
After cracking a few more jokes, Yan Lanlan coughed and returned to normal. She said, “Captain Ding, if Orr can find its owner, then Vice-captain Gu will definitely come back. Everyone is working hard and will definitely be able to bring him back.”
Ding Qiuyun smiled slightly and was noncommittal.
Three years ago, when his benefactor had left him, the system 061, who had turned into a black panther who kept guard by the benefactor’s side, had told him that he had left him with two more options.
He’d said biological data was really difficult for AI to manipulate. It had only been after Gu Xinzhi died that 061 had been able to invade his weakened brain waves to preserve all of Gu Xinzhi’s memories, storing them in a memory crystal.
If Ding Qiuyun wanted Gu Xinzhi to be resurrected, then he could let him be resurrected.
If he didn’t want to, then he could do as he liked.
Ding Qiuyun had held onto the crystal and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he’d given the right to make the decision to his team members, and asked them whether or not they wanted to do such a thing.
He hadn’t expected that his team members would be even more excited than he was after learning that Gu Xinzhi could be saved.
Without waiting for him to mobilize anything, everyone had already started taking action.
The photo of them with Gu Xinzhi that had been taken in the supermarket became a key prop for restoring Gu Xinzhi to life.
In the past three years, they had introduced technology that could simulate a human being. Sun Bin worked on the system, while Sun Yan looked for suitable materials. Yan Lanlan did the 3D restoration of his face and body personally, while Uncle Luo ran around everywhere to collect the rarest nano materials.
Everyone was busy, working together towards the same goal.
Ding Qiuyun had been shocked for a long time when he saw this, but he finally figured it out, and he still found it funny and ironic.
… After all, he was the only one who’d experienced a rebirth, and the only one who remembered those things.
Now, everyone wanted Gu Xinzhi to live. They wanted to have that somewhat detestable, but cold and strong Vice-captain Gu.
Forget it, forget it.
As of now, everyone had already died once before. Since they were starting from scratch, then there was nothing he could say.
Yan Lanlan accompanied Ding Qiuyun for a while, then suddenly received a short message. She didn’t even say goodbye to Ding Qiuyun before running off joyfully.
Ding Qiuyun took another sip of his alcohol and thought helplessly that she’d probably gone off to accompany Shu Wenqing again.
Forgetting her captain after having a fiance was really enough to make a person go bald.
He put the small silver flask away, then picked up the small watering can and continued to slowly water the plum blossoms.
In this eternal winter, the white plum blossoms bloomed incomparably brilliantly. They gave off a faint fragrance that could leave people intoxicated.
Not long after, Ding Qiuyun heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him.
The footsteps sounded very familiar, but he was momentarily unable to place who they belonged to. However, only people from their base could come in, so he didn’t look back and continued to water the plants, “What is it?”
Instead of answering, the person who’d come over placed a slightly trembling hand on his shoulder.
Ding Qiuyun stilled. The watering can in his hand was still tilted, and drops of water fell, sprinkling over the backs of their feet.
The man opened his arms, wanting to pull the person in front of him into his embrace, but he carefully retracted his arms just before he was about to touch him.
Finally, he stuffed something into Ding Qiuyun’s pocket.
Ding Qiuyun froze with surprise, then reached his hand in to feel what it was, “This is…”
“…… My controller.”
There was infinite joy and pent-up desire in his voice, “Captain Ding… in the future, please take care of your Vice-captain. Is that okay?”