Chapter 266: This Life—The Beginning (VII)

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Chapter 266: This Life—The Beginning (VII)

Wei Xun had agreed to work with Shang Ke with the mindset of a financier: he would pay for the man’s projects as long as Shang Ke stayed close. Only after reading the materials Shang Ke sent did he realize, with surprise, how substantial the technology and its prospects were.

Robotics research was still in its infancy, used mainly by wealthy people seeking novelty and by high-tech laboratories. Ordinary consumers had little interest in it: the machines were not intelligent enough, not practical enough, and far too expensive.

Shang Ke’s vision, however, was built entirely around daily life. By function, the robots included pet robots, cooking robots, decorating robots, knowledge-search robots, cleaning robots, medical-care robots, and more, along with custom guide robots, coffee robots, reception robots, and comprehensive intelligent robots. If even a few of those functions could be realized perfectly, the resulting patent products would be enough to become a global sensation.

The patents had not yet been approved, so Wei Xun could not be sure that Shang Ke’s technology was truly as powerful as the materials claimed. If Shang Ke could provide a finished product…

As soon as Shang Ke returned home, he received a call from Qi Chen’s mother. She complained that her unfilial son had not contacted them in ages and did nothing but fool around.

“Keke, you have to discipline that boy properly for me. He is getting more outrageous by the day!”

“Ha-ha. No problem.”

After hanging up, Shang Ke found Qi Chen’s number and was about to call when the doorbell rang. The “unfilial son” himself was standing outside.

“Keke.” Qi Chen threw his arms around Shang Ke and wailed miserably, “I’m heartbroken!”

Shang Ke felt nothing. He hauled Qi Chen inside as if he were a sack and kicked the door shut.

“I’m heartbroken, Keke.” Qi Chen gazed at him pitifully, wearing the foolish expression of someone begging to be comforted.

“Congratulations.”

“…Why are you so cold and heartless?”

Qi Chen followed Shang Ke into the living room, complaining as if his heart had been torn apart. His eyes fell on Shang Ke’s back, and the playful smile gradually disappeared from his face.

“Get yourself something to eat.” Shang Ke sat on the sofa and began scolding him. “Have you gone another long stretch without going home? Auntie Qi gave me strict instructions to discipline you.”

Qi Chen’s face brightened. “Don’t hold back. Please discipline me thoroughly.”

Shang Ke glared at him and could not be bothered to respond.

That single glare lifted Qi Chen’s mood considerably. He sat on the opposite sofa and only then noticed the wires and components spread across the coffee table. One relatively complete metal object was connected to Shang Ke’s laptop.

Qi Chen was about to ask what it was when he heard a key turning in the lock. Wei Xun entered at his full height, two cold, arrogant eyes landing directly on Qi Chen. He did not look surprised; clearly, he had known Qi Chen was there all along.

Shang Ke did not rise to greet him. He merely glanced over, then returned his attention to the computer.

Qi Chen was delighted by Shang Ke’s indifference toward Wei Xun. He sent Wei Xun a warning look: You are not welcome here. If you have any sense, get out.

Wei Xun ignored him and walked over to Shang Ke. Just as he was about to sit down, Qi Chen sprang up and occupied the place beside Shang Ke at lightning speed. Wei Xun stopped in time to avoid the tragedy of sitting on Qi Chen’s face, then raised his foot and kicked the nerve in Qi Chen’s calf with perfect accuracy. Qi Chen doubled over in pain.

“What happened?” Shang Ke heard the noise and turned toward Qi Chen.

Qi Chen clutched his leg with one hand and pointed at Wei Xun with the other. “He kicked me!”

“I did.” Wei Xun looked down at him. “What are you going to do about it?”

Qi Chen shot to his feet, limping on one leg as he glared at Wei Xun with belligerent fury.

Just as the two men began battling with their eyes, a click sounded beside them. A cheerful children’s song burst into the room: “I’m your sweet fruit pie, aren’t I cute? Nutritious, delicious, tasty, thirst-quenching… Apples, bananas, strawberries, watermelon; one-two-three-four-five, five-four-three-two-one…” (Sweet Fruit Pie.) Sweet Fruit Pie

Wei Xun: “…”

Qi Chen: “…”

They turned toward Shang Ke at the same time and realized the song was not coming from the computer. It was coming from the strange metal object on the coffee table. The object shook its head, rotated and bent, and blinked its two bulb-like eyes. It looked deeply bizarre.

“What is that?” Qi Chen asked uneasily.

“My pet robot.” Shang Ke smiled.

Qi Chen’s expression became strange. That thing, which looked like an assemblage of metal trash, was a “pet” robot?

Wei Xun, on the other hand, became interested. He had wanted to see a finished product not long ago, but had not expected Shang Ke to produce one so quickly. Its appearance was a little rough, but the functions were what mattered.

“Keke, if you like robots, I can order one for you.” Qi Chen pointed at the “metal trash” on the table. “But this thing you made… isn’t it a little too ugly?”

Shang Ke said nothing. The robot being called “metal trash” answered instead, “I may be ugly, but I am gentle.”

Qi Chen: … Had he just imagined that?

“Let me introduce it properly.” Shang Ke smiled. “This is my pet robot, Unit One. Unit One, these are my friends, Qi Chen and Wei Xun.”

“Hello, friends Qi Chen and Wei Xun. My name is Unit One.” Unit One extended an incomplete mechanical arm toward them.

Neither Qi Chen nor Wei Xun moved.

Five seconds later, Unit One withdrew its arm and said to Shang Ke, “They have no manners at all. My favorability toward them has decreased by fifty points.”

Shang Ke asked, “What was their initial favorability?”

“Wei Xun: fifty-eight points. Qi Chen: fifty-five.”

Shang Ke: One meeting had nearly wiped out their entire favorability score…

Qi Chen asked indignantly, “Why did I start three points lower than him?”

Unit One’s eyes flickered. “Wei Xun is 2.5 centimeters taller and 8.2 pounds heavier than you. That fully complies with international standards.”

Qi Chen was furious. These days, even robots judged people by appearance?!

A strange light flashed through Wei Xun’s eyes. This robot could directly scan a person’s basic physical data?

He quickly sat across from Shang Ke and asked seriously, “What exactly can it do?”

Shang Ke smiled, opened a two-player web game, and patted Unit One on the head. “Let’s play.”

Unit One immediately moved beside Shang Ke, connected its own cables, went online, selected a character, clicked Play, and entered the game. Shang Ke’s skills were already nearly invincible, but Unit One’s performance was absurd. Monsters were headshotted almost the instant they spawned, with timing so precise that Shang Ke spent the entire game merely providing support.

And that was a combat game. In a puzzle game, it would wipe out the opponent in minutes.

Wei Xun watched in silence for a long time before asking hesitantly, “Are you sure that is a pet robot and not a cheating program with a body?”

“It is not cheating. It is a golden finger.” Unit One replied out of nowhere.

Wei Xun: “…”

Shang Ke laughed. “A robot is a mobile intelligent computer. In theory, anything a computer can do, a robot can do too. Restricting it too severely would interfere with the growth of its intelligence.”

“A robot’s intelligence can grow?” Even Wei Xun’s composure could not conceal his surprise.

“Yes.” Shang Ke explained, “The initial settings for a pet robot are cuteness, gaming, learning assistance, and archiving and analyzing its owner’s interests. It can use keywords and sentence patterns to converse with humans in a relatively intelligent way. While connected to the network, it synchronizes updates to its facial expressions, language database, and knowledge base. In a crisis, it protects its owner. It also has ordinary functions such as reminders, timers, recitation, recording, and music playback. The most interesting design—and the feature that sets it apart from current robots—is that its personality grows out of its owner’s interests. If the owner is a reclusive otaku who spends all year with instant noodles, then his robot may become a veteran otaku with some very unusual values too.” One could already imagine the harmonious future scenes: one person and one machine curled up in a dim room, teaming up to play games…

At that moment, the computer played the victory music. Unit One raised its uneven arms, spun around happily, and held out a hand to Shang Ke.

Shang Ke smiled and shook it. “Pleasure doing business with you, Unit One.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, Keke.”

Wei Xun could not describe what he was feeling. He had been surprised by Shang Ke’s wildly imaginative ideas, but he had never had a concrete sense of them. Seeing the results with his own eyes finally convinced him—and the reality far exceeded his expectations.

Qi Chen also recovered from his shock and pointed at the robot. “You—you… it—it…”

Shang Ke added, “Unit One has only just passed its basic debugging. It still needs more precise data calibration, program editing, and limb-control work.”

Wei Xun felt that it was already extraordinarily powerful.

Qi Chen was practically worshipping Shang Ke as a god.

The two men completely forgot their earlier conflict and threw themselves into a discussion of the robot.

Shang Ke demonstrated Unit One’s other functions one by one, leaving both men repeatedly astonished.

If a pet robot was already this powerful, what about the other types?

Wei Xun could not help asking that question.

Shang Ke said confidently, “As long as the funding keeps up, I am absolutely certain I can realize every idea in the proposal. For now, I am focusing on pet robots and decorating robots. A decorating robot can measure a house precisely, randomly generate hundreds of basic design plans and color schemes, and let the owner choose a favorite. The owner can then search online for furniture that matches the style and import the images into the robot system, which will automatically generate a 3D rendering. It will not be as refined as a human designer’s work, but it will be enough to show people exactly what kind of interior they want. It can also search for information about decorating materials, test their quality, and help the owner select the best suppliers and renovation teams.”

Wei Xun and Qi Chen stared in shock. This robot was an interior designer’s nightmare. Apart from large-scale construction and highly unusual custom work, a decorating robot could handle an ordinary home perfectly.

Once the robot reached the market, who knew how many interior designers would face unemployment?

Wei Xun gazed at Shang Ke in a daze and suddenly felt that the person he had chosen might be a terrifying genius capable of setting a global trend…

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