thefictionvixens Chapter 40 Door-to-Door Visit
Chapter 40 Door-to-Door Visit
After returning home that day, she told Zhen Tianzun about the message sent by the sound wave.
"I know he wouldn't have white hair like that."
"So you also think it's not over yet?" Yin Liu asked.
Zhen Tianzun said, "Now it's just a matter of seeing how far they intend to interfere."
Yin Vector sat at the dining table, looking down at the terminal projector, and remained silent for a long time.
That night, the room was unusually quiet.
The two machines were each doing their own thing, but the air was always thick with a sense of oppression and heaviness.
While Yin Vector was looking at a compatibility logic diagram that Red Spider had given her during the day, Zhen Tianzun was flipping through the latest schedule of the gladiatorial arena and some things she didn't want to look at in detail.
Time passed little by little.
Then a doorbell rang outside, neither too loud nor too soft.
The room fell silent for a moment.
The vector looked up. Zhen Tianzun's gaze had also shifted away from the data panel.
Immediately, the vector instinctively rose, its movements subtle, but instead of moving towards the door, it retreated to an angle that offered a better view of the entrance without immediately revealing itself. The outer armor of its left arm silently slid open a crack, revealing the energy blade inside, not yet fully extended, just one final movement remaining.
Zhen Tianzun stood up and said in a low voice, "Don't rush out."
The vector didn't respond; it just stared at the door, and the optical mirror was tighter than usual.
Zhen Tianzun walked over, and the door opened a small crack.
Two machines were standing outside the door.
The one in front wore the kind of mid-level management armor commonly seen in the arena, with clean edges, and his smile looked quite convincing. The one behind didn't speak, was a bit thicker, and his posture clearly indicated he wasn't there to deliver a message.
"Knocking on the door so late," Zhen Tianzun said, his tone devoid of warmth. "The arena's service area is quite extensive now."
The machine in front of me chuckled.
"Sorry to disturb your rest. There are just some things I feel are better confirmed in person."
I don't think so.
The other person seemed not to understand the implication of catching a flight, glancing briefly inside the door before respectfully looking away.
"We don't want to make things too ugly either," he said. "It's just that recently, some unstable factors have been emerging both behind the scenes and externally. The management hopes to reach some consensus with you first."
Zhen Tianzun leaned against the door, blocking the view completely.
"Your consensus is generally that the chip is malicious," he said. "What new tricks are you going to come up with today?"
The smile on Ji's face froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
"You've misunderstood. We've always respected you and cherished your current position and influence." His tone was gentle, but his words were carefully chosen. "That's precisely why we don't want certain variables that shouldn't be involved to ultimately affect you."
The vector, standing at the rear, heard this and the pulse of the energy blade inside his left arm flickered slightly.
Zhen Tianzun, however, seemed unperturbed by this rhetoric, and simply raised his eyes and said indifferently, "Continue."
The other person looked at him, lowered their voice even further, and deliberately made a fake impression of "I'm thinking of you".
"That little mecha's recent activity log is really bad. Backstage, perimeter, technical area, and some other places where she shouldn't be associated with you so frequently, she's all too conspicuous."
"How conspicuous?" Zhen Tianzun asked.
"It's so obvious that some people have started to see her and you as variables on the same level."
The living room was quiet.
The vector was so still that it could even hear the slight changes in the rotational speed of its internal energy flow.
The person in front paused, then continued, "Of course we don't want things to escalate further. So we're here today simply to remind you that your current position isn't suitable for allowing such destabilizing factors to continue to linger around you."
Zhen Tianzun looked at him and chuckled softly in his throat.
The laughter was devoid of warmth.
"Have you finished reminding me?"
The other person seemed not to have expected his response to be so cold. After pausing for two seconds, they still managed to push forward with their last bit of malice.
"There's one more thing. The management also doesn't want to see some young machines, who are perfectly capable of operating safely, suffer unnecessary damage on the road because they're standing in the wrong place or relying on the wrong connections."
Okay, now the intention to deal with the two machines separately is almost clear. With one sentence, he threatened her at the same time, tested Zhen Tianzun, and tried to alienate them.
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room instantly changed.
The vector was standing behind, and the outer armor of his left arm slid off completely with a "click".
A second before the slender energy blade was ejected, Zhen Tianzun's voice had already resounded out.
"You slag, if you don't want to die, swallow back what you just said."
The two machines at the entrance visibly froze for a moment.
Especially the one in front, whose overly fake politeness almost cracked open.
But he still didn't back down, maintaining his composure as a member of management, his face darkening: "Are you threatening the people in the arena?"
"You stood at my door, testing my reaction with her safety." The Celestial looked at him, his pale blue optical glasses devoid of any smile. "Now you're asking me if I'm a threat?"
The vector has already taken half a step out from behind.
It just so happened to fall into the line of sight of the two machines at the entrance.
The deep purple and dark blue lines of her outer armor looked cold and austere under the indoor lights. The gleaming blade on her left arm was quietly pressed down at her side, not fully raised, but that was enough to show that she was not in a spectator's position.
She stared at the two machines outside the door, her tone completely devoid of its usual liveliness, carrying a chill.
"Has your arena recently taken to packaging trash talk as announcements?"
The management system finally turned its attention to her.
The first direct confrontation was an assessment-driven scrutiny.
"We were just offering a friendly reminder."
"A friendly reminder right at your doorstep?" Yin Xiang looked at him. "That's quite thoughtful."
The machine that hadn't spoken until now moved slightly at this moment.
This is a typical preparatory action, a move to intervene if the situation escalates further.
Both the vector and the Heavenly Venerable saw it.
At the same instant, the energy fluctuations of the blade caused the lines on Zhen Tianzun's shoulders and back to tense up.
The air inside the room felt like unlit gasoline.
It was just a tiny spark away from exploding.
The management machine in front clearly noticed this as well, and its expression finally turned completely ugly.
He stared at Zhen Tianzun, then glanced at Yin Xiangzong, and finally forced himself to suppress his anger, his voice cold and hard.
"It seems tonight is not a good time to continue the discussion."
"You weren't here to talk in the first place," said Zhen Tianzun.
The other person didn't respond to that, but straightened their sleeve armor, smoothing over their earlier lapse in composure.
"We've conveyed our message," he said. "Hopefully you won't regret it later."
Zhen Tianzun looked at him, his tone slightly aggressive.
"roll."
This time, the other party didn't try to maintain that nice fake smile and turned to leave. The machine behind also withdrew, its gaze lingering for a moment on the energy blade on the left arm of the vectoring machine before it left, without saying a word.
After the door closed, the room became so quiet that it was as if the previous silence was just an illusion.
The blade on her left arm did not immediately retract, and the flame in her chest pulsed violently.
Zhen Tianzun turned to look at her.
"Put it away."
Yin Vector stared at the door for a few seconds before slowly retracting the blade.
"They really dared to do that." Her voice was low, suppressing her anger.
"Nonsense." Zhen Tianzun's tone was also cold. "If you didn't dare, you wouldn't have come."
Yin Xiang stood still, then suddenly raised his hand and pressed hard on his forehead, suppressing the urge to rush out and fight that had just been there.
"I almost sliced that face off just now."
"I know." Zhen Tianzun glanced at her. "I'm about the same."
The vector head is raised.
He spoke in a calm tone, as if he were just describing the taste of the energy liquid tonight, but when she looked at the still slightly relaxed shoulder line of the Heavenly Venerable and the lingering coldness in the optical glasses, she knew he wasn't joking.
She was silent for a moment, then finally muttered under her breath, "What a lousy, awful machine."
Zhen Tianzun leaned back to one side, his voice low and deep.
"That's why I said earlier that this matter is not over."
That night, neither of them mentioned telling the other to get some rest.
Finally, it was Zhen Tianzun who spoke first: "Go as usual tomorrow. Don't let tonight's show disrupt your plans."
"I know."
"If anyone contacts you individually from the back end, don't answer. Just let me handle the calls on the same frequency first."
"it is good."
"Also, don't try to be strong on your own outside."
Yin Xiang was still holding back his anger, but upon hearing this, he couldn't help but look up and say, "You've said it three times tonight."
Zhen Tianzun looked at her, his tone indifferent.
"Because you look like you're planning to get your revenge tomorrow."
Is this thing a roundworm inside its own body?
-
The next day she still went to the arena, just to see if the atmosphere there had changed backstage.
Before she could even figure out what was going on, she was knocked down halfway there.
Her red, white, and black outfit was still polished to a shine, and her demeanor as she turned into the corridor exuded a leisurely, unhurried air. The moment the other person saw her, they stopped, their optical glasses scanning her face and arms, a slight smirk playing on their lips.
"The way you look today," Knockout said slowly, "is like you were just blocked at the door by some particularly 'polite' troublemaker last night."
Vector was already annoyed, and upon hearing this, she looked up at him and said, "Do all you medical officers have this skill of instantly recognizing when someone is in a bad mood?"
"It's not a skill," Knockout said. "It's experience. The arena's been getting so stale lately, it's almost impossible to keep up that vibe."
As he spoke, he leaned closer, lowering his voice but still maintaining that slightly sarcastic tone.
"The people on the other end are talking more like instruction manuals than usual today. If you keep telling me you're fine, I'll think you've broken your brain module again after it was fixed."
The vector stared at him for two seconds, and finally let out a breath.
"An organic product did indeed arrive last night."
The smile on his face faded slightly after he knocked him down.
"Who?"
"The control system over there at the arena."
After a moment of silence, he clicked his tongue softly.
"They moved faster than I expected."
"You know?"
"I don't know the specifics." Knock Down glanced at her, "But this atmosphere lately is obvious even to a blind person. Not to mention that you and Zhen Tianzun have both been writing 'Don't bother me, or I'll dismantle this machine' lately."
Vector didn't respond to that, but simply said in a low voice, "They were swearing last night."
"That's normal." Knockout said coolly, "If the arena management suddenly learned to behave like normal people one day, I would suspect that they have all been infected with a virus."
That was a huge blow.
The man, who was trying to suppress his anger, was still forced to laugh after hearing this sentence, and finally managed to exhale through his nose.
He glanced at her after knocking her down, and lowered his voice.
"Don't wander into those side passages and dead ends lately. If someone suddenly becomes unusually polite to you, don't assume they've changed their personality. In the arena, polite words are the least valuable thing."
The vector looked at him and nodded.
"I know."
"And one more thing," Knockdown said, crossing his arms as if it were a casual remark, "If you're planning to take another plane home tonight, remember to keep an eye on your back on the way. Don't let anything interfere with your life."
After a two-second silence, Yin Xiang suddenly spoke: "Be careful on your own side too."
The knockdown paused for a moment.
Yin Vector looked at him, seemingly without much extra emotion.
"You've been here longer than me, and you know more than me. At times like these, it might not be a bad thing to keep your mouth shut a bit."
As he looked at her, the usual smile in his optical glasses slowly faded by half.
A few seconds later, he chuckled softly.
"You actually reminded me of that now."
"I'm not just someone who listens."
"That's true." Knockdown looked at her, his tone returning to its usual lazy tone. "Don't worry, I value my life even more than you think. After all, a machine like me with extremely high maintenance costs isn't suitable to be scrapped along with some stupid thing."
The vector's lips twitched.
"Fine. Keep being narcissistic."
"That's true."
After knocking her down, he waved his hand at her and turned to walk away.
Yin Xiang stood still, watching the red, white, and black figure disappear at the end of the corridor before slowly turning his gaze away.
The arena remained the same as always.
Lights, metal walls, machines coming and going, pre-match announcements faintly coming from the loudspeaker system, and the backstage area pretending everything is as usual.
But next time, those bastards might do more than just block my doorstep.