Electronic Nezha

Chapter 103 Arthouse Thriller

The school bell rang, and the students all went into the classroom. Liu Zhenhua and I walked in the empty campus. Liu Zhenhua's eyes were a little red.

Why are you crying?

The 14-year-old boy stubbornly replied, "I didn't cry, they made me angry."

I said, "I didn't expect your teacher, Mr. Gao, to be such a nice person."

"Okay," Liu Zhenhua said. "I'll listen carefully to his classes from now on."

"How bored must you be?"

“It’s not boring. I’ll write down his mistakes and then convey the right ideas to him when the opportunity arises.”

"Actually, your teacher Wang is on your side too." Based on the impression Wang Aili left on me, the fact that she let Liu Zhenhua leave first at this time speaks volumes.

"Wang Aili knows who Zhang Jingxuan is."

"This shows that justice resides in the hearts of the people."

Liu Zhenhua glanced at me and asked, "Dad, what happened to our family?" It was the first time he had ever come to the school to pick someone up, and he was also surprised.

"We're fine at home—do you think there are aliens in the universe?"

"If we're talking about extraterrestrial 'humans' in the narrow sense, there might be some, or there might not be, but there definitely will be extraterrestrial life. If we compare the universe to Earth, the area of ​​human activity is even smaller than that of an ant on Earth, so there are infinite possibilities."

"Regarding aliens, do you hope they exist or not?"

"This is something that is beyond human control. If we compare Earth's civilization to a player, you don't know what kind of opponents you will encounter as you gradually explore the map. You don't even know what kind of game it is, or what role you will play in the game. Are you the protagonist who overcomes all obstacles or an NPC who is destined to be killed with one blow? Maybe you are not even an NPC, but just a gold coin that Mario casually pockets."

"You don't like playing games, do you? -- Don't make it so complicated. If we run into each other, how do we determine whether we're more advanced or less advanced than them?"

"The simplest way is to see who discovers whom first. The one who discovers the other's creatures first has an advantage in space travel and adaptability."

That makes sense; the Native Americans had a lot of grievances to vent.

Liu Zhenhua said, "Dad, just get to the point." He knew that his father's visit to the school during class couldn't be because he had suddenly become interested in space travel.

I said with a worried look, "Bad news, our Earth has been discovered by them first—at noon, your Uncle Wang and I went for a foot massage and were almost hit by aliens with a teapot."

"Uh, an alien hit you with a teapot in the bathhouse? Dad, are you sure it's an alien?"

"I didn't tell you everything." I sorted out my thoughts and recounted the events of noon in detail, including the "your son was killed" that had been bothering me for the past two days, the scene in my dream, and the skin of the fake No. 23 marine creature.

"He took a kick from Hao Hao and ran away unharmed. It seems that the other party is indeed not an earth creature." Liu Zhenhua was good at grasping the key points.

"The spaceship I dreamed of was also very advanced; it could fly and shoot lasers."

"Don't worry about that, it's just your imagination. If the other side had that kind of capability, they would have attacked already. Why would they need a teapot?"

That's right. I was wondering which sci-fi movies those spaceships looked familiar. I wonder which ones they were based on and imagined.

"Did aliens appear on Earth in your future?" That's the key question. "No."

"So what do we do now?" It's like going to the hospital with a strange illness. You're not afraid of the doctor describing all the terrible aftereffects and how difficult it is to treat; you're afraid he'll just shrug and say he's never seen anything like it. In the game, Liu Zhenhua was invincible, originally the only cheater in the entire server. Now the opposing team has also developed a cheat, and a new one at that. This game is going to be tough.

"When soldiers come, generals will meet them; when water comes, earth will dam it. Hypnosis isn't some extraordinary skill." In this matter, Liu Zhenhua displayed a composure beyond his years, a stark contrast to his earlier argument with his classmate about the bicycle seat. This reassured me; it seems one can only truly thrive in a position suited to their abilities.

Liu Zhenhua said, "Dad, the fact that he targeted you first shows that he felt there was an opportunity to take advantage of you, so he wanted to ensure your safety first."

"That thing is a bit eerie; it can make people all sorts of weird and be impossible to guard against."

Liu Zhenhua said, "There is someone who is exactly his natural counter!"

"You mean... Hao Hao?"

“Yes, based on my judgment, they will target your weaknesses and exploit them. Hao Hao relies on a chip to maintain his movements, so he has no weaknesses,” Liu Zhenhua said. “We have to try to persuade Hao Hao’s mother to let him go.”

"I was thinking of saying this anyway, Hao Hao can't keep up the act anymore." You see, those stars who want to prove their acting skills all like to play fools, but nobody wants to play a fool who has no initiative. People are born without initiative, but as they grow up, some of that initiative transforms into creativity, some into destructiveness, and some into pure evil...

But the most difficult thing is to act as if you have no drive when you clearly do.

"Let's go to Hao Hao's house now."

We've already arrived in the residential area. We picked up Xiao Wu, and I remembered Hao Hao's neighborhood, so I told him the address.

"What if... Aunt Xu doesn't want Hao Hao to become like this?" I don't know if you've ever seen those art-house thrillers, without knives, guns, or bloodshed, but mainly focusing on highlighting the repression and distortion of human nature, such as a mother having an extreme desire to control her son, preferring him to become an idiot or a mere decoration...

Am I watching a wide variety of movies?
"Probably not. If that's the case—" Liu Zhenhua said after a moment of silence, "I don't know what to do either."

We reached the kilometer mark quickly. In the dilapidated neighborhood, I asked Liu Zhenhua, "What should I say?"

"Didn't we agree before that we would tell the truth?"

"Tell an old woman who collects scraps that humanity will perish in 75 years, and that someone with future technology has traveled back to save the Earth. Her son was cured by this technology, but in a way, he is no longer her son?"

Liu Zhenhua was silent for a moment, then said firmly, "Yes!"

"You're just messing with me!" I got out of the car speechlessly, while Liu Zhenhua remained seated in the passenger seat.

"Aren't you coming?"

"It's better if I don't show my face. The more complicated things get, the more confused the old lady will become. You should be the savior."

"Um... are you safe? I'm afraid that thing will come after you."

Before Liu Zhenhua could speak, Xiao Wu, who had been silent the whole way, said, "Brother, don't worry, if that thing dares to show up, I'll just run it over for you."

Uh, that seems to make sense. Xiao Wu is a purebred AI, and Liu Zhenhua is safer with it than with me.

(End of this chapter)