NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 264:
Chapter 264: I Became Your Cage:
Xu Xi reminisced about the past, recounting the experiences he shared with Ailei.
It was a journey of survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a mutual reliance in the end times, and an intertwined existence across the vast starry sea. Hundreds of years condensed into a fleeting moment, weaving a dreamlike tapestry of their shared history.
The memories were beautiful.
They were precious.
They were irreplaceable treasures.
“Ailei, I’m really glad I met you.”
Xu Xi’s breathing grew weaker, his struggle to inhale becoming more apparent. The exhaustion that seeped from his soul left him reliant on oxygen support.
Seeing him in such pain made Ailei tremble even more.
Both her steel body and elusive mechanical soul resonated in sorrow.
“Master, please rest…”
Ailei’s voice no longer held its usual clarity.
It had reverted to the early days—harsh and distorted, like crude synthesized speech.
It was the sound of grief echoing through her system.
But Xu Xi shook his head gently, his frail hand reaching out to grasp Ailei’s, facing her damaged, contorted face up close.
“Ailei, let me finish first, okay?”
A request from Xu Xi was something Ailei could never refuse.
“If it’s you, then… of course,” she replied, her sorrow resonating through the cold walls of the escape pod.
Then, Xu Xi spoke softly again.
“Ailei, all this time, I wanted to help you grow, to see you become better.”
“Even though you always deny it, I believe that with emotions, you’re no different from humans.”
“I wanted to see you grow.”
“I wanted you to survive safely.”
“But perhaps I was a dictator… too self-righteous, always thinking about taking you out of the cage.”
“A cage of machinery, a cage of a fallen civilization.”
“But now, it seems that in my attempt to free you, I’ve unknowingly become your new cage, trapping your future.”
“I guess… I’m not very good at teaching others.”
Xu Xi gazed at Ailei with a gentle look, his frail hand holding hers—once covered in synthetic skin, now stripped down to cold alloy.
Guilt.
Regret.
His voice carried a multitude of emotions, enough to tear at Ailei’s mechanical heart and fill it with pain.
It’s not like that… It’s not like that at all.
“You haven’t trapped my future,” Ailei refuted with a trembling voice, her sorrow overflowing from her silver-blue eyes.
“My birth, my existence, my everything.”
“It’s all because of you…”
“Master, you are my future.”
“I don’t need freedom. I only need you.”
The sadness swelling within her was like an unstoppable tide, engulfing every part of her logical processes.
She needed nothing else.
Everything else was meaningless.
As long as you’re here… I only need you.
“You’re not my cage… I’m the one who has caged you,” Ailei whispered, her voice trembling as if she were a drowning person clinging desperately to the last piece of driftwood.
Her grip on Xu Xi’s hand tightened.
But the familiar warmth was gone.
All she could feel now was the coldness of ashes.
Ailei realized that compared to Xu Xi—who had always worried about her and put her first—she was the one truly trapping him, keeping him shackled in pain.
At that moment, the string of despair snapped completely.
The escape pod fell into silence.
Bright overhead lights cast a harsh glow on Xu Xi’s emaciated face, exposing every sign of exhaustion.
Ailei could no longer deceive herself with false hope, nor could she bear to watch him suffer through endless futile treatments.
“Master…”
“Please… give me an order.”
In Xu Xi’s surprised gaze, Ailei slowly lifted her head.
With a forced, sorrowful smile, she made her request.
She didn’t directly say what she wanted him to command.
But Xu Xi understood.
Surprise flashed in his eyes, followed by a gentle, appreciative gaze.
“Can you do it, Ailei?”
“…Yes.”
Her voice crackled and distorted.
Even without external damage, her internal components were overheating, some already releasing faint wisps of smoke.
Ailei’s voice was hoarse and broken, but her answer was firm.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you, Ailei.”
It wasn’t an order.
It wasn’t a request.
It was a plea.
Under his gentle gaze, Ailei trembled even more.
She stood up and walked toward the medical equipment.
Manually shutting down each system, one by one, in a slow and deliberate farewell.
Thunk—
Soon, all machines powered down, and the tubes connected to Xu Xi detached automatically.
The final flicker of life support was extinguished.
His life was now truly nearing its end.
But for the first time in a long while, Xu Xi’s expression looked peaceful.
The exhaustion that had plagued him for so long was finally lifting.
“I never thought…”
“That one day I’d feel like dying is a good thing.”
A wave of drowsiness swept over him.
Without the machines, the void’s grip grew stronger. His vision blurred, slowly fading into darkness.
The flame that had burned for so long…
Was finally about to go out.
“Ailei…”
“I’m here.”
After shutting down everything, Ailei returned to his bedside.
Her silver-blue eyes, heavy with sorrow, watched over him, the first and only light in her life.
The thought of ending that light with her own hands was something she could never forgive herself for.
“Don’t be sad for me, Ailei.”
“This time… it’s just like before. I’ll revive again, just… it might take a little longer.”
Lying on the bed, Xu Xi’s strength waned.
His eyes blinked slowly, his lips barely moved, and his fingers trembled faintly.
Things that were once so simple now felt impossible.
He forced a smile at Ailei.
It was his final smile.
A dying flame using its last warmth to comfort its loyal companion.
So he gently asked, “Ailei, can I touch your face?”
“…Yes, Master.”
In the quiet escape pod, surrounded by sterile white walls, Ailei nodded with a choked sob.
She carefully held Xu Xi’s right hand and placed it on her damaged face.
In the next moment…
A faint glow emitted from his fingertips.
It was mechanical energy.
Xu Xi mustered the last of his strength, using the deactivated medical devices as material to repair Ailei’s broken body, restoring her once-perfect features.
“There… that’s much better now…”
His fingers slipped away from her face, falling weakly to the side.
The flame finally faded into eternal darkness.
[You have died.]
[Simulation complete.]