The System Teaches You How to Be Human

At the mecha base of the Kaz Empire.

A group of soldiers stood neatly in formation before the cold, lifeless mechas, preparing to don their suits and head into battle.

Their enemies weren’t just the soldiers of the Kaz Empire but also the Zerg that occasionally spilled out from the “Dark Regions.”

One soldier, alongside his comrades, pressed the button to open the cockpit of a snake-shaped mecha. However, after pressing it once, the mecha before him remained completely unresponsive.

The soldier tried again, even inputting his B-level mental power into the system. The mecha’s eyes glowed red, but as the cockpit began to slowly open, the soldier’s mental power was suddenly repelled, forcing him to withdraw.

Before him, the snake-shaped mecha fell silent once again, completely shutting down.

“Report, Commander. This mecha is malfunctioning,” the soldier raised his hand to report.

“Take it to the logistics department,” the commander ordered.

“Yes, Sir!”

The snake-shaped mecha was dragged to the desolate logistics area, left to join the company of discarded parts. As the mecha’s consciousness, Ah Tu, quietly peered through its glowing eyes, it watched the mecha troops soar away like a swarm of locusts, exhaling a sigh of relief.

“Hiss~”

Thankfully, it hadn’t been tempted by the sugar-coated cannonball.

(T/N: Sugar coated cannonball = internet term for saying; danger coated in sweet coaxing.)

Ah Tu had almost been controlled by the unfamiliar sensation of mental power. It felt like a gentle stream of water wrapping around its body, too… comfortable. It had taken a great deal of effort to suppress its instincts.

If anyone had been present in this part of the base, they would have noticed the snake-shaped mecha awkwardly inching its way out of the area.

Master, I’m coming to find you!

***

Unlike the conscientious Ah Tu, who only thought about reuniting with its master, Si Yisi hadn’t spared a thought for where Ah Tu might have gone.

He was busy nursing his body back to health, fighting, and trying to obtain some supplemental resources from the slum’s black market.

Si Yisi stuffed a small piece of black bread into his pocket and slowly made his way back to the dilapidated place that barely qualified as a home.

Suddenly, a skinny, dark-skinned boy stumbled and fell toward Si Yisi.

Si Yisi sidestepped the falling boy and instinctively drew the dagger he had concealed.

The boy’s gaunt face twisted with a vicious expression, like a cold snake. A dagger slid out from his sleeve, and he lunged at Si Yisi, aiming for his vulnerable spots.

The moment the fight began, Si Yisi realized that the skinny boy was deeply familiar with Q’s combat style. Every attack targeted the openings that Q was known to leave during fights.

If it had been Q standing there, even if he didn’t die, he would have at least suffered severe injuries.

Si Yisi decided to mimic Q’s typical moves, luring the skinny boy into attacking his supposed weaknesses. Just as the boy thought he’d found an opening, Si Yisi suddenly abandoned the feint, redirecting his dagger to a different angle.

Rip!

The dagger plunged smoothly into the skinny boy’s abdomen, leaving a gaping wound in its wake.

The dark, skinny boy’s eyes flickered, and in the next instant, like a rat, he attempted to scurry away with agility. Q’s temperament was something his companions had studied thoroughly. He might fight with people in the slums, but if they tried to escape, he wouldn’t bother chasing after them…

This thought had just flashed through the boy’s mind when…

Rip!

Si Yisi pulled out the dagger and, in one fluid motion, stabbed the boy several more times, creating more bloody wounds.

He stepped on the astonished boy, pinning him underfoot. The boy looked utterly defeated, as though he had abandoned any hope of resistance.

Zzz—

An invisible sound scraped across Si Yisi’s eardrum. Though he couldn’t see what had attacked him, his mind suddenly burst with the sensation of a sharp “electric current.”

The intangible force, like a venomous snake or a streak of lightning, shot toward Si Yisi’s head at incredible speed.

Si Yisi felt a dull ache in his brain, and for a brief moment, his vision blurred. Yet, without hesitation, he plunged the dagger back into the boy’s wound.

“Impossible…” the dark-skinned boy coughed out a mouthful of blood.

Si Yisi held him firmly underfoot, pressing so hard it seemed the boy’s ribs were about to crack.

“What was that?” Si Yisi frowned, rubbing his temples as he recalled the brief pain earlier. It was clearly a form of invisible attack.

There had been no mention of this in Q’s memories, but Si Yisi quickly deduced that it was likely a unique type of force with a special name.

“Pah… Kill me or torture me, do as you please,” the boy spat bloodied words, but a wild grin remained on his face.

“Mental power?” Si Yisi asked casually.

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the boy’s jaw and, with a crack, dislocated it, extracting a poison pouch hidden inside.

This item was something even Q had possessed; a necessity for slum dwellers. It was a precaution, either to avoid being captured and turned into a slave or to prevent becoming someone else’s prisoner.

The boy’s pupils dilated in shock. At the same time, Si Yisi once again felt the impact of the mental force.

This time, Si Yisi loosened his data stream slightly. He watched as the boy’s eyes rolled back, and he nearly passed out. Si Yisi quickly slapped him across the face more than ten times.

“Don’t faint,” Si Yisi ordered, pressing down on him. “I won’t kill you, but you’ll need to guide me to the black market.”

“I… will,” the boy replied weakly, barely breathing. How did he know about mental power?! Why could Q, who hadn’t even developed a mental core, counter mental attacks?!

***

The black market, much like the slums, was a place that avoided the light of day. It resembled the shadowy underbelly of a gutter, with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere that reeked of decay.

“Customer, what are you looking for?”

Si Yisi approached a stall owner cloaked entirely in a hooded robe. The vendor lifted his head to speak, and a strand of black-purple hair slipped out from beneath the hood.

Si Yisi’s thoughts stirred. “I want to blow up mechas. Do you have any suitable recommendations?”

Any other vendor might have scolded him for his audacity, but the black-purple-haired man raised his head lazily and said, “I do. They’re cheap—discounted goods.”

Si Yisi glanced at him. These so-called explosives for mechas were indeed very cheap, their appearance dull and dusty, no different from street vendor goods.

“2 star coins for your trouble,” the man said.

“Mm.” Si Yisi paid the money, tucked the small package into his arms, and walked away.

After walking a short distance, Si Yisi opened the package slightly. He brushed off the dust from the weapons’ surfaces, revealing the shiny metallic silver underneath.

Just as he thought.

The moment Si Yisi saw the vendor, he had sensed something off. From start to finish, the man didn’t seem like someone who lived in the slums. He looked more like someone there for amusement.

What’s the vendor’s connection to the person who would attack Q?

It didn’t seem like he had come to silence anyone; he was probably a competitor to the person behind the attack on Q.

Suddenly, someone approached the man with the purple-black hair. This person was wearing a gray, patched-up cloak and looked at the man with an obsequious expression.

“Are you satisfied with the stall, sir?”

“Not bad,” the man with purple-black hair said as he tossed a shiny silver star coin to the real vendor, then turned and left with his subordinate who had emerged from the shadows.

“Sir Xian,” the subordinate asked, “What reason does that person have to target the boy from the slums?”

Lin Xian replied, “Ah… I don’t know.”

“But seeing how anxious Tru was, it’s clear the boy must have something special about him… Besides, he wanted to take apart a mecha sent by Tru. Isn’t it only normal for me to lend a hand? After all, Tru and I have never been on the same page.”

This young master’s approach could only be described as casual.

Lin Xian walked off nonchalantly, unaware that Si Yisi had not only spotted his flaw but had also left behind a souvenir.

A very rudimentary listening device.