Chapter 664

Fang Qi clutched his head, feeling his temples throb relentlessly.

…He couldn’t take it anymore.

Lin Xiaoyou’s intelligence swung up and down more wildly than a roller coaster!

He was already at his wit’s end just trying to take care of his own amnesiac Crazy Girl.

And now, somehow, even Miss Genius…

You’re asking me to save you too?!

Are you trying to kill me?!

What have I ever done to deserve this?!

“Senior, what are you doing?”

At some point, Lin Xiaoyou had already snapped out of her daze.

She opened her big, bright almond-shaped eyes and looked at him with innocent curiosity.

“Does your head hurt?”

Her tone was genuinely concerned.

“Are you all right, Senior? Do you have a fever?”

As she spoke, she raised a hand and reached toward his forehead.

Fang Qi: “?!”

Hey!

His scalp prickled, and he hurriedly dodged to the side.

“I’m fine, I’m fine! I was just… thinking about something!”

He gave an awkward laugh and waved his hand dismissively, while instinctively glancing toward Liguang beside him.

…The silver-haired girl was smiling at him.

It was a gentle, tender smile, her brows and eyes curved pleasantly. Even those crimson eyes of hers no longer seemed quite so bright.

But when Fang Qi’s gaze slid downward, he saw that her slender hand was gripping the teacup in her grasp…

A fine crack had appeared along the cup.

And that crack was slowly letting out the faint sound of—

“Crack.” “Crack.”

With just a little more force, the whole thing would probably shatter!

Fang Qi: “…”

I’m screwed.

That whole exchange between him and Lin Xiaoyou through their phones, the one where they’d tried to hide what they were doing in plain sight…

Liguang hadn’t missed a thing!

Liguang had…

She hadn’t seen the contents of the screen, had she?

But she had clearly realized that the two of them were secretly plotting behind her back!

When she noticed Fang Qi looking at her, she smiled softly again.

“Crack.”

Fang Qi: “…”

The corner of his mouth twitched. Suddenly, he felt…

A little relieved?

Relieved that his wife’s yandere side was still being firmly suppressed by the personality of “Little Sister Li”!

Although a faint trace of that yandere aura was still seeping out through the cracks in the teacup, the “Little Sister Li” persona was still proving useful!

Otherwise, based on that scene of him and Lin Xiaoyou with their heads pressed together, his wife would have already pinned him to the floor and torn him apart by now!

So…

Should he placate her first?

No, no, no!

Fang Qi’s eyes suddenly sharpened. His gaze shifted slightly and landed on the black-haired maid sitting across from him, who was quietly and obediently studying him with a puzzled expression.

…He needed to deal with this one first!

This Ling’er was very likely a puppet being remotely controlled by the super AI behind Chenxi!

But… what was he supposed to do now?

He fell into a brief daze.

Lin Xiaoyou had just said something about giving her a show of force and cutting off the network?

But how was he supposed to…

“Huh?”

A soft exclamation from Lin Xiaoyou interrupted his thoughts.

Fang Qi turned his head slightly and saw her holding up her gaudy yellow phone and waving it around.

“Strange. Why is there no internet? Even my mobile data is gone?”

Her round little face scrunched up into a frown.

“Did I forget to pay the bill? I don’t think I did… right?”

Hmm?

Fang Qi’s brows relaxed slightly, and his heart gave a jolt.

The network was already down? That meant…

He discreetly glanced at Ling’er, who was sitting across from Liguang.

The black-haired, twin-tailed maid still wore that deferential expression. She hadn’t moved an inch.

“It’s okay, Senior!”

Lin Xiaoyou, who had become foolish once again, didn’t dwell on it at all. She simply turned and called out to Ling’er:

“Ling’er, hurry and check whether I forgot to pay the internet bill! Help me pay it, okay?”

The black-haired maid immediately rose gracefully, her voice gentle and soft.

“Yes, Master. Ling’er will check for you right away.”

Then her peach-blossom eyes opened slightly…

Lines of blue-green code began flowing through her pupils!

Fang Qi held his breath slightly and narrowed his eyes as he watched her.

The code in her eyes moved…

Much more slowly than the code in Liguang’s crimson eyes!

And he wasn’t even particularly close to her, yet he could still make out the lines of text flickering across them:

[NET_QUERY]SSID_AP_7F......LOST

[NET_QUERY]CELLULAR......SIGNAL_LOST

[RETRY]GATEWAY10.1.1.10...TIMEOUT

[ERR]NETWORK_UNREACHABLE

“Come on, Ling’er!”

Lin Xiaoyou urged her impatiently, still completely oblivious to what was happening.

“Senior finally came over to visit. How can we have no internet?”

At that moment, Liguang also slowly turned her head toward Ling’er, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly.

Fang Qi, meanwhile, pressed his lips together and stared intently into Ling’er’s eyes.

Then a red glow flashed.

[ERROR]ACCESS_DENIED/UNREACHABLE(ROOTREQUIRED)

A line of red error text appeared in Ling’er’s peach-blossom eyes.

But a moment later, her eyes returned to normal, and she lowered her head slightly.

“Apologies, Master. Ling’er does not have access to your household’s payment method.”

“Additionally, Ling’er’s own network connection is experiencing an anomaly and is unable to connect with the outside world.”

Her voice remained soft.

“There appears to be a frequency inside the house that is interfering with the network. I recommend that Master move away from this location before trying again.”

Fang Qi: “!”

Her network really had been cut off?

Then right now, she…

“Huh?”

The ditzy sweetheart’s eyes immediately widened.

“How could this happen?”

Her brows shot up.

“Who did this?! Who’s so inconsiderate that they’d block the network?!”

Fang Qi: “…”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

…The inconsiderate person seemed to be you, ditzy sweetheart.

Beside him, Liguang silently watched Ling’er, her brows faintly furrowed as crimson light flickered in her eyes.

Crazy Girl’s attention had temporarily been drawn to Ling’er.

Fang Qi lowered his gaze slightly. The tangled thoughts in his mind were finally beginning to sort themselves out, one by one.

Good. He could basically confirm it now.

He still had no idea how Lin Xiaoyou had managed to cut off the network…

But Ling’er’s behavior at this moment was completely that of an ordinary AI companion!

In fact…

He raised his eyes and looked at Ling’er, who was still standing there with a docile expression.

She felt even less human than an ordinary AI companion!

Although ordinary AI companions had no self-awareness, they were actually extremely good at imitating human emotions.

They could show surprise, hesitation, and confusion. They could even make puzzled expressions.

After all, they were “companions.” Making people happy, empathizing with them, and keeping them company were the most basic functions they possessed!

But this black-haired maid named Ling’er hadn’t shown even the slightest hint of confusion after discovering that the house was being affected by network interference.

She was missing the touch of humanity that should have been there.

So…

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes as he watched her, then raised a hand and gently lowered the brim of his hat.

The first effect of this “network disconnection” was now displayed plainly before his eyes!

Miss Genius, your show of force worked.

But what should he do next…?

Suddenly, silver hair flashed before his eyes!

Beside the black-haired maid, Liguang sprang to her feet.

Fang Qi’s pupils shrank.

Crazy Girl, don’t get worked up yet…!

But Liguang wasn’t targeting him.

Instead, she took a single step forward and placed herself directly between him and Ling’er!

With her back to him, her seemingly delicate body was faintly tensed…

…Huh?

Following Liguang’s gaze, Fang Qi looked toward Ling’er, who had been standing there obediently.

“Eh? What’s wrong?”

Lin Xiaoyou also stood up from beside the sofa in confusion.

“Liguang, why did you suddenly…!”

She had only gotten halfway through her sentence when her eyes suddenly widened, staring at Ling’er.

Fang Qi saw it too.

The black-haired maid with twin ponytails was now… staring at them with vacant eyes!

And her head was slowly, mechanically tilting to one side!

As though the gears in her neck had jammed halfway through!

“Net—work—”

Her mouth opened and closed, a distinct layer of static crackling through her voice.

“Con—nec—tion—ter—mi—na—ted—”

Her voice stuttered, breaking up in fits and starts.

“Mas—ter—”

Fang Qi: “?!!”

At some point, the pupils in those peach-blossom eyes had gone completely unfocused. Her fingers were frozen in midair at an unnaturally twisted angle…

Click!

Her neck suddenly jerked sharply to the other side, producing a harsh scraping sound!

Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell across her face, but…

Those black eyes swallowed the light whole, reflecting nothing at all!

Fang Qi stared at her, going slightly rigid.

Although he had guessed that something would go wrong, seeing this scene in person still made the hairs on the back of his neck rise!

What the hell was this…?!

“Ah?! Ling’er, what’s wrong?!”

Lin Xiaoyou’s eyes widened as she cried out:

“Ling’er! Ling’er! Don’t scare me!”

She immediately panicked and started toward her, but the moment she took a step—

“Wait, Miss Lin.”

A fair hand seized her arm firmly.

“Please don’t approach her.”

Liguang held her arm and stared at the clearly malfunctioning Ling’er. Her tone was much more serious than before.

“Even an ordinary service-type unit possesses strength far beyond that of a human once it begins operating at full capacity.”

“If you approach her at a time like this and she grabs you… you could easily suffer a serious injury or even a broken bone.”

Lin Xiaoyou froze for a moment, but in the next second, she became even more frantic!

“What are you talking about?!”

Her eyes reddened with anxiety.

“She’s my Sister Ling’er! There’s no way she’d hurt me! She…!”

She was so flustered that her words became incoherent. She was genuinely worried sick!

“…Sister Ling’er?”

Fang Qi suddenly interrupted her.

Don’t say that, you ditzy sweetheart! Where did you even get a Sister Ling’er from?!

He remained on guard as he watched the vacant-eyed Ling’er, slowly rising to his feet as he lowered his voice.

“Are you sure she’s your ‘Sister Ling’er’? And do you still remember…”

He cast her a brief sidelong glance.

“What memories do you actually share with her?”

Lin Xiaoyou, get your head straight!

But the ditzy sweetheart immediately grew agitated.

“Senior, what are you talking about?! How could we not have any memories together?!”

She struggled desperately to free herself from Liguang’s grasp, but couldn’t break loose. Even so, she continued shouting:

“Ling’er and I have so many memories together! We’re… we’re…!”

Her voice trailed off. She blinked.

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, she froze. Her gaze turned hazy for a moment, and her expression once again became blank and confused.

“…Sister Ling’er is my…”

“My…”

Before her eyes, Ling’er was also staring vacantly at them, murmuring:

“Lin… Xiaoyou…”

“Mas…ter…”

“Dis—con—nect—ed—”

Her voice crackled with static, stuttering as it drifted through the small living room…

The scene had become downright bizarre!

Fang Qi took a deep breath.

Although he still wasn’t entirely sure what to do, one thing was clear…

It was time to act!

At the very least, he couldn’t allow the situation to become even more chaotic!

“Liguang!”

Fang Qi suddenly spoke. His gaze remained fixed on Ling’er, but he lowered his voice as he addressed the silver-haired girl standing in front of him.

“Do it! Make Lin Xiaoyou have a nice ‘nap’!”

Xiaoyou, my dear teammate, thank you for your contribution!

But as Miss Genius, you probably don’t want to keep foolishly calling someone else “Sister,” do you? I’ll help you out!

And, conveniently… I can let my wife have some fun too!

“Eh?”

Fang Qi’s voice was anything but quiet. At his words, Lin Xiaoyou froze, staring blankly at him.

She looked as though she had never expected Fang Qi to say something like that!

Even Liguang was slightly taken aback, but then…

The corners of her lips curled upward.

She gave Fang Qi a gentle glance, then turned her eyes softly toward Lin Xiaoyou.

“Miss Lin, please don’t blame Liguang.”

Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke in a gentle voice.

“If you must blame someone…”

The corner of her mouth curled up again.

“Then blame the master. His heart is simply far too cruel!”

Before she could finish speaking, she raised her slender, fair hand and reached for Lin Xiaoyou’s little head!

“Wait…!”

“Stop—!”

Lin Xiaoyou and Ling’er’s voices rang out almost simultaneously!

At the same time, Ling’er, whose eyes had been vacant just moments ago, suddenly trembled…

And instantly lunged forward!

“Protect… Master—!”

At that moment, a flash of crimson—identical to the red glow in Liguang’s right eye—flickered through her peach-blossom eyes!

Fang Qi: “?!”

He didn’t even have time to react…

The next second, Liguang’s left hand clamped firmly onto Lin Xiaoyou’s forehead!

At the same time, her right leg lashed out!

Whoosh!

With a sharp sound as it tore through the air, it slammed squarely into the stomach of the charging Ling’er!

Bzzzt! Bang!

The crackle of electricity and the impact of the kick exploded at the same time!

“Yaa—!”

A cry of “yaa” cut off abruptly halfway through!

The ditzy sweetheart’s body jerked violently upright!

Blue electricity surged across her body, and her almond-shaped eyes rolled straight upward!

At the same time, Ling’er, who had been charging forward, bent over and flew backward at an equal speed!

Fang Qi: “…”

At that moment, he had only one thought.

Thank goodness that kick hadn’t landed on him…

My wife is awesome!