Chapter 382: Fish, Dried Fish, Fish Biscuits (1)

The place was covered in wreckages. The cleaner robots only cleaned up the wreckages within the mining areas and ignored the countless mechanical debris and smashed up robots beyond them. The Free Army cared even less for them, doing only the bare minimum to deal with their own dead and wounded. Everyone was busy mining the ores right now.

Czedow was currently standing amidst the wreckage and thinking G.o.d-knows-what. He looked melancholic and lonely amidst the dark environment, or at least that was what Cary thought after seeing him.

The man was running circles around the outskirts because he had just hit Wheeze with a tool. After he saw Czedow standing alone in the wreckage, he suddenly took diverted from his original path and walked toward the robot.

In Carys opinion, the battlefield had probably evoked some emotions within the robot. Czedow was a robot, and the wreckages around them were technically his own kind. It made sense that Czedow was wrestling with emotions just like how a human would feel emotional if they stood on a battlefield strewn with human corpses for the first time.

Hey man. Why are you acting sad by your lonesome? Cary asked while giving Czedow a casual pat on the shoulder.

Czedow slowly turned around to face the Hunter. The robots expression betrayed no signs of sadness whatsoever, but Cary thought it was just another case of facial paralysisan illness that was commonly shared by all robotsand continued,

Theres no need to think too much about this. As Hunters, this is a sight were going to encounter a lot more often in the future. Take me for example. The first time I saw a corpse-strewn battlefield, I gotta admit that I felt pretty bad myself. Enemies or not, they were all people just like me after all. That said, youll get used to it eventually, not to mention that some b.a.s.t.a.r.ds do deserve to die. Just think of all the pains these robots put us through just now

Cary wasnt done comforting Czedow yet, but he abruptly saw Wheeze leading Moon, Sigma and White Ghost toward them from the corner of his eyes. They were pretty silent, but White Ghost was just way too eye-catching. He would be a failure of a Hunter if he missed someone as obvious as her.

Ahem, anyway, I need to go and help out the gang, so Ill leave you to your thoughts. Bye! Cary ran away as soon as he left behind these parting words. There was no way he was staying and giving a certain fat cat the chance to take revenge against him.

Wheeze ran all the way to Czedow before leaping onto his shoulder. It then patted the robot with its paw as emphasis while saying, This here is Czedow!

Czedow looked at Wheeze, Moon, Sigma, and finally White Ghost. Then, he looked back at Wheeze and asked, Whats the matter?

Oh, its nothing. Little White said she doesnt know you, so I brought her over to introduce the two of you to each other! She is your girlfriend after all, said Wheeze while licking its paws innocently. It pretended not to notice Moons hand gestures.

Czedow and White Ghost looked at Moon at the same time, and Moon lowered his head while fidgeted with his oval, metallic thumbs. Suddenly, he let out ah Oh! before asking Czedow, What was Cary talking to you about? Is it a secret?

It was one of the worst attempts at changing a subject Czedow had ever seen, but he gave Moon face and answered, Its nothing. Cary thought I was feeling melancholic and decided to show me his support, thats all.

What? What is there to be sad about all these? Wheeze tilted its head in confusion.

Czedow responded with a helpless look of his own. I dont know either. Maybe the human psyche is fragile enough that a sight like this makes them feel sentimental or something?

Moon scratched his round head. If its not that, then why areyou here? Theres nothing here but trash.

Im searching for useful information, Czedow replied.

Info?

Yes.

Czedow pointed at a nearby robot with its head bashed in and its lower half of the body missing. He then projected a hologram from his eyes. The footage was intermittent and incredibly blurry, but they could see two people in the hologram. One of them was Robert Borat, and the other person was flickering too much even for them to see.

Is this

It is their memories. The hologram disappeared after Czedows eyes had turned back to normal.

So, youre saying we should read the memories of these dead robots and acquire potentially useful information for ourselves, Wheeze asked.

Not really. You can only read the memories of robots that are neither too dead nor awake. Moreover, these memories are always incomplete due to the damage they suffered. Its up to luck whether well find any useful information among them.

Curious, Wheeze, Moon Sigma and even White Ghost tried to read the robots memories using the method that was outlined by Czedow, but the amount of robots that were stuck between death and wakefulness were just too few. Most of the robots were fully dead, and even when they found a robot that was stuck between the two states, they were unable to perform up to Czedows level.

Screw it! Im not doing this anymore! Wheeze exploded while putting a hole into a dead robot. No matter how hard it tried, all it got from the near dead robot it was reading was a bunch of indecipherable images. That said, it was wise enough to take out its anger on a dead robot instead of the near dead one.

Czedow walked over and read the memories of the robot Wheeze had left behind. He didnt discover anything either, but he decided to save the memories and rea.s.semble them after the mission was over. Given enough time, he should be able to find something useful.

We could dig out more secrets of the Robert Family if we could collect more information. Itll make our future operations easier and benefit us in some ways, Wheeze said while standing atop of another dead robot and scratching its exterior again and again. Cats were extremely grudgeful creatures, and it would never forget that it had let Robert Borat escape and failed to get any real benefit from the b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

However, Czedow surprised them by saying, No, these memories can only be used as points of reference. They might not necessarily be a true representation of things.

Robots do not lie! Moon argued. Moon disagreed with him because his master used to say that robots were extremely honest creatures because unlike humans, their memories never changes.

Yeah! My thoughts exactly! Wheeze echoed in agreement.

Czedow let out a sigh and pushed away a robot blocking his way with his leg. Then, he sat in front of Wheeze, held out his palm, and projected the hologram of a fish. Specifically, it was the fish Wheeze was raising in the small pond Sigma had created in his indoors fruit garden.

What is this? Czedow asked.

Its a fish, duh! Wheeze answered immediately.

The hologram changed, and this time it showed a plate of dried fishes. It was the kind Wheeze often ate.

What about this?

A plate of dried fishes!

The hologram into a bag of fish biscuits; Wheezes favorite flavor. What about this?

Fishbiscuits! Wheezes eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Finally, the bag of fish biscuits transformed into a full-course meal of fishes. It was something Wheeze craved but almost never got to enjoy. Czedow asked again, What do you hate the most?

Wheeze started salivating when it saw the tableful of fishes in Czedows hologram. Its pupils dilated, and its voice turned high-pitched as it yelled in delight,

A full~ course~ meal

Wheeze stiffened like a statue before it could finish. Its ears moved backward, and its whiskers trembled restlessly as it fell into deep thought.

What do you hate the most what do you hate the most

Moon, Sigma and White Ghost were utterly silent. When it came to perspective taking, they might not necessarily have done better than Wheeze.

Czedow withdrew his palm and removed the hologram.

The memories are real, but they arent necessarily accurate. Perhaps you wouldve answered correctly if I had asked the final question separately, or if I hadnt shown you that final image.

Czedow gave Wheeze a head rub before resuming his search for more memories.

Meanwhile, Elder Mo was resting on a rock not far away from the robotic group. After Czedows demonstration was over, he gave Cillin a tap on the back before pointing at the robot, asking, How on earth did you manage to build such an incredible robot?

Cillin rubbed his forehead. If you asked me this question a couple of years ago, I couldve given you a proper answer. Now, Im not sure anymore.