My Partner was Assigned to me by the Country

On the long table, there was a pile of documents taken from Sierra. Colonel William and Lieutenant Colonel Charles were arguing over a certain issue. The latter, who was not impatient, listened to William for a while, and then decisively took out pen and paper to calculate. The brief conflict was quickly resolved. Charles has a tolerant personality, otherwise he would not have worked with Colonel William for many years.

The others beside them thought it was a good idea after listening to their argument and joined in the calculation, taking out their own optical brains to analyze.

“Can I take a look at these?” Ryan didn’t approach the long table. He stood two meters away and looked at Auston with an inquiring expression.

Auston nodded and led him towards the long table, “Perhaps you can provide some new ideas.”

Just then, after the idea proposed by Colonel William was calculated and analyzed by the optical brain, it was proven to be wrong, and everyone couldn’t help but show their disappointment. They had experienced disappointment many times before, but none had felt as painful and hated as this one. The General’s mecha had been equipped with a self-destruct device right under their noses. They are too credulous in people and their own abilities… This lesson was like a painful blow in the head and a slap in the face, making them alert.

“Let Ryan take a look, the young man is quick-witted, and he might come up with a new way of thinking.” Colonel William suppressed his inner annoyance and looked at his capable assistant Ryan, hoping that this young man who had repeatedly surprised him could once again surprise him.

Ryan picked up the notebook closest to him and opened it. Inside were recorded many of the problems that Sierra had encountered during work, as well as the solutions. Sierra’s behavior was despicable, but his professional abilities were beyond doubt. As a master-level mecha engineer, his work experience was very valuable. After flipping through a few pages, Ryan looked up and asked, “What should we do with this information?”

Colonel William took a meaningful puff from his pipe and said, “Sierra will leave the ship empty-handed.”

Ryan smiled and said nothing. Although Sierra’s methods were somewhat ruthless, all is fair in war. If Sierra is unscrupulous, then he can’t blame others for being unjust.

After reading some of the research materials on the self-destruct device that Colonel William and his team were working on, Ryan learned that the device was equipped with twenty-four layers of passwords. The first layer was a simple two-digit number, the second layer was a four-digit number, the third layer was an eight-digit number, and so on, with the twenty-fourth layer having a password length of 16,777,216 digits. It would require a tremendous effort to correctly input the password for each layer, unless they could find a way to set the password or obtain the password book. The password book could be numerical, Chinese characters, letters, Roman characters… or maybe it wasn’t even composed of words, but of images.

Ryan saw that Colonel William and his team were trying to open the self-destruct device and crack it from the inside.

But William Colonel helplessly pointed out that without the right tools, this method was not feasible.

“All the parts on the outer shell of the self-destruct device use one-third standard size, which is not the standard for general mechanical parts. Only some small workshops use them.” One-third standard numbers are small and oddly shaped, and are the preferred choice of toy manufacturers to ensure that their simple and low-end toys are not disassembled. “There are tools on the ship for standard, half-standard, three-quarters standard, and even for the one-eighth standard used for medical-grade small mechas, but there is no tool for one-third standard. All the mechanical and mecha engineers on the ship have been asked, and the one-eighth small tool is the private collection of a warrior.”

The prairie lion may also be locked in a cage and forced to fight, and that’s what William is going through now. He’s struggling in a small space, but he just can’t find a way to unlock it. He feels helpless, frustrated, and guilty for not being able to live up to the general’s expectations.

There’s no way to crack the password, but dismantling the self-destruct device’s outer shell is a possibility. As long as he can enter the internal structure of the device and proceed with caution, there must be a way to crack it from the inside.

However, Sierra has blocked this path, and at least before the Xingtian returns to base, he cannot dismantle it. The situation is changing too fast, and if he doesn’t take the initiative, three months could be fatal.

It’s damn unlucky that they didn’t know they needed tools for the one-third standard when they set off the last supply ship before the Xingtian ship returned to base. Otherwise, they could have brought them over.

In the vast universe, the distance is measured in light-years, and it’s impossible for the supply ship to turn back halfway to bring the tools. Tens of thousands of people on board would starve for a considerable amount of time, which would not be good for the stability of the military’s morale.

Ryan: “…”

Under his calm exterior, he was filled with unspeakable emotions as he looked up at Code Zero kneeling on the ground. In his mind, he thought of Yuan Chu, who had already climbed up. During the construction of the mecha, he had equipped the shell of the mecha, which he called Little Strawberry, with several sets of small tools for standard size, half-standard size and one-third standard size. Why was there a need for the latter? He considered that in the future when a child was born, the little one’s toys might need to be modified, so he found the only set of one-third standard size tools in the warehouse and installed them.

He had a bad feeling and hoped that Yuan Chu would not act rashly and not take action without permission.

“Wait a moment.” Ryan interrupted Colonel William’s helplessness and apologized before quickly rushing towards Code Zero. After a brief run-up, he leaped and landed on Code Zero’s knee, then jumped onto his back and disappeared from view as he walked further inside.

The underground members, especially those in administrative roles, rarely engage in intense physical training anymore, or are aware that they are no longer as brave and strong as they once were. They looked at Ryan’s agile figure with envy to varying degrees.

Auston turned around and gave some instructions before following Ryan onto Code Zero.

The people present were aware of the inside story, knowing that these young people had another layer of relationship beyond the general and soldiers, and they all smiled knowingly.

Colonel William sighed, “Being young is really good.”

“William, if you keep letting your hair block the evaporation of sweat and fling your smelly sweat onto us when you wave your arms, be careful we’ll beat you up.”

William rubbed his hairy arm and the water on it, “This is how I was born, what can I do? Is it possible to have a depilatory surgery?”

“Why not? You have so much hair, but your wife doesn’t complain about you poking her!”

William snorted twice and fully displayed the demeanor of a lion. As long as he was not stuck in cracking the code, his combat power would be off the charts. If he started firing, the people in front of him would be just scraps. Just as he was about to speak, a dry towel was handed to him, and Colonel Charles said without looking up, “Although arguing at this time relieves everyone’s tense emotions, it is also easy to interrupt thinking. What do you think, Colonel?”

William hummed twice, took the towel and wiped his hands, then ceased his aggressive attitude.

“It seems that Charles has a way.”

“Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to cooperate for so many years. I could go crazy if I worked as William’s deputy for a day.”

“… We seem to be his subordinates.”

 “……”

On the back of Code Zero, the space was relatively cramped. When Auston went up, he saw Ryan sitting cross-legged next to the ‘Mechanical Heart’, and the little mecha beside him moved in sync with him. After seeing what the little mecha was doing, Auston’s face changed slightly, but he didn’t make a sound to interrupt.

The chest plate of the small mecha opened, and two wires were pulled out, one connected to the neural center of Code Zero, reading the information in its system, and the other connected to the self-destruct device, quickly calculating the dismantling method. The little mecha’s eyes blinked with a fast frequency of yellow light, indicating that its system was operating at an extremely fast pace. While reading the information, it was also analyzing and dismantling the core area of the self-destruct device. Its tiny right hand finger opened a small hole, and screwdrivers with ” – – “, “=”, and twisted hexagonal kept appearing and entering the core area of the self-destruct device layer by layer.

Auston stood still on one side without saying a word, while Ryan, who was still focused on the dismantling process, moved aside and made room for Auston to sit down. After Auston sat down, the self-destruct device, no more than the size of a palm, appeared in front of his eyes. Black metal wires crisscrossed inside the self-destruct device, and Sierra expected that someone must have thought of dismantling it, so the wiring was messy, complex, and full of traps and deceptions, making it difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood. Making a mistake in dismantling a piece of metal or cutting the wrong wire might trigger the self-destruct device.

Often, people would hesitate and stop at the moment they opened the self-destruct device.

However, Yuan Chu is not human. He is a meticulous AI with few concerns and thoughts. Once he says he will dismantle something, he will absolutely not stop and will directly get to work.

“Let me tell you a little secret now: the gift that the Empire sent you has started to peel off the second layer of wrapping paper.” With a bit of nervousness, Ryan grabbed Auston’s hand and took the initiative to speak, “This gift is a bit special. The true appearance of its core may not be what you want. It’s not so beautiful, not so precious, and maybe even carries a bit of a dark and heavy past. Do you still want to continue exploring? And by the way, the gift is already accepted. Once you receive the gift in your hands, you cannot return it. Auston, now I’m giving you two options: continue to remove it, or stop here?” If he stops now, Ryan will still be Ryan.

Auston looked deeply at Ryan. This young and gentle man had been surprising him since the first time they met. He could be shy and blushing from a kiss, cook various delicious dishes, and even find a lot of food to eat on a strange little planet. His restrained and shy personality never affected his judgment, he acted decisively and fiercely, and he never dragged his feet when encountering problems. He was skilled, on par with himself, and his strong side was hidden beneath his low-key and calm exterior… Not wanting to back down and lose the truth, Auston chose to continue, he loved Ryan no matter what he looked like.

“About Yuan Chu?” Auston looked at the small mecha with a strawberry pattern on his shoulder, guessing, “His arrival was unusual? Does ‘Yuan Chu’ have any special meaning? I remember ‘Yuan Chu’ appeared in a document that was born 700 years ago. It was the diary of the traitor Tyrell, which detailed his psychological changes in wanting to assassinate Emperor Qin Feng Anderson. Why is the little strawberry called Yuan Chu?”

This book is one of the important literary materials for studying Emperor Qin Feng. In the book, the two characters “Yuan Chu” appear three times, seemingly just written without any special significance.

“Yuan Chu is a very old artificial intelligence. He doesn’t like his name changed. As for whether he has any connection with the old things and people 700 years ago, that is a gift to be unwrapped later. The program written by the creator is a self-growing type, without suppressing the development of artificial intelligence. Therefore, Yuan Chu likes learning and can improve himself through learning. The system is full of wisdom and is better than many AIs installed with suppression programs now.” Ryan’s smile remained unchanged as he talked about his discovery of Yuan Chu. “When you get home, you’ll see that my family’s planting star is quite big. The ocean accounts for sixty percent of the surface area of the planting star. There are forests, lakes, mountains, and snowfields on land. I’ve been running around the planting star with my parents since I was three, raising highland cattle on the grasslands at an altitude of four thousand meters, growing desert radishes in coastal areas, picking stone ears on cliffs, and collecting wild honey in deep mountain forests…”

Before getting to the main topic, he first talked about his farm, which was the most common job on the planting star. Through Ryan’s description, it was filled with the joy of life, making people yearn for it.

He continued: “I remember when I was three and a half years old, I followed my parents into the woods to pick mushrooms. I went into a small cave and found a small box. After using some means to open the box, there was Yuan Chu inside, or to be exact, the hard drive containing Yuan Chu. He lay quietly in the box, waiting for a long time before being discovered and started by someone.”

“The way to start was to be installed in a nanny robot that was not waterproof.” Yuan Chu had been listening beside him, spoke with an unemotional and flat voice.

“That was the only humanoid machine I could touch at the age of three.” That was the best machine that Little Ryan could find.

Yuan Chu said: “So, I enjoyed doing household chores and even helped to milk the cows under the guidance of your mother, Sir. Unfortunately, the machine wasn’t waterproof and when my master accidentally knocked over the milk bucket, the machine was destroyed.”

Ashamed, Ryan raised his voice a little, “Yuan Chu!” No embarrassing things about him in front of Auston.

Yuan Chu turned his head and focused on work.

Auston narrowed his eyes in thought. He enjoyed this kind of teasing and revealing behavior, which made him feel at home, “I really want to know about Ryan’s childhood.”

“When we get home, my mother can talk for days and nights until you don’t want to hear anymore.”

“I would be willing to listen.” That way he feels even closer to Ryan.

Ryan grabbed Auston’s hand and brought it to his lips, kissing his fingertips. He had recently taken a liking to these small, intimate touches, “Yuan Chu is not an ordinary artificial intelligence. He has a deep past and can help us very well, although he doesn’t want to be called Little Strawberry.”

“My body and my brain are two separate entities,” Yuan Chu insisted.

Ryan gave Auston a frustrated look of ‘See, even the things I made don’t listen to me’, “On the small mecha, I installed…” Then he introduced the weapons he had installed on the small mecha and said, “Yuan Chu knows how to use them well, but we still need you to solve the issue of suitable ammunition. Yuan Chu can follow you and protect you all the time when I can’t do it.”

Ryan’s introduction made Auston’s eyes light up. If this type of small mecha could be mass-produced and equipped for close combat in actual combat situations, the overall military strength would increase while defense capabilities would be greatly enhanced, allowing more soldiers to survive in battles against the Zerg. “I’ll take care of the ammunition issue, and you’ve arranged an attack and defense capable army by my side. Can we mass-produce the same type of small mecha?”

The small mecha army developed by the mecha research institute was not equipped mainly due to its high cost and the limited resources provided by the institute. As a result, the plan to equip the melee department with small mechas has remained on paper and has not been realized, otherwise Sierra would not have tempted so many people with just one small mecha. If the small mechas made by Ryan could be mass-produced, they could definitely be popularized among every person in the melee department due to their easy production and low cost.

Ryan said: “I’ll give you the blueprints and mass production should be possible. However, I mostly use ready-made parts, so if they were to be made entirely from scratch, the production time would be several times longer. Also, Yuan Chu hasn’t been tested in actual combat, so I can’t guarantee that his role will be very strong. And I’m thinking of protecting you, so I’ve enhanced his individual combat capability, but improvements would be needed for group combat.”

Auston leaned in and kissed Ryan on the lips, so excited that he hadn’t realized what he had done in public. He spoke quickly, “Ryan, you don’t know. One of the major reasons why mechas are expensive and rare is that the Mecha Research Institute doesn’t release their blueprints, so the public can’t experiment with making them. All mechas must come from companies owned by them, whether they are military or civilian.”

Among them, the Bromfield family holds a significant stake in these companies and has been researching mechas for centuries. They possess a large amount of research material on mechas from Emperor Anderson, and have monopolized the industry, making it nearly impossible to break into.

The best designers work for these companies or come from the Bromfield family, and even the military forces with a large number of mecha engineers cannot secretly manufacture mechas. After all, it’s easier to stick to tradition than to innovate.

Otherwise, even if an ordinary designer comes up with a blueprint, they won’t immediately be reused by companies. In this industry, there is a saying that ‘Inspiration flashes, design blueprints, and marrying a rich and beautiful partner or a handsome and wealthy one are all within reach, achieving success and fame goes without saying.’

Ryan said, “I know.”

Auston felt remorseful, “I overlooked your profession, I’m sorry.”

Ryan chuckled and said, “No need to apologize for this. If you can, you can make it up to me with a kiss.”

Yuan Chu’s system flowed through a section of garbled code, showing its disdain for its master’s behavior.

Looking around, they were sitting in a high-speed vehicle, no one’s eyes could see them. Auston’s eyes flickered with shyness as he quickly kissed Ryan’s cheek, as light as a dragonfly’s touch. Auston lowered his head, not wanting Ryan to see his expression at that moment. His voice was unsteady as he said, “The Bromfield family realized that their move was a mistake, and they humbly requested to reach a settlement with me. They proposed to dismantle the self-destruct device, but I did not agree. Instead, I threatened them.”

“Well done,” Ryan said. “If they dismantle it, doesn’t that destroy your plan?”

Auston replied, “It’s nothing. As long as the self-destruct device is in my hands, I can make use of it.”

Ryan nodded silently:  “The Bromfield family has received too many flowers and applause, which has led them to become inflated and daring enough to do anything. They may have developed brains, but their decision-making and analysis abilities are low, and they are not as good as their ancestors.”

As the hidden coldness slowly surfaced beneath his warm and gentle gaze, he gazed at the self-destruct device on the neural center of Code Zero. He couldn’t believe that they had implanted a self-destruct device on Code Zero through Sierra’s hand, thinking that this would be enough to threaten an imperial general. Have they all been blinded by money?

The opponent’s stupidity seems to have lowered their intelligence. No, Ryan shook his head, they are not stupid, they are too smart, too self-righteous, and they think too highly of themselves.

Through the counter-threat, the Dalton family won fifty more seats in this year’s parliamentary elections, and there is a 75% chance that the speaker before the parliament will be supported by the Dalton family. The issue of the Legion’s military funding, which has been blocked for a long time, will be resolved smoothly.

“Remove the self-destruct device…” Ryan wouldn’t hesitate, since it has become a fact, there is no reason to regret it. “This news must be kept secret from the public. The stupid Bromfield family is throwing stones at their own feet. We’ll help them throw more, and let them know that inserting a hand into the military will lead to the loss of a hand, and inserting two hands will lead to the loss of a pair.”

“Alright!” Accompanied by a slight click, the problem that had been troubling the ship’s top leaders was solved by the Yuan Chu. Yuan Chu also used his mechanical brain to conduct meticulous analysis and perfected the master’s plan. “I will restore the self-destruct device, so that the original designer still thinks that their device is functioning.”

“Then, Sorry to trouble you.” Auston looked at the small mecha with the eyes of a sage who had lived for seven or eight hundred years, with an attitude of equality mixed with a little respect. From Ryan’s naration, he saw an ordinary child who had inherited the will of Emperor Anderson or one of his followers, and had learned and grown with the help of AI. Ryan’s experience was too unique. Auston tried to calm himself down and asked, “Yuan Chu, do you have any needs? As a repayment for dismantling the self-destruct device, as long as it’s not excessive, I can fulfill it.”

Under the substantial gaze of his master, Yuan Chu calmly made his request, “I hope to have the opportunity to learn. I don’t want to waste time, so I hope to be able to connect to the ship’s network for learning.”

“Okay, I will provide you with a legal identity that allows you to freely enter the Star net without attracting attention from the network police.”

Yuan Chu was very happy, his yellow eyes flickered, and he performed a standard gentleman’s salute while sitting cross-legged, “General, you are such a generous person. I will follow your orders in the future, and you can also call me Little Strawberry.”

Ryan: “…” Hey, what happened to your integrity!

Auston, who was labelled as generous, was satisfied to see a crack in Ryan’s calm expression, which was quite interesting. He initiated the program to have Code Zero close its back armor, and the two small mechas landed on the ground. Code Zero adjusted its posture and, upon standing up, its two huge eyes flickered. It then swiftly sat cross-legged and leaned down with a faint chin-up gaze towards everyone.

The scene fell into silence.

Auston looked at Ryan, and their eyes met in mid-air before they decisively moved towards Yuan Chu. Yuan Chu said, “I just made some minor adjustments. It seems that this big guy is learning well.”

Ryan helplessly rubbed his forehead, while Auston was somewhat pleased with Code Zero’s changes and looked forward to its future development.

As they landed, they had already caught the attention of several bigwigs. They exchanged glances and William stepped forward to inquire, “General?” There was disbelief mixed with excitement in his voice, and even some suspicion. With just one title, Colonel William had conveyed his complex emotions: the general had actually brought the self-destruct device with him!

Auston nodded and smiled, “I dismantled it and it’s still functioning. It won’t compromise the plan.”

William held his breath and glanced at the small mecha that Ryan had brought along before asking dejectedly, “Did Ryan dismantle it?” Alas, these old-timers were really going to be swept away by the rising tide.

Ryan, feeling embarrassed, replied, “I happened to acquire a set of tools that were one-third the standard size, and I installed them in the small mecha. Now they’re being put to use.” He and Auston had reached a consensus to keep Yuan Chu’s special nature a secret. A secret weapon should always look like a secret weapon. In the eyes of outsiders, Yuan Chu could just be a big toy.

Ryan is really full of surprises… William sighed.

William: “What’s the name of the small mecha?”

Ryan: “Little Strawberry.”

Auston: “Yuan Chu.”

William: “…”

Ryan: “Yuan Chu.”

Auston: “Little Strawberry.”

William: “…”

Yuan Chu innocently blinks his eyes.

Ryan looked at Auston, and Auston said, “Let’s call it Yuan Chu.”

“Little Strawberry is also fine,” Yuan Chu said, very indifferent to the name, and he asked, “Where is the network port? I want to start learning now.”

“Good, I’ll give you the identity number.” 

Colonel William’s eyes flickered slightly. The small mecha must have something special, but since the General didn’t mention it, he won’t ask.