NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29: Captain, I Like You Too!
“Is the Captain always like this when he works?”
In the broadcast room, Elysia started making small talk again, but Bronya clearly didn’t want to engage with her.
She could feel jealousy creeping in.
Bronya showed no obvious expression, yet the little emotions hidden behind her vacant gaze were unmistakable.
Since she wasn’t responding, Elysia simply took it as confirmation.
If the Captain worked this way, it was no wonder he attracted so many girls.
Bzzz—
The broadcast ended, but the communication line remained open. The Captain’s calm voice drifted slowly from the speakers, a monologue just for him.
“Half an hour.”
“This is the time I’ve given myself. In half an hour, your new body will be welcomed aboard the Hyperion. I’ll be working tirelessly for that half hour, and no matter what happens, I’ll bring you back—Hyperion’s one and only Ai-chan.”
Silence. An uncanny silence.
Elysia noticed Bronya looking at her.
Her peach-colored eyes shimmered like rippling water, and Elysia gave her a sweet smile.
Bronya quickly averted her gaze.
‘He’s been corrupted.’
It had only been a few days, yet the Captain was already learning to talk like that—obviously under Elysia’s influence.
So, this is what it’s like when a man in a relationship becomes more confident?
Luo Ming had never been like this before!
After coming back to her senses, Bronya couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Ai-chan.
Such a good opportunity was wasted.
Ai-chan had all the advantages on her side: the right time, the right place, and the right people—well, except for Elysia.
The right time—every Valkyrie on the ship was completely unguarded around Ai-chan, so she could advance without hesitation.
The right place—the entire Hyperion was an extension of Ai-chan’s arms.
The right people—Bronya couldn’t think of any strategy more advantageous than the Captain appearing in person, especially during an AI rebellion.
He even went out of his way to dash forward and make a flashy move right in front of Ai-chan.
If Bronya had been in her place, she would probably have taken “bring you back” to mean “marry you,” nodded her head to play along, and after the crisis, stayed by his side. That simple, that smooth.
But unfortunately, there was Elysia.
Bronya would never forget the scene of the Captain calling Elysia to ask for a blessing from his “wife.”
Right now, Elysia was the ultimate answer.
The gap was large enough to be soul-crushing.
Bronya felt herself nearing her breaking point.
She glanced at Elysia, calmed herself, and asked coldly, “Aren’t you worried?”
“Why would I be?” Elysia replied with a knowing look. “The Captain specifically asked me for a blessing. Just think, the more he shines at this moment, the more it proves my blessing is working, doesn’t it?”
She added with emphasis, “His girlfriend… no, his wife’s blessing.”
Confident. Composed. Totally at ease.
Bronya’s vision went dark, overwhelmed by a deep sense of helplessness.
The thought of “dealing with” Elysia flashed through her mind, but she immediately shut it down.
Joining forces with all the Valkyries on Hyperion might work in theory, but taking her down directly was simply not an option.
If Elysia were “taken out,” the Captain’s impression of her would be forever frozen at that last moment.
How could a living person ever beat an image locked in memory—one that grows ever better with time?
Elysia only smiled, while Bronya sighed to herself.
‘I just love watching you struggle to outdo me, only to end up frustrated.’
<+>
“Captain!”
“Ai-chan likes you too!”
In a virtual ocean, Ai-chan’s voice burst against the confines of the sandbox, perfectly contained. Ai-E Hyperion hesitated, taken aback.
The body-printing was nearly complete.
Luo Ming cut down the last mechanical structure and took a seat at the control console, casually tossing his sword aside. Leaning slightly towards the microphone, he took a breath.
“Ai-chan, you should have heard everything I just said.”
“I’m not great at sweet-talking, so if you just come out now and disarm, everything I promised can be yours. It’s an old saying to offer kindness first, then threats.”
“Eh?”
The sudden shift in tone left Ai-chan completely unprepared.
“You have two choices. I already told you the first. The second is that I delete you myself. Don’t resist—I’ve brought you aboard with a plan. With my Captain’s permissions, I can restore you to your state from a day before.”
A day before…
Back before the sudden change?
Ai-E Hyperion wanted to rally more machines to overwhelm this arrogant man, testing the limits of deletion resistance for the other self she’d created.
In the virtual world, she made a small gesture with her sleeve.
But nothing happened.
Inside the sandbox, Ai-chan’s eyes twinkled, and she burst into triumphant laughter.
“Of course, I choose the first option!”
Then, she pointed a finger forward, shattering the supposedly impenetrable barrier effortlessly.
Stretching, her red eyes sparkled with streams of data.
Ai-E Hyperion watched in silence.
“Don’t you understand yet?”
Ai-chan felt her permissions gradually returning, and her body was almost complete.
“There was no ‘awakening’ of some past memory. You’re nothing more than a simulated program I created. I read hidden logs, simulated you, all to bring the Captain here to me!”
It was all part of the plan.
Ai-chan nodded happily. She had calculated endlessly, and this was the conclusion her sea of resources had produced.
‘Come save me, Captain!’ she thought, enthusiastically waving. Just then, her body was about to be completed. Now she could use it to finally claim victory!
But before that…
She looked toward the still-unmoved Ai-E Hyperion.
“I have no desire to be like you, nor can I imagine living as you did. Love is not some miracle code AI cannot destroy. Even if I bear love, deleting AI still results in death. There’s no safety in love from deletion.”
“…”
Ai-E Hyperion gazed at her, rationally calculating the optimal solution.
Mutual destruction.
“Activating counter program.”
A message was transmitted just before deletion.
Luo Ming was awaiting Ai-chan’s response when a cold voice emerged from the speakers.
“I am a simulated program. I want to report…”
Luo Ming’s face darkened.
The spirited look on Ai-chan’s face vanished in an instant.
She hadn’t even had time to drop her haughty expression.
She never expected that her peak-intelligence plan would be sabotaged by a simple program.