Early in the morning, Chen Kong was startled awake by a sudden earthquake and hurriedly ran downstairs.

When he saw the situation in the living room, he asked in disbelief, “No way, Brother Tendo, who was so extreme they broke your hand? And what was that sudden earthquake about? Was it that guy who injured you?”

In the living room, Tendo’s right hand was bandaged, and he was being forcibly restrained on the sofa by Caroline, who was chasing him with a spoon to feed him porridge. Though Tendo’s expression was as resistant as a cat that didn’t want its nails trimmed, he eventually gave in to Caroline and accepted this peculiar way of eating breakfast.

Meanwhile, Chen Kong, now in the living room, curiously examined Tendo’s injured right hand. Ever since he first met Tendo, he had never seen Tendo suffer even a minor scratch, let alone a broken hand!

Noticing Chen Kong’s curious gaze, Tendo was about to make a quip to tease the innocent Chen Kong. But when he noticed Caroline’s warning glare, Tendo suppressed his urge to fool around and answered truthfully.

Tendo: “There’s no powerful enemy, Kong.”

Tendo: “Both the earthquake just now and my sudden injury came from a new move I was trying.”

Chen Kong: “Ah? What new move? It caused such a huge commotion and even injured you like this?”

Before Tendo could explain in detail, Caroline, with a cold expression, calmly said, “Kong, don’t disturb the patient. Go to the yard and see for yourself.”

Chen Kong: “Oh, okay.”

Chen Kong nodded and then ran out curiously. But when he arrived in the yard, what greeted his eyes was not only the exaggerated crater blasted into the grass by Tendo’s punch, but also Chen Xing, squatting on the ground, meticulously examining the crater.

Filled with intense curiosity, Chen Kong quietly walked over to Chen Xing and, mimicking her, carefully observed the astonishing crater. After a while, he regretfully realized he couldn’t make anything out and couldn’t help but ask, “Sis, did you find anything?”

Chen Xing’s tone was complex as she replied, “There’s no stardust residue, which means Tendo’s move wasn’t an external release, but rather a close-combat technique. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a single trace of stardust left here.”

Chen Xing: “And just the aftershock of one move could create such a huge disturbance, Kong. It seems Tendo has gotten stronger again.”

Looking at his sister, Chen Xing, half-kneeling on the ground with an unwilling expression, Chen Kong hesitated for a moment, then scratched his cheek and said, “Um, Sis, is it strange that Brother Tendo has gotten stronger again?”

Chen Xing paused, then nodded. “If it’s Tendo, then no, it’s not strange at all.”

Despite her words, the complexity on Chen Xing’s face didn’t disappear. She turned her head, looking through the yard’s glass at Tendo in the living room, who was being personally fed porridge by Caroline. Her voice was low as she said, “I just didn’t expect the distance between us to widen again so quickly.”

Chen Kong glanced at his preoccupied sister, Chen Xing. Then he looked at Tendo in the living room, who, despite his body’s honest acceptance, was still forcefully rejecting any notion of being “fed soft rice.”

He couldn’t help but say, “Sis, why do you always compare yourself to Brother Tendo?”

Chen Kong: “You know, according to the Doctor, all 35 of us combined can’t compare to Brother Tendo alone.”

Chen Kong: “If you keep thinking like that, I’m worried you’ll…”

Chen Xing: “You don’t understand.”

Before Chen Kong could finish, Chen Xing directly interrupted him. She looked at Chen Kong, a stubborn fire burning in her crimson eyes.

Chen Xing: “Kong, whether one can defeat a god is important, but what’s even more important is to first have the courage to challenge a god. Moreover…”

Chen Kong: “Moreover what?”

Seeing Chen Xing stop halfway through her sentence, Chen Kong couldn’t help but press.

Chen Xing: “Nothing.”

Chen Xing shook her head, indicating she didn’t want to finish that half-spoken sentence. The reasons for her silence were rather complex. Besides her inherent competitiveness, another very important reason why she strove so hard to catch up to Tendo was: even though she was the first to meet Tendo, why did Tendo’s eyes always only see Caroline and never her? For this question, Chen Xing firmly believed it was because she wasn’t close enough to Tendo. As long as she was close enough to Tendo, so close that she could block everyone behind her, then Tendo’s eyes would not only have her, but only her.

As for this thought, Chen Xing didn’t want to tell anyone, not even her own brother. After all, if others knew that one of the reasons she worked so hard to catch up to Tendo was merely to gain Tendo’s “recognition,” they would surely consider her “insecure” and “weak.” Chen Xing didn’t want others to see her that way. However, even Chen Xing herself didn’t know that the reason she dared not speak of this might not be entirely due to fear of others looking down on her. It also included the fear that a certain forgetful individual, upon knowing this, would actively distance himself from her. And that a certain perceptive individual, upon knowing this, would intervene to stop her. Therefore, she had to hide this thought, ideally until the day it succeeded.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Tendo looked at Caroline, who kept staring outside, and couldn’t help but ask, “Caroline, why have you been looking outside this whole time?”

Hearing Tendo’s words, Caroline suddenly turned her head and chuckled unexpectedly. However, facing her sudden smile, Tendo not only didn’t relax, but instinctively began to wonder if he had done something to displease Caroline recently. As an android, Caroline rarely smiled. And the things that made her smile were always one of two kinds: things that made her happy, or things that made her unhappy. Tendo didn’t think Caroline’s current smile was because she thought of something happy. Because whenever he used to do something out of line and made Caroline angry, she would show this kind of creepy “fake smile.”

Thinking of this, Tendo, who truly couldn’t figure out what mistake he had made recently, immediately prepared to deploy his “apology technique”—that is, regardless of whether he knew what he did wrong or not, he would just say he was wrong first!

But before Tendo could apply his formula, Caroline suddenly spoke.

Caroline: “Tendo, what if there’s someone who, even though she knows it’s wrong, can’t help but keep coveting your favorite toy and constantly looks for an opportunity to snatch it? What do you think should be done about that?”

Facing this question, Tendo, who hadn’t realized the seriousness of the issue, answered without hesitation, “Then you definitely have to give them a good beating! After all, this is my toy, and they dare to try and snatch it? Forget about snatching it, just the fact that they dare to think about it, beating them up wouldn’t be unwarranted!”

Caroline: “Is that so…”

Hearing Tendo’s answer, the smile on Caroline’s face grew even brighter. And this time, Tendo could clearly feel it. Caroline’s smile this time wasn’t because she was angry, but because she was happy.

Huh?

Did my words just now have such an impact?

Otherwise, why would Caroline suddenly be happy?

Looking at Tendo, who was still confused and hadn’t figured out the situation, Caroline felt for the first time that Tendo’s lazy personality, which disliked using his brain, was truly an excellent trait. Because with Tendo’s intelligent mind, if he ever became aware of something and actually put effort into thinking about it, he would quickly figure out the ins and outs. There would be no situation like this where he was kept in the dark. Thinking of this, Caroline suddenly felt that she might be able to properly utilize Tendo’s “laziness” and set a trap for him in advance. After all, such a good opportunity wasn’t always available.

And so, Caroline suddenly lowered her head, her electronic cat ears on her head twitching incessantly. It was clear she felt a bit guilty. However, even though Tendo knew this, he didn’t understand why Caroline was suddenly feeling guilty. And Caroline didn’t give him a chance to think, immediately whispering, “Tendo, since you’ve said that, does that mean that in similar situations in the future, you’ll always stand by my side?”

Tendo thought about it, and not finding anything wrong, he unhesitatingly gave his answer.

Tendo: “Of course! We’re the best partners, after all. Your toy is essentially my toy. If anyone tries to steal your toy, it’s like they’re trying to steal my Tendo’s toy, going against me, Tendo!”

Tendo: “So, forget about standing by your side, if that situation really arises, Caroline, you just stand by and watch. I’ll personally step in and teach that ignorant fellow a lesson!”

Caroline: “Really?”

Caroline suddenly looked up, staring at him with an incredibly expectant gaze. And this look immediately made Tendo feel that something was off.

Wait, why do I feel like I’ve fallen into a trap?

Though the clever Tendo had keenly sensed the trap Caroline had set for him with his outstanding intuition, out of absolute trust in Caroline and guilt for forcibly dragging her into the “knife-edge plot” later on, Tendo ultimately chose to suppress his “danger perception” and unhesitatingly jumped into Caroline’s carefully woven “verbal trap.”

Tendo: “Don’t worry, of course it’s true.”

Receiving Tendo’s affirmative reply, Caroline immediately said happily, “Good, it’s a deal.”

Tendo: “It’s a deal.”

Meanwhile, watching himself foolishly jump into Caroline’s verbal trap, the dimension-hopping audience couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him.

‘Poor Tendo, he had no idea what his words just meant.’

‘Oh, Tendo, if only you’d use even one percent of your brilliance in star-source development for other things, you wouldn’t have said what you just did.’

‘Although our Caroline’s methods are a bit underhanded, as a Tendo/Caroline shipper, I say, well done!’

‘Damn it, Chen Xing, can you please stop with your boring ‘you run, I chase’ game? Caroline is already using underhanded tactics. If you don’t pick yourself up quickly, our Tendo/Chen Xing ship will truly never see the light of day!’

‘So salty, so salty, the one before me is so salty~’

‘Damn you, Tendo/Caroline shippers, don’t get smug. This is just the 1.0 pre-release. When the 2.0 official version comes out, maybe our Chen Xing will suddenly get buffed by the production team. Then you’ll all be crying!’

‘Hahaha! Buff Chen Xing? That’s the best joke I’ve ever heard! (This comment won’t be deleted, feel free to check back later!)’

‘Just wait, you upfront, you just wait. Don’t let me catch an opportunity, or I’ll bury you with a Luo Yang pickaxe!’

‘Hahaha! Someone’s getting desperate!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep