Chapter 3

Lin Youde's uncle, Lin Zhengdao, was basically a good person as long as he wasn't in a state of extreme anger. Originally, Lin Youde's aunt had planned to send Lin Youde to live in the storage room where the machines were kept, but Lin Zhengdao quietly built a small house for Lin Youde, for which his wicked wife deducted his pocket money for half a year.

But now, Lin Zhengdao was clearly in a state of extreme anger, and that was a different matter.

"Brat!" Lin Zhengdao glanced over Lin Youde's shoulder and took a look inside the room. When he saw the unknown alien girl, his anger escalated to a whole new level. "You've got some nerve! You even dared to steal my credit account to buy a maid robot? Feeling cocky because you did well on the exam, huh? Tell me, how many points did you score? If you really did well, I'll spare your life!"

"You can't do that!" Lin Zhengdao's aunt's voice came from behind him. "If you let him off, it will have a bad influence on our son. What if he learns bad habits?"

"Exactly, exactly!" Lin Zhengdao's fat son chimed in loudly. "If you don't hit him, I'll steal your credit account too, and you can't hit me either!"

Lin Zhengdao turned around and roared, "Shut up!"

Lin Youde saw his aunt's angry expression. She glared at him as if all the blame for her being shouted at by her husband was his fault.

"Come on, tell me, how many points did you score?" Lin Zhengdao took a step closer, his massive frame, shaped by years of manual labor, almost filling Lin Youde's entire field of vision, exuding a formidable presence.

Lin Youde softly reported his score.

Lin Zhengdao swung his arm and roared, "Damn, with that score, you still have the nerve to say you're my brother's son?"

Lin Youde closed his eyes, bracing himself for the devastating slap.

But the slap never came. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and saw the little girl blocking his uncle's hand.

Lin Youde suddenly remembered that her goal was to integrate into human society, and the identity she had chosen for herself was that of a maid robot. Every maid robot was programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics: First Law, a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; Second Law, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; Third Law, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Therefore, the little girl could not stand by and let Lin Youde be harmed, as that would expose her as not being a maid robot—though Lin Youde doubted anyone else present would notice.

"What are you doing?" Lin Zhengdao yanked his hand free from the little girl's grip and looked back and forth between the "robot" and Lin Youde. "You're letting this broken machine interfere with me?"

Just as Lin Youde was about to explain, Lin Zhengdao's fat son shouted, "I get it, this robot is programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics! The First Law says robots can't see humans get hurt!"

Lin Youde inwardly despised his chubby cousin: "You're too slow, you idiot, and you even got the content of the First Law wrong. This is common knowledge, do you even pay attention in class?"

Lin Zhengdao's anger seemed to intensify. He glared at the little girl who had just blocked him and barked, "Get out of my way!"

"I refuse," the little girl replied clearly. "If I move, you will harm my master, which violates the First Law of Robotics."

Lin Zhengdao's lips were almost bleeding from how hard he was biting them.

The little girl then suggested seriously, "If you continue biting your lips, you might hurt yourself. I don't recommend it. If you insist, I must stop you."

Lin Youde wanted to laugh, but Lin Zhengdao's face was so terrifying that he didn't dare. He struggled to suppress his laughter.

But somehow, Lin Zhengdao's anger gradually cooled down.

"I won't harm him, I promise," he said in a much calmer voice. "Now, get out of my way."

The little girl stared at him for two seconds, then rolled away—yes, rolled, and her pretty dress was now covered in dirt.

Lin Zhengdao's fat son shouted, "This robot is awesome, I want one too!"

"Dear," the aunt immediately said, "since it was bought with your credit points, give it to your son."

Lin Zhengdao didn't respond. He stared at Lin Youde, silent for a long time before finally saying, "You've got some nerve, I'll give you that. Your dad and I are good friends, which is why I've taken care of you until now. You're grown up now, it's time for you to go out and make your own way."

"Are you kicking me out?" Lin Youde's voice was bitter, and he felt a lump in his throat, but a voice inside him shouted, "Men don't cry easily," so he held back, putting on a brave face. He glanced at the smug wicked woman behind Lin Zhengdao and instinctively straightened his chest—no matter what, he couldn't let that wicked woman and her fat son see his weakness!

Lin Zhengdao was silent for a long time. By now, he had completely calmed down, and his expression softened. Then Lin Youde received a notification that his personal credit account had been credited with some points—Lin Zhengdao had quietly transferred some credit points to his account.

"From the results," he said, "yes, I am kicking you out."

At this point, the aunt stepped forward and projected an electronic contract from her wristband. "This is your parents' will. I need you to sign to confirm that we have fulfilled our duty to raise you to adulthood. Come on, give me your electronic signature!"

In this era, everyone had an electronic signature based on their genetic information, which was unchangeable and very difficult to forge, making it the standard method of confirmation.

Lin Youde gritted his teeth and pressed his finger on the aunt's wristband.

The aunt then switched the interface, and a new contract appeared.

"This is the cost of your stay at our house over the years! I've left you a little bit." The aunt looked as if she was basking in the glow of her own kindness.

"That's not fair. You've already taken half of my parents' inheritance, and this..."

"Didn't I make it clear? Your parents' half of the inheritance isn't enough. We need your half to barely cover it, barely. Come on, sign it, or I'll sue you."

As the aunt spoke, her fat son projected a call-the-police interface from his wristband behind her.

Lin Youde caved in and pressed his finger on the aunt's wristband again.

At that moment, Lin Youde felt he had nothing left—no, he suddenly remembered he still had a maid robot, a super maid robot capable of single-handedly suppressing an entire planet.

His expression finally improved, but just then, the aunt said, "And that maid robot, it was bought with our credit points, so..."

"Shut up!" Lin Zhengdao suddenly turned around and roared, scaring the aunt back a step, almost making her fall.

Then Lin Zhengdao turned to the "maid robot" standing to the side, pointed at her, and said, "I, command you, to take good care of him. Understand?"

"Understood," the little girl nodded.

"Alright, pack your things. If you can't find a place to rent, let me know. I have friends who can help." With that, Lin Zhengdao turned around, forcibly pulling the still talking aunt, and slowly walked toward the main house. His fat son made a face at Lin Youde and followed his parents with a haughty stride.

Lin Youde stood there, watching his uncle's back, and couldn't help but think back to a long, long time ago, before his uncle was married. Back then, his parents were still alive, and his father often brought him and his uncle to their fields to catch bugs. Despite his large build, his uncle was very handy and often made model airplanes for Lin Youde.

Memories flooded back, making Lin Youde feel incredibly lonely at that moment.

The girl he liked was going to a school nearly a thousand light-years away, and his only blood relative was kicking him out. The eighteen-year-old boy felt as if he had been abandoned by the entire world.

Just as Lin Youde was about to be overwhelmed by loneliness and helplessness, someone held his hand.

"I come from a galaxy far beyond yours. I traveled through countless light-years of empty space, surrounded by dark matter, with no stars to see."

Lin Youde looked down and saw the little girl, whose name he still didn't know, looking up at him with shining eyes.

"But as long as you look forward to the encounters ahead, loneliness is not scary."

"Didn't you use a warp drive to cross those countless light-years?" Lin Youde couldn't help but comment. "Objective time might have passed, but for you, the warp drive trip only took three minutes."

"Uh, that's true," the little girl patted her head, definitely a ditz.

"Let me rephrase that. I crossed the vast starry sea, randomly chose a civilization in this unfamiliar galaxy, randomly picked a planet, and randomly chose a household to land in, and the person I met just happened to be you, who was experiencing the loneliest moment of your life." The little girl raised her hand, pointing at Lin Youde. "There's only one word to describe this. It's 'fate'! This is a fateful encounter that spans time and distance, a certainty born from a one in 3.6 billion chance."

"Where did you learn all these words?"

"From your hard drive! By the way, I learned a lot of other things too, like this..." She lifted her skirt, revealing white underwear, and said in a pornographic tone, "Don't stare so intently..."

"Enough, stop it! You don't need to learn that!" Lin Youde shouted, pushing down her skirt.

"Do you feel better now?"

The little girl looked up at Lin Youde.

"Yeah, a bit better."

As soon as Lin Youde said that, the little girl wiped his eyes and then smiled brightly.

"I just chose a name for myself. From now on, call me Noah!"

"Why did you choose that name?"

"Because I'm the ark that saved you from the flood of tears!"

"I didn't cry! I don't want to cry!"

"Sure, sure, let's pack your things then."

"No, before that, I need to fill out my college application. A few years at a university will make things easier. My remaining inheritance and the credit points Uncle gave me should be enough for tuition..." Lin Youde raised his hand and touched his wristband, and the nanomachines conveyed his intent. The application interface appeared in his mind, and he could input his choices through his thoughts.

Then he realized that someone had already filled out his application, and not only that, an acceptance letter had already been sent to his email.

Lin Youde couldn't help but swallow hard.

Only the United Nations Space Military Academy would complete admissions before the results were released—they would directly ask their chosen candidates if they wanted to join the Space Military, and if they agreed, they would be immediately accepted.

Lin Youde opened the acceptance email.

The first sentence made the tears he had barely held back spill over:

"Son, this is the last gift from your parents. Do well at their alma mater."

Through his blurred vision, Lin Youde struggled to read the name of the school:

United Nations Space Military, Vessel Service Academy.

The address: UN Naval Shipyard 15, Arcturus.

As Lin Youde read the acceptance letter again, a new email arrived in his inbox.

This time, it was an electronic ticket to Arcturus.

At the end of June 2196, eighteen-year-old Lin Youde embarked on his journey to the stars.