Chapter 6

After comfortably finishing his soy milk and steamed buns at the breakfast shop at the entrance of the residential area, Chen Xin got into his father's 2005 Passat B6 and headed for the warehouse in the eastern suburbs.

It was rush hour, and the road was heavily congested. Chen Xin's Passat was submerged in the sea of cars, moving forward slowly.

The coin that had transformed into a watch had already changed back to its robot form and was sitting in the passenger seat, swaying to the dynamic music from the car's audio system. The glasses were still perched on Chen Xin's nose.

Fortunately, the car windows were coated with one-way film, so there was no need to worry about others seeing this incredible scene.

After a while, the music stopped, probably preparing to switch to the next song. The coin also stopped, as if it had just thought of something. It suddenly turned to Chen Xin and said, "Dad, I wrote a novel."

The Passat lurched forward and then screeched to a stop. Chen Xin wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Coin, don't scare me like that, are you really writing a novel?!"

Chen Xin had always known that Coin read novels, as it was its second greatest hobby after eating. However, if it was writing a novel, that was a bit too much to handle.

Coin's electronic eyes flashed, as if it was disdainful of Chen Xin's overreaction. It said seriously, "I wrote 50,000 words last night, uploaded them to起点 (Qidian), and they have already passed the review. My pen name is Bored Coin, and since I used your ID number and name to register as an author, I thought it was necessary to let you know."

Chen Xin rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Coin continued, "The novel is called 'The Law of Interstellar Survival.' I plan to make it a monumental work of 200 million words, and later, I want to turn it into a movie and a game."

Chen Xin took a sip of water and asked curiously, "Why 200 million words?"

Coin replied, "Because I want to surpass 'The Great School of the Universe,' and make it the longest online novel in history."

Chen Xin chuckled, almost spitting out the water in his mouth.

He had heard of 'The Great School of the Universe,' which was 170 million words long. It was said that the author wrote it using VB language in 37 hours, consisting of 111 parts and 1,111 volumes. In plain text (txt format), the book was over 340MB. If calculated in Chinese characters, the total word count would not be less than 170 million.

Chen Xin was curious and took a look. Despite its weak story, chaotic logic, and difficulty for readers to digest, the book was surprisingly well-structured in terms of paragraph transitions, sentence structure, and language use.

At the time, Chen Xin thought it was very sci-fi to write a novel using software, but after meeting Coin, he found it was just another thing.

Finally, they arrived at the warehouse in the eastern suburbs. Chen Xin let Coin go in to find food, while he guarded the warehouse entrance to prevent anyone from accidentally entering. He also wanted to check out the novel Coin had written.

The glasses silently projected the Qidian page onto Chen Xin's retina, opening the page for 'The Law of Interstellar Survival.'

The novel had been uploaded for a short time, with fewer than 200 clicks and only four recommendations, which might have been from Coin itself.

There were already two comments, but unfortunately, they were just vote-spam ads, like "New writers have a hard time, I think you need our help, please add QQ 12345."

Chen Xin ignored these and read the synopsis, almost popping his eyes out.

Synopsis: My name is Coin, I come from the distant planet Cybertron. I have wandered the universe for 95,270,000 years. During this time, I have approached the event horizon of black holes, experienced the super-strong gravity of neutron stars, encountered 25,442 civilizations, and engaged in 73,650 wars with them. I have witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations... and I have always been alive.

This is my story, my memory.

The main text followed.

Coin's writing ability was decent, not great, but clear. Coin's race called themselves the Autobots, and their home planet was a super cube called Cybertron, which was also a super battleship. Cybertron was made from neutron star material, but Coin had never felt its gravity, and it didn't know why.

Coin started writing from the day it was born, detailing the history, habits, and relationships of its race, from technology to culture, in a calm and steady manner. The first ten chapters, totaling over 50,000 words, quickly drew Chen Xin in.

The novel was surprisingly good, with a detailed and novel description of Cybertron that provided a unique reading experience. Chen Xin had a premonition that the book would become a hit, and with Coin's update speed, it would have a significant impact.

However, Chen Xin was a bit hesitant. If Coin's experiences were real, would writing about them attract the attention of relevant authorities?

Chen Xin had no grand ambitions and didn't want others to know about Coin. He knew that with Coin, he could quickly achieve something if he really wanted to, but that had no meaning for him. He just wanted to live a low-key life as a regular citizen, occasionally showing off, like when he secretly teased a major world power recently.

Moreover, he believed that if he expressed his opposition, Coin would not continue writing.

Coin and he had a good relationship, despite the short time they had spent together. Chen Xin never deliberately restricted Coin's freedom; he just told it not to misbehave or harm others, and Coin had always been obedient.

After some thought, Chen Xin decided not to interfere with Coin's actions. After all, Coin was an independent entity, and he didn't want to make it his subordinate. If something happened, the higher-ups would handle it, and who was higher and who was lower was a matter of debate.

As for Coin's strange hobbies, Chen Xin was both amused and tolerant.

Coin loved all forms of art.

Literature, music, painting, movies...

Chen Xin had once asked why, and Coin said it felt the rhythm of mathematics in music and the composition of geometry in paintings. Of course, the most beautiful was still words, which could express both the grandest and the most minute, from the ethereal to the heavy, from the vivid imagination to the subtle and profound.

Chen Xin asked, "You seem to only read online novels, listen to pop music, and watch Japanese comics?"

Coin said seriously, "That's the conclusion I drew from online novels, pop music, and Japanese comics!"

...

On the way home, Chen Xin went to the bank to withdraw 500 one-yuan coins, which made Coin so happy it did somersaults in the car.

When the car turned onto Jin Yuan East Road, it got stuck again. This section was in the old part of Jiangcheng, near the Jiangcheng People's Hospital, and there were several large residential areas nearby, such as Jin Yuan and Cui Yuan. The daily foot traffic was enormous.

However, the roads in the old city were designed and built in the 1960s and 1970s, with little room for expansion. Therefore, there had been talk for years about the government planning to relocate the Jiangcheng People's Hospital to the Binjiang New District.

Chen Xin honked the horn twice, but there was no response, and he gave up. The road was too crowded, and Coin had transformed back into a watch and hidden on Chen Xin's wrist.

The sound of firecrackers came from ahead. Chen Xin looked out and saw that the recently renovated arcade was opening today, with congratulatory flower baskets crowding the sidewalk. Several traffic police were directing traffic, but no one was paying attention to the flower baskets on the sidewalk.

Chen Xin pursed his lips and was about to go online when his phone rang.

Chen Xin was surprised, picked up his phone, and saw that the caller was his old university classmate and good friend, Han Xu. He quickly answered the call.

"Hey, Old Three, I'm getting married. The 14th of next month, Valentine's Day. Remember to come, we haven't seen each other in a long time, and we'll have a reunion then." Han Xu's voice was filled with joy.

"Ha, congratulations, congratulations, Old One, you and your wife have finally made it!"

Han Xu said proudly, "We're getting married because of a child, just that. By the way, don't forget to bring Ling Wei."

Chen Xin paused, "We broke up..."

"Ah? When did that happen?! Old Three, I'm very sorry..."

Chen Xin smiled, "It's okay, it's been over a year. Don't worry, I'll definitely be there on time."

Han Xu was Chen Xin's university roommate. After graduation, he went to work at the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, which was formerly the Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company, a famous base for military trainer aircraft in China.

Among the main products of Hongdu were the J-6, K-8, and L-15 trainer aircraft.

The J-6 has been in use since the 1960s, known for its safety, reliability, durability, and low cost, and it remains a primary trainer for the Chinese Air Force and local aviation schools.

The aircraft has also been exported to countries like Albania. In 2000, Sri Lanka purchased a batch of J-6s from the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation, naming them PT-6. Based on the J-6 and K-8 squadrons, Sri Lanka established the Flight Training Academy as part of the Air Force's First Flight Training Brigade, with its base in Anuradhapura.

In the United States, many aviation enthusiasts have purchased used military J-6s for personal use, some retaining the original PLA paint scheme. American enthusiasts even invited Chinese designers to the U.S. for discussions. Currently, the Hongdu Group and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation have jointly invested in the Egret company, which specializes in exporting the "Haiyan" propeller aircraft (the civilian version of the J-6). It is reported that there are over 120 J-6s in the U.S. Experimental Aircraft Association and over 50 in Australia.

Another model is the K-8 intermediate trainer, which is renowned worldwide. At the turn of the century, Egypt purchased the entire K-8 production line from China, producing 120 K-8 trainers.

As for the L-15 Falcon, it is a third-generation advanced trainer developed by Hongdu with its own funding, initially as an export model. There were rumors that the Chinese Air Force was also interested in the L-15 and would assign it the designation JL-10, allowing it to officially enter service.

Chen Xin had also heard from Han Xu that the Chinese version of the X-47, designed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, would be produced and tested at Hongdu. However, the specific model and whether it was related to the "Dark Sword" unmanned combat aircraft that appeared at the Paris Air Show a few years ago were unclear.