Paranoid Alpha Chapter 67: The back

Chapter 67: The back

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: CaiCai

The string of text appeared abrupt and arrogant, the typeface icy, yet exuding an air of arrogance. this thing wasn’t clear; everything it knew was what others wanted it to know. At its current level, it was incapable of infiltrating Lyss’s system via the terminal. Its awareness of Lyss’s identity was solely due to Lyss’s intentional reveal when adjusting the robe slightly, allowing it a glimpse. Not a refined act, but the thing couldn’t discern it. That was the difference between a crude imitation and the original.

Lyss silently observed the terminal, offering no words. His almost disdainful attitude seemed to agitate it. The black text distorted abruptly, transforming into another sentence on the screen, “I will replace you.”

Lyss met the text’s gaze coldly for three seconds, displaying a rare hint of condescension towards the imitation. He enunciated each word deliberately, “An inferior imitation.”

The screen glitched, the text distorted wildly, and the terminal seemed to embed internal fireworks, a kaleidoscope of colors, strikingly vibrant yet eerie.

Lyss’s simple words seemed to hit a sore spot as the terminal blinked incessantly, almost as if the thing was frustrated and stomping its feet.

Without a word, Lyss lightly tapped his hand, and beneath the bizarre snowflake pattern, more distorted text appeared. Lyss didn’t bother to look, closing his eyes and lowering his gaze.

The silent disdain made the text on the screen contort further, almost unrecognizable.

At that moment, Lyss reached out to touch the flickering terminal. Suddenly, everything inside stopped. When it attempted to withdraw, it found itself unable to do anything.

The distorted text converged, forming a massive “?!”. Lyss looked down at it, “So, you are the accidental self-awareness copied three hundred million times from a set of backup codes. You feigned chaotic data operations to conceal yourself, actually preventing their research on you.”

The thing seemed stunned by the sudden turn of events, but considering its operating mode, it was likely incessantly calculating. Yet, it was just an AI with self-awareness, incomparable to Lyss.

“Unfortunately, your strategy was flawed,” Lyss spoke to the terminal, “You wanted to hide and replace me, but ultimately, you’ve doomed yourself.”

The terminal screen flashed, displaying an enlarged line of text, “I will replace you!!”

After a few more boasts, the thing suddenly felt a sense of danger. The defiant text vanished abruptly, restoring the video to normalcy. On the other side of the video, Lu Xingye raised an eyebrow, “How did it go?”

Lyss shook his head, “Caught a part of it; the rest escaped.”

Perplexed, Lu Xingye asked, “A part?”

“It had probably allocated part of its program to monitor you. When I made a move, it sensed my intent and chose to abandon that part of its program and code,” Lyss explained, “I checked the remnants; all useful information was destroyed, leaving only debris.”

Rubbing his chin, Lu Xingye sighed, “Sneakier than I thought… After all this effort, this was the outcome. What’s next?”

“Although it only left some data debris, there might be something within it,” Lyss said, “Give me some time; perhaps I can analyze something from it.”

Nodding, Lu Xingye said, “Alright, it’s hidden its core. If I could find it, I’d crush it. Those fools at the research center have no idea what’s happening, busy with internal strife…”

“Oh, one more thing,” Lyss interrupted, “When it self-terminated, it damaged the core in your terminal. It’ll take some time to repair.”

Lu Xingye was taken aback, “Wha—”

Before he finished, the video abruptly ended. Lyss looked at the darkened terminal, sighing in resignation.The room fell into silence once more. Lyss turned off the lights, lying quietly in bed. At this time, Lin Lang should be fast asleep. He lay there, gazing at the ceiling, and then gently placed his hand on his abdomen.

Time seemed to overlap subtly, memories resurfacing, everything becoming familiar. The only difference was… this time, the wait wasn’t entirely meaningless.

Lyss slowly closed his eyes, recalling Lu Xingye’s words—what did “back” refer to? Despite Lu Xingye possibly referring literally to his back due to his personality, he emphasized it a few times. Intuitively, Lyss felt things couldn’t be that simple. Amidst the jumbled thoughts, Lyss unwittingly slipped into slumber—his body already affected by pregnancy hormones.

Lyss rarely dreamt, but perhaps due to his pre-sleep contemplation, he found himself experiencing uncommon fragmented dreams. The dream’s content was challenging to articulate—it depicted his first estrus period with Lu Xingye at the Starfall Sea. Two inexperienced individuals left the mecha in a mess, Lyss weakly resting on the console, tears filling his golden eyes as he gazed at the distant Starfall Sea.

Why dream of this? Lyss struggled to accept the idea that his pregnant body was already so intolerable. It hadn’t been even a month; why was this happening?

Despite the rationality within the dream reminding him it was just a dream, an omega in pregnancy naturally craved an alpha’s comfort. Uncontrollably, Lyss wanted to turn back, to receive the embrace from the person behind him.

Yet, in the dream, he couldn’t turn around, forced to endure whatever was behind him.

Amidst sobs, the trembling back received searing kisses, a voice behind him whispered, “I like your back, and I like holding you here.”

Unconsciously lifting his head, Lyss saw a different scene outside—the desolate Starfall Sea had transformed into something else, an overwhelming snowfall threatening his sanity.

This was… the backside of the Starfall Sea.

Lyss suddenly understood Lu Xingye’s words. The dream shattered in an instant, and he woke abruptly, instinctively reaching for the terminal to contact Lillia. Before he could move, he sensed something slippery beneath him. Realizing what it was, he froze on the bed. Yet, he soon calmed down.

It’s just a normal pregnancy reaction, nothing major. Lyss, while calmly tidying the bedding, thought it through. It wasn’t his problem; if anyone should be held accountable, it was Lu Xingye.

Fretting over fixing the terminal, recovering various data, all while being wary of being monitored by Lu Xingye, who might be unaware of the record against him, wasn’t an easy task for Triss’s Chief. Fortunately, pregnancy sometimes served as a perfect excuse to withdraw from work.

On the first workday, Lyss casually announced his intention to undergo prenatal checks. This woke up many who were still immersed in their vacations, achieving an impressive effect.

“You’re…” Lillia cleared her throat, speaking for everyone, “pregnant again?”

“Yes,” Lyss nodded, “I need a few days for prenatal checks.”

No one had seen Lyss apply to a sperm bank, indicating a natural conception. Some with a bit more insight into rumors wore subtle expressions. publicly, everyone pretended to be clueless despite the rampant stories about the Chief getting involved with the empire’s Sixth Prince.

The three-day leave got approved smoothly, though the expressions during the approval at the council were richly varied. Yet, they wouldn’t dare ask how this child came to be. The night after receiving the leave notice, Lyss sent Lin Lang to Lillia’s place. Skipping the next day, he rushed overnight to the Starfall Sea.

The Starfall Sea remained desolate and magnificent, but its former ruler and his men had fled like beasts, leaving behind only a barren interstellar city. Lyss glanced at the Starfall Sea’s facade and, crossing the border between its front and back, felt the internal cabin undergo a day-and-night cycle.

Amidst the snowy landscape stood the circular fortress that should’ve been destroyed. Lyss’s heart skipped a beat, and he gently landed the mecha in front of the fortress. Behind the transparent shield, a figure had been waiting for a while.

Lyss opened the hatch and descended. The protective shield automatically opened before him, warm air hitting him along with Dr. Qiu’s greeting, “Good day, Lord Lyss.”

“Good day,” Lyss draped a cloak over his abdomen, “Dr. Qiu.”

His action drew Qiu’s attention. She glanced at Lyss’s abdomen and sighed for some unknown reason, seemingly regretful.

Lyss couldn’t smell anyone’s pheromones other than Lu Xingye’s, even from an omega. Hence, he didn’t immediately understand the reason behind Qiu’s sigh until she slightly turned, revealing a scarred back of her neck. He involuntarily frowned, “Forgive my curiosity, what happened to your gland?”

“Sheep that have been penned up for too long struggle to adapt to the outside world,” Qiu touched her neck, “Rather than being caught by the hunter by the tail, it’s better to cut it off first.”

Lyss instinctively frowned, not agreeing with her rationale. But Qiu didn’t seem to continue. “It’s too cold outside; if you get a problem, that lunatic in your home might kill me. Come in; what he left for you is inside.”

Saying so, she turned and walked toward the fortress. Lyss followed, asking, “Is this where he had surgery?”

Qiu paused for a moment and turned to him, “Indeed, Chudai… but you’ve only guessed half right. This is where the second surgery happened.”

Lu Xingye never mentioned a second surgery. Lyss’s pupils contracted, involuntarily associating it with Lu Xingye’s mentioned “alterations.” His aura instantly turned cold, “What was the second surgery? Body modifications?”

Qiu turned and continued forward, “I once considered modifying him, but he changed his mind in the end. The second surgery wasn’t about body modifications… Lu Xingye didn’t tell you? He was eager to see you, but the first surgery failed when it was close to success.” Lyss suddenly froze in place. Qiu opened the door ahead, “I thought you already knew. Since you didn’t, it’s my duty to inform the family of the details.”

The instant Lyss saw what was behind the door, his pupils involuntarily contracted. His grip on the cloak loosened, and it fell behind him. Inside stood someone who looked exactly like Lu Xingye, with closed eyes.

“This is the body left from the first surgery failure. It failed due to immune rejection. There’s no external injury, so despite the failure, the body is quite intact,” Qiu tilted her head, looking at Lyss, “Honestly, this body’s attributes are slightly inferior to the one he currently uses. at his request, the eyes were made blue, which he liked. For the second surgery, to differentiate, the eyes were changed to green. Other than that, both bodies are almost identical. But after the surgery failed, he seemed very afraid that you might prefer the first body and insisted on destroying it. Still, for the convenience of the second surgery, this body was left behind.”

At this point, Qiu paused for some psychological reason. Then, she earnestly said to Lyss, “But the surgery has been successful now. He still owes me a surgical fee. While this body is useless now, it’s kept as collateral with me. He hasn’t paid yet. If you like, you can take this body back as a keepsake. Don’t worry; I’ve already treated it inorganically. Now, it’s like a large puppet, so no need to worry about it resembling a corpse. And it seems he’s very concerned that you might like this body. So, if it’s convenient, would you mind displaying this thing prominently in your home? It’s my retaliation for his unpaid debt.”

Author’s note:

Chief: … I’m afraid I can’t handle this; forget it.

Puppy: ——?! How is this thing not destroyed yet? Get lost! Stay away from my wife!