After Wu Liuqi took the map from Wangcai and headed toward the Xuanwu Kingdom, a flash of light suddenly appeared in a small forest on Chicken Island.
From that flash, a completely naked man materialized.
He looked around with an expressionless face, then calmly walked out of the woods.
Just as he stepped out, he saw three hairstylists approaching him.
…
Inside the Big Bao Hair Salon, ever since Wu Liuqi's departure, Ji Dabao had been feeling a bit downcast.
At that moment, the door to the salon was pushed open.
Without even looking up, Ji Dabao said, "We're closed today."
But the person didn't leave.
Feeling something strange, Ji Dabao lifted his head and looked over—only to see a towering, expressionless man, nearly two meters tall, wearing a very familiar "suit."
It was the same man who had appeared earlier.
Without saying a word, the man raised one of his arms. Before Ji Dabao's shocked eyes, the arm transformed into a cannon.
Although Ji Dabao didn't know what was going on, it was clearly no small matter.
"Boom!" In that instant, Ji Dabao transformed into Battle Chicken and narrowly dodged the man's attack.
Not wanting his beloved salon to be destroyed, Ji Dabao darted outside to draw the attacker away.
As expected, the man chased after him.
Ji Dabao shouted, "Why are you trying to kill me? Are you from the Assassin League?"
Still silent, the man aimed at Ji Dabao again and fired a beam of energy.
But in his Battle Chicken form, Ji Dabao's speed and combat prowess far exceeded the man's expectations. With a few rapid moves, he completely dodged the attack and instantly closed the distance, launching a flurry of blows.
"Clang!" Each strike rang out like fists slamming against steel.
Eventually, Ji Dabao, perhaps exhausted, leapt back to put some distance between them.
At that moment, the man exploded.
Not just his suit, but even his skin shattered, revealing his true form—
He was a robot!
"A robot? Advanced tech? Could he be sent by the country of Ster?" Ji Dabao's pupils shrank as his expression grew serious.
The robot didn't respond. Instead, it once again raised its cannon arm, gathering energy for another shot.
But perhaps due to internal damage from Ji Dabao's earlier attacks, the weapon malfunctioned and exploded.
Because it had built up so much energy beforehand, the explosion completely destroyed the robot.
As the smoke cleared, only half of its metal head remained intact—the largest and most complete piece.
Seeing this, Ji Dabao reverted from his Battle Chicken form.
He slowly picked up the half-robotic head and walked back into the salon.
Deeper inside, after a series of hidden operations, he entered a secret chamber.
This was a laboratory.
The gadgets he'd made for Wu Liuqi in the past were all developed here—he needed a lab for that.
Ji Dabao placed the half-head on a platform and walked over to a wall-sized computer, beginning his analysis.
Beep!
"Scanning initiated."
"Majority of internal data destroyed."
"Attempting to unlock remaining intact data."
10%… 20%… 30%… 40%… 50%… 60%… 70%… 80%… 90%… 99%… 100%!
"Decryption complete."
With a synthesized mechanical voice, a string of data appeared before Ji Dabao's eyes.
First came a photo.
The person in the image looked like an apocalyptic demon—but it was clearly Wu Liuqi.
Next, just four words appeared on the screen:
'Stop.'
'Destroy.'
That was all. Just two vague commands—no further context.
"Only this little data?" Ji Dabao muttered, glancing from the robotic head to the screen. "Either too much was lost, or there wasn't much data to begin with. But one thing's certain—this robot came to the island for Aqi… or should I say, Ah Qi."
He paused for a moment, then resumed operating the computer.
"What materials was this robot made from?" he asked, pressing another key.
The computer responded:
"Material analysis indicates highly specialized alloy. Hardness, strength, and toughness exceed commercial alloys by several decades."
Ji Dabao's face grew darker.
"An alloy decades ahead of current tech…"
That implied two possibilities:
One, the robot came from decades in the future—implying time travel technology.
Two, the robot was built in one of the world's top secret laboratories.
Only those kinds of labs could produce an alloy so far ahead of existing technology, no matter the cost.
Neither possibility was good.
Of the two, Ji Dabao believed the second was more likely.
"In any case, I need to hurry and recover the rest of this robot's data. I have to find out who sent it and why—only then can I stop whoever's behind it."
His gaze turned toward a particular part of the lab wall—almost as if he were looking right through it.
In that direction was the Xuanwu Kingdom.
The direction Wu Liuqi had gone.
"Sigh… I just hope Aqi is safe," Ji Dabao murmured, then turned back to the computer and resumed his work.
Meanwhile, what is our protagonist Wu Liuqi doing right now…?
(End of chapter)
If you'd like, I can help with further chapters or support me at https://www.patreon.com/YugiroTL