Her five senses gradually regained awareness, but Shen Mingyan was clearly a bit unaccustomed to this new body. Or rather, because she had stayed as a spiritual entity like a crystal nucleus for too long, she had almost forgotten how a normal human controls their body.
Shen Mingyan's fingers twitched slightly. Her heavy eyelids slowly blinked open, and the brilliant white light caused her to squint her eyes a bit. She felt someone holding her by the shoulder and crying; that voice went from hazy and distant at first to crystal clear right now.
Shen Mingyan parted her lips and let out a light cough. Doing her best to control the throat of this body, she squeezed out the very first sentence since her rebirth: "Qin Ke?"
Because she wasn't adjusted to the new body, her voice was still slightly raspy, but the tone and cadence were something Qin Ke knew all too well—it was the voice she could only hear in her dreams.
Qin Ke stopped crying slightly. She lifted her eyes and stared blankly at the person in her arms, locking eyes with a pair of clean, clear eyes. "Yanyan? You're awake? You really came back. Do you still remember me? I'm your girlfriend."
Shen Mingyan turned her body to look at the person holding her from behind, her eyes welling with tears before she even realized it. "Qin Ke? Is it really you? I heard you crying just now."
"It's me. You really came back. I missed you so much." Qin Ke tightened her embrace around the person in her arms, a hint of aggrieved longing carrying through her tone.
Shen Mingyan reached out and gently wiped away the tear stains on Qin Ke's face, looking at everything before her with a mix of confusion and helplessness. "What exactly is going on? Didn't I already turn into a zombie and die? And how did we end up here? Where is this place? Why don't I remember any of this?"
"After a person turns into a zombie, they have a crystal nucleus. My friend helped remake a body for you and activated you using the crystal nucleus. We're not at the police station anymore; those people are all dead. Right now, we're on my friend's RV. We're very safe, and I won't let anything happen to you ever again." Qin Ke held Shen Mingyan tightly, as if she were afraid the person would vanish into thin air right in front of her.
Shen Mingyan sniffled and lightly patted Qin Ke's arm, her voice still carrying a bit of a sob: "Let me hold you properly, I missed you so much."
Qin Ke loosened her arms slightly. Shen Mingyan tried using this new body to shift into a different posture, hugging Qin Ke from the front. "I thought I'd never see you again. How did you manage to escape the police station later on? You must have suffered a lot, didn't you?"
Qin Ke shook her head. "As long as you're still here, it was all worth it. I was completely heartbroken back then and almost wanted to commit suicide to die along with you. If my friends hadn't stopped me, I wouldn't be here right now. Every single one of those bastards was killed by me, and it was all thanks to that friend too; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to escape."
Shen Mingyan leaned in Qin Ke's arms, reaching out tenderly to help wipe away Qin Ke's tears. She knew very well what kind of place that police station was; Qin Ke must have suffered far more than she could imagine. Shen Mingyan felt a mixture of heartache and immense relief that they could actually meet again. Even now, she still felt like this was a final moment of lucidity where she was dreaming of Qin Ke.
"Is this really not a dream?" Shen Mingyan stared directly into Qin Ke's eyes, one hand gently caressing the side of Qin Ke's face. She hadn't felt Qin Ke's warmth for such a long time.
Qin Ke pulled the person a bit closer into her arms, gently helped wipe Shen Mingyan's tears, and then tenderly kissed her as if treating a precious treasure, breaking contact almost immediately. "Did you feel it? It's not a dream. You really came back."
Shen Mingyan pressed her lips together. The scorching warmth overlapped with the warmth in her memories. She wrapped both arms around Qin Ke's neck and pressed her lips against hers once more. Everything felt so incredibly real—the current kiss, and the person she was kissing right in front of her.
Shen Mingyan felt a bit breathless from the heat of Qin Ke's burning breath. The control panel in her mind automatically turned on the ventilation and cooling apparatus. She didn't quite understand what the current situation was, yet she was still unwilling to end this kiss.
It wasn't until Qin Ke's own breathing became unsteady that she backed away slightly, holding the person in a death grip within her arms. "You're never allowed to leave me again."
Shen Mingyan gently caressed the side of Qin Ke's face, softly coaxing her girlfriend, who had become somewhat clingy after their long-awaited reunion. "Okay, we won't ever separate again."
"Mm." Qin Ke's voice carried a hint of a pout, along with a bit of a sob.
"By the way, where are your friends? I want to thank them in person. We'll have plenty of time in the future for you to hold me as much as you like." Shen Mingyan leaned in Qin Ke's arms, her mind and body experiencing an unprecedented sense of relaxation. As long as she had Qin Ke by her side, she feared nothing.
"They're all waiting outside, Yanyan." Qin Ke looked at Shen Mingyan with burning eyes.
"I'm here, what's wrong?" Shen Mingyan asked softly.
"Nothing, I just wanted to call your name properly. I dreamed about you several times before, and whenever I called you, you wouldn't pay attention to me." The more Qin Ke spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, and the rims of her eyes that she had just wiped dry turned red once more.
Shen Mingyan rubbed the crown of Qin Ke's head, leaned over to kiss the corner of Qin Ke's lips, and coaxed: "It won't happen ever again. Every single time you call me, I'll answer you, okay?"
"Mm." Qin Ke nuzzled her girlfriend as she held her snuggly, acting spoiled.
Shen Mingyan smiled, reaching out to stroke the side of Qin Ke's face. She felt like her girlfriend was like a big dog that had been abandoned, finally finding her owner again, which made her incredibly clingy—though she happened to like it a lot.
With her girlfriend's palm stroking the side of her face, Qin Ke leaned into the comfort. She lowered her head slightly, letting tender kisses fall onto Shen Mingyan's cheek, the corner of her lips, and the tip of her ear. The kisses caused Shen Mingyan to shrink her neck back slightly. She had ticklish flesh right by her ear; in the past, every time Qin Ke kissed the tip of her ear, she could never handle the tickling sensation and would try to dodge. She hadn't expected this new body to be exactly the same.
Seeing that Shen Mingyan's body shuddered when she kissed the tip of her ear, Qin Ke intentionally leaned down to plant a few more kisses. Sure enough, the tip of Shen Mingyan's ear turned bright red, and she hid in her arms while giggling softly.
"It tickles, no more kissing my ear." Shen Mingyan's eyes crinkled into beautiful crescents as she laughed, dodging while pushing at Qin Ke.
She naturally possessed a gentle and elegant appearance, and when she smiled, she gave off the refreshing sensation of a girl-next-door, making people feel like a breath of fresh spring air.
Qin Ke kept her encircled in her arms. Far from listening and stopping the kisses, she leaned back in to plant a few more, acting spoiled along the way: "Yanyan, I missed you so much."
Looking at her big dog of a girlfriend, Shen Mingyan could only endure the tickling sensation on her ear while coaxing her with soft, gentle words: "I missed you too. I'll never leave you again. I'm sorry for leaving you all by yourself in that kind of place; you've worked hard."
Qin Ke shook her head. "It's not your fault; it was me who failed to protect you. It won't happen again. I've awakened an ability, and I will protect you properly from now on."
"Okay, we won't separate ever again." Shen Mingyan smiled, then looked at Qin Ke again. "Then let me go out and see your friends. We can resume the hugging in a bit, okay? Since I'm already back, there'll be plenty of time for you to hold me to your heart's content. Besides, concerning this body, I still have a few questions I want to ask."
"What's wrong with the body? Is there somewhere uncomfortable?" Qin Ke immediately looked at the person in her arms with tension.
"No, it's just that I can feel a lot of modern equipment inside it, so I want to communicate with that friend of yours." Shen Mingyan was still somewhat in a fog regarding her own body.
"Okay, then let's head out first, and we can resume the hugging in a bit." Qin Ke let go with an air of reluctant attachment.
"Mm." Shen Mingyan nodded, reaching out to stroke the side of Qin Ke's face as a sign of comfort. She clearly possessed the appearance of a cool, aloof older sister type, yet right now she was acting like a giant Golden Retriever, staring at her with longing eyes. Her girlfriend was simply too cute.
Shen Mingyan stood up to tidy her and Qin Ke's clothes before Qin Ke finally opened the door.
Chen Wan and the others were currently sitting and chatting over by the small dining area on the second floor. Hearing the commotion from that direction, they all stood up to go look. Coming into view was a gentle, bright-looking girl. Chen Wan smiled and greeted her: "Yanyan?"
"It's me, hello everyone. Thank you all so much for your help over these days; otherwise, Qin Ke and I might never have seen each other again." Shen Mingyan smiled at everyone as she expressed her thanks.
Qin Ke tugged at Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin. "This is Chen Wan, and that is Jiang Yanxin. It was the two of them who went to the police station to rescue us. Without them, it would have been impossible for me to kill that gang of scumbags. And back when I wanted to commit suicide, it was also Chen Wan and the others who stopped me."
"Thank you." Shen Mingyan's eyes turned slightly red; she was truly grateful to these people who had saved her and Qin Ke.
"No need, Qin Ke has helped us a lot, too. She's my best partner." Chen Wan spoke with a smile. The two of them, back at the Funan Base, could be considered to have poked a giant hole through half the sky.
"And there's Yiyi. Yanyan, your body was remade entirely by her, and the materials used to build your body were all found through everyone pitching in together." Qin Ke pointed over at Yiyi.
Yiyi blinked her beautiful peach-blossom eyes, speaking with a slightly lazy air: "No need to thank me, it was just a matter of a few hours, it's nothing."
"You absolutely must be thanked. Thank you for letting me see her again. The days back at the police station were too bitter; fortunately, that wasn't my final memory. Thank you, everyone, for your help." Shen Mingyan smiled and expressed her thanks once more.
"Yiyi, I'm sorry, I might need to trouble you for a bit. I have a few questions I want to ask you privately, it's regarding this body." Shen Mingyan shifted her gaze toward Yiyi.
Yiyi nodded. "Sure, I can tell you everything."
"Then, can we head into the room to have a few words alone? Is that okay?" Shen Mingyan politely asked for Yiyi's input.
Yiyi nodded. "Of course."
Wasn't it just having a few words? She loved talking way too much; saying a few hundred sentences wouldn't be a problem at all. When Yiyi agreed, she didn't look at Jiang Wanning's expression.
Jiang Wanning pressed her lips together. She felt a tiny sliver of jealousy—not that she genuinely thought anything was amiss, since Yanyan was Qin Ke's girlfriend after all. She just felt that Yiyi's ideological awareness was lacking; when she agreed to speak alone with another girl, shouldn't she look at her before agreeing? What about Yiyi? She looked completely eager to go over and talk, entirely forgetting the fact that she had a girlfriend!
Qin Ke was also staring longingly at her Yanyan. What kind of words did she have to say to Yiyi alone? Could she, her girlfriend, not even listen in? She felt a bit sour, but she didn't voice it; after all, saying it out loud would make it seem like she didn't trust her friend.
In any case, Yiyi had a girlfriend too, so she and Yanyan couldn't possibly do anything, Qin Ke comforted herself.
Shen Mingyan and Yiyi returned to the bedroom on the second floor, and Shen Mingyan specifically closed the door. Qin Ke could only wait anxiously to one side, with Jiang Wanning standing beside Qin Ke to wait along with her.
Chapter 115
Shen Mingyan clasped her hands together, clearly organizing her phrasing.
Yiyi could see Shen Mingyan's nervousness and said with a smile, "You don't need to be nervous. You can ask whatever you want, and I can tell you everything. How about I explain this body to you first?"
Seeing that Shen Mingyan hadn't said anything for a long while, Yiyi couldn't resist and started chattering away first.
"Sure, then I'll trouble you." Shen Mingyan smiled at Yiyi. The questions she wanted to ask were a bit private, and since she wasn't familiar with Yiyi, she felt too embarrassed to bring them up right away.
"No trouble at all, let's sit down and talk slowly. You sit on the bed, I'll go out to fetch a chair, no rush." As Yiyi spoke, she pushed open the door and darted out, only to see Qin Ke and Jiang Wanning standing not far away, their eyes fixed brightly on her.
Yiyi found it somewhat baffling. She was just talking to Shen Mingyan; what were the two of them doing staring at the door out here?
"What are you two looking at?" Yiyi asked as she picked up a chair.
Qin Ke and Jiang Wanning exchanged a glance, cleared their throats, and replied, "Nothing. Are you two finished talking? If you're finished, I'm heading back into the room."
As Qin Ke spoke, she prepared to walk back. Yiyi hurriedly called out to stop her, "Don't be in such a hurry, we haven't even started talking yet. I'm bringing a chair inside to take our time talking."
Saying that, Yiyi even flashed a smile at Qin Ke. Qin Ke pressed her lips together, unable to find any words. Looking at Yiyi's stance, did she intend to have a long chat?
Jiang Wanning glared at Yiyi, but she couldn't say much either since they were supposed to discuss official matters after all. She could only stay outside with Qin Ke, the two of them waiting together like a pair of absolute unfortunates.
By now, under the watchful gaze of the two, Yiyi had already carried the chair into the bedroom, smiling at Shen Mingyan: "Brought it in."
Shen Mingyan also thought Yiyi was quite cute. She clearly had the appearance of a striking, mature older-sister type, yet the things she did had absolutely nothing to do with her looks.
"Let's first talk about the internal structure of your body. Generally speaking, it's assembled from components like drive motors, steering motors, controllers, sensors, effectors, iron, steel, memory alloys, synthetic skin, and metal alloys. However, it's not merely a simple assembly. Just the skeletal framework alone used over a dozen tons of iron and steel, refining ordinary steel completely into high-grade specialized steel, which is far harder and more durable than human bones. The other parts are generally similar." Yiyi first explained from a macro perspective.
Seeing Shen Mingyan nod, she continued downward: "There should be a control panel inside your mind right now. You don't need to worry about it; it's similar to a computer monitor. If there's anything you want to analyze or things you don't understand, you can use it to automatically search. I've installed an information database inside it, and you can even pull up movies or videos to watch."
"That sounds quite convenient." Shen Mingyan smiled, but Yiyi hadn't touched upon a single one of the questions she actually wanted to know.
"Right, an android body doesn't need to eat or sleep. Normally, it relies on crystal nuclei to acquire energy, so your energy levels will be far more abundant than a human's." Yiyi added another line.
Shen Mingyan hesitated for a moment, her ear tips turning slightly red as she rubbed her hands together, phrasing her query in a roundabout way: "Um... I was just kissing Qin Ke, and I found that the physical sensations were almost identical to before. This body doesn't feel like an artificial one."
"Well, of course, everything has undergone special processing. All bodily details are identical to those of an ordinary human. Kissing, including normal physiological activities, is completely the same for humans. Furthermore, during physiological activities, there will also be fluids and such, so you can rest assured. However, your spiritual entity is essentially a crystal nucleus, so zombies won't attack you. And your current level is already Level 4, which means if you encounter zombies, not only will they not attack you, but you can also exert a level suppression over lower-level zombies." Yiyi considerately explained everything that needed explaining this time.
"So in essence, I am currently a zombie? Will that cause harm to you guys?" Shen Mingyan's brow furrowed slightly as she asked with some concern.
"No, it's only your spiritual entity that is a zombie; your body is a normal android. Not only will you not harm us, but you'll also be our helper. With your current physical capabilities, Qin Ke definitely won't be able to beat you. You can use this body with total peace of mind. I've completely set up the cooling apparatus for you, so there won't be any instances of the CPU overheating. I'll have to modify myself later too; otherwise, constant overheating easily burns out the CPU." Yiyi explained with a laugh.
"That's good then. Thank you, Yiyi, thank you so much." Hearing Yiyi say this, Shen Mingyan finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. She didn't actually care whether she was a zombie or not; after all, the world had already turned into this state. As long as she could stay by Qin Ke's side, she didn't care what she was, provided she wouldn't harm the people around her.
"No need, let me teach you how to use that control panel further..." Yiyi resumed her chattering.
By the time she and Shen Mingyan emerged, over forty minutes had passed. Qin Ke and Jiang Wanning had nearly turned into waiting statues outside. In reality, everything could have been communicated clearly within a dozen minutes, but Yiyi's mouth simply couldn't stay idle. She meticulously explained all the precautions regarding Shen Mingyan's body as well as how to utilize some of its internal functions all over again, which stretched the conversation to over forty minutes.
Of course, during these forty-odd minutes, it was mostly Yiyi doing the chattering while Shen Mingyan listened politely. After all, the person had saved her and was explaining everything so enthusiastically, so Shen Mingyan naturally cooperated and listened.
Once the two came out, Yiyi was immediately pulled into the sunroom by Jiang Wanning. Now that there were more people inside the RV, the sunroom on the second floor happened to be vacant, giving the two of them a chance to talk alone.
Seeing Jiang Wanning dragging her by the wrist into the sunroom, Yiyi assumed her girlfriend missed her. The joyful smile on her face never wavered, but the moment the door closed, her cheek was pinched by Jiang Wanning's outstretched hand.
Yiyi stared at Jiang Wanning's lips, pressing her own lips together as she pulled the person into her embrace: "What's wrong? Do you miss me?"
With that said, Yiyi tried to lean her head down a bit to kiss Jiang Wanning, but Jiang Wanning reached out her hand to cover Yiyi's mouth, stopping her from talking nonsense. "Miss you, my foot! You really are something, chatting alone with Yanyan for so long, the very first time you met her. Qin Ke was waiting outside and almost cried, do you know that?"
Jiang Wanning only mentioned Qin Ke, completely leaving out the anxious state of mind she herself had felt while waiting along with Qin Ke.
Yiyi shook her head. She didn't know; she had simply spoken a few more sentences than usual, and surely Qin Ke wouldn't cry that easily, right?
Seeing her shaking her head so obediently, Jiang Wanning found Yiyi a bit cute after all. She leaned over and planted a kiss on the tip of Yiyi's nose, instructing her: "Yanyan has a girlfriend, you aren't allowed to monopolize her all to yourself for so long in the future, understand? If you want to talk, don't you have me to keep you company?"
Yiyi nodded obediently. It really wasn't entirely her fault, though; once she started talking, she just couldn't hold it back. At worst, they could just chat next time when everyone was present.
Yiyi pointed at the palm covering her lips, staring at Jiang Wanning innocently.
Being stared at by those beautiful peach-blossom eyes, Jiang Wanning couldn't handle it anymore and released the hand covering Yiyi's mouth. Yiyi smiled, leaned in, and asked, "Are you jealous again?"
"How is that possible? Am I that petty a person?" Jiang Wanning huffed and muttered, though Yiyi instinctively nodded her head.
Jiang Wanning shot a daggertip glare over. Yiyi hurriedly shook her head this time, and after leaning in to think for a moment, she decided to use the old reliable method to coax her girlfriend.
Yiyi reached out to pull Jiang Wanning back into her embrace and lowered her head to kiss Jiang Wanning's lips. There were still other people outside, so Jiang Wanning hadn't expected Yiyi to just kiss her like this. She pushed twice but couldn't move her at all, so she ultimately had no choice but to lean into Yiyi's embrace and let herself be held and kissed.
On the other side, Qin Ke had finally managed to wait until her girlfriend came out. She looked longingly at Shen Mingyan: "Yanyan, I have so many words I want to say to you."
"Okay, then let's go back and talk slowly." Shen Mingyan was thoroughly amused by Qin Ke's puppy-dog expression. After greeting Chen Wan and the others, they returned to their room.
Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin also took the little one down to the first floor to rest in their room.
Qin Ke followed Shen Mingyan into the room, hugging Shen Mingyan from behind the moment the door was closed. "You two talked for so long, I couldn't even wait anymore. I missed you."
Shen Mingyan giggled softly and stroked Qin Ke, who was hugging her from behind. "Yiyi was explaining the functions of this body to me. She was doing it out of the goodness of her heart, so of course I had to listen attentively. I'm not going to run away, aren't I letting you hold me right now?"
"Still missed you anyway." Qin Ke leaned over to kiss the side of Shen Mingyan's face, then went to kiss the tip of Shen Mingyan's ear. Shen Mingyan shrank her neck, dodging the person behind her who was intentionally kissing her ear tip.
"It tickles so much, I won't stay alone with someone else for so long next time, okay? Don't kiss there." Shen Mingyan shrank her neck, absolutely terrified that Qin Ke would kiss her ear tip again, but Qin Ke clearly had no intention of letting her off.
Shen Mingyan had no choice but to turn around, wrapping her arms around Qin Ke's neck and kissing her back. She was roughly one or two centimeters shorter than Qin Ke; Qin Ke only needed to lower her head slightly to reach Shen Mingyan's lips. Their heights were a perfect match for kissing, and they wouldn't feel tired when locked in an embrace.
Shen Mingyan felt as though all of her strength was being drained away by Qin Ke's kiss. As for what Yiyi had said about her physical stamina and combat prowess being superior to Qin Ke's, at least right now, Shen Mingyan wasn't experiencing it at all.
After one kiss ended, Qin Ke's kisses fell scatteringly over Shen Mingyan's cheek and neck once more, soft and gentle like a tiny brush, coaxing Shen Mingyan into feeling that all of this wasn't enough. She re-initiated the kiss on Qin Ke's lips, tracing the outline of Qin Ke's lips bit by bit. After backing away slightly, she gave them a gentle nip, then leaned in close to Qin Ke's ear, keeping her voice low as she asked: "Do you want to? Shall we try using this body, okay?"
Qin Ke nodded instinctively. She truly missed her Yanyan so much. Qin Ke pulled the person a bit closer into her arms, tightly embracing the person in her embrace as if terrified that Shen Mingyan would vanish from her vitality again. This kind of lost-and-found reunion felt entirely like a dream to her.
Shen Mingyan stroked the side of Qin Ke's face as a sign of comfort. Seeing that Qin Ke's eyes had turned red again for some reason, she hurriedly leaned over to kiss the corner of Qin Ke's lips to coax her. Qin Ke held the person in her arms tightly, her voice carrying a bit of a pout, "Then we have to try it several more times. Otherwise, how about we don't sleep at all tonight?"
Shen Mingyan blanked for a moment, and looking at her teary-eyed, puppy-dog-like girlfriend who looked so pitiful, she could only smile gently and nod to coax her: "Okay, everything goes according to your wishes. I missed you so much, too."
Qin Ke carried Shen Mingyan into the bathroom. Since her Yanyan had agreed, she would just see to things as she pleased.
The next morning, Qin Ke looked at her already-awake girlfriend with a somewhat resentful gaze. What time had she actually fallen asleep last night? She unexpectedly didn't even have better physical stamina than her girlfriend now. Could she swap her firearm ability for strength and endurance instead? She was starting to not want that ability anymore.
Shen Mingyan emerged from the bathroom looking completely refreshed. She wasn't sleepy at all; she had simply gone inside to take a shower and wash off the sweat from her body. When she came out, she saw Qin Ke sitting on the bed, looking somewhat resentful as she watched her.
Shen Mingyan hurriedly stepped over and reached out to stroke the crown of Qin Ke's head, comforting her softly: "It's not your fault; the physical capacity of this body is inherently excellent. Yiyi also mentioned that people like us don't need to sleep or rest, so it's not that you're lacking."
Qin Ke clutched the blanket, feeling more aggrieved the more she listened. As a fierce Top, she actually needed her girlfriend to comfort her. What happened to staying awake all night? She had fallen asleep from exhaustion who-knows-when, and even now her wrists still felt sore. Her girlfriend, on the other hand, truly hadn't slept all night, yet right now her mental energy was clearly far better than her own.
Seeing that Qin Ke's cool, aloof face was currently filled with a pitiful expression, Shen Mingyan suppressed her laughter, leaned over to kiss the side of Qin Ke's face, and spent quite a long while coaxing her girlfriend before finally smoothing things over.
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