Exclusive Possession – CH 102

Chapter 102. [Bonus Chapter] The Last Robot (Part 3)

The next morning, Yi Pucheng, dressed in a suit and tie and carrying flowers and his bankbook from the Capital Bank containing all his assets, arrived at the gate of the Hua Mansion.

After waiting for a while with high spirits, the servant informed them that there was an urgent matter in the clan, and Hua Xiaosang had gone to carry out a secret mission that would last for a month.

Then the servant handed him a note, a message from Hua Xiaosang: “The matter is urgent. You should return to the fleet first and not wait.”

Yi Pucheng stood at the door for more than ten minutes, smoked several cigarettes, and finally threw the cigarette butts on the ground and left.

It seems quite urgent; she didn’t even say “I love you” at the end of the letter, as usual.

Fortunately, he didn’t return the ring.

Thinking of this, Yi Pucheng smiled slightly.

Who knew that this wait would last for half a year, and there was still no news from Hua Xiaosang?

At first, Yi Pucheng was patient, but later he couldn’t resist and started going to the Hua residence every few days. The Hua family repeatedly explained to him that they knew nothing about the secret mission. Eventually, they got annoyed and simply forbade Yi Pucheng from entering the house.

Even though Yi Pucheng couldn’t see anyone, he got angry and once even got into a fight with the guards of the Hua family. One of Hua Xiaosang’s brothers rushed out after hearing the news and frowned when he saw him: “Yi Pucheng, what are you doing?”

Yi Pucheng chuckled: “My wife’s gone missing; what do you expect me to do? Look for her!”

But in the end, they still couldn’t find her. Yi Pucheng practically ran amok, turning the entire Hua Mansion upside down, but he still couldn’t find Hua Xiaosang.

But when he barged into her room, looking at the clean and tidy house, at the beautiful room with its warm colors, his heart suddenly began to sink.

Because the engagement ring he gave her was left untouched on the table.

She wasn’t wearing it.

——

The news came on a cold winter night.

Yi Pucheng was alone, curled up in the fleet command room, drinking. He still had the jacket Hua Xiaosang had bought for him draped over his shoulders. His adjutant knocked on the door and came in, looking embarrassed and stammering.

“Speak!” Yi Pucheng said impatiently.

The adjutant steeled his resolve: “Commander, someone has seen General Hua Xiaosang. She’s… she’s…”

She was in the capital, and everyone was saying that she was with another man.

Yi Pucheng’s expression seemed to freeze instantly. He threw the bottle on the ground and walked out of the command room expressionlessly.

All the officers and soldiers greeted their great commander with smiles, but Yi Pucheng seemed not to see them. He kept walking and walking until he reached the hangar, boarded a fighter jet, and everyone was completely bewildered. They watched as he sped off the runway and disappeared into space.

Upon arriving in the capital again, Yi Pucheng first saw busy medical staff in white coats and dozens of corpses piled up in the Northeast corner of People’s Square. The plague on the ground of several planets was getting worse.

But none of this had anything to do with Yi Pucheng.

He found Hua Xiaosang in a small café around the palace.

She sat behind the brightly lit glass wall, opposite a well-dressed man. Yi Pucheng recognized him; he was the prince of Planet Hassan, ranked among the top ten in the galaxy in terms of mental strength. He had once created a virtual planetary space that shocked the entire galaxy, earning him the title of the foremost figure in virtual space.

Of course, if Yi Pucheng were to create space using his mechanical brain, he might not be inferior to him. He just hadn’t tried it yet.

But the focus now was that the prince and Hua Xiaosang were holding hands and smiling at each other.

Yi Pucheng pushed open the door of the coffee shop and walked in with a faint smile.

The prince quickly spotted him and smiled: “Isn’t this Marshal Yi Pucheng?”

Yi Pucheng naturally sat down next to Hua Xiaosang, placing one hand on her shoulder and using the other to pull her hand away from the prince’s grasp, smiling as he replied, “Hello, Your Highness.” He turned to look at Hua Xiaosang. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?”

Compared to six months ago, his woman had lost a lot of weight, and her face was slightly pale.

She didn’t look at him.

She shrank back into the chair, as if trying to avoid his touch.

Yi Pucheng stared at her without saying a word.

At this moment, Hua Xiaosang forced a smile and looked at the prince: “Darling, you go first. I have some things to clarify with Yi Pucheng.”

A surge of anger welled up in Yi Pucheng’s chest. The prince gave Yi Pucheng a meaningful look, nodded, and gracefully rose to leave.

The night outside the window was cool and clear, with bright starlight.

The two sat quietly for a long time before Hua Xiaosang spoke first: “I’m sorry.”

Yi Pucheng stared at her with a stern face: “Why should you apologize?”

Hua Xiaosang had a hard time holding back her tears and maintaining her indifferent expression.

“I’m sorry, I’ve fallen for someone else.”

I’m sorry; I was on a mission with the prince for the past six months, and I fell in love with someone else.

I’m sorry; I’m young and fickle, and I didn’t know I would fall for someone else so quickly.

I’m sorry; I had reservations from the beginning about being with you. Now I’ve thought it through, and I still want to be with a human being, to have children, and to grow old together, rather than with a robot.

Yi Pucheng, I’m human, and you’re a robot. We have no future. I’m a woman of privilege; I deserve a better man.

…

That night, Yi Pucheng pulled her into his arms, kissed her fiercely, and laughed coldly: “Hua Xiaosang, what exactly happened? You want me to believe this? Impossible!!”

Hua Xiaosang was also unusually resolute: “Yi Pucheng, you overestimate your charm. This is the last time I will see you. Don’t cause me any more trouble in the future.”

“Bullshit!”

“You…get lost! I’m getting married to him next month; I’m getting married! Do you believe me now?! Do you believe me now? Get out!”

——

In the days that followed, Yi Pucheng lived a solitary, dull, and decadent life.

He didn’t want to stay in the army because the entire army was spreading rumors about Hua Xiaosang’s marriage to the prince, and they looked at him like a pathetic wretch. He also didn’t want to stay in the capital’s military department as an officer—what was the point?

He returned to his birthplace—the planet Soren. There lived his people and his mother.

Compared to when he left, the cyborg’s status on Soren was vastly different. Due to his position and achievements in the Galactic military, both cyborgs and orcs had gained the same status and power as humans.

On the day of his arrival, the Emperor of Soren, along with his ministers, personally came to the spaceport to welcome him. Looking at the bustling crowd, he suddenly recalled the day many years ago when Hua Xiaosang had hung him up at the spaceport.

Ten years had passed like a dream, and she was no longer here.

“Marshal Yi, welcome back to Soren.” The Emperor presented a golden belt. “This is a token of the Commander of the Planetary Fleet. Please accept it.”

Yi Pucheng didn’t answer, his expression indifferent.

“I don’t want to stay in the army anymore.”

“Then…” The Emperor and his ministers hesitated.

Yi Pucheng looked up at the northernmost point of the starry sky, at a hazy asteroid belt: “Let me go to the Graveyard Planets.”

Everyone was taken aback.

The Graveyard Planets, as the name suggests, were several planets on the verge of destruction and also the frontier of the Soren Empire. Historically, only newly recruited soldiers had been sent there on rotation to guard them. Of course, it was normal for someone to be demoted if they offended their superior.

But Marshal Yi Pucheng, a renowned figure in the entire galaxy and the joint commander of the three fleets, actually volunteered to stay and guard the Graveyard Planets.

Many people had heard about his passionate yet abruptly ended love affair with Hua Xiaosang, but they dared not offer any advice and could only let him go, sighing with regret.

——

Yi Pucheng lived on the Graveyard Planets for a year.

Every nightfall, he would sit alone in the spaceship’s command center, looking at the barren planet’s surface, the parched land, and the constantly erupting volcanoes.

Soldiers came and went around him, most arriving dejected but leaving in high spirits. Only he remained calm and composed.

Sometimes, gazing at the deep expanse of space, he would wonder, “Hua Xiaosang… what is it about me that she doesn’t like?”

He loved her so much!

Some veterans were even willing to risk staying on the Graveyard Planets because of him. Sometimes, when they were half-drunk, a veteran would ask, “Great Commander, everyone says you’re in love with a human. What exactly is love for cyborgs?”

Yi Pucheng let the alcohol drench his short-circuited body, but his eyes were bloodshot.

“The robot’s love is… your program that malfunctioned because of that one person; it’s how all the simulated human emotional reactions within you become incredibly real.”

“You forget you are a robot, and for no reason at all, you just want to be with her.”

——

Yi Pucheng thought that everything was over.

He wouldn’t be depressed; he just wanted to use this time to quietly reminisce.

Then, he was still Yi Pucheng; he still had wars to fight, and he had his own world to conquer.

At the beginning of his second year on the Graveyard Planets, the soldiers scheduled to relieve him failed to arrive as expected. His veteran subordinates called headquarters and learned that a plague had also broken out in the military, many soldiers had died, and half a galaxy’s fleet had lost its fighting capacity.

“Damn, they are coming on strong.” The veteran shuddered. “Luckily, we are here. Commander, I will declare martial law immediately and prohibit outsiders from entering or leaving the graveyard planet.”

Yi Pucheng was taken aback.

He recalled Hua Xiaosang’s father and sister, who died of the plague, and the piles of corpses he saw in the capital square.

The plague turned out to be more serious than expected.

So, Hua Xiaosang, how are you doing now?

Although far from the capital and the military heartland, Yi Pucheng still had connections. Despite making inquiries, no one seemed to know anything about Hua Xiaosang’s whereabouts: “She officially left the army half a year ago. Oh, right, the prince left with her. Perhaps the young couple went on their honeymoon.”

No, that’s not right. She loves the people of the Time Clan and her soldiers more than life itself. How could she not show herself in this time of crisis?

Yi Pucheng packed his bags and left the cemetery planet.

He was going to find her. Even just to catch a glimpse of her from afar, to make sure she was safe. His veteran subordinates were terrified and urged him not to leave at this time.

“I’ve heard the plague is extremely severe, and no race can escape it. Even millions of robots have died!”

Yi Pucheng ignored him and set off alone.

But the universe was vast; where could he look?

Yi Pucheng wasn’t Hua Xiaosang; he was as cunning and shrewd as a fox. The fighter jets flew directly towards the capital, the palace of the Milky Way Emperor.

If there was anyone in this world who knew Hua Xiaosang’s whereabouts, it must be the Emperor. At this time, Hua Xiaosang’s disappearance must mean she was carrying out the Emperor’s mission.

Yi Pucheng never expected that he would see Hua Xiaosang in the palace.

In the quiet night, beside the white stone mountain of the palace, she sat quietly, her brows furrowed in deep thought.

Yi Pucheng stood in the darkness, quietly watching her.

Good, she’s good, that’s enough.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, she heard footsteps. It was her husband, His Highness the Prince, who came out from behind the rocky hill: “Xiaosang, why aren’t you resting so late?”

Xiaosang smiled at him: “I can’t sleep.”

The prince smiled gently: “Are you thinking of him?”

Xiaosang nodded.

The prince sighed, “I miss my love too, but I heard she got married last month.”

The night was so quiet, yet Yi Pucheng stood blankly in the shadows behind the tree, as if he could hear thunder and lightning.

This means… this means?

Xiaosang, what are you doing?

The prince spoke a few more kind and caring words, then got up and left. Hua Xiaosang sat alone for a while, then took out a video communicator from her pocket.

Yi Pucheng hid behind a tree and saw the image on the communicator; his heart skipped a beat.

He was a veteran under his command on the Graveyard Planets.

Xiaosang asked, “Why are you in such a hurry to see me? I’ve been busy these past few days and haven’t been able to contact anyone. Is he… alright? Did he drink too much again?”

The veteran said anxiously, “General, Marshal Yi Pucheng has left the Graveyard Planets, saying he’s going to find you! We’ve been tracking his flight records, and he’s heading straight for the capital…”

Hua Xiaosang froze and silently turned off the communicator.

Yi Pucheng emerged from behind the tree.

She heard footsteps and slowly turned around. The two gazed at each other from afar, as if from another world.

“Why?” Yi Pucheng looked at her face, which was so thin it was barely the size of a palm, and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Hua Xiaosang looked at him with tears in her eyes and smiled: “Because I will die.”

Yi Pucheng, because I am going to die, I didn’t want you to see it.

Yi Pucheng’s face darkened further. He lunged forward, grabbed her collar, and wrapped his large arms around her waist, practically pulling her tightly into his embrace. His voice grew even more scathing as he demanded, “Why! Why are you going to die?!”

Hua Xiaosang, tears streaming down her face, gently rested her head on the chest of the man she had longed for day and night.

My dearest robot. If it weren’t for the impermanence of life and death, how could I bear to leave you?

Yi Pucheng, do you know about the plague?

Do you know that the plague has destroyed half of the Milky Way?

Did you know that even with the most outstanding scientists gathered within 2 billion light-years of the Milky Way, the Mackenzie Galaxy, and the Andromeda Galaxy, they still can’t develop a cure for the plague?

Do you know that a plague can wipe out all life in the universe in just three hundred years? At that time, the entire space will be filled only with floating corpses?

So they chose me—the descendant of the Hua clan with the strongest time-traveling ability—and His Highness, the most powerful psychic with spatial abilities. For the past two years, we’ve been researching methods to open up new cosmic spaces.

Yes, we don’t know what’s in the new space. Perhaps it’s the origin of life; perhaps there are new races and life forms. And the prince and I may die; the energy-providing machines are too strong for the human body to handle. The moment the new space is born, he and I will both be vaporized into dust. But life will continue, and civilization won’t be destroyed.

Yi Pucheng, go now. This is my mission, and I have no regrets even if I die. But I don’t want to see you sad. You still have three hundred years to live, and I want you to live on.

After hearing her explanation, Yi Pucheng was as if petrified.

“I see. I understand,” he said softly.

Hua Xiaosang burst into tears.

The two cuddled together all night, passionately and frantically making their final embrace. Yi Pucheng was extremely fierce that night, as if desperately seeking final solace within her body.

As dawn broke, Hua Xiaosang dressed and gazed calmly at the sunrise outside the window: “You can go now.”

Yi Pucheng didn’t say anything, put on his clothes, opened the door, and walked away.

Hua Xiaosang was in a daze all day and even made several mistakes while practicing the energy field with the prince. In the end, everyone could see that she was absent-minded and advised her to rest. She just shook her head, her face pale, and the bitter smile on her lips never faded.

As darkness fell, His Majesty the Emperor summoned all the scientists, key officials, Hua Xiaosang, and the Prince to discuss the new space plan once again.

The lights were blazing, and everyone was solemn and silent. The universe was destined for destruction, and even if the plan succeeded, no one would be happy.

“How’s it progressing?” the emperor asked softly.

The chief scientist stood up and replied, “The success rate is only 50%. General Hua Xiaosang and His Highness the Prince’s energy fields have reached their peak, but they aren’t stable. We are exploring other methods to see if we can further enhance their energy fields. However, their time and space abilities are already the strongest in the entire universe, so whether they can be enhanced further is indeed hard to say…”

The scientists kept talking, and Hua Xiaosang listened in a daze. Just then, there was a loud “bang,” and the thick palace gate was hit and slammed straight inward!

The guards were terrified and immediately scattered to protect the important officials. Hua Xiaosang and His Highness the Prince swiftly drew their light blades and surrounded His Majesty the Emperor, ready to face the intruders.

As the dust settled, a tall, imposing soldier walked in with a stern face.

Everyone stared at him, stunned. Hua Xiaosang’s eyes welled up with tears, and a bad premonition suddenly surged within her…

“Yi Pucheng, this has nothing to do with you! Get out!” she cried out in alarm.

Yi Pucheng glanced at her, his expression unchanged, and slowly looked around. His sharp eyes startled everyone.

“You’ve got the wrong person,” he said calmly. “His Highness isn’t the strongest in the universe at creating space. I am.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand, and the vast black mechanical space, like a nebula, instantly swallowed the sky, palaces, and land… The entire imperial palace, the entire capital, and hundreds of millions of people on the entire planet were enveloped in the virtual space he created in terror.

Everyone stared in stunned silence, while he, across the crowd, met Hua Xiaosang’s gaze. Both of their eyes welled up with tears at the same time.

The familiar scene reminded them of their first meeting: the arrogant mechanical boy, who created a mechanical space and toyed with her chosen ones. She, proud and triumphant, unleashed a beam of light that knocked him to the ground.

My dearest, my dearest, we will live together, and we will die together.

——

Yi Pucheng’s memories of Hua Xiaosang were gradually forgotten.

For a hundred years after her death, he remembered every detail of her appearance and voice, the shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, and her bright, clear eyes gazing at him.

Later, after some time, he couldn’t quite remember what Hua Xiaosang had said to him before she died. Was it to tell him to keep living, or to tell him not to be too sad?

This infuriated him, and he repeatedly tried to fix his core program, but it still didn’t work. Those memories of her were lost somewhere in an aging chip, never to be found again.

Later, he couldn’t even remember what she looked like.

Hua Xiaosang, Hua Xiaosang…

What did the woman I love look like?

What’s her name…? Hua something?

Why can’t I remember?

Later, due to excessive energy depletion within the robot, it simply shut down its power supply and fell into a long slumber. How long it slept—a hundred million years, a billion years, or even ten billion years—was unknown.

“We are mercenaries. What are you?” a soldier asked, pointing a laser gun at him.

He smiled slightly, then leaped up from the ground, snatched the soldier’s gun, and startled everyone into drawing their weapons. He lazily surveyed the scene, with only one name on his mind.

Yi Pucheng.

“My name is Yi Pucheng. Who’s in charge of your fleet? Take me to see him.”

——

Then came this lifetime, the memory of this universe.

His mind was empty, like a newly born soul, and his energy was mostly depleted, but he was still powerful enough to dominate this universe. He decided to go all the way and seize military power, becoming a mercenary leader.

He led his troops to conquer and plunder everywhere, as if this were his true nature. He knew he had forgotten something, but he could never remember it.

As the universe was on the verge of destruction, he saw Yu in the palace and suddenly remembered that it was something extremely important, and he had to protect it. So he fabricated a lie about cyborgs to deceive Mu Xian and Hua Yao.

Why was Yu important? He didn’t recall that Yu Mountain was Hua Xiaosang’s favorite place. And the last time they opened up a new space, it was with the help of the energy contained within Yu Mountain. Therefore, Yu Mountain was the root of the entire universe, the vessel for the origin of life.

A long, long time later, Mu Xian and Hua Yao disappeared from this universe. Everyone thought they were dead, and Yi Pucheng thought so too.

The universe sank deeper into darkness, and galaxies collapsed one after another. Finally, one day, the fleet of Yi Pucheng was also struck by a falling asteroid. Beneath their feet lay a deep black hole, and no one could escape.

The day would eventually come. The mercenaries were all calm. As they fell into the black hole, Yi Pucheng held a wine bottle, clinked glasses with the officers and soldiers, and finally gave them a solemn military salute.

As darkness engulfed the mechanical brain, Yi Pucheng felt as if he had fallen into the deep sea, floating and sinking, in a daze.

Suddenly, some memories buried deep within my body surfaced vividly.

He saw a woman who called him Yi Pucheng.

She was drunk, her clothes barely visible, lying in his arms.

She said, “Yi Pucheng, I’m sorry; I don’t want to see you die.”

So this was what the woman he forgot looked like.

So cute, so adorable.

Then what?

Then, by the greatest blessing of heaven, they successfully opened up a new space, and they vaporized in the previous universe.

He thought he was going to die, but when he woke up, she was still in his arms.

They arrived in a new universe, the universe they created.

That period, that lifetime, those hundred years, was actually the happiest time in his long life.

They ran across the planet’s surface, huddled together watching the birth of a new star.

They didn’t know if anyone else existed in this universe. But they didn’t want to look for them. Having faced life and death and traversed two universes, all they wanted was to stay with each other.

“Robot, my robot!” Hua Xiaosang pinched his cheek with a smile. “I never thought we’d grow old together!”

Then the years passed quietly; they were so happy, and Hua Xiaosang grew old happily.

When she died, she was very peaceful, lying peacefully in the cave he had dug on Yu Mountain, gently holding his hand.

“Yi Pucheng, I’m sorry, I can’t be with you anymore. Whether you live or die, my heart will always be with you. I’ve been so content with this life. Thank you, Yi Pucheng.”

Yes, I was truly content with my life.

I never knew I could be this happy.

Darkness slowly engulfed him like a tide. Yi Pucheng opened his crimson eyes, watching his body being torn into bizarre shapes by the magnetic field of the black hole. He slowly, with pleasure, smiled.

Hua Xiaosang, I’m going to die too. After a cycle of reincarnation across the universe, I’ve finally remembered you again.

I had since been trapped in a black hole, never to return.

The robot’s endless life finally came to an end.

Hua Xiaosang, I’ve come to see you.