"Hello, Mr. Victor Hugo. Can you tell me what you, my wife, and my daughter are talking about?" David Lawrence quipped as he approached them.
"Uh… I'm just doing a performance actually. Look, I succeeded in cracking you guys up." This was the only explanation Zhou Qingfeng could come up with. At the same time, he was condemning his own name, Victor Hugo. He thought, 'Why do I share the same name as the great French writer?'
"Oh! It does seem like your performance was very successful." David Lawrence continued to extend his invitation with a smile, "Dinner at ours? I don't think I want to see you cooking and burning down your house again."
'Burning down my house… What is he saying?'
Zhou Qingfeng followed David Lawrence's gaze and turned his head to look behind him. There was a blackened house behind him, or to put it in another way, a house that was smoked so badly it looked beyond wretched.
The windows were burnt so badly that there were holes in them; even part of the roof was carbonized. Judging from its exterior, one would notice that the furniture in the house was also burnt and the floor was black. It looked just like a haunted building.
'This burnt house is mine? God, you must've made a mistake! I may not have asked for a mansion, but at least give me a place I can stay in! How stingy can you be for giving me a place like that.'
Zhou Qingfeng stared at his own dilapidated house and sighed sulkily. David Lawrence stepped forward and patted his shoulder. He consoled, "Don't worry, I'll fix your place for you. Just give me some time. C'mon, Rachel should be done preparing dinner."
'Give you some time? New York will be in chaos in three days, and nuclear bombs will flood streets three months later. I'm not going to stay here permanently.'
Zhou Qingfeng understood that his top priority at the moment was not to collect resources. Instead, he had to build a good relationship with the Lawrence family in order to lay a good foundation to face the imminent catastrophe. David Lawrence was the male protagonist. By his luck, it was impossible that he would die within three months.
"Thanks, guys. I really don't know how to express my gratitude!" Zhou Qingfeng followed the Lawrences back home compliantly and took a seat in their living room as he waited for dinner to be served.
Technology in the year 2030 was way more advanced compared to the year 2016. Smart home appliances were scattered everywhere. The Lawrence family might not have been wealthy, but they still possessed some great stuff at home. For example, Zhou Qingfeng had just taken a seat on the couch when the family robot approached him and asked, "Do you want anything to drink, Mr. Hugo?"
The family robot was not very big. It looked pretty adorable with its round head. It relied on two tiny crawlers as a means of walking, and it controlled almost all the electronic devices in the house; it was extremely convenient.
Angie had named the robot ET. It has to be said that a substantial amount of data was stored in its intelligent brain. Hence, Angie and her father brought it along when they escaped.
"No, there's nothing that I would like to drink at the moment," Zhou Qingfeng rejected its offer at first. However, when he saw the Lawrence family bustling about in the kitchen, he asked, "Can you check my data? I would like to see the current situation I'm in, especially my financial status and social network."
"Of course. I'll link you up with the public database this instant." The family robot's eyes began to project a screen in front of Zhou Qingfeng's face.
"Mr. Hugo, you moved to Murdoch Avenue two years ago and have always lived alone. You live off social welfare, occasionally working part-time to earn a small income. Your social network is tremendously small. Basically, the Lawrence family is the only people you know."
After ET's introduction, Zhou Qingfeng had a rough idea of his own identity. To put it bluntly, he had no money, no friends, and no status. His wallet was barer than his face. He was a poor citizen who lived off social welfare, yet oddly shared a good relationship with the Lawrence family.
'Well, god, how heartless could you get! I guess my identity can be regarded as a blank slate as the number of things I own now is almost zero to none. My one and only place to stay in was even burned down now.'
After learning about his own identity, Zhou Qingfeng requested ET for a drink. However, when the intelligent robot brought him his beverage, he focused more of his attention toward the futuristic technological device.
It had to be great to have a robot at home! Of course, the highly intelligent thing did not come cheap. It was impossible for David Lawrence to buy a new one with his annual income of sixty thousand US dollars. Angie had pieced it together using scrap electronic parts that she bought from the second-hand market.
However, after having laid his eyes on ET, Zhou Qingfeng began to feel excited. He did require a reliable assistant as he was alone, and an intelligent robot would be an excellent choice. Moreover, New York would fall into complete chaos in three days, so it would be the perfect time to seize and plunder.
"ET, where's the best personal assistant robot in New York?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.
ET replied, "According to the current world rankings, the best personal assistant robot is a four-legged, dog-shaped intelligent robot named Dog Meat that was recently built by Columbia University.
"Unlike home-based robots like me, Dog Meat's limbs and body are composed of bionic muscles and bones. Hence, it has the ability to walk on complex terrain. It is equipped with a graphene battery that reserves sufficient energy, giving it a two-hundred-kilogram charging capacity and more than one week's worth of activity time.
"Besides that, its intelligence is on the same level as that of an eight-year-old child. It can handle even more complex tasks and is even capable of self-learning. In comparison, my intelligence is only that of a two-year-old child."
Columbia University? It happened to be in Manhattan, New York. In fact, Zhou Qingfeng had seen the dog in the film. It belonged to one of David Lawrence's lackeys. To be honest, owning a pet robot dog that could fight, kill, and looked adorable was to die for.
"Oh right, what's my current location?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.
"200th Street, Murdoch Avenue, Queens, New York." ET displayed a map on the projected screen and marked Zhou Qingfeng's current location.
"Is there any way I can get my hands on Dog Meat?" Zhou Qingfeng figured that it would not be such a bad idea to have a robot dog around him. At the very least, it looked cool and was extremely practical too.
"Dog Meat is a prototype that was developed with the support of the U.S. military. It is not for sale and it is said that its development cost exceeded two billion US dollars. It took more than ten years to produce only one prototype. The chances of you getting your hands on it are extremely low," ET said.
'The U.S. Military? Three days later, the U.S. Military will vanish completely. What's there to be afraid of!'
"ET, can you help me assess the possibility of me getting my hands on the robot dog if the military were to disappear? "Zhou Qingfeng asked, unwilling to give up.
When the cataclysm broke out, everyone was either busy rummaging for supplies everywhere or running amuck beating, smashing, and robbing. Only a few knew that their best bet at survival was to recruit a few helpers before the cataclysm! As long as one had strong abilities, grabbing money, food, and girls—there was nothing one could not do!
However, ET still did not provide Zhou Qingfeng with any good results after its assessment. It said, "The probability of you getting your hands on it would still be exceedingly low."
"Why?" Zhou Qingfeng was unimpressed now. 'Why wouldn't I be able to get my hands on it even after the U.S. government, military, and police vanish?'
ET explained, "That's because Tony Parker is already planning to steal that robot dog. If you want to join the competition now, your chances of winning would be extremely low."
'What… That annoying lackey is already trying to obtain that dog?'