"It's like this, listen to me explain."
"I won't listen, I won't listen!"
"Stop fussing, be good."
"Then you tell me, what is that thing!"
Xin Chen pointed at Gu Tao, her face full of anger. Even though they had only known each other for two days, this guy actually lost his temper like that. He seemed a bit foolish, completely lacking the emotional intelligence of a normal person.
But let him be foolish; Gu Tao was actually patiently explaining to him. Even he wasn't clear why, could it be that he had encountered true love? Or was it destiny?
No! Gu Tao believed it was simply to avoid having to silence him that he was going to all this trouble to explain, definitely not because of some special fate, and certainly not because he thought this person needed society's care due to a lack of intelligence.
"You don't have many friends, do you?"
After asking that, Gu Tao somewhat regretted it. Xin Chen, well... according to the social investigation Gu Tao conducted yesterday, this person didn't have just a few friends; he had none at all. He was a solitary star of disastrous fortune, completely alone.
"Fine, forget I asked. You have to promise not to reveal my secret."
"Okay!" Xin Chen nodded with clenched teeth.
Actually, this request was superfluous. Imagine a friendless disaster star going out and telling others, "I've just hired Iron Man." Would anyone believe him? Normal people probably wouldn't, right? And if Gu Tao went out and said, "I've got a guy here who can make swords fly," the effect would probably be the same. It's like when he truthfully revealed his alien identity without lying, but no one ever believed him.
"Actually, I'm an alien."
"Oh my God! There really are aliens?" Xin Chen stared wide-eyed and circled Gu Tao three times. "Is your true form seated inside your current body, controlling it like driving a car?"
Gu Tao pushed away the finger that had reached his face. "Watch fewer movies. If it were a non-human race, Earth would have been wiped out long ago. There are no non-human races in the entire Milky Way Galaxy."
"How do you know? Maybe there are other aliens like you hiding here."
That's why laymen are laymen. Gu Tao's homeworld belonged to a Second-tier Civilization, and the radiation range of a Second-tier Civilization is 50,000 light-years. The reason they were so obsessed and crazy about the discovery of Earth was that within their radiation range, Earth was the only civilization with the potential to evolve into a higher-tier civilization. Other planets were either still in the primitive single-cell life stage or had only just developed an atmosphere.
As for the possibility of other aliens being here, Gu Tao could emphatically tell him "impossible" because unauthorized entry into the radiation range of a higher civilization and carrying out any activities equated to a declaration of war. Looking across the entire Milky Way Galaxy, no civilization would be foolish enough to declare war on a Second-tier Civilization. As for the theoretically existent first-tier civilizations, academics say that Second-tier Civilizations are already the highest in the evolutionary process, capable of long-distance interstellar travel and waging interstellar wars. First-tier civilizations, as mentioned in the literature, are those entities that supposedly created humankind.
There's a theory on Earth that humans evolved naturally, but this hypothesis was debunked long ago on Gu Tao's homeworld because the evolution of a single human civilization might be considered a coincidence, but there are already thirty-two known human civilizations in the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Can that all be a coincidence too?
"Suddenly, I feel a little scared," Xin Chen drew in a breath of cold air. "I never imagined that you aren't human."
"You are the one who isn't human, I went to donate blood last month," Gu Tao retorted as he pulled out his blood donation certificate from his pocket and threw it in front of Xin Chen. "And speaking of which, don't you find there's something not quite right with yourself? If I'm a panda, then you're a golden snub-nosed monkey."
"But I'm not an alien!"
"What's the difference!" Gu Tao pursed his lips. "According to my investigation, there's no one on Earth who can make 570 grams of metal float in the air without any equipment."
Xin Chen picked up the flying sword on the table, which was again wrapped in cloth, and examined it. "Really, no one?"
"Absolutely positively certain."
"Hahaha, that phrase is outdated, you are so behind the times."
Gu Tao could be sure of one thing, Xin Chen's thought process was not quite normal. His points of focus were easily attracted by some strange things, and then he'd blurt out some odd and dubious words.
"You..." Gu Tao looked him up and down, "Do you rarely interact with people?"
"It's not too bad, I go out to buy things sometimes, and there's also collecting the rent." Xin Chen said seriously, "Isn't all that interacting with people?"
"Then let's simulate a bit of your usual interactions, like, if I were a vegetable vendor, how would you speak to me."
Xin Chen thought for a moment, then pointed to the empty space in front of Gu Tao and said, "Boss, how much for the cucumbers?"
"Three fifty."
"I'll take three pounds."
Gu Tao was taken aback, "Is that it?"
"Yeah, what else should I say?"
It became clear that this must be a deeply introverted shut-in, he never went to school, all his knowledge was acquired through the old man who had taken over his property, and for the majority of his life until now, he had only been learning how to make that 570-gram piece of metal fly, so even though he was a native of Earth, his understanding of this world was even less than that of Gu Tao, who had only been here for six years.
However, this guy's learning ability and capacity to accept new things were exceptionally strong; he could quickly come to terms with the fact that Gu Tao was an alien and even grasp Gu Tao's purpose for coming here after a brief explanation.
In other words, the guy was very intelligent, although he had a peculiar way of thinking, which is different from IQ.
"Do you go around telling others about your... what's it called, sword?"
"Flying Sword, it's named Mengxiong, the reference is from 'the flying bear entering King Wen's dream.'"
"Right, Flying Sword. It's quite a fantastical setting."
"No, the old man said not to tell anyone carelessly, it could bring about fatal disaster," Xin Chen said, spreading his hands innocently, "But I think even if I did tell someone, they wouldn't believe me."
Gu Tao patted his shoulder, "Alright, it's best if no one believes you, I go around telling people I am an alien, and nobody investigates me. They just think there's something wrong with my brain, just like they would with your demon-slaying and monster-subduing."
"But I really can slay demons and subdue monsters."
"I really am an alien."
The two spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, but if anyone had witnessed the scene just before, they probably wouldn't think these two were out of their minds, at least the Flying Sword could be disguised as magic, but Gu Tao's armor, which was obviously not of Earth's technology, was beyond explanation.
"Why would you show me this? We've only known each other for a day."
"The old man said, our lineage has three supreme techniques: observing qi, observing expressions, and observing facial features. Observing qi is to discern a person's life force and death energy, observing expressions is to judge a person's intentions through their eyes, and observing facial features is to look at a person's face to tell if they are a bad person. Your face doesn't look like one of a bad person."
Well... although Gu Tao didn't quite understand, as an investigator, he had an innate curiosity towards things he didn't understand, so after hearing this, he leaned over the counter and whispered to Xin Chen, "How about this, you teach me? I probably won't even use it, but I'm especially curious about how these theological theories apply in real life."
Xin Chen hesitated for a while, then nodded lightly, "But you have to promise me, you can't casually tell anyone else, and you can't use it to do bad things, I will take care of cleaning the house. You also need to perform the apprentice ceremony. I can take in disciples on behalf of my teacher. And, and..."
"What else, hurry up and say it."
"Can you not leave? I feel like we get along really well, the kind that clicks at first sight. I... don't have many friends."
Gu Tao patted his shoulder, "If you cover food and board, I won't leave."
"Deal!" Xin Chen said, then took out a bag of dog food from the counter, "You eat this first, then give me the five bucks, I'll go buy some pancakes, and we can split them."