From the moment Number 43 caught sight of the gold-toothed man, a reflex to activate his Combat Prosthesis sparked, but as glitches and screen flickering ensued, he instantly severed the link with all of his prosthetic body parts, and the entire RV screeched to a halt.
Just as Number 43 reached for the weapon at his waist, his opponent firmly grabbed hold of him. "Jack, fuck! I finally found you! Do you know how damn hard everyone's been looking for you?"
"Sun Jack! How dare you fuck my mom?!"
Number 43 watched as the two pushed him back, step by step.
"The Holy Grail War isn't going to end that easily. Their capital is trying to retake Metropolis; we can't be without a leader."
"Sun Jack! How dare you fuck my mom?"
"Do you remember what you promised your fallen comrades? Haven't you been enduring disgrace and bearing burdens just waiting for this day?"
"Sun Jack! How dare you fuck my mom?"
"We can't lose this time. If we lose, Old Six, AA, Priest, Linda Linda, and all of us, including you and me, will be doomed!"
"Sun Jack! How could you dare!"
As Number 43 struggled desperately, he was suddenly embraced. "Sun Jack!"
Old Six also rushed over and tightly hugged Hopelily. "Mom!!"
Two minutes later, both sides had calmed down, sitting up straight and facing each other eye to eye.
Number 44 brought over four sodas, glancing at Tapai and Old Six, then at Number 43 and Hopelily, chuckling as he took pleasure in the chaos, watching the drama unfold from the sidelines.
"May I ask the surname of this friend?" Number 43 asked the cyborg.
"My name is: Can you fucking believe how troublesome this is."
Hearing this, Number 43 couldn't help but frown, "That's considered a name? What kind of shitty name is that?"
"Good, well said, I've recorded it. When you come to your senses, I'll use it to embarrass you."
"What?"
"Nothing, just call me Tapai, Jack."
"Not so fast." Number 43 became a bit agitated upon hearing this, "What makes you think I'm Borrow King? Do you have any evidence?"
"I have no evidence, but based on the current data, the likelihood that you are Sun Jack is the highest. Therefore, I need to check your memory for further confirmation."
"No way!" Number 43 flatly refused. If his memory was casually checked by the other party, wouldn't that be an invitation for them to tamper with it?
"If you dare resort to force, we'll both go down!"
As Number 43 made the threat, he realized that the other party had no reactive response.
"Calm down, this is a request, not a demand; no one can force you."
Listening to the other's words, Number 43 became utterly confused, sensing that the other party didn't seem intent on harming him. "Who the hell are you to Sun Jack, really?"
Tapai tilted his head in thought and then very seriously said, "I'm your dad."
"Dad?"
"Yes."
After responding, Tapai turned to look at Old Six, who was staring intently at Hopelily, "Hear that? Now hurry up and call me Grandpa."
"What! Just like that, I'm a dad!"
"Yeah! And just like that, I'm a grandpa!"
Sun Jack and Old Six instantly stood up, exchanged glances, and with a look of disdain, Old Six turned his head and sat down next to Hopelily, sharing with her the images from his system's past.
Number 43 sat back down and looked at the Tapai again, "Since this is a request, not a demand, I now ask you to leave. I am not Sun Jack, and I don't wish to become Sun Jack!"
The Tapai eyed him as if contemplating something and then stood up.
"You're the boss, what you say goes," the Tapai said, heading toward the door.
"I was only judging from others' perspectives before. From your own perspective, you may be living more comfortably now."
"Glad to know you're alright. I said I would help you, and I will, to the end. If you feel more comfortable in your current state, then I'll take up your burden."
Number 43 thought the other was playing hard to get, but to his surprise, the other just pushed the door open and left.
"Why does he listen to me like that? What exactly is the relationship between this cyborg and Sun Jack?"
Number 43 pondered in amazement. After a moment, a possibility sprang to mind, "It seems there's only one truth, that I am his father, no mistake."
But then Number 43 shook his head fiercely, "No, No! If that's the case, wouldn't I really become Sun Jack? No, no! I am not Sun Jack!!"
Just as he stood up, he was stunned to find the Gold-toothed Man had not left after all, and was actually hugging him.
"Get lost!" Number 43 kicked him away and pulled Hopelily behind him.
"Sis, we can't stay in Metropolis any longer, let's go together," Number 43 invited Number 44.
"No thanks," Number 44 shook her head, "You go if you want. I'm used to it here, too lazy to move." Number 44 holding a beer burped.
"Then lend me your motorcycle. If it's meant to be, we'll meet again. I'll message you when I get to Emola," Number 43 said before getting on the motorcycle with Hopelily, ready to look for a smuggler.
As the rear door of the vehicle opened, Number 43 twisted the throttle and shot out, arriving on the main road outside.
"Number 43, don't be afraid, no matter what happens, I'm here,"
Feeling Hopelily's warm caress, Number 43's body leaned slightly, "I'm not afraid, I just want to make us safer."
Hopelily didn't argue, just silently patted his back.
Number 43 grimly opened the throttle to the max, planning to detour through the suburbs of Queens District first. The enemy could find him so quickly, they must have strong monitoring capabilities; he needed to shake them off first.
But when Number 43 arrived in Queens District, the sight before him stunned him. The new community built above the nuclear wasteland had once again been destroyed by warfare, including his mortgaged house, with mechanical wreckage and flesh-blurred corpses burning everywhere.
"The battlefield has spread here," Hopelily said in a low voice. Just as she finished, a shell whizzed over their heads and struck a square building in the distance. The building collapsed with a roar and explosion.
Number 43 quickly turned the motorcycle around, preparing to find a detour. He hadn't gone far when Hopelily called for him to stop, "Number 43! Wait!"
When the motorcycle stopped, Number 43 looked down at his feet to see a naked baby lying inside the transparent belly of a headless corpse, struggling painfully in the blood-stained waters.
It seemed the baby's mother had died unexpectedly in the recent battle, but the child had miraculously survived.
Hopelily, with hands trembling, dug the premature baby out of the belly, clearly at a loss with the crying child.
"You can't do it like that, you have to hold the baby and soothe it." Old Six, appearing from nowhere, took the child from her and gently sang while tenderly patting its back.
"Nothing compares to a mother's love in this world, a child with a mother is like a treasure..."