"Crunch."
"My steak, mine."
As Xu Mo walked through the door, Gali grabbed the plastic bag like a hungry wolf and immediately placed it on the table. Lorna, who had been waiting patiently, greeted him with a smile.
"Welcome back, Xu Mo."
"Um," Xu Mo replied, nodding.
The dynamics between Xu Mo and Lorna had shifted since the last time they interacted. Previously, Lorna would never let Xu Mo buy her anything, but now she accepted it without hesitation. Maybe he was inching closer to becoming a "bad boy," as people often say.
Humans, Xu Mo mused, always end up becoming what they once disliked.
He touched the bridge of his nose and sat down at the dinner table. The three of them sat across from each other, and lunch began in a warm, albeit somewhat awkward, atmosphere.
But how long would this pleasant moment last? Gali wrinkled her nose and asked, "Xu Mo, aren't you Chinese and American? Why don't you cook?"
"I heard that Asian men can cook."
"Huh?" Lorna added, her curiosity piqued.
"No, you got it wrong; it's actually women who are often praised for cooking," Xu Mo retorted with a black face. "Damn it, maybe I'll draw a gourmet meal in the next issue and see if you eat it or not."
After the meal, Lorna took the initiative to wash the dishes. They were not accustomed to eating takeout meals from cartons, a contrast to Xu Mo's usual practice of cooking.
"Now that Gwen knows, it might get a bit tricky," Xu Mo thought, observing Lorna's graceful movements in the kitchen. The incident with the car headlights last time flashed in his memory. For a moment, he wondered...
Wait, did I really touch myself last time?
Suddenly, Xu Mo walked to the balcony and thought the building might need a bit of expansion.
"Alice, what's your opinion?" he asked.
"Sir, I believe the Tony Stark villa on the West Blue shore meets your requirements," came the soft voice of Alice, a realistic image of a little girl in a red dress that appeared beside him.
Alice was the AI he had activated with a USB drive. Xu Mo had recently connected a new set of projection equipment, though it was less advanced than Tony Stark's setup.
"Oh, Alice, it's someone's house, although it's been missing for now," Xu Mo said with a sigh.
"The world I live in is my house," Alice replied matter-of-factly.
"Then your world is over," Xu Mo responded, shifting the topic. "How about producing a Terminator robot after seeing this world? Can you do it?"
"Of course, I can produce a T-X model directly, but it requires a lot of materials."
"Materials? I have two here; look at them." Xu Mo retrieved the Genos Incinerator and the power source from the warehouse and handed them to Alice for scanning.
"These seem to be parts of Genos from the comics," Alice noted, though she didn't ask further.
Xu Mo smirked slightly. Since Alice was aware of the comics through the internet, she likely recognized that Genos came from "Terminator," but it was not registering as expected. This was likely due to the system's fuzzy processing of its thinking.
The system had specific protocols for summoning characters and items, including whether to retain original memories, have backdoors, or blur thinking. Xu Mo had ensured that summoned objects were blank and compliant with these protocols.
After scanning, Alice said softly, "With these two, we can only produce one Genos. There are many materials on this planet that are not available, so mass production is impossible. The others are just T-X models."
Xu Mo nodded in understanding. At that moment, Gali burst into the room, calling out, "I knew Alice was with you! Come watch Peppa Pig with me!"
Peppa Pig was a cartoon Xu Mo had created using Shadow Clone techniques specifically for Gali, and a new episode featuring Cat and Mouse was about to air.
Alice, unaffected by Gali's excitement, remained focused on her tasks. Xu Mo followed Gali out of the room, chuckling at how Alice's serious demeanor was contrasted by Gali's enthusiasm.
"Why not just disappear and reappear? That would be easier," Xu Mo said, shaking his head.
Once Alice was with Gali, she lost her formidable aura, becoming more like a playful little girl.
"Now, it's time for another round of face-seeing lottery," Xu Mo said as dusk began to settle.
"Today is the first day, and the fan value is startling, with over 12.3 million," he noted, observing the system interface.
[Congratulations to Host, you have earned...]
"Dudu."
"Xu Mo, I noticed something odd about Peter recently. His uniform turned black, and it looks a bit... strange," Gwen said softly.
Though Gwen and Peter didn't interact much, she was concerned about Peter's well-being and reported the abnormalities to Xu Mo.
"Alright, I'll check on Peter and also need you to solve a math problem for me," Xu Mo said, giving Gwen a puzzled look.
"How much is 1000 minus 7?"