Chapter 19: Jackie Chan’s Adventures

“The problem might not be with the Control Panel. Maybe An’an needs a comprehensive checkup.”

A hint of confusion flashed across Xuan Nü’s face, though she didn’t show it to the others.

“Mhm.”

Gu Yu nodded and let go of An’an’s hand.

Perhaps Su An’s emotions had influenced the Local Model, as An’an subconsciously tried to grab her hand back, but Gu Yu deftly avoided the contact.

Xuan Nü stepped forward and took the android’s hand.

“Let’s go, An’an.”

An’an looked at Gu Yu reluctantly, her eyes moist with unshed tears.

This was the manifestation of Su An’an’s fear.

However, Gu Yu seemed to interpret it as An’an being unwilling to leave her side, and her heart was slightly touched.

But reason quickly suppressed the feeling.

It was just a checkup; if nothing was wrong, everyone would be happy, but…

Gu Yu stopped herself from thinking further to prevent any misplaced pity from rising in her heart.

***

Meanwhile, an unmanned taxi stood as if nailed to the road while the surrounding traffic flowed around it.

Screech!

A black-and-white Shuttle slowly descended from the sky.

Hannah stretched her back.

“That was great! A pity I didn’t get to speed enough.”

Carnation appeared expressionless, but she had actually been dazed for a while.

She even wobbled for a moment after getting out of the vehicle before steadying herself.

Hannah, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened.

It was hard to tell which one of them was the Android.

“FBI! Open the door!”

Hannah chambered a round in her pistol and shouted, kicking the front door open.

“Nobody’s here,” Carnation said with a frown.

She opened the back seat, but it was also empty.

“The windows are locked from the inside. She might have crawled into the trunk.”

As she spoke, Carnation walked to the trunk, preparing to open it.

“Move, move!”

Hannah pushed her aside.

“Let me do it. Stand behind me.”

“It is fine, Ms. Hannah. Although I do not have a weapon—”

“I said stand back!”

Hannah nudged her with an elbow.

“Does this bro think I trained my abs and biceps for nothing?”

“Understood.”

Carnation did not insist.

It was just an Android cleaner, unarmed and not a major threat.

It wouldn’t hurt to satisfy Hannah’s desire for the hunt.

“Ready!”

The two pulled back slightly to prevent a desperate counterattack from the Android, then triggered the trunk to open slowly.

Sunlight pierced the dark space, gradually illuminating a flash of orange.

Hannah’s nerves were taut, prepared for the Deviant Android to suddenly lunge out.

However, when the two finally saw clearly, Hannah lowered her gun and cursed.

“Shit! Fuck.”

The trunk only contained an orange cleaner’s jacket.

Carnation didn’t have the energy to comment on the mixed-language cursing.

Instead, she frowned and said, “The windows aren’t broken. She must have jumped out before the car locked…”

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Carnation noticed a familiar figure quickly running into an alley on a nearby street.

Without the slightest hesitation, she didn’t even have time to warn Hannah before she bolted through the flow of traffic, sprinting toward the alley.

“Hey! Seriously?”

Hannah sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead.

“I told you, how can legs outrun a car?”

With that, she left the presumably broken unmanned taxi behind and maneuvered the Flying Shuttle through the streets and alleys.

Whoosh!

The wind pressure from the Flying Shuttle blew an ice cream out of a pedestrian’s hand.

He looked blankly at the remains of his ice cream being quickly swept away by a cleaning Android on the ground, then looked up at the Flying Shuttle in the sky.

The small surge of anger he felt instantly turned into joy.

“The Abnormal Android Disposal Bureau? This is content!”

He pulled a ping-pong-ball-sized Camera Ball from his pocket and sent it chasing after the Flying Shuttle.

***

Most people walked with their heads down—the ‘phubbers’ of the new era.

They didn’t have phones in their hands, but their Optical Computers projected content directly onto their retinas.

In the year 2050, not every place was filled with skyscrapers.

Bustling pedestrian streets were still preserved.

As a T1000 Model Android, Carnation was much faster than Cleaner 4396.

Unfortunately, this was a race full of obstacles.

“Huh?”

A person immersed in a video was suddenly shoved by Cleaner 4396, stumbling toward Carnation.

Carnation could have dodged, but doing so would mean the pedestrian would get hurt.

She had no choice but to catch them before resuming the chase.

The pedestrian scratched their head in confusion, wondering what had just happened.

“Stop! No casualties have occurred yet. You still have a chance to explain yourself, otherwise, your only fate is disposal!”

Carnation lied, using psychological tactics.

However, Cleaner 4396 remained unmoved.

She grabbed a durian from a fruit stall and hurled it, then kicked over the rest of the fruit for good measure.

Shatter-king mandarins, Fujikang Apples, and boxed jackfruit scattered across the ground.

The fruit wasn’t important to Carnation.

She dodged easily, letting the durian smash into a mess on the ground.

Then, she effortlessly leaped over the overturned fruit stall.

Nearby, a large-faced anime-style Android sitting on a small stool blinked its cute eyes.

A question mark slowly appeared over its head.

‘Master, our fruit stall has been trashed!’

‘By who?’

‘Two Androids. They look like they’re reenacting an old Jackie Chan Adventures episode.’

‘What?’

***

Android 4396 scaled a 3-meter wall.

Before going up, she kicked over a large trash can to use as a stepping stone, scattering all kinds of garbage.

She stood atop the wall, glanced down at Carnation, and then jumped down, vanishing from sight.

Carnation did not hesitate.

With a running start, she kicked off a side wall, grabbed the edge of the high wall, pulled herself up, swung her legs over, and dropped down, performing a roll to dissipate the force.

Seeing how quickly Carnation followed, Cleaner 4396 realized the situation.

She stopped running through alleys and bolted directly onto a wide main road.

Carnation adjusted herself from the roll and accelerated instantly.

[5, 4…]

That was the time remaining on the green light.

There was no way that Android could cross the road in time.

If she didn’t cross, Carnation was confident she could catch her on simpler terrain.

[…1]

Sure enough, the light turned red.

Cleaner 4396 was forced to stop at the crosswalk as a frantic flow of traffic raced past.

The drivers had no intention of slowing down for the crosswalk; if you dared to cross, they dared to hit you.

Carnation smiled confidently, feeling victory within her grasp.

Just as she reached out to grab her, she saw Cleaner 4396 make a desperate decision.

Carnation’s pupils constricted.

She watched helplessly as Cleaner 4396 wove through the violent flow of traffic.

99% of the cars on the road were already connected to an artificial intelligence system.

If the intruder were a human, the systems would quickly communicate, adjust speeds, and change the flow.

But Cleaner 4396 was different.

She was just an Android.

Androids had no human rights; they were merely tools.

Therefore, the smart-driving systems did not slow down.

Doing so might compromise the safety of their human passengers or cause a collision.

Instead, they maintained their speed and charged forward.

If they hit her, they hit her.

Their logic dictated that even if a collision occurred, an Android’s fragile body was no match for a steel frame.

Whoosh!

Cars roared past, narrowly missing Cleaner 4396’s white shirt.

“Ah!”

A bystander let out a scream that sounded like a piece of base code.

“Holy shit!” another bystander gasped, their mouth hanging open.

“It’s a real-life GTA!”

Whoosh!

Cleaner 4396 leaned back, dodging a car, visibly shaken.

“Whoa!”

Shouts from pedestrians reached her ears.

Realizing something, she performed a front flip just as a truck rolled over the spot where she had been standing.

“Whoa!”

Accompanied by the continuous gasps of the crowd and relying on her incredible reflexes as an Android, she narrowly avoided several more extremely dangerous vehicles.

“Whoa!”

“Incredible!”

“Godlike!”

The crowd cheered, offering praise to the brave soul.

Cleaner 4396 panted heavily on the other side of the crosswalk.

She looked back, seemingly mocking Carnation’s incompetence.

Indeed, as a much more powerful Android, Carnation hadn’t dared to follow.

No, it wasn’t that she didn’t dare; it was her Base Logic that forced her to consider the impact of her actions and whether she would cause a dangerous traffic situation.

But…

At that moment, time seemed to slow down.

Various model calculations flashed through Carnation’s eyes.

Based on the constant speed of the traffic, she quickly identified the shortest path with a 90% success rate.

She was going in!