After six months and dozens of treatments, both Yuan Chu and Li Xi not only recovered completely but became even healthier than before.
The treatment device developed by Yuan Chu and her laboratory was soon unveiled to the world and officially went into production the following year.
As expected, it caused a tremendous stir, benefiting countless helpless patients and generating significant wealth for Li Xi.
The Li family's three siblings, who had been eagerly waiting for the old man and Li Xi to die, were disappointed as not only did they not die, but they also thrived.
Grandpa Li lived to be over a hundred years old before passing away, by which time Li Wenhong had already died of illness, and Li Wenyi had perished in a car accident at the age of fifty.
Yuan Chu and Li Xi bid farewell to Grandpa Li together and then adopted two children from an orphanage.
They carefully nurtured them, and once the children grew up, they handed over the family business to them. The couple then packed their bags and set off to travel the world.
They traveled far and wide, experiencing the world's beauty and living a fulfilling life.
After Li Xi's death, Yuan Chu, carrying the power of fate and faith, left this small world.
The fortune in this world wasn't as strong as in the previous one, but it felt very familiar to Yuan Chu.
She had a sense that the two destined children of fate might be the same person. While in the small world, she was unable to break through the space barrier to glimpse into the other world.
Yuan Chu didn't know why she cared about this issue, but there was a subtle anticipation in her heart.
Perhaps the bond formed between her and the child of fate had already created a certain pull, allowing them to meet repeatedly across the vast multiverse.
Her consciousness drifted for a long time until she once again entered a new world before the Dao of Heaven could find her.
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Xinlan was a small, remote town located in the northwest of the Kaluo Kingdom. Despite its isolation and sparse population, it boasted stunning landscapes far removed from the hustle and bustle of large cities.
The local residents were warm and simple but also quite rugged.
Due to the proximity of the Iron Wasteland and the abundance of mutated mechanical beasts, most of Xinlan's men, women, and children had learned some combat skills.
Recently, a new owner arrived at a manor on the outskirts of Xinlan. He was a handsome 24-year-old youth named "Fei Xiu," with golden hair, blue eyes, and a well-built physique.
His striking appearance caught the attention of many young girls in the town when he first arrived.
It was later learned that he was a former soldier who had been forced to retire due to severe injuries and now received third-degree disability benefits.
This level of compensation was quite generous, with high monthly allowances, free transportation, and access to public facilities, but none of it could compare to a healthy body.
Fei Xiu had gained fame at a young age, displaying extraordinary talent and mental strength from an early age.
He enlisted at 18, earned the Warrior's Medal at 19, and won numerous military honors over the next four years, with the potential to become the youngest major general in the history of the Kaluo Kingdom.
However, during a surprise attack, his squad fell into an enemy ambush. Of the over 100 soldiers, only a dozen survived, and Fei Xiu was gravely injured.
Even after recovery, he could no longer engage in high-intensity activities, and his mental strength dropped from S-rank to B-rank.
Fei Xiu, young and proud, had made many enemies among his peers. Some admired him, while others envied him. After his retirement, many people felt regret, while others rejoiced.
Once a young hero with remarkable achievements who had the right to look down on all his less accomplished peers, Fei Xiu was now a third-degree disabled veteran with combat abilities inferior to an ordinary soldier.
The higher the rise, the harder the fall.
Upon learning of his physical condition, Fei Xiu found it impossible to accept reality.
Others' sympathy, disappointment, regret, ridicule, and sarcasm were unbearable for him.
A born warrior, he knew nothing but combat, and once forced to leave the battlefield, he was at a loss about how to proceed with his life.
So, after being discharged from the hospital, he resolutely left the capital and came to his mother's hometown, where he shut himself off from the outside world, retreating to an uninhabited corner to lick his wounds alone.
In the old manor, he lived by himself.
At dusk, Fei Xiu ate some compressed food, then lay on the roof, staring blankly at the sky.
As night fell and the earth plunged into darkness, the town's market lights flickered on, twinkling like a galaxy of stars, contrasting sharply with the deep, gloomy outskirts.
After some time, Fei Xiu sat up, about to head back to his room to sleep, when he noticed a few faint lights flickering in the distant darkness.
It was the road leading to the Iron Wasteland, long abandoned and littered with metal debris, usually devoid of human presence.
Fei Xiu's years of combat training had honed a keen sense of danger, and he couldn't ignore the suspicious lights.
His figure flashed as he quickly and quietly moved toward the source.
The cover of night was his ally as Fei Xiu cautiously approached his target, hiding himself among the piles of trash and focusing his gaze.
About a few dozen meters away, a figure about a meter tall slowly moved through the garbage heap, emitting a creaking sound.
At first glance, Fei Xiu thought it was a child, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was actually a... robot.
The robot appeared to be an old model of a domestic assistant, with a damaged exterior and several exposed wires.
It was even missing one mechanical arm, and its power indicator light blinked on and off, hard to believe it was still functional.
Fei Xiu remained silent, quietly observing the strange robot.
The Kaluo Kingdom was highly advanced in technology, producing many robotic creatures to assist humans in various tasks.
Decades ago, a mad scientist had implanted a virus into an intelligent brain, giving some robotic creatures self-awareness and triggering a massive machine rebellion.
Humans fought against these mechanical creatures for five to six years.
As the virus spread and mutated, the development of robotic creatures became irreversible.
In the end, humans paid a heavy price to barely control the situation. However, as long as humans needed the internet, intelligent brains, and technology, robotic creatures would never go extinct.
The only consolation was that not all robotic creatures were enemies of humanity; only those infected with the virus or with mutated cores would attack humans.
Humans continuously improved their firewalls, constantly monitoring and scanning for dangerous viruses to prevent large-scale invasions.
Although the emergence of mutant viruses threatened human society, it also accelerated the rapid advancement of human network technology.
Later, humans imposed strict classification on various robotic creatures, allowing only the military to use combat-type robots.
Ordinary households could only use assistant robots with limited internet connectivity and basic auxiliary functions.
The Iron Wasteland, located about a hundred miles from Xinlan, was a remnant of that old war, and it still harbored many mutated mechanical beasts.
The Kaluo Kingdom was currently engaged in a war with Clamon and had no spare resources to clear out the Iron Wasteland, leaving local militias to handle the situation.
Xinlan was relatively poor, with only a few hundred militia members, while the Iron Wasteland still housed at least tens of thousands of mutated mechanical beasts.
They would occasionally emerge to steal resources. If not for their limited materials and energy, preventing them from creating high-powered weapons, Xinlan might have long since been overrun.
Fei Xiu quietly observed from the shadows, unsure what the robot was searching for among the trash.
This model couldn't connect to the internet independently, nor could it fight, making it highly unlikely to be infected or implanted with a virus. Without a command, it shouldn't even be able to activate itself.
Fei Xiu scanned the surroundings warily, confirming that no one was controlling the robot.
He couldn't help but be puzzled. What was going on with this robot? Could an old, half-damaged assistant robot really mutate?
As Fei Xiu pondered, the robot had already dug out several spare parts from the trash and was using its remaining mechanical arm to start repairing its body.
Fei Xiu: ???
He could hardly believe his eyes. An assistant robot could only perform simple fault diagnostics and lacked the ability for self-repair!
But what was he seeing now? The robot removed its chest panel, replaced old parts, and even performed some cosmetic repairs.
Fei Xiu began to suspect that the robot before him might be a mutated mechanical beast disguised in an assistant robot's shell.
After observing for two hours, during which the robot managed to repair about 5% of its body, it then wobbled northward, stopped at a place with a lot of large garbage, curled up, and its indicator lights went out, blending into the surroundings as if it had shut down.
Fei Xiu watched from a distance for a long time but eventually decided not to approach and turned to leave.
The next evening, he returned to the ruins and, as expected, saw the robot again rummaging through metal debris to repair itself.
Day after day, without interruption, the progress was slow but persistent.
Sometimes it spent the whole night without finding suitable parts. Other times, if the parts didn’t fit, it had to try repeatedly.
Despite being just a robot, Fei Xiu saw in it a kind of perseverance, a tenacity to keep going.
Ten days later, Xinlan was hit by a heavy rainstorm. Fei Xiu stood in his room, watching the torrential rain outside, and thought that the robot probably wouldn't show up tonight.
Through the misty rain, a flicker of light appeared and vanished.
Fei Xiu was startled, took out his binoculars, and focused on the light.
Sure enough, it was the robot!
In such heavy rain, what was it doing outside? With its damaged body, it was completely unprotected from the water! Was it trying to completely break down?
Fei Xiu was filled with concern, hesitated for a moment, then muttered a curse, put on his raincoat, and hurried into the rain.
As he got closer, he faintly heard some unusual noises. With Fei Xiu’s keen hearing and experience, he quickly identified them as sounds of combat.
Combat?
Who would be crazy enough to fight a damaged assistant robot in this torrential downpour?
As Fei Xiu peered out, he saw the robot being thrown into a pile of trash, hit by a canine-like mutated mechanical beast.
Despite its thin frame, the beast was agile. In comparison, the robot looked pitiful.
The mechanical dog lunged at the robot in a hungry, predatory manner, aiming for its head and about to bite down.
At the last moment, the robot grabbed a metal plate and slapped the dog aside, causing its remaining mechanical arm to detach in the process.
Fei Xiu: "…"
Seeing the robot, now armless and resembling a metal pillar, Fei Xiu thought that it was definitely finished this time.
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