The observation via the [radio] confirmed that the long-necked crocodile's alert abilities were completely undetectable.

It wrote while reciting difficult phrases.

"Born to be outstanding..."

Zhou Yi heard the long-necked crocodile speak for the first time.

The Chinese it spoke still had a bit of a colonel's accent.

This C-level creature was ordinarily strong but cunning and alert, capable of vocalizing low growls, hisses, roars, and barks. However, only the long-necked crocodiles could understand each other.

The long-necked crocodile was not unintelligent, but it couldn't be tamed. It had a strong sense of self.

It would avoid stronger beings and even prostrate to show submission, but that was just a facade. Once it saw an opportunity, it would flee and cause trouble.

Once, a sea lord tried to train them but ended up being outsmarted and lost many Guangna Boxes as the crocodiles successfully escaped.

They were deceitful, two-faced, and disliked confrontation. They weren't good choices for faithful servants or warriors who faced death without fear—during battles, they would quickly flee after bluffing for a bit, even giving false battle reports and scouting information. They simply didn't want to get close to danger.

The only advantage it had was showing weakness and acting submissive in front of stronger beings.

These characteristics of the long-necked crocodile made Zhou Yi feel odd about the one before him.

If someone had managed to domesticate it, that would indeed be unbelievable.

But if it wasn't forcibly subdued, would a long-necked crocodile really learn human writing and language spontaneously?

Zhou Yi remembered how painful it was to learn writing when he was a child.

He decided to subdue it first.

Mic master, move out!

The world of the Concept Life's BGM instantly enveloped, leaving the long-necked crocodile standing there dazed.

After controlling the opponent, Zhou Yi relied on his enhanced version of [Alert], reconstructed during battle, and followed the Death Light trajectory to find the target.

The long-necked crocodile was on the second floor of Hongya Cave.

This floor had an interior constructed of old streets with green bricks and tiles, wooden floors layered on one another, and many old signs like "Chongqing's Old Five Private Beef Sauce," "Red Nine Grids Old Hot Pot," "Mountain City Tea House," "Silk Customization," etc. But there was no one around.

The long-necked crocodile, wrapped in a black robe, stood in front of a wall, completely stiff.

Zhou Yi took a closer look.

It was indeed a long-necked crocodile, the green light on its body indicating it belonged to a C-level life form.

What caught Zhou Yi's attention was the pendant hanging around its neck, which was actually a white USB drive.

The long-necked crocodile probably wouldn't use something like this?

Zhou Yi was fairly certain that its unusual writing behavior must have been influenced by someone else.

He still needed to ask the long-necked crocodile to find out.

…

In the world of BGM, a gentle and soothing "Jasmine Flower" played.

There was another figure in a black robe next to the long-necked crocodile. It had a steel and iron body, long and slim, with a long metal mask with two eye holes.

Iron Soldier.

It wore a strange black spherical helmet with a small radar on top.

Above Iron Soldier's head was a black V-shaped drone with two adjustable support legs allowing the four-wing propellers to change the spread angle for navigating tight areas.

Below it was a small four-wheeled vehicle equipped with an antenna and a raised camera, continuously scanning the surrounding environment.

Zhou Yi thought that the Iron Soldier seemed more like a technical personnel surveying road conditions.

"Teacher, have you returned?"

The long-necked crocodile followed behind, happily speaking in a colonel's accent.

Iron Soldier looked around, the small radar on its helmet spinning non-stop, "No traces of electromechanical life found, nor any intelligent species with mastery over old human technology and culture—only after settling can we gather local data..."

Suddenly, it spoke, "Found a life on the verge of death, a juvenile long-necked crocodile."

Iron Soldier turned and walked toward the long-necked crocodile.

It stretched out its arms and grabbed the Guangna Species before it, two green lights shooting from the eyeholes of its metal face, running a full-body scan.

"Confirmed to be mutations caused by radiation and chronic malnutrition, organs are failing."

It took out a pill wrapped in tin foil from its backpack and shoved it into the long-necked crocodile's mouth.

Then it took out a Guangna Box and began to blend two sparks into the long-necked crocodile.

The long-necked crocodile looked shocked, "What… what is happening here… this happened in the past… why exactly?"

Zhou Yi understood.

So this was how Iron Soldier had first met the long-necked crocodile.

By injecting the Light Seed, it saved the feeble juvenile long-necked crocodile, resulting in this bizarre individual who went around writing.

But the long-necked crocodile hastily stepped back.

"You're not the teacher, you're a fake, who are you? What ability did you use to take on the teacher's appearance?"

However, Iron Soldier just continued with its existing procedure.

It observed the long-necked crocodile for a while, then set up a tent next to it, sat down, and engraved a line of characters on a stone slab.

—Is anyone there? Please respond.

These were the same words previously written by the long-necked crocodile.

The difference was, Iron Soldier's was in standard block script, neatly and properly formed.

It fixed the stone slab onto a nearby wall.

The scene changed.

This segment of the story replayed from the beginning.

The long-necked crocodile looked somewhat panicked, "Where am I exactly? Who are you? What have you done to the teacher!"

It looked around, seemingly using its alert abilities, with all the green light focusing in its eyes.

Unfortunately, it was still unable to uncover the truth behind it.

…

"Let's talk."

Zhou Yi no longer held back and appeared directly.

The gaze of the long-necked crocodile instantly became wary, "It looks like all of this is your doing. What have you done to the teacher?"

"My name is Zhou Yi, from the Wasteland Development Company, I've never met a long-necked crocodile actively learning prehistoric human script. You've learned well, what's your name?"

"...Wen Xi."

Although the other party was somewhat reluctant, they still gave an answer. They kept looking around at an Iron Soldier who was acting independently, performing repetitive actions.

"Relax, your teacher is fine. I mean you no harm; I just happened to pass by here and saw the words you left, so I followed them here."

Wen Xi's eyes widened suddenly, "You know prehistoric texts?"

"Of course."

"The hoe is in the sun at the beginning?"

"You mean 'hoeing in the midday sun'? The next line is 'sweat drips down to the soil beneath.'"

The other party still didn't believe it, "What is the national flag called a red flag?"

"The Five-Star Red Flag."

"What is this place?"

"Chongqing City."

"What is your father's father called?"

"Grandfather."

"What does this character recognize?"

They drew a character in the dust on the ground.

It might be very complicated for Wen Xi, but to Zhou Yi, it was still too simple.

"Mao Die. Moreover, you wrote it wrong, under Mao there should be a character that you've missed a stroke."

The long-necked crocodile was completely shocked.

"You, you really do understand the prehistoric texts... Do you happen to know the teacher?"

Zhou Yi said, "Your teacher isn't flesh and blood, right? Is it a Bone Man, or from the Northern Ocean Army?"

The long-necked crocodile grew cautious again, "It seems you don't know the teacher."

This guy was very guarded.

Zhou Yi could only say, "You write Chinese here to guide people nearby to come here, that must be the task your teacher gave you."

"..."

"That is to say, what you are doing is what it wanted to be done, which is to find someone like me who understands Chinese, and make contact. Correct?"

"..."

Wen Xi still insisted, "Although you understand prehistoric texts, you don't recognize my teacher, which makes it hard for me to trust you. It might also be that you've influenced my mind, and you don't really have this ability."

"You can kill me, but I will never betray my teacher."

The fearless long-necked crocodile, that was indeed rare.

Zhou Yi snapped his fingers.

The BGM changed.

"Even if fate is desolate,

Even if fate is twisting and strange,

Even if fate intimidates you,

Life is uninteresting..."

The motivating song "Red Sun" echoed around.

The whole world suddenly changed.

Wen Xi was standing on the spacious streets inside Hongya Cave.

The Iron Soldier teacher was speaking in a mechanical voice, "Keep writing, text is an important carrier of information. You must learn it, copy 'Early Departure from Baidi city' and 'Ode to the Goose' 50 times, ensuring every character is correct."

"If you cannot do this, your lessons cannot proceed. This is just the most basic elementary course."

Elementary?

This guy knows about the past.

Zhou Yi grew more cautious.

Then he began to change the song frequently to extract more scene information from the memory of the long-necked crocodile.

The Iron Soldier appeared in various environments.

Sometimes it was chatting with the long-necked crocodile, sometimes it was training it in combat, other times it taught it how to write, and tried to have it learn pronunciation.

"You are very clever, with a strong ability to imitate. My name is Wen Xin, from a distant place, collecting data in this prehistoric city."

"..."

"You've already mastered five basic characters, not bad."

"..."

"I'm leaving now, you stay here. If you want to help me, write words here directing others who know this ancient text to find you, then tell them about me. I think, they can find me."

"..."

"I'm going to a far place, stay here, I will come back to see you."

"..."

Watching from the side, Wen Xi clenched his claws, "You're despicable!!"

Zhou Yi couldn't help but feel a little bemused, "Your teacher clearly wants you to tell me its matters, yet you are creating obstacles yourself."

"You look very suspicious."

Wen Xi affirmed firmly, "I have to ensure my teacher's safety, I cannot let a dangerous person threaten the teacher."

Zhou Yi was unconcerned, "But I still know your teacher's name now. I can continue to watch, eventually grasp everything you've seen...maybe some of your conversations too? But you could also tell me the truth, it would be easier for us both."

This time the long-necked crocodile was silent for a long time.

"If you have any ill intentions, I advise you to give them up early because my teacher comes from the powerful Taishan Knight Order."

Oh?

Zhou Yi hadn't expected, the Taishan Knight that had been elusive before, had actually appeared here.

"My teacher, formally named 'Wen Xin Yi Yan', possesses combat power to repel B-grade life forms and holds unparalleled wisdom, knowing the secrets of all things..."

Wen Xi spoke proudly.

Zhou Yi's pupils dilated abruptly.

Wen Xin Yi Yan.

This was the AI big model produced by Baidu company in the past, used as a search engine by himself, without any ads, and it would summarize a lot of information.

So, the Taishan Knight Order consisted of artificial intelligence?

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