Chapter 561: Chapter 564

Fass had a taste of the braised meat. It was the same as the one he ate the other day.

The two ate in silence. When they were done, Fass continued to fix Nicholas. Nathan sat at the side and watched for a bit before going off to look for a place to nap.

Fass adjusted the temperature and humidity in the room then had the robot bring a blanket over to cover Nathan with.

Much later, Fass had a newly-constructed Nicholas in front of him. He rebooted Nicholas and set him in motion.

Nicholas used to be less complicated since Linus had built him in the earlier stages. He always wanted to reconstruct him but never planned for it. Today, Fass had changed every part of Nicholas from the inside out. His outer appearance was designed better too.

Now, he had a pair of big and bright eyes that allowed him to make simple and realistic facial expressions. It was no longer just the two black circles from before. It could even change colors according to his surroundings.

After learning that Nicholas had broken down due to the cold temperature, Fass changed his original motherboard, processors, and other internal parts to materials that were frost-hardy. He also put in some additional features and updated the system.

Nicholas’ processors were now more advanced and he had a faster response time. No matter what Fass did, he had to be precise to the dot.

A series of tests were conducted, and it was now time to see the final result.

He looked at Nicholas and asked, “What is your name? What is your model?”

Nicholas answered accurately, “Nicholas Fletcher. B-1 Educational Robot.”

“Who is your user?”

“User settings. My mother is Sophia Edwards. My brother is Nathan Fletcher. My father is Michael Fletcher.”

Fass pulled his brows together. Your first master is a woman?

“What is your mission?”

“Protect Mom and Nate.”

Fass thought, I’ll take him apart again and make some changes, then restart him and test him again.

He glanced over at Nathan who was sound asleep, then back at Nicholas. He disassembled him once more, put on safety glasses, and welded in a new part inside of Nicholas.

Finally, Fass took the tiger hat that Nathan was wearing and put it back on Nicholas. The system was done restarting. Nicholas’ eyes lit up and he was functioning normally again. He moved his robotic arm and it was more reactive. Lifting his head, he looked at Fass and said, “Thank you, Fass.”

Fass had programmed an automatic deletion of his memories here once he stepped outside, including the videos, documents, and maintenance log.

When Nicholas went to wake Nathan up, Nathan was thrilled to see an alert and active Nicholas in front of him and immediately hugged him.

Nicholas, who was now back in perfect condition, stretched out his robotic arm to take Nathan’s hand so they could go home together. He turned around to wave at Fass, “Thank you, Fass. We have to go home for dinner now.”

Fass nodded and smiled. “Go on home now, Nate. Don’t forget our promise. Don’t tell anyone about what you saw today.”

Nathan nodded and started to head out. After taking two steps, though, he stopped abruptly and turned around. “Thank you, Fass.”

After that, Nathan went home happily with Nicholas. Nicholas was even more intelligent and incredible than before. He can change colors too! This is amazing!

Later that night, Linus came home from work and saw Fass sitting in the living room. While he was taking off his overcoat, he said, “Cooper, my housewarming is in two days. Do you want to stay for it?”

Fass did not answer him. His gaze shifted to the small object on the coffee table in front of him. Linus also looked down—it was a tiny memory card.

Linus felt a tug in his chest, but he still looked indifferent on the outside. “What is that?”

Fass looked at Linus’ expression but did not see any changes. “An internal analysis chart from a military compound.”

A hint of uneasiness spread across Linus’ face momentarily. He pried, “What’s that doing here?”

Fass did not beat around the bush and said, “The kid from the Fletchers came over today because his robot had broken down. When I was fixing it, I noticed a backdoor in the robot’s program. Someone had been spying on them with that robot.”

A layer of sweat had covered Linus’ back.

Nonchalantly, Fass continued, “It looks like someone tried to use that robot and kid to try to steal confidential military information in Cethos and go against the Fletchers.” He emphasized the words at the end of his sentence.

Linus did not respond, but Fass could see the look on his face turn sullen. His introverted appearance was harboring a heinous crime that no one knew about.

The air in the room grew heavy. In this room, except for the cats who were threading along the floor lightly, there was not a single sound or movement.

Both Linus and Fass remained silent.

Linus lowered his face. His eyes were clouded over. Like a murderer waiting in a corner in the dark to ambush his target and hit them with the first shot.

Meanwhile, Fass was like a sculpture. He sat up straight and looked at Linus with a pair of sharp eyes.

He seemed normal. He did not have a terrifying imposing manner like Linus did, but still, no one dared to overlook him.

At that moment, Linus noticed that the security system placed in the middle of the living room had been activated. As the second-in-command of the Michel Group, he did not have any bodyguards there but his house was the hardest house to break into in the world. It was filled with laser weapons—able to kill off anyone who broke in without leaving a trace behind.

However, the laser weapon that he had made was now pointed at him. Even his housekeeping robots were standing with Fass and were being hostile toward him.

He wrote the program and assumed that no one could break in. Except for Fass…

His life was now in Fass’ hands!

After a while, Fass suddenly stood up and walked toward him. His tone had become gentler.

“Linus, I won’t let anyone harm the Fletchers.” He brushed his shoulder as he walked past him and went up the spiral staircase. Just then, a thought struck him. “Oh, and…” He looked over at Linus who was still standing in the middle of the living room. “Keep Phantom Wolf’s leader in check. The revenge he took on the Fletcher Family should be more than enough to appease his resentment toward Theo.”

Linus remained quiet. Seeing the laser weapon move away slowly, the threatening atmosphere in the living room quickly dissipated and it was peaceful once more. Then, he fell into a prolonged silence.

…

It had been a week since New Year’s and Sophia was carrying a basket of red packets to give out to people. She gave them to the helpers and cooks at home, to the conscientious security guards on duty, and to the other property owners in her neighborhood. Quite frankly, she gave red packets to whomever she met in the neighborhood.

She was wearing a red cotton-padded top, a white fur scarf, a red hat, and a pair of red snow boots. The basket in her hand was filled to the brim with red packets.

Nathan was also forced to wear a red outfit and to walk in embarrassment behind her. Nicholas was also wearing a red hat and following along behind her. To accommodate Sophia’s festive attire today, he turned himself red. They looked fit for the occasion.

When Sophia was giving out red packets in the neighborhood, she saw Linus drive out in his car.

“Linus!”

He stopped the car and wound down his windows.

Sophia was just on her way to his house to give him a red packet and thank him for fixing Nicholas.

“Nate says you helped to fix Nicholas. Thank you so much! Here, take this. Have a prosperous year!”

Sophia gave him two red packets which Linus accepted. “Thank you. If there is a problem with Nicholas again in the future, you can come look for me. It’s not a problem at all.”

Nathan leaned against the car window and looked at the man sitting in the backseat of Linus’ car.