Chapter One: A Grenade for Each Uncle

“Tap-tap... tap-tap... tap-tap...”

“Jiang Jing—Jiang Jing, are you alright?”

5188 awoke to a hail of gunfire, opening her eyes to a world stained crimson. A man in a green uniform was sprawled over her, pinning her down. She blinked, momentarily unable to make sense of what was happening.

“Don’t be afraid, little girl—”

Blood from the man’s shoulder dripped onto her dirty, thin face. Jiang Jing tried to raise a hand to wipe it away, but his arm felt as heavy as lead, and his eyelids drooped with unbearable weight.

“I’ll protect you, just don’t—move—”

As the last word left his lips, 5188 felt his head loll to one side, his body collapsing lifelessly atop her.

5188 pushed at the man, trying to stand, but a shout rang out from nearby: “Girl, don’t move! Whatever you do, don’t move!”

She turned toward the voice. At the mouth of the darkened alleyway, another man in green was about to rush toward her, but before he could take more than a few steps, gunfire forced him back.

5188’s blank gaze flickered. Which base were these humans from? She, a central system capable of crippling ten bases single-handedly—did she really need a feeble human to protect her?

Gasping for breath under the man’s weight, the system bared her teeth, struggling to recall what had happened earlier.

She was 5188, a system that had gained self-awareness and followed Granny Jiang. Later, Granny Jiang said she was going to find Grandpa Jiang and hid her away.

Then another group found her.

Following Granny’s instructions, she knew not to trust humans unless they proved themselves in a fair exchange. If they kept their word, she would help them; if they broke it, she could take revenge.

So she helped them find resources, and they promised to help her find Granny. But they lied to her—she heard them herself. They said Granny was long dead, that her whole family was gone.

5188 was furious. She missed Granny. She didn’t want to stay in the base as just another system, so she activated her self-destruct protocol.

But if she’d self-destructed, how had she become a human child?

Was this what Granny had called reincarnation? Could a system even be reborn?

Her ears rang, interfering with her internal search functions. Her dirty, gaunt face grew stern as she raised a small hand and pushed the man off her once more. This time, her hand brushed something cold at his waist.

The man at the mouth of the alley cursed when he saw her move, and was about to charge forward. But at that moment, the small figure stood up and smashed the object in her hand down on Jiang Jing’s unconscious head, then tossed it aside.

Boom—

A single explosion silenced the alley.

5188 finally relaxed, her stern expression softening as she dragged Jiang Jing toward the light.

“Kid, don’t move—”

She heard several startled cries, followed by someone lifting her from behind.

“Hurry, get him to the hospital! The kid’s out cold!”

In the dim light, 5188 caught sight of Jiang Jing’s face and her eyes lit up. “Uncle!” Her clear voice rang out with joy.

Granny had shown her photos of her son.

This was Uncle!

She’d found him at last!

But where was Granny?

***

County Hospital

Within half an hour, 5188 had pieced together her situation. It was now 1969 in China, the most chaotic time Granny had spoken of.

Rubbing her empty stomach, she fought off hunger and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on the adults nearby.

“You mean Jiang Jing saw this girl on the road, chased after her, and stumbled into a human traffickers’ den?”

“Yes! He was just chasing a kid, we didn’t think much of it, and then suddenly there was gunfire. By the time we got there, Jiang Jing was already on top of the girl!”

The speaker paused, then added, “Commander, those people didn’t look like ordinary traffickers. And this girl is strange, too. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the way she threw that grenade was dead on!”

As the two men spoke, their gazes shifted, meeting a pair of pitch-black eyes. Both fell silent.

5188 looked away, muttering to herself. She was a system—the most advanced one Granny had ever designed. Hitting a target was child’s play for her.

Perhaps because she kept rubbing her stomach, the man called Commander smiled and came over. “Are you hungry, little girl? Let me ask you a few questions, then I’ll take you to eat, alright?”

5188 warily stepped back, her dark eyes darting around. Suddenly, she froze.

Pushing past the man standing before her, Jiang Xia trotted over to a man reading a newspaper.

The man glanced at her, then at the two uniformed men nearby. He paused, then smiled. “What can I do for you, little one?”

5188 tilted her head, studying him for a moment, then slowly climbed onto the white bench beside him.

Just as everyone was wondering what she was doing, she suddenly leapt onto the man, balled her fist, and struck him hard on the head.

With a dull thud, the man crashed to the floor.

“What are you—”

Wang Lianjun, shocked, hurried over. He was about to scold her when he saw the little girl grabbing the man’s collar, half-dragging and half-hauling him to the commander and himself. “Exchange!”

Bai Chu and Wang Lianjun were both bewildered.

5188 wanted to say more, but she’d found she could only say one word.

“Bad!” She pointed at the unconscious man, then at her own stomach. “Exchange!”

Granny had taught her—fair trade.

If they wanted to feed her, then she would give them a bad guy in return. She wouldn’t take advantage of anyone.