Chapter Thirty: A Glittering Life of Luxury

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In relatively simple terms, Ronan told Zhou Yongtai who Pol Pot was, and what he and his organization had done.

Zhou Yongtai suddenly understood why Ronan had worn such a meaningful, sardonic expression when he heard that the future robot rulers called the prison where they purged their own kind “the Khmer Camp.”

“He doesn’t look like a demon,” Zhou Yongtai said, staring at the oil painting.

Pol Pot’s face was not visible in the painting; there was only the back of a figure reclining in a chair. Yet every detail of that body—from the relaxed slope of the shoulders and the loose hands, to the lips that seemed faintly pursed when viewed from behind and to the side, to the slanting rays of sunset scattered across him—created an atmosphere of gentle warmth and tranquil ease.

“Then look at this person.” Ronan pointed toward the right side of the painting.

Zhou Yongtai had noticed the other figure as well: the painter, wearing glasses, a shirt, and trousers.

The painter was bent over, working on Pol Pot’s portrait.

Beyond the window beside him were blurred human silhouettes and a red haze.

“That isn’t mist. It’s blood,” Ronan said coolly. “The blood of those who were massacred. And this painter is the only person wearing glasses who wasn’t killed, because his skill was exceptional enough to leave the Great Commander with a heroic portrait. But look at his face. It’s full of fear. He doesn’t know whether, after painting the final stroke, he too will be dragged outside and turned into a cloud of blood—simply because he wears glasses.”

Zhou Yongtai was bewildered. “People die just for wearing glasses?”

“In Pol Pot’s mind, anyone who wore glasses was an intellectual. He hated intellectuals, especially educated people within the territory he ruled.”

Zhou Yongtai fell silent.

He hated those who carried out massacres, yet he could not stop himself from thinking that this Pol Pot was actually less terrifying than the robots of the future.

The latter did not care whether you wore glasses. Once the life-form identification device confirmed that you were human, it would cut you to pieces.

A living person with a demon’s heart was frightening. A robot with no heart at all, accepting nothing but instructions, was even more terrifying.

When Ronan saw that Zhou Yongtai had stopped speaking, he suddenly realized that he had made him feel guilty.

Zhou Yongtai had come to the art museum to ease his anxiety, but instead Ronan had overwhelmed him with a torrent of negativity.

“Ah Tai, I’m sorry. Let’s go to another gallery. Most of the works in this one depict sorrowful or utterly dark moments in Southeast Asian history.”

“All right. You decide.”

They visited several other galleries. After viewing paintings of tropical flowers, Nanyang landscapes, and other subjects unrelated to the grim realities of life, they went downstairs to the café.

Zhou Yongtai glanced at the menu a few times before saying bluntly, “This place is too expensive. I can’t afford it. I need to save my money to give to my maternal grandparents. And if you pay, you’re poor too. Let’s go. There must be some cheaper food courts nearby.”

Ronan smiled. “A fifteen-dollar bowl of pasta isn’t enough to impoverish me. Besides, I wanted to come to this café to reminisce. Do you understand what ‘reminisce’ means?”

Zhou Yongtai shook his head. The word was unfamiliar to him.

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There was emotion beneath Ronan’s smile. “Qingyi and I used to come here on dates. Today, I wanted to sit here for a while, as if I could see things the way they were back then. That’s what it means to reminisce.”

After they had taken their seats and ordered, Ronan asked Zhou Yongtai, “In that world, was there a girl you liked?”

“Yes. She was my neighbor on the island. We exchanged supplies with each other. Later, the robots captured and killed her. I was so devastated I could hardly breathe. That was when I learned that the suffering described in novels was real. Mr. Luo, what about you? Why did you break up with Miss Xu?”

“She’s a scientist, and I’m a painter. At first, we thought each other’s fields were fascinating. But gradually, she became highly accomplished in artificial intelligence, while I lost my job because of its spread. I couldn’t help letting my disdain and complaints about AI show. At first, she would comfort me. Later, she urged me to adapt to AI art. Eventually, perhaps she decided that I was not only unwilling to adapt to the new world, but a useless coward at heart as well. So we broke up.”

Biting the handle of his coffee spoon, Zhou Yongtai hesitated for a long while before finally voicing his concern.

“Then… since Miss Xu is so interested in researching AI, if she discovered that the gang who kidnapped Ada could use her to accelerate the upgrading of the robots in this world, would she still save Ada? Um, Mr. Luo, I don’t mean that I don’t believe you. I’m just… I’m afraid…”

“I understand your concern,” Ronan said reassuringly. “Let me tell you about something that happened after we broke up, and you’ll understand why I immediately thought of looking for her today. One night last year, Ada suddenly called my phone. She sounded as if she were in a bar, and seemed to have had too much to drink. She said that perhaps I had been right: if AI continued to develop, it would become a poison carried back to the ant nest by worker ants and soldier ants after they had been contaminated by it, eventually poisoning every ant to death.”

Zhou Yongtai blurted out, “Had she discovered something?”

“Ah Tai, you really don’t seem to have come from Earth after civilization was wiped out. Is your reasoning ability innate?”

“Oh. It was only after I turned twelve that Komodo Island was left with just Ada and me. Before that, I remember I could still follow my mother and cautiously attend gatherings with other survivors and such. Besides, I had plenty of detective and lawyer novels to read.”

Ronan nodded. “Although you had Ada, your brain didn’t atrophy, and you never stopped learning. As for Jiayi, she never told me what she had encountered that caused such a drastic change in her position. She only said that she had begun gathering scientists who shared her views. Like detectives, they intended to uncover more evidence and warn the world.”

…

Sentosa, at Xizhi Jie’s estate.

Five or six young men appeared before Xirui.

Some were refined and handsome, some vigorous and dashing, some possessed a roguish charm, and some looked as cool as rap singers.

But apart from all kneeling on the floor, they had one other thing in common: each held an identical tray made of saltwater crocodile hide, and on every tray lay a necklace encrusted with lavish, dazzling gemstones.

Whitney sat down beside Xirui with a wineglass in hand and said in the affectionate tone of an elder, “Whichever one you like, just put it on. Don’t stand on ceremony with Auntie Hui.”

Xirui had no intention of standing on ceremony.

Whitney was her father’s business partner, and for Xirui’s sixteenth birthday, she had given her a McLaren Artura.

So, at Xirui’s twentieth birthday banquet, a necklace worth two million Singapore dollars was perfectly ordinary.

Wearing a voluminous ball gown, Xirui did not even need to lean forward. She merely pointed at one of the “tray princes” with the toe of her crystal shoe, and he immediately moved over. Carefully placing the tray on the sofa, he handed Xirui the necklace with both silk-gloved hands, then smoothly brushed against the mirror on the coffee table so that Xirui could see how the necklace looked around her neck.

“Little Rui has excellent taste. This sapphire came from Kashmir. That mine was closed more than a century ago. Kashmir sapphires of seven or eight carats like this one are incredibly difficult to find—and it has to come from the Indian-controlled region, not the Pakistani-controlled region.”

Xirui interrupted her. “The color is too old-fashioned. Only old women over forty would wear it.”

Whitney had just turned forty. She was precisely the “old woman” Xirui had so accurately struck at, yet her expression did not change in the slightest. She continued smiling warmly.

“Indeed, it doesn’t suit our young Little Rui, who is in the bloom of youth. Come, let’s try another.”

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Inside, Whitney sneered coldly: What an ill-mannered little fool.

“Let me see that one.” Xirui pointed at another crocodile-skin tray.

The young men hurriedly changed places.

“Introduce it to Miss Xi,” Whitney instructed the man.

The man narrowed his charming, almond-shaped eyes. “This is a Paraiba tourmaline from Brazil. Even the one worn by Liu Feifei isn’t this large, and its color isn’t as beautiful…”

“Liu Feifei?” Xirui rudely cut him off again. “She wears gemstones like this? Then I don’t want it.”

The man holding the Paraiba fell silent, evidently having touched some forbidden nerve of the young heiress.

Unexpectedly, Xirui gave him a radiant smile. “Yang Lei, I’m not targeting you. I just—well, I know you acted opposite Liu Feifei, so I mentioned her without thinking.”

Xizhi Jie approached, swirling his wineglass. He bent down and picked up the necklace from the third crocodile tray.

“This one is quite beautiful. An emerald? It suits our Little Rui. Her skin is just as fair as her mother’s.”

“Then I’ll take this one. Daddy gets the final say,” Xirui said coquettishly.

Once the patron had made the decision, the little patron happily put on the necklace.

The five young men, each famous in a different branch of the entertainment industry, rose to their feet one after another and handed the remaining four necklaces to the Asian vice president of the high-jewelry brand, who was waiting outside.

There was not the slightest trace of embarrassment or humiliation on their faces.

They had flown from China to Singapore, carried trays once, and would then attend the little princess’s birthday party. Each of them would receive three hundred thousand Singapore dollars. In an era when human entertainers were barely able to compete with AI stars, that was hardly a low appearance fee.

So what if they knelt for a while? They were making money. There was nothing shameful about it.

Besides, the luxury brand’s vice president had privately indicated that if the male stars could sell the remaining four gemstone necklaces to other wealthy guests during the banquet, the commissions and profit shares would be considerable.

After putting on the emerald necklace, Xirui went to the dressing room next door to have her makeup done, accompanied by two Filipino maids.

Xizhi Jie poured Whitney a glass of wine from another vintage and said, half grateful and half apologetic, “I’ve put you to considerable expense, and the girl still has no manners.”

Whitney waved her hand. “She’s just a child. A little innocence is a good thing. It’s children from poor families who have to learn from an early age to read other people’s expressions. By the way, before the banquet begins, take me to see your laboratory. Didn’t you say last time that the evaluation for buying another nuclear power plant for the boss was complete? I want to see it directly in your laboratory, not have it transmitted remotely.”

Xizhi Jie looked helpless. “Ah, didn’t you notice when you came in? Half the place is practically a condemned building now. The ground around it subsided this afternoon. Perhaps it’s simply too close to the sea. The workers have cordoned it off, and we’ll get the government to assess it. As for the report, I’ll bring the team and the encryption device to your villa tomorrow and show it to you there. Tonight, just relax and enjoy the food and drinks.”

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