“Of course, Master.”

The sound of wheels rolling echoed around as Delena quickly returned to Yushi, her arms full of clothes.

“Here are your clothes, Master. I was going to wash all of them because they were quite dirty.

But Delena had to prioritize master’s health then respect master’s wishes.

Since master didn’t give the command, Delena couldn’t make decisions. So for now, Delena’s main task is to help master get better.”

“Okay, okay.”

Yushi waved his hand in a flurry. “Just go wash them. I need to get dressed.”

Each floor had a small room with washing machines and vending machines. For a small fee, you could let those big machines do your laundry, while you grabbed some food that was pretty much the same as what you’d get anywhere else.

But even with such cheap options, Yushi hesitated to spend money on laundry. He’d rather soak his clothes in water and skip buying detergent altogether.

Delena, clutching a heap of clothes in one arm and pushing a cart with the other, rolled it out to the balcony, grabbing a big red bucket nearby.

The bucket was covered in a layer of gray paint, likely from someone’s careless spray painting in the past.

She placed it under the faucet, filling it with water until it reached about a third of the way up. Then, she dumped the clothes inside.

Then she fell silent.

Looking around, it seemed there was nothing to clean the clothes with except for a bottle of diluted dish soap.

But could dish soap even wash clothes?

Maybe drown in the dirty water slowed her thinking down, after being in a daze, Delena finally grabbed the bottle of dish soap and poured some into the bucket.

After all, there were still plenty of grease stains on those clothes… Surely the soap could wash some of it away, right?

With determination, she began washing the clothes.

Even with a few fingers missing, washing wasn’t too difficult for a robot.

“Swish…”

In the dim bathroom, the harsh white light flickered. The worn walls bore the marks of time, and the showerhead sprayed lukewarm water.

Yushi’s mind was still foggy as he leaned against the wall, his head bowed, letting the warm water wash over him.

He’d meant to get dressed, but as he sat up from the bed, a wave of discomfort washed over him.

After two days of fever, he had been sweating profusely. Even with Delena’s care, his skin felt sticky.

Not caring about appearances was one thing, but feeling this uncomfortable was another.

He wondered if the radio in the living room had been on for the past few days. Since he opened his eyes, he could hear the music playing.

Now was jazz time.

The carefree piano melodies, the almost chaotic saxophone improvisations, and the erratic drumming made the already hazy room feel even more absurd.

Music that felt mindless, a robot that felt mindless, a person that felt mindless, a room that felt mindless…

“Snap!”

The sound of water cut off as Yushi grabbed a large towel nearby and began drying himself.

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The door to the bathroom creaked open, and someone stepped out, breathing heavily, feeling like a lump of cotton as he slumped down onto the chair.

Yushi tore open a bag of new food, stuffing it into his mouth with cold water.

“Phew… alive…”

The New Orleans chicken-flavored patty crumbled in his mouth, mixing with the water as it slid down his throat, finally allowing him to make a sound that resembled a living person.

He leaned over the table, squinting his eyes in relief.

But opening them again, what he saw made his heart race, nearly causing him to faint.

“Engine… Ugh…”

He sighed again, helplessly looking around.

The walls were lined with tools, a retractable lamp curled up in the corner, and a group of parts and chemicals lay further away…

His eyes darted to the balcony, where Delena was still washing clothes.

Despite missing a couple of fingers and having two totally different arms…

the way she washing clothes looked pretty much like a normal guy.

But sure, her technique was a bit clumsy because of the lack of fingers.

Should he sell her or keep her?

Yushi quickly grabbed a touchscreen board, wiped the dust off the screen, and started calculating with a pen.

“Wait a minute… The nano cluster tube already cost me nearly a thousand Worlb. But if I have to pay that old man back, it’ll max out at nine hundred… If I fix Delena…”

He chewed on the pen, glancing at the balcony with a sneaky look in his eyes.

“Sure, it might cost a few thousand more, but if I skimp on materials fixing her, I could sell her for a couple thousand Worlb more in the end, right?

… This month’s finances are tight, but I can sell off some scrap metal from home and tough it out, can’t I?”

Yushi chuckled bitterly, sighed, and tossed the pen aside.

He shoved a few more bites of food into his mouth and stood up, heading toward the balcony.

Outside, the sky had cleared, but the air still felt hazy.

However, that was quite normal; there were just a little more plants in this city than the number of people who had died in a month.

Only big corporations or high-end clubs had decent-sized decorative plants.

Everywhere else, there were just a few scattered weeds and half-dead cacti—nothing bigger seemed to survive.

“Master.”

Delena looked up as Yushi approached, her smile stiff.

He felt a shiver at her unnatural expression.

“Uh… No need to be too cordial.”

Yushi felt embarrassed and waved his hands.

“I’m sorry, Master. Also, could master do Delena a small favor?”

Delena raised her right hand, pointing to the top with her remaining middle finger.

Her other two fingers, the thumb and pinky, were intact, while the joints where the missing fingers had been were sewn up by Yushi to prevent any open wounds.

“Delena want to hang the clothes, but Delena can’t reach the top. Please help Delena.”

“... Alright.”

Yushi chuckled helplessly, taking the twisted clothes from her and hanging them on a rack he’d pulled over, trying to reach the hook on the ceiling.

“Master, hanging them like this is hard to dry.”

Delena continued twisting the clothes, reminding him.

“Why so complex? As long as they get the clothes dry.”

Yushi mumbled, but eventually rearranged the clothes properly to hang them up.

Taking the clothes from Delena’s hands, he accidentally brushed against her fingers.

It was surprising—her fingers were warm, just like a regular person’s.

Aside from the time spent with those old men, he hadn’t had this kind of contact with anyone in a long time.

For some reason, Yushi felt that the robot’s body temperature was even more comforting than a normal person’s.

But he held back the urge to keep touching her, noticing that Delena was starting to look at him with curiosity.

Fortunately, the awkward moment didn’t last long.

Once the clothes were hung, Yushi slumped back down in his chair, staring blankly at the workbench, mindlessly tapping his fingers.

Suddenly, he forgot about the usual tasks he needed to do:

going out for work or competing with the “change bucket” for business.

The “change bucket” was a smart storage box, where you could quickly send small items around the city or sell unwanted junk.

Why was it called a spare change bucket? Because anything you tried to sell to it would be bought back at a price significantly lower than the market rate, leaving you with just a few Worlb like small changes.

Trying to make a living by selling junk to it was a bit of a stretch.

But sometimes, tossing a bunch of junk its way for a bit of cash to buy a warm meal didn’t feel like a total loss.

Yushi would negotiate with anyone wanting to sell their scrap metal machines, sweetening the deal with a bit of extra cash or favors to buy their stuff, then take it home to fix it up before selling it again.

If he came across something that was beyond repair, he’d strip it down for usable parts, tossing the rest back into the change bucket.

He used to be full of passion, and even the pressure wouldn’t dampen his fervor.

But after just recovering from a serious illness, staring at the harsh reality of survival felt overwhelming…

Even the top-tier managers at his company, ruthless as they were, would probably crack under the strain of physical and mental torment.

“Master still seem tired.”

The sound of wheels approached Yushi as Delena slowly made her way over.

This time, to avoid her hands touching the ground, she gripped a stick with both hands, pushing it down to propel herself and the cart forward.

“Ugh… What can I do? That thing can’t be fixed, and tomorrow I’ll have to take it to that old man’s place, apologize in person, and pay him back, then starve for days!”

Yushi scoffed, taking another bite of the still unfinished bag of food.

“Is master talking about the Memphis-made waste-to-energy engine on the table? Delena wanted to fix it, but it seems we don’t have the right tools at home.”

But Delena’s calm voice made him abruptly stand up.