Offside game

For the next few days, Su Yi arrived at school and left on time. This brought some comfort to his homeroom teacher, but more than anything, it was a pity. Everyone knew that high school courses were not like elementary and middle school. A year without textbooks meant that even the smartest student would struggle to achieve high scores in less than four months. Forget about top universities; even the scores for ordinary universities would be difficult to reach. After all, the college entrance examination is often described as a battle where thousands of soldiers cross a single-plank bridge. Many students work hard for three years and still struggle to succeed, let alone achieve this goal with the remaining time.

A year of unfamiliarity, coupled with Su Yi's deliberate aloofness, made him quite estranged from his classmates. During this time, he rarely spoke at school, spending his free time reading books, and his contact with other classmates was almost non-existent.

Clearly, Su Yi's start was difficult; he needed to relearn much, which was extremely strenuous. An Jing privately approached him, offering to tutor him. However, he flatly refused. To be honest, although he was very determined and persevering, he wasn't entirely sure of his own abilities. This was the most crucial time, and he didn't want to affect An Jing's studies because he knew her lifelong dream was to get into Peking University. Looking at the girl who initially feigned indifference towards him, still harboring resentment, but later couldn't help but secretly watch him, Su Yi couldn't help but feel something. Even with his hardened heart, the hard shell within him couldn't withstand it.

Under these circumstances, a week passed in the blink of an eye.

Every day, Su Yi would check on the flowerpot in the yard. He had carefully tended to it since planting the seed. Two days later, a tiny green sprout emerged from the pot. Su Yi noticed a strange feeling welling up inside him each time he watered it or looked at it. This feeling was different from when he grew other flowers; those were more about anticipation. This feeling seemed much stronger, almost like a visceral connection. He didn't know why he felt this way, but seeing that delicate little sprout emerge, he seemed to clearly sense the plant's joy. Therefore, he cared even more about the plant in the pot, perhaps carrying a meaning he himself wasn't aware of. After all, the girl who gave him the seed, whether in the past or present, held a special place in his heart.

Now, Su Yi sat in the yard again, observing it. This had become a recent habit of his; whenever he felt overwhelmed by studying, he would sit quietly by the flowerpot for a while. In the warm afternoon sunlight, he could see that the little sprout had grown quite a bit. The plant's current appearance was something Su Yi had never seen before; it resembled a newly formed mushroom. It looked like an egg placed on the soil, except its emerald green color was different. If you looked closer, you could even see a faint halo of light clinging to its surface—truly a strange plant.

He also realized that his mind had been somewhat muddled lately from relearning his lessons, and although he had spoken with An Jing, he had genuinely forgotten to ask her what kind of seed she had given him. But even if he remembered, he probably wouldn't ask, because given the circumstances that day, bringing it up again would only make things awkward for both of them.

While lost in thought, Su Yi was suddenly drawn to a very strange scene before him.

At this moment, you can see that the halo near the egg-shaped plant's surface gradually becomes clearer, until it is almost impossible to look directly at. Then, it seems as if seven-colored light is slowly flowing on the halo, gradually sticking to the plant's surface and merging into it.

"Energy storage complete, the mother nest is beginning initialization."

Suddenly, Su Yi heard a mechanical, synthesized voice speaking. Perhaps it wasn't so much hearing as a strange sensation, as if it were resonating directly in his mind. He looked around, then at the plant, almost thinking it was a hallucination. But then, Su Yi suddenly noticed the egg-shaped object begin to slowly wriggle, as if it were something alive, which seemed extremely eerie. Su Yi was momentarily stunned, staring blankly at the scene before him.

After an unknown period of time, the egg-shaped structure cracked open, and several tentacle-like things emerged from within. They gently shook, gradually calming down and forming a daffodil leaf shape, beneath which was a small sphere. At the same time, the voice sounded in Su Yi's mind again: "Mother nest initialization complete, energy absorption increased by 200%, initial program loading complete, successful connection with intelligent life form's brainwaves."

At this moment, Su Yi was dumbfounded, his mind almost blank. As the voice rang out, his consciousness trembled, as if he had made a subtle connection with some other consciousness.

At that moment, a slightly probing voice appeared in his mind again: "Hello, intelligent being."

Now, Su Yi has regained some of his composure. After all, seeing something in movies or games is one thing, but witnessing this scene, which is often depicted in science fiction movies, with one's own eyes is quite a test of one's willpower. It is remarkable that he was able to remain calm.

"Are you talking to me? What are you? An alien??" Once his composure is broken, Su Yi usually reacts with urgent curiosity and fervor.

"To be specific, this shouldn't be considered speaking; it's just a mental exchange via brainwaves." After the voice appeared in his mind, Su Yi suddenly felt his brain pause for a moment again, and then something was already in his mind.

He instantly understood and finally realized the origin of this creature. It was indeed from outer space, a product of a civilization called the Yuga.

He also discovered something extra in his mind and roughly understood some of the reasons.

The Yuga civilization was a biotechnology-oriented civilization in the universe, but it was unfortunately almost completely wiped out by another mechanically-based civilization in an interstellar war. To preserve their civilization, the surviving Yuga people dispersed their civilization in the form of light storage across several regions of the universe. This beam of light, after traveling for tens of thousands of years, fortunately reached Earth, landing at Su Yi's location. This beam of light was not merely a beam of light; it possessed a faint sense of self-awareness, and thus modified Su Yi's seed in ways that Earth's civilization could not yet comprehend. This is how the plant came to be the way it is today.

Although Su Yi suddenly understood the gist of the matter, he was now thinking about something else: "What did you just do to me? Why are these thoughts suddenly popping into my head?"

"As a seed, I took your DNA and, according to the Yuga Law, successfully linked my brainwaves with those of intelligent beings, thus making you the sole controller of the Mother Nest. After linking my brainwaves, I can connect with the controller's consciousness and directly write data into the controller's memory using brainwaves."

The Mother Nest? The Controller? Su Yi suddenly found himself with a headache. But after experiencing the same sensation earlier, he understood everything. The Mother Nest is an auxiliary device possessed by every Yuga person, similar to a personal computer on Earth, but its functions are far more powerful because it possesses evolutionary capabilities. The Mother Nest before him was only in its most rudimentary plant form, and in this state, its functions were still quite weak. Of course, even this so-called weakness was already powerful enough compared to current Earth civilization. Because the Mother Nest is a product of biotechnology, its intelligence and computing and storage capabilities far surpass those of current large computers on Earth—this is the difference in technological level. The so-called Controller is the one who controls the Mother Nest, possessing absolute control over it. Because serving as an auxiliary to the Controller is the very purpose of the Mother Nest's existence.

"So you're saying I can control you? You have to obey my orders, right?" Su Yi couldn't help but ask for confirmation.

"Correct answer. The mother hive number @#^$$^$* (#! is already linked to your brainwaves. You are my sole controller. The mother hive will be automatically destroyed when the controller dies."

Despite the many unexpected events, Su Yi tried to accept this seemingly bizarre fact. He had, through inexplicable coincidence, acquired a different species, and what seemed to be a rather powerful one called the Mother Nest.

"Then you can call me Master from now on. I'll give you a name now," Su Yi said tentatively.

"Waiting for the owner to confirm the name."

Su Yi was very satisfied with the mother nest's answer, and he gradually got into the zone. Remembering the cartoons he liked to watch when he was a child, Su Yi said, "Then you will be called Kosei from now on."