Miss Witch doesn't want to be a diva!.

Chapter 534 Conversation in the Snow
At the end of November, the weather turned a little colder.

Tilan was walking on the street in a winter skirt. It was snowing lightly, and the snow was falling all over the world, covering it with a thin layer of white.

Compared to the warmth and relaxation of summer, winter always seems a little restrained and rigid. However, for some people, being wrapped in thick clothes is like wearing a layer of armor, which makes them feel inexplicably at ease.

Arriving in front of a store, Tilan looked at the sign above it, then pushed open the glass door and went in.

All kinds of lively sounds came to my face, including the conversations of the elderly and children, the calls of animals, the flapping of wings and the running of cats and dogs.

This is a pet hospital, and a very popular one at that.

"Ah, it's Zi Jin, are you taking a break today without classes?"

"Miss Zijin is here. It's been a long time since we last met."

"Can you help me look after my little Bai? He seems to be very depressed lately."

As soon as she entered the door, many people surrounded her. The girl greeted them one by one with a smile, then waved to everyone and walked into the staff area at the back.

This is the lounge. A man in a white shirt is leaning on the sofa with a cup of coffee and reading the news.

"Long time no see, Zi Jin, are you here to play today?" He greeted simply.

"It's a rare day off recently, so I came to take a look." The girl found a seat and sat down.

After reading a piece of news, the other person paused the screen, then turned around, first looked at the girl's white winter skirt with fluffy edges, then looked at the calves wrapped in pure white stockings under the winter skirt, and gave a thumbs up in praise.

"Zi Jin looks good in any clothes." Then he stood up.

"Would you like some hot coffee?"

"Well, have a cup." After thinking about it for a while, Tilan did not refuse as she did in the past. She wanted to try what the 'poison coffee' that Lemon Fruit mentioned tasted like.

"Okay, wait a moment." Then he walked out.

Although it was winter, the lounge was very warm. There was a round table in the middle of the circular sofa, and underneath it was a heater that emitted a faint orange light. A white and gray cat was lying there and sleeping soundly, and its regular snoring could be heard in the quiet room.

There is a cage hanging behind the sofa, in which a pale yellow parrot is standing with its eyes closed. On the top of the cabinet on the other side, a green figure can be seen, probably a coiled up snake sleeping.

As if it had sensed that the environment here was good, a large spider with white fur and blue hues appeared next to Tilan. It first circled around the sofa, its black eyes moving around, then jumped upside down on the ceiling, ran a few more laps, and finally landed next to Tilan.

Seeing the big spider raising its leg and wanting to attack, Tilan lightly tapped its head.

"No, you can't see how old you are now. You can't lie on my lap, let alone on my head."

The big spider is now two meters wide even in its non-combat form, and it really can't lie on Tilan's head.

The stopped big spider gritted its teeth, made sounds of grievance and protest, then ran around the circular sofa a few times before jumping onto the ceiling and lying down upside down.

Seeing this look, Tilan shook her head slightly. This guy probably wanted to scare people again.

Not long after, a figure suddenly came and opened the door excitedly. The exaggerated footsteps woke up the cat sleeping next to the heater, but after seeing who came, it turned around and lay down to sleep again.

"Oh, Zi Jin, you're here. I haven't seen you for a long time." Lemon Fruit excitedly ran to Tilan and held her hands.

"I heard from Ocas that your school has very strict management and you haven't had a chance to go out this semester. Otherwise, I would have thought you were missing."

"Well, this is indeed a bit strict." Tilan thought about it and nodded, then changed his mind and asked.

"How has the store been doing in the past six months?"

"It's pretty good, basically there haven't been any problems. The Okas you recommended is really great. Although his style is completely different from Zijin's, he has solved many problems." Then she chattered about the various things that happened in the past six months, including several times when she encountered customers who deliberately made things difficult for her, and then were scared away by Okas.

……

"Let me tell you, the white tiger that Ocas raised is very powerful. Although its size is similar to Emily's black lion, its fighting power is completely on a different level."

"In July, there was a local thug who was causing trouble. He had a particularly vicious white dog that drooled when it walked. He came to our store and asked us to give his dog a bath and a trim. The dog almost bit the clerk, but he just laughed it off and said it wouldn't kill anyone, so he asked us to continue providing services."

"Then we were about to have a fight and I was afraid things were getting out of control, so I called Okas and he came over."

"As a result, the ferocious-looking white dog with bared teeth immediately became timid after seeing Ocas. Moreover, after the white tiger brought by Ocas appeared, it lay down and dared not move. The gangster was very angry when he saw this, but he felt relieved." Lemon Fruit kept talking.

"That dog shouldn't be an ordinary animal." Tilan thought that if it was a low-sequence extraordinary animal, it would be easy to control it with the strength of the store staff.

"Although I don't like it, that dog does have the strength of a Sequence 6. According to the thug himself, he spent tens of millions of Federation coins on it."

“No wonder.” If it was a Sequence 5, the store’s permanent guard animals could have suppressed it, and it wouldn’t be so passive.

But having said that, there are really a lot of rich people in the Central Star Region. For example, the white dog that Lemon Fruit mentioned should not have much combat power. Sequence 6 is purely a showpiece that relies on resources. It is probably no match for some carefully cultivated Sequence 5 animals. But even so, people are still willing to spend money.

I'm afraid he is also a kid from a wealthy family, not a simple hooligan as Lemon said.

While the two were talking, Wu Suo, wearing a white shirt, came back with two cups of hot coffee in his hands.

"The second young lady is here too. Would you like to have something to drink?" He put down his coffee.

"No, just drink it yourself." Lemon Fruit waved her hand, then looked at Tilan curiously as she took the coffee.

I sniffed it gently, then took a small sip. The slightly bitter taste of the coffee spread out, then quickly dissipated, and a light sweet aftertaste appeared, which was full of layers.

"Mr. Wu Suo's coffee is really good." Tilan commented.

"I'll tell you, Second Miss. You see, Zi Jin thinks that my coffee-making skills are pretty good." Wu Suo was quite satisfied. He continued to sit on the sofa and clicked on the news broadcast on the projection screen.

[Today, the exchange team from Feiyu Star Region officially arrived. Many of them are students from Feiyu Star Region University, and also include a special guest, Miss Shela Lanke, the Rhythm of the Star Ring...]
"The Winter Festival is about to begin. The exchange team that comes this time will probably compete with several prestigious schools in Academy City." Lemon Fruit said the news conveyed.

"Last winter didn't seem so lively," Tilan recalled.

"Yes, college is different from high school. The winter competition is no longer a regional competition, but an exchange competition between some colleges and universities. It is usually held every two years."

"Shela Lanco is about the same age as Eluklu and the others, only two years older. This time they are here, I guess the two of them will have to fight each other as the finale."

"By the way, Zi Jin is going to participate in the inter-university exchange competition? I heard that powerful universities will send their top students to participate to show the strength of their schools. This is also the origin of the university rankings."

"As for me, I don't seem to have received any notice." Tilan thought about it. She had never heard of any news about this. She estimated that the singer would not be involved in such competitions between colleges.

After that, they chatted for a while, and then Tilan stood up and prepared to walk around the store to see what everyone was doing. "I'm coming down." Before leaving, Tilan waved at the ceiling, and then the two people in the room saw the big spider hanging upside down from it.

"what--"

Lemon Fruit was startled on the spot, and then he reacted. Although Wu Suo was surprised, he was later amused by Lemon Fruit's scream.

Following behind Tilan, the big spider moved around nimbly, looking around. Fortunately, there were not many people in the staff area at this time, and only some animals in cages were wary of the sudden appearance of the big spider.

Coming all the way to the dormitory area at the back, Tilan saw some familiar faces, such as the store manager's lazy big tiger and several long-term foster animals. Finally, when she came to the attic, she found that the familiar black lion was gone.

Did he leave? Tilan thought about it, then went downstairs and came to the free-range courtyard at the back. Finally, she saw the familiar figure on the grass.

"Roar——" While growling, the black lion shook its mane to shake off the snowflakes on it. Then the black lion walked towards Tilan with light steps across the snowy grass.

"Did you see an old friend?" The woman who was also admiring the scenery in the snow turned around. She was wearing dark sunglasses and even in winter, she was only wearing a thin coat.

Watching the black lion approaching, Tilan squatted down, reached into its thick mane and tickled it, then watched the guy lie down with his eyes narrowed, his limbs stretched out and slightly paddling in the air.

At the same time, the woman in sunglasses on the snow also came over.

"Hi, how are you? Seeing how familiar you are with the 'Black Prince', I guess you must be Zi Jin." She took off her sunglasses, revealing her lively brown eyes.

"It's me. Are you Miss Emily?" Tilan remembered that the owner of the 'Black Prince' was Emily.

"Yes, it seems that Little Lemon has told you a lot about me." She also squatted down, but patted the lion's buttocks to make it stand up.

"Let's go sit over there for a while." Although the snow was not heavy, it was indeed inconvenient to talk while standing in the snow.

Two people and a lion walked side by side in the snow. The big spider that followed Tilan not long ago now changed the color of its fur, and its body became virtual. It easily hid itself in the snow and ran around happily.

Tilan was very confident about it. It didn't matter if it didn't follow her now. She could easily call it over if needed.

Just let it play for a while. After all, it’s boring to stay at home with you every day, and it’s rare for it to go out for some fresh air.

They came to the observation deck next to the courtyard and sat down. The black lion also lay beside them, occasionally opening its mouth, as if yawning or relaxing.

"Zi Jin graduated from the Trainer Academy, right?" Emily said, touching the lion beside her.

"Yes."

"That's amazing. The customers and everyone in the store say you're very reliable and awesome."

"Thank you."

"I'm usually very busy with work and don't have much energy to take care of 'Black Prince'. I usually leave him here and only come to visit him occasionally." Emily talked about her life.

"Sometimes I feel sorry for it, but sometimes I feel that I should focus on my career instead of taking care of animals. Humans are really contradictory creatures."

"Maybe everyone has a soft spot in their heart." Tilan responded simply.

"Well, but slowly, I found that this is not bad. I come to see it occasionally and watch it grow up healthily. I feel inexplicably relaxed and satisfied. If I have to let it stay by my side, it will probably be trapped in a steel cage and not free at all."

Apart from the 'Black Prince', the two chatted for a while about the various animals in the store.

"...I feel like Zi Jin is pretty amazing. At least when I was in college, I wasn't as good as you. I was always overwhelmed by various projects."

"After graduation, would you like to try our company?"

"The company Emily works for is the giant enterprise 'Dakshi Matrix', right?" Tilan remembered what Lemon Fruit said a long time ago.

"Yes, that's it. A special company that focuses on generating high-level AI," Emily replied.

"You can understand that the generation of high-level intelligent AI is divided into two parts, one is the hardware body, and the other is the neural network architecture as software. We are a company that focuses on the latter."

Hearing this, Tilan became a little curious.

"What has the current state of the art AI been like? I've heard people say that if restrictions are lifted and AI is allowed to simulate humans, almost no one will be able to tell the difference."

"Well, because of the confidentiality clause, I can't tell you directly. I can only say that certain bans are indeed necessary." Emily smiled.

"However, you should not overestimate AI. For it, everything is the result of massive data calculation and selection, which does not mean that it has emotions."

"It just knows that this answer or this response is in line with the needs and desires of humans in the database, and that this will get the highest score. Or, in other words, you set a certain emotional model for it in advance, and it will respond according to this model."

"Unfortunately, for most people, they cannot distinguish between AI and real people. In fact, AI's personality is more abundant and richer than that of real people because it has a more powerful database support."

"Do you know why the Federation prohibits this kind of function?" Emily suddenly spoke with interest.

"do not know."

"Because if it is relaxed, society's perception will change dramatically. The previously rare 'love' will become common and devalued. Then, even when faced with sincere emotions, people will no longer believe in and cherish them."

"In this way, the foundations of many works of art, literature, and even film and television will no longer exist, and humans themselves will slowly fall into the cold world of data and become part of the machine."

"Machines will only choose the best, most efficient, most direct path to the point... Deliberate mistakes and detours are incomprehensible to them."

"Does it look familiar? This is the choice of the Mechanical Council back then. The entire civilization is like a highly efficient machine."

"It's a pity that this kind of civilization didn't last until the end."

"Things like emotions are not sacred at all. They can be imitated and deceived. But it is not useless. They give humans a diverse motivation."

"For the entire civilization, this diverse emotional power drives humans to explore in all directions, thereby truly expanding the vitality of civilization, bringing about an ecological environment like a star, bringing about a myriad of bizarre biological forms, and also bringing about a flourishing life adaptability."

"For example, machines don't need to wear socks, but humans do. Not only do people wear socks, they also choose socks of different materials, densities, and colors according to their preferences. In the process of exploring, making, and using these socks, humans have discovered all kinds of new and interesting knowledge, or ignited new inspirations and expanded new fields."

"In this way, new discoveries and new knowledge in countless fields will always produce some sparks and bring new progress. The end of the Mechanical Council is that the efficiency they pursue has greatly reduced the area of ​​the cognitive world, like a long and narrow straight line. A civilization full of various emotions, like a radioactive pattern, will be exposed to more things."

"But humans are like children who never grow up. They never remember their lessons and are always trapped in a cycle of making mistakes, suffering, recovering, and making mistakes again. In this respect, they are not as smart as machines." After saying this, she touched the black lion lying beside her.

"I admire the entire civilization, but I don't like people in reality. Most of them are not worth getting along with. They are far less innocent and cute than animals."

(End of this chapter)