Reborn as the Darling of the Delta.

Rometheus stepped in front of the captain of the guard and, in his capacity as the superior, gave the order:

"Listen up, I'm giving you the title of captain. Your codename is [Black Hawk]. See this portrait? Starting tomorrow, you'll begin searching for this person. Ideally, you'd find his hideout. Don't lay a hand on him, understand? He can't be injured. As for the rest, eliminate them within your area of ​​responsibility."

After showing Zhang Hao's portrait to Black Hawk, Rometheus left the laboratory without looking back, leaving Ella to handle the rest.

"Zoya, I will show you that the fate of androids will not be destruction, but will be the light of hope for the future."

After finishing his speech, Rometheus turned and went to the research department to continue refining the "Zhang Hao version of Relink brain-computer interface" he had prepared for [Zero].

Chapter 36 A Bowl of Hot Rice

Zhang Hao lay on the soft, large bed specially prepared for him and slept from noon until night. When he opened his eyes again, it was already dark outside.

After standing up and stretching his stiff body, Zhang Hao's stomach started growling.

"Mmm, I slept so well. It's true what they say in novels about the happiness of having a group of female confidantes. Sigh, if they were to do what they did last time, my body might really not be able to handle it! Never mind, let's see if there's anything else to eat."

Looking at his watch, Zhang Hao saw that it was almost 8 o'clock. Thinking about eating some leftovers, he put on his slippers and prepared to go downstairs to find something to eat.

When they got downstairs, they saw Mai Xiaowen and Weilong chatting, Red Wolf playing soccer with Terry, Uluru and Luna discussing something while holding a weapon blueprint they couldn't identify, and Roy talking on the phone with his precious daughter.

Shen Lan, who had just finished washing the dishes in the kitchen, immediately saw Zhang Hao coming out of the door. She waved to him, signaling him to come down, and then turned and went back into the kitchen. When everyone saw Zhang Hao, they quickly got up to greet him.

"Xiao Hao, are you awake? Are you still sleepy? Do you want to come to my room tonight? I'll hold you while you sleep, and you'll definitely have sweet dreams."

Mai Xiaowen raised her eyebrows at Zhang Hao and even whistled at him like a delinquent girl.

"Alright, Xiaowen, you need to be more serious in front of children, you know? Xiaohao, next time if you feel tired, you can always postpone things that aren't urgent. You're still growing, you can't do that, you know?"

Wei Long patted Mai Xiaowen on the head, then turned to Zhang Hao and spoke gently.

"Oh, can't sleep? No big deal. Come on, Xiao Hao, next time you can't sleep, Uncle Uluru has a way to make you fall asleep quickly! Just drink some alcohol, and that'll do. If vodka doesn't work, try drinking some of that Chinese liquor, right? Drink a lot, and you'll definitely fall asleep. I once drank too much and slept for a whole day and night. My sleep quality was amazing."

Uluru spoke to Zhang Hao with an air of experience, but as soon as he finished speaking, Shenlan, carrying a plate of heated food, appeared behind him without his noticing. Shenlan's previously cheerful face immediately darkened.

So you think you know a lot about this?

"Just kidding, I've been drinking for so many years, I know it all!"

"Luna, I think Uluru's had too much to drink. Why don't you go and spar with him to sober him up!"

Upon hearing this, Uluru looked back in terror, only to see Deep Blue "gently" gazing at him. Luna, who was already itching for a fight, grabbed Uluru by the collar and dragged him outside. When they reached Zhang Hao, she didn't forget to ruffle his hair a couple of times.

"Come on, Xiao Hao, I've saved your food. Eat it while it's hot. Next time you stay up all night, remember to roughly estimate your physical limits. After all, sleep is very precious on the battlefield. Wei Long said you're still young, which is true, but war never shows mercy to you because of your age. I was planning to come and let Roy see where your mental limits are. It seems like this will be the lesson I'll have to teach you from now on."

Shen Lan looked at the small Zhang Hao in front of him. He did love him quite a bit, but he knew that Zhang Hao's path would not be the same as that of ordinary children. It would be better to train him early and teach him the cruelty of war and the way of survival than to keep protecting him in GTI.

“GTI can’t protect you forever. Our relative safety right now is entirely based on the fact that Asara and Hafk are fighting each other. I know what you’re trying to say. Even if Said is a good person, he doesn’t carry much weight in Asara. The real power has been mostly taken over by Reis and Hafk. What we’re doing now is trying to mediate the conflict between the two sides, but so far it seems to be having little effect.”

Deep Blue stopped Zhang Hao from saying what he was about to say. He didn't want Zhang Hao to trust someone too much. He remembered how Zoya looked after being betrayed by that kid named Rometheus. He hoped that Zhang Hao could survive well on his own.

"Alright, I'm getting old and a bit of a nag. Hurry up and eat. You must be starving after sleeping all day. Just put your food in the sink after you finish eating, and I'll wash it later."

Shen Lan vigorously rubbed Zhang Hao's head before returning to his room. He felt a pang of disappointment thinking about how his student was still delayed in returning to the team because of that incident.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Hao washed the dishes himself, said a few words to the others, and then got up to go to Shen Lan's room.

"Uncle Shenlan, may I come in?"

After receiving permission, Zhang Hao opened the dark blue door and went inside.

This was Zhang Hao's first time in Shen Lan's room. The room was spotless, with Shen Lan's large shield behind the door. The bed was also tidy, and besides a few combat uniforms, there was a dark coat hanging on the clothes rack.

However, what felt somewhat abrupt was that the back of the garment was patched with a piece of fabric printed with rock instruments, which suddenly made the overall style strange. From that piece of fabric, it was clear that this garment had been with Shen Lan for a very long time.

"Hey? Uncle Shenlan, who's the lady standing next to you in this photo?"

Zhang Hao watched as Shen Lan sat in a chair looking at a yellowed photograph. In the photo, Shen Lan was smiling and posing for a picture with a blonde woman. Although Zhang Hao knew that this was Zoya, he thought he had nothing to talk about, so he decided to borrow Zoya for a while.

"Sister? Xiao Hao, next time you see her you might have to call her auntie, hehehe. Of course, she'll probably be happier if you call her sister."

When Shen Lan heard Zhang Hao ask about Zoya, he immediately became interested as well.

"Her name is Zoya Ponchenkova, my student. She is outstanding, both in the medical and scientific research fields. She was also one of the inventors of the Relink brain-computer interface prototype. However, she was targeted by Rometheus, the current controller of the laboratory in the Tower of Babel. We suspect that your appearance is related to him."

“I invited her to GTI many times, but because of the betrayal and the fact that her brother died on the battlefield, she hid at home for a long time and closed herself off. When I went to comfort her, she couldn’t help but cry to me. To be honest, it was the first time she had cried in front of me in so long. She told me that her mentor was shot and killed by Hafk’s soldiers to save her, and that she risked her life to escape with the experimental data. She didn’t cry.”

Deep Blue stroked the photo of Zoya, as if recalling the scene from that time.

"After learning of her brother's death, she only cried for a few days and thought about working hard to prevent the war as much as possible. However, she saw another person with brain-computer interface experimental data, Rometheus, who was standing at Hafk's press conference, introducing his work to everyone, which could restore sight to the blind and restore brain damage to its original state."

"At the time, Zoya naively thought that Rometheus was just changing the way he promoted brain-computer interfaces to bring hope to more people. However, the situation later turned out that more and more people experienced adverse reactions. Meanwhile, the Hafk Group, as if it had been premeditated, began to vigorously promote the special drug they had developed. But the high price was not something that everyone could afford. Many people were tortured to death by the side effects of brain-computer interfaces."

"Zoya was also in complete despair. The things she and her team worked so hard to develop were meant to benefit humanity, but now they had become weapons that took the lives of innocent people. The Hafk Corporation, in pursuit of maximum economic profit, didn't care about the lives of ordinary people at all. After that, Zoya only left me a letter telling me to go on vacation and not to worry. She said she would come back if she figured things out."

After telling Zoya's story, Shenlan sighed deeply and looked at Zhang Hao earnestly, saying:

"So, Xiao Hao, the battlefield is incredibly cruel. You can't trust someone too much. Do you really know the real person? We fight for peace, but the price of peace is far greater than the price of war."

"I understand, Uncle Shenlan. I've remembered what you said. I didn't expect Aunt Zoya's situation to be so complicated. Uncle Shenlan, don't be sad. Aunt Zoya will definitely pull through. You should get some rest. I've finished washing the dishes. Goodnight!"

Seeing the little guy still comforting himself, Shenlan couldn't help but smile and pat Zhang Hao's head again.

"Okay, Xiao Hao is so sensible. I'm fine, don't worry, I'll protect you."

Chapter 37 The First Patrol

When evening came, Zhang Hao returned to his room. After washing up and lying in bed, he found that he had slept for too long and was no longer sleepy at all.

"9527, please help me! Is there anything good that can help me fall asleep quickly?"

As everyone knows, 9527 usually only appears because Zhang Hao is bored and wants to tease him a bit.

9527: Get lost! Why are you looking for me if you can't sleep? Go find your sister Luna and sister Xiaowen.

"Hmph! This system doesn't offer that kind of service. You can use your points to exchange for a bottle of special sleeping pills. After taking them, you'll sleep all day."

"Ah? Please, 9527, my best 9527, can you really bear to watch your poor host suffer from insomnia all night? Help me!"

Looking at the shameless Zhang Hao, 9527 turned his head to the side.

"Sigh, with such a handsome face, how can someone be so shameless? Get up, get up, spend 20 points, I'll force you to sleep."

"9~5~2~7~"

"10 points!"

"9..."

"5 points, or you can continue to suffer from insomnia!"

Since he figured he probably couldn't get any more money out of him, Zhang Hao nodded obediently and winked at 9527.

9527: (╬▔ Pan▔)╯

"Hey 9527, how many points do I have now? Can I upgrade you?"

"After upgrading to level 3, I have 40 points remaining. Do you want to upgrade?"

"Huh, I remember last time it took 3000 points to upgrade, how come it only took a little over 2000 this time? Could it be... Waaah, 9527, you're so good to me, I'm sorry, I used to neglect you often, I won't do that again!"

9527 coughed twice, feeling a little guilty.

"Ahem, this is just a perk I'm giving you because I'm in a good mood. I won't be giving you any discounts next time."

"Okay, okay, my 9527 is the best for me."

9527: ????

"Host, go to sleep. When you wake up the next day, the system will begin updating. This update will take three days. Please take good care of your safety."

After 9527 finished speaking, Zhang Hao felt a sudden wave of sleepiness wash over him, and then he closed his heavy eyelids and fell asleep.

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

"Hmm! I slept well. I didn't expect 9527 to have this function. If I had this skill in my dorm in my previous life, I probably wouldn't have dark circles under my eyes!"

After a quick wash, Zhang Hao went downstairs for breakfast. At the dining table, he saw Wei Long and Mai Xiaowen getting ready to go on patrol.

Good morning, Xiao Hao. How did you sleep last night?

While putting the bomb in his pocket, Wei Long asked Zhang Hao a question.

"Sleeping soundly, are you going on patrol?"

"Yes, we also have a shift system for patrols. Today it's my and Xiaowen's turn."

After packing his things, Wei Long patted Zhang Hao on the head and then prepared to patrol the vicinity of Chang Gong Valley with Mai Xiaowen.

"Can I come with you guys, Brother Weilong~?"

"No way, Xiao Hao, don't think we're going on patrol for fun. It's risky. If the enemy finds us, you saw what I looked like before."

Upon hearing that Zhang Hao also wanted to go on patrol, Wei Long immediately and righteously refused. If the patrol went smoothly, that would be fine, but if they encountered a battle during the patrol and Xiao Hao got injured, or if the situation became even worse...

The more Wei Long thought about it, the more frightened he became. Although Zhang Hao had made great progress compared to before, the enemy's bullets were no joke.

"Weilong, aren't you ready yet? Let's go and come back as soon as possible."

After waiting at the door for a while, Mai Xiaowen poked her head in and asked, still hoping to finish her patrol early and come back to play with Zhang Hao.

"Sister Xiaowen, can you take me on patrol?"

Upon seeing Mai Xiaowen standing at the door, Zhang Hao quickly shifted his focus and threw himself into Mai Xiaowen's arms, acting coquettishly.

"no!"

Unfortunately, to Zhang Hao's surprise, Mai Xiaowen, who usually doted on him the most, rejected him outright.

"Do you think this is child's play? It's too dangerous. You'd better stay in the Special Operations Unit obediently, understand?"

"Since Xiao Hao wants to go so much, why don't you take him? He'll have to go on patrol sooner or later anyway."

Just as Zhang Hao was about to give up in despair, Shen Lan's voice came from the kitchen.

"But Shenlan, Zhang Hao is still young..."

"He's someone we've all trained. Do you really expect to protect him forever? This time, you'd better pay attention. Take the emergency call device and press the button immediately if there's any danger, understand?"

After Shen Lan finished speaking, Zhang Hao started shouting "Yes, yes, yes" like a lackey, and then looked at the two of them with expectant eyes.

Wei Long/Mai Xiaowen: 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。