Abyss Solo

Chapter 61: 040 A Pirate’s Wonderful Retirement Life

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Kolev never thought his life could be so easygoing.

Oh, right, he was now known as “Marquis Hutton,” a moderately famous wealthy man in the Cas Federation, contemplating how to invest in some idealistic young people and develop new industries that would allow him to count money even after retirement.

The first ray of morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting onto Kolev’s old face, signaling his well-rested brain to awaken.

Opening his eyes, he was greeted by a ceiling covered with a starry sky nautical-themed oil painting.

In the corner, two maid robots left their charging stations.

They had fair, delicate skin, lively bright eyes, and limbs as dexterous as humans. The only difference was the metallic silver alloy knobs mandated by law on their knees and elbows, distinguishing highly realistic robots from humans.

Though these always excited some mechanics enthusiasts even more.

Aside from the four alloy knobs, everything about them was like a real person. Even when their soft little hands made contact with their single male owner, they would opportunistically initiate a shy program and then suggestively glance at the owner.

These were hidden programs within high-end maid robots.

The manufacturers set these programs mainly to make single men spend money upgrading them into higher-end, fully adaptable companion robots.

And once the owner began upgrading, these companion robots would continuously suggest they could have larger, softer breasts, a slimmer, more elastic waist, gradually emptying the owner’s wallet.

They even had competitive programs, jealousy programs, emotional index evaluation programs, demanding owners provide constant component upgrades, replacing better True Son’s Brains, softer, younger skin… and so on.

It was a bottomless pit.

The wise Kolev was not one to be fooled.

Kolev stretched lazily and stood up, spreading his arms. The two maid robots busily helped their master complete his grooming and clothing change.

Subsequently, Kolev walked barefoot on the soft leather carpet, left the bedroom of over a hundred square meters filled with various industrial decorations, and admired the nearly identical self-portraits along the corridor.

The cleaning robot bowed its head in greeting.

Not far away, the butler robot held a networking terminal, ready to report on the estate.

Kolev leisurely strolled to the elevator, ascending to the third-floor gym area of the villa. Under the service of the maid robot, he removed his shirt, lay on the microelectronic massage chair, let the magnetic fields and currents activate his muscle fibers, and was then transported by the chair’s conveyor belt to a warm swimming pool, floating freely with the music into the comprehensive detection instrument.

By the time Kolev stretched lazily and sat up, he had already left the semi-solid swimming pool, taken the soft coat from the maid’s hands, and sat into the antigravity sofa that could freely move within the castle’s interior, basking in the warm light of the Constant Star while examining his health report.

“This is the life,” Kolev murmured, lighting a cigar and beginning to puff out smoke.

“It’s just a bit boring.”

“My esteemed master,” the butler’s metal-tinged baritone sounded beside him, “there are a few young people with excellent ideas awaiting your audience.”

“Is there a message in my third mailbox?”

“No, master.”

“Oh, alright, it seems my daughter still doesn’t want to come over,” Kolev shrugged, placing his legs on the coffee table. “Let them in, they’re here to grab money from me, no need to be too polite to them.”

“You really are a great philanthropist,” the butler said cheerfully.

Kolev cursed, “Get lost! I’m an investor! I want to be a ruthless capitalist!”

“Yes, master, you are a great ruthless capitalist!” The butler proclaimed enthusiastically.

“That sounds much better.”

Kolev snapped his fingers, and the butler immediately bent forward, using his alloy hand to catch the cigar butt from Kolev’s hand.

“How long have I had you guys?” Kolev asked.

“We have been working here for you for seven months.”

“Seven months,” Kolev murmured, “I’ve been apart from that scoundrel for eight months now. Oh, the time for an elder indeed passes quickly.”

The butler concurred, “Yes, master, time indeed passes quickly… the guests have arrived, master.”

Kolev nodded, suppressing the thoughts in his heart as he covered the spherical button with his hand, and the sofa spun around.

A few young men and women stood nervously in the spacious room. Upon seeing Kolev, they greeted him somewhat out of sync.

“Hello, Mr. Haton.”

“Hello,” Kolev raised an eyebrow with a smile, glancing at the young girl with glasses and cute freckles before focusing on their leader.

It was a tall, lean young man, his eyes ablaze with ambition.

Kolev took a few more looks at this young man, thinking, at first sight, that he resembled that guy a bit, which generated a bit more goodwill in Kolev toward him.

“Start, you have five minutes,” Kolev smiled, “whether you can cheat five hundred thousand Cas coins in angel investment away from me depends on your eloquence.”

The young people became more nervous.

The leader frowned, “Respected Mr. Haton, we are not here to cheat money, we have brought a product that our team has spent three years developing, it is definitely a groundbreaking product capable of causing a massive wave in the field of companion robots!”

Kolev leisurely picked up the tepid tea next to him and began to sip.

Beside him, the butler, wearing a slick tailcoat, tapped his chest, revealing a green countdown on his chest.

“Alright! Hurry up!”

The leading young man turned his head, urging his companions. They quickly divided tasks, taking a few instruments out of their backpacks, tinkering for half a minute, and then setting up a projection screen to open a graphic presentation interface.

“Our product philosophy is to identify a niche market in the companion robot sector, seize the market’s shortcomings, diligently cultivate and explore it! Do what no other manufacturer has done! That is opportunity!

“Based on this, we now solemnly promote to you, the product we have completed under circuit construction and simulative experiment Phase III.

“Son Robots!”

Pfft!

Kolev turned his head and spewed a mouthful of hot tea, a maid promptly stepped forward, gently wiped the corner of Kolev’s mouth, and winked at Kolev.

“What the heck?” Kolev frowned tightly, “Son Robots?”

“Yes, Sir!”

The leading young man adjusted his glasses, breathing a little more heavily.

“Nowadays, the problem of aging is still a serious issue faced by all nations in the Galaxy, and only the Sherman Empire has compulsory birthing laws. Countries practice the public upbringing of test-tube babies, which undoubtedly adds enormous pressure on elderly care across society.

“Who will fulfill the emotional needs of lonely old people?

“The answer is our product—Son Robots!”

Kolev’s eyes were a little vacant.

The leading young man became even more fervent, eager to shove the speech in his head directly into the angel investor’s mind.

“Our product has three main features, which are also the three major profit points.

“First, age upgrade.

“In our planning, these robots are divided into five stages: infant, childhood, adolescence, youth, and middle age. A customer can directly purchase a complete package to enjoy the product experience of caring for this robot from a baby.

“Alternatively, customers can begin purchasing from the infant stage but must buy the childhood service after several years.

“Of course, at this stage, our robots cannot directly grow, but we can develop these five specifications of robots, recycling is absolutely not an issue, plus we can initially produce only infant-stage robots, followed by childhood, adolescence, then launch exchange activities, infant robots only need a little extra money to be exchanged for childhood robots—this guarantees our secondary profit!

“Secondly, pocket money system.

“We believe robots are your son, and we stand united with the product. Our customer service and maintenance personnel can also be your adoptive child…”

“Hey! Hey!”

Kolev interrupted the other party’s babbling presentation, frowning, “Can I ask a question?”

“Certainly,” the leading young man swallowed nervously.

“Do you know about the institution of welfare homes?”

“Yes, Sir, I do.”

Kolev puzzlingly asked, “If it’s to satisfy the emotions of caring and companionship, why would I not adopt a child?”

The young man earnestly responded, “It’s different, Sir; young people grow up and leave the elderly’s side.”

“Then how do you think this differs from them?” Kolev pointed at the maid robots.

“You haven’t instilled fatherly love in her, Sir.”

“Then how can I instill fatherly love in your product?”

“That…”

“Send them out,” Kolev waved his hand in disappointment, “please thoroughly study the ethics codes of various places first, then determine the direction you want to develop in! This thing won’t make it to the market, believe me.”

“Mr. Haton!”

A few robust and burly mechanical guards charged in, covering the mouths of these young people, directly dragging them out of the meeting room.

Kolev watched these young people being kicked out of his estate, speechless: “Today’s young people don’t even know how to cheat an old man’s money.”

“I actually think their idea is pretty good, I might need such a son,” the robot butler chuckled, “Master, have you been swindled out of money before?”

“Of course,” Kolev sighed softly, “it was also by a young man, in a few words, he swindled away assets worth fifteen million from me, and continued to cause me nearly hundreds of millions in losses.”

“Wow, that’s a big con artist! You should have called the police!”

“Report to the police?” Kolev smiled bitterly, “I don’t even know where he went.”

The robot butler opened his mouth: “Mas…”

He, along with the maid robot nearby, suddenly lost the light in their eyes, lowering their heads as the ring behind their necks began to gently blink—this was the sign of being on standby.

Kolev, however, fell into memories, mumbling:

“In a few words, he ruined my billion-worth of assets.

“Even when my daughter heard the news about him being in trouble, she shed tears out of sorrow for him, he nearly won my daughter’s heart, oh, he…what’s wrong with you?”

Kolev looked up at his butler and maid robot.

He suddenly became alert, stretching his hand into the gap behind the sofa, feeling out a gun.

In the manor, several returning guard-type robots similarly halted in their tracks, lowering their heads, while two gardener robots were in the same situation. Several patrolling mechanical dogs simultaneously entered standby mode.

The lights of the meeting room were flickering lightly.

Kolev’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Was he being invaded?

Was it revenge from those young people?

Haha, they picked the wrong guy!

“Hmm hum humm~”

A man’s humming voice echoed in the hallway.

Kolev agilely jumped up, gripping the laser pistol as he charged toward the meeting room door, holding his breath, his throat bobbing up and down, calculating the distance between him and the hummer.

Like Hanton taught him, silently counting.

Three, two…one!

Kolev leaped out like an old leopard, disengaging the safety latch of the laser gun in his hand, yelling toward the left: “Don’t move! Haha! Got…uh.”

No one was there.

Click.

A cold metal tube pressed against Kolev’s neck.

“Oh! Don’t shoot! Oh!”

Kolev instantly raised both his hands, “I swear, I was somewhat impolite just now, I shouldn’t have rejected your idea, young people’s ambitions are always a good thing, I can invest in you.”

The person behind him chuckled, “Invest in that Son Robot?”

That voice?

Kolev froze for a moment, then his whole body began to tremble slightly.

That familiar, damn, young man’s voice!

Hanton!

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