104: Chapter 104 It's not a machine, it's family.

The video didn't end after Doraemon fell to the ground.

The camera cut, switching from a landscape screen to a portrait screen, appearing to be footage captured on a passerby's phone.

The footage was shaky, filled with the noise and chaos of the scene.

Immediately after, a woman's scream pierced everyone's eardrums.

"Thank goodness, Yueyue, you're alright!"

In the frame, a young girl rushed toward the charred Robot, only to be held back by firefighters. She fell to her knees, crying her heart out.

The video stopped abruptly there.

But the shock it left behind was like a depth charge, exploding violently in the hearts of every viewer.

Countless people finished watching the video and found themselves speechless for a long time.

The accounts that had been frantically clamoring and hurling abuse in the comments section earlier were instantly silenced.

An indescribable emotion spread wildly across the internet.

Doubt.

Shock.

And a hint of... guilt.

On the trending searches list, the wind of public opinion silently shifted.

The hashtag [#Guanghui Technology Clarification Video#] claimed the top spot with an unrivaled momentum.

Following closely behind were two new trending searches carrying strong emotional undertones.

[#What exactly happened to Doraemon?#]

[#Is Doraemon still alive?#]

Countless netizens flooded Guanghui Technology's official account. The comments section was no longer filled with abuse, but with anxious inquiries.

"So, the so-called self-destruction was actually a malfunction caused by the body overheating after saving someone?"

"My god... I just cursed at it... I'm a fucking beast!"

"My defenses are completely shattered. A Robot rushed into a fire to save someone, yet I was sitting at home typing on my keyboard, calling it a murderer..."

"Please! Tell me how it is! Guanghui Technology, say something!"

Right at that moment, some sharp-eyed netizens followed the clues from the crying girl's clothing and voice in the video to find a Douyin account.

The account name was simple: [Yutong and Her Four Fur Babies].

When they clicked on it, everyone was stunned.

From late last night to early this morning, this content creator had posted fifteen videos in a row like crazy.

In every single video, she was facing the camera, crying as she explained the truth of the matter.

In the footage, the girl's eyes were already swollen red from crying, her voice was hoarse, and her face still bore the soot left from escaping the fire.

Her name was Song Yutong, an ordinary employee at a power company.

Through her intermittent, tearful narration, a more complete and heart-wrenching truth was pieced together.

As it turned out, the fire had started in her home.

She was kind-hearted and had adopted ten stray cats.

Before leaving for work yesterday, fearing the cats would freeze, she had specially turned on a small space heater.

No one could have expected that this small act of kindness would lead to a raging fire.

And her neighbor was that little girl named Yueyue.

"When I came home from work and saw black smoke pouring out of our building, my legs went weak..."

Song Yutong said, crying in the video.

"My mind went completely blank. I could only think of my cats, and... and the neighbor's sick little girl, Yueyue..."

"The reason I knew she was sick was because I ran into her parents yesterday and chatted with them for a bit."

"I knelt on the ground and begged the firefighters, begging them to save Yueyue quickly. She's only eight years old, and she still has a cold!"

In the background audio of the video, the noisy shouts from the scene, the piercing sirens of fire engines, and the terrified screams of the surrounding crowd could be heard.

Right after, in another video further down, a man was trying to rush into the fire like crazy, held back tightly by several firefighters.

"That's Yueyue's father. He had also just returned from work. I didn't shoot this video." This time, Song Yutong's voice was choked with emotion; it was obvious she had dubbed this audio over the video later.

"Don't hold me back! Let me in! Yueyue is still inside!!"

In the footage, the hysterical roars of Yueyue's father pierced through the screen.

His eyes were bloodshot, his face covered in tears, and he was desperately trying to charge into the fire, with two firefighters barely able to hold him down.

"The fire is too big! Going in now is suicide!" the firefighters tried their best to reason with him.

"Let me go—!"

The man knelt in despair on the scalding concrete, slamming his forehead heavily against the ground, letting out a beast-like wail.

The hearts of the audience in front of their screens instantly tightened.

That bone-deep sense of helplessness spread along the internet cables to everyone's nerve endings.

After all, even the battle-hardened firefighters had solemn expressions. They all knew that under such a fierce fire, the hope of a sick child surviving was... minuscule.

They could only do their best to spray water, hoping for a sliver of a miracle.

Just when everyone thought the tragedy was a foregone conclusion.

A figure appeared.

Out of the rolling thick smoke and raging flames, a short, pitch-black figure walked out, step by step.

The scene instantly fell silent for a second.

"What is that?"

"A monster?"

Everyone was frightened by this eerie sight, and some firefighters even instinctively raised their water hoses, wanting to use them as weapons.

None of the people present had ever seen a "creature" that could walk out of a fire measuring hundreds of degrees.

Not until that figure walked closer.

Not until it carefully placed a soaked quilt from its arms onto the ground.

A faint but clear mechanical voice resounded in the dead silent air.

"Quick... save... Yueyue..."

The quilt was pulled back by a doctor who had gotten off the ambulance, revealing the little girl inside, safe and sound, merely fast asleep.

At that moment, Yueyue's father stopped crying. He stared blankly at his daughter, then at the pitch-black figure, and then burst into loud wails.

This time, they were tears of joy.

Thunderous cheers and applause erupted at the scene.

The firefighters sprayed the figure with cooling water hoses, washing away the charred surface to reveal that familiar shade of blue.

It was Doraemon!

Everyone watching the video recognized it!

It was the very "self-destructing Robot" that had been cursed to high heaven online!

It had saved a child!

It had snatched a vibrant life back from a hellish fire!

Song Yutong in the video, seeing that Doraemon was still standing, seemed to grab onto her last saving straw, instinctively shouting at it, "Can you... save my little cats?"

This was a completely irrational plea for help.

No one would ask a machine that was already half-scrapped to save cats.

It had already pushed itself to the limit.

It was just a machine.

However.

That Blue Fatty, already faltering with the constant "bzz-bzz" sound of electrical currents coming from inside its body, paused on the spot for a few seconds.

It actually turned around, picked up the quilt that had been soaked by the firefighters once again, and draped it over itself.

Then, under the shocked and appalled gazes of everyone present.

Without any hesitation.

It turned around and, once again, strode into that sea of fire.

Without looking back.

"Don't go back in! You'll explode!"

Someone in the crowd of onlookers shouted.

But it couldn't hear.

Or rather, in its programming, there was no such line of code as fear.

Two minutes later.

It came out again.

This time, it crawled out, practically using both its hands and feet to drag a quilt.

Inside the quilt were three shivering little cats.

Its lower body was completely paralyzed, and it could only drag itself along the ground with its arms, leaving a long, black trail of engine oil behind it.

It pushed the cats in front of Song Yutong.

The red light in its electronic eyes began to flash frantically.

[Warning: Core temperature has exceeded critical threshold]

[Warning: Battery pack is about to undergo thermal runaway]

At this time, Yueyue, who had just woken up, broke free from her father and came running over, stumbling.

The little girl looked at the companion that used to play with her and tell her stories, but had now turned into a pile of scrap metal.

"Doraemon!!"

She cried out, reaching her hands.

As if sensing its little owner's voice, the charred lump of iron struggled to raise its head, using its camera to take one last look at its little owner.

On its cracked eye display screen, a few flickers struggled to appear.

The original "X"-shaped failure eyes slowly turned into a pair of curved, smiling eyes.

"^ _ ^"

This was the last expression it left to the world.

"Yueyue... don't... be... afraid..."

"I... will... protect..."

Boom—!!!

A muffled bang.

The battery pack was completely overloaded.

A burst of fire exploded within its chest cavity, but this was not an offensive explosion; rather, it was a sympathetic detonation caused by the burning of internal components.

It collapsed heavily onto the ground.

That pair of curved, smiling eyes went completely dark.

Turning into a dead, silent black screen.

The firefighters kept spraying Doraemon with their water hoses, but with a lithium battery fire, how could water put it out?

The video ended.

...