Chapter 221 – Andre
“Indeed, today felt slower than an entire year when I was a kid,” Xiao Di sighed as well.
The other four people in the patrol car, all second-generation pioneers, shared the sentiment.
Today was only their first day out of the training base.
It felt like sudden death was just a matter of time.
And they had already lost so many comrades.
By the time the third-generation pioneers graduated, when the commander announced the survival rate of the second generation, it would likely be as pitifully low as the first generation’s.
…
Back in the Executive Department meeting room, everyone collapsed into their chairs, too exhausted to speak. The room was so quiet that only the sound of steady breathing could be heard.
Most of them leaned back in their chairs, closing their eyes to rest, while some lay on the table and fell asleep.
Tu Ran also leaned back in her chair, motionless. She didn’t sleep but crossed her legs, wearing her goggles, quietly watching the real-time surveillance footage that Zero had sent over.
The footage showed a luxurious villa. It was two in the morning, and aside from the lights in the hallway and living room, the rest of the villa was dark.
This was Diao Hongzhi’s home.
Just under a kilometer from the outskirts of the Pandalin District.
Diao Hongzhi had clearly tried every means to cozy up to the wealthy, Tu Ran thought, sneering slightly.
She could switch between different angles inside the villa at will.
This was surveillance she had specifically requested from Zero.
Now, in addition to serving Xie Xu, Zero also served her.
All she had to do was call for Zero through her communicator, and he would appear, just as conveniently as before.
And she and Xie Xu no longer needed to use private communicators to stay in touch. They could now use their work communicators without anyone noticing, which made things much easier.
At the moment, it was two in the morning—time for rest. Diao Hongzhi was asleep in his bedroom, where there were no surveillance cameras installed, so Tu Ran couldn’t see much.
“Zero, what is Nick Wells doing right now?” Tu Ran typed into her communicator, ready to switch targets.
Both of these men were next on her list to deal with.
Zero quickly pulled up a surveillance feed. The screen showed a brightly lit building, with the fifth floor highlighted. Through a partially open window, Tu Ran could vaguely make out a man sitting at a desk, wearing a white suit and bent over some documents, seemingly working.
“Is there anything clearer?” Tu Ran asked.
[No.]
The word automatically popped up in the dialogue box of her communicator.
After making sure Tu Ran had seen it, the word disappeared, replaced by another line:
[The system at Xixinnange Hospital is controlled by another AI.]
That message quickly disappeared, and another one appeared:
[Its name is Andre.]
[I can’t interfere.]
Staring at the words, Tu Ran realized that there were other AIs at play.
Perhaps because since arriving in this world, she’d only interacted with Zero—the faulty surveillance system in her old neighborhood, the suspension rail operation systems, and the management systems in the government building’s medical department… Everything around her had been managed by Zero.
She hadn’t encountered any other artificial intelligences, so she had unconsciously assumed that all the data in this world was controlled by Zero, the one super AI.
“Is Andre only in charge of West Xinnange Hospital, or does he manage all the Wells family’s assets?”
The reply appeared in an instant.
[All.]
“What about the Pang family? Do they have their own independent AI too?”
[Yes.]
Tu Ran stared at the solitary black word in the white dialogue box, lost in thought.
She should have realized this earlier.
The Pang and Wells families weren’t fools. Knowing full well that Zero was under the control of the Xie family, they wouldn’t just allow Zero to infiltrate every aspect of their lives and work.
The only way they could resist Zero was by creating their own independent super AI, one tailored specifically for their family.
However, their AI was only applicable within their own industries. In places like the government building or the medical department, they had no choice but to rely on Zero and operate under its surveillance, as long as they remained within the Federal administrative system.
More words appeared in the empty dialogue box of her communicator.
Tu Ran focused on the new message.
[There are many independent super AIs within the Federation that operate separately from me.]
[Eleven super AIs match or exceed half of my capability and scale.]
[They are distributed among the major financial conglomerates.]
“Eleven…” Tu Ran repeated the number to herself. That was a lot. It meant that aside from the three major financial conglomerates, there were eight other influential family conglomerates in the Federation. Yet, she knew little about them.
The Federal Government tightly controlled information about the conglomerates, keeping the details out of reach for ordinary citizens.
Suddenly, Tu Ran remembered something and typed out her next question. “Previously, the Wells family conducted a risk assessment on me. The result was that my unpredictability was considered high. Were you the one who conducted that assessment?”
[Yes.]
[Your data exists solely in my database.]
[Andre couldn’t perform the evaluation.]
Curious, Tu Ran pressed further, “Did you know the reason behind their assessment?”
[I had some idea.]
[The Wells family assessed the risk of fifteen pioneers at the same time.]
[A few of them were somewhat connected to missing pioneers.]
[I suspect you might also be linked to one of the missing pioneers.]
“You knew, which means Xie Xu knew too. Did you fake the assessment results?”
At the time, Xie Xu was seeking her cooperation, so perhaps he had intentionally directed Zero to report a higher danger level for her.
This way, the Wells family wouldn’t immediately dissect Xi Chunzhi’s body for research, buying her enough time to return from the Threshold.
[No falsification.]
[It was real.]
The neatly typed characters appeared one by one on the screen.
[Your danger level is indeed 82%.]
[It was the highest among the fifteen pioneers assessed.]
[We didn’t fake anything.]
“Wow, alright,” Tu Ran thought for a moment and typed three words, “That’s amazing.”
[You’re good at compliments.]
“You are too.”
…
From 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., apart from Tu Ran’s communicator, the rest remained quiet, with no work notifications.
At 7 a.m., everyone got up on time and headed toward the hotel.
Sleeping in the hard, uncomfortable meeting room was definitely not as pleasant as sleeping in the soft hotel beds.
However, when they opened their eyes, they noticed that one person was missing from the meeting room.
Tu Ran was gone.
“Where’s Sister Tu Ran?” Xiao Di rubbed his sleepy eyes, scanning the room.
“Why do you care!” Min Tao slapped him on the back, jolting him awake. “Go back to the hotel and get some sleep.”
That one slap was enough to stop anyone else from voicing the same question.
Perhaps she had a special mission that couldn’t be disclosed.
They all silently sympathized with Tu Ran. After all, while they were finally getting a twelve-hour break, she still had to carry out other tasks.
