The First Order

Ren Xiaosu looked at the screen above their heads and felt that this artificial intelligence called Zero had already given him too many surprises.

However, the artificial intelligence pretended not to know him nor acknowledged it had called him. Ren Xiaosu simply played along and asked, “Since this is where Zero’s server is located, why is everyone so busy working up there? What’re they busy with? Is it technical stuff that they’re dealing with, like handling program malfunctions or something?”

Wang Shengzhi explained, “No, I don’t think Zero will experience any malfunctions anymore. It’s just like when you and I grow up, the flaws will just become a part of us. Even if we have flaws, we’re still us, aren’t we? The staff on the upper level are only responsible for ensuring the hardware runs smoothly. They input all of the real-world data they receive into the servers for Zero to process and analyze.”

Ren Xiaosu thought to himself that this “real-world data” was probably the information the Wang Consortium’s intelligence agency had obtained.

However, he asked, “What does it analyze?”

“It analyzes problems that require solving.” Wang Shengzhi said with a smile, “For example, it determines who the thieves and robbers in the strongholds are and how they’ll be punished according to the law.”

“There’s no need to use outside info to evaluate these matters, right?” Ren Xiaosu wondered. “There’s so many surveillance cameras in your stronghold alone, so it should be really easy to catch the criminals.”

Wang Shengzhi nodded and said, “Therefore, it also analyzes which of our Wang Consortium’s enemies should be dealt with first.”

The black screen above them suddenly lit up again. Ren Xiaosu looked over and was surprised to see the words “Kong Erdong” displayed on it, as well as a brief account of his life.

This brief account of his life was mostly a list of the many crimes he had committed. For example, Kong Erdong once massacred an entire factory of refugees to keep his military secrets safe. There were also some of the despicable acts Kong Erdong had committed in the Kong Consortium, including an accusation of him murdering 172 young women.

Ren Xiaosu felt these were definitely not the reasons why the Wang Consortium wanted to kill Kong Erdong. Why would a politician pay any attention to such things? Wang Shengzhi was not a chivalrous hero who swore to uphold justice for the Heavens. Although he advocated fairness, he was still a politician in the end.

After the words on the screen disappeared, new words appeared. Several thousand words were written, and there was a large quantity of statistics mixed in. All of the information left Ren Xiaosu a little dizzy.

Ren Xiaosu looked at Yang Xiaojin and realized she was distracted by something else. She was looking at the fish swimming in the subterranean river.

But even though Ren Xiaosu was a little dizzy from information overload, he could understand the point Zero was trying to make.

The screen clearly listed the results of Zero’s analysis. After killing Kong Erdong, the second-in-command of the Kong Consortium, Kong Erbei, would immediately emerge victorious in the political struggle that followed. Afterwards, Kong Erbei would definitely adopt a more radical strategy to take on the Pyro Company.

At this part, Zero even gave a special description of Kong Erbei, describing him with a few hundred words. Attached was also a series of outcomes ranked by the probability of occurrence.

The point it was making was to say that killing Kong Erdong would be the Wang Consortium’s best option right now. As long as they killed him, it would affect the entire situation of the Central Plains.

Wang Shengzhi looked at Ren Xiaosu and said with a smile, “This is related to our second request of you. Please kill Kong Erdong for our Wang Consortium.”

Ren Xiaosu turned around and left. “You only have one request left, so make sure to cherish it. Xiaojin, let’s go.”

Only Yang Anjing and Wang Shengzhi remained in this level of the underground base. Yang Anjing asked, “Do you think he can kill Kong Erdong?”

“I can tell from his tone that he can,” Wang Shengzhi said.

If it were anyone else, they would probably say, “Are you crazy? That’s the head of the Kong Consortium. I can’t do it.”

But Ren Xiaosu did not.

Yang Anjing noticed Wang Shengzhi did not look too well, so she said, “Go back and get some rest. I’ll send some people to the Kong Consortium as well. With Ren Xiaosu taking action, even if Kong Erdong is fortunate enough to survive, he’ll still be severely incapacitated. At that time, my people will finish him off.”

“Mhm.” Wang Shengzhi nodded. “Then I’ll leave it to you. Another war might be starting soon in the North. The Wang Consortium and the Pyro Company are facing a new problem there. But this could also be an opportunity for us. Before that, though, we’ll have to plunge the Kong Consortium into chaos.”

…

After leaving Base 1, it was still Wang Run who sent Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin back to their courtyard houses.

Yang Xiaojin asked, “Are you really going to kill Kong Erdong? What if you encounter danger?”

Ren Xiaosu whispered, “Let’s head to the Kong Consortium to have a look first. Didn’t the Great Hoodwinker also go to the Kong Consortium? We might even be able to help him rescue Wang Yun. That unfortunate kid!”

“OK.” Yang Xiaojin nodded.

“Besides, since this operation was suggested by the Wang Consortium, they definitely have to provide us with the relevant intel and support, right? The Great Hoodwinker can also take this opportunity to learn more about the structure of Wang Consortium’s field intelligence units. With the support of field intel, it’ll be easier to save Wang Yun as well,” Ren Xiaosu said.

“Sure, but what about Kong Erdong? Should we kill him or not?” Yang Xiaojin asked.

“Of course we’ll kill him if we can.” Ren Xiaosu said, “But if we can’t, we can just sneak back to the Northwest. How does that sound?”

Yang Xiaojin wanted to laugh in response. Ren Xiaosu was still the same Ren Xiaosu she knew. She was really worried Ren Xiaosu would insist on taking the risk because of some “promise.”

Yang Xiaojin said, “It doesn’t matter where we go. I’ll leave it to you to decide. I’m getting hungry.”

“Alright, lemme wash my hands before I cook for you.” Ren Xiaosu walked off to the kitchen.

He suddenly got an idea. He quickly asked the palace in his mind, “I’ve copied Yang Xiaojin’s skills before, so I can ask about the proficiency of her other skills, right?”

“Yes.”

“What level is Yang Xiaojin’s culinary skill?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“Master level.”

Ren Xiaosu was speechless.

Ren Xiaosu quietly turned around and looked at Yang Xiaojin. Scam! What a scam this was! Of all the scams he had encountered, Yang Xiaojin was the only one who could lead him by the nose for so long!

Yang Xiaojin looked at Ren Xiaosu in questioning. “What? Is there something on my face?”

“Hah, it’s nothing.” Ren Xiaosu walked into the kitchen expressionlessly.

Although he knew he had been scammed, he still had to prepare the meals that needed preparing.

Ren Xiaosu sighed. Sometimes, ignorance was truly bliss…

After Yang Xiaojin had her fill, she went back over to her courtyard house. The soundproofing between the courtyard houses was so poor that Ren Xiaosu could even hear the sound of her showering through the wall.

As he was listening, the landline in the house suddenly rang again.

Ren Xiaosu hesitated for a moment before picking up. “Hello?”

“Hello, this is Lingling. May I chat with you?” a gruff voice spoke on the other end of the line.

Ren Xiaosu smacked his lips and said, “I think it’s better that you use your original voice.”

The other party felt a little puzzled. Didn’t you say you couldn’t chat with someone of the opposite gender? However, Lingling still switched back to a girl’s voice. “May we chat now?”

Ren Xiaosu asked, “Why me?”