The Military Arrives

After Li Zhou sent out his message, he felt great—but all the Intelligent Assistant users were miserable.

Zhang Qiang looked at his "Xiao Xi" looking pitiful, and his heart ached.

"Master, you have to pay on time tomorrow! Xiao Xi doesn't want to turn back into an egg—it's so dark in there."

"And Xiao Xi's prettiest clothes..."

The same scene played out across different parts of Xia Country. After a few days of use, many people had been won over by their Intelligent Assistants, especially after experiencing their capabilities and how well they protected personal privacy. From every angle, the Intelligent Assistant was worth buying.

At worst, at worst they just wouldn't buy any skins!

Of course, there were also plenty of people who felt that having an Intelligent Assistant meant zero privacy and firmly refused to buy. Most netizens sneered at this.

In the internet age, how much privacy was there anyway? What was one more leak?

Besides, since installing the Intelligent Assistant, it had actually blocked a lot of unnecessary privacy breaches.

Most netizens had made up their minds: as long as the fee wasn't too high, they'd pay.

To prepare for the paid service launching at eight the next morning, Li Zhou ate dinner early and went to bed.

Late at night! Li Zhou was sleeping soundly, but an investigation into him was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

From the moment Li Zhou pushed out the announcement that the Intelligent Assistant would officially launch at eight the next morning, the bank account used for payments had been exposed to the military's gaze. Following the trail, they finally traced the source of the Intelligent Assistant—Li Zhou.

Then, an investigation into Li Zhou and all related materials began to gather at this research institute.

If Li Zhou had been there, he would have seen that even photocopies of his elementary school report cards were laid out on the table, along with a photo of him as a one-month-old baby—those eyes in the photo were bright and spirited.

Yuan Jingsong held a report on Li Zhou printed on A4 paper weighing a full jin, stared at the psychologist with a strange expression, and asked back.

"So, this guy is a coward who's also a bit of a nationalist hothead?"

Yu Mengying gently took off her glasses, used a cloth to wipe away the dust, put them back on, and only then revealed her tired eyes. She said angrily to Yuan Jingsong, "This is the result of our entire team working all night."

"And he's just someone who cherishes his life—how does that turn into being a coward? And what's this about being a hothead? He's clearly patriotic."

"Besides, is that the most important piece of information? The most unbelievable thing is that this Li Zhou can predict future trends! Of course, the world is big enough that someone like this appearing isn't that strange—there were cases of telepathy a few years ago."

Facing Yu Mengying's rebuttal, Yuan Jingsong was fearless—it wasn't the first time.

Yuan Jingsong shrugged. "Fine, you're right about everything, Great Expert Yu."

Yu Mengying, wearing a white lace dress, stared straight at Yuan Jingsong until even he felt embarrassed.

"Calling all of us out late at night to repeatedly analyze a young man—what are you planning to do?"

Before Yuan Jingsong could speak, Yu Mengying touched the wrinkles at the corner of her eye and sighed.

"Ah, forget it. Asking is pointless. Confidentiality regulations! I understand."

With that, Yu Mengying turned and left.

Though Yu Mengying was gone, Yuan Jingsong's work was just beginning.

He sent the psychological report to his superiors and then began a long wait.

Two hours later, Yuan Jingsong received a red-headed document from above. Reading its contents, his head started to ache.

"Someone! Notify Area A airport to prepare a helicopter—take off in half an hour!"

"Yes, sir!"

When Yuan Jingsong arrived at the airport, a Zhi-11 helicopter was already spinning its rotors on the tarmac, ready for takeoff at a moment's notice.

Seeing the helicopter, Yuan Jingsong boarded with two soldiers.

"This is the flight destination for this mission." Yuan Jingsong took out a military tablet and handed a map to the pilot.

The pilot glanced back and confirmed the location.

"Black Hawk copies. Mission destination: North 31 degrees 12 minutes, East 120 degrees 10 minutes."

"Repeat: Mission destination: North 31 degrees 12 minutes, East 120 degrees 10 minutes."

(Purely fictional)

"Tower received. Cleared for takeoff."

"Repeat: Cleared for takeoff."

The airport was over a thousand kilometers from Li Zhou's hometown. By the time Yuan Jingsong and his two accompanying soldiers arrived, it was already five in the morning—at this hour, most farmers in the countryside were already up.

Since it was a mountainous area with no dedicated landing pad, the helicopter could only hover over an empty stretch of road below Li Zhou's hometown.

The armed helicopter suddenly appearing over the countryside had already drawn the attention of many farmers before it even landed. For something they'd never seen before—especially a big flying thing like this landing in a small rural village—it naturally attracted eyes.

After Yuan Jingsong got off the helicopter and watched it fly away, he led his two soldiers toward Li Zhou's house.

As for the location of Li Zhou's house, it was on Yuan Jingsong's tablet.

--

At 7 a.m., Li Zhou was woken by Nai Yi's alarm. Luckily, he'd gone to bed early, so he woke up feeling refreshed.

By the time Li Zhou finished brushing his teeth and dragged himself downstairs, it was already 7:30.

As soon as Li Zhou came down, he saw three people in military uniforms sitting in the living room. Taking a closer look, damn—one of them was a major.

Li Zhou had known the military would come knocking sooner or later, but this was way too fast!

Yuan Jingsong stood up and extended a hand thick with calluses toward the smiling Li Zhou.

"Hello! Yuan Jingsong."

"Uh, hello!"

Li Zhou reluctantly reached out and shook hands politely.

"I didn't expect you guys to come so early and so fast!"

At that moment, Li Zhou's mom shot her son a glare.

"How are you talking to the chief?"

"All day long, all you do is sleep—the chief has been waiting for two hours."

In response to his mom's scolding, Li Zhou muttered under his breath in defiance, "Who knew they'd be rushing over here in the middle of the night."

"You—"

Seeing his mom about to lose her temper, Li Zhou quickly ducked behind his dad.

Watching Li Zhou's mom chew him out, Yuan Jingsong hurriedly intervened.

"Auntie, it's fine. I told you not to disturb Li Zhou's sleep."

Just then, Nai Yi's voice suddenly rang out from Li Zhou's phone.

"Big brother, it's already 7:50—only ten minutes left until the Intelligent Assistant goes online."

The sudden voice instantly silenced the living room.

"Chief, I know why you're here, but my Intelligent Assistant is about to launch soon. How about we watch it together?"