Target: Clown Buggy

Cao Song had only been temporarily fooled, and the threat still remained.

Zhou Qi naturally knew that silencing him permanently was the best solution, but this was Earth, not One Piece.

He could not make someone die without any psychological burden.

"What level of secret are we talking about?" Sun Kangle asked. "When handling confidentiality, people generally use multiple secrets to conceal one secret. As long as it doesn't involve the core classified information, exposing some of it doesn't really matter."

"Then it probably touches on core classified information!" Zhou Qi thought for a moment before answering.

The first layer of the secret was teleportation. The second was that he could teleport as long as he had a photograph. The portal's cutting ability counted as the third layer.

The fact that the portal could travel to other worlds, even two-dimensional worlds, was unquestionably classified information as core as it could get!

And medicinal herbs that did not belong to this world would undoubtedly have a high chance of being exposed!

Gold, on the other hand, had a much lower chance of being exposed.

"I see..." Sun Kangle fell silent for a moment. "Then we can only shut him up!"

"Huh?" Zhou Qi was stunned. "Shut him up?"

"This is WeChat. That keyword might attract the system's attention, so it's best not to say it outright!" Sun Kangle said. "It's what pigs go through during the holidays."

Zhou Qi understood.

He had not even considered killing anyone, yet Sun Kangle had already brought it up!

"If it really is core classified information, then there's no question about it. You have to shut him up!" Sun Kangle said. "Look at how Zhang Mazi made Hu Wan keep his secret."

Of course Zhou Qi had seen that classic scene. Hu Wan had simply been shot dead.

"If you don't shut him up, there's always a chance he'll expose it. Maybe he'll do it deliberately, or maybe he'll let it slip while eating, drinking, and bragging. It would actually be fine if the country noticed, but what if foreign spies caught wind of it? They might give you a burst from an automatic rifle when you least expect it. To contain our country's rise, they're capable of anything!"

"But Skynet may be vast, yet no wrongdoing escapes it. How could it be so easy to shut someone up?" Zhou Qi said helplessly. "And this is fucking WeChat. Our chat logs are backed up by Tencent. The moment the police look through them, we'll be exposed..."

"What's his name? What's his identity? Tell me, and I'll handle it!" Sun Kangle said.

"Hm?" Zhou Qi was shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Didn't I say it? I dare to do anything!" Sun Kangle said. "Consider it my Pledge of Allegiance. Now you have my secret too, so you won't need to worry about me betraying you..."

Zhou Qi was speechless. "Is that really necessary?"

Sun Kangle asked, "If a genuine Sunflower Manual suddenly appeared in front of you, would you practice it?"

"This..." Zhou Qi had not expected that question, and he actually hesitated.

He definitely would not practice it now, but before he had gained the ability to open portals, he truly could not say for sure.

"I would!" Sun Kangle said. "If the price of practicing was cutting it off, then I'd cut it off. If there were a cultivation technique in front of me that could only be used by ghosts, then I'd kill myself and become a ghost to cultivate!"

"This world is too boring. There are no superpowers, no internal arts, nothing but blandness without even a ripple..."

"Do you know why I studied intelligent manufacturing? Because I wanted to create something different, something like Artificial Intelligence..."

"But I know it's futile. The deeper you study, the more you understand just how difficult it is to replicate those technologies that look so simple..."

Zhou Qi blinked. He felt a sense of resonance.

Hadn't he once had thoughts like that himself?

But now, he had obtained what he wanted, while Sun Kangle had not.

He did not think Sun Kangle was extreme. Instead, he thought Sun Kangle was very real. At the very least, even if he had desperately craved it two months ago, he would never have said it aloud.

Besides, was Sun Kangle the only person like this in the world?

Absolutely not. If Zhou Qi brought back a Devil Fruit right now and auctioned it to the world, even the most useless Zoan Type, even the Human-Human Fruit in Commoner Form, would absolutely sell for an astronomical price!

"I've longed for this for too long. As long as there's even the slightest possibility, I'll brave fire and water without hesitation!"

Zhou Qi was somewhat speechless, but also somewhat amazed. Such ability, such resolve.

Perhaps it really was true that talented people were common, while those able to recognize them were rare!

"Stop thinking about all that nonsense. Shutting people up, killing people—I was just joking!" Zhou Qi said. "Since you understand factories, how about this? The government has approved another large plot of wasteland for us. Go inspect it. I'm planning to build another factory over there to produce stockings..."

"Huh?" Sun Kangle froze. "Wait, what..."

Weren't they discussing something important? Why had they suddenly switched to producing stockings?

"You took my joke seriously..." Zhou Qi said. "I really don't have a system. I just happened to come into some unexpected money. As for what I'm doing, it isn't as noble as you think. I'm merely trying to imitate Haha Fish and create a company with humanity. But given your reminder, I do think I need to take things gradually..."

"Heh, Haha Fish? If you're going to lie to me, you shouldn't just make up a random name!" Sun Kangle casually searched for it, only to discover that there really was a studio with that name.

It was a British game studio whose works included Starbound and Stardew Valley. Since 2021, the company had implemented a four-day, eight-hour workweek. In April this year, after giving everyone a 10% raise, it announced in August that all employees would receive another raise of 4,000 pounds, or 32,000 yuan.

Haha Fish's executives stated that people should not have to grind themselves into ash to produce results at work, and that no one should let those old fossils tell them that only overtime could make employees care more about their jobs.

They also said that after implementing the four-day, eight-hour workweek, the employees had been inspired with even greater creative enthusiasm.

"This..." Sun Kangle stared in confusion. There really was a company that operated like this, and the results even seemed pretty good?

"No, no, no. They're a creative game company, while you're a manufacturer scraping by on thin profits. How can those be the same?" Sun Kangle instinctively argued back, but with a precedent before him, he was no longer as certain.

"Could it be that he really doesn't have some kind of cheat?" Scratching his head, he suddenly thought of something and hurriedly scrolled through their chat history.

Sure enough, Zhou Qi had never admitted that he had a cheat. He had even been fishing for information in all sorts of ways.

Meanwhile, Sun Kangle had not only taken the bait immediately, but had remained excited the entire time. Zhou Qi had even provoked him so much that his chuunibyou syndrome had flared up.

"Fuck!" Sun Kangle's cheeks instantly turned red, and he wished he could die on the spot. The crucial part was that this had not been a face-to-face conversation—it had all been on WeChat.

Chat logs were saved!

I'll never be able to face anyone again!

On the other side, Zhou Qi let out a sigh of relief after closing the chat window. He had nearly exposed himself. If he had not happened to spot a stupid meme in the group chat containing information about Haha Fish, he really would not have known how to cover it up.

As for confessing everything?

That was impossible. He would never confess in this lifetime.

As for MIT and the top universities in Beijing, I might not be able to match them now, but meditation had been making me smarter too!

Right now, I'm inferior to them, but in a few days or a few months, I'll be able to catch up.

Not to mention a few years from now!

By then, who would be looking down on whom was anyone's guess!

"Hmph!" Rather than being discouraged, he had become even more fired up!

"Still, Cao Song..." Zhou Qi sank into thought.

All that stuff about Skynet being vast yet no wrongdoing escaping it had been a joke. If he made a move, he could guarantee that the police would not find a single clue.

But acting was easy. Making that decision was difficult.

After all, Cao Song only might expose him; it was not as if he had actually exposed anything. Even if he did, Zhou Qi could simply play dumb when questioned.

But once Zhou Qi acted, he would break through his bottom line. When he encountered problems in the future, perhaps he would gradually start thinking about solving them by killing people.

Then he would slowly become accustomed to it...

Zhou Qi did not reject killing, but he feared that his state of mind was not yet capable of controlling murderous intent.

"A harmonious society shaped me, and it saved you too!" Zhou Qi sighed. In the end, he still could not bring himself to do it.

"Qi-kun, dinner's ready!" Tashigi's voice sounded from outside the door.

Zhou Qi hurriedly raised his head. "Oh, coming!"

He also opened the portal. This was his agreement with Smoker: they would open a portal once at a set time and exchange information.

Smoker did have a Den Den Mushi, but only one. He had already submitted an application for more.

Koshiro also had one, but it was a Den Den Mushi used for dedicated-line communications. He was also applying to his superiors for more.

Zhou Qi had already started searching for technical information on signal towers.

The moment the portal opened, three Bounty Posters were tossed through, one for each person, followed by Smoker's voice.

"At present, there's only one Devil Fruit User in the East Blue, and he isn't very strong. Although Mr. Koshiro's team hasn't been assembled yet, the two of us are enough. Shall we use him for practice?"

"No problem!" Koshiro glanced at the Bounty Poster, then nodded with a smile.

"A Devil Fruit User in the East Blue at this time... It can't be..." Zhou Qi hurriedly picked up the Bounty Poster, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Sure enough, blue hair, a clown hat, a huge red nose, and a crossed-bones symbol on his forehead.

This man was none other than Buggy, once an apprentice crew member aboard Roger's ship, the future Shichibukai, one of the Five Emperors!

Bounty: 15 million Beli!

"Zhou Qi?" Smoker looked toward Zhou Qi again.

"I don't have a problem with it either!" Zhou Qi nodded. Buggy was no good person. Not only did he enjoy abusing the weak, but he would bombard towns with Buggy Balls at the slightest disagreement.

Though he was a plot character, Zhou Qi was not a fan of his. Killing him naturally brought no psychological burden.

As for what if killing him made the plot impossible to predict?

Come on. He had already intercepted the Mera Mera no Mi. The plot had changed long ago.

"Buggy is currently staying in Tiger Town and is expected to spend the night there. We'll move tonight and avoid exposing the Door-Door Fruit as much as possible!" Smoker said. "What do you think?"

"I have no problem..." Zhou Qi did not want to delay his meditation, but then he thought about it. Two Logia Types and one Great Swordsman—how long could catching Buggy possibly take?

Since it would not delay him, he naturally nodded in agreement.

"I have no problem either!" Koshiro nodded as well.

"Then it's settled!" Smoker said, waving his hand again. "That's all!"

"OK!" Zhou Qi closed the portal and continued eating!