Make Some Arrangements

Although he could roughly guess Zhang Qian's thoughts, since she was willing to pay, and Xiang Kun happened to be looking for a project to practice on and find inspiration for his "AI Assistant Plan," and she was willing to agree to all sorts of demanding conditions, he really had no reason to refuse.

After discussing it with Director Lin, Xiang Kun decided to have the online friend and forum buddy who had previously connected them with the team form a group to assist Xiang Kun's work.

Fortunately, that old friend is in Pengcheng, so he can directly connect with Director Lin and his team.

In summary, Xiang Kun was responsible for the design of the entire framework and architecture, as well as the coding of several core modules. The other parts were implemented by the team assembled by that old guy according to his requirements.

The old man couldn't understand why Director Lin and his team would agree to such bizarre conditions from Xiang Kun. But since there was money to be made, he had no reason to refuse.

If it were Xiang Kun before the mutation, although he already had seven years of experience in the industry and could be said to have always led teams, he might still feel some apprehension and pressure leading this project, since what he did before and what he does now are not the same type of work.

But now, to be honest, in less than twenty minutes of meeting with Director Lin in the hotel coffee shop, he already had a basic implementation plan.

Of course, although Xiang Kun has strong thinking and calculation abilities, he is not omnipotent. For such large projects, division of labor and cooperation are still necessary.

If he truly had to do everything himself, it wasn't impossible for Xiang Kun. He could learn many things he hadn't done before; his learning ability was definitely not a problem. But for him, doing it this way was meaningless; the time invested and the reward were disproportionate.

The "inspiration" he sought through this project wasn't any of those things. It's like he's building a house now. He can provide design drawings, a construction plan, lay out the lines and dig the foundation, and act as a foreman to arrange the workers. If he had enough time and unlimited energy, he could even become a worker himself, learning the skills of a steelworker, formwork worker, concrete worker, and plasterer. But none of that helps what he wants to do. Programming isn't art; there's no added bonus or special meaning in doing it all by himself.

Xiang Kun plans to stay home and work hard during this period to finish this project, get the money from Zhang Qian, and then go back to work on his "AI Assistant Plan".

He's made up his mind; regardless of whether the final product is another unoriginal and ridiculous AI assistant, he has to create it.

Although he now possesses a powerful mind, astonishing computing ability, and is particularly adept at "thinking wildly" and coming up with solutions in a flash, he does need "helpers" for many things.

The blood-drinking period will begin in three days, and he has already killed all six rabbits at home, so we need to go and stock up on a few more first.

But as soon as Xiang Kun left the residential area, he noticed something was wrong—someone was watching him?

Moreover, he knew that person; it was the "private investigator" who had "secretly filmed" him outside the hotel the night before last and whom he had reported. Even the Accord he was driving was the same one.

Wasn't this guy detained by the police?

But what is he doing here?

Xiang Kun walked towards the bus stop and noticed that the Accord had indeed followed him, clearly targeting him.

Could it be that he knew Xiang Kun was the one who reported him that day, and he's here for revenge? That doesn't seem likely. He reported directly to Officer Chen, and given Officer Chen's personality, it's unlikely he would "sell him out." And even if he suspected Xiang Kun it, why would he still drive that car? That's too damn obvious. Is he deliberately trying to let Xiang Kun see through him and scare him?

Because someone was watching, Xiang Kun couldn't just go and buy the rabbit directly, so he just took a random bus.

Through observation, Xiang Kun discovered that the private investigator was being quite cautious in his pursuit; he wasn't brazenly following the bus directly, but rather using the car behind to block his view.

This means that he probably didn't intentionally drive that car to "scare" Xiang Kun, but was actually secretly watching him.

Perhaps after being "chatted" at the station by Officer Chen, this guy didn't dare to keep an eye on Zhang Qian anymore. However, after receiving news that Zhang Qian had approved the cooperation between Director Lin and Xiang Kun, he wondered what information he could glean by keeping an eye on Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun was too lazy to guess why this guy was watching him; the important thing was not to let him follow him.

As for how to handle it?

Contacting Officer Chen would definitely be the best option, but Xiang Kun felt that even if Officer Chen caught him, it seemed unlikely that he would be punished.

After thinking about it for a moment, he decided to try the method he had considered before.

After getting off the bus, Xiang Kun went into a beverage shop, ordered a drink, and sat on a rattan chair in the outdoor area. He then took out his phone and looked like he was idly browsing the news.

The black Accord was parked on the opposite side of the road, continuing its surveillance of Xiang Kun.

Although Xiang Kun's eyes were on his phone, his mind was already imagining the bad things the private investigator had done: things like secretly filming people's privacy and driving them to suicide, illegally stealing people's secrets for profit, or cooperating with criminals to deceive the police. He didn't know the private investigator and didn't understand him at all, which made it easy for him to imagine and fabricate the bad things the investigator had done.

Gradually, Xiang Kun's anger towards the private investigator began to grow. He gripped his phone slightly tighter, and with a snap, the already cracked screen developed even more cracks, and the previously legible content became distorted.

As a passerby walked past the black Accord, he suddenly stopped and gently knocked on the driver's side window.

The private investigator initially didn't intend to pay attention, but the passerby persisted, knocking incessantly. He finally rolled down his window and asked, "What's the matter?"

The passerby, a woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties, pointed to the area under his car. "Sir, you can't park here."

"I'll stop for a bit and then leave, I'm waiting for someone." With that, the private investigator prepared to roll up the car window.

But the passerby then asked, "Why do you have that kind of professional camera in your car? Are you a photographer? Or are you secretly taking pictures of someone here?"

"What's it to you?" the private investigator said, somewhat annoyed.

A burly man carrying a bag, seemingly on his way to the gym, walked by and asked the woman, "What's going on?"

"This person seems to be a pervert, secretly filming girls!" a female passerby said directly.

"How dare you make false accusations..." the private detective roared, his eyes wide. But before he could finish speaking, several people had already walked over from the shops on his side of the road.

Before long, a crowd gathered around the black Accord, including customers and staff from Xiang Kun's beverage shop and the shops next door.

A faint shout could be heard:

"This guy's a psychopath! Don't let him get away! Call the police!"

"Make him hand over the camera! Let's see if he's taken any perverted photos!"

"Get out of the car! If you're innocent, get out of the car and show us what you took with your camera!"

"The police are coming! Don't let him get away!"

Xiang Kun let out a long breath, pulling himself out of his emotional turmoil. Someone had already called the police, and officers were on their way. Although the private investigator had remained in the car, it couldn't get out at all, and the windshield had been smashed. Surrounded by the enraged crowd, he probably hoped to see the police now.

He was utterly baffled. He had been discreetly monitoring the situation from a distance, so why had he suddenly attracted so many people? And why did they all think he was a pervert secretly filming girls? When did people in these big cities become so overflowing with a sense of justice?

Watching the private investigator and some onlookers leave with the police, Xiang Kun got up and prepared to call a ride-hailing car to buy the rabbit.

But looking at the phone, where most of the screen was unusable, Xiang Kun couldn't help but smile bitterly. He thought he had controlled his "Emotional Assimilation" well this time, but he didn't expect to pay the price with a phone. Fortunately, the phone was already badly damaged and it really needed to be replaced anyway.

Thinking back to what had just happened, Xiang Kun suddenly imagined what would happen if he used the same pattern of "Emotional Assimilation" on the bus, mentally targeting that black Accord with his disgust and anger. Would a driver who disliked the car actually drive into it? Could his "Emotional Assimilation" affect drivers on other vehicles outside the bus?

He recalled a movie he had seen before, "Accident," starring Louis Koo. In it, Koo led a criminal gang that murdered people by designing and creating various accidents. Without murders, the police naturally wouldn't invest much manpower in the investigation.

Given his current computing power and his ability to subtly influence those around him, he should be able to manage this type of arrangement without any problems, right?

Based on past experience, people who are "Emotional Assimilation" are unaware that they have been affected.

If that private investigator dares to come back and keep an eye on him again, perhaps we could make some arrangements?

Thinking of this, Xiang Kun suddenly stopped in his tracks and clenched his fist.

Why would you have such a thought?

Is it because I was too aggressive during the "Emotional Assimilation" process just now?

This idea is too dangerous!

His own "Emotional Assimilation" just now seemed to have gone a bit too far. What if some of those affected actually acted rashly? The impact wouldn't be limited to just the private investigator. Logically, after the incident on the high-speed train, he shouldn't have been unaware of this possibility. Did he subconsciously harbor some "malicious intent" from the very beginning, a desire for the private investigator's death?

You must stay clear-headed. The private investigator's purpose in following you is still unclear. We don't know if he has any malicious intent, or how much. The criminal acts you just imagined are purely your own thoughts and have no direct relation to his actual behavior.

Never take advantage of your abilities to arbitrarily decide the lives of others. One wrong step could lead to an abyss from which there is no turning back.

Xiang Kun his head to look at his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling glass window by the roadside, silently thinking: Whether someone is a person or a ghost, it's their actions that matter, not their form.