"'Binga'? Was this person contacting you online?"
"Yes. At least, that was what he called himself in his emails. He offered a very high price, but demanded that I sign an agreement granting them exclusive control of the system, and that I be responsible for its subsequent maintenance and improvements. At the time, I had already discussed the system with my father and the police officers I'd worked with, and decided to cooperate with the ICPO to complete it, so I declined the offer..."
"You think this was related to the kidnapping. It seems he didn't give up because of that."
"Yes. For a long time, he used the excuse that he'd read my papers and was interested in some of the theories I was developing, constantly asking about my progress. At first, I thought it was normal academic exchange and answered him a few times. But gradually, I started feeling that something wasn't right. He wanted to steer me toward developing certain functions."
As she said this, Naomi's face showed a mixture of lingering fear and regret, the muscles beside her cheeks trembling involuntarily.
The way she seemed to have suddenly recalled some chilling detail after so many days, unable to control her fear, gave Tangze a guess as he watched her expression.
He glanced sideways at the wall beside the dormitory, considered for a moment, then asked, "You think there was something wrong with those functions?"
"At the time, the Pacific Buoy project was already on the agenda. I looked over his ideas roughly and thought they were too redundant, so I politely declined. Looking back now, he was probably already targeting the cross-age recognition system then."
With her hands tied, Naomi could not move. She could only curl herself tighter and painstakingly explain several technical details the