Assisting the Investigation

Thomas was in Tony Stark's villa. His boss didn't often go to the company, preferring to work in his home studio. Especially since a holographic system had recently been installed, he was completely engrossed in it, though he felt the system wasn't perfect yet.

Arriving outside the studio door, he pressed the doorbell. Tony Stark turned his head, "Thomas, when I'm working, it's best not to disturb me. I assume you know that!"

"I certainly do, sir. However, a NYPD captain just called. A case requires your assistance, and they believe it might involve artificial intelligence," Thomas explained hurriedly.

"Oh?" Tony Stark stopped working. He was indeed intrigued. He got up, walked to the door, opened the studio door, and looked at Thomas, asking, "It really involves artificial intelligence?"

"That's what he said, and he wishes to meet with you. Do you want to see him?" Thomas asked cautiously.

"Of course. Since it involves artificial intelligence, I'll meet him. It's quite interesting that someone else has developed artificial intelligence. I've always been unable to perfect Jarvis's thought logic program; it's not a true artificial intelligence system. If someone has actually achieved it, I wouldn't mind taking a look for reference," Tony Stark said with some excitement.

"Understood. When would you like to meet him?" Thomas asked.

"Tomorrow. Oh, you said NYPD?" Tony Stark turned his head again to ask.

"Yes."

"Alright, notify my plane to prepare. We'll depart in an hour and meet at their headquarters tomorrow morning!" Tony Stark's home was in California, but he was already impatient and decided to take his private jet directly to New York.

Thomas hurried to make arrangements, then called George Stacy. "Captain, Mr. Stark has agreed to meet with you and has arranged his private jet. He'll be flying to New York shortly and will meet you at your headquarters tomorrow morning."

"That's wonderful. Thank you very much for Mr. Tony Stark's help. I will be waiting at headquarters tomorrow," George Stacy said after hanging up the phone, feeling a subtle excitement. This case was undoubtedly a major one, but it hadn't yet caused a national sensation. The banks had suppressed the spread of information to protect their reputation.

Tony Stark's enthusiasm was high. He truly put aside his current work and flew directly to New York on his private jet, checking into a high-end hotel. Although the nightlife was still rich and colorful, he arrived at NYPD headquarters at ten o'clock the next morning.

"Thank you very much for coming, Mr. Tony Stark. You are an outstanding citizen..." George Stacy tried his best to flatter him, as the other party's status was truly extraordinary. He could be suspicious, but he couldn't show it. Otherwise, if the other party didn't cooperate, he would be stuck.

Tony Stark's self-willed personality was already deeply ingrained. "Don't say that. I'm not interested in these words. I just want to know about the artificial intelligence."

George Stacy's words were interrupted, but he didn't mind. As a captain, he had met many people. "Of course, please follow me. We'll talk slowly after we sit down!" He didn't lead them into any interrogation rooms but instead invited them to a reception room. The director's private collection of coffee was also served.

"The situation is this: two days ago, there was a bank robbery. However, this robbery was completely different from past ones. Before the operation, the robbers cleared the police force around the bank and blocked the surrounding traffic, leaving only the robbers' routes unobstructed. The robbery process was also incredibly smooth; they knew the vault keys and passwords like the back of their hands. Afterward, they left plenty of clues pointing to an inside job!" George Stacy was articulate, making it sound incredibly suspenseful.

There was a lot of information in that brief statement. Tony Stark listened intently, then looked up at him, "An inside job?"

"Yes. At the time, a security guard was in the bank's monitoring room. However, he said the electronic lock was jammed, and he couldn't open it. Both the landline and mobile phones couldn't get through, and the monitoring screen was all static, showing nothing. But later, our technicians found no issues whatsoever. However, I couldn't find any criminal motive for this security guard. Furthermore, the New York traffic monitoring center found no traffic congestion at all. It wasn't until our central dispatch requested support that they became aware of it."

"So you suspect someone used advanced technology to attack the bank and the monitoring center?" Tony Stark had heard enough.

"Yes. Initially, we suspected there were inside accomplices on both sides. Although we couldn't find a motive for the bank's accomplice, other evidence pointed to this security guard, making him the prime suspect. Another suspect was the bank manager, but after extensive investigation, neither had any motive. The alarm calls that cleared the police force were all made from the monitoring center's landlines, and their internal monitoring videos were also deleted. During the incident, the surveillance footage around the bank was also tampered with."

"However, we couldn't find any trace of the perpetrator. So, I gathered all the technical personnel to hypothesize whether it was possible to achieve this without an inside job. They said it was theoretically possible, but they didn't know who could do it. If we really had to find someone, it would be you!" George Stacy cautiously probed, the phrase 'it would be you' carrying significant weight.

Tony Stark analyzed the other party's words. Although not entirely comprehensive, the meaning was clear. The bank's inside job was too obvious, and there was no motive for the crime. The monitoring center had numerous issues, but no clues could be found. Their hypothesis of no inside job meant that both systems had to be infiltrated. While not difficult in theory, leaving no trace was another matter entirely.

As for George Stacy's probing, Tony Stark showed no reaction. His mind was focused on the technical issues. Tony Stark was assessing whether he or Jarvis could accomplish such a feat and how advanced the other party's technology truly was.

Meanwhile, Mo Fei was monitoring Wall Street. Although there wasn't constant news, opportunities often came unexpectedly. A phone call turned into information, which Mo Fei received after data processing. "Hmm? I didn't expect the first useful piece of information to be something I created myself?"