Chapter 6

Zhang Muyang and his brother quietly listened to their father, then said thoughtfully, "Little Third's concerns make sense. But if we back down, won't they try to push their luck?"

The Old Zhang Family had resisted the decision to redevelop the Old District so fiercely because they wanted to preserve the Zhang Family's domain. Now that Zhang Xianyang intended to accept the city's proposal, Zhang Muyang and the others could not help feeling uneasy.

Clearly, Zhang Linmo felt the same way. He immediately turned and questioned Zhang Xianyang with his eyes. Seeing this, Zhang Xianyang set down his chopsticks and said solemnly, "The Zhang Family has been rooted in the Old District since before the founding of the nation. Everyone knows our position as the local powerhouse. I believe the higher-ups understand the Zhang Family's concerns. They certainly would not act rashly, much less do something as stupid as startling the snake by beating the grass. So the proposal to redevelop the Old District should only be the city's own decision, meant to improve its political record. Since that is the case, why not join forces with this newly appointed mayor and make it a win-win partnership?"

Zhang Linmo found Zhang Xianyang's words somewhat interesting. He gave him an encouraging smile and said, "Go on."

Zhang Xianyang immediately continued, "The matter of the Zhang Family Secret Passage is known by many people in the Old District's gangs. It is impossible to keep it completely hidden. Since that is so, why not take advantage of this redevelopment project to renovate the Zhang Family Secret Passage as well? After all, it was left behind by our ancestors over a hundred years ago. By now, parts of it must be outdated, and it may not even be safe anymore."

Zhang Linmo raised his brows and asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

At that, Zhang Xianyang hurried upstairs to his bedroom, took a stack of documents from his desk drawer, then ran back downstairs. Handing them to Zhang Linmo, he explained, "When I watched American movies, I noticed they often had secret bases. To enter them, people had to go through complicated procedures like computer tests, iris scans, and fingerprint verification. Otherwise, the secret base would use force to eliminate invading enemies. I think we could introduce something like that into our secret passage and turn the Old Zhang Family Secret Passage into one of our secret bases."

Zhang Linmo shook his head with an amused smile, casually tossed the documents onto the table, and said, "Our Old Zhang Family Secret Passage already requires a key and Zhang Family blood as a trigger to open. There are mechanisms, hidden weapons, and passageways inside too. Do we really need to make it that complicated?"

Zhang Muyang and Zhang Xiyang, however, both agreed with Zhang Xianyang.

"Today's technology is definitely far more advanced than it was a hundred years ago. We think Little Third has a point. The Old Zhang Family Secret Passage has been passed down for nearly a century. Over such a long time, we cannot be sure that only the Old Zhang Family knows about it, so from a certain perspective, it may not be safe after all. We might as well follow Little Third's suggestion and take this chance to renovate it. We need to keep up with the times too!"

Encouraged by his two older brothers, Zhang Xianyang became even more determined. He flipped through the stack of documents on the table to the back, revealing a series of security systems for protected bases. He had begged the Brain AI for a long time before it reluctantly gave him these valuable materials. Apparently, in its star region, these were essential security measures for military bases. Zhang Xianyang believed that bringing such technology here would make it the most advanced in the world.

He had originally planned to wait before telling his family. After all, taking out these things would inevitably raise questions about their source. The Brain AI was an advanced creation that did not exist on this planet, and Zhang Xianyang had not yet figured out how to explain it.

Looking at the things described in the documents, Zhang Linmo and Zhang Muyang chuckled. "Are you trying to make a science fiction movie?"

Zhang Xianyang said solemnly, "Believe me. I can definitely do it."

Having said that, Zhang Xianyang looked like he wanted to speak but hesitated. He irritably scratched his head, clearly unsure how to explain himself.

The three Zhang men exchanged glances at the sight of him, all feeling rather baffled.

After struggling with himself for a while, Zhang Xianyang first told Auntie Li, the housekeeper, to go outside and buy groceries. Then he pulled the three Zhang men onto the large sofa in the living room, seating them side by side. He sat opposite them and said gravely, "What I'm about to tell you may be difficult for you to understand, but it is all true. This is also why I decided to agree to the proposal to redevelop the Old District."

Zhang Linmo and his sons only felt that Zhang Xianyang was acting strangely, leaving them even more confused.

Zhang Xianyang cleared his throat and said solemnly, "Actually, there is an Intelligent Optical Brain from outer space inside my body."

American blockbusters. Science fiction movies. Fantasy novels. Daydreaming...

In any case, none of the three Zhang men believed Zhang Xianyang was telling the truth.

Zhang Xianyang knew his explanation could not convince them. However, after so long, he had more or less figured out how to explain the abnormality within his body. So he ignored the three men's barely restrained amusement and continued, "It all started a month ago. On my way home from school, I was hit by something that fell from above..."

Zhang Xianyang made up a common future webnovel trope, describing the entire process of how he had obtained the Photon Brain. Then he changed the subject and continued, "This Photon Brain not only contains information on extraterrestrial security bases, but also training materials for soldiers from their planet, as well as other technological data. It even has information on building spaceships, space shuttles, and space warships capable of traveling between planets..."

"Stop!" As Zhang Xianyang's story grew more and more fantastical, Zhang Linmo quickly raised a hand to cut him off. He said dismissively, "Enough. Save the storytelling for later. Your two brothers still need to go to school, and people from the city will be arriving soon—"

"I'm not lying." Zhang Xianyang knew it was impossible to make the Zhang men immediately accept the Photon Brain's existence. He could only hand over all the security base materials he had spent more than a month compiling, then suggested, "Dad may not understand, but Big Brother and Second Brother have studied computer operations and computer defense systems. You should be able to tell that these things were not made up casually, right?"

Zhang Muyang and Zhang Xiyang casually accepted the documents from Zhang Xianyang. Yet the more they read, the more serious their expressions became. In the end, they both set down the documents and stared at each other.

Sitting between the two brothers, Zhang Linmo watched their expressions rapidly change. His heart skipped a beat, and he cautiously asked, "What is it?"

Zhang Muyang and Zhang Xiyang turned their heads with great difficulty and said in extremely uncertain voices, "These things... seem... to all be... real."

Before the sentence was even finished, all three men looked at Zhang Xianyang, who was sitting upright across from them. With horrified expressions, they said, "So that means my son's—our brother's—body has an alien computer living inside it?"

Author's note: The Zhang Family definitely had to learn that Zhang Xianyang had the Brain AI's help. For one thing, I do not like families keeping secrets and hiding things from each other. Also, Zhang Xianyang would gradually take out the Photon Brain's technology to arm and develop the Zhang Family, so he needed people who knew the truth to help him. That is why the Zhang men had to be brought into the know. o(n_n)o~

After learning that an alien computer had somehow appeared inside their son's—brother's—body, the Zhang men were obviously not as thrilled and excited as Zhang Xianyang had imagined. Instead, they nervously grabbed Zhang Xianyang and felt him over from head to toe, repeatedly worrying whether having a piece of metal in his brain would affect his health.

"Why don't we go to the hospital and get you checked? Something appeared in your head out of nowhere. The more I think about it, the more wrong it feels." Zhang Linmo spoke anxiously as he picked up his phone, ready to have his subordinates arrange a hospital examination.

Zhang Xianyang hurriedly stopped him. "Dad, do you want everyone to know there's something alien inside your son's head, then have them send your son to a research institute for experiments?"

At those words, Zhang Linmo's narrow phoenix eyes nearly widened into bells. He snarled, "Who the hell would dare? I'd slaughter his whole family!"

"Exactly. In the Old District, anyone who dares cross the Zhang Family must be tired of living." As Zhang Xiyang spoke, he carefully touched Zhang Xianyang's head. He also agreed with Zhang Linmo. "But we should still take you to the hospital for a checkup. A computer is sitting in your brain... What if it rusts? What if it interferes with your blood circulation? You little brat, why can't you stop making people worry? How do all these things keep happening to you?"

Zhang Muyang said nothing, but his expression was so dark it seemed molten iron had been poured over it. He stared fixedly at Zhang Xianyang's head, as though he wanted to crack it open at once and pull the alien computer out.

Having such an unknown thing lodged inside his brain was far too worrying.

While comforting the Zhang men, who were nearly ready to explode, Zhang Xianyang felt even warmer inside. Faced with such advanced technology from beyond the planet, even his first thought had been how to use the Intelligent Optical Brain to help the Old Zhang Family escape the tragedy of his previous life. Yet the first thing the Zhang men thought of was his health and safety. Even Zhang Xianyang himself had not realized how deeply their anxious concern touched him. This was what family felt like.

For a moment, Zhang Xianyang felt his eyes grow hot again. He sniffed and interrupted the Zhang men's nervous chatter, explaining, "Don't worry. According to the Intelligent Optical Brain itself, it is the most advanced biological Photon Brain in its star region. It was made using the most sophisticated genetic biological extraction technology. It can be implanted in the brain without causing the human body any harm at all. Besides, this technology far surpasses Earth's technology. Even if we went to the hospital, they would not be able to detect anything. Instead, people with ulterior motives might notice that the Old Zhang Family is different. They might even secretly plot against us without our knowing. So for my own safety, I hope only Dad, Big Brother, and Second Brother know that the Intelligent Optical Brain is in my head."

His words immediately put the three Zhang men on alert. After more than a hundred years of development, the Zhang Family held an unrivaled position in the Old District. But in recent decades, countless gang forces had emerged there as well. Though they did not yet threaten the Old Zhang Family, they had always lurked in the shadows, watching greedily. The moment the Old Zhang Family slipped up and revealed a weakness, those gangs would likely swarm forward like wolves and gnaw the century-old family down until not even bone scraps remained.

At that thought, the Zhang men immediately abandoned the idea of taking Zhang Xianyang to the hospital. There were no secrets that could stay hidden forever. Compared with physical health, Zhang Xianyang's life and safety were clearly more important.

When Zhang Xianyang saw that they no longer insisted on taking him for a medical examination, he finally let out a sigh of relief and continued to reassure them. "Actually, it is nothing serious. According to the Brain AI, in their star region, once children reach one year old, their parents take them to the relevant institution to have an Intelligent Optical Brain implanted. From birth until death, no one has ever developed a major problem because of one. So I'll be fine too."

Zhang Linmo and his sons felt somewhat reassured, but they still snorted in dissatisfaction and muttered, "Who knows whether those things in their star region are even human? Besides, can aliens really be the same as people from Earth?"

When it came to aliens, Zhang Linmo still pictured the nonhuman creatures commonly seen in American movies, things like E.T. and Alien. Thinking that his third son had somehow become one of their kind made his liver ache.

Seeing that the Zhang men had clearly become preoccupied, Zhang Xianyang smiled faintly and quietly changed the subject. "Oh, right. While talking with the Brain AI, it also gave me a Military Body Fist manual used by warriors in its star region, along with a training method for star-region soldiers. Dad, take a look and see whether the Old Zhang Family can make use of them."