104: Chapter 104 The First System?

The night passed quickly.

When the sun's rays shone through the car window, Zheng Jun finally opened his eyes in a daze.

What met his eyes was the car door, which had already been opened. Chen Xin and Liu Yemei were standing outside, both with serious expressions.

"Morning." Zheng Jun rubbed his eyes and got out of the car. Looking at Chen Xin, who hadn't slept all night, he felt a bit of admiration, mixed with a trace of guilt toward Wang Shuo—such a major event as his brother possibly being kidnapped, and he had actually managed to fall asleep.

To alleviate his guilt, he took the initiative to ask, "Any news about Second Brother?"

Second Brother? Chen Xin turned her head and glanced at him.

"Oh." Zheng Jun hurriedly explained, "Wang Shuo is second in our dorm, so we call him Second Brother."

Chen Xin withdrew her gaze, and Liu Yemei, who was standing to the side, spoke up, "There's no news yet. We can basically conclude now that Mr. Wang has run into trouble."

"Let's call the police," Zheng Jun suggested.

"If someone hasn't been missing for twenty-four hours, the police won't handle the case," Chen Xin said indifferently.

"Uh..."

He had actually forgotten about that. Zheng Jun awkwardly scratched his head.

"The most important thing right now is to determine Wang Shuo's last known location."

Li Li had already gotten up at some point and walked over to Zheng Jun, clutching his computer.

"If you can provide a general area, I can try to hack into W City's Eagle Eye System and use the facial recognition function to see if I can find Wang Shuo's last known location."

"Hacking into the Eagle Eye System is illegal..." Zheng Jun had just started to say something, but upon seeing Chen Xin's sharp gaze, he mumbled and retracted his words.

"How long will you need?" Chen Xin asked. With the possibility that Wang Shuo had met with trouble, her voice had naturally turned cold, and her entire being radiated the aura of a young lady of status.

"It might take five or six hours. I'm not entirely sure; after all, hacking isn't my strong suit," Li Li said truthfully. Lying at a time like this could delay things.

Chen Xin frowned. That was too long; she couldn't wait.

"I actually know someone who should be able to help," Liu Yemei said, recalling something Wang Shuo had accidentally let slip. She took out her phone, "I'll contact him now."

Everyone watched her.

The call connected, and a voice that was clearly young man's came through the phone.

"Hello? Assistant Liu, what's up?"

"There is something," Liu Yemei said, her attitude toward anyone other than Chen Xin being exactly the same as Chen Xin's. "I need to know where Mr. Wang was last seen last night."

"Mr. Wang?" The voice was clearly stunned. "Wait, Assistant Liu, why are you checking up on Mr. Wang for no reason? Besides, he didn't ask me to do anything like that. I'm just an artist."

"We suspect Mr. Wang has been kidnapped and is currently somewhere."

"Kidnapped?!"

The voice on the other end was significantly higher, followed by a clattering sound, as if something had been dropped on the floor, and perhaps something else had been knocked over in the process.

A moment later.

"Are you sure?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, the voice on the other end of the phone said steadily, "Alright, I understand."

"We estimate that Mr. Wang's last known location is at..."

Before Liu Yemei could finish her sentence, she heard a loud exclamation from the other end.

"Boss Zero! We're doomed, Boss Wang has run into trouble!"

"Hurry and help me check where Boss Wang was last seen so we can go save him!"

"Aiyah, it's an emergency! Who cares about permissions? If Boss Wang is finished, we're all finished! Are you going to check or not? If you don't, I'll do it myself, it'll just take some time..."

"Boss Zero... You really are loyal!"

...

Everyone, including Liu Yemei, looked at each other in dismay. Was this person... crazy?

Boss Ling? When did someone like that appear in the company? Liu Yemei frowned and was about to hang up when a voice came through the phone, the same young voice from before.

"At the storage center in the suburbs of W City. That's where Boss Wang's mobile signal disappeared! I've already sent the coordinates to your WeiChat, Assistant Liu."

Immediately, the phone vibrated slightly, indicating a message had been received.

Everyone looked at each other again.

"That's it... done?" Zheng Jun looked bewildered. Wasn't it supposed to be very complicated? It had only been a few minutes!

Li Li hugged his computer, was silent for a moment, then got into the car and sat in his seat, saying nothing more.

In the end, Chen Xin made the decision.

"Let's go, to the storage center."

...

At this moment, Wang Shuo was secretly observing the stranger who had just arrived. He carefully searched his memory and was then quite certain that he did not know this person.

"Wang Shuo, is it?" The man had a thin face, wore sunglasses, and had dark circles under his eyes, looking as if he had been pulling all-nighters for days. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask, making it impossible for Wang Shuo to see his actual features.

"I am Wang Shuo, but I might not be the Wang Shuo you're looking for." Wang Shuo hurriedly tried to explain. What if this person in front of him had grabbed the wrong person?

"You are definitely the Wang Shuo I am looking for." The man smiled, then said to the several kidnappers around them, "You've done very well. I will fulfill the subsequent conditions I promised you later."

"You're too kind, Boss."

The thief boss, wearing a knitted balaclava, chuckled a few times and, being tactful, signaled the other two brothers to walk away, leaving the space to the man and Wang Shuo.

"Time is limited, so I won't beat around the bush." Watching the kidnapping trio walk away, the man lowered his voice. "Mark I System, have you heard of it?"

"Mark I System?"

Wang Shuo's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "You came for the Mark I System!"

At this moment, he finally understood. The other party hadn't grabbed the wrong person, and it wasn't for money, but for a Mark I System that he had never really taken seriously.

Wang Shuo's mouth twitched. Looking at his current predicament, he felt like crying but had no tears. He had never imagined that someone would think of kidnapping him just for a simple operating system.

What kind of god-tier logic was this?

"I don't care how you managed to design such a system program, but I hope you can honestly hand it over to me."

The man said indifferently, "Of course, if you can provide the members of the design team behind this system, that would be even better."

Knowing the other party's purpose, Wang Shuo still couldn't quite believe it. He had thought the other party might be after money, after his magnificent appearance, or even that someone was jealous and hateful of him and had specifically hired people to teach him a lesson. He just never expected the culprit to be a system he had developed with his own hands.

Wang Shuo felt like life was meaningless.

"If I said the design team is just me, would you believe it?"

"I believe you." The man's expression didn't change. "One person or a group of people, it's all the same to me. One person is even more convenient."

What did that mean? Wang Shuo was puzzled.

"Tell me, how did you manage to package a program into a black box?" The man raised his eyes and looked at Wang Shuo. "What kind of new technology, new code, or even new architecture and new concepts did you use? Tell me everything, and I can take it upon myself to let you go."

"I mean, is it really necessary?" Wang Shuo finally couldn't hold it in and said, feeling like crying without tears, "It's just a Mark I System, isn't it? It just used new packaging technology, right? You want it? You could have just told me! Did I ever say I wouldn't give it to you?"

The man's hand shook, and he was silent for a moment. "You... are willing to give it?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Wang Shuo sighed. "I'm not stupid. I know which is more important, a system or my own life."

"Do I look like someone who would value money over their life?"

The man didn't speak, his body trembling slightly, but he calmed down after a moment.

"Speak."

"That's a long story, and even if I told you, you might not understand." Wang Shuo said, "First, let me down and let me explain it to you slowly. Being tied up like this is very uncomfortable."

The man nodded and reached out to beckon the three kidnappers in the distance. The thief boss ran over quickly.

"Boss, what are your orders?"

"Untie him."

"You got it."

The thief boss immediately signaled his two henchmen to untie Wang Shuo. While undoing the ropes, he didn't forget to show off: "Boss, look at this. This is professional equipment we bought from a professional shop. Even the way we tie these knots has a technique to it. A little too tight is too much, a little too loose is too little. It has to be tied just right—not too tight, not too loose—so that the hostage feels comfortable, but also has no way to escape..."

Thanks a lot, Wang Shuo couldn't help but think sarcastically. Sometimes he couldn't help but admire himself for being able to calmly mock himself in such an environment.

After the kidnapping trio quickly packed up their things and exited the factory, only Wang Shuo and The Black-robed Man were left standing face-to-face in the factory.

"Now you can speak."

PS: Some readers have pointed out an error in the names; I am currently fixing it.