109: Chapter 109 Repairing Zero Egg

Inside a factory building in the warehouse center of the W City suburbs.

While repairing the object in his hands, Wang Shuo stole a glance at Chen Xin, who was sitting on the computer chair next to him.

This was the first time he realized that someone could actually look so pleasing to the eye while eating; even when starving, Chen Xin ate without any haste, finishing the food in her hand bite by delicate bite.

And what Wang Shuo least expected after she finished eating was... Chen Xin would subconsciously lick the leftover cream off her fingertips after finishing her dessert.

Just like right now...

Seeing that Chen Xin was about to look his way, Wang Shuo quickly turned back, forcing himself to shift his attention to the lingdan no. 1 in front of him.

Seeing Wang Shuo intently dismantling the shell of the lingdan no. 1, Chen Xin looked back and continued reading the book in front of her, putting a small piece of cake into her mouth, then sucking on her finger before turning a page with her other hand to continue reading.

[Writing up to here, I hope readers will remember our domain name. To follow Taiwanese novels, go to Chao Tie Xin.]

This was truly unexpected...

He absolutely had to tell Old Fourth about this; he surely wouldn't expect his cold sister to have such a cute side.

Forcing himself to shift his attention once again, only now did Wang Shuo have the time to carefully inspect the specific damage to the lingdan no. 1.

It had to be said that the damage to the zero egg was quite severe.

After Wang Shuo's testing, it couldn't even make the most basic response. This meant that after the bullet pierced the shell, it had severely damaged the internal circuitry and equipment; such a zero egg seemed to have completely lost any value for repair.

But he had already boasted, and Chen Xin seemed to have a soft spot for this zero egg...

Wang Shuo grit his teeth.

"Zero, enable the camera and begin scanning."

"Unable to execute command. Reason: an outsider is present."

Zero's voice came through his earpiece, causing Wang Shuo to pause. Only then did he remember that because he didn't want to expose Zero's existence, he had specially set a restriction: if there was a second person present besides Wang Shuo, Zero would need to request confirmation before executing commands.

Although he really wanted to lift the restriction, thinking of Chen Xin sitting not far away, Wang Shuo held back.

It seemed he would have to repair this miserable thing entirely by hand. Damned pride.

No sooner said than done, Wang Shuo picked up the cutter next to him...

The loud noise generated when the cutter made contact with the aluminum alloy clearly startled Chen Xin. She raised her head in confusion to look at Wang Shuo, who was struggling with the shell of the lingdan no. 1.

Wang Shuo offered a friendly smile, but his hands didn't stop for a second.

But in his heart...

"Which bastard designed this shell! Making it so tight, how am I supposed to repair it! Uh... seems like it was me... then never mind..."

Ten minutes later, Wang Shuo, who still hadn't cut it open, was in agony inside...

"Change the design! I must change the design! This awful shell, whoever wants to use it can use it!"

Tears streamed down Wang Shuo's face. Why did he try to save trouble back then? Wasn't he just digging a hole for himself?

...

Three agonizing hours passed.

When he saw a brand-new lingdan no. 1 appear before him, Wang Shuo felt a little smug, though he swore he would never do this kind of work himself again.

Especially the shell of the zero egg—it had to be changed, definitely changed, absolutely must be changed!

And the material had to be changed too! Why on earth did he make an aluminum alloy shell? Wouldn't a polyethylene shell be much better? If all else failed, he could provide the manufacturer with an ingredient list to make a new high-molecular polymer material shell!

He refused to believe he couldn't do it.

"Zero," Wang Shuo said in a low voice. "Run a comprehensive check, and if there are no issues, start transferring the data."

The light strips on the zero egg in front of him began to flash.

At this moment, Chen Xin also noticed the new zero egg. She stood up, walked over to Wang Shuo's side, and watched quietly.

As the flashing frequency of the light strips on the zero egg gradually slowed down, Wang Shuo reached out and patted its shell. In the next moment, under Chen Xin's watchful gaze, the zero egg... split open.

The screen on the front lit up, revealing a pair of very well-behaved eyes blinking and looking around nimbly; the side cover plates flipped up, flapping gently like a pair of wings; the omnidirectional wheels at the bottom also extended, causing the zero egg to spin 360 degrees on the spot.

Wang Shuo breathed a sigh of relief; it was a success.

"Mia," Chen Xin reached out, picking up the lingdan no. 1 from the table, and said softly, "Your name is Mia."

To her surprise, the zero egg actually responded.

"Okay, my name is Mia." The voice still carried a hint of a mechanical tone.

She looked at the lingdan no. 1 in her hands in astonishment.

"This is a brand-new interactive Artificial Intelligence I designed," Wang Shuo introduced to Chen Xin with a bit of pride. "It is completely different from the existing voice assistants and Artificial Intelligence AI on the market."

"It is an Artificial Intelligence product in the truest sense, capable of barrier-free interaction with humans and fully understanding its master's intentions."

"What you see now is its initial state. In this state, you can set what you call it, what it calls you, try customizing its voice, determine its personality traits, and so on.

"She knows she's called Mia now?" Chen Xin came back to her senses and asked, looking at Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo didn't answer, merely pointing at the lingdan no. 1 in front of them.

Chen Xin looked at the zero egg.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Mia, Master."

Chen Xin frowned. "I don't like this voice, and I don't like this form of address."

"I can change it for you, Master. Please state your requirements."

"Be as detailed as possible," Wang Shuo prompted from the side.

Chen Xin nodded. "Others call me Miss, so you call me Miss as well. As for the voice..."

After a moment of thought, Chen Xin said, "I want a gentle female voice, around thirty years old, with a mature personality."

"Understood. The settings have been changed for you. Do you wish to confirm? Please note, once confirmed, they cannot be changed again." The voice coming from the zero egg had turned into a mature female voice; just from the sound of it, one could imagine a mature, polite female housekeeper standing nearby.

It really worked? Chen Xin parted her lips, looking at the zero egg in front of her in surprise, her expression identical to Han Xiaoxin's when he first saw Zero.

"How did you do it?" Chen Xin asked.

"It's very simple," Wang Shuo smiled in a highly punchable manner. "All it takes is some logical thinking, simple code, and a pair of hands."

Such an insincere answer.

Expressionless, Chen Xin walked away holding the zero egg and sat down on the sofa to one side, intently teasing Mia, completely ignoring Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo rubbed his nose awkwardly.

"Uh... actually, she can follow you on her own. You don't have to keep holding her."

Complete silence.

Finding himself snubbed, Wang Shuo sat back down at his computer desk resentfully and opened Zero's core code window.

Although the interaction between Mia and Chen Xin just now was very smooth, Wang Shuo had also spotted some issues.

As a true tech professional who must inspect and reflect on his own product anytime and anywhere, Wang Shuo considered himself highly dutiful.

First was the issue of interaction.

Although he felt that voice interaction was perfectly fine, this was ultimately the era of smartphones and display screens; a visually pleasing screen could bring most people a better experience and playability. Therefore, the display after adding a screen was of paramount importance. The liveliness of the eyes just now was still somewhat lacking and needed further enhancement. Furthermore, it would be best to design dozens of eye expressions, as a single cute expression was completely insufficient to handle all possible situations.

Second was the issue with Zero itself.

Although Zero had already undergone several major upgrades by his hand, in essence, Zero was still a program based on electronic computers, even if Wang Shuo had used more advanced code to make Zero appear smarter.

Therefore, if there was to be an official release, relying solely on the program sub-entities autonomously generated by Zero was completely insufficient. He still needed to make some targeted arrangements, such as pre-programming some voice settings, constructing virtual personality traits, and simulating secondary emotional expressions like feeling wronged, cute, shy, and so on.

Lastly, the shell absolutely had to be changed; he resolutely would not release it without changes. On this point, Wang Shuo had reached a state of absolute intolerance.

In addition, the materials for the Room-temperature superconductor should also be prepared. As long as he successfully fabricated a Room-temperature superconductor, Wang Shuo was confident he could build a computer with even stronger functionality. When that time came...

Having a clear direction, Wang Shuo wasted no more time. He clattered away on his keyboard, entering beast mode.