116: Chapter 116 Chen Xin's Bottom Line

Chen Xin tightened her grip on the zero egg. Those who knew her well were aware that she suffered from claustrophobia; the pitch-black surroundings made her feel uneasy.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xin held the zero egg up.

"Mia."

"I'm here, Miss."

A pair of eyes instantly appeared on the screen on the front of the zero egg, looking at Chen Xin with great liveliness, seemingly expressing some confusion. Unlike the adult female voice Chen Xin had set in front of Wang Shuo earlier, the voice of the zero egg had now changed to a cartoonish tone, which, combined with the eyes, was extremely cute.

"Mia, help me check if there's anyone in that courtyard. Can the video be transmitted to my phone?"

Chen Xin took out her phone; she knew that Mia could fly.

"Of course you can."

The eyes on Mia's screen revealed a happy expression, and the two covers on her sides opened up, flapping back and forth as if she were joyfully waving her arms.

Immediately, under the stunned gaze of the two people beside her, Mia raised her covers and flew straight into the sky with a soft buzzing sound.

What kind of thing is this? The man surnamed Wang looked at his companion in astonishment, only to find that he was equally stunned.

"Miss, this... this is..."

"She is Mia."

Chen Xin paused slightly and added, "She is a zero egg, named Mia. She can fly, so let her go check."

zero egg, Mia—the two didn't care about the names; they had already seen that Mia could fly. What stunned them was, how could this thing understand human speech? And even cooperate?

A voice assistant?

That's impossible. Recalling the scene they had just witnessed, there was no way a voice assistant could achieve that level of conversational fluency.

The two really wanted to ask for clarity, but now was clearly not the time.

The two moved closer to Chen Xin, though they didn't dare get too close, watching the phone in Chen Xin's hand from a certain distance.

On the screen, the situation on the ground ahead was displayed; the infrared fill light built into the zero egg made everything on the ground perfectly clear.

This was a house with an obvious courtyard structure. The surrounding walls had basically collapsed, leaving only the main building intact. If they had found the right place, these people could only be staying in this house.

Leaving Chen Xin a short distance away, the two men—the one surnamed Wang and the other—stealthily approached the main building. Hearing the faint sound of conversation coming from inside, they nodded gently, and the other man immediately made a few hand signals.

The man surnamed Wang understood immediately, kicked open the door, and shouted loudly.

"Police! Don't move."

Inside the room were three men frozen in place.

Watching the two bodyguards successfully break in and control the situation, Chen Xin waved at the zero egg in the sky. It immediately descended and hovered beside her, emitting a soft buzzing sound.

"Miss, Miss, is Mia amazing?"

"Uh..."

Chen Xin was between laughter and tears. You're just an Artificial Intelligence; do you really need me to praise you?

However, looking at that expectant expression, Chen Xin couldn't help but say, "Mia is very amazing."

The zero egg squinted its eyes and landed on Chen Xin's hand, the whole ball vibrating slightly, as if it were excited.

This is just too... What kind of strange thing did Wang Shuo build? Where did these personality traits and interactions come from?

Shaking her head, Chen Xin walked into the room carrying Mia. As soon as she entered, she saw three burly men squatting on the ground, their faces full of confusion, but they weren't attempting to resist. After all, judging by the marks on their faces, they had likely been beaten when they tried to resist earlier.

Chen Xin stood in front of the three and her expression suddenly turned cold.

"Did you kidnap Wang Shuo?"

Hearing the word "kidnap," the three burly men were visibly stunned. One of them blankly looked at an older man to the side and whispered, "Boss, how did the police know we kidnapped someone?"

The man called "Boss" whispered back, "We're professionals, and we wore masks; no one can find us. They might have the wrong people; we can't admit to it."

Immediately, the three men said in unison.

"We didn't kidnap anyone! We don't know Wang Shuo!"

The two bodyguards couldn't bear to watch. Gentlemen, could your voices be any louder?

Chen Xin's expression grew colder. She took out her phone, pulled up a photo, and handed it to the bodyguard surnamed Wang, who then held the phone in front of the three men.

The three took one look and immediately blew up.

"Second brother, how is there a photo! Didn't you check and say there was no surveillance?"

"It's all Third brother's fault! He insisted on dragging me to have a peeing contest!"

"Boss, didn't you say we were professionals? Why didn't you check for surveillance?"

"It's fine, we wore masks; no one can recognize us."

...

What kind of weirdos are these?

Chen Xin turned around and said indifferently, "Beat them."

As soon as those three words were spoken, a chorus of wails and howls erupted behind her. For these three idiots, any psychological intimidation was useless; only the memory of pure physical pain was the best method.

A few minutes later, the three, beaten to a pulp, lay on the ground, completely devoid of any fight.

Chen Xin asked again, "Did you kidnap Wang Shuo?"

This time, the trio nodded hurriedly.

"Why? Who instructed you? What were the terms?"

"We don't know who it was either. We three didn't want to kidnap anyone; we just wanted to make a living. But he found us and promised us money. We didn't want to agree, but he offered way too much."

"How much money?" Chen Xin asked.

The leader of the trio shrank his head, "Twenty thousand."

Twenty thousand? Chen Xin's face became even colder.

They almost took Wang Shuo's life for a measly twenty thousand yuan? And caused Wang Shuo to owe a life debt? If Ding Congsheng and the others heard this, they'd be furious! We would have given you twenty million! Just please return Wang Shuo safely!

Chen Xin was silent for a moment, then turned and walked out, leaving behind only a cold voice.

"Keep beating them, but don't hit their faces."

Ten minutes later, the vehicle that had been parked on the side of the road for a long time started up again and headed towards W City.

In the car, Chen Xin sat silently holding the zero egg, watching the clusters of shadows flash by outside the window.

The three idiots had long since been beaten unconscious and were lying sprawled out in the back where the seats had been folded down. Thankfully, it was a seven-seater business van, otherwise they wouldn't have fit.

Wang Lingcheng looked at the road absentmindedly, looking up from time to time to observe the expression on Chen Xin's face through the rearview mirror.

He hadn't expected that this seemingly gentle and weak young girl could be so ruthless. Although she hadn't laid a hand on them herself, ordering him and the squad leader to beat people until they were unconscious required quite a strong psychological constitution, right?

However... that wasn't the most important thing. What made him itch with curiosity now was the thing in Chen Xin's hand. That gadget capable of communicating with humans without barriers was the source of his restlessness.

After much thought, he finally spoke up.

"Miss, that thing in your hand..."

"She is called Mia."

"Oh, right, Mia."

Wang Lingcheng was speechless. Giving it a name like that, the key was that it could actually understand. Just like now, his conversation with the Miss mentioned Mia, but this thing didn't react at all. Could it know whether they were talking to it or not?

Shaking his head, Wang Lingcheng continued to ask, "What is this Mia?"

The squad leader beside him also quietly pricked up his ears.

"She is a zero egg, not a thing." Chen Xin frowned, but remembering what Wang Shuo had told her, she calmed her tone: "Her species is called a zero egg, and her name is Mia, which I gave her. This is a new product developed by Frontier Technology Company."

A new product? Wang Lingcheng's eyes lit up.

"Will there be more new zero eggs?"

"Naturally." Chen Xin said indifferently, "This thing has already been successfully developed. This is a prototype, and the mass-produced version should be released soon. If you want one too, just keep an eye on the updates from Frontier Technology Co., Ltd."

Is that so?

"Then, can I interact with Mia? Test out the functions?"

Chen Xin looked down at Mia.

Mia immediately opened her eyes, showing an embarrassed look.

"Mia can talk to other people, but I need Miss's approval. Does Miss want Mia to talk to other people?"

"No." Chen Xin said indifferently.

"Okay."

Mia happily squinted her eyes, "If Miss is bored, please call Mia anytime. Mia can fly up into the sky and take Miss to see the scenery."

Wang Lingcheng was stunned. It can do that too?

But immediately, his heart burned even hotter. Buy it, he must buy it!

The squad leader beside him was also filled with envy. This way of interacting just like a human was incredibly satisfying just to watch.

They no longer wanted to doubt whether this thing could really be made; after all, nothing was more convincing than the finished product itself.

It's just a pity they didn't know when this Frontier Company would release this product.