28: Chapter 28 was a success?

Wang Shuo was woken up by a sudden, deafening noise.

When he bolted upright from the sofa, he realized he was still in the studio, with the speakers next to him blasting at maximum volume.

It was playing his least favorite heavy metal rock music.

"Zero." Wang Shuo scowled. Although he knew he shouldn't get angry at a mentally handicapped Artificial Intelligence, he couldn't help but lose his temper. This idiot thing...

The music stopped abruptly.

"I am here, sir."

"What are you doing? Is the code finished?" Wang Shuo gritted his teeth and demanded.

"The code has finished running its tests, and as per your command, I am notifying you when the code test error rate reaches 2%, sir."

Wang Shuo felt a breath catch in his throat. He managed to swallow it down with difficulty, feeling speechless.

Sure enough, getting angry at a mentally handicapped Artificial Intelligence was completely pointless, and it seemed he had indeed set that command himself.

Wang Shuo could only get up, walk over to the computer, and sit down. He said in a reluctant, muffled voice, "Pull up the error log and display it on the main screen. I'll take a look."

"It has been displayed for you, sir."

Before the words had even faded, a document appeared on the computer in front of Wang Shuo, with dense data and code filling the entire screen.

"Highlight the error locations and query the cause of the errors."

The data and code on the desktop immediately started flowing rapidly. A moment later, a long string of bold red text appeared, clearly distinguishing certain parts of the code from the rest.

"Completed. Two runtime errors and one logic error found. The causes of the errors are: incorrect variables used, incorrect instruction order, and cycle condition error."

"Can it be corrected through modification?"

"It can be corrected; the input variables need to be verified."

Frowning, Wang Shuo studied it for a long while before finally figuring it out. He casually opened the Machining Center documents still on the table, carefully reviewed the five-axis design and motion patterns, and simulated them in his mind.

The theoretical level of Zhongzhi Pengcheng Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Chen Group, was indeed quite good.

The design personnel had designed a mature five-axis layout for the Machining Center. This five-axis linkage system consisted of three linkage axes and two rotary axes, using the tool to process the movement of the workbench to carry out specific machining.

Theoretically, this five-axis linkage system could machine workpieces with any complex curved surface.

However, this also placed higher demands on the operating system and the programming capabilities of the engineering personnel.

After pondering for a long while, Wang Shuo issued another command.

"Scan the existing file materials, extract relevant data, and build a digital model."

"Command confirmed. Extracting... Generating digital model... Success."

"Start calculation. I want to know if the five-axis linkage system will cause interference, and the causes of the interference conditions."

"Calculating... Error occurred... Unable to calculate. The reason for the error is: insufficient system resources; the current hardware cannot provide enough computing power."

"Enable node distributed computing and allow access to server resources."

"Command confirmed. Execution starting."

"Execution complete."

"Confirmed. The current structure has the potential for interference. Do you want to optimize the design structure?"

"No need to optimize," Wang Shuo replied, feeling somewhat helpless.

This system structure was for equipment that had already been formed; even if he optimized the structural design, he wouldn't be able to adapt it to the Machining Center that had already been produced.

"Zero, save the interference conditions. Pull up the system's source code page, add a simple logic core, run it at the minimum limit, and block all variables that exceed the limits. Unless granted advanced permissions, it must not perform optimizations on its own."

"Command confirmed, sir. You need to manually change the source code."

Wang Shuo nodded. Zero was still a very simple Artificial Intelligence, and it was still incapable of handling things like source code.

However, Wang Shuo believed that given Zero's growth rate, it would soon be able to become "smarter."

With his hands on the keyboard, Wang Shuo's brain began to run at high speed, and lines of code were typed out rapidly, appearing on the screen in front of him.

One line... Two lines... Soon it was ten lines... A hundred lines...

Several hours later, when Wang Shuo finished rewriting the system's source code in one go, the sky had already begun to darken significantly.

"Zero, start compiling the source code, generate the executable program, and test it. If there are no issues, package it."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Shuo suddenly remembered the data source he had asked Chen Xin for.

"Zero, have you received the new data sent by Chen Xin?"

"I cannot view your email; I need your authorization."

"I authorize you to take over my email and mobile phone system. Notify me immediately if there is any news."

"Command confirmed. Code compilation has been moved to the background to run and be tested."

"Sir, I have taken over your email. There are currently 43 unread emails, and one attachment was found. Do you need to view it?"

"Extract it locally," Wang Shuo muttered. "The rest are probably just spam."

"Defining spam. Definition complete. I have filtered out the spam for you. There are 31 unread emails remaining. Shall I display them on the main screen for you to view?"

"Oh, display them." Wang Shuo stood up, poured himself a glass of water, took a slow sip, and then threw himself comfortably onto the sofa. He glanced at the monitor from three or five meters away, but couldn't see anything clearly.

"It would be great if I could hang a large central screen."

Wang Shuo fantasized about saying, "Zero, project such-and-such onto the central screen," and then—whoosh—the content he wanted would appear on the large central screen. He would only need to lift his eyes to clearly see what he wanted to see, and with a wave of his hand, he could switch the displayed content at will.

That would be... totally awesome.

Just thinking about it made it seem feasible. Compared to the sensory experience a large screen would bring, this small computer screen in front of him was truly unbearable to look at.

Wang Shuo suddenly felt that this 27-inch monitor was a bit of an eyesore.

"Zero, establish a database, incorporate variables into the system for calculation, convert variable issues into typical cases and save them for comparison at any time."

After a pause, Wang Shuo continued, "Also, help me call Chen Xin."

"Your mobile phone signal was not found, sir."

"You didn't find my phone?" Wang Shuo searched around and finally saw the corner of his phone under a thick stack of documents on the computer desk.

Reluctantly putting down his glass and walking over to pull out his phone, Wang Shuo realized that his phone had powered off at some point without him knowing.

He had been so crazily outputting code for the past two days, forgetting to eat and sleep, that he had actually forgotten he even had a phone.

He took out the power cord, plugged it in, and started charging.

It failed to turn on.

How long had it been starved of power for it not to turn on immediately? If Wang Shuo remembered correctly, even if a phone shut down automatically, it would retain a certain amount of reserve power for emergency communications.

After waiting for ten minutes, the phone screen finally lit up, made a pleasant sound, and turned on automatically.

He skillfully entered his password, entered the main interface, and Wang Shuo was stunned by the numerous red notification badges.

What was going on?

Eldest... Third... Fourth... Had they all gone crazy?

And WeiChat—looking at the conspicuous "99+" in the red circle, Wang Shuo was a bit dazed.

He looked at the numerous missed calls with some hesitation, then selected his mom's number and called back.

The call connected.

"Hey, Mom."

"I'm fine, I've just been busy for the last two days and my phone ran out of battery."

"Yes, yes, yes, it was just about school, and it's already been resolved."

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself, and I'm not short on money..."

"Alright, alright, no problem. Don't worry, I'll definitely ask if I need anything; after all, you're my mom."

"Haha, alright then, that's it, I'm hanging up now."

The call ended.

Wang Shuo stared at the phone screen for a while, then selected Chen Xin's number and called her.

"Beep... Beep..."

The beeping sound while waiting for the connection seemed to come from a very far place, sounding somewhat distant. After a few rings, the call connected.

"Hello, Miss Chen Xin." Wang Shuo initiated the conversation; he knew Chen Xin wouldn't say silly opening lines like "Hello, how are you."

"Speak," Chen Xin said in a flat voice.

"Uh..." This icy tone—fine, you're the client, you're the boss. For the sake of money, I'll endure it! As for whether it was really for the money or for something else, perhaps only Wang Shuo himself knew.

"If you are in W City right now, come over to my place!" Wang Shuo paused, then said in a very seductive voice, "I have something good here for you, something really good."

"Understood," Chen Xin said indifferently.

"Beep beep..."

The call ended.

Wang Shuo was stunned on the spot.

This girl, what kind of attitude is that! If it weren't for the fact that my project payment hadn't been settled yet, did she really think I wanted to call her! She's truly gotten carried away; she's floated so high she's about to fly out of the atmosphere!

"Zero! How much longer will the system test take? What about the packaging?"

"The test is finished, sir. It is currently undergoing the second test. The estimated time for packaging is five minutes."

"Interrupt the test! Package it immediately now!"

"Command confirmed, sir. The packaged system program may not run normally on other platforms as it lacks the necessary runtime environment and language libraries."

"Add them all. Add the runtime environment and compiler to the system's underlying layer, and pre-install them automatically."

Wang Shuo gritted his teeth and finally compromised, saying, "Set Chen Xin as the highest authority for this system, with the ability to perform optimizations."

"Command confirmed. Simple logic core running normally, database data normal, runtime environment and compiler loaded normally. Packaging in progress... Progress 10%... 50%... Packaging complete."

"The size of the program after packaging is 4.7 GB, and 8.3 GB after installation. It has been streamlined."

"Output it. Import the program onto the USB flash drive and set the condition to automatic installation."

"Command confirmed. Please insert the USB flash drive."

[part:gemini-3.5-flash]

Wang Shuo only then remembered he didn't have a USB drive. He quickly searched high and low, and managed to find a few brand new USB drives in a small box in the corner, along with several unused mini cameras.

Wang Shuo plugged in a USB drive and began to wait quietly.

A few minutes later, the export was complete.

Wang Shuo unplugged the USB drive and casually slipped it into his pocket.

Then, after another round of rummaging, he found a soldering iron and some solder wire. He took out one of the cameras he had found, tinkered with it for a bit, and connected it to the computer.

"Zero, read the camera data and perform an evaluation."

"Read complete... Matching... This camera can be matched and run normally, with a maximum allowable precision of 0.008mm."

"That's just right. Saves me from having to go out again."

Wang Shuo nodded slightly, detached the camera, and set it aside. Then he composed himself, preparing to put on a cold, aloof expression.

Ten minutes later, Chen Xin's figure appeared right on time at the top of the stairs on the third floor.

"You're here," Wang Shuo asked, sitting on the sofa.

Chen Xin didn't reply. She walked straight up to Wang Shuo and looked at his face.

Wang Shuo suddenly felt a bit nervous. Had this girl noticed something? If she saw through his act and realized his cold demeanor was fake, where would he hide his face?

"Miss Chen, you sure have a lot of..."

"How many days has it been since you last slept?"

Wang Shuo instantly choked. Why did this silly girl always play off-script? He was caught completely off guard by her question. "What?"

"How many days have you gone without sleep?"

Once he processed it, Wang Shuo felt inexplicably guilty. What was with this feeling of being caught doing something wrong by his mother? He scratched his head and mumbled, "Not that many days..."

Chen Xin ignored his response, simply staring quietly into his eyes.

"Alright..." When it came to eye contact, Wang Shuo was never a match for Chen Xin, and he immediately surrendered. "Just... about six... seven... ten days or so... It's not like I didn't sleep at all... Okay, I just took occasional rests..."

"Ten days..." Chen Xin gave Wang Shuo a deep look, then turned her head slightly. "Why did you call me over?"

"Oh..." Wang Shuo instantly threw his original plan of showing her who's boss right out the window. He pulled the prepared USB drive from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is yours."

A hint of doubt flickered in Chen Xin's cool eyes as she glanced at the USB drive in Wang Shuo's hand.

"According to the contract, fifteen days for a complete and usable software system. Although the information you gave me wasn't very precise, still..." Wang Shuo said with a hint of pride, "Fortunately, I didn't fail my mission. It's a success."

"A success?" Chen Xin grew even more skeptical. She sized Wang Shuo up with a suspicious gaze, then glanced back at the USB drive in his hand.

"Of course. Using your company's new Machining Center as a blueprint, this is an exclusive version customized solely by me." Wang Shuo tried his best to sound nonchalant. "I call it the... Mark I System."

"Mark I System..." Chen Xin muttered to herself. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, an expression of astonishment appeared on her face for the first time. "You... succeeded?!"

"Of course I succeeded, Miss Chen Xin!" Wang Shuo widened his eyes. "Don't look at me with such skepticism, alright? I'm a serious science student! I never make academic jokes."

Although he spoke with absolute seriousness, seeing Chen Xin's mouth slightly agape in disbelief made Wang Shuo feel secretly thrilled.

Take that. Let's see you put on a cold face for me again.

"Really..." Chen Xin hesitated. "You succeeded?"

"I can tell you with absolute certainty..." Wang Shuo emphasized every word, lowering his voice, "It is really a success! If you don't believe me..."

Wang Shuo stared at Chen Xin for a moment, then suddenly made a bold move. He took her hand, opened her palm, and pressed the USB drive directly into it.

"The thing is right here. You can hand it over to your company's engineers for testing at any time."

Perhaps because Wang Shuo's action was too sudden, Chen Xin failed to react immediately. It wasn't until he pressed the USB drive into her hand that she pulled her hand back as if shocked by electricity, taking a step back instinctively while tightly gripping the USB drive.

"Wang Shuo... you..."

"What about me?" Wang Shuo stared at her and pointed to the USB drive in her hand. "I'll give you a one-month warranty. If any problems come up after a month, I'm not responsible."

Thinking about it, he felt something wasn't quite right. He scratched his head and asked, "Uh... what's your usual warranty period for this kind of thing?"

By now, Chen Xin finally realized she had lost her composure. Composing herself, she replied, "There is no warranty period for these things. Usually, we pay for on-site maintenance."

"Then my one-month warranty is pretty generous, isn't it?"

Chen Xin remained silent, looking down at the USB drive in her hand.

"Uh..." Seeing Chen Xin's expressionless face, Wang Shuo felt a bit uneasy and asked cautiously, "Did I... miss the deadline? Is your testing... over?"

If the testing was already over, wouldn't all his sleepless, relentless efforts over the past few days to create this thing have been in vain? More importantly... would the contract still be valid?

Fortunately, Chen Xin's answer allowed Wang Shuo to breathe a sigh of relief.

"No." Chen Xin took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Wang Shuo, are you sure this is a complete system program that can be used normally?"

Wang Shuo was a bit puzzled.

"If it weren't a complete, normally functioning system program, why would I hand it over to you?"

"You? Alone? In fifteen days?"

"Of course," Wang Shuo replied thick-skinned. Well, Zero didn't count as a person, so this thing was absolutely made by him alone. Yes, that was right.

Was this real? Chen Xin was somewhat dazed. Even when she made the bet and signed the contract with Wang Shuo, it had been out of spite towards her family and annoyance at Wang Shuo's arrogance, purely wanting to teach him a lesson.

But now that Wang Shuo had actually handed this thing over to her, she was instead somewhat frightened. A single person, in fifteen days, had created a program that even the Chen Group had no way of handling... was that really possible?

Reason told Chen Xin that it was impossible. But... what if? What if he had actually succeeded?

Her heart, which had already settled into resignation, seemed to spark with a tiny sliver of hope.

Chen Xin stared intently at Wang Shuo for a moment, then opened her bag, took out a light blue handkerchief that Wang Shuo had never seen before, and wrapped the USB drive with extreme care. It felt as if she were wrapping some rare, priceless treasure.

Wang Shuo felt extremely exasperated watching this and advised helplessly, "Miss Chen Xin, it's not some precious item. You don't have to... alright... carry on."

Seeing the glare Chen Xin shot him, Wang Shuo chickened out.

After carefully putting the item into her bag, Chen Xin finally looked up at Wang Shuo.

"I need to head back immediately."

As for why she had to head back immediately, Chen Xin didn't say.

Wang Shuo nodded. Then, remembering something, he stopped Chen Xin just as she was about to head down the stairs. He ran to the desk, picked up the camera he had tested, and after a moment's thought, pulled another identical camera out of a drawer.

"Here, take these."

"What are these?" Chen Xin frowned.

Wang Shuo scratched his head sheepishly. "Time was tight. I only had time to finish the operating system program and didn't have time to work on that Tool Presetter. Besides... that kind of crude device is just cumbersome and complex without much actual utility. It's useless to have it anyway."

"Install these inside your equipment's machining platform, diagonally, and connect them to the USB serial port on the internal system motherboard. I think they should be of some help."

Chen Xin took the two cameras with a look of utter confusion, feeling as though her years of experience in the company were completely useless here. Tool Presetters... was that technology really outdated?

If it was outdated, then why did so many machine tool manufacturers scramble to buy high-precision Tool Presetters from W Company in Japan every year?

Chen Xin had a stomach full of questions to ask, but right now...

"I see." Chen Xin nodded, packing away the cameras Wang Shuo had handed her. "You should get some proper rest."

Then she walked down the stairs with steady steps.

A moment later, through the window, Wang Shuo saw a black business van quickly disappear into the shade of the trees at the end of the winding road.

"I should get some proper rest?" Wang Shuo muttered. He felt his current state was quite good—highly energized, with a clear mind, and absolutely no need for rest.

"But that girl has incredibly sharp eyes, seeing that I hadn't slept for days at a single glance. I guess this is what they call a telepathic connection." Wang Shuo thought of something utterly shameless and grinned. "Heh, her hand felt pretty nice."

Humming a little tune, he poured himself a glass of water, took a bite of the leftover bread beside him, and then called out.

"Zero, play a song for me. Make it light music."

A soft strain of music drifted from the speakers.

Wang Shuo closed his eyes slightly in enjoyment.

Life was so cozy and comfortable. Well... it would be even better if these speakers had better sound quality.

However...

Wang Shuo suddenly remembered something. Had he told Chen Xin that the USB drive was plug-and-play with automatic installation? Seemed like... he had, right?

Unable to recall, Wang Shuo simply brushed it aside. Then he remembered an even more important matter.

"Zero, help me contact Boss."