84: Chapter 84 A Ghostly Encounter?

Thinking about his future plans the whole way, Wang Shuo didn't come back to his senses until he walked out of the school gate and reached out to hail a taxi.

"Driver, go to Jiulong Road."

...

In the Dean's office at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology's School of Computer Technology and Science.

Principal Ding picked up a cup of tea, but it froze in front of his chest as if he were paralyzed. He stared dumbfounded at Professor Qian Qidong, who was sitting in front of the computer, at times appearing incredulous, at times shouting with excitement, at times secretly remorseful, and at times flushed with emotion. Even more, he would occasionally cry out loudly, "There is hope! There is hope!"

This was the first time in all the years they had been classmates that he had seen this old friend, who had always regarded academics as his life, lose his composure like this. This state, as if he had lost his mind, was extremely abnormal.

He asked with some concern: "Old Qian, are you... are you okay?"

"Old Ding, I found it! I found it!" Professor Qian Qidong's face was flushed with excitement: "Truly, I searched high and low! I finally found it."

Principal Ding looked baffled. What had he found?

"But I can't be sure yet..." Professor Qian Qidong spoke very fast. As if thinking of something, he suddenly shook his head: "No, I need to go find him now!"

Saying this, he rushed out the door.

"Hey, Old Qian, slow down! I'll go with you!"

After finally putting down his teacup, by the time Principal Ding chased after him, Professor Qian Qidong's figure had already disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Principal Ding shook his head and sighed helplessly: "So many years, and he's still the same old way."

But what exactly had he found that could make Professor Qian Qidong so anxious to confirm it? A huge question mark arose in Principal Ding's mind.

Thinking of the reason Old Qian came to W City this time, Principal Ding's eyes lit up. Could it be... If that were the case, it would be no wonder Old Qian was so excited, but he just didn't know... who this person was.

...

In the Software Park, Han Xiaoxin stared speechlessly at the computer screen in front of him.

Ever since he learned of Zero's existence, Han Xiaoxin had become completely obsessed. He even put aside Liu Yemei, who had captivated him at first sight, and tirelessly studied this brand-new thing.

But at this moment, he felt he had encountered a difficulty.

"Zero, what can you do?"

"I can help you complete any task."

"For example?" Han Xiaoxin asked expectantly. If he were to ask other smart voice assistants the same question, there was a high probability they would reply with something irrelevant, which would completely ruin the communication experience.

"I can complete commands according to your requirements, help you analyze data, process tasks, query information, contact your contacts... and so on."

This feels... very smooth.

Han Xiaoxin's expectations rose.

"Can you help me hack into Liu Yemei's phone?"

"Your permissions are insufficient."

"Insufficient permissions?" Han Xiaoxin scratched his head.

"Then can you provide me with Liu Yemei's phone number? Or her WeiChat ID? Your database should have this kind of data, right?"

"Your permissions are insufficient."

A large question mark appeared over Han Xiaoxin's head, and he felt somewhat unwilling to give up.

"Then help me order takeout, that should be fine, right!"

"Your permissions are insufficient."

"What the hell is this!"

"Then what can I do now!" Han Xiaoxin said, feeling very depressed.

"Your current permissions are limited to responding to requests."

"Responding to requests... That means I can only chat, right?"

"Who set these permissions!" Han Xiaoxin gritted his teeth.

"Permissions are authorized by the highest sequence, Wang Shuo. Your current permission level is: Level 10. Level description: You can call Zero, and Zero will respond to your call, but you do not have command authority."

"What the hell is the highest sequence?"

Han Xiaoxin gritted his teeth and asked: "Then do others in the company know about your existence? What would happen if I told them about your existence?"

"Currently, those with Level 10 permissions are only Sir and Han Xiaoxin. Before Sir permits it, you should not leak Zero's existence to other employees. Zero will supervise you throughout. If you have any violations, Zero will independently judge whether to activate the emergency mechanism."

"Yo, this smart?"

Han Xiaoxin curled his lips. He didn't believe that this so-called Artificial Intelligence could "independently" judge anything. He guessed that Wang Shuo had set certain conditions in advance to prevent him from taking extreme actions.

But even so, the response mechanism of the Artificial Intelligence in front of him already amazed him. He now wanted to know even more how Wang Shuo had managed to do it.

According to his understanding of Artificial Intelligence, to achieve such smooth logical judgment and response, it required very time-consuming data training and a real-time database, and the database required huge server hardware to support it. But based on the situation when he previously joined others to attack the company's servers, the company's servers were clearly not that excellent; they could only be said to be barely sufficient.

Under these circumstances, creating an Artificial Intelligence that was more intelligent than some large companies? It was clearly unrealistic.

But the Zero in front of him...

Han Xiaoxin's judgment that Wang Shuo could not be provoked deepened even further.

"Zero, I'm going to work. Helping me call up the software and materials isn't a violation, right? This is for work."

Han Xiaoxin said casually.

Although the Artificial Intelligence in front of him already made him envious, he still wouldn't be stupid enough to believe that an Artificial Intelligence could possess true logic. He prepared to continue testing to see if the Zero in front of him had real logic.

The trap in this sentence was nothing to a person, but it was fatal to a machine.

Han Xiaoxin had already confirmed that he only had "read-only" attributes with Zero. He could not change any of Zero's attributes, and he could not make Zero make any substantive changes. If this was something already written into Zero's program, then before Wang Shuo gave instructions, Zero's program would not change, so Han Xiaoxin already knew what its answer would be.

It would definitely refuse... Han Xiaoxin thought triumphantly. Although it was boring to pit his wits against an Artificial Intelligence, who told the Artificial Intelligence in front of him not to be one of those ordinary products on the market.

"New work content has been created for you and is displayed on the desktop screen. You can call up any materials at any time... Detected that you lack ergonomic equipment, I have already asked Xu Kexin to prepare the relevant equipment for you, please wait a moment."

Han Xiaoxin's triumphant smile stiffened. He stared blankly at the composition software already opened on the screen, his brain unable to process this for a moment.

A few minutes later, following a few light knocks on the door, Xu Kexin poked her head in and walked inside, holding a medium-sized box in her hands.

She placed the box on the desk next to Han Xiaoxin, glanced strangely at Han Xiaoxin, who was still dazed, and turned to leave.

"Wait..."

Han Xiaoxin finally came back to his senses and called out to Xu Kexin. He swallowed hard.

"Can I ask... who told you to bring this up?"

"It's the boss." Xu Kexin wore an expression that took it for granted.

"Wang Shuo?"

"Of course it's him. He's always been the one sending us internal messages; we're all used to it." Xu Kexin pouted: "I've put the things down for you; I'm leaving now."

Slap! The door closed.

Han Xiaoxin looked at the CAD input tablet on the desk, then looked at the composition software displayed on the screen. For some reason, a chill ran up his spine.

This is really... like seeing a ghost!