87: Chapter 87 Undercurrents

Just as Wang Shuo was wandering in the ocean of knowledge of the Humanoid Race, a storm in the journalistic world was slowly brewing, and within it, unknown undercurrents were also surging.

In W City, at a certain office building near the city center, on the sixth floor in the project research lab.

young man was sitting in front of a computer, his eyes, filled with red bloodshot veins, staring straight at the computer screen before him. It seemed there was something on the screen that he could not tear himself away from; even when people passed by and greeted him, young man did not react at all.

"Haozi, what is wrong with you these past two days? You are not eating or drinking, just in this state every day. Did you break up?"

"Who knows? He has been in this state for several days now. It makes me anxious just watching him. Could it be that he encountered difficulties with the project?"

"Probably not," the person who spoke first mused. "I just went to the project team a few days ago to check. The progress is quite smooth, and the company has already approved it."

"Forget it, Director Wu Han, let's go. It's already off-work time, and I promised my wife I'd buy her a cake on the way back."

The latter said as he walked out the door.

Director Wu Han hesitated for a moment, walked behind young man, and glanced at the desktop that young man was staring at.

Aside from a few icons, there was nothing on the desktop.

This further confirmed Director Wu Han's suspicions, and he patted young man on the shoulder.

young man suddenly snapped back to reality, turned his head to look at the colleague behind him, and said with a cold tone: "What is it?"

Director Wu Han said: "Nothing, it's off-work time, just asking if you want to leave together."

"No need, I still have things to do." young man said as he turned his head back. This time, he did not continue staring at the screen, but instead rested his head on his hand and looked at the desktop, as if whatever had just attracted him had shifted its position.

Director Wu Han frowned, and his inner worry grew more severe.

Although this young colleague had not been here long and was rather arrogant in his conduct, he still possessed a certain level of ability, especially after he joined the project team and took charge of the architecture work; the progress of the new project had been unexpectedly smooth. Moreover, just two days ago, the new project was officially approved by the company, waiting only to be delivered to the client for use after completion.

This ability made other colleagues in the company quite approving of young man, and even his arrogant personality became excusable—although young man still ignored them, for the sake of building the new project, the other colleagues just held their noses and accepted it. After all, who else in the project team was a qualified architect? Who else could the project rely on to proceed normally without an architect?

Talented people always have some strange temperaments; this is completely understandable and does not affect normal social interaction or building relationships at all.

Many colleagues held this view, so not long after young man arrived, he was quickly accepted into the circle.

Of course, not everyone was acting like a sycophant, for example, Director Wu Han. He did not have a deep friendship with young man, nor was there any issue regarding the new project, but as a senior employee, he would not harbor prejudices against anyone.

If it were before, Director Wu Han probably wouldn't have paid attention to young man, but ever since he noticed a few days ago that young man's behavior seemed a bit off, Director Wu Han began to silently observe him, up until today.

As a senior figure and director, Director Wu Han felt it was necessary to do something.

"Ning Hao, your state these past two days has been a bit off. What happened?"

"Nothing," Ning Hao said flatly, his tone cold.

Director Wu Han was unmoved.

"If you really have encountered something, tell me, I can help."

"No."

"I truly hope so, but your recent state has seriously affected the work progress. Continuing like this will only make things more troublesome, so you..."

"I said, no!" Ning Hao interrupted him: "I can handle my own affairs well, no need for Director Wu Han to worry."

Director Wu Han took a deep look at Ning Hao.

"I hope so."

Until Director Wu Han walked out the door, young man stood up, gently closed the door, and locked it. Then he returned to his seat and continued to sit there in deep thought, his index finger tapping lightly on the desktop, emitting a crisp knocking sound.

Just then, the phone rang. Ning Hao glanced at the phone, his expression deepening, and with a light flick, the ringtone stopped abruptly.

A moment later, the phone began to vibrate again.

Ning Hao hesitated for a moment, then pressed answer.

"Why didn't you answer the phone?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was steady and calm.

"I was busy with the matter you entrusted to me."

"How is the situation?"

"The progress is not very smooth." Ning Hao's tone was not very good.

"Heh." The voice on the other end of the phone laughed: "I'm afraid it's not that it's not smooth, but rather there is no progress, right? Ning Hao, I trust you because of your ability. If you disappoint me, then don't blame me for not fulfilling my promise."

"I am trying my best!" Ning Hao was angry: "Do you think this kind of thing is simple? If it were simple, why would you need to find me!"

The voice on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then said: "Remember your identity and our deal. I will give you one more week. If I still do not see results, the agreement is void."

"I can only say I will try my best!" Ning Hao said coldly: "Also, the difficulty this time has exceeded my estimation. You need to pay more!"

"How much do you want?" The voice remained calm.

"Previously you promised me two million, now I demand ten times the reward! And pay part of the reward in advance!"

"Good." The voice said: "Twenty million, two million paid in advance. When you hand the results over to me, the remaining money will be transferred to your account. You can rest assured about the origin, it is absolutely clean and orderly, but..."

The voice's tone was faint, but the words spoken still made Ning Hao shiver uncontrollably.

"If you cannot produce results within the time limit I set, then don't blame me for using some methods. Believe me, Ning Hao, it will definitely make you wish you were dead!"

The call ended.

Ning Hao trembled as he lit a cigarette for himself, completely forgetting the rule that smoking is not allowed in the research lab. The more decisive the other party was, the more it proved that this thing was very important. He believed that if he couldn't produce it, the consequences would be absolutely miserable. After all, no one likes someone who is incompetent and very greedy, especially since he held a large amount of dark information about this person in his hands.

After a long time, Ning Hao finally calmed down, his expression indifferent, as if he had completely forgotten what the voice had said. He rubbed his somewhat stiff face, trying hard to get himself excited.

He refilled his coffee, connected his phone to the computer, and quickly backed up and encrypted the recording file he had just made. Only then did Ning Hao open the drawer, find a very inconspicuous key in the corner, and open a locked drawer on the side.

Inside the drawer, there was only a USB drive with a common shape.

Ning Hao had a strange expression. He hesitated for a long time, but still took the USB drive out, plugged it into his computer, and then looked at the icon that seemed unchanging for ten thousand years that popped up on the desktop, unable to help but feel a headache.

If he had known it would be like this, why did he make such solemn promises in the beginning?

Saying there was no program he couldn't crack, talking about strength matching value; now it was great, the USB drive's value had increased tenfold, but his ability had not increased tenfold. Regarding the USB drive in front of him, he was still empty-handed and at his wit's end.

This thing was like a turtle retracted into a steel shell; he couldn't find even a sliver of a gap to exploit—even though he had exhausted all methods, this thing remained motionless, and that childish icon seemed to be mocking his incompetence.

Ning Hao was very confident in his own strength, but the experience of staying up late for several consecutive days made him understand that sometimes... effort does not equal success.

This thing... is simply not Science. Ning Hao even suspected whether this thing was made by someone specifically to tease him. If it weren't for the employer's determined attitude, Ning Hao probably would have been furious long ago.

Calm down, Ning Hao, calm down, you can do it.

Ning Hao gulped down a large mouthful of coffee, forcing himself to think of a strategy.

If there is no problem with the USB drive itself, then the problem... must be with himself or the program itself.

His professional ability level is absolutely fine. Even if he encounters advanced foreign encryption technology, he can still catch a glimpse of it, or even crack it.

Then... it must be a problem with this program?