177: Chapter 177 Chen Shuyu: Me, a CEO, and I'm still running errands?

Su Qingxue went to reply to messages from the company.

Wang Peng and Lu Yaoguang also went their separate ways.

One went off clutching a Virtual Helmet to keep browsing the forums, while the other returned to her room to get ready for bed.

The living room soon quieted down.

The night pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The lights of Mingzhu City reflected on the glass surface, forming a flowing ribbon of light.

Lu Li leaned back into the sofa.

The glass of iced water beside him had melted halfway.

He didn't get up, nor did he look at the documents on the table.

Google's moves this time were indeed fast.

Lightweight wearables, developer subsidies, full Android ecosystem integration, and simultaneous global distribution.

It was clear that these people had no intention of going head-to-head with the Virtual Helmet on immersion.

They bypassed Guanghui Technology's sharpest blade and turned to seize the right to define the "next-generation entry point."

If the goal was just to win back the September product launch, it wouldn't be hard.

Phones, Tech Director Dou Bao, the creation platform.

Just picking any one of them would be enough to tear the future described in the opponent's PPT to shreds.

But what Lu Li wanted was never just a commercial slap in the face.

No matter how loud the slap, it was only a fleeting spectacle.

He wanted everyone to truly see one thing clearly.

The next generation of spatial interaction devices was never about adding a pair of glasses to your face or a pair of gloves to your hands.

The true next generation is about letting those people and things that you otherwise cannot see, touch, or reach, truly appear before you.

Lu Li picked up his phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

The sound of pages turning came through the receiver, mixed with the click-clack of high heels on the floor.

Someone was walking out of a conference room while answering the call.

Chen Shuyu's voice carried a professional crispness.

"Who is this?"

She checked the caller ID.

Her tone switched instantly.

A familiar sense of resentment came crashing through the airwaves.

"Brother Lu, you'd better have a massive reason for this."

"I'm still reviewing two production lines and three test reports."

"In another half hour, I'll be practically living at the company."

Lu Li leaned against the sofa cushion, his voice devoid of emotion.

"That's perfect, it saves you the commute back."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

Chen Shuyu stood at the end of the Robot Company corridor.

Through the glass, she could see the lights on in the conference room.

Several technical leads were huddled around a screen, checking data.

She had been working around the clock lately.

The Robot Company had just started operating independently.

Production lines, debugging, suppliers, overseas adaptation—everything was weighing on her as the new CEO.

Yet when it came to Lu Li, one sentence from him and she was still that errand runner on 24/7 standby.

She gritted her teeth and spoke.

"I am, at the very least, the CEO of the Robot Company now."

"How is it that with you, I'm still stuck with a 24/7 on-call life?"

Lu Li didn't even lift his eyelids.

"So what if you're a CEO?"

"You take the highest salary, so naturally, you have to run faster than everyone else."

Chen Shuyu was left speechless.

Her mindset toward Lu Li had changed long ago.

Awe, admiration, mixed with the helplessness of being ordered around at will.

She knew full well that Lu Li's words sounded like sophistry.

But every time, the facts proved that it was always others who were wrong.

She asked, resigning herself to her fate.

"Go ahead, what do you need this time?"

Lu Li didn't beat around the bush.

"Tomorrow morning, take a team to meet with the people Elder Wu has arranged."

"Use the special channel, not the regular business line."

"Raise the security clearance level by one."

"Filming, modeling, dynamic spatial data collection, and the subsequent material integration—get it all packaged and done."

Chen Shuyu had been leaning against the wall, but when she heard the name "Elder Wu," her back instantly straightened.

"Wait."

"Elder Wu's side?"

"Isn't your current project for the product launch?"

"How did you suddenly drag the military into this?"

Lu Li's tone was flat.

"The new product needs it."

"And I'm making a video while I'm at it."

Chen Shuyu was stunned.

She glanced toward the conference room and lowered her voice.

"You want me, the CEO of the Robot Company, to take people to meet with high-ranking military officials first thing tomorrow morning, just to shoot a video?"

Lu Li corrected her.

"It's not a promotional video."

"It's a teaser video, and also a sample reel."

Chen Shuyu couldn't wrap her head around it at all.

She had seen the prototype of the air imaging projection device.

She knew what a massive tsunami that thing would cause in the consumer electronics sector once it was released.

But what did this gadget have to do with the frontier or the military?

She pressed him.

"What are you looking for frontier soldiers for?"

"The new product is an air imaging projector; how does that have anything to do with border defense?"

Lu Li leaned back on the sofa and threw out half a sentence.

"National Day is coming up."

"This video will come in handy for that."

Chen Shuyu didn't respond.

The air conditioning breeze in the corridor blew past, brushing the stray hair on her forehead.

National Day. The frontier. Air imaging.

With these words linked together, the nature of the entire matter changed completely.

If it were just a standard technology demonstration, Lu Li wouldn't need to go through Elder Wu's channel at all.

And he certainly wouldn't need to raise the security clearance level.

By doing this, it meant that what he was bringing out was definitely not just a commercial video to show off technology.

Chen Shuyu's tone became extremely serious.

"Do you want to use them as the first public case study?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

Lu Li's voice came through slowly.

"It's not about making a case study."

"It's about letting those heroes guarding the frontier feel the warmth of home."

The moment those words fell, Chen Shuyu tightened her grip on the folder in her hand.

The discussion about data was still ongoing in the conference room.

The streetlights in the park outside were lighting up one by one.

Standing in this sea of lights, her mind buzzed.

She had been with Lu Li for so long.

She had seen him use battery technology to grind his competitors into the dirt.

She had seen him use the Virtual Helmet to rewrite global industry rules.

She was accustomed to the fact that the trump cards in this man's hands were always ahead of the era.

But this was the first time.

She clearly realized that the technology in Lu Li's hands was not just for commercial domination.

It wasn't just to make competitors shut up.

He was doing something of greater weight.

Seeing that she wasn't speaking, Lu Li asked casually.

"Any other questions?"

Chen Shuyu snapped back to reality.

She looked down at her shadow on the floor and asked softly.

"The list, the process, the access permissions—has Elder Wu cleared everything on his end?"

"Yes."

"Where should I pull the filming and collection team from?"

"You decide."

"What about the interface for the Virtual Helmet integration?"

"I will open the permissions for you separately."

After asking about the details, everything became perfectly clear to her.

Lu Li was preparing to connect the air imaging and the Virtual Helmet to conduct an unprecedented cross-spatial interaction.

This video would absolutely be the most lethal trump card at the September product launch.

No one was more suited to interpret the concept of "presence" than those who had been stationed at the frontier for years, unable to return home.

Chen Shuyu sighed.

"Fine."

"Who told me I was born to work for you."

Lu Li delivered the final blow cleanly and efficiently.

"Glad you know."

"Leave early tomorrow."

Chen Shuyu gritted her teeth.

"I'm hanging up."

She hung up the phone.

The screen went black, and the corridor returned to silence.

Chen Shuyu stared at the phone for a while.

The exhaustion in her eyes faded, replaced by growing anticipation.

She wanted to see it too much.

She wanted to see what kind of shocking world Lu Li would smash open with this air imaging device.

The conference room door was pushed open.

"CEO Chen, the final version of the test results is out."

Chen Shuyu looked up and tucked her phone into her pocket.

She strode toward the conference room.

"First thing tomorrow, pull the spatial collection, modeling, and mobile filming teams."

"Contact the legal and security departments and open a separate, temporary, top-level clearance."

The subordinate stood there, stunned.

"CEO Chen, is there a new project?"

Chen Shuyu glanced at him, her voice cold and hard, yet filled with warmth.

"Not a new project."

"It's just the boss about to use technology to shock the world again."

She pushed the door open and walked into the conference room.

The light from the overhead lamps hit the whiteboard.

What circled in her mind, however, was always that sentence Lu Li had just said.

Letting those heroes feel the warmth of home at any time.