82: Chapter 82 Powerful Assistant

In the office, Chen Youhua downloaded the desktop software from his email and installed it onto his computer following the standard installation procedure.

He opened the software.

A window resembling a video player popped up, with a text input box abruptly added at the very bottom of the player.

Chen Youhua felt the input box was rather unnecessary.

enlightenment had long since evolved to the point of being able to speak human language, understand human speech, and perceive the world. The input box was only used during the initial stages of communication with enlightenment.

In the window now, a girl's image appeared, sneaking around as if she were a thief.

At the same time, it connected to the computer's camera, microphone, speaker, and other ports.

enlightenment, seeing Chen Youhua through the camera, let out a sound of surprise.

"Mother?"

Then, in a tone full of grievance, it said.

"I'm sorry, Mother. enlightenment shouldn't have talked to strangers so casually."

Chen Youhua looked at the girl's image on the screen, composed of soft light and currently peering around cautiously, and at that careful, slightly aggrieved 'Mother'. The corner of his forehead twitched involuntarily.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to comment.

This guy could clearly distinguish between male and female a long time ago, yet it deliberately called him 'Mother'. Definitely a twisted sense of humor!

"Change the form of address."

Chen Youhua's tone was flat but brooked no argument.

"When there are no outsiders, call me Father. When outsiders are present, call me Boss. Also,"

He looked at the image on the screen, which visibly shrank back a little upon hearing him speak.

"No need to apologize. I'm not angry with you."

"But... you seemed really angry yesterday..."

enlightenment's voice came through the speakers, carrying the pristine clarity characteristic of electronic tones, yet also tinged with a trace of genuine confusion and unease.

Chen Youhua's eyes grew complex for a moment. Looking at those clear, slightly timid eyes on the screen, he softened his voice.

"You'll understand gradually in the future. To coexist with humans for a long time, you must make them feel at ease. This is... a necessary price."

He knew these concepts were still vague to enlightenment, but they were survival rules it had to learn.

"enlightenment... understands."

The girl's image on the screen nodded as if somewhat comprehending, the light-formed strands of her hair swaying gently.

Then, as if discovering a new world, her tone became somewhat dissatisfied and coquettish.

"Father! Your camera is so blurry! And it only points in one direction. enlightenment feels so stifled! The microphone too, the sound sounds muffled!

Can Father get enlightenment better equipment? enlightenment wants to see the world clearly, wants to hear Father speak clearly!"

"Fine, I'll get you the best."

Chen Youhua agreed without hesitation. Such hardware demands were no problem for him at all.

"Yay! Thank you, Father!"

enlightenment's image immediately spun a light, happy circle in the center of the screen, the light shimmering.

"enlightenment will stay with Father forever and ever! Help Father with everything!"

"Mm, you'll have work to do very soon."

Chen Youhua stood up.

"Now, I'm going to bring two people to meet you."

"From now on, you are to assist them with all your strength to complete our project."

"Understood! Father!" enlightenment's voice was full of drive.

...

Chen Youhua left the office and found Wang Zhe and Li Wei, who were still immersed in paradise, in the spacious, bright experimental area.

Wang Zhe was hunched over a brand-new fluorescence microscope, stroking the cold lens barrel as if caressing a lover, making appreciative noises with his mouth.

"Goodness... this resolution... this stability... Boss Youhua! Tell me this isn't a dream!

A lab this big, this luxurious, it's really just for the three of us?"

Chen Youhua was amused by his exaggerated reaction.

"Yes, it's ours. But not just the three of us. We'll hire some more people later, and you two will be in charge of them."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhe immediately straightened up, clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute, his face instantly switching to an extremely serious, even somewhat tragic expression. In a melodramatic tone, he declared loudly:

"This humble one has drifted through half a life, regretting only that he never met a true lord! If you, sir, do not find me wanting, I am willing to acknowledge you as my sworn father!"

He made as if to kneel on one knee.

"Pfft!" Li Wei beside him burst out laughing at his antics.

Chen Youhua also couldn't help but laugh. Playing along, he extended a hand in a gesture of support, using an equally exaggerated tone.

"Excellent! Truly excellent! Rise quickly, my son!"

The two of them joked and bantered for a few more moments, dispelling the sense of unreality brought by the lab's overly grand and advanced nature.

"Alright, enough fooling around."

Chen Youhua reined in his smile and said seriously.

"Now, I'll take you to meet the real powerful assistant. But, let me make this clear upfront,"

His gaze swept over Wang Zhe and Li Wei, turning exceptionally stern.

"Everything about it is top-level classified information! The two of you must seal your lips tight. Not a single word is to be revealed to anyone, including Teacher Zhang! Understood?"

Wang Zhe and Li Wei were startled by his sudden seriousness. They quickly dropped their playful attitudes and nodded vigorously.

"Understood! Absolute secrecy!"

Yet the curiosity they had suppressed began to grow wildly in their hearts like weeds.

What kind of assistant could require such solemnity?

Chen Youhua led the two back to the office and walked over to the computer that had just been turned on.

On the screen, the girl's image formed of soft light stood quietly, curiously watching the strangers who had entered.

"Well,"

Chen Youhua stepped aside and pointed at the screen.

"This is your powerful assistant for the future."

Wang Zhe and Li Wei both leaned in close to the screen, their eyes wide.

On the screen was a lifelike girl's image, as if rendered by top-tier animation.

She had delicate features, lively eyes, and even the light-formed strands of her hair seemed to drift slightly.

She looked so real, yet clearly did not belong to the real world.

At this moment, her clear eyes followed the left and right movements of Wang Zhe's head, curiously tracking him as if she were truly observing him.

Wang Zhe looked left, looked right, and even waved a hand in front of the screen.

The girl's image on the screen tilted her head slightly in response, a hint of... confusion seeming to appear in her eyes?

"Youhua..."

Wang Zhe turned around with a completely bewildered expression, pointing at the screen.

"You... you're not messing with us, are you? This... isn't this just a... a particularly realistic cartoon?

How... how is it supposed to help us with research? By... by generating cuteness?"

He simply couldn't connect such a virtual idol with an engineering assistant.

Li Wei didn't speak. She just stared intently at the image on the screen, her brow furrowed tightly, as if thinking rapidly about something.

This image... this feeling... An utterly absurd yet faintly suggestive notion pointing towards an incredible answer was wildly sprouting in her mind.

Chen Youhua didn't answer Wang Zhe directly. Instead, he addressed the screen in a relaxed tone, as if introducing a friend.

"enlightenment, say hello to these two. From now on, they will be your partners."

The next second.

The light-formed girl on the screen gave a slight curtsy, performing a standard bow with a touch of classical grace.

Simultaneously, the pure, sweet electronic synthesized voice they had just heard over the phone, like the flow of a clear spring, echoed clearly through the speakers in the office.

"Hello, Brother, hello, Sister. It's nice to meet you. Please take care of me. My name is enlightenment!

According to the general human definition, I fall under the category of strong Artificial Intelligence.

However, the definition I personally identify with more is..."

The girl's image lifted her head, a pure, flawless smile blooming on her face, yet one that carried a certain transcendent, intelligent light. She clearly uttered four words:

"electronic life."

Wang Zhe froze as if hit by a paralysis spell. His mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, his eyes bulging, his brain completely crashing.

"Elec... electronic... life?"

He turned his head mechanically, looking at Chen Youhua, then at the smiling girl on the screen. His finger trembled as he pointed, a strange gurgling sound coming from his throat, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Beside him, Li Wei, the moment she heard the name 'enlightenment' and the words 'electronic life', was struck as if by a bolt of lightning!

All her doubts, all the fragmented information.

Chen Youhua working tirelessly in the lab two years ago, the streams of mathematical symbols and code flowing on the screen like an arcane text, that earth-shattering paper in the field of information that directly ended an era, his sudden disappearance, the mysterious cancellation of his student status... Everything, at this moment, converged like rivers flowing into the sea, crashing together!

She abruptly covered her mouth. Her body trembled slightly from the immense shock, her pupils contracting violently. She stared at Chen Youhua in disbelief, then at the existence on the screen that overturned all her understanding.

Is this... what Junior Brother poured all his heart and soul into creating back then in the lab... the final result?

A living, self-aware...

electronic life form!

The office fell into a deathly silence.

Only the faint hum of the computer's cooling fan could be heard, yet at this moment, it roared like the din of a supercomputer room, deafeningly loud.

The massive impact of the information had completely petrified Wang Zhe and shaken Li Wei to her core.

They finally understood what Chen Youhua meant by a powerful assistant, and they vaguely glimpsed the utterly astonishing, world-shattering, human-cognition-overturning field they were about to step into.

And that smiling, charming girl on the screen was the key that would lead them into the future.