Chapter 79: The Lonely Master of 3660

He got into a black SUV with Zhou Dongyun.

The weather made it unnecessary to raise the windows, but after Zhou Dongyun nodded, the driver rolled up the dark glass. A closer look revealed a mesh of metallic lines embedded in it; this moving fortress was clearly fitted with electromagnetic shielding.

Zhou Dongyun adjusted her large black-framed glasses, the sort that gave her a distinctly anime-like look, and said, “I was a little too worked up last time. I got offended after being provoked and was rude. I took a lot of things for granted. Don’t take it personally.”

In truth, with that animeish appearance of hers, she was as approachable as a little girl, so of course no one would hold it against her. Little Ma gave a slight nod.

Zhou Dongyun went on, “You don’t need to stay so guarded. I promise there’s no misunderstanding between us. I’m not here to catch you in anything. I’m intruding on you because I’ve really run into some difficult problems. Please forgive me.”

Little Ma nodded again.

Only then did Zhou Dongyun take a computer out of the shielding case, turn it on, and hand it to him. “Take a look at what’s on it.”

Little Ma stared at the screen in a daze, thinking to himself that he had never seen a system like this before. What was he supposed to make of it? Was this another one of those full-set traps?

Zhou Dongyun knew the boy was putting on an act again. With a helpless look, she adjusted her oversized black frames and began typing with her long, nimble fingers.

Little Ma grew distracted once more. For some reason, whenever he was in contact with Zhou Dongyun, things felt strange. Especially after hearing those particular sounds of keys being struck, it was as though he had stumbled into something familiar, something he had dreamed of before.

Certain fragments, long silent in his mind, slowly began to surface.

After a while, Zhou Dongyun had filled the screen with code and exposed the entire underlying environment. She set the computer on Little Ma’s lap and said, “Take a look.”

Seeing that he was still dazed and unresponsive, she said, “Look. There’s no need to be wary. This matter has not yet come into the open; it hasn’t even become a formal case. There’s no talk of leaking secrets or anything like that.”

When he still gave no reaction, Zhou Dongyun reached out and nudged him.

Only then did Little Ma come back to himself. He lowered his head, took one look, and frowned slightly.

This was not because Little Ma wanted to show off to her, but because he genuinely had a faint sense that this body was taking an interest in something, or perhaps worrying about something.

After a moment, Little Ma closed the computer and handed it back. “I have a little feeling for it, but the markings aren’t clear enough. I need to see more.”

“It really is you. I had my suspicions last time, but now I’m sure.” Zhou Dongyun looked genuinely surprised.

Little Ma frowned a little and stared at her.

She stuck out her tongue and said, “Don’t mind me. This is just my own little verification. It doesn’t mean anything, and it certainly doesn’t represent any official view.”

Little Ma gave a slight nod. “If you don’t plan to let me see it, then stop the car now.”

“If I didn’t plan to let you see it, I wouldn’t have come to find you. Come with me,” Zhou Dongyun said. “I mean no offense, but before we go in, you’ll need to hand over all of your electronic devices. You can get them back when we leave.”

Little Ma was indifferent and gave another slight nod.

Much later, they were in an underground hall crowded with people and screens everywhere.

At the center were countless workstations, with technicians constantly moving through the space or typing at their terminals.

Little Ma found the scene, or rather the atmosphere, strangely familiar. Once again, his whole being seemed to jolt as he searched his memory.

At the same time, there was an unusual scent in the air, as though the special smell of a dedicated cooling system had seeped into it. That body instinctively knew that somewhere here there must be a matrix of GPUs or CPUs, providing formidable computing power.

Once the word matrix and computing power came to mind, Little Ma felt the sense of familiarity deepen. In some years of the Great Demon King’s life, he had stayed in places and environments much like this, working on some grand undertaking.

And yet he still could not remember what it was.

He shook his head and then saw a familiar, beautiful woman. He never expected to run into Prosecutor Zhen Yuqi in a place like this.

Clearly, though, this was not her domain. Like Little Ma, she wore a visitor badge and was chatting and laughing with a handsome man who had a pair of small mustaches.

What a miserable sight. Clearly, this was not the kind of place where simply showing up would solve things by having someone install some magical fix. So Little Ma leaned toward Zhou Dongyun and said, “I’m scared half to death. Why did you bring me here?”

“It’s not just you. Many top people in the industry, myself included, are here. It’s not that mysterious, so don’t let the roundabout way I spoke earlier frighten you. This is a company, at least on the surface, and it’s not some illegal operation either. For now, just think of it as a seminar forum for analyzing business models,” Zhou Dongyun said.

She really was like that little girl: not beautiful, but so naturally approachable that people instinctively trusted her. Little Ma could only nod. “I can’t promise I’ll be of much help.”

Zhou Dongyun looked grateful. “I understand. You’re a lonely expert, the kind who installs special systems for a beautiful boss, and I’m not even paying your salary. The fact that you came already gives me face. If you don’t mind that I’m plain-looking, then I’ll treat you to a late-night meal after this is over as thanks.”

“You’re not plain-looking. You’re cute, all right?” Little Ma liked her warmth, and the atmosphere gradually lightened.

“Come with me. I’ll show you something.” Zhou Dongyun, making no attempt to avoid suspicion, took his hand and led Little Ma into the hall toward one of the workstations.

By sheer coincidence, it was the very spot where Zhen Yuqi had been chatting with the man with the small mustache.

“Huh...”

Zhen Yuqi turned by chance and looked surprised, not knowing why Little Ma was in a place like this.

She seemed excited, as though she had discovered a new continent. To be standing here with the famous Zhou Dongyun gave him an oddly high-end, prestigious feeling.

The mustached man was immediately displeased at the sight of a handsome young man. He had practically been about to make plans to hit the nightclubs later tonight with her, and now that pretty little decorative pillow had come along, Zhen Yuqi was staring at him nonstop?

“Teacher Zhou, is this the person you brought? Someone like him... seems suited only to youth soap operas. In a place that calls for intelligence and learning, is it really appropriate to bring him?” the mustached man said sourly.

Even Zhen Yuqi was left half-agape by that. Making such a mocking face, she had truly never seen anyone reason like this.

Zhou Dongyun did not mind. As if she understood the mustached man’s character well, she said, “Enough. Rein in that temper of yours and say less.”

The mustached man did not even give Zhou Dongyun face, sneering, “This isn’t your territory, and I don’t report to you. If Teacher Zhou doesn’t like it, she can leave on her own. If you insist on bringing in the people you’ve stuffed in here, they can even be assigned to cleaning. Anyway, most of the staff here are useless people inserted through various connections. One more or one less makes no difference.”

“You...” Even with her good temper, Zhou Dongyun frowned.

Little Ma thought it over, then leaned closer to Zhen Yuqi and whispered, “Your mustached friend is an idiot, isn’t he?”

Zhen Yuqi was instantly drenched in cold sweat and hurriedly followed his lead. “No, I just met him. He’s not my friend.”

Zhou Dongyun no longer wanted to waste time dragging this out here, so she took Little Ma by the hand and said, “Come on, let’s go over there.”

“Take care.”

The mustached man seemed utterly unconcerned. He really could not solve the problem here, but he was certain that if he and Zhou Dongyun could not solve it, then no one could.

Zhen Yuqi was sharp enough to read the room and decisively left with Ma Weimin and the others.

At that, a dark glint flashed through the mustached man’s eyes. Yet it had to be admitted that in this looks-obsessed world, being handsome really did confer an advantage. It was because of these slick, pretty-faced parasites that the legion of high-IQ shut-ins ended up crying their eyes out.