*Imperial Garden Florist*
Under the hazy evening sky, Xu Zhongsheng sat alone in a pavilion, the faint glow of a small charcoal stove illuminating his face. The reddish light, devoid of any technological elents, lent an atmosphere reminiscent of ancient tis.
A faint **beep-beep** interrupted the serene scene.
Without a change in expression, Xu Zhongsheng, dressed in simple white attire, calmly placed a perfectly asured tea bag into a clay pot. After adding water and placing it on the stove, he finally looked up. His fingers tapped the air three tis in quick succession.
A semicircular tea-colored screen appeared before him, displaying the anxious face of a stocky man with short hair.
“Boss, sothing’s wrong!” the man blurted. “Sothing just happened—just now!”
“How many tis have I told you? Stay calm. No matter the situation, keep a level head. Panic will only lead to mistakes,” Xu Zhongsheng said evenly, his tone devoid of urgency. “Now, tell —what is so important that it warrants disturbing during this ti?”
This hour was Xu Zhongsheng’s designated period for introspection and relaxation. He had made it clear to his subordinates that only critical ergencies justified an interruption.
For Yu Wengang to defy this rule ant the matter must be extraordinarily severe.
“It’s Iron Peak Corporation! Their headquarters was just attacked! Zheng Kai’s son, Zheng Jiayu, was killed—right in front of dozens of ard guards! No one knows exactly how it happened, but he’s definitely dead!” Yu Wengang’s voice trembled with a mix of shock and disbelief.
“We had only just lured those three Iron Peak n toward Sindra’s group, and now this happens… it’s unreal!”
“The attacker broke through while surrounded by guards—there were interference grenades, and even a half-cyborg tried to stop him! But none of it worked! That guy—he’s a monster!” Yu Wengang’s voice rose as he recounted the events, his own blood surging with adrenaline.
“A true one-man army,” he muttered, almost in awe.
“Do we know who they are?” Xu Zhongsheng asked, his expression as placid as ever.
“There’s no way to be sure. They wore no identifiable insignia and didn’t match any standard cyborg model. It might be an experintal unit from one of the autonomous gacities,” Yu Wengang speculated.
“An autonomous city?” Xu Zhongsheng mused. “Sindra hails from White Star’s Ebeth. Could it be one of their latest prototypes?”
“Boss, aren’t you even a little shocked by this?” Yu Wengang asked, bewildered by Xu’s composure.
“Shocked? Why should I be? It has nothing to do with us,” Xu Zhongsheng replied with a faint smile. He picked up a blood-red jade teacup, holding it up to the moonlight to admire the intricate veins and inscriptions etched into its surface.
“Does anyone know we were involved? No.
“All we did was apply a bit of gentle guidance. Humans are wonderfully predictable creatures. A small push is all it takes to make them do exactly what you want. They’re far more effective than artificial intelligence in that regard.”
“You’re brilliant, Boss!” Yu Wengang quickly flattered, understanding the subtle genius behind Xu’s thods. Without Xu’s expert manipulation and technological obfuscation, their involvent would have been much easier to trace.
“For now, all we know about the attacker is that they wore black and purple armor with impressive durability. Their speed and strength weren’t exceptional, but their weapons—those two golden blades—were razor-sharp, cutting through everything,” Yu Wengang said, uploading a short video clip.
---
The footage displayed Iron Peak Corporation’s Sunshine Tower.
With a thunderous **boom**, the building’s gate exploded, and a dark figure charged in, brazenly ignoring security systems and patrol zones. The figure smashed into the glass doors of the entrance hall, shattering them into countless shards.
The video ended abruptly.
Xu Zhongsheng replayed the clip multiple tis, slowing it down to scrutinize every fra.
“Armor and enhancents are passable—slightly stronger than a fully modified cyborg. But those golden swords—what are they made of?” he muttered.
“No idea. The next part happens in Iron Peak’s signal-jamming zone,” Yu Wengang explained. “Within three minutes, the attacker eliminated Zheng Jiayu on the 34th floor and escaped before the security division could arrive. It’s as if Iron Peak’s defenses were made of paper!”
“This was likely Sindra’s doing,” Xu Zhongsheng surmised. “That experintal model must be one of his hidden assets. Even after leaving the corporate world, he still has cards to play.”
Xu’s eyes lingered on the figure clad in black and purple armor.
“Perhaps this one could be a very sharp blade. If wielded correctly, it might accomplish quite a lot.”
“What about Kong Sicheng?” he asked abruptly.
“Iron Peak’s security forces were spread thin, handling other issues, and Kong Sicheng wasn’t at headquarters. If he had been, it would’ve been quite the spectacle,” Yu Wengang chuckled, imagining the chaos.
“Kong Sicheng has eliminated many of Iron Peak’s competitors. Ruthless, but often sloppy. He’ll have received word by now. Let’s see how Zheng Kai and Kong react,” Xu Zhongsheng said with a faint smile. “We might uncover sothing amusing, especially during this delicate period of the League’s inspections.”
---
Before he could finish his thought, the screen flickered and went dark. Yu Wengang’s face distorted briefly before being replaced by a chilling image: a grinning, cartoonish face drawn in stark white lines against a black background.
The face was composed of just three arcs: two for the eyes and one for the wide, eerie smile.
“**! Night Laugh Virus!” Xu Zhongsheng’s calm shattered as he slamd the table, his face twisting in fury. “That damned Sindra! He planted an auto-propagating Night Laugh Virus on that kid?! What the hell is this?!”
---
The Night Laugh Virus was infamous, once wreaking havoc across White Star’s systems overnight and causing trillions in losses. Even the most advanced AI system, **Societal Overseer**, had been helpless against it.
It had taken the combined efforts of several corporate giants and the world’s top cybersecurity experts two weeks to eliminate the virus from all but a few preserved samples.
For those without access to the counterasures, encountering the virus was a nightmare. Within seconds, infected devices would experience a thousandfold increase in computational load before crashing entirely.
---
As Xu Zhongsheng’s screen went black, every computerized device within the Imperial Garden Florist emitted faint blue smoke.
Their circuits had been fried.
---
anwhile, at **Hongjin Corporation**, a bored technician yawned and rubbed his eyes, barely registering the faint **beep** of an alarm before it stopped.
“What was that?” asked a female colleague, leaning over curiously.
“Nothing. Probably just a hiccup in the system,” he replied nonchalantly. “It’s the usual stuff. Chengyi asked for a quick location trace earlier—no big deal.”
“But that alarm—wasn’t it an auto-trigger? Should we check?” she pressed.
“Relax. The boss’s defense programs are running. Nothing can touch us,” he said dismissively.
The woman shrugged, settling back into her chair. The two exchanged a sly glance as the night wore on.
---
**Sunshine Tower, Iron Peak Corporation**
By 2 AM, the building was surrounded by police vehicles, their flashing lights reflecting in the steady drizzle. Hundreds of ard drones hovered above, their searchlights scanning the area like a swarm of vigilant bees.
Kong Sicheng stood among a group of corporate employees, his towering 1.9-ter fra exuding authority. Dressed in a fitted black-gray sweater that accentuated his muscular build, he carried a sleek black case emblazoned with the insignia of a **Flyer System**—a weapon reserved for licensed specialists.
---
Facing Kong Sicheng was Ding Zaocheng, one of Suiyang’s Deputy Security Chiefs and a mber of the League. Dressed in a tight black-and-red uniform, a long, dark-red blade strapped to his back, Ding was also a licensed technician—and ranked higher than Kong.
---
“You’re telling my boss’s son was killed—right here, in the heart of Suiyang’s ‘safest’ district—in just five minutes?!” Kong Sicheng growled, his eyes boring into Ding. “This is your idea of security?!”
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