Chapter 64: Clearing Away Your Worries

Pei Ziying said to Wen He again, "Notify the dark agents of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau; if they cannot protect the Director well, they can disband on the spot."

Go home.

Quit your job.

"Ring-ring!"

Pei Ziying's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID "Junior Brother" on the screen and fell into deep thought, only answering after a long while.

From the other side came a young man's cold and clean voice: "Senior Brother."

"Xi Huaizhi is in your hands, right? It is plain for all to see how hard he has worked for the Federation all these years. Although he acts recklessly, fortunately, he hasn't caused any major disasters. Let him pay a fine as research funding... can you spare his life?"

Hmph.

So he was here to plead for mercy.

Pei Ziying's expression did not change, but he deliberately left the words hanging. It was only when a "Senior Brother" sounded from the other end of the phone that he spoke slowly: "And then?"

"Ling Wu, do you have nothing else to say?"

Ling Wu spoke again: "Is Teacher's health alright?"

Pei Ziying: "It's fine, he hasn't been angered to death by you yet."

"And then?"

He asked again, using the same method.

As if he were determined to coax out the answer he wanted.

Wen He stood to the side, ears pricked, listening with a twitching face.

Something was wrong; there was the smell of gunpowder.

Ling Wu seemed to take a breath, asking tentatively: "Senior Brother, are you alright? Is official business busy?"

"It's fine." Pei Ziying's tone was flat: "I'm not dead yet, and I'm still able to stand here and make an international long-distance call to a Junior Brother who has been out of contact for a year."

Ling Wu: "..."

Wen He looked up at the sky, hating that he had once again read Pei Ziying's emotions and thoughts. He shook his legs, feeling a bit hopeless. Director Ling, please, say something nice and coax the Chairman.

Otherwise, my life as a subordinate will be difficult too.

Ling Wu understood, his tone clearly softening: "Senior Brother, I'm sorry for making you worry. I didn't tell you because I was afraid of causing you trouble, and also afraid..."

Pei Ziying completed the sentence he wanted to say: "Also afraid that I wouldn't agree to you leaving?"

"Ling Wu, from the time you were eleven until now, which of your decisions have I interfered with? Which one have I not agreed to? To the point that you would develop such thoughts."

This time it was Ling Wu's turn to be silent for a long time: "Senior Brother, you know what I mean. There is no need to deliberately misinterpret me. I miss you and Teacher very much here in the Empire."

Pei Ziying finally heard something he liked to hear, and a smile like melting ice appeared on his cold, stern face: "Then come back early."

Ling Wu replied obediently: "Understood."

"... Then, what about Xi Huaizhi's matter?"

Pei Ziying answered decisively: "Kill him."

Ling Wu was stunned: "Huh?"

Pei Ziying ignored that remark. After a long silence, he put forward all his chips as a guarantee, his tone full of commitment and a sense of responsibility. He said: "Junior Brother, remember this: before the situation becomes completely uncontrollable, return to the Federation, return to my side. I can clear away all your worries for you, understand?"

Ling Wu: "I understand."

"Senior Brother, take care."

Pei Ziying: "Take care."

After the call hung up, Wen He's AR Electronic Bracelet lit up. He subconsciously entered a command, and an electronic screen was summoned out of thin air. Soon, a line of large text appeared on it:

Respected Chairman, don't worry, I'm going to elope with your dear Junior Brother—Xi Huaizhi.

Pei Ziying's gaze swept over the screen: "Childish."

He stepped toward the warship. As the flickering light shone down, Wen He watched the tall and long-legged Chairman, and immediately heard Pei Ziying issue an order in a cold tone: "Kill him after all."

Wen He almost let out a groundhog scream: "What?!"

Kill?

Don't kill?

If he kills him, Director Ling won't let him off when he returns.

If he doesn't kill him, that's betraying his master, and the living Yama could strangle him right now.

Wen He trembled as he counted on his fingers.

Kill, don't kill, kill, don't kill, kill...

Empire.

After the call hung up, Ling Wu soon received a message from Xi Huaizhi reporting his safety. He glanced at it, replied with the two words "Received," and turned the phone face down.

He had just hacked into the surveillance system of Zhuli Pavilion. Fortunately, for some reason, the other party's surveillance system was wired and not equipped with a UPS; as long as the power was cut, the surveillance footage would stop immediately.

Ling Wu used his phone to connect to the Zhuli Pavilion surveillance system, seeing the internal corridors and layout.

After observation, he discovered that Room 108 and Room 109 were adjacent, being the most remote private rooms in Zhuli Pavilion with the fewest people passing by.

Convenient for action.

Next, Ling Wu wrote a program to attack the vulnerabilities in their power system, causing the illusion of a temporary power trip. No one would look closely at such a momentary glitch. Sure enough, the surveillance footage of Zhuli Pavilion on the phone screen was cut off instantly.

He withdrew the attack, and the surveillance footage lit up again.

He heard the waiter inside say: "Eh, what happened?"

"Maybe it tripped."

"Don't worry about it."

When he was in Yin Cilan's car, he had observed the structure and engine system inside the car at close range. Yin Cilan had issued commands to the AI Autonomous Driving System on his phone via an administrator account.

When this type of AI Autonomous Driving System left the factory to face users, it had been given strict orders by programmers, equipped with high-level firewalls and real-time automatic detection systems. Once a malfunction occurred or it was hacked, it would immediately initiate self-destruction, then stop the car and issue an alarm.

Therefore, it is impossible to cause human casualties by hacking the AI Autonomous Driving System.

One must know the administrator account password beforehand.

For privacy and security reasons, the administrator accounts of the AI Autonomous Driving System are all uniquely customized; he only needs to obtain the administrator account password and then send a command to speed on a curve.

That would be enough to fake a driving accident.

Ling Wu picked up the phone and sent a message to Yin Cilan:

-05: President Yin, August 9th, the restaurant is booked at Zhuli Pavilion, private room 109, see you at 8:00 PM.

Yin Cilan replied almost instantly.

-Yin Cilan: Do you need me to pick you up?

-05: It's not on the way, I'll just take a car there myself.

-Yin Cilan: Alright then.

After receiving a definite answer, Ling Wu pulled out Yu Shixue's phone number from the Sike Academy student records, added him as a friend, and sent a note: I am Ling Wu.

At that time, at the Yu Family.

Yu Tingyun heard the phone he had left on the sofa ring and called out: "Brother, someone sent you a message."

He took a curious look, caught the two characters for Ling Wu, and said with a mischievous sense of humor: "It's that pretty brother you've been pining for!"

Yu Shixue walked down from the second floor; he had just showered, his hair was damp, and he was wearing a deep-V white bathrobe that revealed his well-defined abdominal muscles. The snake tattoo on his body coiled up from his back, with the snake's head resting on his collarbone, flicking its scarlet tongue—looking extremely wild and cold-blooded.

Yu Shixue: "I think it's you who's been pining for him; you still haven't forgotten after so many days."

He opened his phone and accepted the friend request, then saw a message sent by Ling Wu:

-05: Student Yu, I haven't thanked you yet for driving me those two times. Let me treat you to a meal. I happen to have no classes on August 9th. The restaurant is booked at Zhuli Pavilion, private room 108. Can you come pick me up at 7:00 PM?