Chapter 2088: Dr. Wu and Mr. Landau
Xu Huo looked at the red "No Access" text that appeared after entering the password. "I've got the photo of the burglar, but I can't find the main company executives' information. Probably two more tries and it'll trigger an internal alarm."
"This is a bit difficult," Meng Wenguang said. "We don't even know exactly what we're looking for. 9:17 isn't a special time."
"Since everything in this city is based on reality, if we want to understand the boss, we could ask the employees," Feng Hui suggested from the side.
"The people here might just be a string of data in the game, not necessarily fully fleshed out. Maybe they're just repeating the same day over and over without any other variables." Meng Wenguang thought the chances were slim. "We don't have much time. It's better to record as much data as possible. If this is really an instance, there's no way it recorded the entire history of Pumpkin City over the past few decades. We can just use the last few days."
Xu Huo took out a recorder to capture recent activities and changes related to Little Star Company and the city government, as well as a city summary of Pumpkin City. Even just this part, a single day's worth was massive. He could only record while memorizing.
Of course, to investigate the boss of Little Star Company, he didn't have to rely solely on internal sources. He could also look at the movements of other companies, such as Liming Company, which was about to collaborate with Little Star.
The database had records of this company. It was in the same industry as Little Star, but with different areas of expertise. Little Star had more successful technological breakthroughs, while Liming excelled in hardware. Installing signal posts was actually part of the preparatory work for the city defense barrier recently promoted through their collaboration. It was said that upon completion, it would not only allow for decentralized control of aerial defense but also enable Little Star to truly remotely control the entire Pumpkin City. By combining data collection and spatial segmentation control, the company's main control system could fully predict and prevent crime in advance.
This sounded more like the model of a dimension game.
One of the selling points of this project was three-dimensional simulation, with the later focus being collaboration with several major game companies.
Xu Huo looked at the parameters of the signal posts, compared them with those of other companies in the same industry, and confirmed that the biggest use of this project was personnel control, with the profit focus also being on games. Although the model was somewhat similar to dimension games, the technology was far from reaching that level.
Of course, just because it couldn't be achieved now didn't mean it wouldn't be in the future. Perhaps a certain technological breakthrough or the discovery of a new material would be the butterfly flapping its wings.
Dr. Wu couldn't really just be trying to talk about the birth of dimension games, could he?
Not long after, the members of the control room returned one after another. Someone brought food for the staff on duty. Xu Huo could no longer continue his disguise and had to leave early.
After coming out, he didn't go to meet up with Meng Wenguang and the others. Instead, he went to look for the offices of "Dr. Wu" and the other boss.
The boss's office was easy to find, but it was more decorative than functional. Aside from some luxury items and game equipment, there was basically nothing else, and the boss wasn't there either.
Dr. Wu's office was even harder to find. According to a staff member, the doctor's office was the company's highest secret, using all currently available anti-theft devices, plus the doctor's own developed sensing devices. Unless someone's identity was pre-registered, no one could enter.
In this scenario, it was naturally impossible to witness Little Star Company's cutting-edge technology. Xu Huo was just trying his luck to see if he could meet "Dr. Wu." Unexpectedly, as soon as he approached the area, a middle-aged man wearing glasses walked out from the corner of the corridor. He was signing documents with a pen while talking to someone behind him.
"I'm not good at business matters. Let Landau decide on these."
"Mr. Landau said you are also one of the company's decision-makers. Any company matter should be reviewed by you before being signed and stamped," the secretary-dressed man said with a smile. "Mr. Landau also said he thinks you might still be angry. He didn't dare to come see you himself, Doctor."
Dr. Wu's expression relaxed a bit. "As long as he doesn't sell my technology to arms dealers, how could I be angry with him?"
The secretary smiled apologetically, took the signed documents, and said, "You look tired. Why don't you knock off early today and go home to spend time with Xiao Ling?"
Hearing the name "Xiao Ling," the doctor's expression became very gentle, but after a moment, he shook his head. "That child is sensible. He won't make a fuss about wanting his dad. It's fine to go back a little later."
The secretary disagreed. "The child must miss you in his heart. Work will never be finished. You can do it tomorrow."
Dr. Wu was noncommittal and changed the subject. "You go ahead and get busy. I'll grab a bite at the cafeteria."
Dr. Wu's voice quickly faded from the corridor, and he happened to run into Meng Wenguang and Feng Hui, who were coming down from the other side. After meeting, the two stepped aside, but the doctor didn't pay them any attention, looking down at the road as he quickly walked away.
"Who was that?" Meng Wenguang asked.
"Dr. Wu," Xu Huo said. "He's heading to the cafeteria."
That went without saying—they had to follow and take a look. After all, even if they couldn't gather information from "Dr. Wu," who knew if "Dr. Wu" was actually "Dr. Wu"? This wasn't just about the birth of the Perfect Potion; it could also be the rise of the founder of the Star Group.
The three of them followed Dr. Wu to the cafeteria. After he silently finished his meal alone, they watched him return to his workshop. They didn't enter the workshop. Xu Huo made a passing employee trip and fall, which triggered an alarm. The security team immediately rushed over, and all the hidden doors in the workshop and the surrounding corridors began to close.
After it was confirmed to be a misunderstanding, the alarm stopped, and other personnel resumed normal work, but the employee who tripped was taken away.
Xu Huo and the others might not be noticed, but forcing their way in would likely cause the company to suspend operations. 9:17 was still a future that hadn't happened. It was best not to disrupt the order of this space.
They didn't intend to, but that didn't mean others could patiently wait.
Just an hour later, two players broke into the company, trying to force their way into the workshop. They had already been to the office of the boss who looked very much like the chairman of Star Group. Not finding him there, they set their sights on Dr. Wu.
Little Star Company's security team was skilled at dealing with intruders, but players were beings that shouldn't exist in this time and space. Xu Huo exchanged a glance with Meng Wenguang, and they split up, each forcibly dragging one of the intruders out of the company.
The group of five arrived at a relatively empty street. One of the men, sallow and thin, had a fierce look in his eyes and immediately attacked Meng Wenguang, aiming to kill. The one Xu Huo was dealing with was much more docile. He didn't resist at all, simply going limp and kneeling on the ground, looking up at Xu Huo with pleading eyes. "Give me something to eat. If I don't get any food soon, I'm going to start eating people!"
(Chapter End)