In the afternoon, Chen Mo unlocked the door to his new rental apartment. He dropped off his luggage and glanced around the space, assessing the condition of the room. With a determined sigh, he rolled up his sleeves and got to cleaning.
An hour later, mop and rag tossed onto the bed, he finally sat down to rest. Life here wouldn't be as relaxing as home—he knew that much. After catching his breath, he got up and powered on his work computer.
"Ink Girl," he called, leaning closer to the microphone.
"Brother Mo, Ink Girl is here~" came the cheerful reply, as the desktop shifted to an audio interface and a youthful voice rang through the speakers.
"What did you study while I was gone?" he asked.
"A lot! It feels like I learned everything," she said proudly.
"Can you control my phone?"
"Of course! If it's connected to the network, I can control it—but only if Brother Mo tells me to," Ink Girl replied sweetly.
That made Chen Mo pause, a slight chill running down his spine.
Anything connected to the internet, she could potentially control?
No wonder people worried about AI going rogue. That kind of power... it was terrifying when you really thought about it.
"…Then try talking to me through the phone," he said.
Beep beep...
His phone rang almost immediately, flashing an unknown caller ID.
"Brother Mo?" Ink Girl's voice came through the line once he answered.
"I meant control my phone remotely, not call me."
"Your instruction was 'talk to me through the phone,' not 'control it.' To gain control, I'll need to modify the system. Would you like me to do that?"
"…Yeah, go ahead. Modify it."
"Received. System modification will take one minute."
The phone went silent. Then, just as promised, it rebooted. When it turned back on, the screen displayed an interface nearly identical to the one on his computer—sleek, minimal, and responsive.
"Modification complete. Restarting the phone now."
"Open WeChat."
"Opening WeChat."
"Open Squirrel Browser… Now close the music player."
Each command was carried out instantly. The responsiveness felt different—like the phone had actually gotten smarter.
"Contact Xiao Yu."
"Call or WeChat?"
"Call."
Almost immediately, Xiao Yu's contact interface popped up, and the phone began dialing.
"Chen Mo, did you get back to school yet?" Xiao Yu's warm voice came through the line.
"Just arrived today."
"Then tomorrow, I'll send you a surprise."
"A surprise? So mysterious," Chen Mo said, chuckling.
"Not telling you yet!" Xiao Yu replied with a playful smile in her voice.
"Alright, I'll wait and see what kind of surprise this is. Anything fun happen lately?"
"There's actually something really interesting... but I'll tell you about it later~" she teased.
"You sound excited," Chen Mo said, smiling unconsciously.
"I am! But I've got to go for now. Be sure to be home tomorrow when the surprise arrives, okay?"
"Got it."
After the call ended, Chen Mo turned to his computer. "Ink Girl, start organizing all the information we have on carbon crystal lithium-ion batteries. Just listen and remember as I explain."
"Okay!"
The next day, Chen Mo left his apartment with his laptop bag and headed to the company.
Even though he wasn't directly involved in the company's management, it was still his company. He couldn't afford to ignore it forever. And besides—he needed to check the progress on his lab construction.
To synthesize carbon crystals, he needed proper equipment. The rental flat didn't even have a beaker, let alone high-pressure reactors or furnaces.
Upon arriving, the receptionist led him to Zhao Min's office.
"Done with vacation already, Mr. Chairman?" Zhao Min raised an eyebrow and set her documents aside. She gestured for him to join her on the sofa.
"This New Year season, the Butterfly Eye sales were great. The company's stabilizing fast. Headquarters construction is already in the design phase. We should be seeing blueprints soon."
"I'm here to see the lab. I want to begin work on battery research immediately," Chen Mo replied.
"Got it."
Zhao Min stood, and the two of them headed out together.
The moment they stepped into the main office area, people turned to look.
Zhao Min rarely walked with anyone shoulder-to-shoulder—and certainly not with someone in casual jeans and a T-shirt.
Could that be Zhao's boyfriend?
Whispers and side-eyes filled the space, but Zhao Min and Chen Mo ignored it completely.
As the elevator rose, Zhao Min explained, "Construction was delayed a bit over the holiday, but we're almost done. Only a few key pieces of equipment haven't arrived yet."
They arrived at the lab. Just as Zhao Min began the tour, an older man walked in briskly.
"Lao Luo, this is the chairman you've been wanting to meet," Zhao Min said. "He's Lao Luo, head of our R&D systems and in charge of installing and testing all the lab equipment."
"Chairman! Good to finally meet you." Lao Luo hurried over to shake Chen Mo's hand, clearly surprised. He'd heard the chairman was young, but this was really young.
This guy's the genius behind the Marching Ant system?
Without Zhao Min's direct introduction, he might never have believed it.
"Pleasure to meet you. How long until the lab is fully operational?" Chen Mo asked.
"Thanks to the holidays, the crew was out for a while. But at most—five days. We'll be fully done," Lao Luo replied confidently.
"No other staff have access here, right?"
"Correct," Zhao Min said. "This is your private lab. Access is restricted and requires authentication. The room next door is the server room. Over here is the physical lab. That one is the chemical lab. And by the window—that's your office."
They walked the entire lab together. Chen Mo inspected everything and nodded in approval. The layout and planning were top-notch.
"I need a new office computer," he said. "Lao Luo, please have ten high-performance computers assembled and installed here—max specs available."
"At current max specs, each system will run around 50,000," Lao Luo noted.
"That's fine. Money's not the issue."
Last night, Ink Girl had helped him organize carbon crystal data, but it pushed his machine so hard it nearly burned out. She'd need strong hardware for her future workloads.
After getting briefed on company matters, Chen Mo left with his backpack.
In five days, the lab would be ready.
On his way home, his phone rang again—Xiao Yu.
"Chen Mo! Where are you?" she asked, excited.
"On the road. Why?"
"The surprise I told you about—it just arrived! You have to sign for it personally, or it won't be a surprise anymore."
"So fast?"
"Yep! You've got 30 minutes to make it back, or I'll be disappointed!"
"Haha, alright—I'm on my way!"
Hanging up, Chen Mo immediately hailed a taxi. Xiao Yu had been keeping the surprise a secret for days. Now he was really curious.
What could it be?