Chen Mo raised an eyebrow, instantly alert.
He had expected things wouldn't go smoothly, but he didn't think the smart assistant would trigger a hacking attempt the moment it hit the shelves.
He didn't need to guess—the attackers were clearly after the source code. That code was worth a fortune, and the benefits of the intelligent assistant were enough to tempt just about anyone.
"Encrypt the database immediately. Protect all real data. Then, create a decoy—an encrypted fake file with a tracking code. Let them take the bait," Chen Mo instructed calmly.
If the hackers walked away empty-handed, they might dig deeper or try again. But if they thought they succeeded, Marching Ant Company would gain breathing room while the market solidified.
"Understood," Ink Girl replied. "Mer brother, more intrusion attempts have been detected—different origins this time."
"How many?" Chen Mo asked, brows furrowing.
"Seven sources. All are using masked IPs and fake proxies. They're bouncing through global networks."
"Find their actual locations."
"On it," Ink Girl said. A few moments later, her voice returned. "Traces found: three in North America, two in Japan, two in Europe. Exact coordinates incoming..."
Chen Mo went silent for a moment, thinking. Seven hackers working in coordination—this wasn't some random internet stunt. And from those locations, it was obvious: some of the world's biggest tech players were now taking them seriously.
"Don't block their access. Let them think they're winning. If it's too easy, they'll get suspicious," Chen Mo murmured. "Meanwhile, compile full profiles on all of them. I want to know who they're working for."
"Got it."
Ink Girl went quiet again. A moment later, data flooded Chen Mo's desktop—lines of English and Japanese text densely packed with intel.
"Translate all to Chinese. Easier on the eyes."
"Sure, Mer brother."
The screen refreshed. Now, the information was crystal clear.
Chen Mo leaned forward as the files loaded. Everything was there—everything. Names, aliases, login credentials, banking activity, even their social media accounts.
Passwords. Payment logs. Full behavioral histories.
"Umbrella Corporation? Apple tech staff?"
Two profiles caught his eye. Unsurprising. With so much money and technology involved, AI was now the new arms race. Everyone wanted a piece.
"Mer brother, one of the hackers from Japan has breached the firewall. He's inside the database and copying the decoy files," Ink Girl reported.
"Let him," Chen Mo replied. "While you're at it, copy everything from his system too."
"Copying now."
Two minutes passed. Several new folders appeared on Chen Mo's desktop.
"Open them. Let's see what this guy's been up to," Chen Mo said, reclining in his chair.
As the files unpacked, a video auto-played.
"Ahh... ahh... library~..."
A very distinct sound filled the room. Chen Mo's eyelid twitched.
"Bodo teacher?" he choked. "Ink Girl, why is this playing?"
"You asked me to retrieve his files. This is one of them. What's the issue?" she replied sweetly.
"Seriously... is there anything else?"
"Plenty!"
Another video launched automatically. Same ahem teacher. Same... genre. Chen Mo laughed bitterly.
"This guy's a hardcore fan, huh? Alright, copy the other hackers' data too. Let's see what skeletons they've got."
While Chen Mo was busy handling the security side, the rest of the company was in full chaos mode—and none of them had a clue what was going on behind the scenes.
"What's our current download count?" Zhao Min asked sharply.
"Two million downloads. Over one million paying users already—and it's still rising," a technician replied from his terminal.
"Zhao Zong, we need to upgrade the servers again. At this pace, the current infrastructure won't hold," Lao Luo said urgently.
"Do it. Spare no expense—scale it up fast," Zhao Min ordered without hesitation.
The smart assistant was now printing money faster than a mint. At this rate, Zhao Min's biggest problem was figuring out how to spend it all.
With Xiaodie's explosive launch, Marching Ant Company had firmly cemented its place in the smart assistant market.
Online, things were on fire.
Everyone who experienced Xiaodie firsthand felt like they had just touched a slice of the future. Social feeds, news headlines, fan forums—all flooded with buzz about the new intelligent assistant.
Xiaodie had completely outclassed every mobile assistant in existence. And for just 20 yuan a month, it felt like a bargain.
The software was affordable, accessible, and—most importantly—powerful. People who downloaded the app quickly decided it was worth every coin.
Internationally, news of the product didn't take long to spread.
By evening, reports had reached North America and Europe. Because it involved artificial intelligence, media outlets latched on instantly.
"Red Country's Spyware Unleashed." — BBC
"Artificial Intelligence? Think Again." — The Washington Post
"Marching Ant Snubs Apple: No iOS Support?" — The Times
"Thieves! A Siri Rip-off?" — CNN
Major Western outlets criticized Xiaodie harshly, dedicating full segments to accusations of surveillance, identity theft, software cloning, and anti-Apple discrimination.
The dominant theory spreading online: Marching Ant Company stole Siri's source code, then re-skinned it as Xiaodie. This narrative quickly took root among international viewers.
Yet despite the backlash, Xiaodie's appeal couldn't be denied.
At just four dollars or two pounds a month, upgrading your phone to sci-fi levels was too tempting to resist. People began looking for ways to bypass regional locks, using VPNs and offshore accounts to download it from Marching Ant's official Chinese site.
Videos from early adopters flooded the net.
"Even if it is a knockoff, it's better than Siri!"
"Say what you want—China might reverse engineer everything, but they make it better."
"At least they actually made something. It works."
"With this software, the Chinese will know what color underwear you're wearing tomorrow."
The internet was in full chaos mode.
And the U.S. stock market? It wobbled with every new update about Marching Ant Company.
Because this wasn't just an app.
It was a wave.
And it was only getting bigger.