Chen Mo sat up straight, his eyes bright with anticipation. The Lingjiao Group was a major military-industrial company from the island nation. If Mo Nu managed to extract something valuable from their servers, it could be a goldmine.
"Let's take a look," Chen Mo said.
"Opening now," Mo Nu replied.
As soon as she spoke, a stream of data began flowing across his computer screen.
Chen Mo leaned in, focus sharpening. There were countless documents—some involving advanced materials research, others filled with dense formulas. Two new material compositions immediately caught his attention.
He skimmed past the sections on vehicles and ships, uninterested for now. But when he reached their weapons research, his expression grew serious.
He couldn't touch military-grade development yet. That was a whole different level—and one that would draw too much attention if he wasn't careful.
Most of the weapon documents were conventional designs. One particularly detailed one showed the blueprint of an airborne cannon. Still, truly advanced weapon data wouldn't be stored in a general company network like this—those would be isolated and heavily protected.
But it was the final document that made Chen Mo's pupils contract.
It wasn't technical.
It was political.
Detailed geographical data on domestic terrains, climate models, water systems. Locations of sensitive bases and research institutions. Even worse—lists of researchers and agents working for the Lingjiao Group inside the country.
Chen Mo exhaled slowly, his mind racing.
This wasn't just industrial espionage. This was borderline wartime intelligence. He couldn't keep something like this to himself—and he couldn't guarantee the Lingjiao Group didn't have a backup either.
Nation-states often turned a blind eye to each other's spies—it was an unspoken game. But this? This was a move too bold to ignore.
"Mo Nu, send this intel to the National Security Bureau. Label it anonymous and make sure it's completely untraceable," Chen Mo instructed.
"Done. Sent with no footprints left behind," Mo Nu replied.
"Good. Lock the rest of that folder with high-level encryption. No one else should be able to access it."
Chen Mo leaned back with a sigh, his conscience at ease. He wasn't trying to play hero, but this was his home. He couldn't just look the other way.
National Security Bureau, Beijing
"Director, urgent file just came in. You need to see this," Li Ji rushed into Zhu Ming's office without knocking, something he never did.
Zhu Ming looked up, startled. "That serious?"
"Very."
Without hesitation, Zhu Ming followed him to the operations room. The tone in Li Ji's voice told him this wasn't business as usual.
"Show it."
A technician brought up the anonymous email. The room went silent as everyone watched the document scroll by.
Zhu Ming's face darkened with each new detail. By the end, his brow was a sharp, angry crease.
"Where did this come from?" he asked.
"We don't know. The sender used a spoofed address and untraceable routing—classic red guest methodology."
"Can we verify any of it?"
"Two of the names match individuals already on our watchlist. And we confirmed the Lingjiao Group's servers were compromised about half an hour ago. Their entire HQ is currently locked down."
"Copy this to my drive. I'm reporting this up the chain now. Assemble a monitoring team—assign watchers to every individual on that list. And notify local teams to protect the researchers."
"Yes, sir."
The Lingjiao Group hack became an overnight sensation, and not for the reasons most expected.
The story blew up across international media—not because of the severity, but because it was hilarious.
Every computer across Lingjiao's HQ had been hijacked to play a… very enthusiastic Hatano video. Nonstop. No matter how many times they unplugged and restarted, the system would boot up straight into the same moaning, high-definition scene.
It turned out the virus was embedded directly into the hard drives. The only solution: a full wipe and OS reinstall.
While the Group itself made no public statements, rumors flew like wildfire. No one knew who the hacker was or what was stolen, but investors panicked. Shares of Lingjiao Group and its affiliates plummeted.
No one could confirm whether company secrets were leaked, but the fear alone was enough to destabilize them.
Cybersecurity across the entire sector became a renewed priority. Big firms were reminded of the infamous Morgan leak that exposed over 20 million users—a single breach could shatter even the largest companies.
With the dust settling, Chen Mo's life returned to its usual calm.
Three days later, he closed a thick book and sighed in satisfaction.
He had finally completed the 600-book mark.
Which meant… a Library Free Selection Right.
He rubbed his temples, a little tired from the binge reading, then sank into the sofa and entered the Science Library.
Shu Lao greeted him as always. "What'll it be this time?"
"Sensor tech. I'll look for it myself."
While software development could be delegated to Mo Nu, hardware advancements had to be driven by him directly.
He had a clear goal this time: laser sensors.
Zhao Min had recently begun the process of acquiring a car manufacturing facility. Chen Mo was laying the groundwork for self-driving car tech.
The software part of autonomous driving was already mature—Tesla, Baidu, Umbrella Tech and others had polished systems.
But hardware? That was the bottleneck.
Current market laser sensors were massive, expensive, and inefficient. This alone kept driverless cars out of mass production. Even robots of the future would need laser sensor integration for real-world navigation.
"Sensor technologies are on pages 1606 to 1789," Shu Lao noted.
"Got it."
Chen Mo flipped through the dark red book, scanning titles and categories—ultrasonic sensors, acoustic sensors, large-range positioning arrays…
Then his eyes stopped.
Tenglong Laser Sensor Technology
Field: Physics, Electronics
Privilege Level: Trainee
Max Range: 1000 meters
Accuracy: ±5 mm
Speed: High-speed response
Resistance: Excellent interference immunity (light & electromagnetic)
Miniaturization: 10 cm diameter
Cost: Low production cost
Perfect specs.
Low size, high precision, rugged design, and affordable to produce. Exactly what he needed—not just for autonomous driving, but for future robotics and smart devices.
"This one," Chen Mo pointed.
Shu Lao nodded and raised a glowing palm. A book materialized and flew into Chen Mo's mind.
The next stage of development had officially begun.