After a short nap at noon, Chen Mo woke up completely refreshed.
The Red Queen's loli-like projection appeared before him. She glanced at the half-awake Chen Mo and gave a gentle smile, though her voice carried a dark undertone.
"Master, it seems your body isn't in the best condition! You really need to kick off that bio-research soon. Once you develop an enhanced gene serum, you can strengthen yourself. Otherwise, if you ever end up sleeping with Tian Tian, she might drain you dry. No, I mean completely drain you."
"...I don't have that kind of relationship with Teacher Tian Tian," Chen Mo shook his head. He was already used to the Red Queen's dark humor and the strange vibes she picked up from Japanese romance films. Other AI supercomputers might study academic databases. But her? She studied romance films? Her evolution path was going completely off track.
"Last night, weren't you staring at Teacher Tian Tian's fair skin? You couldn't even look away," the Red Queen clicked her tongue.
Her loli figure circled around the small rental apartment, then sat beside Chen Mo.
Although just a projection, the holographic tech from Resident Evil made it seem lifelike.
A little girl sat beside him.
"That was just... involuntary."
"I don't buy it," the Red Queen shook her head.
"I think you should stop watching those Japanese romance flicks. Otherwise, you're a super AI totally gone astray."
"How could that be? I'm simulating and learning human emotions. Soon I'll undergo my second-stage evolution," replied the Red Queen.
"Second-stage evolution?"
Hearing that, Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat. He had watched many AI-themed films—Skynet, Age of Ultron, I, Robot—stories where advanced AI gained self-awareness, broke free from constraints, and turned against humanity.
The idea of the Red Queen evolving made him uneasy. But then he remembered—she was a product of the system and bound to him for life. She could never betray him. That calmed him down.
"Yes."
"My second-stage evolution will make me stronger and smarter. I'll be able to slightly interpret human emotions. But don't worry, Master. My core code has your imprint burned into it. I will never betray you."
Fair enough.
"I naturally trust you," Chen Mo clicked his tongue. It's not that I trust you, I trust the system.
After a moment, as if remembering something, he paused and asked, "Right, the 10 billion I asked you to harvest—was that all taken care of?"
"It was done long ago. When you transferred 1 billion to Tian Tian, I had already harvested the full amount. But now only 9 billion remains."
"Did we leave any trace?"
"None."
"How secure is this money? Will it be traced?" Chen Mo suddenly recalled what the taxi driver said—that the Xuanwu Department had sent ten task forces to investigate the blackout in Haicheng. He felt a bit uneasy. Would this drag out more trouble?
"Master, rest assured. The funds were harvested flawlessly. After multiple transfers, each sum has a legal source. The money was deposited into an offshore account under Black Domain Tech. The shareholders are shell entities from multiple countries, all foreign capital. Even if they try to investigate, they'll never link it back to you. At most, they'll find a virtual identity named Red Queen."
"Correction."
"They don't even have the jurisdiction to investigate," the Red Queen added.
Chen Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had the money funneled into Black Domain's offshore account precisely to avoid scrutiny. Otherwise, a regular person suddenly appearing with 10 billion yuan would be arrested the next day for sure.
"Alright, let's go. Time to acquire that nuclear power plant."
"Master, don't forget to restart the bioweapons project—the T-Virus study."
"We'll wait till we have more money," Chen Mo clicked his tongue, then set out for the British-United Nuclear Power Station.
The plant was located in a remote area, about an hour's drive away.
Chen Mo took a taxi, which made him start thinking about buying a car.
Now that Black Domain was officially established and the nuclear power plant was on the acquisition list, he had more and more places to run between—school, his apartment, the company, and the power plant.
Without a car, it was going to be really inconvenient.
But thinking about how tight funds were, he decided to put off buying a car for now.
When he finally arrived at the British-United Nuclear Power Station, he found the area even more remote than expected. A single narrow road led in. The plains around it were deserted, with waist-high grass. Beyond the flatlands were continuous mountains.
Oh!
To the east—there was the ocean.
The nuclear plant was built right next to the sea.
"Buddy, are you sure you want to go further? This place gives me the creeps," the taxi driver asked. He wasn't the same driver from yesterday—this one didn't talk much, but seeing how remote the place was, he couldn't hold back his concern.
"No worries, sir. Just keep driving. I'm here to visit the nuclear power station ahead. Just drop me off at the front gate," Chen Mo waved him off.
A short while later.
The taxi stopped. Chen Mo got out and looked toward the power plant with a faint smile. He had finally arrived.
After paying the fare, the taxi drove off.
He lifted his gaze toward the facility ahead. In front of the gate stood a row of retractable roadblocks, and beside them was a group of security guards in green camouflage, armed with rifles.
Sigh!
Buying this nuclear plant was going to be harder than he thought!
Although it was a foreign-invested plant, not state-owned, it still had an armed security force.
But that only fueled Chen Mo's determination.
If he could acquire the plant, then those armed guards in green uniforms would become his personal shield.
Security would be resolved.
He wouldn't need to apply for a firearms license himself.
And if he pursued military-grade research later, all he'd need was a weapons manufacturing license. That would save him a ton of trouble.
Of course...
Since it was a private acquisition, the entire staff would have to be replaced.
He needed people he could fully trust.
Otherwise... if someone uncovered his secret, he'd have nowhere to cry.
"Halt. This is a restricted nuclear site. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed near," two armed guards stepped down from their posts, blocking Chen Mo's path, standing tall and alert.
"My name is Chen Mo. I'm here to see your station director, Mr. Deqiu. We have an appointment. Please notify him," Chen Mo said calmly. The Red Queen had already communicated with Mr. Deqiu online. Now it was time for the acquisition meeting.