Cat Ear Cafe.

Liao Ji, who ordered a hot cup, found a position by the window and sat down, and after a while, a middle-aged woman in a professional suit pushed the door in, and walked quickly after seeing Liao Ji by the window.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry Professor, I didn't expect you to arrive so early and keep you waiting..."

The middle-aged woman kept apologizing until Liao Ji waved her hand several times before she sat down opposite Liao Ji.

"Mrs. Grand, before I get down to business, may I ask you a more personal question?"

"You... What do you mean...? ”

"Don't be nervous, I'm just curious, I heard from William that your position in the Dream Supervision Bureau is not low, and you are also the manager of a department, in this case, why does your husband still have to..."

Liao Ji doesn't need to go any further, the meaning is also very clear, in his opinion, even if Mrs. Grand's family is not rich, it is also a middle class, right? In that case, why do you want to go to Dream Zero as an explorer and do this high-risk job of exchanging your life for money?

The woman on the other side paused, clenched her fist and released it, then shook her head and smiled bitterly:

"Professor, you are from the Demon City, so you think that the personnel of an agency like me have a lot of power, but in fact, we don't have any decision-making power, and we really manage the Inspectorate... Or major companies. ”

"Major companies?"

"Well, the mechanical alliance was originally managed by the super intelligent machine life "zero", so there is no tradition of government, the current government, after the "zero" dormancy, was established by the major companies and chaebols at that time, the tax of the dream city is very low, and it can't supply the government at all, and all our expenses and financial sources mainly rely on donations from companies and enterprises."

After listening to Mrs. Grand's words, Liao Ji realized his preconceived notions.

Indeed, it seems that the role of the government can be perfectly eliminated by super AI such as "Zero", and even Zero should be more fair and just, and it is comprehensive, but as a consequence of this, after the absence of "Zero", the inexperienced nascent government has directly become a puppet of companies and chaebols.

"My husband used to work in the Inspectorate, just like me, and we bought a house together with a savings loan in order to get married.

"But then we had David, and my husband said that he didn't want David to be as idle as us, and that he wanted to give David a good education, so that David could one day become an employee of the company, so we sold the house and spent several times the loan to grab a school district house next to Kyle College, so that David would be eligible to go to the primary school invested by Kyle Technology, as long as his grades were good, he could follow this path and be admitted to Kyle University step by step, and then join Kyle Technology..."

"But whether it is the tuition fees of these private schools, or the high mortgage of the school district, as well as David's daily needs, he can't eat cheap and nutritious synthetic food like us, and he needs to buy high-end teaching equipment required by private schools, and these kinds of expenses are simply unaffordable for our two agency personnel, and we see that our savings are about to bottom out, so Bill will use the only remaining relationship in the Supervision Bureau to apply to Kyle Technology..."

Hearing this, Liao Ji couldn't help but interrupt: "Wait a minute, make an application?" Do you still need to apply for such a job? ”

"Yes, if it weren't for the fact that her husband is the Dream Inspectorate, has experience in dreams, and has access to a company executive like Lord William through the Inspectorate, he wouldn't have been selected."

"Although this work is dangerous, but its weekly pay, it may be more than a month for the two of us combined, there are countless people who want to participate in this work, I think my husband is also afraid that after taking leave, the job will be squeezed out by others, so that's why..."

Mrs. Grand's voice on the other side became quieter and quieter, and the sadness on her face seemed to make her look many years older, and her whole back was bent, as if she was pressed by life, and this also explained why Mrs. Grande often showed a very humble attitude, because their family had reached its limit, and a slight accident might be the last grass that overwhelmed the camel.

Through the microcosm of Mrs. Grand, Liao Ji almost understands the current situation of Dream City, where there are only two ways to live like a person, either to be a pure bottom person, have nothing, and not ask for anything, but can rely on the high technology of Dream City to get drunk and die, or only to join the company and become a super enterprise and chaebol employee.

Being caught in the middle like Mrs. Grand's is the most painful, but in fact, such people are the largest number in the City of Dreams, and most of them may end up declaring bankruptcy and secretly leaving this bustling city, but the City of Dreams doesn't care, after all, this is the core of the Machine Alliance, and every year there are countless young people with fresh blood, who gather from all over the world in order to pursue their dreams, and so on.

"Thank you, Mrs. Grand, I am sure that life will be better, and when your husband is finished with his work, if it is convenient, I will come and have a meal together, after all, I am very willing to get acquainted with someone like your husband who has a wealth of experience in the old world."

"No, no, no, no, how, how can you make a professor... Thank you, thank you so much, it's an honor for Bill to know a professor of ancient studies like you, you are willing to put down your identity and eat with people like us, I... How can we..."

In Mrs. Grand's eyes, Liao Ji is a person who can be personally introduced by Manager William, plus he also has the title of professor, these are all unattainable and high-ranking big people for ordinary people, so after seeing Liao Ji so polite, Mrs. Grande was a little flattered, and she was thanking Liao Ji vigorously, and she was so nervous that she blushed, and she didn't know what to say.

】

It was Liao Ji who quickly diverted the topic, which relieved Mrs. Grand, who was so cramped that she didn't know what to say.

Liao Jixian pretended to ask some other very basic questions about the Zero Dream, such as the time of its appearance, the scale and scope, the control policies at that time, and so on, as if he was really researching the market for the Quess Group.

When he finally mentioned the concept of "dream expansion" from Mrs. Grand's side, Liao Ji asked for details as if he was aroused, and Mrs. Grande nodded:

"Yes, when this phenomenon was discovered at that time, it once caused panic among the Inspectorate and the company, because according to experts' calculations, once a certain threshold is exceeded, it will cause everyone to be forced to digitally live and inhale the Zero Illusion, but fortunately, it seems that the anomaly of the Zero Dream was also detected, and two hundred intelligent AI took the initiative to communicate with us, and entered the Zero Illusion to curb the expansion."

"These two hundred intelligent lifeforms are recorded to be replicas of the "Zero" model produced by itself a hundred years ago, and we don't know the specific use, and such lifeforms seem to exist not only in the mechanical alliance, but all over the world."

"After the two hundred smart machines handed over the core chips to us for storage, they infiltrated the Zero Dream, and then the expansion trend of the Zero Dream stopped immediately, and the crisis was lifted, and then every once in a while, the company's scientific researchers would come over to maintain these chips and maintain the stability of the Zero Dream."

Listening to the information from Mrs. Grand's side, Liao Ji thought to himself.

There are two key points, one is the number of "two hundred", but according to the data he obtained from Control No. 1, the servants in the Dream of Zero must be at least tens of thousands.

In line with the number of two hundred, it should be a servant of the "Control Machine" series.

Combined with the information obtained from 86 before, the number of observers in the world from zero should be consistent with tens of thousands, and the outline of the matter becomes clear.

All the "observers" on the continent have "fallen into a dream" and turned into servants, but only in the City of Dreams, the two hundred observers closest to zero have retained high computing power and are used as intelligent "control machine" command models.

The rest of the observation bodies are mainly combat bodies or other logistics units that mainly obey orders and do not have the sense of autonomy.

No wonder Rena said that she couldn't let these "observers" wake up from their dreams, they were no longer observers, but in the battles they had fought over and over again in their dreams, they had turned into emotionless killing machines and servants.

If they don't fix it, when they return to reality, they will only bring destruction.

The second important information is that the company will regularly maintain the chips of these two hundred control machines, and after Liao Ji asked in detail, Mrs. Grande told him that Kyle Technology is the main force, and the second is... Emergency Response Team.

"All right, Mrs. Grand, what you have provided me today is very helpful, thank you very much, I don't think it's too early, or we will do this today, shall we?" After chatting for a while, Liao Ji took the initiative to end the meeting.

"Okay, okay professor, then I won't disturb your work, I..."

Seeing that Mrs. Grande was about to get up, before leaving, Liao Ji handed over a package that he had been placing next to the seat.

It could be seen that Mrs. Grande was surprised and puzzled, and after opening the package, she showed a confused expression, because she only saw that there was a ... A gift box with toys?

"This is what I just saw when I passed by the mall, and I bought it easily, and now this kind of mecha toy seems to be selling very hot, and it is very popular among children, since it is David's birthday soon, it should be regarded as a birthday gift."

Liao Ji seemed to be very casual, but Mrs. Grande was stunned, she looked at the mecha toy in her hand in a daze, and she couldn't imagine that the young professor opposite was so careful, so without a little shelf, no, where is this still a shelf problem, it's, it's...

Mrs. Grande found that she could not describe her barren words at all, perhaps because she had never met such a kind stranger in the City of Dreams for more than thirty years.

Especially when Mrs. Grand's afterglow saw the label on the mecha toy that had not been torn off, the four-digit price of the toy on it, she couldn't think about it, this kind of high-end toy, David on weekdays is lying in the window and looking at it, although David is not very old, he is very sensible, and he knows that the conditions at home cannot afford it at all, but now...

"Mrs. Grand?" Liao Ji looked at the sluggish middle-aged woman opposite and reminded her.

She was suddenly excited, and subconsciously couldn't accept such a valuable gift, but after that, she thought of a young professor like Liao Ji, maybe this was really nothing, just a heart, so she accepted it with a thousand thanks.

Before the final parting, Mrs. Grande stared at Liao Ji's eyes very sincerely, and said word by word: "Professor, I believe that your birthday gift will be the most important part of David's life, and I will teach him well with this, I don't expect David to reach your height, but I hope that David will become like you in the future... A good person. ”

Mrs. Grande left with the gift, looking at the other party's distant back, and then remembering the words of gratitude from the other party just now, Liao Ji shook his head a little self-deprecatingly, in the end, whether it was the original Dragon Kingdom or the current Machine Alliance, tracing back to the source, it is inseparable from him, and there are some responsibilities... It really needs to be done by yourself.

Thinking of Liao Ji here, he couldn't help but think of a certain pink-haired succubus in his mind.

He now seems to understand a little bit of why Rena has not come to meet him for a long time, and even seems to be guiding him, country by country.

When he was in the Dragon Kingdom, Liao Ji had this feeling, and now that he is here with Mrs. Grand, it is even clearer.

Everyone he met on his journey, even if they had different nationalities and identities, were like Rena's microphones, like a pink-haired succubus borrowing their mouths to denounce him, a scumbag emperor who had been a pigeon for five hundred years and disappeared without saying a word.

This arrogance, daring to play a temper with the emperor, is indeed only what Rena can do among "them".

But...

Liao Ji flipped his wrist, and there was a capsule-shaped item lying quietly in his palm, which was the patch of "Zero" given by Rena, which could bring the seeds of new life to the Machine Alliance.

This kind of behavior of scolding oneself and assisting oneself on the one hand, constantly secretly paving the way for himself, for fear that he will overturn, is indeed far inferior to "giving for nothing" in the eyes of ordinary people.

It's no wonder that Tsundere will have no market.

But that's just right, too.

It's enough to be alone.

And Liao Ji really needs such a process, after all, he is no longer the Gray Emperor, and now he... It's Liao Ji, no longer using the identity of the Gray Emperor, but more "Liao Ji" to regain them, this is what he has been doing.

This is also why, when he was in charge with William before, Liao Ji would use "symbol" to describe the Gray Emperor, he didn't want "them" to like it, what he loved was just this symbol, but... He is a person, for this reason, Liao Ji is willing to pay more actions to straighten out the inherent impression brought by this symbol.

...

...

Two days later, the press conference of Kyle Technology was held as scheduled, under the overwhelming publicity, coupled with the fact that Kyle Technology was originally a high-profile super enterprise, at this moment, all kinds of media, countless news reporters, have gathered in Kyle Plaza.

Under the spotlight, a grand open-air press conference will start in five minutes.

In order to ensure the safety of the press conference, there are strict restrictions on the admission of people in Kyle Plaza on the day, and it is difficult for ordinary people to enter the square.

Other people in the City of Dreams who want to watch the press conference can only rely on the live broadcast of major radio stations, so for the radio industry, today is also crucial.

Almost every radio station is broadcasting the press conference of Kyle Technology, and they all want to grab today's huge audience traffic, and for this reason, almost every radio station has its own ace host on the stage.

Now as a guest, he is accompanying Liao Ji to attend, waiting for the bored Yin Lin, who is secretly watching the live broadcast with an intelligent virtual machine.

This feeling of being on TV by herself made Yin Lin very excited.

The channel she is watching now is the night love radio station that previously focused on all kinds of mysterious and strange stories and once broadcast the "Killer" program.

This radio station is said to come from the most chaotic thirteen districts, and it is a company established spontaneously by the people, so it is not like other radio stations, and it has to be official, pay attention to the wording, and the main theme of Night Love Radio is a fun style, with cheerful commentary, to bring the audience smiles.