618: Chapter 613 Begins the Treasure Hunt

"The data has issues," Lin Mo pulled up several segments of core data. "Look here, the warehouse circulation data for the South China region—the data at several key nodes has been replaced. And here, the fuel consumption and road bridge tolls for mainline transportation have been artificially inflated by at least fifteen percent."

"Garbage," Lin Shen spat out two words.

"Precisely manufactured garbage," Lin Mo added. "The other party is very clever. They didn't make large-scale modifications, but implanted hundreds of 'micro-bombs' within tens of thousands of data entries. Individually, they look fine, but when aggregated for system computation, they cause the entire model to deviate."

Lin Shen walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the bustling traffic below.

He knew this was an open scheme.

The other party intended to use this method to make their new system "unsuited to the local environment" and turn their "betting agreement" into a joke.

On the side of the Board of Directors, Qi Feng had already begun to attack.

"I heard the simulation system of the new department 'optimized' the costs even higher? Truly genius."

Such rumors and whispers had long spread throughout the entire company.

"Can you find out who did this?" Lin Shen asked.

"We can, but it's meaningless," Lin Mo shook his head. "The other party used public ports and jump IPs. Even if we trace it to the end, it will only point to a temporary worker who will be fired. Qi Feng won't leave any evidence."

"Then stop caring about who did it."

A chilling glint flashed in Lin Shen's eyes.

"Since they like feeding us garbage, then we will build the strongest garbage processor."

"You mean..." Lin Mo instantly understood.

"That's right," Lin Shen turned around, a curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Not only will we process it, but we will also show them how garbage is turned into gold."

For the next seventy-two hours, the two brothers barely closed their eyes.

The entire AI Strategy Department was brightly lit.

They worked tirelessly, rebuilding an entirely new module at the underlying level of the "Tianshu" system.

They named it—"Zhuoliu" (Turbulent Current).

This module had only one function: data cleaning, cross-validation, and anomaly tracing.

Three days later.

At the quarterly strategic meeting of Qisheng Group.

Qi Feng, as the Executive Director, was giving a spirited report.

When discussing the logistics sector, he abruptly changed his tone, glancing at Lin Shen with a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

"...Of course, we have also introduced some new technologies in the hope of helping us reduce costs. However, it currently seems the effect is still pending observation. Some new technologies may require a longer time to adapt to the complex situation of our group."

His words drew some benevolent laughter from a few directors.

Everyone's gaze was focused on Lin Shen and Lin Mo.

Qi Zhenxiong sat in the main seat, his expression unreadable, showing neither pleasure nor anger.

Lin Shen stood up.

He did not refute; he merely handed a USB drive to the meeting assistant.

"Director Qi is correct; new technology requires adaptation."

"Now, it has finished adapting."

The next second, the new interface of the "Tianshu" system appeared on the main screen of the conference room.

Two curves formed a stark contrast.

One was the red curve, which showed costs rising instead of falling after the data was artificially contaminated.

The other was the green curve, which plummeted sharply after being cleaned by the "Zhuoliu" module.

Finally, the green curve stabilized at one number.

-17.8%.

The entire conference room fell silent.

Everyone was stunned by this figure.

"What... what is going on?" one director couldn't help but ask.

"Very simple," Lin Shen's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "We discovered that there was 'noise' present in the group's original data. So, we spent a little time creating a 'filter'."

Before his words faded, the image on the screen switched again.

On the left was the original, contaminated data.

On the right was the cleaned, truly valid data.

And most shocking were the data tampering logs automatically marked in red across the center of the screen.

[ID: 7714, Zhang Wei, Team Leader of Data Group Three, Information Department, modified File No. 3147 in the South China Warehouse Database via Port B-7 at 10:14 AM on November 2nd...]

[ID: 5529, Li Qiang, Network Security Section, Information Department, forged IP address and injected 17 false transport records at 3:03 PM on November 2nd...]

One by one, incident by incident, clearly displayed.

Like the confessions of criminals, made public.

The relevant personnel whose names were called happened to be present at the meeting; their faces instantly turned pale.

Qi Feng's hand gripping the laser pointer whitened at the knuckles due to the force.

He hadn't expected the other party to play outside the established rules.

They hadn't confronted him privately, nor had they complained to the Chairman; instead, they chose to lay all their cards on the table in the highest-level meeting in the most direct and brutal manner.

"This is the 'noise' we filtered out," Lin Shen surveyed the room, his gaze finally landing on Qi Feng's face.

"Now, the noise is gone."

"My question is, esteemed Directors, do you want to keep listening to the noise and continue losing money?"

"Or do you want to enjoy the quiet and earn an extra two hundred million annually?"

No one answered.

The answer was self-evident.

A true flicker of appreciation finally appeared in Qi Zhenxiong's aged eyes.

He slowly opened his mouth, his voice not loud, but carrying the force of a thunderclap.

"After the meeting, all involved personnel in the Information Department are to be fired and permanently barred from employment."

"Effective immediately, the AI Strategy Department has the highest priority access and supervisory rights over all operational data of the group."

"Meeting adjourned."

That evening, Lin Shen and Lin Mo stood in their office on the forty-second floor, looking out at the night view.

They knew that from this moment on, they had truly established a firm foothold in the Qi family.

And at this very moment, Shen Yan, far away at the company, heard a long-absent voice echo in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Side Quest 'Dual Dragons Seizing the Heir' has been completed.]

[Quest Evaluation: Perfect.]

[Reward Issued: advanced wealth intelligence * 1.]

A stream of information instantly flooded into Shen Yan's mind.

[advanced wealth intelligence: Millennium Porcelain Capital — City C]

[Location: South of City C, former site of the Jiulong Kiln Abandoned Ceramics Factory (Original location of the 'Jiulong Kiln').]

[Event: Beneath this plot of land are fragments of tribute ware from the late Northern Song Dynasty, lost due to warfare. Three days later, City C will experience a rare, once-in-fifty-years torrential downpour, which will trigger a landslide, erode the foundation, causing some 'chai kiln' fragments to be washed out with the mudslide and scattered in the downstream river channel.]

[Value: 'chai kiln' ware: Blue like the sky, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, resonant as a chime. Extremely rare in existence; one fragment is worth a thousand gold pieces. Possessing fragments can unlock the special chain quest—'Ancient Charm Reborn'.]

chai kiln!

Shen Yan's breathing hitched slightly.

That was the legendary foremost of the Five Great Kilns, worth a fortune.

More importantly, there was that 'Ancient Charm Reborn' chain quest.

Intelligence provided by the system never failed.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately called Chen Guangke.

"Guang Ke, keep an eye on things here at the company; I have to go on a business trip."

"Another big project, Yan Zi?" Chen Guangke's hearty voice came through the phone.

"Going to pick up some scrap metal," Shen Yan smiled and hung up the phone.

He opened his phone and booked the earliest flight to City C.

One good show had just concluded; another treasure hunt was about to begin.