669: Chapter 664 The Hunt from the East

Shen Yan put on his headset and clicked on the audio file.

After the noisy static, there was a woman's tired and hoarse voice.

"Viktor... you can't do this... 'oracle' is just an empty shell. If you push it onto the market, it will cause a disaster! It doesn't have true logic; it's just an imitation master!"

Immediately following was Viktor's young voice, full of arrogance and disdain.

"Professor, you are outdated. The market doesn't need some ethereal 'true logic.' What they need is a god that appears omnipotent! A god that can help them predict stock prices and win wars! 'oracle' can do that, and that's enough."

"But that's a lie! You stole my code, yet you twisted its soul!"

"Soul? Hahahaha!" Viktor laughed loudly. "Professor, don't be so naive. In this world, anything that can be valued and written into a financial report is called a soul. Your 'chimera,' which always stays in the lab, is worthless!"

"You will regret this... Viktor, you have opened Pandora's box..."

"Perhaps. But before that, I will become the god of the new world. And you, my dear professor, please take your ridiculous ideals and get out of here."

The audio cut off abruptly.

Shen Yan took off his headset and was silent for a long time.

He continued reading.

[After being expelled, Evelyn fell into extreme self-doubt and depression. She sold all her assets to pay the astronomical 'commercial secret infringement' compensation that Viktor framed her for.]

[She currently lives in a cheap rental unit in the suburbs of Boston, subsisting on the meager salary of a part-time lecturer at MIT.]

[All of her research equipment was confiscated by the Quantum Leap Dynamics Company under the pretext of a 'non-compete agreement.' She can only work in a damp basement, using a few of the oldest servers to conduct research on the 'Urban Traffic Light Optimization' project.]

[Appendix File: Evelyn Reed's Bank statements for the last three months. The largest expenditure is a donation to a hospital named 'St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.' Investigation revealed that her younger sister died of leukemia in that hospital fifteen years ago.]

[Appendix File 2: A candid photograph. In the picture, Evelyn is standing in front of a used bookstore, handing a yellowed copy of 'Theoretical Physics' to the owner in exchange for a few paltry dollars. Her eyes were dim, like a dying star.]

Seeing this photo, Shen Yan's pupils contracted sharply.

The genius who once wanted to create an AI soul.

Now, she was selling off her knowledge and ideals just to make a living.

How ironic.

How tragic.

But Shen Yan saw more than just that.

He saw, deep within those dim eyes, the last flicker of flame that had not yet been extinguished.

She wasn't studying traffic lights to optimize traffic.

She was using the entire Boston traffic data to build a real-world simulation neural network for her 'chimera' that didn't require a supercomputer!

She donated the little money she had, not for atonement or solace.

She was using this method to remind herself that the original intention of technology should be for 'people.'

This woman had never given up.

Her silence was not surrender.

It was the accumulation of a storm powerful enough to overturn the world.

She wasn't waiting for a savior.

She was just waiting for a platform that could provide her with fuel to burn brightly again.

Shen Yan slowly closed all the files.

He didn't handle any company affairs for the entire afternoon.

He just sat quietly, and in his mind, the battle map named 'Shark Slaughter' was clearly sketched out, line by line.

Viktor's greed was the best entry point.

The vulnerability of 'oracle' was the most fatal weapon.

And Evelyn Reed's ideals would be the final fuse to ignite it all.

The afterglow of the setting sun stretched his silhouette long.

He picked up the intercom phone.

"Guang Ke, Wu Ya, come to my office."

A moment later, the two pushed the door open.

Shen Yan wasted no words and issued instructions directly.

"Wu Ya, establish an AI-specific angel investment fund in the name of the Shenyan Group, with a scale of five billion US dollars."

Wu Ya and Chen Guangke both gasped.

Five billion again! And in US dollars!

"Then, use the fastest speed to leak this news to all the media on Wall Street and in G Valley."

"I want the whole world to know that I, Shen Yan, am re-entering the AI field."

Shen Yan's gaze turned to Chen Guangke.

"Guang Ke, book me the fastest flight ticket to Boston."

"Also, have the Legal Department prepare the world's top legal team, ready at any time."

Chen Guangke was a bit confused. "Yan Zi, are we going to..."

Shen Yan stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the city below.

His voice was calm but carried the magnificent momentum of a coming storm.

"We are going whaling."

Shen Yan's voice was light, but it was like a huge rock thrown into a deep pool, stirring up monstrous waves in the hearts of Chen Guangke and Wu Ya.

Whaling.

In the hunting ground of capital, this word meant a long-planned siege against an industry giant.

Bloody, and to the death.

Wu Ya's breathing hitched slightly.

The five-billion-dollar angel fund was just an announcement.

A signal to Wall Street, to G Valley, to the entire world, declaring that 'Shen Yan' was entering the game.

The real hunt was just beginning now.

Chen Guangke reacted even faster. He didn't ask who the target was, nor did he ask why.

He just took out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Book me a gulfstream g650, direct flight to Boston Logan International Airport."

"Clear the VIP channel. I need to ensure CEO Shen can get into a car within fifteen minutes of landing."

"Legal team, contact the best firm in America, 'Kirkland & Ellis,' and have them organize an elite group specializing in intellectual property and hostile takeovers, on standby 24 hours a day."

"Money is not an issue."

A series of instructions, clear, efficient, and without any unnecessary delay.

This was Shen Yan's team.

He was responsible for pointing the direction, and the people behind him would clear all obstacles for him.

Shen Yan looked out the window; the city lights stretched into flowing rivers of light before his eyes.

He remembered the file, Evelyn Reed's dim face.

A genius who should have stood at the pinnacle of the world, now selling her knowledge for a few dollars in the dust.

The cruelest thing in this world is to extinguish the dream of a genius.

And crueler than that is stealing her dream and then trampling her underfoot.

Viktor Croft.

It was time for this greedy shark to feel what a hunt from the East was like.