671: Chapter 666 As long as the fire doesn't go out, there's still a chance.

The man sat down opposite her without any superfluous pleasantries.

He looked into her eyes and spoke his first sentence.

"Dr. Reed, I believe the value of a soul cannot be recorded on a financial statement."

Boom!

Evelyn's mind instantly went blank.

That sentence...

That sentence was almost an exact replica of the last thing she had said to Viktor when she was driven out of the Board of Directors back then.

And Viktor's reply at that time was a burst of mocking laughter.

"Soul? Teacher, in this world, only what can be valued and written into the financial reports is called a soul!"

That was the most humiliating moment of her life.

It was also the moment her ideals completely collapsed.

This secret, no one other than her and Viktor could possibly know!

Who exactly was this man before her?

How could he know?!

Her face instantly turned pale, her eyes filled with vigilance and terror.

"Who... who are you?"

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Shen Yan did not answer her questions.

He simply looked at her calmly and continued speaking.

"I also believe that using the data from the entire city's traffic lights to simulate the rudimentary form of a neural network was not a desperate choice."

"Rather, it was the attempt of a true genius who, even while at the bottom of the dark valley, still refused to give up looking up at the stars."

The second sentence.

It was like a second heavy hammer slamming fiercely into Evelyn's heart.

If the first sentence made her feel fear,

Then the second sentence made her feel an unprecedented shock.

Traffic lights...

That secret research she had hidden in a damp basement, viewing it as her last shred of dignity and pride.

That research the entire academic world treated as a joke—a result of her talent drying up.

In this man's mouth, however, it received such a precise and profound interpretation.

He understood.

He actually understood!

Evelyn's lips began to tremble; she stared fixedly at Shen Yan, and for the first time, a glimmer of light appeared in her previously dim eyes.

"You investigated me?"

Her voice held an almost imperceptible tremor.

"I studied you."

Shen Yan corrected her choice of words.

"Investigation implies scrutiny from a superior position."

"Studying is learning based on respect."

"I studied every paper you publicly published, and I also studied every concept of yours that was shelved."

"So I know that 'oracle' is merely a castrated, incomplete imitation under your 'chimera' framework."

"Viktor stole your code, but he can never understand its soul."

Shen Yan's speaking pace was not fast, but every word was like a precisely aimed bullet, striking the deepest defense line in Evelyn's heart.

All her grievances, unwillingness, anger, and the pain of being misunderstood were, at this moment, spoken out by a stranger in the calmest tone.

Evelyn's eyes instantly reddened.

She lowered her head, covered her face with her hand, and her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

She did not cry out loud.

But Shen Yan knew that the volcano, frozen for too long in her heart, had begun to melt.

He did not urge her on, nor did he offer comfort.

He simply waited quietly.

Waited for her to deal with that long-overdue emotional release on her own.

After a long time,

Evelyn slowly raised her head. She wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Mr. Shen."

It was the first time she formally addressed him.

"You went to such great lengths to find me, and even used my sister's name to establish that fund."

"What is it that you truly want?"

"Is it the core code for 'chimera'?"

"If so, I'm sorry, all that stuff was long ago seized by Viktor and the Quantum Leap Dynamics Company under the guise of patents."

Her tone carried a hint of self-mockery and sorrow.

Shen Yan shook his head.

"Dr. Reed, you have misunderstood one thing."

"Code is just a tool."

"And you, who could create 'chimera,' are the one and only treasure in this world."

"Viktor can steal your code, but he cannot steal your brain."

"What I want is not 'chimera.'"

"What I want is you."

Evelyn was completely stunned.

She had considered countless possibilities.

This man might be a business rival of Viktor's, wanting to use her to strike Quantum Leap Dynamics.

He might also be an opportunist, wanting to squeeze out her last bit of residual value.

But she never imagined that the other party's goal was her, the person.

"What do you want me to do?"

She asked subconsciously.

"I want you to be yourself again."

Shen Yan leaned slightly forward, his gaze burning.

"In China, I established a laboratory codenamed 'Spark.'"

"There are top physicists who retreated for fifteen years, the world's best team of Engineers, and almost unlimited financial support."

"We are conquering the Tidal Energy Matrix and building a Quantum Entanglement Communication Model."

"We possess the world's most advanced Low-Temperature Plasma Bonding equipment, with a yield rate already achieving 99.99%."

"We are doing things that are capable of changing the world."

"But we lack a soul."

"The soul of an Artificial Intelligence that can link all these cutting-edge technologies together, giving them wisdom and life."

"And the name of this soul is 'chimera.'"

Shen Yan looked into Evelyn's eyes and spoke word by word.

"Dr. Reed, I am not here to offer you a job."

"I am here to invite you to join us and become the Chief Scientist of Spark Laboratory, the overall head of the Artificial Intelligence field."

"I will give you absolute freedom to rebuild, and even surpass, your original 'chimera.'"

"I will give you a team completely under your control; you select all the personnel."

"I will give you a laboratory with no budget cap; you decide on all the equipment."

"I have only one requirement."

"Turn the magnificent concept in your mind into reality."

The coffee shop was quiet.

Evelyn could even hear her own violent heartbeat.

Absolute freedom.

Unlimited budget.

A platform already established, possessing world-class talent and equipment.

All of this sounded like a fantasy.

A scenario she dared not even imagine in her dreams.

"Why?"

She managed to speak.

"Why me?"

"Aren't you afraid that I am just a failure eliminated by the times?"

Shen Yan smiled.

"Dr. Reed, a genius who can use the entire Boston traffic system as a substitute for her personal supercomputer will never be eliminated."

"As for failures..."

Shen Yan's smile carried a hint of the vicissitudes of someone who has been through it all.

"I was once left with nothing, betrayed by those I trusted most, and fell from the clouds to the bottom of the valley."

"So I know that feeling is unpleasant."

"But I also know that as long as the fire in the heart hasn't been extinguished, there is a chance to rise again."