817: Chapter 812 Isn't this ridiculous?

Gu Changfeng was so agitated he stammered, his fingers trembling as he stroked the cold metal patterns, as if touching the soul of that lonely genius from a century ago.

Shen Yan walked forward, picked up the flashlight from the ground, and the beam illuminated the cipher tube. The system's prompt sounded again in his mind.

[Target item found. Decrypting the cipher requires combining Alexei's life story with his understanding of the definition of 'soul'. It is recommended that the Host utilize existing intelligence for cracking.]

"This thing has a self-destruct mechanism. If we try to force it open, the acid inside will instantly destroy the manuscript."

Although Gu Changfeng was excited, his reason remained intact. He pointed to a tiny glass tube on one end of the cipher tube, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

Shen Yan squatted down, his gaze sharp as a beacon. On the way here, he had already used the system's advanced intelligence database to imprint all the information about Alexei from that era into his memory.

"The so-called soul is nothing more than the resonance of countless precise gears at a specific frequency."

Shen Yan softly recited this line of small Russian text engraved on the bottom of the cipher tube, his fingers resting steadily on the copper rings covered with engraved letters.

"GEARSOUL"

As his fingers turned, every letter falling into place was accompanied by a crisp mechanical clicking sound, exceptionally clear in the silent cellar.

Gu Changfeng held his breath, staring fixedly at Shen Yan's hands, his heart pounding in his throat.

The moment the last letter clicked into place, there was a sharp 'crack,' and the top of the cipher tube slowly sprang open, revealing a perfectly preserved parchment manuscript inside.

At that moment, it was as if a light ignited in the cellar—a spark of wisdom spanning time and space.

Gu Changfeng reached out, wanting to touch the manuscript, but stopped mid-air. He turned to look at Shen Yan, his eyes filled with admiration and a desperate yearning that was almost a plea.

"Mr. Shen, this manuscript belongs to you, but may I... may I follow you, even if it's just doing odd jobs in your laboratory, just to watch it become reality?"

This once proud professor was now as humble as a child seeking knowledge, because he knew that only the resources in Shen Yan's hands could allow the dream contained in this manuscript to see the light of day.

Shen Yan picked up the manuscript, feeling its substantial weight in his palm, a satisfied curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

This was not just technical data; it was a ticket to the future, and this old man before him would be the best interpreter of that ticket.

"Professor Gu, for the position of Chief Mechanical Consultant at Rock Technology, I believe no one is more suitable than you."

Shen Yan extended his hand and grasped Gu Changfeng's calloused, grease-stained hand. This handshake secured not only a top talent but also the impending new era of Artificial Intelligence.

When the two walked out of the cellar, the rain outside had stopped. The dark clouds dispersed, and a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, falling directly onto the moss-covered courtyard.

Shen Yan took a deep breath of the fresh post-rain air, handed the priceless manuscript to Wang Bo behind him for safekeeping, and turned to look at the still-excited Gu Changfeng.

"Let's go, Professor Gu. Our journey has just begun. In Jinghai, there's a big fellow waiting for you to awaken."

Gu Changfeng nodded vigorously, straightening his back. The flame named hope reignited in his cloudy eyes.

Shen Yan took out his phone and saw a picture sent by Liu Hui: his daughter Youyou sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window, painting on a new drawing board, with the caption, "When is Daddy coming home?"

The sharpness in his eyes instantly melted into tenderness. His fingers quickly typed a reply: "Coming home right away. Bringing Youyou an old grandpa who can tell stories."

When Shen Yan got off the plane, he didn't even have time to change out of the suit still smelling of Luocheng.

Following behind him, Gu Changfeng looked like an old tomb raider who had just crawled out of an ancient grave, clutching the brass cipher tube tightly.

Chen Guangke was already waiting at the elevator entrance. Seeing his boss return with such a strange pair, the greeting he was about to offer stuck in his throat.

"Directly to the 'Tianshu' core laboratory. Notify all algorithm Engineers at P7 level and above to assemble within ten minutes."

Shen Yan walked while undoing his cufflinks, his pace swift and gusty.

Chen Guangke paused for a moment, but couldn't help but remind him.

"Brother Yan, it's three in the morning. Those tech guys just fell asleep less than two hours ago."

"Then splash water on them to wake them up."

Shen Yan pushed open the heavy bulletproof glass door of the laboratory. The air conditioning inside was set very low, and the blue server indicator lights pulsed like rhythmic breathing.

Wu Ya, who was on duty, was holding a cup of instant coffee. Seeing Shen Yan enter, she was about to greet him when her gaze fell upon the old man covered in dirt.

Gu Changfeng didn't treat himself as an outsider either. He slammed the cipher tube, still covered in soil, onto the several-hundred-thousand-dollar control console, making a dull thud.

Wu Ya's eyelid twitched. That was the newly installed imported tempered glass tabletop.

"Is this your so-called... Chinese Artificial Intelligence?"

Gu Changfeng sniffed, looking somewhat disdainfully at the streams of code frantically jumping on the screen.

"Too clean."

The old man muttered, reaching out to touch the keyboard, his fingernails completely filled with black mud.

The technical supervisor next to him, Lin Sen, who had just been woken up by a phone call, rushed in with a bird's nest of hair. He saw this scene and nearly had a heart attack on the spot.

"Stop! That's the main control panel! Where did this junk collector grandpa come from? Security!"

Lin Sen was also a veteran who started the business with Shen Yan, a technical master who was usually very arrogant. Seeing his precious code about to be contaminated, he got so anxious that his voice cracked.

Shen Yan leaned back in a nearby chair, not stopping him, just waving his hand at Lin Sen.

"He is Gu Changfeng. From now on, he is the Chief Mechanical Consultant here. His word is my word."

Lin Sen froze. Mechanical Consultant?

Why would someone working on Artificial Intelligence need a Mechanical Consultant? Wasn't this even more absurd?

"Boss, we are working on neural networks, not building tractors. Isn't this leap a bit..."

Lin Sen didn't finish his sentence before Shen Yan gave him a cold glance, forcing the rest of his words back down his throat.

"Do as I say."

Shen Yan uttered only two words, then turned to look at Gu Changfeng.

"Professor Gu, I've brought the item for you. How to stuff the gear logic from a hundred years ago into a silicon-based chip is up to you."

Gu Changfeng chuckled, taking out the parchment manuscript from his chest. He roughly spread it out on the desk.

A scent of aged parchment instantly permeated the laboratory, which normally smelled of electronic ozone.

"You coders always think perfection is good. Wrong, terribly wrong."

Gu Changfeng pointed to an extremely complex gear meshing diagram on the manuscript. The drawing was so detailed it made one's scalp tingle; the edge of every gear was drawn with irregular wear marks.

"Alexei understood a hundred years ago that the soul is not calculated; the soul is 'error'."