361: Chapter 361: What exactly was his gift to the world?

Meanwhile, even though the livestream was not active, the number of viewers in Jiang Zhe's livestream room remained above three million.

The screen was pitch black, with only the livestream chat room scrolling frantically.

Messages in the chat flooded in one after another, never ceasing.

"I feel a bit strange."

"Me too. I've gotten used to Brother's daily livestreams. I habitually opened his livestream room tonight, only to find it pitch black. That's when I remembered he already streamed this afternoon."

"Wuu wuu wuu~ Me too. I think I've developed a habit. If I don't hear Brother say a few words every night, I can't sleep."

"I'm a bit curious, what was the gift Brother said he would give us?"

"I don't know. It's almost New Year, and we haven't received any gift yet!"

"Waiting online for Brother's gift!"

"Do you think it might be a livestream giveaway, like a signed item?"

"Unlikely. Brother isn't the type to pull such stunts."

"He said it was a gift for the whole world."

"A gift for the whole world? What could that be? It wouldn't be a natural disaster, right? Brother spoiled it before, saying it would be accompanied by tremors. Could the gift be an earthquake?"

"I don't know, but I don't think Brother would go back on his word."

"Just wait. Maybe there will be a surprise at midnight."

"There's less than an hour until New Year!"

"Brother, are you watching the livestream room? If you are, type '1' in the chat!"

The screen was instantly flooded with 1111s.

...

Gusu, New Year's Eve, 10:30 PM.

The streets, which should have been deserted, were becoming increasingly lively.

The highest authorities said that to optimize the environment, fireworks were banned nationwide. The governor nodded in agreement, the mayor nodded absent-mindedly, the district chief was playing cards and didn't see it, and the town mayor ignored everything outside his window. Meanwhile, the village chief broadcasted to the whole village over the loudspeaker: "The authorities said we can set off fireworks!"

This led to...

Firecrackers were going off all over Gusu, crackling and popping outside.

Inside the conference room of the Gusu branch of the National Security Bureau.

The room was brightly lit, with a large screen on the wall displaying real-time surveillance footage of the area around Jiang Zhe's villa.

On the screen, most of the reporters and onlookers had dispersed, leaving only a few scattered individuals still crouching by the roadside.

The lights on the second floor of the villa had long been extinguished, but the curtains of the first-floor living room emitted the cold light of a television, and a few silhouettes could be vaguely seen moving about.

Seven people sat around the conference table.

At the head of the table was Chen Zhenghua, the director of the Gusu branch. He was in his early fifties, with a square face and an imposing air that commanded respect without the need for anger.

A thick report lay spread out before him, with the words "Top Secret" printed on the cover.

He turned his head to look at the high-rise buildings outside the window, while people were still working overtime. "The authorities already said no fireworks, didn't the people outside hear it? Seriously!"

Just then, the door was pushed open, and a young agent in a black jacket walked in, holding a stack of documents, sweat beads still hanging on his forehead.

It was Fang Yi, the leader of the operations team who had just rushed back from the vicinity of Jiang Zhe's villa.

"Director Chen, mission accomplished." Fang Yi placed the documents on the table and pulled out a chair to sit down.

Chen Zhenghua nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "Everyone, report your situations."

Fang Yi opened the file first and reported, "From early this morning until 10 PM, we deployed three operation teams to conduct surveillance and screening within a 500-meter radius around Jiang Zhe's villa."

"We apprehended a total of seven suspicious individuals. Among them, three were carrying eavesdropping devices, two attempted to climb over the villa's perimeter wall, one posed as a reporter to infiltrate the interview team, and another set up a telephoto lens on the top floor of a residential building hundreds of meters away, attempting to secretly photograph the interior."

"Preliminary interrogation revealed that these seven individuals belong to three different foreign intelligence agencies, originating from Germany, the USA, and the Fu Nation."

"They have been handed over to the relevant departments for processing, and their specific identities are currently being further verified."

"I estimate we won't be able to hold them for long. Their excuse is that they are 'protecting Professor Hans and James.' They all came under the guise of knowing them and protecting them."

Chen Zhenghua nodded. "And the professors? How did the escort go?"

The capable female agent in a suit sitting opposite Fang Yi spoke up. Her name was Shen Yao, and she was primarily responsible for logistics and coordination.

"There were 21 people inside. Excluding Zheng Ming, Li Mo, and Celestial Master Zhang, there should have been 18 professors. We noted that 4 people snuck in, which was a lapse in our duty. They were all among the top 30 on the livestream room leaderboard. However, Jiang Zhe didn't drive them out afterward, so we didn't interfere further."

"Except for Professor Chen Runzhi, Ouyang Baili, and five other professors, along with Li Mo, who are staying at Jiang Zhe's home, everyone else has been safely delivered to their accommodations."

"Fifteen of them are staying in nearby hotels, and we have arranged plainclothes officers to keep watch around the hotels."

"The other few professors flew back to the capital overnight. As for the villa, we have also set up hidden sentries on the perimeter and are monitoring it 24 hours a day without interruption."

Chen Zhenghua nodded with satisfaction, though his brow furrowed slightly.

He opened the top-secret report in front of him, which was densely packed with records of everything Jiang Zhe had said that afternoon, as well as the reactions of the professors listening in, the fermentation of public opinion on the internet, and the movements of foreign intelligence agencies.

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Fang Yi couldn't help but speak up, "Director Chen, there's something I've been wanting to ask. Are we just going to let it go like this, without managing anything Jiang Zhe says?"

He looked at his colleagues sitting there, then turned to Director Chen. "Director, the things he talked about this afternoon—the Observer Debt Hypothesis, the Language Prison, consciousness energy, dark energy interest, and so on—involve some of the secrets within our laboratories."

"Although he says they are hypotheses, the explanatory framework he provided is too similar to the underlying logic we've encountered in some of our frontier projects."

"What if these contents are deeply analyzed by foreign agencies!"

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.

As he finished speaking, the other agents nodded one after another.

Shen Yao also said, "Indeed. The peak viewership for this afternoon's livestream exceeded 75 million. Even though the livestream content hasn't been edited by Xiao Yu yet, the topic has already pushed the New Year trending search down to second place. We have never encountered this level of information dissemination before."

Chen Zhenghua listened, his expression unchanged.

After everyone finished speaking, he shook his head. "Manage? How do we manage it?"

His gaze swept over everyone.

"Should we arrest him? Or seal Jiang Zhe's mouth and tell him: 'You are not allowed to say these things anymore, and you must be managed by our Great Xia'?"

Speaking of this, he gave a self-deprecating smile. "And then what? Jiang Zhe would just turn around and run off to the USA, Europe, Germany, the Fu Nation, or even directly to Iceland to spend the rest of his life. Is that what you want to see?"

The conference room was deathly silent.

Fang Yi opened his mouth, then hesitated.

Shen Yao also lowered her head.

Indeed, if he were an ordinary theoretical genius, he wouldn't be worth them taking so seriously.

It was mainly the ultra-frontier knowledge and theories Jiang Zhe displayed, and even the information mentioning Jiang Zhe's physical fitness; there was just too much to research here!

For the Security Bureau, although it is necessary to control all unstable factors.

But everything Jiang Zhe displayed didn't threaten security!

After a long while, Director Chen Zhenghua spoke up: "Don't anyone worry about this matter anymore!"

"A true super genius, even a theoretical super genius, cannot be allowed to suffer even the slightest grievance."

"Our bureau's psychological profiler had already given the answer long ago: if we, the authorities, suppress Jiang Zhe even once, he will mercilessly renounce his citizenship and leave our country with his sister."

"Oh, that's right. Over a month ago, we did send two people from the Gusu branch to Jiang Zhe's old residential complex, wanting to contact him and have a chat."

"Unexpectedly, two days later, he found an excuse, bought a house, and moved to Gusu Jing'an Villa. At the time, our bureau's intelligence department really thought he bought the house because he had money. It wasn't until he confessed that he knew he was being livestreamed that our intelligence department realized they had been played by Jiang Zhe. This proves from the side that he had absolutely no intention of contacting us, or even the authorities."

"He is not a person who loves his country, nor is he a person who loves other countries. He seems to have not a single shred of belonging to this world of ours!"

Fang Yi couldn't help but sigh. "Sigh, this is the first time I've seen someone with no sense of belonging to any piece of land on this planet. It's as if he doesn't belong to our world at all!"

Shen Yao also sighed.

The other agents all had complex expressions on their faces: regret, helplessness, and a trace of indescribable admiration.

"Alright, alright!" Chen Zhenghua stood up and clapped his hands. "Stop sighing. It's New Year's Eve today. Those who should go home, go home; those who should eat dumplings, eat dumplings."

"Dismissed, dismissed! Go home and celebrate the New Year!"

Fang Yi was the first to stand up and salute Chen Zhenghua. "Happy New Year, Director Chen!"

"Happy New Year." Chen Zhenghua patted his shoulder. "You all have worked hard. You don't need to come for duty for the next few days. Get some good rest."

Shen Yao and the other agents also stood up, saluted, and said their goodbyes.

The people in the conference room left one by one.

Chen Zhenghua was the last to leave the conference room. He turned off the lights before leaving.

Inside the Gusu branch building, the lights went out one by one. Outside the window, fireworks were still exploding frantically!

New Year's Eve would be over in less than an hour and a half.

Sitting in his black Mercedes-Benz in the parking lot, Director Chen Zhenghua looked up at the bright moon outside the windshield and lit a cigarette. "Jiang Zhe, what exactly is the gift you said you would give to the whole world?"