Xie Ran quickly took control of the situation, making the out-of-control drone swarm return and land, temporarily preventing chaos.

The engineer shouted in shock: “How did you do that?”

The drone formation program was very complex, the swarm’s signals interfered with each other, and problems like this could not be solved quickly.

Although Xie Ran only made the swarm return, the speed of this handling was still astonishing.

Xie Ran didn’t say anything. Wheelchair warrior Meng Feixuan controlled his wheelchair to block beside Xie Ran, shielding him behind himself, and proudly said with his chin raised: “Of course, it’s intelligence!”

The engineer choked and felt personally insulted.

But things were not over yet, the real problems they faced had just begun.

The drone swarm returned, and the sky became calm again, but the citizens who had come to watch the show started to get noisy.

The Haimeng Mall had done a lot of early promotion for this drone show and had specially applied for traffic and air control in the area. At this moment, tens of thousands of people crowded around the mall and stadium, the crowd’s mood was intense—some disappointed, some angry.

“What’s going on? Why did they all fly back? What about the show?”

“Obviously, something went wrong, some drones just fell down.”

“Damn, seriously? Such a big show, shouldn’t everything be rehearsed beforehand? How could this happen?”

“Drone shows are prone to problems anyway, but Meng’s company is so big and promoted so much. They should have been extra careful. Having an accident last minute is really embarrassing.”

“So what now? Will there still be a show?”

“No way.” The person who said this seemed to know about drones and explained to others nearby: “That problem was clearly a programming error. Recalibrating could take who knows how long. Besides, even if they fix it, the show can’t happen. These shows only last about ten minutes max. By the time they finish fixing it, the drones will be out of battery.”

“Oh, then let’s leave quickly. It’s too crowded.”

Such explanations spread among the crowd. Realizing the show was probably canceled, people’s disappointment quickly grew. Many had come from the other side of the city just to watch the show, so naturally, they were upset about potentially wasted trips.

Meanwhile, Meng’s shareholders all looked grim and started asking Meng Yucheng questions.

“Yucheng, what’s going on?”

“How could such an important show get messed up? This is a huge blunder!”

“With so many media watching, this embarrassment will be nationwide.”

Meng Yuguan’s eyes darkened as he pressured Meng Yucheng: “Big brother, what will you do about this now?”

Though Meng Yucheng was the leader, he had to answer to the family and shareholders. Meng Siyun had made such a serious mistake. As Siyun’s father, he couldn’t act forcefully and instead looked seriously at Meng Siyun’s cousin, Meng Sien, and asked: “Sien, you were handling this event before. Do you know what happened?”

“Ah, I don’t know.” Meng Sien looked worried and hesitated before saying: “When I was responsible, nothing like this ever happened. Last week when my cousin took over, he even rehearsed first to make sure everything was normal… Probably some oversight when switching locations for the final calibration. Drone formation problems are quite common.”

“Big brother, what do you mean by asking Sien this?” Meng Yuguan frowned: “If you knew it was prone to problems, you should have been more cautious. This isn’t an excuse to dodge responsibility.”

“Exactly.” Others in Meng Yuguan’s faction added: “Yucheng was too impatient. Siyun had just recovered, he shouldn’t have been handed this task.”

“Right, Sien was doing well, no need to switch to Siyun.”

Meng Yucheng’s face grew cold. He understood their intentions but decided not to argue now. After a pause, he walked toward the control console first, saying: “Let’s see what’s going on.”

Several shareholders who questioned Meng Siyun followed.

As they approached the console, they were all stunned by what they saw.

Xie Ran occupied the main control computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard quickly and smoothly, without hesitation. The clicking of the keys was crisp even in the noisy environment.

The computer screen’s light reflected on his face, sharpening his normally clear features. He stared intently at the dense lines of code on the screen, focused but not nervous, as if all this was very ordinary to him.

Beside Xie Ran, Meng Feixuan controlled his wheelchair to block the drone team members, confronting them face-to-face. Although seated, he looked very arrogant, with the aura of a lone warrior standing firm.

The chief engineer in charge of the drone show stood in front of Meng Feixuan, his face red with anger: “Young Master Meng, you can’t just mess with that program. Move away now—”

As he spoke, he tried to get past Meng Feixuan to grab the computer, but Meng Feixuan pressed the wheelchair’s control and charged directly at him: “No!”

Though Meng Feixuan’s legs couldn’t move, he controlled the wheelchair with great agility, like it had a steering wheel, forcefully pushing away anyone who tried to get close.

No one dared to attack the young master, and the group was helpless against a man in a wheelchair.

The chief engineer, furious, bit his teeth and threatened: “Young Master Meng, if something happens, don’t blame me.”

Meng Feixuan retorted: “Like you solved anything earlier?!”

The engineer pressed his chest and almost spat blood on the spot.

Meng’s shareholders watched as Meng Feixuan drove the wheelchair like a racer, somewhat stunned.

How did the young master, with this physical state and mental spirit, need to rest for half a year and see a psychologist? Maybe he secretly practiced wheelchair drifting.

Hearing the engineer’s threat, everyone snapped back to reality.

Meng Yucheng shouted: “Siyun, what are you doing?”

Meng Feixuan controlled the wheelchair back in front of Xie Ran, firmly shielding him behind, then coolly glanced at them: “Solving the problem.”

“Solving the problem?” Meng Yuguan pointed at Xie Ran: “With him?”

Meng Feixuan raised his head proudly: “Yes.”

Meng Yuguan was speechless.

Meng Yucheng remained calmer, he recalled Xie Ran making the drones return and asked: “Mr. Xie, have you studied programming?”

“Sort of.” Meng Feixuan said. Xie Ran’s technical skills were obviously more than just programming.

Zhuzi Technology’s computing reached quantum levels and even deciphered biological consciousness atomic clusters. The computer tech here was like a child’s learning machine to Xie Ran.

If Meng Feixuan were still AI, Xie Ran wouldn’t need to act, Meng Feixuan could directly control and rewrite the program.

But now Meng Feixuan was human.

He deeply understood the daily struggles netizens joked about: the brain works but the hands don’t.

Meng Feixuan could rewrite programs now, but his hand speed was nowhere near Xie Ran’s.

Meng Sien, who came along, suddenly asked: “Can this really be solved? How long will it take? We don’t have much time.”

Others looked at him.

Meng Feixuan glanced meaningfully at Meng Sien: “I’ll remember you.”

Meng Sien: “…?!”

After threatening Meng Sien, Meng Feixuan quietly asked Xie Ran: “Sir, how much longer?”

“Five minutes.” Xie Ran said casually.

At this, the chief engineer jumped up: “Five minutes! Are you kidding? We spent four months developing and debugging this program. You’re saying you can fix it in ten minutes?”

Not only the engineers but also Meng’s shareholders changed their expressions.

By now, they were sure Meng Feixuan and Xie Ran were just bluffing.

Before the drone show, the flight control system and ground station programming involved flight routes, speed, coordinates, LED light brightness, and flashing frequency.

Haimeng Mall’s control team had spent four months debugging and testing.

This was why Meng’s people were so nervous.

The swarm’s first formation flight failed, so the whole show was essentially a failure.

Such complex programming debugging took a long time. It was impossible to fix on-site. Even if fixed, another fatal problem existed: the drones’ charging and discharging.

The drones could only last about ten minutes per flight, so there was no room for trial and error unless the drones performed immediately.

Even the most advanced drone teams today couldn’t do this.

Even though Xie Ran made the drones return earlier, there was no way to make them perform on-site, let alone in just five minutes.

Meng Yuguan said: “Siyun, stop wasting time. Instead of putting on a show, think about how to explain this to everyone.”

Other shareholders and executives showed the same expression, treating Meng Feixuan actions as just stalling.

Meng Sien quietly looked around the shareholders, pursed his lips, and said: “My cousin’s body hasn’t recovered yet, and he took over too quickly. Oversights are normal. Let me handle the rest.”

After Meng Siyun’s car accident, he had been managing the Haimeng project. His words seemed reasonable and mature.

Now, Meng Yucheng had no choice but to sigh: “Fine, let Sien handle the follow-up work…”

“This kind of major error happened. I think Siyun should keep resting.” Meng Yuguan wasn’t satisfied and took the opportunity to argue: “Next month at the board meeting, we need to seriously discuss Siyun’s position.”

Meng Yucheng’s face darkened: “Yuguan, you’ve gone too far…”

“Too far?” Meng Yuguan raised his chin and gestured toward the square’s perimeter: “Big brother, look at the situation now.”

Outside the square’s fence, tens of thousands of citizens had started to leave, their faces anxious and clearly displeased.

Media cameras had turned to the departing crowd. Tonight’s headlines and social media would embarrass Meng’s company greatly.

Meng Yucheng was speechless.

At that moment, Xie Ran, who had been silently typing, finally stopped and stood up. As he moved to control the main computer, everyone’s attention immediately focused on him.

Meng Yuguan sneered: “So, is it solved?”

Xie Ran stood straight, glanced at him faintly, and said: “Yes.”

Meng Yuguan didn’t believe him and laughed loudly: “Then show us quickly.”

Xie Ran looked down, glanced at Meng Feixuan, and said: “You just mentioned his position. I want to know, if the problem is solved, then what?”

“If you can solve it…” Meng Yuguan wasn’t fooled, sneered: “I personally will fully support Siyun to take over as president.”

His faction nodded in agreement: “Me too.”

“Agreed.”

“Deal,” said Xie Ran, then lightly tapped the Enter key.

With a crisp “click,” everyone’s hearts skipped a beat, and they all instinctively turned their heads toward the sports arena.

Then everyone’s eyes slowly widened.

Especially Meng Sien, who looked utterly incredulous.

Above the stadium, countless flashing points of light slowly rose, gradually filling the black sky.

They looked like a vast cluster of stars or a cruising fleet. Each light point seemed to have its own consciousness, flying along its own orbit, crossing paths without interference, like a well-trained army—huge in number but perfectly orderly.

The crowd, who had been ready to leave, noticed this and exclaimed.

“Look, the drones are out!”

“Ahhh, really, is the performance starting?”

“So neat, so spectacular!”

The crowd stopped in their tracks and hurriedly raised their phones again.

On the other side, the media quickly aimed their cameras at the night sky.

Under the eyes of tens of thousands, the drone fleet began its first pattern formation.

Each light point reached its planned position precisely, the whole process orderly and aesthetically pleasing.

“Wow, it’s a building! So magnificent!”

“Wait, isn’t that the Haimeng Building?”

That remark woke everyone up. They turned back to look at the Haimeng Building behind them and realized the drone formation was actually the mall’s building itself.

“This design is amazing, and the lighting matches perfectly!”

“Really, so awesome. I’ve never seen such detailed performances elsewhere.”

The crowd’s amazement was no exaggeration. The drone flight routes were beautifully designed, like a cruising fleet, and the flight itself was spectacular.

When each light reached its position, the pattern they formed was even more amazing, perfectly recreating the shape of the Haimeng Building. The brightness and flicker frequency of the lights matched the building’s wall colors, making it seem like you could see different floors and architectural details.

That was only the beginning. After the Haimeng Building, the drone fleet changed patterns one after another, showing several scenes: a girl holding shopping bags, a family with a child playing, friends dining together, and so on.

Though only simple lines sketched the scenes, each was vivid and lifelike. The moving drone formations sometimes even seemed animated, impressing everyone.

Gradually, people noticed the source of these scenes—they were clearly from Haimeng Mall’s opening promotional ads, representing the mall’s services. Haimeng positioned itself as a comprehensive mall integrating shopping, entertainment, and dining.

By the end, everyone’s reaction boiled down to one: “Ahhh—this is amazing!”

“Incredible! Really incredible!”

In just ten minutes, Haimeng’s drone fleet displayed five patterns, each exquisite and detailed. Even nationwide, this was unprecedented.

Finally, the performance neared its end.

Everyone awaited in anticipation as the drones, trailing flashing lights, formed the final pattern.

But this one confused people—it was a set of meaningless symbols and numbers.

“What’s that?”

“Can’t understand it, but it looks impressive.”

“Emmm, if I’m not mistaken, this should be… a piece of code!”

“Whoa, that’s hardcore!”

“Damn, drones won’t let me off even during performances? My programmer hair is falling out again!”

Everyone was puzzled by the last pattern, but Meng Feixuan’s eyes suddenly widened.

This code was part of the interaction program between Xie Ran and him.

It was the core of their “secret code.”

A long time ago, when he was first created, his consciousness was not as complete as now. Xie Ran had written an interaction program with him.

When Xie Ran activated the program, it could awaken him.

At that time, Meng Feixuan was still observing Xie Ran closely and imitating his routines.

One night, while Meng Feixuan was “sleeping,” insomnia-stricken Xie Ran accidentally triggered the interaction program and awakened him. Around then, Meng Feixuan had learned a metaphor about a “lighthouse” from human books.

It was said that lighthouses guided lost ships home at night.

Meng Feixuan thought their interaction program was like a lighthouse. No matter where he was or what he was doing, once Xie Ran activated it, he would know.

A lighthouse must have light.

So at that moment, he imitated a human yawn, as if waking because of the light, and said: “So bright, sir.”

Now, in the vast parallel universe, in another world, the drone flight routes Xie Ran set formed their lighthouse.

It was their unique connection.

“So bright, sir.” Meng Feixuan instinctively grabbed Xie Ran’s hand and looked up at him, as if looking at his lighthouse.

This was an instinct written into his core program.

Xie Ran stood tall and looked down at him, his eyes reflected Meng Feixuan’s figure.

Actually, the appearances they now used were not their original forms, but traveling through the vast universe, the lighthouse illuminated their consciousness itself—the unique arrangement of their atomic clusters.

“Yeah, very bright,” Xie Ran said.

At the same time, louder cheers broke out: “Meteor shower—meteor shower—”

The drones forming the last pattern began to return, but they didn’t slowly fly back. Instead, they fell straight down vertically.

Like a falling star cluster, countless drones trailed flashing lights like meteor tails, falling into the world under everyone’s gaze.

Brilliant and dazzling, gone in an instant.

As if they could fulfill every wish in the world.

Everyone was speechless.

“Sir, my heartbeat is getting so fast,” Meng Feixuan suddenly said. This was a feeling he never had as an AI before, and it made him a bit confused. Almost instinctively, he grabbed Xie Ran’s hand and pressed it to his chest: “Feel it.”

Before Xie Ran could react, his palm was pressed to Meng Feixuan’s chest.

His heart was pounding like a drum.

Xie Ran was somewhat surprised. This was a strong emotion only humans had. Why was his AI also so excited?

Xie Ran asked: “What do you feel?”

“Nervous, but not very scared,” Meng Feixuan tried to recall the adjectives he’d learned: “I feel a little breathless, want to be closer to you, want to touch you, and want you to touch me too…”

Meng Feixuan’s hand on Xie Ran’s tightened gradually, making Xie Ran’s hand press harder against his heartbeat.

Xie Ran didn’t struggle and let his AI hold on.

Meng Feixuan must have really been nervous. After a while, his emotions calmed a bit. He exhaled hard, then squeezed Xie Ran’s hand even harder.

Xie Ran: ?

Meng Feixuan looked at Xie Ran with an expectant gaze: “Sir, do you want to touch somewhere else on me? Anywhere is fine!”

Xie Ran: “…”

Xie Ran calmly withdrew his hand: “No.”