The meeting room was silent. No one had expected that the answer had already been displayed by Xie Ran in the sky on the day the Haimeng Mall opened, witnessed by all the citizens of Haijing City.

Meng Yuguan had already found media pictures from the opening day and compared the code with the part marked by Xie Ran one by one, confirming it was the exact same segment, not a single symbol different.

Even those who didn’t understand technology could see the clues.

Meng Yuguan’s heart sank, but he still forced himself to remain calm, glaring straight at Dr. Yang with eyes full of both anger and confusion.

If it hadn’t been in front of so many people, he probably would have lost his temper and loudly asked Dr. Yang why he hadn’t changed that crucial segment.

Just as Meng Feixuan said, the technology Dr. Yang brought was actually stolen from the Meng family’s laboratory.

Only a powerful figure within the Meng family could have had this ability.

Meng Yuguan had tried every means to get the technical materials from the lab and specifically connected with Dr. Yang, counting on Dr. Yang’s fame and strength.

Only Dr. Yang’s reputation and his long-standing credentials from a laboratory in country A could make everyone believe this was Dr. Yang’s unpublished research.

Only Dr. Yang’s ability could understand and digest the technical materials without exposing himself.

Dr. Yang had repeatedly assured him there was no problem, so why hadn’t he changed such a critical piece of code?

Dr. Yang’s peripheral vision caught Meng Yuguan’s questioning look, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

The code segment marked by Xie Ran wasn’t that he didn’t want to change it, but that he couldn’t.

He could understand all other technical materials and even reorganize and express them in his own way, adding his lab’s data as “proof,” but only this segment he was powerless over.

This code related to coordinate expression, it was the core of the entire drone navigation and control system. Though it looked simple, during actual operation and calculation, Dr. Yang found only this segment was irreplaceable. Even the most advanced navigation systems he encountered in country A couldn’t achieve such precision.

In the current drone technology reform, precise navigation and control systems were paramount, and Dr. Yang wanted to prove his technology was no worse than Xie Ran’s. How could he lag behind in this?

Therefore, Dr. Yang boldly left this code segment in, gambling that in such a huge system, no one would notice these few short lines of characters.

He truly hadn’t expected that Xie Ran not only discovered it immediately but had already announced this segment to all Haijing citizens months ago.

After his shock, Dr. Yang quickly calmed down.

He wasn’t a fool, although he was lucky, he wasn’t entirely unprepared. He boldly left this code because he was confident that even if discovered, he could still clear his name.

Thinking this, Dr. Yang adjusted his tie and stood straighter, looking at Xie Ran with a feigned surprise: “So Mr. Xie also wrote the same code. What a coincidence. It seems our system technologies do share a high degree of similarity…”

He smiled slightly and continued calmly: “However, this only shows our ideas resonate to some extent. It doesn’t prove anything. After all, programmers using the same technical language often write similar code, don’t you think?”

After Dr. Yang spoke, the tech department showed anger. They had only thought Dr. Yang’s technology was very similar to Xie Ran’s, but now with the exact same core code fields, the coincidence was too much to be a coincidence.

Yet despite their anger, they were helpless. As mentioned before, even if Dr. Yang presented something identical to Xie Ran’s, without solid evidence, Dr. Yang could insist it was his own work. Given his industry status, many would believe him.

More importantly, no matter how Dr. Yang acquired the technology, he already had it. Even if Meng’s family suspected him and refused to cooperate, he could use this technology to collaborate with other companies and still gain fame and profit.

In other words, from the moment Dr. Yang stepped into the meeting room, the Meng Yuguan faction and Xie Ran had already fallen into a passive position.

At this point, Meng Yuguan finally understood and his face relaxed.

He didn’t care if the code had any problems, as long as Xie Ran couldn’t prove Dr. Yang’s technology was stolen, he had ways to deal with them.

Seeing the tech department and Meng Yucheng’s people frustrated, Meng Yuguan felt it wasn’t enough and sneered: “Dr. Yang, you may not know, Mr. Xie has a very high opinion of himself and always thought no one else could produce such technology. Now he probably can’t accept that someone else wrote the same code.”

Dr. Yang pretended to be enlightened: “Mr. Xie need not be like that. There are always people better out there…”

“There are better people,” Meng Feixuan cut in coldly: “but you’re not one of them.”

Dr. Yang was momentarily speechless: “What kind of attitude is that, Heir Meng?!”

Confident, Meng Yuguan was increasingly intolerant of Meng Feixuan’s behavior and was about to reprimand him when Xie Ran spoke again: “Dr. Yang, it seems you still haven’t found the real problem.”

His words attracted everyone’s attention again.

Dr. Yang was stunned: “What?”

Xie Ran said: “You just said programmers using the same technical language often write similar code, right?”

Dr. Yang nodded instinctively: “Isn’t that true?”

“Yes,” Xie Ran replied, typing more on the tablet: “But have you noticed this segment isn’t in the same language as your system?”

Dr. Yang was shocked: “What?”

“You can’t change this code because it’s not written in any language you’re familiar with.” After typing the last character, Xie Ran finally looked up casually, with a glance that showed not even disdain, as if he never took Dr. Yang seriously—and in fact, he hadn’t.

Xie Ran said: “This is a language I developed based on quantum computing technology. Are you sure you could write it?”

Quantum computing technology was just starting in this world, and quantum computers were still far from being realized. Under these circumstances, no one could have developed a new code language based on quantum computing.

So when Xie Ran said this, Dr. Yang’s first reaction was to scoff and prepare to retort, but then someone from the tech department suddenly gasped.

Dr. Yang was confused and quickly looked where they were looking, his expression changing drastically.

On the projector, the code that had once shone over Haijing City was copied out separately. Xie Ran typed a few more characters to complete it, revealing the full code.

The code was made up of characters that looked similar at first glance, so it wasn’t obvious when it was a small segment. But when the whole code was displayed, those who understood technology saw the clues immediately.

This was not any development language they were currently using—it was a completely new language they had never seen before.

A language developed solely by Xie Ran.

In Xie Ran’s original world, quantum computers had already appeared. He developed a brand-new language based on this, which was more advanced than ordinary computer languages. Of course, ordinary computers could not carry it, so it was still unusable in the current world.

But at first, this code was just a small interactive program between him and Meng Feixuan, mainly to locate his own coordinates so that Meng Feixuan could quickly find him. The program occupied very little memory, and ordinary computers could run it.

After modifying this small program, Xie Ran embedded it into the drone’s navigation system. The program, developed based on quantum computing technology, could allow Meng Feixuan to pinpoint his location in the vast sea of data accurately. Its precision was naturally incomparable to ordinary computer languages.

Therefore, Dr. Yang could not find a better replacement program, nor could he modify it.

Because he simply did not know this language.

On the projector, Xie Ran wrote out the prototype of the program. After pressing Enter, countless coordinates lit up, connecting all the most famous landmarks in the world, like stars in a vast universe—immense, huge, countless.

But each coordinate point had its own number. No matter where one was, its number was a lighthouse. When the lighthouse flickered, Meng Feixuan would know where to go.

“This is the technology I shared with Mark,” Xie Ran continued, opening a document and showing everyone the system that could be applied to this world after modification.

The people in the tech department were stunned.

They might not have understood the language Xie Ran used, nor the operating principles of his program, but they vaguely knew what the scene before them represented.

An absolutely precise, error-free control system.

And the document stolen by Dr. Yang was only a part of the entire technology.

Dr. Yang was shocked and exclaimed: “Impossible! You said this language was developed based on quantum computing technology. Where did you get the quantum computing foundation?”

“Dr. Yang hasn’t watched my livestream, right?” Xie Ran remained indifferent and spoke calmly: “I gave lectures in my livestream.”

Dr. Yang was stunned: “What?”

Others present slowly showed question marks on their faces.

Meng Feixuan crossed his arms and snorted coldly: “His livestream just made it to the Top Ten online courses selected by the Ministry of Education this year. His paper annotations in the quantum computing field are now teaching materials for graduate students at major universities.”

Everyone was speechless.

They silently took out their phones to search for keywords related to Xie Ran’s online course and indeed found many related news articles. The Top Ten online courses selection was just announced, and there were only reports, no official press release yet.

But Xie Ran’s livestream was indeed very famous in universities, including content related to quantum computing, with extremely high quality.

The Meng family elders slowly put down their phones, not daring to look at Xie Ran.

They had previously looked down on Xie Ran for doing livestreams, but now his livestreams had become nationally certified high-quality online courses with social contribution significance.

Dr. Yang and Meng Yuguan were even more dumbfounded. It turned out that all the truth and answers had been openly displayed by Xie Ran from the very beginning.

They just hadn’t noticed at all.

At this point, no matter how much Dr. Yang tried to argue, it was useless. He might be able to develop technology like Xie Ran’s, but he could never write a piece of code identical to Xie Ran’s using a language he did not know.

“Dr. Yang, how do you explain this?” Meng Yucheng looked at Dr. Yang with a serious face. He did not relax just because the other party’s exposure was obvious.

This matter revealed contradictions and corruption within the Meng family.

Dr. Yang was sweating profusely, wanting to defend himself but unable to say anything.

Meng Yuguan did not expect things to develop like this. Panicked, he had to strike first and shouted: “Dr. Yang, I never expected you to be this kind of person. You disappoint me so much!”

He spoke while signaling to Dr. Yang with his eyes. Seeing this, Dr. Yang understood that Meng Yuguan was the only one who could protect him. So no matter what, he had to keep Meng Yuguan on his side and never betray him.

Then Xie Ran continued calmly: “Second Master Meng, we implanted a special virus into our technical files. As long as it’s not the designated computer, any program that touches our technical files will be infected by the virus. How is your computer, Second Master?”

That meant even without the code, Meng Yuguan and the others could not deny anything.

Meng Yuguan froze: “…”

Only now did he belatedly understand. He stared at Xie Ran: “You did this on purpose. This was a trap you set from the start?”

Technical data is a company’s core secret. Even someone at Meng Yuguan’s level needed to pass many reviews to obtain the files.

But Meng Yuguan’s people just happened to find a loophole in the tech department and got the files through this loophole.

Now it seemed this was not a loophole at all but a pre-set trap.

Xie Ran propped his cheek with his hand, lifted his eyelids to look at him with an indifferent expression: “This trap was set for those who steal technology and betray the group’s interests. If Second Master Meng had no such intention, how could he fall into the trap?”

Meng Yuguan was speechless.

Meng Yucheng silently looked at Meng Yuguan, feeling very complicated. Actually, he had suspected the truth for a long time, but when the facts were laid bare, he still found it hard to accept.

The two brothers, Meng Yucheng and Meng Yuguan, had not differed much in their childhood. But because Meng Yuguan was better at pleasing adults, their father was always closer to him, and in the end, Meng Yucheng became the head of the Meng family.

He knew Meng Yuguan had always been very resentful and had found it hard to let go, constantly opposing him in the group.

But Meng Yucheng thought that no matter what, Meng Yuguan would never do anything that would harm the group.

Meng Yucheng said painfully: “Second brother, how could you do such a thing?”

“What did I do?” Meng Yuguan gave up pretending since the matter was exposed and spoke with justification: “Yes, I let someone take the technology, but I am also a Meng family member. Dr. Yang promised me he would join the Meng family, and the technology would not leak out.”

Meng Yucheng said: “You should understand that things aren’t settled like that.”

“How should they be settled then?” Meng Yuguan sneered: “Hand over the drone company to Meng Siyun and watch you and your son monopolize the whole group? There’s no such cheap deal in this world. I just don’t accept it!”

Meng Yuguan had been very frustrated recently. Now that everything had exploded, he vented his anger and pointed at Meng Feixuan: “Besides, he’s already disabled. With him like this, what qualification does he have to inherit the group?”

His words were too straightforward and instantly froze the atmosphere in the conference room.

Meng Yucheng could not tolerate it and shouted sternly: “Second brother, why are you saying this again?”

“What’s wrong? Aren’t I telling the truth?” Meng Yuguan showed a reckless attitude, and his words became even more blunt and unpleasant: “With Sien, who is healthy, how is he worse than Meng Siyun? Why do you have to keep supporting your disabled son? Isn’t this selfishly disregarding the group’s interests?”

“Hey!” Meng Feixuan suddenly slammed the table, controlled his wheelchair to face Meng Yuguan, put his hands on his hips, and began to speak like a school kid: “Old man, I warn you to watch your words!”

Meng Feixuan’s sudden voice attracted everyone’s attention. Meng Yucheng felt a bit distressed.

Meng Yuguan became even more delighted. Meng Siyun had been so arrogant recently. He had thought Meng Siyun didn’t care about his disability, but now it seemed Meng Siyun did care. The previous act was just a show, and now the pain point was hit, he couldn’t sit still.

“Did I say anything wrong?” Meng Yuguan looked down arrogantly at Meng Feixuan to make him clearly realize his current situation. He spoke slowly, with every word stabbing like a knife: “You are just a disabled person, who will have to sit in a wheelchair for life. You can’t even stand up. What qualification do you have to take over the group and represent it?”

“Bullshit!” Meng Feixuan cursed loudly: “Is being able to stand up so amazing?”

As he spoke, he placed both hands on the armrests of the wheelchair, and then everyone saw him… slowly stand up.

Everyone: ???

Meng Yuguan: ???????

This scene obviously exceeded everyone’s imagination. There was a moment of silence in the conference room. Meng Yucheng was completely stunned.

After a while, someone exclaimed: “Why is Young Master Meng standing up?”

The next second, Meng Feixuan proved to everyone that he not only stood up but could also walk.

He took a few stiff steps forward, though the movements were still a bit rigid and not smooth, but he was indeed walking on his own legs.

Meng Feixuan took three steps to Meng Yuguan’s front, then raised his right foot and directly stepped on Meng Yuguan’s chair.

Everyone’s eyes uncontrollably fell on his leg. Because of the raised thigh, his trouser leg was pulled up, revealing the part previously covered by the pants.

They saw Meng Feixuan’s calf covered by a support made of some unknown material. The material looked light and thin but powerfully supported Meng Feixuan’s leg.

This was probably an exoskeleton support.

This technology had existed for a long time but was mostly used in industrial robots. It was still immature in the medical device field.

…This was the consensus before.

But now, everyone looked at Meng Feixuan with a dazed mind.

Judging by Meng Feixuan’s agility, this exoskeleton support technology was obviously not only mature but could even be called intelligent.

Meng Feixuan acted like a little rogue, stepping on the chair, confronting Meng Yuguan face to face, and fiercely said: “Do you believe now that I can step on you and crush you into shit?”