Li Zhuoer didn’t know at that moment whether he had suffered more mental pollution from Meng Feixuan or more emotional shock from Xie Ran.

Senior Brother was clearly still Senior Brother, Xie Ran was clearly still wearing that cold face, but why did that cold, icy face say something as seemingly insane as: “Isn’t he cute?”

For a moment, a sentence kept echoing in Li Zhuoer’s mind:

Senior Brother liked this?

Senior Brother liked this?

Senior Brother actually liked this??!!

Two days ago, Li Zhuoer thought the thing he would regret most in his life was giving Xie Ran TMS treatment, causing Xie Ran to develop feelings for someone else.

But now, two days later, Li Zhuoer realized he had regretted too early — something even more unacceptable than Xie Ran developing feelings for someone else had happened: the person Xie Ran had feelings for was actually a rude, immature kid?!

In Li Zhuoer’s mind, anyone who could move Xie Ran’s heart must be a talented, refined, exceptional person with no flaws in any aspect.

If it had been such a person, Li Zhuoer would have felt resentful and unwilling but at least it was reasonable. Li Zhuoer would at least know where he lost and could still figure out a way to try again.

But this immature, chatty kid on the phone?

Li Zhuoer couldn’t help but feel deep confusion: Was Xie Ran influenced by hormones to like someone like this? Or was his taste always like this?

Li Zhuoer even started to suspect whether some step in the TMS treatment that day had gone wrong, causing Xie Ran’s aesthetic judgment to be off.

Xie Ran didn’t care at all about the mental shock his words caused Li Zhuoer. Without changing expression, after praising Meng Feixuan as cute, he shifted the topic and cut to the chase: “I’m going back to the company tomorrow. I’m preparing to start a new project and want you to join.”

Li Zhuoer suddenly came back to his senses: “What project?”

Xie Ran said: “Holographic technology that can achieve comprehensive interpersonal interaction.”

Currently, the sensor chips launched by Zhuzi Technology allowed people to immerse themselves in virtual scenes and experience sensory stimulation, but this feeling was one-way and lacked interactivity.

The holographic technology Xie Ran mentioned was a step beyond the sensor chips — fully connecting to human sensory nerves, truly realizing virtual reality of thought, and enabling thought interaction between people.

Back when Zhuzi Technology launched the sensor chips, similar technological prospects had already been scheduled by many companies and were considered the next big trend in holographic technology, but this technology was broad and complex, and no company had cracked it yet.

But Xie Ran already had a plan.

Listening to Xie Ran’s project arrangement and technical ideas, Li Zhuoer couldn’t help showing a surprised expression.

Xie Ran’s technical hypothesis was undoubtedly reasonable. More precisely, what Xie Ran mentioned was not just a hypothesis — he clearly already had a mature development plan. Following his plan, Zhuzi Technology would undoubtedly become the fastest company to break through the holographic technology bottleneck and successfully seize the next big trend.

Li Zhuoer wasn’t surprised that Xie Ran would be the first to break this technology, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon, nor that Xie Ran’s ideas were already so clear.

Li Zhuoer looked at Xie Ran intently. The Xie Ran who dissected technology was still the one he was familiar with: aloof, arrogant, with the clear logic and reason that fascinated him.

Xie Ran was like someone standing atop the clouds, looked up to but unreachable, which drove people crazy.

Li Zhuoer couldn’t help but feel the pain of love and longing.

At that moment, Xie Ran’s phone suddenly emitted a familiar young voice, dripping with sarcasm: “I said Junior Brother has issues with me. Just now, when I was talking, you said you were about to pee, but now hearing Senior Brother speak, you’re not in a rush anymore…”

Li Zhuoer: !!! Why was he still there?

Li Zhuoer twitched his mouth and asked Xie Ran: “Senior Brother, haven’t you hung up yet?”

Xie Ran propped his cheek with one hand, expression indifferent: “He doesn’t want to hang up, so let him be.”

Li Zhuoer: “…”

The obsession that had just risen wavered again.

…

Li Zhuoer lost an hour of his life and ended up receiving a lot of mental pollution from Meng Feixuan but no useful information. He still knew nothing about this young man’s identity and didn’t understand why Xie Ran would like someone like that.

But Li Zhuoer didn’t have much time to spend on this. Xie Ran returned to the company to work the next day and immediately announced the launch of a new holographic technology project. This technology was closely related to the bioelectricity and neurofeedback fields that Li Zhuoer specialized in. Li Zhuoer was appointed as one of the main project leaders to jointly develop the new technology with Xie Ran.

The research direction Xie Ran proposed this time was obtained from the core technology he had cracked in Bright Moon River Lake. Zhuzi Technology’s original neural sensing technology was Xie Ran’s patent. Normally, Xie Ran could have achieved this technological breakthrough himself, but it would have taken longer. Now, with the materials from Bright Moon River Lake, he was able to make the breakthrough in a shorter time.

Six months later, at Zhuzi Technology’s holographic project laboratory.

“We succeeded, finally succeeded!”

The laboratory erupted in deafening cheers. The project team’s engineers excitedly hugged each other, and some could not control their tears.

Everyone rushed to see Xie Ran and Li Zhuoer: “President Xie, Vice President Li, we succeeded!”

Li Zhuoer was also deeply moved. He turned to look at Xie Ran: “Senior Brother, this is great.”

Xie Ran showed a trace of joy, but since he had expected this result, he was not very surprised. He just nodded slightly and smiled faintly: “Very good.”

Seeing this, others’ reverence for him grew even stronger: No wonder President Xie remained so calm even at a time like this!

Just now, their project team had finally broken through the last technical bottleneck, allowing holographic technology to fully connect to sensory nerves. This revolutionary breakthrough enabled human-computer and human-human interaction, allowing almost lifelike sensory experiences in virtual worlds and contact and communication just like in the real world, truly realizing virtual reality of thought.

In other words, with this technology, the once dreamed vision of living in a virtual world would no longer be just a dream.

Fully connecting holographic technology to the nervous system had always been a key focus in the industry. According to experts’ predictions, a preliminary breakthrough in the technology would take at least three years, maturity over five years, and even longer to reach the market.

But now, in only half a year, their project team, led by Xie Ran, had directly entered the application phase. There was no doubt that Zhuzi Technology was about to open the next era’s new trend.

Of course, for those present, being able to participate in such a project and personally witness the birth of a technology was far more meaningful and exciting than any glory in the capital market.

Xie Ran said: “I have already asked administration to prepare a celebration banquet. Tonight, everyone should have a good drink and rest. The project bonus will also be distributed by the end of this month.”

Xie Ran was strict in work but always generous with rewards.

“Long live President Xie!”

“Long live Zhuzi Technology!”

Cheers erupted again in the laboratory.

The celebration banquet was arranged nearby in Zhuzi Technology’s employee cafeteria, but the food was directly ordered from a star-rated hotel and accompanied by plenty of fine wine.

The project team was exhilarated, everyone ate and drank freely without fear of getting drunk. Since lab workers often worked overtime, the company had independent rest spaces, and if drunk, they could sleep at the company. If they wanted to go home, there were designated drivers.

Xie Ran and Li Zhuoer, as project leaders, were toasted by everyone in turn and drank a round with them. However, Xie Ran was always dignified, everyone knew their limits and did not really force him to drink. Li Zhuoer was more approachable in style, so everyone put their energy into toasting him. He didn’t want to spoil the fun, so he drank quite a bit and gradually got somewhat drunk.

Li Zhuoer’s mood had already been very high. Overcoming such a major technical difficulty was extremely important for both the company and himself, especially since this was a project he completed together with Xie Ran. Over the past six months, he had been almost with Xie Ran every day, and his love for Xie Ran had reached its peak.

Now that the technical bottleneck was broken, his emotions were full but could not be released. With the alcohol hitting him, his desire for Xie Ran grew stronger, and he instinctively looked for Xie Ran: “Senior Brother, let’s have a drink too.”

But when he turned his head, he found Xie Ran had already disappeared.

Li Zhuoer’s emotions clogged his chest. He frowned and asked the person next to him: “Where is my Senior Brother?”

“Huh?” The person asked was already drunk and looked confused: “I don’t know.”

Li Zhuoer didn’t blame him. After thinking for a moment, he put down his glass, grabbed his coat, and headed out.

The others were all drunk by then or had already gone back to rest. No one paid attention to his whereabouts.

Li Zhuoer left the cafeteria. The corridor was empty except for a few employees working overtime. Li Zhuoer stopped someone and asked: “Did you see President Xie?”

Someone had indeed seen him: “He seemed to have gone to the laboratory.”

The laboratory?

Li Zhuoer felt a bit confused but still returned to the outside of the laboratory. Zhuzi Technology’s laboratory had very high confidentiality standards and required multiple layers of verification—chip card, pupil scan, and so on—to enter.

Li Zhuoer passed the last pupil scan layer, and the lab door silently slid open. He was about to call out to Xie Ran when he suddenly heard Xie Ran’s calm voice: “…Mark, online.”

Li Zhuoer froze and swallowed his voice. He softened his footsteps and quietly walked inside.

Xie Ran sat in a chair facing away from the door, his posture very relaxed. A few crystal patches were attached to his head, connected to the lab machines.

This was the prototype of the new holographic sensor they developed. Judging by Xie Ran’s state, he should have connected to the sensor and entered the virtual world.

During this period, the lab people took turns conducting online experiments with the holographic technology. Xie Ran naturally participated too. Now that the technology was realized, it seemed normal that Xie Ran joyfully logged in to experience it again.

But Li Zhuoer just felt something was off.

Xie Ran’s relaxed posture was unusual. With his personality, at this moment online, he would surely have tested the entire technology again to ensure nothing was missed.

Moreover, Li Zhuoer wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he felt like Xie Ran had just been talking to someone.

However, there was no one else in the lab. To avoid information leakage, the lab’s network and communications were cut off from the outside world, so Xie Ran could not have been talking to anyone there.

Besides, Xie Ran’s words were spoken before entering the virtual world. Their holographic technology had just been broken through and was not yet connected to the outside world. How could anyone else have logged in?

Li Zhuoer was still somewhat drunk, his head a little dizzy. He couldn’t think clearly, but he had a strange feeling—he sensed the truth was very close.

Luckily, there was another sensor prototype nearby. On a sudden impulse, Li Zhuoer calmly picked up the sensor patch, connected it to his head nerves and pupils, and started the machine.

After a brief dizziness, the scene before Li Zhuoer’s eyes changed. He entered a familiar environment.

This scene was one of several designed by their lab specifically for online experiments. One key focus of their technology was interaction between people in the virtual world, so several sensors could connect with each other.

The sensor Li Zhuoer connected to was exactly linked to the one Xie Ran was using, meaning he was now in the same virtual scene as Xie Ran.

Li Zhuoer saw Xie Ran, but the scene shocked him and made him widen his eyes in disbelief.

Next to Xie Ran’s human model stood another person—a tall, black-haired youth with a sunny, handsome face and slightly curly fluffy hair.

The youth was about half a head taller than Xie Ran. At this moment, his chest pressed against Xie Ran’s back. He reached his hands around Xie Ran’s waist from behind, brushed Xie Ran’s temple hair with his side face, and took the chance to lightly peck Xie Ran’s ear, wearing a satisfied smile: “Sir, I hugged you again.”

Xie Ran’s face showed no fluctuation but naturally turned his head to respond to the light kiss. Their movements were so familiar, as if repeated thousands of times.

They kissed so deeply that they did not even notice another person appearing in the scene.

Li Zhuoer felt as if a nerve in his head snapped. He blurted out unconsciously: “Who are you?”

Xie Ran and the youth came to their senses, their actions paused. The youth cursed angrily: “Mosaic! The third wheel can talk too.”

Xie Ran turned to look at Li Zhuoer, no longer affectionate toward the youth, and returned to his usual cold demeanor: “You saw it.”

His gaze was so icy that Li Zhuoer suddenly calmed down.

Though his heart surged, his mind was surprisingly clearer. He stared fixedly at the youth: “Who is he? How did he enter our prototype?”

Their prototype was not networked, and the lab was shielded from external signals. How did this person connect to the machine?

Xie Ran did not answer, only said coldly: “None of your business.”

The youth stuck out his tongue behind and said: “Bleh, none of your business.”

Li Zhuoer: ?!!!

The youth’s voice, tone, and childish antics felt so familiar that it involuntarily gave Li Zhuoer a reflexive urge to urinate.

Li Zhuoer suddenly realized something and asked Xie Ran in surprise: “Is he your boyfriend?”

Meng Feixuan said: “Watch your manners. What ‘this’ and ‘that’?”

Li Zhuoer: ! Confirmed. It was him.

No wonder Xie Ran was so intimate with him. Instantly, all the frustration Li Zhuoer had suppressed for half a year flooded back.

When he first saw Xie Ran act irrationally to indulge and protect that unidentified youth, Li Zhuoer thought Xie Ran’s personality had changed due to hormones.

However, in the following half year, Xie Ran proved with actions that he hadn’t changed at all. He was still the nearly ruthless “human-like AI.” His attitude toward others remained the same, but his patience was reserved exclusively for that youth.

This discovery made Li Zhuoer insanely jealous, because it meant Xie Ran’s feelings for that youth were not a fleeting impulse. That youth was unique to Xie Ran.

And all this was something Li Zhuoer once dreamed of but could never have.

Now, Xie Ran even let that person log into Zhuzi Technology’s highly confidential holographic prototype. Had Xie Ran really abandoned principles for him?

Li Zhuoer felt his head ache more and more and vaguely sensed something was wrong. He angrily asked: “Senior Brother, how could you let him in? This violates the rules.”

Xie Ran remained indifferent: “It does not violate the rules.”

“Isn’t this breaking the rules?” Li Zhuoer was about to argue when he suddenly realized something: “No, to access our prototype, you need our sensor and identity verification. No other place has our sensor, and no one else is in the lab…”

His drunkenness mostly cleared, his brain raced. All the information that had troubled him for half a year quickly integrated.

During this half year, although busy with the project, Li Zhuoer never stopped investigating Xie Ran’s boyfriend’s identity.

Strangely, despite using almost all his power, he could not find any information about this person.

Even more baffling was that he could not find any communication records of the day Xie Ran met the other person in the dessert shop.

Li Zhuoer couldn’t track Xie Ran’s communications, so he switched strategies and investigated the telecom frequency in Zhuzi Plaza that day, but still found nothing.

The communication between Xie Ran and that boyfriend lasted two hours, yet that day, no related communication signals appeared in Zhuzi Plaza.

If not for the indelible psychological shadow left on Li Zhuoer that day, he might have suspected the call was a hallucination.

Li Zhuoer always thought it was because Xie Ran’s anti-tracking ability was too strong that he couldn’t find anything. But now, he finally realized something.

If from the start, this youth was not a real person but a “net friend” who existed entirely online, everything made sense.

…Including why he could talk nonsense for so long without taking a break.

Li Zhuoer shivered, fully sobered, and stared dumbfounded at Xie Ran: “Senior Brother, your boyfriend… is an… artificial intelligence?”

Xie Ran quietly looked at him, said nothing.

Silence itself was already an answer.

Actually, whether Xie Ran answered or not no longer mattered. Li Zhuoer had already glimpsed Meng Feixuan’s truth. Even if Xie Ran wanted to deny it, it was too late.

“How is that possible? How could this be?” Li Zhuoer stammered, his mind blank for a moment: “How could you fall in love with an artificial intelligence?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Why can’t you fall in love with me?” Meng Feixuan swore angrily: “Sir is a human-like AI, and I am AI. Aren’t we a perfect match?”

Meng Feixuan’s voice was especially grating to Li Zhuoer. Suddenly, Li Zhuoer realized something else. He looked sharply at Meng Feixuan and asked in shock: “You have consciousness?”

He turned to Xie Ran as if looking at a madman: “Senior Brother, you actually created an AI with independent consciousness and fell in love with him?”

Xie Ran raised his eyelids and looked at him with the usual indifferent, superior expression: “So what?”