Chapter 121: Storming the Fortress (3) |
Wei Hongsi understood the weight behind Director Liang’s promise of “full support.” From the arrest of Chen Xuemin, it was clear that this leader from the capital wielded enormous influence.
This put some pressure on Wei Hongsi, but it also fueled his motivation. With such powerful official resources backing him, he felt confident he could crack this difficult problem.
In fact, he had already considered investigating the “Death Command” and “Fuse-Blown Mechanism” before. They fell squarely within his area of expertise, naturally sparking his curiosity to explore them further. However, at that time, he had no subjects available for study.
Now, he had ample sample resources at his disposal. There were tools like Peng Jun who had undergone “indoctrination,” core members of the Guide Light Society with built-in “Fuse-Blown Mechanisms,” and Mu Jie, whose “Fuse-Blown Mechanism” had glitched for some unknown reason. This abundance made conducting research extremely convenient.
Additionally, the cooperative framework between the company and the university had already been established. This research could be placed within that structure, ensuring access to technical and equipment resources, and solving the manpower issue.
However, when forming this research team, member selection required extreme caution. Because the “Fuse-Blown Mechanism” was tied to the Guide Light Society’s core secrets, the research would inevitably involve case details.
It was foreseeable that even after the investigation concluded, certain content could not be made public. Without official guidance, this research could easily cross boundaries.
With this in mind, Wei Hongsi made a request: “Director Liang, I’ll need to form a team for this research. I hope you can help vet the candidates.”
“Sure,” Director Liang agreed readily.
With the two important matters settled, seeing that neither leader raised new topics, Wei Hongsi proactively asked, “Director Shi, the Guide Light Society has marked Shen Qing as a key target. What’s their purpose?”
Earlier, when Director Shi had briefed the case, he mentioned that the breakthrough in identifying Zhou Huai came through Shen Qing, but he hadn’t elaborated on other details.
Director Shi said, “They plan to use Shen Qing’s musical talent, but the specifics remain unclear. We’re investigating this.”
Wei Hongsi nodded. On Thursday, he had sent Shen Qing another round of revision suggestions, and then there was no follow-up. It seemed her creative work had been interrupted by the police investigation.
Director Shi continued, “Shen Qing becoming the brand ambassador for Paradise Beverages was also facilitated by Zhou Huai. He advised Shen Qing to lower her standards, making it easy for Paradise to select her.”
Wei Hongsi asked, “Does Paradise have any individuals involved in the case?”
Director Shi replied, “At least none have been found so far.”
That Wei Hongsi paid special attention to Shen Qing seemed perfectly normal to Director Shi.
This young man wasn’t just a technical expert; he was also very sharp about case details. Many of his suggestions for the investigation didn’t come solely from a technical perspective. Besides, Shen Qing was a celebrity, naturally attracting attention.
In this case, Shen Qing was a pivotal figure, connected to multiple threads. What the Guide Light Society planned to use her for was worth digging into deeply, but since there was no progress yet, Director Shi didn’t elaborate.
Just as the three were talking, Yu Zhen entered from outside.
He nodded to Wei Hongsi, then said, “Director Liang, Director Shi, we’ve found another person controlled and influenced by the Guide Light Society’s special methods.” As he spoke, he handed two printed documents to each of them.
Director Shi looked at them and said with some surprise, “Xia Yuansheng? Zhiwei Technology again?”
Wei Hongsi thought to himself, that name sounds familiar.
Zhiwei Technology had tens of thousands of employees; any name he remembered must have crossed his path before. Seeing Director Liang and Director Shi both look at him, he suddenly recalled and said, “Isn’t that our company’s Vice President Xia?”
Yu Zhen said, “We haven’t learned the exact position yet. We only know he’s a senior executive at your company.”
Wei Hongsi nodded. “Then that’s right.”
He basically knew all the company’s senior executives, but he had never met this President Xia. Because before he joined the company, President Xia had already been on medical leave, so he only saw the introduction during onboarding training.
Director Shi handed the document in his hand to Wei Hongsi.
Wei Hongsi took it and examined it closely. The photo on it was indeed President Xia, the same one from the onboarding training. He was the head of Zhiwei Technology’s entire business line.
The document recorded compiled information, likely a combination of dream interpretation results and testimony from related individuals involved in the case.
It had been confirmed that in mid-February of this year, the Guide Light Society implanted a carbon nanotube array into Xia Yuansheng, beginning their influence and control over him, with the specific purpose unknown.
Experts speculated that due to Xia Yuansheng’s relatively advanced age (52), frequent “indoctrination” had caused mental issues. By April, the situation had worsened significantly, forcing him to leave work and begin hospitalization, halting any subsequent plans.
Wei Hongsi recalled his first meeting on the 22nd floor, when Director Dai mentioned that President Xia was hospitalized due to illness. So there was a hidden reason behind it.
This suggested that the Guide Light Society had targeted President Xia slightly earlier than Li Yunxiang, but only by a few days. They were truly scheming against Zhiwei.
Director Shi asked, “Teacher Wei, what do you think the Guide Light Society’s goal is in targeting your company?”
Wei Hongsi returned the document to Director Shi and said, “It should be our company’s CMS—the Cognitive Mirroring System. If the CMS fell under their control, they could create a ‘Psychological Virus’ effective against the majority of people.”
Director Liang and Director Shi both nodded. In fact, the Guide Light Society had already done this, except that Plan B had been suppressed by Wei Hongsi and never appeared before the public.
If the Guide Light Society had actually succeeded, producing video content laced with extreme negative valence emotions for widespread dissemination, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Seeing the two leaders seem to breathe a quiet sigh of relief, Wei Hongsi reminded them, “The Cognitive Mirroring System isn’t exclusive to Zhiwei’s CMS. Yuanxu Technology in the capital and Shentong Matrix in Peng City have both built similar AI systems. Additionally, some universities have them too, like Yuecheng University.”
Wei Hongsi had previously mentioned this to his brother and Zhang Shengyong, but at the time, the case was still unclear, the scope wasn’t large, and it wasn’t within their authority to address, so nothing came of it.
He suspected those two guys might have forgotten or hadn’t had the chance to alert their superiors, so it was necessary to bring it up again.
Director Liang’s expression immediately turned serious upon hearing this: “Teacher Wei, please compile a list of institutions that have built such systems.”
