Chapter 204 - 163: After All, Unorthodox Methods Are Stronger in the Early Game

Z Company.

Inside the CEO’s office.

Zhao Shao looked at Chu Bamboo, his face a mask of exhaustion. "My dear junior," he said, his voice weak, "what is it now?!"

Zhao Shao felt like he was about to die from overwork. After all, he’d probably gotten less than five hours of sleep total in the last two days.

But when Chu Bamboo called for him, he had no choice but to drop what he was doing.

"In a bit, I’m heading to the police station. I want to create a weakened version, a ’Case-Cracker Z’ specifically for their use," Chu Bamboo said, his expression normal. "This way, we can build a good relationship with the police. It’ll make things more convenient for us in the future, one way or another."

He added silently in his mind: ’And while I’m at it, I’ll use this opportunity to get Z connected to the police department’s internal network.’

"Oh, I see!" Zhao Shao nodded, then it hit him. He sucked in a sharp breath. "You’ve established a connection with the police department?!"

An organization like the police department couldn’t just use an external AI whenever they felt like it. In fact, most of the time, without an executive order from above, it was basically impossible... He was already wondering, ’Does my junior have connections that go straight to the police?’

"Not really. They just got a taste of Z’s power," Chu Bamboo said noncommittally. Generally, the police wouldn’t be willing to use this kind of external AI assistance. But the problem was, the results were too immediate and obvious. You could see with your own eyes how it could reduce countless workloads. That changed everything.

"Besides, it’s just a trial opportunity. You can think of it as... a temporary gig, I guess?"

Going through official channels would definitely be a huge hassle. But if you put on a temporary cover... a lot of times, the problem wouldn’t seem so big.

"...You’re incredible!" Zhao Shao gave him a thumbs-up, forcing himself to rally his spirits. "Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll go find some employees right now..."

"I’m heading to the police station in a minute. Do you think there’s enough time to find employees and have them whip something up from scratch?" Chu Bamboo shot Zhao Shao a sidelong glance.

"? Then what do you mean?" Zhao Shao was baffled.

Then he heard Chu Bamboo casually mutter, "Z, use the source code data I gave you at home earlier. Integrate it a bit and create an AI specifically for solving cases. Its data can’t be the same as yours."

Chu Bamboo had actually fed some AI source code to Z at home before... This was, of course, code for some incredibly powerful AIs that would be iterated upon in the Divine Continent after waves of insane, cutthroat competition following Zhao Shao’s future release of Spirit Star 1.0.

This was something he had memorized back in the Dream World. He’d been reading a novel for a bit, had a sudden whim, and casually glanced at it.

He had to admit, the more he used his Memory Divine Techniques, the more incredible they became...

Before, although Chu Bamboo had a photographic memory, he still had to actually *look* at things. He needed to read them bit by bit to memorize them... But now, to memorize that massive amount of data, he just had Nuwa cover the entire silver wall with dense source code, swept his eyes over it once, and it was committed to memory.

It was just like taking a picture. He didn’t even need to use his brain.

Then, after returning to the Real World, he could just use ink and a notebook, pairing them with his Memory Divine Techniques to act as a human printer...

This level of efficiency wasn’t just a matter of doubling or tripling! It was like leaping from the agricultural age straight into the industrial age.

In terms of raw power, these AIs that Chu Bamboo had copied were naturally no match for Z. But that didn’t mean they were of no help to Z...

After all, any AI that could forcibly carve out a small piece of the market in the Divine Continent under the shadow of the great demon lord Z in the future had to have its own unique tricks up its sleeve.

Besides...

They could also serve as a firewall for Z.

To put it simply, Chu Bamboo could have just had Z clip out a part of its own programming to create a specialized case-cracking Z. But... what if he really gave this specialized version to the police, and in the future, information about Z leaked out from their side...

It was precisely because Z’s level was so high that, at least in these early stages, he had to be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious.

To be blunt, a pre-sentient Z could, in essence, be copied. Even a perfect one-to-one copy would likely result in a weakened version of Z! It was like how those big tech giants just slap a new skin on an old product.

’Didn’t you see? In the future, when Zhao Shao makes it open-source, he only releases the initial version of Spirit Star!’

However, having Z use some future AI source code to create a disguise was no problem... The effect was more or less the same, anyway! And even if this disguise’s code leaked, it wasn’t a big deal—Z could crush them all with one hand tied behind its back.

Zhao Shao: "..."

He watched, expressionless, as a specialized "Case-Cracker Z" app slowly materialized out of thin air... He felt like he had countless retorts stuck in his throat but didn’t know how to spit them out. It honestly made his scalp tingle.

This was different from the three mini-games from yesterday!

How big could a mini-game be? And they were mini-games with pre-existing templates... To be blunt, you could even just copy the open-source code for those games directly from the internet! The main contribution was still all the various new gameplay mechanics Chu Bamboo had described.

But... this time, it had really, truly created a new app from scratch!

’I’m so stupid,’ he suddenly thought. ’Just yesterday, I was only thinking of Z as my assistant... But looking at it now, I could just have Z do all the work! All I’d have to do is stand aside and give commands?’

Speechless for a long moment, Zhao Shao finally looked at Chu Bamboo sorrowfully. "Ah Zhu, don’t you think this is a bit..."

"It’s not like you guys are useless! Creating new program functions still requires your hard work..." Chu Bamboo instantly saw through Zhao Shao’s thoughts and added, "For the app I had her make, I just gave her a source code template to begin with. Then she just did a little copy-pasting here and there! That’s why it was so fast. You don’t need to overthink it..."

"...How can I not overthink it?" Zhao Shao tore at his hair. Then, looking at the clump of hair he’d just pulled out, a trace of grief appeared on his face. "Crap!"

His heart was already weighed down by mountains, and now this handful of hair dealt him a critical mental blow...

"..." Chu Bamboo looked at Zhao Shao thoughtfully. "From the looks of it, it really won’t be long before you become the classic 28-year-old programmer from the internet memes."

"..." Zhao Shao choked. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Bro! How... how do you maintain your looks?"

Zhao Shao looked at Chu Bamboo’s skin—he clearly wasn’t wearing any makeup, yet it was as white as jade. Up close, you couldn’t see a single pore, no blackheads or pimples at all. And then there was that head of beautiful black hair. Zhao Shao felt like he was about to awaken his Sharingan.

’Damn Fate may be unfair... but you can’t be *this* unfair! Why does every good thing have to go to Mr. Chu?!’

"Born with it!" Chu Bamboo said casually. At the same time, however, he was thinking, ’Should I ask Nuwa No. 17 in the future if she has any amazing hair growth formulas? The kind that works instantly? It seems that compared to heavy industry... this kind of stuff is where the real money’s at!’

’All I can say is... compared to the orthodox sects, it’s really the unorthodox paths—ahem, the side doors—that let you advance by leaps and bounds in the early stages!’

"Fine..." Zhao Shao nodded and sighed. "Well then, my dear and great shareholder, since you can whip this thing up yourself, why did you even come looking for me? Don’t tell me..."

’Was it to show off in front of me on purpose?’

’Okay, fine! I have to admit, you succeeded.’

"No. If you don’t go, you expect me to?" Chu Bamboo gave Zhao Shao a strange, sidelong glance. "The one cooperating with the police department is Z Intelligent Company! As the legal representative, shouldn’t you be the one to interface with them?"

"...You make a good point!" Zhao Shao was silent for a moment before finally saying, "But for some reason, I get the distinct feeling... that I’m being dragged out to be the fall guy! Fine, I accept. The legal representative is meant to be the fall guy anyway."

"I’ll just wash my face... and then we’ll go!"

...

「8:17 AM.」

Chu Bamboo and Zhao Shao arrived at the Zone One police headquarters.

「8:25 AM.」

Under Captain Xinglong’s introduction, Chu Bamboo and Zhao Shao successfully met the various bigwigs of the police department, exchanging contact information while they were at it.

「8:30 AM.」

Looking as calm as ever, Chu Bamboo began the demonstration for the police department’s bigwigs. He took his phone—which had been inspected by a professional police officer to confirm it was disconnected from all networks—and plugged its data port into the Zone One police department’s main server.

At that moment... Z began to operate according to Chu Bamboo’s preset commands.

It scanned from the inside out, found vulnerabilities in the system’s programming, and set up a back door for itself... At the same time, it searched the database for any video data involving Chu Bamboo and made minute adjustments to the inhuman feats he displayed in the footage, adding layers of concealment...

And then.

A "Case-Cracker Z" app suddenly appeared on every computer in the police department.

"Please, give it a try." Chu Bamboo glanced at his phone screen, and upon seeing the "command complete" message, he immediately unplugged the data cable.

He looked at the assembled police officers and made an inviting gesture toward the computers, a confident smile on his face.

Then, Zhao Shao stepped forward and began to speak eloquently. At this moment, he unleashed his smooth-talking skills with all his might.

"Leaders, our Z Intelligence Co., Ltd. is an AI company supported by the district government and sponsored by Jinling University. Our company has received great attention from the relevant leadership... Currently, our company’s AI is top-tier, not just in the country but in the entire world..."

’Before, Zhao Shao would have only dared to say it was "probably," "most likely," top-tier... But now...’

’What trash? Compared to our Z? If he weren’t afraid the people in front of him wouldn’t believe it, he would’ve just boasted it was number one in the world.’

"AI intelligence is the major trend of the future! Currently, AI has already been adopted by official governments in various regions, empowering them to handle administrative affairs and greatly increasing efficiency. This is also a project the Divine Continent will be promoting and focusing on going forward! The various policies currently being rolled out by the officials... all point to this..."

"And the Case-Cracker Z we’ve developed is a specialized version of AI designed specifically for police case-solving!"

"If our Zone One Police Department can be the first to adopt this technology, and discover in practice that its assistance is indeed immense! And then promote it among our brother departments... then I believe that with the rise in case-solving rates, efficiency, and accuracy... all parties will surely look upon this matter with approval!"

"And the higher-ups will inevitably..."

Chu Bamboo watched from the side, amazed.

He watched with his own eyes as the police bigwigs, who had initially been stone-faced, gradually began to show signs of being moved...

Especially when Zhao Shao mentioned things like "star unit," "pioneer of reform," "the First District in AI-powered case solving," "aligning with central policy," and "marching toward the future..."

He could really feel it. The bigwigs’ nods, which had started as mere formalities, had clearly become more earnest. Some even started taking out notebooks to take notes. By the end, some of the less reserved leaders were getting impatient... eager to try it out with their own hands...

All one could say was, Zhao Shao, who could swindle a ton of money even when he had no real goods to show for it... now that he truly held an ace up his sleeve, he was truly the king of the current meta—

He’d slay gods if they stood in his way and kill buddhas if they blocked his path. He could probably scam Indian Ali out of two pairs of his own underwear... It was like Boss Jia reborn! No, he was even stronger than Boss Jia... After all, Z, the source of Zhao Shao’s confidence, was the real deal...