Su Wan forced the corners of her mouth to force a soothing smile, but found her facial muscles were extremely stiff. Just as she was about to speak, a cold, majestic voice, filled with unquestionable power, like a Siberian wind, instantly froze the entire boiling hall!
"Who allowed you to use this power without permission?"
The voice was not loud, but it clearly overwhelmed all the cheers. The chill contained in the voice instantly dropped the temperature in the hall, which had just risen, to freezing point.
Everyone seemed frozen in place, their cheers abruptly hushed. The excitement flushed on their faces instantly faded, and they stiffly turned towards the source of the sound—the entrance to the hall.
The heavy alloy security door slid open silently to both sides.
Gu Chengxiao stood there.
A perfectly tailored black handmade suit outlined his tall, pine-like figure. He looked as if he had just rushed in from a high-profile negotiation or funeral, still carrying the biting cold air from outside. His unparalleled handsome face was expressionless, his deep eyes like two bottomless pools of cold. His gaze, sharp as a scalpel, pierced the chaotic hall and pinpointed Su Wan, who stood at the center of the podium.
Behind him followed two personal bodyguards with equally expressionless faces and a stern and powerful aura, like two silent door gods.
Time seemed to freeze. The engineers, who had been immersed in ecstasy just a moment before, felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over their heads, their breathing subconsciously slowing down. A silent, suffocating pressure permeated the air. Gu Chengxiao's gaze swept across the shattered main screen, where the core systems had been restored, and finally returned to Su Wan's pale, exhausted face. There was no trace of relief at having survived the ordeal, only scrutiny, cold questioning, and... a deep, offended rage.
He took long steps, his shiny leather shoes treading on the polished floor with a steady, oppressive "click, click" sound. He walked slowly through the corridor that automatically separated the crowd and headed straight for Su Wan. Every step seemed to tread on the tense heartstrings of everyone.
Finally, he stopped just one step in front of Su Wan. The shadow cast by his tall figure almost completely covered the thin Su Wan.
"Answer me." Gu Chengxiao's voice was low, and every word was as if it was tempered by ice. "Who gave you the power to use the 'data torrent'?" He deliberately emphasized those four words, as if they were the mark of some kind of taboo.
A pin drop could be heard in the hall. Ajie opened his mouth, wanting to explain Su Wan's near-miss, but under Gu Chengxiao's invisible pressure, his throat seemed to be blocked, and not a single word came out. The other employees were even more terrified, not even daring to breathe.
Su Wan raised her head, meeting Gu Chengxiao's deep, cold gaze. The throbbing and fatigue from the release of power hadn't yet completely subsided, and this sudden questioning ignited her suppressed anger. She took a deep breath, suppressing the sweet and fishy taste in her throat. Her voice was a little hoarse from exhaustion, but remarkably clear:
"Boss Gu, what just happened is that the authorization key is about to be overwritten, and the Ark is about to fall. I have no choice." Her gaze was unwavering. "Am I to watch helplessly as the core of the Gu family's lifeline is snatched away by the Undercurrent? Watch all our efforts go to waste?"
"Choice?" Gu Chengxiao's lips curled up in an extremely cold arc, with a strong sense of scorn. "Su Wan, have you forgotten your identity? What exactly is living inside you? It's not a toy, nor is it a weapon you can use at will!" He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice. His cold breath almost brushed Su Wan's ear, carrying a heart-pounding desire for control. "Every time it loses control, it accelerates your fusion with it! Every abuse of power is pushing you into an inhuman abyss! You are playing with fire!"
He stood up abruptly, his voice returning to its cold, stern tone, echoing throughout the hall: "Without my order, no one may arbitrarily utilize AI power beyond the safety threshold! This is an iron rule! You, Su Wan, are no exception!" His gaze swept over the shuddering crowd, warning, "All data records of today's events must be sealed immediately and classified as top secret! Anyone who leaks even a single word will bear the consequences!"
"Playing with fire?" The last trace of warmth in Su Wan's eyes disappeared, leaving only frozen anger and a sharp pain of being misunderstood. "Gu Chengxiao, you only see the risks! You only care about your control! You only care about whether the 'thing' inside me will get out of control! Then tell me, when the 'Ark' is breached, when Gu's trade secrets, core technologies, and even data that could shake the foundation of the group are taken away or made public by the 'undercurrent', where is your so-called 'safety threshold'? What can your so-called 'iron law' save?"
Her voice suddenly rose, carrying a resolute, unwavering resolve that echoed clearly in the deadly silence of the hall. "Could it be that in your eyes, the Gu family's multi-billion-dollar foundation, the hard work of countless people, are not as valuable as your cold, heartless 'safety rules' that treat me like a high-risk individual?!"
Gu Chengxiao's pupils suddenly constricted, his face gloomy, practically dripping with water. Su Wan's almost open defiance was undoubtedly a challenge to his absolute authority. The chill emanating from him seemed to solidify.
At this moment when the air is about to freeze and explode,
"Beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep!"
A sudden and sharp beep, unlike any previous alarm, suddenly sounded from the direction of Ajie's control console! The sound was extremely rapid and harsh, carrying an ominous meaning!
"What's going on?!" Ajie was startled by the sudden alarm. He instantly broke free from the terrifying pressure of Gu Chengxiao and Su Wan's confrontation and rushed to his control panel. On the smaller monitoring screen in front of him, the green curve that originally represented the physical layer security of the data center, one of the indicators representing the backup power supply line, suddenly turned a glaring red like a diving stone! A flashing warning box popped up next to it:
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com