stjorthotic Chapter 70 There's a mole.
Chapter 70 There's a mole.
He stood there silently.
Then he did something.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Director Zhao.
[The window of opportunity is recommended to be extended. Reason: The project has made critical progress and requires more time for verification.]
Director Zhao replied ten seconds later.
【how long?】
Zhou Weiguo thought for a moment and glanced at Lin Yu's back.
Follow his pace.
Director Zhao remained silent for a minute.
You've never spoken up for any project.
Zhou Weiguo did not reply.
He put his phone away.
7 PM, in the cafeteria.
Lin Yu, Xia Zijin, Wang Lei, and Zhou Weiguo sat at the same table.
This was the first time Zhou Weiguo had eaten with them.
Nobody mentioned that this made any difference.
Wang Lei shoveled rice into his mouth, which was stuffed full: "Um... what did the AI's output today... mean it has learned to think?"
"Not really."
Xia Zijin put down her chopsticks. "What it has learned is—to use existing knowledge to speculate when there is no standard answer. This is the starting point of thinking, but it is not true thinking yet."
What is true thinking?
"They'll ask why."
Lin Yu picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks. "It can now answer what and how, but it won't ask why."
Is it difficult to teach it to ask "why"?
"It's not about teaching."
Lin Yu chewed his food. "This is something you can't teach. Have you ever seen a child asked 'why' by the church? They're born asking questions."
"What should we do then?"
"wait."
"Wait again?"
"You think doing research is like playing a video game? You kill the mobs and the next level automatically unlocks?"
Wang Lei fell silent.
Zhou Weiguo remained silent. He ate quickly but quietly, finishing every last grain of rice in his bowl.
After finishing his meal, he wiped his mouth and uttered his first words of the day that had nothing to do with work.
Have you ever considered this question?
All three people looked at him at the same time.
"If it really learns to think."
Zhou Weiguo put down his chopsticks, his gaze calm. "How can you guarantee that what it's thinking is what you want it to think?"
The noise in the cafeteria suddenly seemed to be turned down.
Lin Yu looked at him.
He had thought about this problem.
But when Zhou Weiguo said it, it carried a different weight.
Zhou Weiguo asked this question not out of academic curiosity.
It stemmed from a soldier's instinctive judgment about safety.
"Good question."
Lin Yu pushed the bowl aside. "I'll answer you when it truly learns to think."
Zhou Weiguo did not ask any further questions.
He stood up, took the empty bowl, and went to the recycling area.
Their steps remained synchronized. Their strides remained consistent.
But Wang Lei noticed a detail—
He paused for a fraction of a second as he walked past Lin Yu.
Then they continued walking.
Wang Lei recalled what Lin Yu had said.
"This person is truly capable."
He now feels that the reverse is also true.
Zhou Weiguo probably thinks the same way about Lin Yu.
At 11 p.m. that night, at the base.
Everyone left the control center.
Lin Yu sat alone in front of the control panel, the light from the screen reflecting on his face.
He wasn't writing code.
He was looking at all of the AI's output records for the day.
Look at them one by one.
Observe its every hesitation.
Each time, an uncertain answer is given.
Every choice made between being unable to judge and attempting to infer.
It's like watching a baby learn to walk.
His phone lit up.
Shen Yue.
[Urgent. Kevin acquired a 51% stake in a Chinese AI startup two hours ago through an offshore company. The company's CTO interviewed you at Qidian Algorithm three months ago.]
He didn't pass the interview. But he saw what was on the whiteboard in your office.
Lin Yu's eyes slowly narrowed.
The things on the whiteboard.
On the whiteboard that day, the initial draft of the FAST telescope's architecture was written.
He asked Shen Yue to look up the CTO's name.
Two minutes later, Shen Yue replied.
[Zhang Haoran. During your interview, Wang Lei showed him around. Wang Lei said he stood in front of the whiteboard for about forty seconds.]
Forty seconds.
Not fully understanding the overall architecture.
But enough to take one photo.
Lin Yu put his phone on the table and closed his eyes.
Kevin.
From materials to algorithms, and from algorithms to people.
From academic competition to commercial infiltration to intelligence theft.
This line is as clear as a knife.
The tip of the knife was already pressed against the entrance of the Sky Eye.
He opened his eyes and dialed a phone number.
It rang twice, then I answered.
"Zhou Chu".
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"What is it?"
At 11 a.m., Zhou Weiguo's voice was as clear as it had been during the day.
"I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Investigate someone."
Lin Yu's voice was calm, but his speech was a beat slower than usual.
Zhou Weiguo understood.
This isn't the young man who was chewing spicy snacks and arguing with him.
This is the man who greeted the new era in Chicago.
"name."
"Zhang Haoran".
"Investigate what?"
"Investigate who he contacted, where he went, and— after he left my company on the day of his interview three months ago."
Lin Yu paused for a moment.
"Does he have a picture of a whiteboard on his phone?"
There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.
I'll give you the results before 8 a.m. tomorrow.
The phone hangs up.
Lin Yu put down his phone and looked at the AI data stream on the screen.
The spider web was slowly growing, and the blank node at its center shimmered slightly.
Like an eye that hasn't fully opened yet.
"Don't rush."
He said softly.
"Let me chase the wolves away from the door first."
At 7:48 a.m., Zhou Weiguo's phone rang.
Lin Yu answered the call.
"Found it."
Zhou Weiguo's voice was as calm as ever, without any extra fluctuations. "Zhang Haoran left your company at 2:17 pm on the day of the interview, and went into the restroom of the shopping mall next door at 2:31 pm. He stayed in the restroom for nine minutes."
Nine minutes.
"After I came out, I made a phone call. The number was registered in Boston. The call lasted four minutes and twenty seconds."
Lin Yu didn't say anything.
Three days later, he registered a technology consulting company. Twelve days later, the company was acquired by a British Virgin Islands offshore fund, which acquired 51% of its shares.
Who is the actual controller of the offshore fund?
"The investigation is still ongoing. But the flow of funds is already very clear."
Zhou Weiguo paused for a moment, "The lab account at MIT used the same Cayman Bank as Kevin Sterling's."
Lin Yu closed his eyes.
Nine minutes in the restroom. Enough time to upload a high-resolution photo and make a quote call.
"Where are the photos?"
"His phone had its data wiped three days ago. It was a professional-grade wipe; it can't be recovered using ordinary methods."
"What's unusual about it?"
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"It's already underway. Results are expected this afternoon."
Lin Yu hung up the phone.
Wang Lei had just walked in carrying a bowl of noodles when he saw Lin Yu's expression and silently placed the noodles on the corner of the table.
"Is it confirmed?"
"Um."
"What should we do then? Call the police?"
Lin Yu leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
"You lost a piece of meat and found out a fox carried it away. Do you chase after the fox, or leave another piece of meat at the fox's den?"
Wang Lei blinked.
"Put them together?"
"Place a poisonous one."