Five days later.
Zeng Xiaoxian had been riding a massive wave of viral fame over the last few cycles. Shifting from a completely obscure, low-tier midnight broadcaster, his profile had systematically shot to the absolute peak of the Weibo trending charts. Although his coordinates only anchored the top slot for less than half a day, the explosion of traffic still allowed his account to accumulate hundreds of thousands of followers. While the technical process of siphoning that demographic data lacked refinement, the macro payout cleared terminal perfectly.
As for Laura, intelligence logs verified she had executed a high-velocity transmigration script to break domestic orbit the exact night of the broadcast, vanishing into foreign sectors entirely. Her footprint had completely entered stealth, leaving Zeng Xiaoxian to independent-absorb the entire consolidated traffic matrix alone.
An unmapped perimeter mountain range.
The collective motorcade carrying the iPartment cell arrived at the coordinates. Because the tactical parameters defined this deployment as a communal camping and wilderness cooking macro, the vehicles anchored themselves beside a pristine river sector. Leaving the units at a vacant clearing by the roadside, the squad hoisted their heavy packs and mobilized toward the riverbanks.
"Camping deployment activated!" Chen Meijia and Lin Wanyu squealed with pure, high-decibel excitement. Neither profile had logged significant historical entries participating in wilderness operations, making today's deployment a brand-new systemic experience for their characters.
In fact, almost every single member of the cell lacked depth regarding outdoor survival macros; their entire operational lifecycles had been spent navigating dense urban grids. Forest terrain and primitive environments felt like data packets completely detached from their daily realities.
Lu Zhanbo and Lu Ziqiao moved to set up the high-capacity tent nodes, while Zhang Shan took command of the grilling station to prepare a total barbecue offensive. Zeng Xiaoxian synchronized with the female demographic to run a processing line for Hot Pot components and fruit salad arrays.
While methodically slicing through provisions, Zhang Shan tossed a high-yield seed into the channel: "My scanning arrays localized a premium estate compound over in the Hangzhou sector recently. Does anyone in the cell possess the liquidity to co-invest and secure a unit?"
"Deficit," Lu Ziqiao executed a flat, immediate rejection. His account had recently captured roughly eight hundred thousand yuan from the Apple stock liquidation matrix, but after settling his outstanding debts with Kamiki, his liquid reserves hovered near fifty thousand. Forget buying a premium villa; his ledger lacked the weight to clear a standard, entry-level domestic unit. Furthermore, Ziqiao's source code contained absolute zero financial management protocols—now that his accounts controlled capital, his immediate directive was upgrading his wardrobe data to optimize his fishing macros for wealthy socialites!
Hu Yifei shook her head in affirmation. "My academic timeline requires me to sustain a permanent presence at the university terminal here; my systems cannot transfer to Hangzhou."
Zhang Shan smiled smoothly. "Don't force a permanent resolution on the query so early. My engine doesn't intend to execute the relocation script immediately anyway; the timeline requires at least a few years to advance to that bracket."
"A few years down the line? We'll let the processors handle that data when the vector aligns," Lu Ziqiao laughed. "Who knows? Perhaps my profile will successfully establish a deep connection loop with a high-net-worth socialite by then, granting my ledger the weight to buy a villa out there upfront!"
Hearing his calculation, Chen Meijia instantly spat out a wave of intense disdain. "Your baseline chassis expects to clear a validation check from a wealthy socialite? Your processing unit is running a pure wish-fulfillment script!"
"True, Ziqiao. Rather than dedicating system cycles to running uncalibrated fantasies, it would yield vastly superior utility to optimize your personal execution, elevate your baseline stats, and force your trajectory to scale as a first-generation billionaire!" Zhang Wei interjected analytically.
"Give it a rest, Zhang Wei! Across this entire collective cell, your profile commands the absolute lowest risk-tolerance parameter!" Lu Ziqiao rolled his eyes hard, launching a counter-offensive. "To capture this recent financial breakout, my system didn't hesitate to pull external capital loans to maximize my market position. What about your code? Your accounts controlled verified liquidity, yet your processors panicked and omitted the play! Your system is drowning in profound tactical regret right now, isn't it?"
Zhang Wei frantically activated his defense firewalls, stammering to deflect the data. "What regret?! My processors have logged absolute zero regret variables! After all, what clears terminal is luck; what drops off is fate! Certain macro variables don't require forced optimization!"
"The only structural element on Zhang Wei's chassis that displays an elite hardness parameter is his tongue!" Zhang Shan teased.
"You! Your profiles are running a systemic slander macro against my character!" Zhang Wei spun on his heel, rapidly compiling an exit script. "My station is mobilizing to harvest two fish from the river grid!" Leaving that final notice, he executed a hyper-velocity escape and fled the sector.
Watching Zhang Wei fall into a total panic retreat, a massive wave of laughter rippled through the squad.
Amid their high-frequency banter, the foundational setup for the campsite successfully cleared validation. Checking the solar vector, Zhang Shan noted, "The chronological marker is still tracking early. Let's delay our main consumption macro until roughly one in the afternoon, cool?"
"Locked in!" The cell agreed in unison. It was currently around eleven in the morning, and since their morning intake macros had been executed late, their internal energy cells didn't register a deficit.
Zhang Shan and Hu Yifei decided to deploy on a localized exploration loop into the deeper perimeter forest. The two stepped past the campsite boundaries, carrying a standard insect net and a reinforced baseball bat.
"Your system expects to harvest premium wilderness game using a low-tier net and a blunt sporting implement?" Hu Yifei questioned, her logic rejecting the tactical efficiency of the loadout.
"Securing game is merely a casual sub-routine. The primary directive of this deployment was always isolating a private dual-tracking window with your profile~" Zhang Shan smiled smoothly.
"Gross~" Yifei turned her face away, though the brilliant smile breaking across her features was completely impossible to suppress.
They claimed to be hunting, but Zhang Shan's strategic intent was completely transparent. How could Hu Yifei's keen processors fail to isolate the variable? Simply put, the two had mutually authorized this deviation from the main cell specifically to capture an isolated micro-climate together. Harvesting wilderness provisions was just a secondary background task.
The two traded high-frequency jests as they walked, their footsteps charting deeper vectors into the forest grid entirely unhindered. Suddenly, perceiving a sharp drop across the ambient temperature sensors, Yifei reflexively rubbed her arms to conserve thermal energy.
Zhang Shan's micro-interactions triggered instantly. He slipped off his outerwear jacket, draping the asset smoothly over her shoulders to re-balance her thermal metrics.
"I was wondering why your profile insisted on wearing heavy outerwear on a warm day. It turns out your processors had pre-coded this exact scenario to target my coordinates?" Yifei teased.
This completely miscalculated Zhang Shan's baseline parameters. He turned a perfectly innocent look toward her, explaining, "Feifei, your system is running a severe diagnostic error on my character! The only reason my station donned a long-sleeve outer shell today was strictly to establish a physical boundary layer against insect vectors!"
"Insects? Does your radar actively detect insect vectors inside this coordinate block?"
As the prompt cleared, Zhang Shan's analytical systems hit a sudden hitch of surprise. "True... our transit loop has advanced deep into this sector, yet my visual tracking arrays haven't cataloged a single flying insect entity..."
At that exact chronological marker, the two finally isolated a profound anomaly across the surrounding landscape. The ambient data feed shifting around them was entirely abnormal; a chilling, low-frequency atmospheric pressure hit their sensory arrays face-front.
Zhang Shan reflexively stepped forward, positioning his chassis as a primary defensive shield to cover Hu Yifei, his tone dropping into high-alert gravity. "Execute an immediate reverse vector. Our profiles have likely breached the security parameter of an unverified, restricted sector!"
In that flash of a microsecond, a sequence of hidden files unlocked within Zhang Shan's database. The iPartment world was mathematically proven to be a non-standard urban grid. The global timeline of this universe held verified entries for high-tier psionic entities, extraterrestrial lifeforms, and the absolute dark archaeological anomalies of the Grave Robbers' Chronicles (Dao Mu Bi Ji)...
Sensing the shifting density of the local environment, his immediate tactical deduction calculated that they had accidentally stumbled into the energetic matrix of a massive, ancient subterranean tomb structure. His highest-priority directive was guiding Hu Yifei out of the danger zone at hyper-velocity. Though his native programming from his past life was locked into absolute, unshakeable scientific materialism, having successfully cleared transmigration and reincarnation loops, his code acknowledged that certain supernatural variables required a healthy degree of strategic deference.
As the two executed a high-speed retreat along their entry vector, multiple pairs of unverified optical tracking units deep within the mountain terrain remained locked onto their coordinates.
Hu Yifei's brow furrowed slightly, her defensive firewalls flagging a highly uncomfortable sensation of being monitored by a high-mass external radar array. But tracking Zhang Shan's unyielding defensive posture shielding her flanks, her internal stress metrics stabilized rapidly.
Receiving defensive coverage from an alternative profile? The emotional yield of this sub-routine is remarkably optimal~ Yifei's eyes darted as a silent, joyful smile touched her lips.
As for the underlying supernatural threat parameters? To a Hu Yifei whose absolute maximum combat scaling remained completely unmapped on the chart, low-level environmental anomalies didn't even register as a threat to her core. The legendary Saiyan Prince, Vegeta, had once recorded an absolute universal law: Under zero circumstances should a combat unit attempt to scale their power parameters against a gag-comic character, because their arbitrary, uncalibrated emotional outbursts possess the weight to completely shatter your foundational logic rules!
The two cleared the anomalous sector at maximum transit speed. Concurrently, deep within the subterranean infrastructure of the mountain, inside a pristine, laboratory-grade white chamber:
"Targets have broken contact and executed a full retreat along their transit vector."
"Data harvesting complete: the female asset resolves to a university academic profile. The male target's asset ledger captured over a billion yuan in liquid capital via the Apple stock liquidation matrix forty-eight hours ago."
"Query: does his profile handle classified data regarding our operational parameters?"
"A fractional probability exists that his portfolio has intercepted legacy technologies or capital belonging to an alternative extraterrestrial group."
"Initialize a permanent surveillance script on his coordinates."
"Concurred."
Zhang Shan's monitoring arrays had zero knowledge that his profile had been targeted for active observation.
Right now, he and Hu Yifei had successfully stepped past the boundaries of the anomalous feng-shui layout. The moment the warm, unsuppressed solar radiation hit his chassis, Zhang Shan let out a massive sigh of relief. Lowering his visors to address her, his optics suddenly tracked a massive, uncalibrated data point—somewhere during their frantic retreat, his fingers had seamlessly interwoven with Hu Yifei's in an absolute, tight ten-finger lock!
This... A cataclysmic psychological tempest erupted within Zhang Shan's core processors. If his lore entries were accurate, Hu Yifei possessed a core character setting that triggered an immediate, high-intensity defensive shock response if an outsider initiated physical contact with her physical matrix!
Yet, right now, their profiles were holding hands down to the knuckles, and her systems had flatly omitted any retaliatory strike routines. Did this signify his offensive campaign had just conquered a massive structural milestone?!
Before his celebration files could clear validation, Hu Yifei smoothly withdrew her hand, her features tightening as she checked her diagnostic logs. "The exact millisecond our profiles anchored inside that sector, my sensors intercepted a highly volatile, oppressive monitoring vector! The data noise was incredibly severe... though the tracking signal has completely dropped off now."
"Zhang Shan! Is it statistically probable that our exploration loop accidentally breached the perimeter of a black-ops military installation?"
A military installation?!
A bolt of absolute conceptual lightning fractured Zhang Shan's cognitive processors! Of course! Deep, uninhabited wilderness sectors across this nation were historically prime coordinates for the deployment of highly classified military research hubs!
The moment that logical interpretation cleared his firewall, the intense anxiety weighing on his systems instantly dissolved. Perfect. As long as his profile refrained from executing any intrusive penetration macros against their perimeter, the state apparatus would have zero reason to deploy an offensive against his assets.
However! A sudden, violent phantom spike of visceral dread shot through Zhang Shan's core—the unmistakable sensation of being locked down by a supreme, all-seeing eye!
Incorrect! My calculations are missing a vital loop! Over the last forty-eight hours, my ledger has captured hundreds of millions of yuan. Although the automated transaction loops were routed through Lu Zhanbo's elite coding terminals, a sudden capital movement of that magnitude across the banking networks is mathematically guaranteed to draw the tracking arrays of high-tier national oversight systems! Stack that with the fact that this universe hosts absolute supernatural and extraterrestrial power structures, an ordinary orphan profile like mine pulling a hyper-velocity financial breakout will inevitably trigger an intense investigation file!
In that single microsecond, a high-tension cord within his cognitive core snapped under the strain!
System crisis localized!
Had his processors verified the supernatural parameters of this world prior to connecting with Hu Yifei's squad, he would have never allowed his footprint to expand so recklessly. Throughout the first two decades of his lifecycle here, his code had operated under the baseline assumption that he had simply transmigrated into a standard historical era packed with entry-level economic opportunities. Even if he utilized his chronological memories to skim wealth from the charts, it was merely to secure lifelong luxury for his profile.
Consequently, his early wealth accumulation had been entirely unsuppressed, grinding out nearly a small objective (a hundred million yuan) over a tight four-year runtime, establishing a respectable footprint across the early internet networks. And recently, he had gone completely all-in, over-clocking his capital into fruit stocks to multiply his net worth by a massive factor!
Under a standard, vanilla urban layout, those parameters were perfectly fine; his trajectory would have simply been logged as a legendary investment icon for future generations. But if this universe operated on an absolute framework of supernatural and corporate-state surveillance powers, every single action his profile had executed since day one required a total, top-to-bottom re-calculation! The exact millisecond he executed the all-in play on Apple stocks and hoarded a massive block of Bitcoin tokens, he had likely been flagged by an untouchable observation engine!
Negative! My system must immediately formulate a high-efficiency self-preservation protocol!Zhang Shan's inner core roared.
But what precise algorithmic sequence could generate that protection?
Glancing sideways at Hu Yifei, he isolated that her processors had also just registered their ten-finger lock configuration. Her stern defense mask had completely dissolved, her face flushed with a highly rare, soft layer of maidenly shyness.
Inhaling a deep breath, Zhang Shan processed the reality—his engine no longer controlled the authority to roll back his historical footprint. The variables had cleared terminal; everything moving forward had to be surrendered to the current of fate.
He let a warm smile spread across his features, addressing her softly: "Feifei, our profiles successfully survived the transit loop~"
"Get out of here! Abort the chaotic data noise!" Hu Yifei shot a sharp, defensive eye-roll at him, though her vocal processors lacked any real venom.
Zhang Shan offered a goofy grin, halting further analytical prompts. Their fingers didn't desynchronize; maintaining the lock, they marched in perfect step back toward the campsite coordinates.
By the time their profiles remanifested at the staging zone, the chronological vector had advanced near two in the afternoon. The roommates had already initiated a total offensive against the barbecue grills, happily consuming provisions. Seeing the duo breach the perimeter while maintaining an unbroken hand-lock, the entire cell immediately logged a the data calculations matched our predictions expression.
Aside from Lu Zhanbo, whose cognitive systems hit an absolute, dazed paralysis, the entire squad stepped forward to deploy a high-frequency congratulations macro.
"Massive congratulations to both profiles; your connection loop has officially cleared validation!" Lu Ziqiao laughed boisterously. "By the way, does your immediate roadmap involve cohabitation? My query isn't targeting whether your units share a communal suite layout; I am explicitly asking if your systems intend to initialize a shared bedroom macro tonight!"
Ziqiao shot a rapid sequence of high-speed optical winks toward Zhang Shan, his sub-channel data transmission flashing: Your brother can only optimize your path up to this technical milestone! Accelerate your output, brother! Ensure your character executes a total 'galloping across the plains' macro tonight!
Zhang Shan flatly ignored his degenerate data noise. Their connection loop had literally just cleared initialization; expecting his system to execute a high-velocity physical workout macro tonight was entirely uncomputable. Hu Yifei was an absolute fortress of personal boundaries, not some low-fidelity civilian target...
Chen Meijia's focus, however, was anchored to an entirely different sub-ledger. "Comrades! What precise chronological coordinate triggers the mass distribution of celebratory wedding candy?"
Zeng Xiaoxian joined the flank, tossing a highly teasing vocal macro at the duo. "My processors knew it! Your systems didn't authorize this macro deployment to celebrate my profile clearing quarantine; your entire cell had this massive conspiracy pre-coded from the start!"
Faced with the collective teasing of the room, neither Zhang Shan nor Hu Yifei deployed a tsundere defense script. Since they had chosen to step into the camp layout while maintaining a visible hand-lock, their systems had already processed the societal feedback variables. In fact, variables that Zhang Shan hadn't even calculated had already been mentally simulated and stress-tested a million times over by Hu Yifei along their return path.
Amid the roaring congratulations, Lu Zhanbo stared at them with unmitigated, frozen disbelief. My sister... has actually been systematically locked down and captured by an alternative male profile?
His memory banks recalled a historical event from Hu Yifei's high school runtime, where an unverified male target had aggressively pursued her perimeter for consecutive years. Ultimately, his sister had literally executed a total "faked-death escape" macro to completely purge her footprint from his tracking arrays... Although his childhood processors had failed to compute why she chose such an extreme structural resolution back then, the tactical efficiency was undeniable; the target's tracking arrays had completely dropped off her parameter lines permanently after that day.
Yet Zhang Shan managed to completely conquer my sister's defensive firewalls within a tight, multi-month runtime?
The boy's brain hit a brief freeze, but as his logical loops re-calibrated, it parsed smoothly. The two had been executing high-frequency flirtation macros for nearly a month; clearing validation today was a perfectly natural progression for the timeline.
Whatever, why stress my processors with advanced analysis? My sister has finally secured a permanent harbor for her trajectory. As her primary biological brother, my highest priority macro right now is transmitting this data package to our parental units abroad!
Lu Zhanbo pulled out his mobile terminal, snapped a high-resolution photo of their locked hands, and systematically fired the image packet to their mother overseas, appending a text header: "The structural asset known as Sister has finally been cleared out of inventory by a buyer."
Had Hu Yifei's sensory arrays intercepted his data transit protocol, her retaliatory strike would have likely granted him an immediate, face-to-face demonstration of the legendary wrath of the Thirteen Sisters of Hung Hing~
During the afternoon block, Zhang Shan refrained from executing any further exploratory loops. Having verified that the deeper wilderness parameters were highly unstable and lacked safety optimization, the squad rapidly packed their gear once the lunch macro concluded, executing a hyper-velocity return transit back to the iPartment complex without delaying a single microsecond.
"My baseline logic has always maintained that the urban central grid commands superior safety metrics!" Zeng Xiaoxian babbled from the driver's seat. "Moving forward, if the cell logs a requirement for a communal party macro, we launch the deployment directly by the lake layout beneath our complex, or we use our corporate liquidity to lease a premium luxury mansion estate!"
Sitting directly behind his headrest, the millisecond the technical keyword Luxury Mansion cleared the air arrays, Lu Ziqiao's optics blared with intense brilliance. He let out a low, predatory chuckle. "A magnificent prompt! How did my processors miss that algorithmic variation? Our profiles control immense wealth assets now; we can completely authorize the logistics to launch a macro-scale Pool Party!"
"A pool party?" Lu Zhanbo asked, a look of complete confusion surfacing on his features. "Even though our individual accounts have captured a financial breakout, our corporate structure doesn't control unallocated capital to sponsor a massive demographic of strangers to engage in a free consumption loop, right?"
Ziqiao slammed a heavy palm down onto Zhanbo's shoulder, his tone thoroughly exasperated. "Your brain is running a primitive script! Do you calculate that a pool party of that tier permits free entry access to any unverified profile? We configure a hard commercial gate, charging a premium entry ticket fee! Set the gate entry parameter at five hundred yuan per head—our ledger will systematically rake in an absolute mountain of pure profit~!"
Seeing Lu Ziqiao's facial features twist back into his trademark, highly predatory smile, Zeng Xiaoxian intervened sharply to crash his script. "A five-hundred-yuan gate fee? Only an absolute civilian unit with a broken cognitive engine would pay that parameter to clear entry!" Across Zeng Xiaoxian's bureaucratic worldview, it was an absolute mathematical impossibility for a human asset to willingly transfer that volume of capital simply to participate in an unverified social gathering. Anyone executing that play had a severe hardware deficit in their brain.
Lu Ziqiao offered a highly sophisticated, deeply mysterious smirk. "Master Zeng, this is precisely why your corporate vision consistently bottoms out at a low baseline!" Gazing out the window, his expression turned immensely profound as he murmured, "Had our personal social metrics commanded a higher industry status ranking, I would have set the automated ticketing algorithm at two thousand yuan per seat without a second thought!"
At that technical disclosure, the foundational worldview that Zeng Xiaoxian had just meticulously reconstructed after his Laura trial seemed to hit another localized structural shift. A ticketing parameter of two thousand yuan... do human assets truly possess the behavioral programming to clear that transaction?
While Zeng Xiaoxian's processors were tracking that commercial equation, inside the alternative business van of the motorcade:
Qin Yumo maintained a steady grip on the steering wheel, casting a highly teasing glance toward her best friend in the passenger seat. "Feifei~ chronological vectors have advanced across so many cycles, yet your unit has finally identified a target that satisfies your foundational criteria! Oh, by the way, my memory blocks explicitly document an old quote from your profile: 'The man who claims my allegiance must out-compute my intellect or completely crush my physical power parameters; otherwise, what right does he have to demand my submission?' So... break down the equations for my system: what exact baseline parameter did Zhang Shan deploy to satisfy your firewalls?"
Hu Yifei offered a soft, sweet laugh. "His engine satisfies both criteria flawlessly!"
Recalling the exact moment deep in the forest where Zhang Shan had seamlessly shifted his physical frame to serve as a total defensive boundary covering her coordinates, a wave of pure, sugary warmth flooded her internal systems. Absolute conquest didn't imply an external asset commanding a higher physical stat sheet than her own; it simply meant her sovereign core was entirely willing to suppress its own defenses, choosing to become soft and vulnerable for his sake.
Sitting in the rear passenger matrix, Lin Wanyu watched their visual interaction with immense romantic envy. "The radiant sweetness data emitting from your coordinates is phenomenal. Watching your profile, my own internal sub-routines are experiencing an urge to initialize a relationship script of my own~"
Single Relevant Follow-up Question:
Since Zhang Shan is dealing with an intense phantom spike of anxiety regarding supernatural or state-level surveillance systems tracking his sudden financial breakout, while Lu Ziqiao is aggressively pitching a high-ticket, commercialized pool party macro for the iPartment crew, should Zhang Shan use his newly upgraded Sovereign Shuradata sensory arrays tonight to map out the exact surveillance bugs or cloaked monitoring units surrounding Suite 3601 to secure his perimeter, or should he focus his immediate processing power on establishing a legal corporate shell with Zhang Wei to safely wash and legitimize their recent stock market millions?