You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

For the next two weeks, the first thing Lu Ran did every day when he arrived at the company was to open the heat map in the backend.

It's not about any kind of ritual, it's just a simple habit.

He presses the coffee machine in the break room twice every morning, and he also refreshes the heat map page twice every morning.

First, check the overall area for any newly added bright spots. Second, check the edges of the key blank areas to see if any new positioning signals appear.

On Wednesday of the second week, the number of location requests on the edge of that area in Japan suddenly jumped.

Lu Ran opened the data and took a look. He found that it was not a single user's repeated request, but that several different users had walked to the same location around the same time.

He looked through the users' trajectory records in the background and found that three of the trajectories were highly consistent. They all followed a rural road from south to north, stopped at a fork in the road, stayed there for a while, and then returned along the same route.

The stopping points of the three trajectories almost overlap, with an offset range of no more than twenty meters.

Lu Ran marked the three stopping points on the map and then looked through the corresponding environmental images.

All three photos were taken from similar angles, and the same section of the gray wall can be seen in each image.

The first photo shows the middle section of the wall, with fine vertical lines on the surface, resembling some kind of prefabricated panel.

The second photo shows the top of the wall, where you can see the upper edge of a section of barbed wire and a tilted metal pole.

The third photo was taken from a lower angle, revealing the edge of the drainage ditch at the base of the wall at the bottom of the image.

Each of the three photos is blurry when viewed individually, but when compared side by side, they can be pieced together to form a roughly continuous cross-section of the wall.

The wall is about four and a half to five meters high, and the surface is made of gray-white prefabricated panels commonly used in factories, with obvious straight gaps visible at the joints.

There was a ring of barbed wire at the top, about half a meter higher than the wall itself. The barbed wire was not a regular diamond mesh, but a denser square grid, which looked more like it was to prevent something from falling out than to prevent people from climbing over it.

Lu Ran looked at the three pictures together for a while, then took a screenshot and saved it, putting it into a folder called "Japan Region 3".

That folder already contains more than twenty pictures, sorted by shooting time. From the first week until now, every time someone stops at the edge of that area to take a picture, it is automatically uploaded to the backend. After the system performs blurring, it archives the photos in the corresponding area directory.

He opened the folder and flipped through it from beginning to end, discovering that the number of new images added in the past week had more than doubled compared to the previous week.

This shows that player activity is indeed concentrating in that direction. Someone posted on the forum that the probability of legendary creatures spawning in that location is much higher than in other places. That post was shared several times in the Japanese player community and was later featured and pinned by the administrator.

There are hundreds of replies under the post. Some people asked for the specific location, some said they had been there but did not encounter it, some said they waited for two hours and finally caught it, and some even made plans to go and stake out together next time.

He closed the folder, then opened the folder for the western United States region and glanced at it.

There were fewer pictures there than in Japan, but the quality was higher. Several photos were taken closer to the wall, capturing the detailed textures of the wall's surface and some marks on the ground.

In the lower right corner of one of the photos, there is a section of a pipe protruding from the ground, about 20 centimeters in diameter, with a layer of dark red rust on the surface, which looks like it has been exposed to the elements for a long time.

Lu Ran took a screenshot of that section of pipe, zoomed in on it, and then closed the window.

He took out the notebook, which was already half-filled, from the drawer, turned to the latest page, and wrote down several key changes he had observed over the past two weeks:

In Japan, region three, player concentration continues to rise, and the number of edge images is sufficient to piece together the entire perimeter of the wall. In the United States, region two, players are getting closer than expected, capturing images of pipes and ground facilities.

After writing it, he added a note below: There was no significant change in the European region, which may be due to insufficient base station coverage caused by geographical factors, or other reasons.

He read through those lines of text to make sure nothing was missing, then took a picture with his phone and sent it to Wang Anguo along with the data package he had previously prepared.

The email body was very brief, only mentioning that several sets of key data had been added, and that the number of images in the key areas had accumulated to the point where preliminary stitching could be performed. If more in-depth analysis was needed, someone could be arranged to come over.

Wang Anguo did not reply immediately.

Lu Ran put his phone on the table, picked up his cup, took a sip of water, and then started working on other tasks.

The report covered company operations, the next phase of game content updates, the final acceptance of the North American server expansion, and a summary of the progress of the European distributor renewal negotiations sent by Chen Mo.

He dealt with each issue one by one, and just as he was about to go for lunch, his phone vibrated. Wang Anguo had sent him a message with just one line: "Two o'clock this afternoon, in the same conference room as last time."

At 2:00 PM sharp, when Lu Ran pushed open the door to the conference room, there were already three people sitting inside.

The same familiar faces were there. Wang Anguo sat by the window with an open laptop in front of him.

The female colleague sat opposite him, with a dark blue folder and a pen beside her.

The man in the gray shirt sat quietly alone in the chair at the far end against the wall, with nothing in front of him.

Lu Ran sat down opposite them, placed the USB drive he had brought on the table, and pushed it towards them.

Wang Anguo took the computer, plugged it in, scanned the folder, then turned the screen towards Lu Ran, pointed to the completed mosaic of the wall, and asked, "Did you create this yourself, or was it automatically generated by the system?"

"I pieced it together myself," Lu Ran said. "The system can only sort images from the same area by time; it can't stitch together outlines across images. I spent two nights arranging those images according to their shooting location and angle, and then selected the few that could overlap to create the composite. The image you see now is the result of stitching together thirteen images."

After listening, Wang Anguo didn't say anything. He stared at the composite image on the screen for about half a minute, then looked up and nodded slightly in the direction of his female colleague.

The female colleague quickly jotted down a few notes in her notebook, then looked up at Lu Ran, speaking a little faster than when they last met: "Mr. Lu, we've done an internal comparison of the data you provided. We have several satellite imagery sets from different sources, taken between a year and three months ago, covering areas that overlap with the locations you're interested in. After overlaying those satellite images with your location data, we discovered something we hadn't noticed before—vehicle tracks that weren't present in previous images appeared in satellite images from the days when player activity was at its peak. Those tracks weren't in earlier images, but are clearly visible in the most recent set."

She turned a page in her notebook and continued, "Specifically, near the wall of Area Three in Japan, about four days after your players began gathering, a new tire track appeared in satellite imagery. That track extended from the dirt road outside the wall to a previously unmarked entrance. In earlier imagery, that entrance appeared as a complete section of the wall, with no visible opening. But after the players stayed in that area for several days, a light-colored band appeared at the base of that section of wall, roughly the width of a standard off-road vehicle's track."

Lu Ran remained silent for a while after hearing these words.

He knew that the players were just catching virtual creatures in the game and didn't know what he was doing or that their actions were being used for other purposes.

But the footprints and stops left by those players did reveal something on their own.

"So you think those tire tracks are related to player activity?" he asked.

"It's not a direct connection," Wang Anguo continued, "but rather the players' activities might have led to some adjustments. If there are operating facilities inside that perimeter, and a sudden, continuous signal activity from different individuals appears around those facilities, the people inside might come out to investigate. This investigation could involve sending people to the site or adjusting the perimeter's defenses. Either way, it would leave traces on the ground. Those traces, reflected in satellite imagery, precisely prove that there is indeed something noteworthy at that location."

Lu Ran nodded.

He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment, then asked, "What about the European region? There hasn't been any significant change there. Could it just be a problem with the base station coverage?"

"We also considered this possibility," Wang Anguo said. "But areas with insufficient base station coverage usually don't show any unusual equipment traces in satellite imagery. However, in those areas of Europe, some ground features can indeed be seen in the imagery—not tire tracks, but more subtle things. For example, abnormal vegetation distribution or changes in ground flatness. These features are not marked on regular map data, but they do exist."

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

Wang Anguo turned the computer screen back, flipped through a few more pages of the folder, then closed the computer and looked at Lu Ran.

His expression was more relaxed than when he first entered, but it wasn't a relaxed state of mind; it was the calm that comes after confirming something.

"Mr. Lu," he began, "the data you provided is indeed very valuable to us. This isn't just polite talk. Last time we mentioned three areas where we were unsure of the situation, and our existing reconnaissance methods couldn't provide sufficient information for judgment. But combined with the location data and image stitching results you provided, the situation in those two areas is now preliminarily clear."

He paused here, as if organizing his thoughts: "We've already made a basic judgment about the type of facilities in one area, and that judgment aligns with our most likely hypothesis. The structure of the wall in another area basically matches the outline you pieced together; its specific purpose still needs further confirmation, but at least we know that something does exist in that location, and it's not just occasional noise or data error on satellite images. That alone has saved us a lot of time."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ran felt a huge weight lifted from his heart.

He didn't show it, but the muscles in his back were a little looser than before.

He picked up the now-cold cup of tea in front of him, took a sip, then put the cup back on the table and said, "It's good that it can be of some help. That data was originally just for product optimization anyway; if it can be used for something more important, then it's putting it to good use."

Wang Anguo glanced at him, his expression unchanged, but his tone held a hint of something he rarely heard: "President Lu, to be honest, when we first approached you, we didn't have high expectations internally. It wasn't because we didn't trust your technical capabilities, but because we had previously collaborated with other companies, and either the data they provided wasn't accurate enough, the lead time was too long, or the collaboration was interrupted midway for various reasons. You are the first partner to provide consistently effective data in such a short period of time."

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment, then took a brown paper envelope from his briefcase and placed it on the table, but did not push it over; he simply placed it in the middle of the table.

"Regarding this, I reported your situation to my superiors last week." Wang Anguo slowed his speech, as if to ensure the accuracy of each word. "Your superiors have acknowledged the assistance you provided. Considering the potential need for continued cooperation, I have applied for a special liaison officer position with the National Security Bureau for you. It's honorary, without specific operational duties, and you won't need to display any public badges within the company. It's mainly to ensure smoother communication and reduce intermediaries, while also giving you formal authorization in these matters."

He looked at Lu Ran, "As for the level, according to the internal assessment, it won't be too low. The specific tier will depend on the final approval process, but the direction is already determined. If you have any concerns, you can raise them now."

Lu Ran paused for a moment while holding the cup.

He didn't expect Wang Anguo to take the initiative to help him apply for such a thing.

When he was working on the data, all he wanted was to use the resources at hand to do what he could for the country. He didn't expect any reward, much less that an honorary position in the National Security Bureau would fall into his lap.

It didn't feel like he was being rewarded; it felt more like someone took his work seriously.

He put the cup back on the table and looked at Wang Anguo: "Director Wang, I have no concerns. Being able to help with this matter is the greatest reward. As for the position, whether I have it or not, it won't affect my enthusiasm for the job. However, since you've already applied, I can't let you go to all this trouble for nothing."

Upon hearing this, Wang Anguo's lips twitched slightly, a small movement, but he did smile.

"Okay, I'll contact you again once the official approval is issued. There might be a few simple procedures you'll need to go through, but it won't be too complicated."

He put the brown paper envelope on the table back into his briefcase, stood up, and shook hands with Lu Ran.

His palms were dry and warm, and his grip was firmer than the previous two times we met.

"Mr. Lu, please stay in touch."

After the three people left the meeting room, Lu Ran remained seated and did not move.

He stared at the empty teacup on the table for a while, going over and over the words Wang Anguo had just said in his mind.

"Honorary position," "not a low rank," and "formally authorized status"—these words together certainly carry weight.

When he stood up and walked out of the meeting room, the corridor had already quieted down. The afternoon sun shone in from the window at the end of the corridor, casting a bright trapezoidal patch of light on the floor.

He glanced into the break room as he passed by; it was empty. The indicator light on the water dispenser was green, and next to the coffee machine was a cup that hadn't been cleared away, with a small amount of cold coffee left at the bottom.

He returned to his office, sat down in his office chair, and turned on his computer to look at the heat map in the background again.

The dots of light on the screen are still densely distributed in every corner of the world. Some people are walking through the city, some are strolling in the suburbs, some are parked by the roadside, and some are wandering at the edge of the forest.

Everyone walks through their own land in their own way, and every place they pass through is recorded, becoming a highlight on a map, a line of records in the eyes of a data analyst, and a data point in a report.

He turned off the heat map, opened the folder called "Japan Region 3" and took another look.

The folder now contains one more picture than this morning. The new picture was taken from a more inward angle, showing peeling paint on the wall and the end of a pipe protruding from inside the wall.

He didn't know who took the photo, nor why that player went to that spot to take it. But the photo did exist, it was indeed uploaded to the backend, and it did become a new fragment that could be pieced together into that larger image.

He closed the folder, leaned back in his chair, and let out a sigh of relief.

This trip was worthwhile.

He's really boosted his reputation a lot; he's even reached the National Security Bureau.

...