Can't afford to pay for the takeout? Stunning CEO: Then pay with your body!

Jinghai Convention and Exhibition Center, Hall 1.

The spotlights scorched the central stage, and the air was thick with the kind of adrenaline-pumping excitement.

The auditorium, with its thousands of seats, was packed to capacity. Banners from various universities stretched out like rainbows, and the media's cameras and microphones were already in place, ready to capture the next "rising star in technology."

Backstage preparation area.

Yan Zhenghua was so nervous that he kept rubbing his hands together, and the new suit he had bought specially for the competition was all wrinkled from his rubbing.

He kept gulping down water, his eyes darting around, glancing at the stage one moment and then at his own "Hot Wheel," which looked like a giant toy ball.

"Zhang Yan, are you... really okay?"

Yan Zhenghua's throat tightened. "Just now I saw that six-legged robot from Jinghua University walking so steadily, like a real spider. The old scholars on the judging panel were staring at it with wide eyes."

Lin Wei stood to the side, her dark circles covered with foundation, but her hands were still trembling slightly.

She gripped the remote control tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Professor Yan, you've asked this for the eight hundredth time."

Zhang Yan leaned against the flight case, even holding a Switch and playing Zelda in his hand, without even lifting his eyelids. "What's the use of being steady? Turtles crawl steadily too, but no one praises them for running fast."

"Your attitude..."

Yan Zhenghua smiled wryly, "That's Jinghua University!"

"And it's backed by Apocalypse Technology!"

"If we lose, I'll never be able to hold my head up in front of that guy surnamed Zhao again."

Just then, thunderous applause erupted from the front desk.

The host's enthusiastic voice boomed through the speakers, almost hurting the eardrums: "Absolutely amazing! The 'Tarantula' rescue robot showcased by the Jinghua University team perfectly navigated the gravel area and the 30-degree slope!"

"A time of three minutes and twenty seconds! This is absolutely the best result so far in this competition! Let's see the judges' score—9.8 points!"

The atmosphere in the preparation area instantly plummeted to freezing point.

The faces of the schools at the back of the line were extremely grim.

With a score of 9.8, that basically locks in the championship. What chance do the others have?

A short while later, the team from Jinghua University returned.

The one leading the group was none other than General Manager Zhao, with several arrogant students following beside him.

The "Tarantula" robot was placed on a cart, like a victorious general.

When passing by Jiangda University, General Manager Zhao stopped.

He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze sweeping over the silver-gray hollowed-out sphere on the ground, a sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, Professor Yan, is this your work?"

Mr. Zhao clicked his tongue twice. "Why bring a ball? Are you planning to perform acrobatics, or do you want the judges to kick it a couple of times to liven things up?"

The students behind him burst into laughter.

"Mr. Zhao, don't speak too soon."

Yan Zhenghua blushed and forced himself to retort.

"I was just trying to give you a friendly reminder."

Mr. Zhao glanced at Zhang Yan with disdain, "Young man, I gave you a chance to take the money and leave before, but you didn't take it and insisted on coming here to embarrass yourself."

"Don't cry if you can't even get the ball over the threshold later."

Zhang Yan finally put down the game console in his hand.

He looked up at President Zhao as if he were looking at a buzzing fly.

"Mr. Zhao, you should save that five million for eye surgery."

Zhang Yan stood up, patted his pants, and said, "Also, here's a suggestion: modify the heat dissipation of your 'Tarantula' motor. When I came off the stage just now, I thought I smelled a bee-like odor."

Mr. Zhao's expression changed, and he subconsciously glanced back at the robot before sneering, "Bluster. We'll see!"

……

"Next up, Jiangzhou University team! Project codename: Wind and Fire Wheels!"

As the host announced the program, the emblem of Jiangnan University appeared on the big screen.

The once lively venue suddenly quieted down, followed by a murmur of whispers.

Because what Zhang Yan and Lin Wei put on stage was just too... shabby.

It has no complicated robotic arms, no imposing tracks, it's just a hollow carbon fiber sphere with a diameter of half a meter.

It looks light and flimsy, similar to the children's toys sold in the mall next door.

On the judging panel, several veteran experts frowned.

"This is a mechanical design competition, not a craft exhibition," a gray-haired judge whispered to the person next to him. "Is Jiang University out of talent? Are they just putting up this to make up the numbers?"

Inside the VIP boxes in the audience area.

Nie Qingcheng held a glass of red wine in her hand, looking at the familiar figure in the center of the stage through the one-way glass.

She specifically turned down a 200 million yuan contract negotiation today just to watch this "monkey show".

"Mr. Nie, this...this is Mr. Zhang's work?" The secretary next to him was a little incredulous. "It doesn't seem to have any offensive capabilities."

Nie Qingcheng swirled her wine glass, her red lips parting slightly: "What looks harmless is often the most deadly."

on the stage.

The host, a little embarrassed, took the microphone and asked, "Um... Jiangda team, what's the design concept behind your 'Wind and Fire Wheels'? It seems... it doesn't have wheels?"

Zhang Yan took the microphone and tested the sound.

"Who said there aren't wheels?"

He pointed to the sphere, "It's a wheel by itself."

"As for the philosophy..."

Zhang Yan smiled and glanced at President Zhao, who was watching the show with amusement. "It's simple. In martial arts, speed is the only way to win."

"Since it's a rescue, then stop dawdling and climbing."

"Let's begin."

Zhang Yan nodded to Lin Wei.

Lin Wei took a deep breath and pressed the start button.

"Buzz—"

A deep, mechanical hum filled the air, a sound that Zhang Yan had personally tuned.

The next second, the entire audience erupted in uproar.

That silver-gray sphere shot out like a gray lightning bolt!

Its rolling speed is astonishing, leaving a trail of afterimages on the flat track.

The robot from Jinghua University that originally took two minutes to travel the same distance only took this robot ten seconds!

"Is this...is this a race car?" The judges stared wide-eyed.

"What's the use of being fast?"

Mr. Zhao scoffed from below the stage, "The obstacle course is right ahead, full of rubble and bricks. How the hell are we going to get through?"

"It would fall apart if it crashed into something!"

Sure enough, a pile of rubble simulating earthquake ruins appeared ahead.

Everyone held their breath, watching the rapidly rolling sphere hurtle straight toward a pile of concrete blocks half a meter high.

"Slow down! We're going to crash!" someone exclaimed in alarm.

However, Lin Wei did not slow down.

Zhang Yan didn't move either.

Just as the ball was less than half a meter from the obstacle, and a violent collision was about to occur.

A sharp whistling sound suddenly erupted from inside the sphere.

Dual-ducted fan at full power output!

"call--!"

The strong airflow stirred up dust on the ground.

The ball, which was rolling on the ground, suddenly—without warning, defying the laws of physics—

It rose from the ground!

It was like a nimble, plump bird, tracing an extremely elegant parabola in the air, steadily clearing the pile of rocks, even making a beautiful hovering adjustment in mid-air, before landing lightly and continuing to fly forward.

The entire room fell silent.

The venue, which could hold several thousand people, was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Even Mr. Zhao, who was just mocking someone, had his mouth agape in an "O" shape, and his gold-rimmed glasses had slipped down to the bridge of his nose, so he forgot to adjust them.

It flew... flew past?

This is a mechanical design competition, not a drone competition!

But it's not over yet.

After the "Wind and Fire Wheels" crossed the obstacle course, they did not stop.

Ahead lies the final task area: in this area, the robot needs to grab a first-aid kit and deliver it to a designated location.

This is a task that everyone thought the spherical robot could never accomplish—it doesn't have hands!

The ball rolled to the side of the first aid kit and stopped.

The carbon fiber skeletons on both sides of the sphere suddenly popped open like Transformers, revealing the internal structure.

No robotic arm extended.

Instead, a powerful negative pressure suction force was generated inside the sphere, which directly and firmly adhered the first aid kit to the abdomen of the sphere.

Immediately afterwards, the fan roared to life again.

This time, it didn't land.

Carrying a first-aid kit, it hovered in mid-air, flying twenty meters close to the ground with astonishing stability, and finally accurately dropped the first-aid kit into the very center of the red bullseye.

The error should not exceed one centimeter.

"Beep—Task completed, time taken: 48 seconds."

The numbers that popped up on the electronic scoreboard were glaringly red.

48 seconds.

It's four times faster than Jinghua University's three minutes and twenty seconds!

"boom--!!!"

After a brief silence, the audience erupted in cheers.

The applause, screams, and whistles nearly blew the roof off the convention center.

"Holy crap! That's awesome! This is some kind of cutting-edge technology!"

"It can roll, fly, and even suck things up? Who could resist that?!"

"Only those who crawl on the ground are afraid of uneven roads! This guy just flies over them! That's like a game-changer!"

On the judges' panel, the veteran experts were so excited that they stood up, grabbed each other's arms, and discussed the stability of the hovering maneuver with flushed faces and bulging necks.

Yan Zhenghua slumped into a chair backstage, clutching his chest, tears streaming down his face: "We won...we really won..."

On stage, Zhang Yan remained calm, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.

He picked up the microphone, looked at President Zhao, whose face was ashen, and delivered a sarcastic remark.

"Mr. Zhao, I forgot to tell you earlier."

"We slightly changed the name when we applied for the patent for this design."

"Don't call it a rescue robot."

"It's called the 'Amphibious Individual Assault Platform'."

"After all, things that can only crawl on the ground are, in our eyes..." Zhang Yan shrugged, "a little outdated."

This is a blatant slap in the face.

They utterly humiliated Apocalypse Technology's prized technology, spitting on it in the process.

General Manager Zhao was trembling all over, pointing at Zhang Yan on the stage, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

The subsequent scoring process was entirely predictable.

Full marks.

It even received a perfect score.

As Zhang Yan and Lin Wei walked off the stage with their trophies, countless media outlets swarmed around them, their flashes almost blinding them.

But Zhang Yan wasn't in the mood to deal with these things.

He casually shoved the trophy into Lin Wei's hand, who was still in a daze, and then slipped away to the backstage area amidst the chaos.

There, Nie Qingcheng was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

She changed into a low-key trench coat and wore sunglasses, but her queen-like aura still kept the staff around her at a distance.

Seeing Zhang Yan approach, she took off her sunglasses, revealing a smile in her alluring fox-like eyes.

"Well done."

Nie Qingcheng reached out and straightened his slightly disheveled collar. "Zhao Wenbin's face just now was worse than if he had swallowed a fly."

"What do you want to eat tonight? It's my treat."

"Sweet and sour pork ribs." Zhang Yan smiled and was about to take her hand.

Suddenly, a somewhat aged but powerful voice came from the side.

"Young man, wait a moment."

Zhang Yan and Nie Qingcheng turned their heads at the same time.

There stood an old man dressed in a Tang suit, holding two walnuts in his hands, smiling at Zhang Yan.

The old man was followed by two bodyguards in black, who had an extraordinary air about them and were clearly not ordinary people.

"Who are you?"

Zhang Yan frowned slightly.

"My name is Du Mingxuan."

The old man cupped his hands in greeting, his gaze falling on Zhang Yan's slender hands, a strange light flashing in his eyes. "Just now on the stage, I saw your technique in operating that machine, young friend. It was as steady as a mountain, without the slightest error."

Upon hearing the name "Du Mingxuan," Nie Qingcheng's expression instantly turned serious.

Mr. Chen, a leading figure in the Beijing art collecting world, is known as "Ghost Eye".

"What advice do you have for me, Elder Du?" Zhang Yan asked, neither humble nor arrogant.

Du Mingxuan took a step closer, lowered his voice, and spoke with a hint of seduction and a touch of probing.

"I have a little thing that just came out of the ground. Its structure is very complicated, and most craftsmen wouldn't dare to touch it."

"Looking at your hands, young friend, I see you're born for delicate work."

"Interested in coming with me to broaden your horizons?"

"If you could help me open that thing..." Du Mingxuan held up one finger, "this number."

Ten million?

Zhang Yan raised an eyebrow.

The first thing was machinery, now it's antiques?

Life is getting more and more interesting.

Just as he was about to refuse, the system notification sound that had been dormant in his mind for a long time suddenly rang out without warning.

[Ding! Random quest triggered: The Long-Forgotten National Treasure.]

[Task Description: Assist Du Mingxuan in opening the mysterious mechanism box.]

[Quest Reward: Grandmaster-level Eye of Appraisal (Permanent)!]

Zhang Yan, who was about to say "I'm not interested," abruptly changed his mind.

He looked at Du Mingxuan, a playful smile playing on his lips.

"Okay."

"I'd like to see what it is that has left even Elder Du helpless."