On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

After speaking, Luo Xiaoji gave Liao Ji a "you're welcome" look, turned around gracefully, waved, and walked away.

After the unfamiliar young man had completely left, Irene sat back down with a puzzled look and asked, "Doctor, who was that guy? Could he also be one of the professors or scholars on this spacecraft? He seemed to have a strong air of a carefree rich kid."

"Hmm, if that's your feeling even on first meeting him, then it seems that director really wants to grovel before him." Liao Ji nodded while operating the virtual TV that had been upgraded to V10.

"What's the matter?"

"No, your feeling is right. He is indeed a rich second-generation from Shanghai. His family is probably wealthy and powerful, with considerable influence."

"What's the point of talking to someone like that, Doctor?"

Liao Ji glanced at the girl next to him who had a resentful attitude towards the rich, then manipulated the screen to access Kyle Technology's internal page and said, "What if we run out of money later? Wouldn't this be another customer? Don't you think VIP10 is great right now?"

Upon hearing this, Irene's eyes lit up again. Coming from a humble background, she didn't like these rich kids, but if it came to robbing them, that was a different story.

"It has to be you, Doctor!"

"So how was your trip just now? What are your thoughts on this aircraft and Kyle Technology?"

"It seems pretty impressive, especially considering we just came from China. In terms of technology alone, it's like we're from two different worlds. It's hard to believe that this was all done by the same company. So, Doctor, what exactly does Kyle Technology do?"

Regarding Yilin's question, Liao Ji used Luo Xiaoji's V10 membership to access the internal network of Kail Technology and browsed some relevant information, thus gaining a general understanding of the company.

"On the surface, Keltech claims to be a protection company that provides various security services to enterprises. In reality, its main business is selling various self-developed advanced weapons."

"If you're going to sell weapons, just sell weapons. Why do you have to use the guise of protection?" Irene couldn't help but complain.

"Stop criticizing me. With my advanced weapons, others won't dare to attack you. Isn't that protection? I think there's nothing wrong with that. As for what happens if I launch new and more advanced weapons and someone else buys them first, that's none of my business. You can only blame yourself for not being able to snag one."

After hearing Liao Ji's description of the company, Yilin became even more indignant: "How can there be such a shameless company!"

"However, the truth is that they have become a very large and successful company, almost a super-enterprise that can monopolize the industry. But recently, it seems that they are about to stumble."

Although KEL Technology still maintains a thriving image on the members' intranet, both the information obtained from Luo Xiaoji and the current stock market data found by Liao Ji show a dismal, almost unbearable, sea of ​​red.

Due to the turmoil in China, nearly a third of the market value of Keltech has evaporated, and the situation is escalating. It can be said that the company is now facing a serious collapse crisis.

Chapter 181 Deleting Records

The Alliance of Machines.

City of Dreams.

The towering skyscrapers, some thousands of meters high, are commonplace for the locals and have even become part of the city's skyline, forming a beautiful landscape.

Countless people in Dream City look up at these colossal buildings every day, dreaming that one day they can walk inside and become a member of those top companies.

Yes, every magnificent high-rise building, tower, and iron tower here belongs to a giant company or conglomerate. They blatantly display their immense wealth and status, and this confidence stems from the fact that their products have permeated every corner of people's lives, covering all aspects.

This makes it seem as if it's no longer the company that can't live without people, but rather people that can't live without the company.

of course.

This is all predicated on the premise that operations proceed smoothly and no major unforeseen events occur.

Unfortunately, one of the largest corporations is now facing this major unexpected event.

In a completely enclosed, dimly lit room, several hundred square meters in size, resembling a huge monitoring room, one electronic screen after another flickered in the darkness. There must have been hundreds of them, densely packed together.

Below these electronic screens are many researchers wearing uniforms with "angel wings" logos on the shoulders.

Anyone in Dream City will be familiar with this logo, as it symbolizes Kyle Technology, Dream City's largest protective umbrella company.

Besides the researchers wearing strange devices and operating computers, above these employees, a burly man in a more high-class company uniform was looking up, his brows furrowed as he stared at the hundreds of monitor screens above him.

"Manager William, the signals of more than 20 'clones', including No. 10836, No. 17534, No. 6532, and No. 7211, have disappeared. The preliminary judgment is that they have encountered a turbid calamity."

"Immediately build a model to calculate the signal timing."

"Yes!"

At the burly man's command, the researchers below immediately sprang into action, and after a series of calculations and analyses...

"Chief William, the report is in. Model analysis indicates the annihilation signal for this batch of 'clones' originated two days ago. The model recommends our explorer teams immediately move away from areas Y-78 and Y-80. Should we issue the order?"

The burly man remained silent for a moment, then gave the order without hesitation:

"Delete this record."

"Delete?"

William's instruction clearly stunned the researchers below. After William repeated it with emphasis, a young male researcher who seemed to be a new member finally couldn't help but stand up from his seat.

"Manager, according to company regulations, if ten 'clones' cannot withstand the calamity, the danger level is already B. Explorers within 'Dream Zero' must evacuate the area immediately!"

“The turbid calamity we detected has now doubled in size, and it has probably risen to the level of A-level danger. Your act of concealing information is tantamount to sending those explorers who entered the Dreamland for the company to their deaths! You have seriously violated company regulations. I request that you revise the order, otherwise I will immediately report your order to my superiors!”

The burly man said nothing to the young male employee, but instead jumped off the stage by vaulting over the railing. Only with the help of the screen lights could it be seen that his burly build and agile movements were due to the fact that he was equipped with a number of advanced prosthetics all over his body.

"I remember your name is FAMAS, employee number 18637. Let me see... Hmm... You came in through campus recruitment, less than six months with the company. No wonder."

A virtual tablet appeared before the burly man, displaying all the young man's information.

"FAMAS, it seems your life has been quite unfortunate. Your father passed away when you were nine years old, and your mother worked three jobs to raise you and send you to university. Fortunately, you were very hardworking and achieved excellent results. Well, that makes sense, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get into our Kel Technology. Oh, let me see what else I found out. You also have a girlfriend, and she's been diligently submitting her resume to Kel Technology recently, hoping to work at the same company as her favorite boyfriend. How touching."

"Steward William, I...I don't understand what you mean."

“It’s nothing. I just feel sorry for you, FAMAS. As far as I know, Kyle Technologies’ cleaning department is planning to recruit a batch of new people. Your mother’s qualifications are perfect. This way, she can not only work one job a day, but also earn three times the salary of her previous three jobs.”

"I feel sorry for your girlfriend. Her resume looks great, and she might have been just as lucky as you to get a job at our Keltech, enjoying the envious glances of her peers and other university students. As for you, as employees of Keltech, you'll never have to worry about mortgages or car loans again. Even your future children will be able to attend the best schools invested in by Keltech, receive the best education, and after graduation, they'll have the opportunity to easily get a job at Keltech without competing with millions of other graduates, thanks to their parents' connections."

The young male employee, feeling intimidated by the burly man, was already sweating profusely, but he still gritted his teeth and insisted, "No matter what you say, it won't change the fact that you've violated the rules."

Before Famas could finish speaking, Steward William interrupted him.

"However, do you know anything? All this beauty is about to vanish because of your actions. Let me tell you the truth, FAMAS, the company is in a serious crisis. Not only will your complaint not be accepted, but you will also be fired. Oh no, it's very likely that because you also possess some company secrets, you will spend the rest of your life in prison."

"Of course, you can also choose another path: obey my orders and have the Y-78 and Y-80 explorer teams continue mining for the company in the 'Old World.' Once they successfully unearth valuable 'Old World' relics in 'Dream Zero,' not only me, but you too will become the company's saviors and get promoted. Then, as part of management, helping your mother and girlfriend, as I just mentioned, will be a piece of cake."

"And FAMAS, you know what the most crucial point is: even if they fail, it will be them, not you, who die in 'Dream Zero,' understand?"

The young male employee wanted to say something, but he felt that the way his "comrades" looked at him had changed, and no one supported him anymore.

Just then, a communication link suddenly appeared in front of the burly man.

"Steward William, the advisory group from Shanghai has arrived."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

After replying to the message, William patted the young male employee on the shoulder meaningfully, even appointing him as his temporary agent. The rest of the employees had to listen to FAMAS. Then, without looking back, he turned and left the monitoring room—no, it should be called the command room now.

"Acting Manager FAMAS, shall we delete the records?"

The young male employee hesitated for several seconds, but finally nodded.

"Delete records".

--------

(This chapter can be read in conjunction with chapters 91 and 92 of Volume 2, Dragon Kingdom)

Chapter 182 Opportunities

In the executive director's office, a projector displays a model of the Shanghai advisory group's aircraft on the screen, showing that the aircraft is less than an hour away from arriving in Dream City.

William, sitting in his chair, tapped the table with his fingers, turned off the projector, and then turned to look at his secretary inside the room.

"Check every step of the airport reception process again, especially the press corps and security. There should be at least one, no, tell those guys in the security department, there should be two three-star security teams involved."

"Two three-star teams, Chief Supervisor William, isn't that a bit too many? I'm afraid the security department won't agree." The secretary looked somewhat troubled by the burly man's sudden addition of this arrangement.

As a "protective umbrella" company providing security services, KEL Technology's "security department" is arguably the company's most outstanding core business unit, which has cultivated batches of highly trained combat personnel.

These combatants are classified into five security levels, from one to five stars, based on their weapons and equipment, the level and degree of cybernetics they possess, their ability to coordinate combat, and other metrics.

The best-selling security teams are the one- and two-star security teams. Their typical job is to guard the gates of other companies and handle simple daily disputes. Therefore, they have a low degree of cybernetic enhancement and are considered ordinary security guards, but they are equipped with weapons produced by Kyle Technology, mostly pistols.

Once they reach Samsung, it's a watershed moment; the nature of the operation changes drastically. All combat members in each team are equipped with at least three C-grade combat cybernetic devices, and their weaponry consists mainly of rifles and submachine guns, equipped with the latest Kyle intelligent chips. They are the company's elite force.

Samsung's security teams are typically used in situations involving conflicts between businesses and gangs. They are usually hired when facing gang retaliation, terrorist attacks, or large-scale shootouts, and their prices are five to six times higher than those of first- or second-star teams.

That's why the security department was already unhappy about assigning a Samsung security team to a mere airport pick-up task; now they're adding another one.

"It's okay. If the security personnel are unwilling, just throw this stock report of our company in their faces."

William snorted coldly, and a financial statement was delivered to his secretary, along with a record of the failure of a secret operation.

As the primary supplier of arms to Kyle Technology, the Dragon Kingdom's Minister "Charlotte" attempted to contact Kyle Technology after the incident, requesting protection from the Mechanical Alliance. At the time, Kyle Technology's top management, especially the security department, unanimously believed that Charlotte still had residual value. Therefore, they dispatched a four-star armed force, equipped with a regiment of state-of-the-art armored vehicles and fighter jets, to try to rescue Charlotte.

But in the end, not only did they fail to smuggle Charlotte out, the entire armed force was wiped out, and not a single person returned alive. Most terrifyingly, they couldn't even capture an image of the enemy, and they didn't know what crushing force had destroyed them.

It was precisely because of the failure of this secret operation that the relationship between Charlotte and Kyle Technology was exposed to the public at an accelerated pace, uncovering a large number of shady deals between the two parties, and even the conclusions of the company's calculations, which strongly suggest that the one who made the move was the Empress herself.

Somehow, this information was leaked, which caused the current stock crash of KEL Technology. It can be said that if it weren't for the security department's unnecessary smuggling operation, KEL Technology wouldn't be in this situation today.

With a gloomy face, William got up from his chair and walked to the office window. The window, which automatically sensed Kyle's arrival, quickly changed color from dark to light. William looked down and could see the bustling crowd of Dream City below, which looked like ants to him, who was hundreds of meters high.

If nothing is done and things continue like this, Kyle Technology may not collapse in a few months, but the board of directors will be the first to go under, and he, as the general manager, will also be forced to step down. Then, someone else will be standing in the office of this high-rise building, while he will become the one who is looked down upon like an ant on the lowest street.

"To save our crashing stock price, we need to release even better news to restore people's confidence in our KEL Technology. But it's not enough for us to act alone; we need the support of our advisory team in Shanghai to make it more impactful. Do you understand?"

"The Research Department has spared no expense, showcasing its most core 'relic' technology. Before the press conference, this advisory group cannot afford any mishaps. Even if something happens to the security personnel, they cannot be allowed to be harmed!"

"Yes, I understand, Steward William. I will make the arrangements immediately."

The burly man's outburst made the secretary tremble slightly. Only after sorting out the pros and cons did she finally understand why Manager William had worked so hard to secure the hosting rights for their Kyle Technology, inviting the Shanghai advisory group, and even bringing it forward by a considerable amount of time.

The goal was to leverage the popularity of Shanghai to create a major news story: Kyle Technology had mastered the cutting-edge "ancient artifact" technology that even top scholars and PhDs from Shanghai couldn't research.

The bigger the news, the better. We need to spend money to buy trending topics on the same day and get it to the top of Dream City's headlines so that people will immediately buy their Keltech stock and resolve the collapse crisis caused by the Dragon Kingdom.

"Oh, wait a minute, there's one more thing." Before the female secretary hurriedly left, William, who had already returned to his chair, called her back to stop.

"After this episode of 'Zero Dream' ends soon, have the security department arrest this employee on the grounds of leaking company secrets. Then hand him over to the police stations we have connections with. Don't let him go to jail; just find some random incident to send him away."

The female secretary looked at the employee information William had sent her. It was a young male employee named "Famas." Her heart skipped a beat. Of course, she knew what this meant. She nodded quickly, and then, thinking back to how she had hesitated about William's orders, she broke out in a cold sweat.

William shook his head as he watched his female secretary quicken her pace and leave his office.

From the moment they joined Kail Technology, to put it nicely, these employees became company personnel, property that the company could dispose of at will. But to be realistic, they were all the company's dogs, and a disobedient dog obviously had no reason to be kept.

Of course, William does not deny that he is also one of the "dogs".