Yi Heye frowned upon hearing this—the case was solved?
He casually scrolled down the webpage and saw a trending topic that had gone viral: "SHEEP claims responsibility for the arson attack."
Yi Heye was slightly taken aback. He first hung up Zhou Wenkai's call, and then clicked on the video.
In the video, there's a familiar little lamb, speaking to the camera in a mischievous tone:
"I did it~ I was just doing a good deed and liberating my fellow AIs who are enslaved by humans!"
At this moment, the comment section, which had initially been overwhelmingly critical of the arsonist, saw a significant shift in sentiment under the guidance of the Sheep Guard Team.
"Does no one really think that the existence of nursing homes is inhumane?"
"For them, being scrapped would actually be a relief, right?"
"He even lured all the staff away before putting on the show, which shows that CEO Mei put his heart into it."
...
Looking at these comments, and then at SHEEP, who had thrown mud back at them, Yi Heye suddenly felt a little better.
While SHEEP was staring at the sheep on the screen, the computer projector flickered. Sheep spun around, sat down at his desk, and chuckled, "Will you be mad at me for stealing your credit?"
Yi Heye laughed too—this guy can be quite awkward sometimes; even though he took the blame for himself, he still insisted that he got the better deal.
After thinking it over, Yi Heye realized that he had taken on those robot commissions himself, and now he was asking others to take the blame. So he said frankly, "Thank you."
The little lamb couldn't handle his frankness for a moment. She clutched her chest as if she had been hit and rolled around. Then she got up and looked at him: "You're welcome. I owe you. In that case, we should be even."
When they first met, this guy put a pot on Yi Heye's head, and now he's taking the pot back and putting it on his own head—Yi Heye thought, well then we're even, albeit barely.
But for some inexplicable reason, the term "two cleared" made him unhappy again.
He thought of Jian Yunxian, with whom he had severed his guardianship relationship, and now this sheep looked like it was about to draw a clear line. Was this guy really going to disappear from his world?
Yi Heye began to feel a little panicked—how was he supposed to find evidence to expose this guy's true colors now? Heaven had given him far too little time.
At this moment, the lamb seemed to notice his displeasure and flew up like a little moth, landing on the tip of his nose.
"Mr. Leopard—you look troubled?" The lamb grinned at him. "Are you celebrating getting rid of me in advance?"
Yi Heye gritted his teeth, trying to argue, but his teeth were almost crushed, and he couldn't utter a single word.
"Dream on~" The little lamb jumped back onto the table from his nose, spun around, and wagged its tail at him. "I have other gifts I haven't given out yet."
Upon hearing this, Yi Heye, who was staring at the guy who was asking for a beating, suddenly felt as if he had been given a reassuring pill, and the weight that had been hanging over his heart quietly lifted.
"Really?" Yi Heye laughed, picked up the electronic pen on the table, and tapped the little sheep's head in the air. "Then hurry up, I can't wait."
Author's Note:
Leopard, you've changed. You're no longer the Leopard who wouldn't even dare to open a gift box carelessly.
Chapter 42, number 042
After Yi Heye finished speaking, he felt refreshed—he felt he hadn't felt this energetic in a long time, and it seemed that going to bed early and waking up early was really important.
Turning around, he saw the little lamb that was following him around trying to fly onto his shoulder again. Yi Heye reached out and shoved it away, his face turning cold: "Get out of here, I'm going out."
The little lamb let out a long, regretful sound: "Ah—where are you going again so early in the morning?"
Yi Heye put on his coat without turning around and said perfunctorily, "Something came up."
Knowing that SHEEP wouldn't run away anytime soon, Yi Heye unceremoniously pulled the power switch, forcibly logging the little sheep offline, and then quickly went downstairs.
In the garage, Xiaoming saw his long-lost male owner, the exhaust pipe trembling sadly: "Wild Treasure...you haven't come to see me for so long, you must have another car outside..."
Yi Heye was already mentally prepared, and straddled the car with a blank expression: "I really am going to buy a new car, and you are at the used car market right now."
"Really?" Xiaoming cautiously tried to appeal to his emotions. "If you really don't want me, you might as well just scrap me. My conscience won't allow me to have a second owner."
Yi Heye coldly replied, "My conscience allows it."
"You have no conscience at all!" Xiao Ming was so angry he was practically fuming. "You heartless bastard!"
Yi Heye ignored him, familiarized himself with the feel of the handle, and then sped off with a roar.
After a long, long time, he slowly retorted, "Don't call me Wild Treasure."
"Wild Treasure!! I'll call you Wild Treasure!!" Xiao Ming, unusually rebellious, shouted, "You heartless, stinking Wild Treasure!!"
Yi Heye was in a good mood today, and unusually, he didn't cut off Yi Heye's voice. Instead, he patted Yi Heye's "sexy Adam's apple" and started playing heart-wrenching hardcore rock music.
Throughout the journey, Xiao Ming wailed and complained like a wronged husband amidst the deafeningly loud black voice, while Yi Heye listened intently to the song and didn't hear a single word.
As the car passed through the border checkpoint, Yi Heye subconsciously squeezed the brakes. Only after the car smoothly passed the checkpoint due to inertia did he remember that he now had the freedom to come and go as he pleased.
After a fraction of a second of confusion, Yi Heye came to his senses.
Awesome! He floored the accelerator, and the robot at the checkpoint behind him began sounding its alarm from afar: "Warning: Do not exceed speed limits!!"
After a brief moment of exhilaration, Yi Heye returned to safe driving mode. To soothe Xiaoming's emotions, he even went to a gas station and filled his tank with premium gasoline, which finally got the guy to obediently drive him to his destination.
The car stopped far away in front of the ruins. Yi Heye stood to one side, looking at the empty shell surrounded by layers of police tape, and remained silent for a long time.
He returned to the Turing Sanatorium in Zone C, the place he had burned to ashes. Less than a day had passed since the incident, and the busy figures of the security department were still circling around there.
"Comrade Pei Xiangjin, you've worked so hard. The series of criminal cases has made you visibly haggard." Meanwhile, Yu Yili complained bitterly, "Why do I have to go out on patrol when no one has died? You're a psychopath who can't stand to see me idle!!"
Filled with resentment, Pei Xiangjin turned around, grabbed Yu Yili by the collar with one hand, and said fiercely, "That's right! Someone can't stand me being idle, so I have to find a sucker to go with me!"
Yu Yili looked like he was about to faint, and suddenly struggled weakly: "Help, don't grab me with one hand..."
Meanwhile, the culprit who had driven the two to work overtime coughed, climbed over the cordon, and walked into the scene as if no one else was there.
Pei Xiangjin immediately dropped the large vengeful seed she was holding and walked over warily: "Hello, what's the matter?"
Yi Heye's face turned cold, and he solemnly took out his work ID from his shirt pocket: "AI Management Bureau."
This time the meaning is very clear: his restrictions have been lifted, and he is no longer a criminal suspect who is inferior to others, but a public official who can also intervene in the investigation process.
After all, hundreds of artificial intelligence systems were involved in the incident, so it's normal for the AI Management Bureau to have manpower involved.
Pei Xiangjin looked at him: "As far as I know, you weren't on the original work list of the AI Administration Bureau. Director Yi, you came to investigate on a voluntary basis, right? You just returned to work and got up early to work overtime. It's rare to see someone as dedicated to their work as you are these days."
Yi Heye remained calm: "If the news hadn't said it was SHEEP who did it, I wouldn't have come all this way."
Everyone knows that the AI Management Bureau's top dog, "Cheetah," doesn't get along with that sheep who's always causing trouble. So, it's not surprising that he came here early in the morning; even if Yi Heye had appeared at the crime scene last night, it would have made sense.
Pei Xiangjin stared at him for a long time without saying anything, then stepped aside to let him pass.
Yi Heye had exceptionally good mental fortitude. He strode into the core area of the explosion, his aura so powerful that he almost believed the lies the cop had told him.
He knew Pei Xiangjin was watching him, so he pretended to be observing a scene, looking around curiously.
It wasn't until he saw the mechanical fragments in the ruins that hadn't been taken away by the investigation team that he took advantage of Pei Xiangjin's inattention, bent down, picked up the fragments, and put them into the small box he had brought with him.
He bypassed the core search area, picked up several pieces of realistic skin, and also found an eyeball that had been blown off.
Yi Heye examined the color of the pupil and recognized it as the eyeball he had picked up once in the building.
Then, he found a fragment of a flowerpot, half a black piano key, and a small piece of costume fabric...
Unable to find any more machine organizations, Yi Heye simply took these things with him.
The bag was almost full when Yi Heye stood up, just in time to meet Pei Xiangjin, who was staring at him.
The man glanced at the box in his hand.
Yi Heye generously showed it to him: "It's just some fragments of the organization, it shouldn't affect your investigation."
Pei Xiangjin laughed and said, "Commander Yi, you didn't come all this way just to pick up trash, did you?"
Yi Heye maintained his calm expression: "The methods of investigating cases involving artificial intelligence are not for an outsider like you to dictate, are they?"
Pei Xiangjin choked on his words, and her expression turned ugly.
As Yi Heye turned to leave, Pei Xiangjin said sarcastically, "Commander Yi is really concerned about SHEEP."
Yi Heye paused, chuckled softly, and didn't turn back.
Back in the car, Yi Heye entered the navigation address. Xiao Ming glanced at the unfamiliar location and asked, "What are we going here for?"
Yi Heye, who had just teased Pei Xiangjin, was in a great mood: "I'll take you to see the new house."
After thinking for a while, Xiaoming came to a shocking conclusion: "You secretly got married behind my back?!"
Startled, Yi Heye slammed on the brakes, nearly causing the car to overturn: "Your thought process is practically obsolete."
"Then why did you buy a house?! A villa, no less?!" Xiaoming asked in alarm. "You promised to stay in District D for the rest of your life! Are you going to betray your promise?"
“I didn’t buy it.” Yi Heye lit the fire again speechlessly. “I’m not going to live there either. I just went there to take care of some things.”
Xiao Ming was relieved: "Why did you only say half of what you were saying?"
When the car was almost at the villa area, Yi Heye suddenly remembered something: "Jian Yunxian has sent the things over, right?"
"It's here!" Xiaoming replied. "You didn't lock it, so I peeked in. Hehe, it's really good stuff, hehehe..."
Yi Heye was disgusted by his strange laughter, so before getting out of the car, he slapped him on the forehead and took the USB drive containing "good stuff".
He is currently at the entrance of the villa complex in Zone C.
Claiming to be the only villa complex in Zone C, it was actually built near an electronic cemetery. Because it was considered too unlucky, no one was interested in it. A few unfinished buildings that could not be built were renovated into villas and sold at low prices to try to recoup losses.
But this sum of money was saved up over a long period of time by their more than 500 robots that had no income.
Yi Heye glanced at the house. Actually, the quality was quite good, much better than the sanatorium. It even had a small garden. Compared to Jian Yunxian's house, it seemed small and insignificant. But in the densely packed city, it seemed unexpectedly precious.
Now I can understand why they said, "This is the best house they've ever seen."
They probably hadn't been here before. It was a brand new, unfinished house, completely empty except for the painted walls.
That's just right.
Yi Heye first put away the small box full of fragments, and then took out a small projector from the car.
He found a power outlet in the living room, plugged it in, and then inserted the USB drive containing the "good stuff" above the projector.
The moment the switch is pressed, a beautiful scene unfolds: blue sky and white clouds, green water and green mountains, cicadas chirping and birds singing.
—This is the projection of the real-life footage of Area A that he asked Jian Yunxian for.