Thousands of Brilliant Stars: You Deserve the Best!-Chapter 210: My Name Is Phoenix

Liam Winslow’s words left Iris Crawford perplexed, because as far as she knew, Pearl Winters, Liam’s beloved, had passed away and left behind a sensational perfume... Could the story from back then not be over?

Iris shook her head, dismissing the thought. Pearl Winters’ death was something everyone had confirmed, and if it were a staged death, Liam would have found out by now. Liam couldn’t possibly be showing this expression right now.

Liam stood up and handed a business card to Iris, "This is a foundation we’re collaborating with, established by Lucas Lane, focused on helping disadvantaged groups. We often receive orders from them, as there are more and more intelligent machines on the operating table now."

Looking at the words "The Pearl Foundation" on the business card, Iris fell into deep thought.

Liam took her to visit Lachlan Wyatt Technologies, and as they walked inside, a high-tech robot stood at the door to greet them. Lachlan said, "This robot replaces the reception administration. If there’s anything you need, just talk to it."

Iris asked, "Hello, may I know your name?"

The reception robot answered in a pleasant voice, "I’m called Birdie One."

"..." Iris turned her head, giving Lachlan a killer look, sending a chill down his spine.

"Could you take me on a tour of the entire company?"

Iris asked Birdie One again, but unfortunately, the question seemed beyond its programming, and after a while, the robot replied, "I’m sorry, I can’t process your request at the moment."

Lachlan said to Iris, "In some aspects, they still can’t completely replace humans, but I believe in the future, robots will take over many jobs, which is why I started this company."

Artificial intelligence is indeed a magical field. Iris couldn’t have guessed that Lachlan would be invested here—not in finance to exploit others, nor in entertainment to harm actresses. Lachlan actually ventured into artificial intelligence...

"Our robots cover several areas, like the medical robots mentioned by Liam’s uncle just now," Lachlan led Iris further into the company, "Drones are another, and then there are administrative robots, like the reception Birdie One we saw earlier."

The name Birdie One always made Iris feel something was off.

"There’s also a type designed to assist the elderly."

Lachlan’s company was exceptionally large; Iris felt like it would take an entire day to explore. The lobby held various categories of robots, "Some elderly people, due to their age, lack companionship and care from younger generations, so they need robots for company."

Iris looked up at the robot, "So what do these robots do on a daily basis?"

"Talking, companionship, and everyday care."

Lachlan pressed a button on one of the robots, "For instance, this one is set up as a boy."

The robot opened its mouth and indeed had a youthful, innocent voice.

"You can choose and set each robot’s voice yourself. They’re very close to humans."

Lachlan pointed to an empty pavilion, "However, strangely, recently, a batch of robots in an order was robbed."

Robbery?

Images from American blockbusters flashed through Iris’s mind, "No one would rob robots to become assassins, would they?"

Lachlan paused in surprise, not expecting Iris’s thought to develop that way, thoughtfully saying, "It’s possible, but because the chips in this batch of robots are highly confidential, when we reported the incident, the authorities required all pursuit actions to be carried out secretly. Plus, Liam’s wife was kidnapped at the same time, and we suspect a connection between these events, deciding to investigate both cases together."

No wonder... Liam would seek out Lachlan.

"Can you tell me what type those missing robots were? Were they for surgery or..."

"They’re artificial intelligence," Lachlan lowered his voice, "our newly developed artificial intelligence... with human appearance, human language, human thinking abilities, the highest degree of closeness to humans... their chips are priceless..."

If taken by some malicious organization and used for antisocial, anti-human activities, it would indeed cause huge negative impacts, potentially destabilizing the whole social livelihood!

Iris gasped, "How could this happen?"

"I implore you, we must find them quickly. I suspect they used artificial intelligence to kidnap my wife, which is why there are no fingerprints left." Liam added anxiously, "Because there are no traces of human activity at the crime scene, I suspect they’re using the kidnapped robots in experiments, making my wife the first test subject. They’re checking if robots leave any traces when committing crimes, likely planning even worse experiments in the future to assess the value of artificial intelligence."

This surely wasn’t a trivial matter. Iris, who tended to be selfish, found herself immersed in the situation, forgetting herself. She nodded to Lachlan regardless of their past entanglements, "Could you provide me with detailed information on the case?"

Lachlan nodded, "Come with me upstairs."

They took a high-speed elevator to the CEO’s office, where Lachlan’s fingerprint casually touched the metallic-looking door, automatically opening it.

"The office door uses fingerprint and iris recognition," Lachlan showed Iris various high-tech devices, making her feel as though she had stepped into a future world, as if a barrier existed between Lachlan’s company and society. Today, she crossed that forbidden line.

Are those who explore artificial intelligence guilty?

It’s like Pandora’s box; once opened, no one knows what will happen next.

Looking at the white high-ceilinged roof of Lachlan’s company, the glass walls that were transparent yet obscured vision, interspersed with the beep from machine operations, Iris felt it was too unreal, like filming a movie.

"The files above are encrypted, and all this must not be known to outsiders. Elias Shaw is responsible for this case."

Elias Shaw, Sarah Shaw’s brother.

To alarm Elias Shaw meant the situation was undoubtedly severe.

Lachlan Wyatt doesn’t have paper documents; his desk is a large display screen, resembling an entire electronic device.

He gently tapped the corner of the desk twice, and the surface where the tea cup sat lit up, turning into a large touch screen.

He then swiped his hand twice on the desk to bring up the document, and the high-definition resolution allowed Iris Crawford to see the content clearly, marveling at the advanced technology of Lachlan Wyatt Technologies.

They’ve reached this level already.

How genius is their artificial intelligence?

Iris pointed at the document, "Can I keep this?"

"Sure, place your phone on the desk, and the file will be automatically transferred."

Sure enough, as soon as Iris placed her phone on the desk, both the desk and her phone screen lit up simultaneously. Without needing to operate anything, Bluetooth automatically connected, and the phone screen popped up showing the file is being received.

The more casually Lachlan spoke, the more it made Iris’s heart race, because it meant their developed artificial intelligence was already quite advanced. After reading all the documents, she asked, "Do you have any suspects at the moment?"

"J." When Lachlan said this English letter, Iris’s expression changed immediately, "Jonas Kingsley?"

"That’s right."

Lachlan then touched the desk twice again, and after the desktop showed loading for a while, it displayed Jonas Kingsley’s photo, "We showed that Mr. J once wanted to place a large order of AI chips from us, but for some reason canceled the order later."

After learning the entire process of the case from Lachlan, Iris felt a stone weighing down inside her.

When it was time to leave, Lachlan took out a black object from the safe, walked up, and patted her shoulder, saying to Iris, "This is for you."

"What is this?"

Iris looked at the thing in her hand that resembled a mobile phone, "Your company’s developed phone?"

"Not really."

Lachlan shrugged, not straightforwardly revealing the truth, "Maybe someday you’ll use it, and then you’ll know what it’s for."

He spoke so mysteriously.

Iris grumbled inwardly, stuffed the phone into her pocket, and after accompanying Lachlan to send Liam Winslow back, she murmured, "I thought Uncle Liam would stay faithful to Pearl Winters for a lifetime."

"Love is the most elusive thing. Who knows what Liam is thinking? Maybe neither of us has the right to comment on them."

Some loves fade, but some don’t.

Lachlan’s gaze was obscure, seeming to predict a certain outcome, "But they indeed kidnapped the woman beside Liam Winslow this time, so both cases have merged. We must get our chips back."

Iris felt like an FBI agent from an international blockbuster, and despite the pressure, she was somewhat exhilarated, "We can return to the base and chat with everyone at the office."

That night, Lachlan’s office was brightly lit. As elites from various industries, several people gathered to find clues and reason, while at another place, Jonas Kingsley’s villa was equally lit.

"I truly couldn’t imagine..." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Jonas forcefully pulled open the curtain in front of him, revealing girls one after another.

He reached out, touching one of them, "It’s time to wake up."

He felt around the neck of the girl, seemingly pressing some switch, and suddenly the woman who had her eyes closed opened them.

"Good evening, master."

This voice...

Jonas gasped out of shock.

At that moment, Hannah Lennox walked in carrying tea from outside, jumped at the sight of the person in front of Jonas, "Why is she here?"

"You’re mistaken."

Jonas held the girl’s hand, the skin’s texture was too real, he was getting somewhat absorbed, "It’s a robot."

Hannah was shocked as she held the teacup, "The batch you hijacked off the plane a few days ago, is it this?"

"That’s right."

Jonas squinted as he smiled, "The chips inside their bodies are incredibly valuable things..."

The robot, seeming to understand what they were saying, bowed to greet Hannah, "Good evening, miss."

Hannah backed away a step; the lifelike humanoid made her feel a bit of fear, being too close to human would trigger her inner fear, "What’s your name?"

"My name..." the robot’s brain seemed to operate for a moment, pausing before she gently said, "I am Phoenix One."