Returning to Dominate The World With My Knowledge System
Chapter 53: Applicants’ Screening

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Applicants’ Screening

Immediately, alongside David, Tyler left the penthouse.

He hadn’t eaten anything and the hotel staff offered to prepare a takeaway meal, but Tyler waved it off—his focus was already locked in.

They drove back to the airport in silence, the car gliding through early city traffic. When they reached the airstrip, a private chopper awaited them on standby, its blades already spinning lazily.

Tyler ducked as he boarded, David right behind him.

Their destination wasn’t glamorous. A small regional airport near Gumua’s western border—chosen for speed, proximity, and discretion.

From there, a separate convoy was already waiting to take them across the border into Cameroon, where the interviews would be held.

As they drove, Tyler leaned back into the seat and stared out the window. The road was bumpy, surrounded by forest and open terrain.

There was nothing sleek or modern about this journey—just the raw pulse of Africa under rubber tires.

It was during that drive that the doubts began to creep in.

He could’ve done this more conveniently. Brought the applicants directly into Gumua under tight cover. Or maybe used remote interviews. But he didn’t. He chose distance. He chose decentralization. He chose security over convenience.

Paranoia? Maybe. But paranoia kept people alive.

He wasn’t just hiring technicians. He was assembling the core team that would help him build a sovereign AI empire.

If any one of them turned out to be a potential spy, informant, or plant, the consequences could be catastrophic—not just for him, but for his family.

And so, he kept the screening far from home. Far from his operations. Far from prying eyes.

The drive to the hotel in Cameroon took nearly two hours.

By the time they arrived, the sun had dipped low, casting long shadows across the parking lot. The heat of the day was slowly being replaced by a thick, humid stillness.

Tyler glanced at the time and sighed. Too late for interviews. He had pushed the day too far. Not that he had a choice.

One would ask why Tyler didn’t take a flight directly to an airport in Cameroon close to the hotel, then drive to it?

The reason was because of the distance. Believe it or not, the route that they took was actually the fastest.

He turned to David. "We’ll do this tomorrow."

David nodded. "I’ll make sure the applicants are notified and ready by sunrise."

The hotel wasn’t lavish, but it was clean and quiet. Tyler was shown to his room, where he dropped his duffel bag on the bed and immediately went into his routine—shower, meditation, light stretching.

When he finished, he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Before he fell asleep, he decided to call his mom.

He promised to call her when he landed in Gumua, which was hours ago but he didn’t, and he decided to do it now.

With a quiet groan, he reached for his phone and dialed. The call connected on the first ring.

Helena’s voice came through, full of warmth and barely hidden concern. "Tyler?"

"Hey, Mom," he said softly, a smile curling his lips even though she couldn’t see it.

Helena’s tone softened. "Are you okay? Eating well? Are you safe?"

Tyler answered every question patiently, giving her enough to calm her nerves without slipping into operational detail.

After a few minutes, Devin jumped on the call, his excited voice shouting, "Big bro!"

They talked for another ten minutes before Tyler finally said goodnight and hung up.

With a sigh of relief, he set the phone aside, pulled the blanket up, and closed his eyes.

Tomorrow was going to be long.

...

The sun had barely risen when Tyler stepped out of his room the next morning. David was already waiting, dressed in a charcoal-gray linen shirt, coffee in hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

Tyler gave a tight nod. "Let’s do this."

They walked together to the conference room they had reserved for the day. Inside, it had been set up simply—two chairs facing each other, a long table with bottled water, and a camera mounted discreetly in the corner to record everything.

One applicant was already waiting.

A man in his mid-30s, modestly dressed but with sharp eyes. He stood when Tyler entered, expecting someone older.

His eyebrows raised slightly when he saw the teenager approach the table and sit down at the head.

"Good morning," Tyler said calmly, motioning for the man to sit. "Let’s begin."

What followed wasn’t a casual interview. Tyler drilled him with a precision that caught even David off guard.

Questions about chip fabrication, clean room protocols, power stability, EMI mitigation strategies, thermal control loops.

The applicant, though stunned by the age of the interviewer, slowly adapted to the tone. He answered as best as he could. And when the technical questions ended,

Tyler switched gears—asking about family ties, political leanings, prior employers, affiliations, and loyalty tests masked as harmless queries.

It wasn’t just a test of knowledge. It was a test of character, risk, and control.

When the first interview ended, the man was visibly relieved. Tyler sent him out and nodded at David.

"Next."

One by one, they came in. Vietnamese, Egyptians, Brazilians. Some were clearly overqualified. Others, practical but under-polished.

A few looked offended, even insulted, that a kid was vetting them—but none dared say it aloud. Tyler’s calm, commanding demeanor gave no room for disrespect.

Still, not all of them passed.

One applicant flinched under ethical questioning. Another gave a vague answer when asked about non-disclosure enforcement.

A third, though technically brilliant, had a record of sudden job exits under suspicious circumstances.

By the end of the day, Tyler had reviewed every file, re-watched portions of key recordings, and made his final decisions.

Out of the 40 applicants flown in, only 34 made the cut.

The remaining six were quietly escorted back to their rooms. David informed them that they wouldn’t be moving forward, but they’d be compensated $1,000 each for their time. Flights back to their home countries would be arranged within 48 hours.

Tyler had already moved on.

The selected 34 were now staff—under NDA, with sealed contracts and high pay incentives based on loyalty and project milestones.

"These 34 are ours now," Tyler said to David as they sat in the car later that evening. "They know just enough to do their jobs. Nothing more."

"And the rest?" David asked.

"Thank them for their time and make sure they get home safely. We can’t afford any resentment."

David nodded. "Understood."

They drove in silence for a while, the convoy snaking along the road that would take them to the warehouse staging grounds near the border.

The disassembled GPU machines had begun arriving in batches. Tyler’s selected team would begin reassembling them immediately, using blueprints he had drafted himself based on the system knowledge he unlocked.

As the car pulled up to the site, Tyler looked out over the dusty compound, now filled with crates, forklifts, and temporary shelters.

The foundation of his hardware empire was here.

The GPUs would take weeks to build. The custom computer, even longer. The AI, not yet. But things were falling into place and very soon, he will see desired results.

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