The Devil Doctor's Spicy Love
Chapter 326: Protocol X

Chapter 326: Protocol X

At the same time in Quantum Games.

Rong Wei, the marketing consultant of the Survival Grounds game, whistled merrily. "We have hit a new record of new players joining the game. Quite a milestone we have achieved."

Mei Ru, the lead designer of the games’ quests, flickered her hair a bit with pride. "It was inevitable. The quests I create are just so creative~ Who can resist playing them?"

Zexi beamed. "That’s so cool! Everybody has worked so hard."

It was quite evident from Hao Lian’s dozing head. The dark circles under his eyes were the proof of his sleepless nights staring at hundreds of lines of code.

"Senior Hao," Beiye poked his shoulder.

"Huh, what?" He jerked his head up, blinking his eyes rapidly. "Ah it’s you Beiye."

"Yes, it’s me Senior. I wanted to ask something."

Mei Ru raised her arm. "Why don’t we take a break to celebrate our game’s popularity~?"

Yan Qiu muttered. "I want to go home..."

"Going home is not allowed! Plus, a little late evening celebration is always the most fun~" her eyes twinkled.

Rong Wei sighed. "How do you get so much energy even after working for ten straight hours?"

"Because I won’t be paying~" she stuck out her tongue sheepishly. "Since you gave the good news, you swipe your card."

"You just want an excuse to party and loot me," he sneered.

"Whatever," she shrugged.

Hao Lian raised his hand. "I will stay back."

Beiye added. "Me too. I will work with Senior Hao for a while."

Zexi’s shoulders hung low.

Ah, I will be all alone with the team!

But maybe...I should use this chance to try and find out about Zhang Luqi?

Mei Ru puffed her cheeks. "Don’t be a party pooper, Lian!"

He was already sleepily waving his hand at her in a goodbye. Rong Wei pushed her ahead before she would cause more fuss.

The dimly lit office continued to hum with the faint buzz of servers and the clicking of keyboard buttons after they left.

Beiye sat at her desk, her fingers poised over the keyboard as she observed Hao Lian from the corner of her eye. He was hunched over his workstation, his eyes reflecting the lines of intricate code scrolling rapidly on his screen. She feigned a small struggle with her current task, letting out a soft sigh.

"Senior Hao, can I say something?" she began, keeping her tone casual but laced with just enough curiosity to sound sincere.

He let out a yawn. "What is it?"

Beiye flipped through some pages of a file. "The adaptive AI is incredible," she said. "It’s almost like it’s learning about the player’s mind and evolving in real-time. The coding is quite complex."

Hao Lian nodded. "It’s paired with sophisticated predictive algorithms. The AI learns from every player’s decisions, adjusts its behavior and anticipates future moves."

"AI is badass. Looking through the files, I understand its role. But I came across something earlier while reviewing the player behavior logs. There is a subroutine labeled ’Protocol X.’ It caught my attention because it doesn’t seem connected to the core AI modules we have worked upon. Is it also a part of the adaptive system?"

Hao Lian’s fingers stopped mid-keystroke. He glanced at her, his expression slightly guarded.

"Senior Hao?"

"Ah? Ah yes..." Another yawn escaped his lips as he flatly said, "Protocol X isn’t something you need to worry about."

Beiye tilted her head, maintaining a look of innocent curiosity.

"But I fail to understand how it helps the game."

He waved his hand in dismissal. "It’s nothing important really. Just some backup scripts here and there."

"Oh, I see. It’s just that it popped up multiple times during my analysis. I thought it might help me understand AI’s broader framework."

"Na, it’s not that. You can exclude it from your analysis. Plus, I will ask for specific reports when I need them and that subroutine isn’t that important. So just stick to your assigned tasks, Beiye."

Beiye nodded quickly. "Of course. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wanted to understand the system better."

Hao Lian’s eyes widened. "Oh wait, no. I am not offended. It’s just that there are tons of things to do so we should really prioritize on important stuff only."

"Got it."

"You should head home by the way. You can complete the report tomorrow," he shrugged.

She bowed. "Good night, Senior Hao."

He yawned. "Yeah, good night."

Beiye packed up her stuff and grabbed her handbag. As she exited the work zone, she glanced back at Hao Lian’s direction, narrowing her eyes.

Protocol X...

—

"Cheers!"

Everybody clapped. Mei Ru held the brightest expression in the group. "Cheers to our team! And cheers to our new joiners. Ah I feel so young..."

"How old are you exactly?" Rong Wei chuckled.

Her eyes narrowed. "I know where you are going with that so I advise caution."

Zexi coughed and clinked her glass against everybody’s. "Cheers. Thank you for the warm welcome, Senior Mei."

She pouted. "I wish Lian and Beiye would have been here too. That sleepy head needs a long vacation, seriously."

Zexi said, "Oh! Vacation reminds me of Mam Xie. I heard she will be going to London for a game convention."

"Yup. And Survival Grounds will be heavily promoted there," Rong Wei smiled. "We will be hosting a live gaming challenge too. None of the other game companies could ever match up to it."

Yan Qiu muttered something inaudibly.

"That’s so cool. Promoting our company on international stage," Zexi’s eyes sparkled.

She eyed everybody’s expressions and slightly cleared her throat.

"Everybody has worked so hard towards this game’s development. I wish Mrs. Zhang was also able to witness it."

The air turned a little stifling by her name’s mention.

"Indeed," Mei Ru smiled. "I miss her. It was so fun to work with her. But her frequent clashes with Manager Xun was always so tense to bear."

"Ah...Yeah, I just heard a bit about the promotion that she was due to get," she awkwardly said, "That must have been a bummer. Because of all these fights...does Manager Xun hate Mrs. Zhang?"