Chapter 10 Monitoring (Below) _1

After a brief rest, Chen Yang checked the surveillance software on his computer and found that everything was working properly. He quickly picked up the wiring materials and left the basement.

Per Right Hand's instructions, he had to install another surveillance camera outside the basement door pointing toward the hallway leading to the basement. Chen Yang paced around, rubbing his chin and furrowing his brows.

Running wires here would be tricky. Back when he built this small building, he hadn't thought this far ahead. Moreover, the basement was intended as storage space, so there was no proper opening for running wires through.

If the power and signal cables were to be installed, the only solution would be to drill two new holes, placed half a meter apart from each other.

This was indeed troublesome, causing Chen Yang to sigh while scratching the back of his head.

"What a hassle, I hate this…"

No matter how much he complained internally, Chen Yang had to continue working. Otherwise, if Right Hand woke up around nine o'clock and found that he hadn't finished, it would be a nightmare for him.

"Tap, tap…"

At that moment, soft footsteps echoed from the upper floor. A delicate figure appeared - it was Xiao Rui.

"Mr. Chen, what are you doing?"

Xiao Rui was surprised. As she descended the stairs and looked up, she saw someone standing at the entrance - it was her landlord, Chen Yang.

Chen Yang looked up stiffly, gave Xiao Rui an emotionless glance, seemed to realize his residual expression was off, and forced a smile: "Ah, are you heading to work?"

"Yes, Mr. Chen, you too are up this early."

When Xiao Rui mentioned going to work, only she knew the truth. In fact, she wasn't going to work, but looking for a job and she didn't even know if she would be successful.

After taking a few steps closer to Chen Yang, Xiao Rui curiously glanced at the wires and bracket in Chen Yang's hands and asked, "Mr. Chen, what are you planning to do?"

Her curiosity was hardly surprising, anyone would likely take a second look at Chen Yang with his current setup.

Of course, Chen Yang couldn't say that this was part of an alien conspiracy designed to surveil humans. He casually replied with a relaxed tone, "You know there have been a few thefts in the area recently, right? I just thought I'd install a security camera to help protect everyone's property."

He lied without batting an eye.

Xiao Rui didn't question him. Even a god wouldn't expect such a twist. She simply responded with a polite smile and nod, "I see, well Mr. Chen, I'll let you get back to work. I need to go now."

She stepped out the door and left, moving further away from this massive "conspiracy".

Watching her retreating figure, Chen Yang turned his attention back to his task, guessing that it was probably time for his tenants to leave for work.

Chen Yang's building was five stories high, including the rooftop. Apart from a vacant room on the first floor, he had rented out six rooms on the second, third, and fourth floors.

One of the tenants on the second floor was the young woman named Xiao Rui who was about the same age as Chen Yang and was working hard every day to achieve her dreams.

Across from Xiao Rui lived two young female models, also pursuing their grand dreams, dedicating their youth and bodies to running from car shows to game exhibitions all day.

On the third floor, a family of three rented a room. The man was a drinking and gambling addict, the woman a mahjong "expert". Their son, born and raised under a roof of domestic violence, was rebellious.

The room opposite the family was occupied by a man in his thirties, a busy office worker who traveled back and forth between downtown and the suburbs every day.

The fourth floor was more complicated. There was a room on the right rented by three women, and on the left a cohabiting couple. As the landlord, Chen Yang knew little about them - as long as they weren't criminals, it was fine. After all, money is money.

Once he had assessed his surroundings, Chen Yang reluctantly began drilling holes at the top of the door. Luckily, the wall was quite thin and he managed to finish the camera installation in about an hour and a half.

After everything was set up, he couldn't afford to rest. With only half an hour left, Chen Yang, panting from exertion, climbed onto the rooftop with his tools in the early morning light.

Standing on the edge of the roof, Chen Yang couldn't help but wonder if the height was a little too much.

However, since Right Hand had given the order, he didn't dare to question. He finished installing the pan–tilt–zoom camera and threw the signal and power cables down through the hole without securing them, then pulled them inside the house.

Then, he routed them into the basement through the two holes he had drilled earlier. After tidying up, Chen Yang found that he had used up only half an hour, just within Right Hand's time limit.

Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief, set aside his anxiety, and began to wait for the awakening of his Right Hand.

"Is everything prepared?"

The Right Hand woke silently and smoothly.

"Ah, yes, yes. Everything is ready, Officer. Please have a look."

Pointing to the three surveillance screens on the monitor, Chen Yang anxiously awaited the Right Hand's critique, fearing that it might not be satisfactory.

"Hmm, not bad. Didn't expect you to be somewhat useful."

The Right Hand's words were certainly insulting. However, Chen Yang, no, this idiot, wasn't angry at all. On the contrary, he "touched" his tears in "emotion," "Thank you for your compliments, Officer."

"Don't call me 'Officer' from now on".

The Right Hand stretched out like rubber, tapping away at the keyboard.

"In human terms, you may call me Ross…"

Ross?

Chen Yang hesitated for a moment, then caught on. It should be Ross. But wouldn't it be more fun to call it "Screw"?

His lips curled up slightly as if he'd achieved some victory. He respectfully said in the manner of a typical Ah-Q: "Yes, Officer Screw."

The Right Hand, maliciously dubbed 'Screw', didn't sense any confrontational malice from Chen Yang's brain and carried on with its typing.

The screens showed images that were beyond Chen Yang's comprehension. He nervously remained seated while the Right Hand controlled the computer, clueless about what he should do next.

An hour, or two, passed, and Chen Yang gently asked in a timorous voice: "Officer Screw, may I ask what is your plan…"

"A video game, a smartphone game."

A game?

Chen Yang was confused. The creature lodged in his right hand should be an extraterrestrial, right? Or you could call it an alien, but when did aliens get associated with mobile games?

The Right Hand seemed to be in high spirits, as it actually had the mood to explain to Chen Yang, an inferior earthling: "I want to develop a mobile game. Firstly, it will solve the money problem. Secondly, it can collect information and plant backdoors."

Plant backdoors?

The phrase made Chen Yang immediately think of the word "virus." With sudden understanding, he exclaimed, "So that's it, of course, of course! I knew it, why would aliens bother to develop such a trivial game? Its actual aim is to plant a virus."

Respect, respect! Chen Yang admired his own Right Hand. While earning money from earthlings, it was also laying groundwork for the destruction of humanity. Aliens were indeed cunning.

Chen Yang felt his decision to side with the alien was definitely the right choice. Obsequiously sucking up to such evil aliens by discarding human decency was indeed the smartest move.

The Right Hand hadn't a clue about the various thoughts going through Chen Yang's mind. Reaching the limit of keyboard responsiveness in terms of speed, it wrote lines of code at an alarming rate, which scrolled rapidly down the screen.

Based on information it had previously consulted, the Right Hand dismissed existing mobile game platforms. It decided to develop its own mobile gaming engine, a challenge to itself.

This ancient, backward binary computer, based on integrated circuits, made coding an arduous task. Although the Right Hand had vast knowledge, it still needed to seriously "think it over" before it took action, leading to a slow speed.

Of course, the speed at which the Right Hand considered slow would, from the perspective of a leading programmer, be shockingly fast.

The development of a game engine wasn't a trivial task. It was like building a skyscraper, a task that was audacious enough for one person to accomplish. What was even more outrageous was the speed; it was several times faster than the pace of a large construction team. This was simply impossible!

For instance, "Max Payne's" MAX-FX engine took over four years to develop from its initial form, FinalReality, to the finished product. The development of the LithTech engine took a whole five years and cost 7 million US dollars.

Luckily, what seemed impossible to earthlings was merely a joke to the Right Hand.