Master of Ten Thousand Foxes

"Come on, let’s go with Master to take a look and see what the Marquis spent all his fortune on years ago."

...

In the pit, the wind and sand were stronger, and Bai Mo’s white down jacket was already dusty.

With one foot deep and the other shallow, as he walked along, his shoes and pants were stained with mud and soil.

He found a bronze slot, wiped off the dirt, and looked at the engraved text on the surface.

"Is this... an instruction on temperature control?"

Behind him, the fox apprentice, the Black Bracelet, immediately set up a folding chair and placed it behind Master.

"Whimper whimper!"

After Master sat down, it jumped into Master’s arms, using its head to support the tablet computer for him.

"Howl howl howl!"

It also had Master’s water bottle hanging around its neck!

Seeing Master start to copy the text from the slot, it leaned its back against Master, grinned, and smugly thought... Today, it, the Black Bracelet, a fox, was Master’s mobile workstation!

Bai Mo smiled, reached out to stroke the Black Bracelet’s belly, and continued to copy the text from the slot.

Even though the Marquis left him such a workshop, inheriting the legacy was not easy.

After all, this workshop had been abandoned, buried in the soil for millions of years.

"First, let’s take a turn, have a look, and understand each facility and equipment, figure out their functions, and understand this workshop."

...

Whew...

Another snowy day.

The heavy snow even made the scenery outside the window dark.

Inside the office, however, it was brightly lit and warm as spring.

Fang Xiaoyu, as usual, was typing away on the keyboard, occasionally muttering to herself.

Wu Qingyun, as usual, was wrestling with homework, writing while holding her phone to find her teacher.

Bai Mo, as usual, held the fox apprentice, assumed a comfortable position on the office chair, drank hot tea, and looked at papers.

"You have a sip too."

The fox apprentice, with ears like thunder, sat in Master’s lap, held the teacup with both paws, took a sip blissfully, and emulated Master, staring at the computer screen, gently exhaling a breath of hot air.

"Hmm... quite a bit of substance."

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Bai Mo finished reading a latest math paper, savored it for a moment, nodded, about to read the next one when a message popped up in the lower right corner of the computer.

It was from Mo Lanyou.

[Good news, the Drone Center has achieved a major breakthrough!]

[Looks pretty impressive indeed, check out this link]

Drone Center?

Bai Mo casually clicked on it and saw it was a report published on the Immortal Discussion Forum.

[West State Drone Center ushers in a technological explosion, a leapfrog upgrade...]

[...the latest drones have made major breakthroughs in reliability, resistant to wind, water, snow, even lightning strikes, truly shedding the delicate image of traditional drones, achieving all-weather operation...]

[...the latest drones can even automatically charge in all-weather conditions]

What does it mean?

Bai Mo opened the video attached to the report.

In the heavy rain, a drone flew into an alley, passed through the rain curtain, found the wireless magnet charging station fixed to the wall, and despite being soaked by the rain, "snap," attached itself to the charger, then the charging indicator light on the body lit up, started flashing.

"Huh?

"Seems kind of interesting?"

[...Imagine in the near future, charging stations for drones installed on walls throughout the city’s streets and alleys]

[And in the city’s sky, drones fly everywhere with cameras, capable of taking photos and recording]

[These drones can actively detect suspicious individuals in a crowd, track criminals entering any corner, fly and patrol in dark and deserted alleys]

[When they run out of power, they can autonomously head to the nearest charging pile, replenish power, and restore endurance]

[After recharging, they will take off again, continuing to be pairs of eyes floating in the sky, patrolling the city and guarding its order and peace]

[Drones will illuminate every corner of our society, detect all illegal and criminal activities, leaving no place for evil to hide!]

Bai Mo finished reading the report, nodded slightly.

"Able to fly all-weather, not afraid of heat, cold, wind, frost, rain, snow, more durable, and can automatically charge... indeed, pretty good.

"They are a very qualified electronic patrol team.

"From the gist of this article, they want drones to become like streetlights and surveillance, part of the city’s infrastructure?"

About to close the report, Bai Mo’s peripheral vision caught his name in the comment section.

"Hmm?"

[The developer of this drone, Zheng Yu, seems to have a grudge against Expert Bai Mo?]

[Not really a grudge, at least, the two don’t get along much]

[Rumor has it that Expert Bai Mo doesn’t like this type of drone, doesn’t endorse widespread deployment of drones, doesn’t want drones to become city infrastructure]

Bai Mo frowned, feeling speechless.

What are they talking about?

Who’s spouting nonsense here?

The fox apprentice in his arms listened intently, looked up at his master, and quickly frowned, puffing up his cheeks, showing a slightly angry expression!

"Ow!"

Although it didn’t know why the master was angry... But the master was angry, so it followed suit, there was no harm in that!

[I’m not just making things up, there’s some very secret information involved here that most people don’t know.]

[Committee Member Su Yaoyao has a project, and it’s competing with Zheng Yu’s drone project.]

[At the West State Immortal Committee meeting, Zheng Yu defeated Committee Member Su Yaoyao, taking all her funding.]

[As a result, Expert Bai Mo was willing to support Su, directly covering Su’s expenses.]

[Expert Bai Mo has already made a statement with real money, is there any need to discuss his stance?]

Huh?

Can such news also get out?

Bai Mo didn’t quite understand.

Looking at the informant’s profile, surprisingly it was a seasoned forum veteran, who had been active on the Immortal Discussion Forum for three years.

[I don’t understand this drone stuff, but I believe in Expert Bai Mo!]

[Surely, Expert Bai Mo is smarter than me, his judgment can’t be wrong, follow Expert Bai Mo, boycott drones!]

What does this have to do with anything?

What kind of logic is that?

The more Bai Mo read, the more confused he became, and then noticed a reply even from a verified Zheng Yu below!

[Nonsense! Expert Bai Mo supports Su Yaoyao, not because of anything else, but because their relationship is not normal!]

This verified reply further sparked a lot of comments.

[Hahaha, I just wondered if the one upstairs was talking nonsense, now I understand, the revelation from upstairs is true]

[Regardless of the relationship between Expert Bai Mo and Committee Member Su, I support Expert Bai Mo!]

[Unconditionally support Expert Bai Mo!]

Bai Mo frowned, feeling that this post was odd, like someone was leading the narrative.

He was about to copy the link and send it to Fang Xiaoyu, asking her to deal with it, when the webpage flickered, the graphic and text shifted... The original report remained, but countless comments involving Bai Mo vanished in an instant.

"Oh did the administrator detect the misleading narrative and swallow up the thread?"

"Luckily, the response speed was quite fast."

...

Drone Center.

In the cramped office, Zheng Yu was at his computer, his face red with anger, rapidly typing, ready for another battle with the netizens!

[Expert Bai Mo and Committee Member Su’s relationship is really not normal!]

[I don’t know what exactly their relationship is, anyway one male and one female, you guys feel free to guess!]

[Bai Mo supports her, not because of any rational judgment, purely because... you guys think for yourselves]

[My project has no issues, quit making things up here!]

[Even Bai Mo, he’s not a god, don’t bring out that superstitious stuff, it’s damn defying...]

Suddenly the page flickered, countless replies involving Bai Mo were instantly cleared.

"Huh? What happened?"

He was puzzled when his phone rang on the table.

It was actually a call from Chairman Chen Shu.

He composed himself, put on a smile, and picked up the phone.

Ten minutes ago, the chairman had just called, praising their drone project and had a long warm chat with him.

Now calling again, is it to ask about some details?

He answered the call.

"Hello? Chairman, you..."

His voice was interrupted.

"Expert Zheng Yu, you’re also an important member of the Immortal Committee, every word and deed must be cautious! Don’t throw tantrums like a child!"

Huh?

Zheng Yu paused for a moment.

Why is the chairman saying something so serious?

Could it be...

Sure enough, the chairman continued.

"On the Immortal Discussion Forum, there are all sorts of people, we can’t control the general public.

"However, we should never rely on status to mislead narratives.

"This has a very bad impact!"

Zheng Yu instinctively glanced at his computer desktop, noticing the large volume of disappeared comments.

"Oh oh oh, I get it, Chairman, I understand!"

On the other end, Chairman Chen Shu’s tone was stern, he continued.

"Especially regarding Expert Bai Mo, in the future, don’t speak recklessly about it."

Zheng Yu was stunned.

Meanwhile, the chairman didn’t wait for him to say a word, and hung up the call.