Chapter 11: Firewall (1)

11 - Firewall (1)

Old Man Huo first gazed at him thoughtfully, then gradually became overjoyed: "Excellent! Excellent! That's exactly the principle! I have been absorbing spiritual energy extensively over the years, and impurities have gradually accumulated in my meridians. But that old fellow Xiaoyaozi spends his days playing the zither, playing chess, drinking goji berries, and meditating to nourish his spirit, so his meridians are more unobstructed than mine."

Lin Xun had stumbled upon the right answer by accident, never expecting that his master's problem lay precisely here.

He thought, what if he accessed the folder where Old Man Huo stored his data through the compiler interface and directly deleted all that junk data? Wouldn't that solve the problem right away?

So he put his plan into action, focusing his attention on Old Man Huo.

A blue interface gradually appeared, but Lin Xun noticed that the menu bar at the top was grayed out, meaning he didn't have permission to access it. In other words, he couldn't debug Old Man Huo's program, modify it, or access anything else.

However, he distinctly remembered that the other compilation interfaces he had seen—such as Wang Anquan's and Zhao Jiagou's—had their menu bars lit up.

Why was that?

While Old Man Huo was lost in thought about his own condition, Lin Xun began to ponder as well.

What was the difference between himself, Wang Anquan, and his master?

—There was one!

Wang Anquan didn't practice cultivation; he was an ordinary person.

Lin Xun was at the Qi Refining Stage, one level above ordinary people.

Old Man Huo, on the other hand, was at the Nascent Soul Stage, a whole realm higher than his own cultivation level!

Then the explanation became quite simple.

He could manipulate compilers for those at or below his own cultivation level, but not for those above him.

If he wanted to help his master, he would probably have to wait until he reached the Nascent Soul Stage himself.

As he was thinking this, he heard Old Man Huo say: "Now that I know the root of the problem, that's excellent! I just need to ask Bihai Xianzi to refine a pill for me at the Great Dao Debate Assembly to purge the impurities, and the problem will naturally be solved!"

Well, his master naturally had his own methods.

Lin Xun said, "Congratulations, Master."

"You truly are a promising talent!" Old Man Huo said. "But you still need to diligently sense the spiritual energy—otherwise, you'll greatly embarrass our Limitless Sect and make your master a laughingstock."

Lin Xun replied, "Understood."

Old Man Huo then went on to describe in detail what the "spiritual energy in the void" felt like and taught him three meditation methods, instructing him to practice them day and night until he could sense it.

Although Lin Xun felt he might never be able to sense it, out of respect for his master's authority, he obediently agreed.

Finally, Old Man Huo also asked for Lin Xun's ID number, saying that the Great Dao Debate Assembly was in nine days, and they needed to arrive a day early, so he would book the tickets.

Lin Xun wondered why, as cultivators, they didn't just fly on swords.

Since his materialist worldview had already collapsed, it was only natural for him to yearn for sword flight, so he asked.

His master said, "Sword flight is indeed possible. It wouldn't be difficult for me to take you thousands of miles in a flash, but I'm afraid ordinary people might see us! If they knew such a wonderful thing existed, they'd swarm over to beg to become disciples, and every one of them would be talentless fools. Wouldn't that be annoying?"

Lin Xun replied, "Master is right."

Old Man Huo reminded him once more to cultivate diligently before finally letting him go.

Lin Xun stepped outside and returned to the street. A car passed by in front of him, looking very modern and completely different from the world inside the courtyard.

He hadn't eaten breakfast, so he bought a cup of soy milk and held it in his hands, taking sips from time to time.

At 7:40, the morning mist had just cleared, and the sun rose from the top of a distant skyscraper, still red. He hadn’t been out at this hour for a long time, and he found the coolness in the air unexpectedly pleasant. He lingered for a while under a roadside tree, sipping soy milk through a straw while watching the flow of traffic on the road.

This also brought him comfort—every vehicle was moving at a constant speed or with uniform acceleration, everything perfectly planned, like a flawless system. The Galaxy had built this comprehensive and vast Automated Driving System, arguably raising everyone’s standard of living by a significant level. The core algorithm of the system was a commercial secret, not publicly disclosed, but it was said that the most critical part of the code was written by Dong Jun.

A programmer’s mission is to change the world...—so, Dong Jun undoubtedly deserved to be everyone’s idol.

As Lin Xun was thinking this, a car performed a standard uniform deceleration and came to a steady stop right in front of him.

A black Bentley, a model he was very familiar with.

Lin Xun said blankly, “Good morning.”

The car window automatically lowered.

“Good morning,” Dong Jun said. “Waiting for someone?”

“No,” Lin Xun thought for a moment before replying, “I came out to meet an... elder, and now I’m heading back.”

“If you don’t mind, you can get in,” Dong Jun said. “I have a meeting at the International Exhibition Center today.”

“Ah... okay.”

And so, Lin Xun got into his idol’s car for the second time.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he said, “Sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s fine,” the car started, and his idol said calmly, “This way, you can get back sooner to create value for the Goddess of the Luo River.”

Lin Xun felt the exploitation of capitalism.

He replied, “...I will.”

Dong Jun seemed to curl his lips slightly.

Then, Lin Xun heard him say, “I thought you were on a date.”

Lin Xun: “Why would you think that?”

Dong Jun: “You were holding a cup of soy milk, looking across the street... as if smiling, like you were thinking of a girlfriend.”

Lin Xun blinked: “No girlfriend, I’m a wild pointer without an object.”

A pointer is a special variable in programming languages, widely used. It points to an address in memory, where information is stored, much like a house number corresponding to a room.

However, some pointers, after being created, point to an unusable address or simply haven’t been assigned to point anywhere. These are called wild pointers—programmers often compare themselves to wild pointers without objects to indicate they currently have no romantic partner.

Lin Xun had made a clever joke using programming terminology and indeed saw a faint smile in Dong Jun’s eyes.

—Before meeting Dong Jun in person, he had always thought his idol was an icy and aloof person, but now it seemed Dong Jun was actually quite amiable.

But the next moment, he suddenly paused.

Dong Jun said he was looking across the street, as if smiling, like he was thinking of a girlfriend?

What was he doing at that time?

He was watching the vehicles under the rule of the Automated Driving Program, silently praising his idol in his heart.

Lin Xun: “”

He absolutely could not let Dong Jun know about this.

The morning rush hour hadn’t started yet, and there weren’t many cars on the road, so the journey was already nearly halfway over.

Dong Jun asked, “Has the Goddess of the Luo River found a suitable programmer yet?”

Lin Xun: “Not yet, but there are a few candidates.”

Dong Jun: “Be careful.”

Lin Xun: “Okay.”

He understood the meaning behind Dong Jun's words.

He, Wang Anquan, and Zhao Jiagou had been working on "Goddess of the Luo River" together since university, and they trusted each other completely.

However, programmers hired from outside couldn’t be guaranteed in certain aspects—especially for a project like Goddess of the Luo River, which was still in development. If someone with ulterior motives figured out its core ideas, plagiarized them, repackaged them, and released them, it would be a devastating blow.

Dong Jun said, "If you need contract and confidentiality agreement templates, you can come to me."

Lin Xun replied, "Thank you."

He felt a bit overwhelmed, thinking that his idol had actually reminded him and even offered to help proactively—but then it occurred to him that Dong Jun also held shares in Goddess of the Luo River, so perhaps they were running this company together?

—This feeling was a bit strange.

This time, Lin Xun didn’t wait for Dong Jun to drop him off downstairs. He proactively got out of the car at the entrance of the residential area.

When he arrived at their place, Wang Anquan was already up, starting his day with a round of gaming.

Just as Lin Xun was about to boast to Wang Anquan about running into his idol again, Wang Anquan said, "Algorithm, about this Dong Jun situation, I think we’ve fallen into a trap."

Lin Xun: "..."

Wang Anquan continued, "The more I thought about it last night, the more something felt off. He provided us with free servers, but those servers were actually idle resources from Galaxy... Besides that, he didn’t give you any extra money. This is the classic move of a ruthless boss!"

Lin Xun wanted to argue that Dong Jun was a good person and had even given him a ride back today, but Wang Anquan didn’t give him a chance to speak: "I think he just sees you as naive and easy to manipulate. No merchant is honest, and no honest person becomes a merchant. If you ask him for money, he’ll talk to you about dreams! Once he’s got you all confused, he’ll treat you to meals, drive you around a few times, and you’ll be devoted to him for life! When Goddess of the Luo River becomes big, it’ll be a hugely profitable business for him!"

Lin Xun: "..."

He said, "I don’t want to talk to you."

Wang Anquan replied, "You can’t escape reality."

Lin Xun asked, "Have you found any candidates for the code?"

"There’s one who’s particularly suitable," Wang Anquan said. "He’s our alumnus, has six years of experience, worked at Galaxy, then jumped around among several tech giants, and finally spent half a year at Eagle before quitting recently."

"Would he come to a small team like ours?"

"He says he’s planning to quit the industry altogether. This line of work is too draining, and programmers have no upward mobility. He wants to work for one more month before returning to his hometown to get married and start a family."

Lin Xun thought for a moment: "That’s good. We can try to win him over with passion and keep him for good."

Wang Anquan said, "That’s just delaying his marital happiness."

Lin Xun replied expressionlessly, "Programmers don’t need partners."

Wang Anquan retorted, "You wild pointer! By the way, what did Old Huo want from you?"

Lin Xun smiled slowly: "To teach me how to fly on a sword."

Wang Anquan: "What?"

Lin Xun patted his shoulder: "Cherish your last moments as a materialist."

Wang Anquan scratched his head: "Come on, talk properly. Don’t tell me you’ve joined a pyramid scheme."

Lin Xun ignored him.

It wasn’t the right time yet. He needed to plan how to give Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou the biggest shock possible.

The day passed quickly. The programmer who wanted to wash his hands of the industry was named Jiang Lian. He had worked on impressive projects, and after an initial conversation, he agreed to come over.

Jiang Lian was thirty-three this year. According to Wang Anquan's description, he was a fairly typical programmer—quiet and reserved, not suited for management, and had always stayed in technical roles, living a busy 996 life. Coupled with the intense overtime demands of a large company, as he got older, his body couldn't keep up anymore.

Fortunately, the salary in this field was excellent. Working hard for a decade or so while young was enough to return home in style, find a partner through matchmaking, and settle down.

The next morning, someone knocked on their door.

Lin Xun: "Mr. Jiang?"

The man nodded. He wore a black windbreaker, was tall and thin, with slightly thinning hair and a somewhat subdued look in his eyes.

"Come in," Lin Xun welcomed him inside and poured him a glass of water.

Once the conversation turned to business, Lin Xun followed his usual habit and began by introducing their project: "We're working on an artificial intelligence engine, but the principles are a bit different from mainstream approaches. The programming might be more challenging, and there aren't any ready-made solutions available. Let me start by giving you an overview of the overall architecture..."

"No need," Jiang Lian interrupted him, his head lowered so his expression was unclear. "Just give me the requirements. I'll do what I can, and if I don't understand something, I'll ask."

Lin Xun: "Uh... okay."

The result of not needing the overall concept was that Jiang Lian got up to speed very quickly. By the afternoon, he had already resolved a bug they had previously left unresolved. Lin Xun felt a bit uneasy and typed in their small group chat with him, Wang Anquan, and Jia Gou: "Is this really okay?"

Jia Gou: "Actually, it's fine, as long as our requirements are clear enough."

Algorithm: "He's quite skilled, so he should be able to grasp the overall concept. Why wouldn't he listen to my explanation?"

Security: "A programmer without dreams doesn't care what you're up to. He provides the skills, you provide the salary—it's a good arrangement."

Security: (Actually, I don't have dreams either.)

Algorithm: "You can't not have dreams."

Security: "Programmers with dreams can only end up as wild pointers. I've seen it clearly."

—Wang Anquan was relentless in attacking him from every angle.

Lin Xun didn't think being a wild pointer was a bad thing, so he refuted him with action by changing his WeChat name from "...a cheerful lemon spirit" to "a happy wild pointer."