The person who came was Huang Xiaopang. The place he just emerged from was a corner surrounded by shrubs in the road's green belt, with the view around completely blocked. In broad daylight, what was he doing hiding in there?
Huang Xiaopang grinned and said, "Had an urgent need earlier, went in to take a leak."
He Kao: "There's a public toilet right next to it, and the office building isn't far either!"
Huang Xiaopang changed the subject: "What were you doing earlier, staring blankly at your phone? Be careful not to step into a trap."
He Kao: "My aunt called out of the blue, asking when I'll go back. If I do, to let her know, because she wants to cook something delicious for me... It's like the sun rising from the west. I suspect she's up to something again."
Huang Xiaopang: "Hmph, if she's not up to something, she's not your aunt."
He Kao: "Forget it, let's eat first."
The cafeteria was on the third floor of the office building. Many people were lining up for the elevator on the first floor, so they simply took the stairs. Huang Xiaopang was in front. Just after climbing to the third floor, he was a bit out of breath, looking a bit unhealthy.
He Kao was watching Xiaopang's back and couldn't help but be startled, suddenly recalling a recording in which a stranger speculated that Gao Xue'e's incident was an act by Hidden Moth, then proceeded to psych-profile "Hidden Moth"—
"Male, aged between fifteen and thirty-five, with a slightly overweight and weaker physique.
By his behavior, he seems to have a somewhat contradictory personality: on one hand, confident and generous, too lazy to care about many things; on the other hand, narcissistic, stubborn, not afraid to offend people, and doesn't care much about worldly matters..."
Thinking back now, it was clearly talking about Huang Si, Huang Xiaopang!
The personality analysis is understandable. Anyone with such extraordinary abilities would likely have a superhuman mindset, not needing to care much and not putting 'ordinary people' in their eyes.
But how did they deduce the gender, age, and physique characteristics?
If Huang Xiaopang is indeed that Hidden Moth, why would he mess with Gao Xue'e? He Kao could also guess the reason. Last month, Huang Xiaopang was almost taken away by the police; he suspected it was Gao Xue'e secretly reporting him!
And the reason for the report was quite hilarious, allegedly for producing obscene and pornographic content.
One of Huang Xiaopang's key responsibilities was to model various service-type NPCs in Ideal City. During his time in the gaming department, he was involved in similar work, creating realistic images of all kinds.
In the virtual reality network, for instance, if you wanted to see how clothes looked, you could have an AI-generated real model try them on live for you. Customers could also choose different models and adjust parameters.
Customers input body and facial parameters to form a corresponding virtual image, which could be themselves or not... offering great entertainment space.
Driven by a perfectionist work attitude, Huang Xiaopang designed realistic effects in the backend system with many intelligent interactive functions. This was a form of self-amusement, a quirk shared by many designers during development.
Technically, it wasn't difficult to achieve, even allowing a specified celebrity to perform a crazy show in the virtual world for you. The platform needed only computing power and data, and on the client application side, it depended on the extent of operational permissions granted.
Of course, this system wasn't developed solely by Huang Si, but he had brought the previous department's programs and data into the project team.
The product hadn't officially launched and was in development testing when it was reported! When the police came to understand the situation, they couldn't help but be amused. Huang Xiaopang even told them an anecdote, claiming it was a true historical story.
Allegedly, the great artist Lafu liked to draw the body first when sketching figures, then gradually add the clothing, which was a commendable creative approach.
With the intervention of a strong legal department from the company, Huang Xiaopang didn't receive any punishment. He only got a verbal warning that there shouldn't be any pornographic content once the product officially launched.
The matter was left unresolved, and more remarkably, other departments, including the group headquarters, showed great interest in Huang Xiaopang's test system, inquiring about it eagerly.
Huang Xiaopang designed this system just for testing, and the usual program was locked tight, inaccessible to non-developers, yet the police investigation made the whole company aware, causing significant reputational damage.
How could he swallow that? But who would report something still in internal testing? He suspected Gao Xue'e. She had reportedly called Huang Xiaopang over for a stern reprimand after hearing he was testing simulated nude models.
If so, Xiaopang indeed had a motive for the prank, and such mischief seemed to fit his character as well...
Entering the cafeteria, they swiped their employee cards, selected their meals, and sat at a table. He Kao suddenly thought of something else.
Now someone is looking for Hidden Moth, presumably not with good intentions. If Huang Si is that Hidden Moth, wouldn't his situation be dangerous?
It's uncertain if there's an issue with Qian Guran, but those two strangers have already traced clues back to Gao Xue'e and even profiled the unseen Hidden Moth. With an investigation into the project team, they might pinpoint Huang Xiaopang.
What to do? Should he alert Xiaopang, and how? Saying it directly doesn't seem right and could cause a misunderstanding. Better to create a virtual account and send an email.