The battlefield of technology was thick with smoke, while the arena of public opinion churned with treacherous undercurrents and towering waves of malice.
Seizing a brief moment of respite, Su Xiaolan logged into her long-abandoned private social media account—a space previously reserved only for snack photos and lazy musings. With unnerving calm, she uploaded two photos:
The washed-out, edge-worn but meticulously flattened old chip bag, resting on a desk.
An open page from the hefty textbook Principles of Advanced Cryptography, dense with handwritten notes, beside which were doodles of wide-eyed, stubborn-looking "potato chip monsters" clutching snacks.
The caption was brief, carrying the signature laziness of a salted fish with a barely detectable edge:
"Rainy day vibes, revisiting the joys of 'snacks' and 'homework' at home~
PS: So noisy downstairs. Which neighbor forgot to turn off their deep-sea sonar? [snarky emoji]"
Initially, the PR team monitoring this minor post held little hope. A mere ripple against a tsunami of hate?
Yet, the shift in sentiment was bizarrely swift.
Within an hour, several highly authoritative and influential KOLs in tech circles reposted with sharp analyses:
"Chip bag = authentic, down-to-earth persona, shattering the 'vase' label. Advanced textbook + dense notes = hidden hardcore expertise. 'Deep-sea sonar'? Masterstroke! Points directly at paparazzi using telephoto lenses as 'sonar,' while subtly mocking the 'Deep-sea Leviathan' meme! This counterattack is elegant and lethal!"
"Anyone who can digest this crypto bible is no lightweight! Time to rip off the #IncompetentAssistant tag!"
The sentiment monitoring curve surged as if pushed by an invisible warm current. Amidst the overwhelming mockery, rational voices and curiosity began to emerge:
"Wait... the depth and logic in these notes don't scream 'incompetent'..."
"That chip bag... feels like it has a story? Washed so clean."
"So was #FaceNotBrains malicious slander?"
The name "Su Xiaolan" was mentioned seriously for the first time in technical forums and professional discussions. The salted fish once ridiculed by the entire internet had quietly revealed the first sharp scale beneath the surface.
Lin Wei stood silently in the cold metal corner of the command center. Her knuckles whitened around an expensive titanium pen as she coldly observed the subtle reversal of public opinion on the giant screens and Su Xiaolan nearby, discussing rapidly with Chen Yan, her eyes blazing with intense focus. That weak but stubborn light now seemed unbearably bright.
Her stiletto heels clicked with silent menace as she approached Su Xiaolan, her voice a low rasp like ice scraping glass: "Ms. Su, do you truly comprehend the fire you're playing with? One misjudgment, and this insane 'Firefly Flicker' toy could sink the billion-Euro project, along with the Li Corporation's reputation, to the bottom of the sea forever." Her gaze deliberately swept over the old chip bag beside Su Xiaolan, brimming with undisguised scorn.
Su Xiaolan looked up, meeting Lin Wei's ice-shard eyes. Her voice was calm, yet each word rang clear and sharp: "Consultant Lin, Appendix III, Page 7 of your risk assessment report mentions a 'high-risk data breach' incident during my early tenure." She paused, her gaze deep and fathomless as a trench. "But you omitted a key detail—it was a controlled stress test targeting a newly discovered zero-day vulnerability. I submitted a complete test plan and risk management proposal to the Security Supervisor three days prior. The post-incident vulnerability analysis and defense strategy report I authored was cited as an industry benchmark by three top-tier international security agencies."
She took half a step forward. Though shorter, her presence was undiminished. Her voice, not loud, carried the sharpness of tempered steel: "Risk-taking, and discerning risk to control it with precision, are worlds apart. The former is gambling. The latter is professionalism."
Absolute stillness froze the air. Lin Wei's lips pressed into a cold, thin line. The titanium pen trembled faintly in her grip, its metal surface gleaming with a sinister sheen.
Into this suffocating silence, Li Chenyuan's phone emitted a low, insistent vibration. The caller ID flashed two icy words like tombstones: Father.
He answered, his voice glacial as eternal polar ice: "Father."
A low, authoritative voice, brooking no argument, hammered through the line, each word a heavy blow:
"Deal with that assistant immediately. Remove her from all public view! Remember, the Li family's century-old reputation outweighs any project or person!" The chill through the line was bone-deep.
Li Chenyuan's knuckles whitened. His gaze swept like a deep-sea searchlight to where Su Xiaolan was bent over paper, rapidly calculating. His voice was devoid of inflection but carried unshakeable resolve: "This matter is under my control."
"Control?" Old Mr. Li's voice held a chilling sneer. "Shall I demonstrate what 'control' means at tomorrow's emergency board meeting?"
The call ended. The pressure in the command center plummeted below freezing, thick enough to crush lungs. Wang Jing glanced at Li Chenyuan's profile, carved from permafrost, and wisely swallowed his words.
Li Chenyuan whirled to face the three massive screens glowing like malevolent eyes of the abyss. He drew a deep breath. His voice, a low-frequency command capable of shattering ice and penetrating kilometers of seawater, instantly silenced all background noise, radiating absolute authority:
"Tech Team, all units! Concentrate all firepower! Full speed ahead on 'Firefly Flicker'—Prototype operational and undergoing extreme stress testing within 12 hours! I want data. Real data!"
"PR Team!" His blazing eyes turned to the other side. "Seize the narrative shift! That chip bag and textbook are our depth charges! I want them on the front page of every major tech forum and financial section tomorrow! Build Assistant Su's professional image!"
"Wang Jing!" His tone turned icy. "Reply to Gu Yu immediately: His terms—" He paused deliberately, enunciating each word, "—are rejected. Every single one." A cold, lethal smile touched his lips. "And 'remind' Mr. Gu—" He weighted the word like a baited hook dropped into the deep, "—I know exactly which module and which line harbors that unauthorized 'backdoor anchor' in the 'Undercurrent' core architecture."
Finally, his gaze, tangible as ice spikes, landed on Lin Wei, whose face had paled. His voice was utterly calm, yet held the finality of an absolute verdict:
"Consultant Lin, thank you for your past 'professional' services. Effective immediately, your contract—" He clearly articulated the final three words, "—is terminated."
Lin Wei's fingers clenched to the point of pain. The expensive pen gave a faint creak in her grasp. She offered no argument, didn't even look at Li Chenyuan again. Instead, she cast one last, deep, venomously cold glance at Su Xiaolan—a look like poisoned ice needles. Spine rigidly straight, she turned. Her heels struck the polished metal floor: "Click. Click. Click." Each strike drove an ice pick into the dead air until the command center's heavy blast door sealed shut behind her with a muted thud. As it closed, the last trace of human warmth in her eyes extinguished, leaving only a soul-freezing, abyssal cold.
Outside, telephoto lenses still glinted with voyeuristic cold light beneath the gloomy sky. The scent of impending rain hung thick, almost tangible. Inside the command center, the old chip bag lay quietly beside the open Principles of Advanced Cryptography, bathed in the cold blue glow of the giant screens—like a tiny, stubbornly burning beacon guiding the way through raging seas.
Su Xiaolan looked down, opening her palm. Her fingertips seemed to retain the unique, time-worn texture of the chip bag's rough foil. A strange, unfamiliar surge of strength was rising, flowing, and spreading from her deepest core, like a thermal vent on the ocean floor.
With sudden, crystal clarity, she realized—
She was no longer merely the salted fish sheltered and adrift within the powerful leviathan's domain.
In these perilous, undercurrent-choked depths, she was shedding her passivity, piece by piece, becoming a bioluminescent organism capable of generating her own light.