Back then, Ren Zhong was punished by the Hunter descending from the sky because he spoke too many "blasphemous" words in a very short time, surpassing the surveillance threshold of the "Net," and thus was immediately targeted with precision strikes.
Ren Zhong always knew about the existence of things like the "Net," it’s just that he couldn’t find it online, and it wasn’t convenient to ask directly.
Now that Ma Dafu told him personally, his confusion was cleared.
Old Ma still trusted him.
Ma Dafu said, "I don’t know about your previous education, but many of your language habits are indeed somewhat unconventional."
Ren Zhong asked, "Earlier, I used an idiom, ’time waits for no man.’ I’ve also used other idioms today. Is this why my threat level has been raised?"
Ma Dafu shook his head, "Your slightly unusual speech is only one of the triggers, but not the main reason. The surveillance of the Net is not a simple system; it analyzes a person’s thinking in a weighted scoring manner based on long-term collected multi-faceted information."
Ren Zhong: "It’s thoughts."
Ma Dafu: "You could say that too. See, you’re speaking differently again. In short, it’s likely that your words and actions have repeatedly shown unusual signs recently, leading to a continuous increase in your threat level and rebellion index. Now that you’ve exceeded the first level, in this situation, as your supervising Mayor, I could actually order the Guard to terminate you directly. It’s part of my duty."
Ren Zhong: "But you didn’t."
Ma Dafu smiled but didn’t take credit, only continued to say, "Of course, these indices don’t just go up without going down. I’ve vouched for you and already lowered your indices quite a bit. As long as you don’t continue showing obvious signs of concern, those indices will gradually return to normal. Otherwise, if you happen to cross the second level one day, I won’t be able to save you either."
Ren Zhong nodded, "I understand. Thank you."
After that, Ma Dafu took Ren Zhong to the real interrogation room, and they conducted a Q&A session as they had previously planned.
Ren Zhong left the town hall without a hitch.
On the way back to the small courtyard in Ma Xiaoling’s car, Ren Zhong had already devised a new plan.
He began to reflect and decided not to easily reveal his Revolutionary nature outwardly from now on.
Even if unwilling, he had to further learn from others in every aspect in this world.
He had to enhance his disguise.
His outward persona could be an old lecher, a "normal" person who fights unscrupulously, climbing upwards at any cost, selfish and ruthless, but absolutely not someone with deep sympathy for the lower class.
Ren Zhong must cover his noble ideals with a layer of filthy sludge as a disguise.
For instance, his plan to kill Lin Wang and eventually replace Yang Bingzhong is, in fact, an acceptable ambition.
Every team leader has such ambition.
But if Ren Zhong exposes that his real aim is to use the profits of Starfire Resource Recycling Company to improve the lives of the impoverished in Starfire Town, his threat level and rebellion index would instantly blow up.
If he disguises his goal as a simple desire to usurp, to replace Yang Bingzhong and become the new Exploiter suppressing the people of Starfire Town, then he could rest easy.
This time, the extent of Ren Zhong’s equipment modification wasn’t too large, but due to the use of many High Rank parts, Ju Qingmeng’s operational difficulty increased greatly.
Especially the Eman Beast Armor alloy, which wasn’t a finished product and had to use a Melting Furnace.
Ju Qingmeng didn’t have a large industrial-grade Melting Furnace, only a micro experimental-grade one, so she could only melt and etch bit by bit and then restore the component shapes according to the blueprints.
She worked through the morning until noon the next day before asking Ren Zhong to pick up the equipment.
Ruffling her messy hair, Ju Qingmeng slumped in the manager’s chair, wearily waving her hand, "I can’t do it anymore. You have to give me a break. I’ve felt more tired than when I was studying in school lately."
Ren Zhong nodded with a smile, "You’ve worked hard. There indeed won’t be much to trouble you with in the short term from my side."
Ju Qingmeng: "That’s great! I’ll take a day off for myself tomorrow!"
"The money I owe you, I’ll definitely pay it back in the future. Whatever I promised you, I’ll certainly fulfill."
"There’s no rush on those. I’m patient with you. Okay, it’s getting late; I need to take a little nap. Your morning hunt got delayed too, so go out and get to work, don’t worry about me."