"What do you want to harvest?" Estelle asked again.
"Red Water."
Estelle was taken aback and frowned. "What did you say?"
"Red Water." Soren repeated. "A kind of berry that grows in the tropical rainforests of Country N. You must know about it—it's the main ingredient extracted for use in banned substances."
His tone was light, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary. Estelle looked at him in disbelief. "Manufacturing and selling banned substances is illegal."
Soren suddenly laughed, leaning back into his chair. "Is it? I haven't heard that. The laws in the city, for now, are up to me."
Estelle looked at Soren, feeling shocked but also sorrowful.
"How dare you say these things... aren't you afraid I might be recording this?"
"If you want to record, you can try," Soren said with interest, looking at her. "Let me tell you the truth—here has been equipped with a controlled network by me. I can monitor and interfere with all devices within its range at will. If Manager Grey uses a mobile phone, even the sweet nothings you send to your boyfriend would not be hard for me to find out—if I wanted to—let alone any recordings."
Estelle shook her head. "You're invading other people's privacy."
"No... I'm just protecting myself," Soren smiled, rebutting. "People are unpredictable; I have to survive, don't I?"
During their conversation, Estelle's body continued to heat and convulse, silently indicating the harm caused by the banned substances to women's bodies. Yet she stared at Soren, feeling powerless like an ant trying to shake a tree. After a long pause, she could only say, "My abilities are limited; I can't make a harvesting robot. Find someone else to do it."
"You are a first-class AI engineer. If even you can't do it, nobody can. Is it that you can't do it, or that you don't want to?"
"I won't do it, no matter the reason," Estelle said calmly and decisively. "Mr. Hoffman, my apologies."
Soren stared at her in the darkness, then after a moment, gave a sinister chuckle. "Refuse it? Estelle, do you think I'm giving you a choice?"
Estelle remained stubbornly silent, refusing to answer. After a while, Soren tapped the table with his knuckles, and Charlie approached, placing two white pills into the glass of wine in front of her.
"You can choose if you want," he said coldly. "These are double-dose Red Water. If you don't want to help me make the robot, drink them."
The white pills dissolved quickly, disappearing into the wine without a trace. Estelle clenched her fingers, took a breath, and then lifted the glass of wine, drinking it down in one go.
Soren watched her intently. She drank hastily, some of the wine spilling from the corner of her mouth. She put the empty glass back on the table, and Soren raised his eyelids. "You've got guts. Or is it because your boyfriend is good in that way, so taking Red Water is what you actually desire?"
He suddenly gave a meaningful laugh. Estelle calmly endured his laughter, wiping away the wine from the corner of her mouth. "Don't give me the chance to kill you."
"Alright, I'll wait for you," Soren said, interlocking his fingers. "Manager Grey, Leave as pleasure, please."
As she turned to leave, the light and shadows outside the window flickered past like a revolving lantern.
For some reason, Estelle remembered a day many years ago when she was walking to the cafeteria and happened to pass by the medical school right after class had ended, where medical students in white uniforms were coming out of the teaching building.
Soren was tall, and she spotted him in the crowd. Naturally, he saw her too and came over to pester her, like an annoying fly that wouldn't go away.
"Do you like Cyrus?"
She was speechless and angry, raising her hand to hit him. "Why does Gavriel spill everything?"
"Can you call that spilling secrets? We share a dorm room; what secrets can we have?"
She glared up at him in annoyance. Soren chuckled at her expression. Without further ado, he slung his arm around her shoulder and dragged her toward the cafeteria. "Come on... treat me to a meal, and I'll help you chase him."
Years later, a world-renowned genius engineer passed away due to illness at the young age of 26.
The loss of a giant sent shockwaves through the field of artificial intelligence. On the second day after his death, an anonymous article was published, targeting the hospital where Cyrus had been treated. As an investor in the hospital, Soren was brought in for questioning and, a few days later, was imprisoned on charges of mismanagement.
On the day Soren was released from prison, reporters were everywhere outside. He made his way through them to stand before her. Estelle looked up, trying to keep her voice steady. "The investigation said he was exposed to excessive radiation for a long time before he died. I want you to tell me, is this true?"
"Yes," Soren admitted without hesitation. "But his cause of death was a congenital rare disease. The excessive radiation only accelerated his demise. His death has nothing to do with me."
Snap!
Estelle suddenly raised her hand and slapped him hard. Soren slightly turned his head, avoiding her gaze.
"This isn't something a doctor should say." Her eyes reddened, her voice trembling. "That was Cyrus, Soren Hoffman! That was Cyrus Watson!"
"Regardless of who it is, those who are destined to die will die." Soren spoke indifferently, showing no emotion on his face, "and Estelle—didn't you forget? I've always been a businessman, never a doctor."
