The Marching Ant R&D department was responsible for developing the company's proprietary computer systems. Leading the charge were Lao Luo, Wang Sijia, and several other senior engineers.
Unlike traditional systems based on Windows or Unix, the Marching Ant mobile operating system had a unique architecture—lightweight, secure, and efficient. Lao Luo and Wang Sijia saw an opportunity to build on that foundation and create a fully independent desktop operating system. Zhao Min had approved the proposal without hesitation.
Thus began the development of the Army Ant Computer System—a desktop OS derived from the Marching Ant mobile platform.
With over a hundred software engineers involved, the team had been working for several months. Progress was slow but steady. Now, after countless revisions and internal tests, the system was finally running stably on PCs.
"We've built a general-purpose desktop OS based on the Marching Ant architecture," Lao Luo explained, leading Chen Mo to a demonstration station. "It runs stably now, though there are still minor bugs we're working on."
On the computer screen was a sleek, minimal desktop UI bearing the company's iconic marching ant logo.
Chen Mo inspected the system carefully, navigating the interface and opening several applications. After a few minutes, he stopped and turned to Lao Luo.
"Sort the source code and upload it to the database. I'll take care of the optimization."
"Understood." Lao Luo immediately instructed a team member to handle the upload.
It wasn't often that Chen Mo personally intervened in the R&D team's technical work, so his offer came as a pleasant surprise. But no one doubted his ability. After all, it was Chen Mo who had singlehandedly developed the Marching Ant mobile OS from scratch.
"Once this is done, shift your focus to building the desktop application ecosystem. I'll handle the optimization from here," Chen Mo instructed.
With that, he called Zhao Min and headed toward his office.
"Ink Girl," he said as he walked in, "bring us two cups of tea."
"Right away, sir."
Just as Zhao Min was settling onto the sofa, the AI assistant robot glided in, carrying a tea tray. It placed two steaming cups on the table with mechanical precision.
"Now that's how you know tech is changing lives," Zhao Min remarked, eyeing the robot with admiration.
Chen Mo smiled. "Speaking of which, I'll send you a list later—buy ten more sets of accessories. I'm going to assemble a few more robots."
Currently, he only had one working unit, with another under assembly in the lab. If he could increase the number, he could have them perform simple mechanical tasks, all orchestrated through Ink Girl's backend control system. The boost in efficiency would be enormous.
"Wait—have you perfected the robot's energy source already?" Zhao Min asked in surprise.
"You're thinking too far ahead. The aircraft needs more testing, and as for the robots, it's still early days. Let's focus back on the desktop OS." Chen Mo shifted the conversation back to business.
Zhao Min nodded, her tone turning serious. "We've decided to target the enterprise PC market first…"
She explained her strategy in detail.
Microsoft's near-total monopoly in the civilian OS space made it nearly impossible to challenge them directly. Users were already deeply entrenched in the Windows ecosystem. Even with a superior system, shifting the public's habits would take years, if not decades.
That's why their best entry point was the corporate office market. Unlike the chaotic and hyper-competitive smartphone market, enterprise tech was relatively stable—and lucrative. Companies cared about productivity, security, and compatibility. If the Marching Ant OS could outperform Windows in those areas, adoption was feasible.
And thanks to the Ant Office Suite, plus the AI voice assistant technology, they had a real edge. A voice-assisted PC interface that boosted efficiency? Many businesses would jump on that.
Chen Mo nodded after a moment of thought. "I can personally develop the PC-side smart assistant. Do we have a product design ready?"
Zhao Min nodded. "Yes, our product designers have already drawn up the specs."
Chen Mo was relieved. Though he could build the assistant himself, the product design—branding, UX, interface layout—was something he didn't want to do personally. That would risk exposing Ink Girl, which had to stay secret.
He couldn't let the world know he had an AI of that level. As Pu Jingmin once said: "Whoever leads in AI will lead the world." If Ink Girl's existence were revealed, he'd attract attention from governments, tech giants, and people with dangerous ambitions. His entire family could be at risk.
"Good," Chen Mo said. "This project is in your hands now."
He was never that interested in operating systems. Microsoft had already smothered the PC ecosystem into near-universal conformity. Most desktop applications were built exclusively for Windows.
Changing user behavior on a global scale? That wasn't realistic in the short term.
Still, now that they had a stable system, the corporate market offered a clear path forward. With enough support software and hardware integration, it could become something big.
"Oh, and one more thing," Chen Mo added. "Tell the construction team to accelerate the HQ project. Spend whatever is needed—I'm done with these constraints. Too many things I want to build just can't be done here."
Zhao Min nodded. "Got it. I'll notify the project supervisor."
After she left, Chen Mo returned to his desk.
"Ink Girl, access the source code they just uploaded."
"Transfer complete," her gentle voice replied moments later.
Chen Mo skimmed through the entire codebase. Once satisfied, he moved to the sofa and reclined, letting his mind shift.
He entered the Technology Library.
Inside, everything was quiet. The vast shelves stretched out in all directions. The same eight books hovered in the air—his current assignments. Once all eight were completed, he'd enter the next stage of the apprenticeship.
Still no sign of Shu Lao. With a quiet sigh, he turned his attention to the dark red book that contained the code.
As he touched it, a massive light curtain unfolded in front of him. Lines of source code poured down like a waterfall—clear, ordered, and elegant. He stared at it for a moment.
"Optimize," he said.
This time, it wasn't Shu Lao handling the optimization. It was the system itself responding to him—a strange but satisfying feeling.
Immediately, the code on the curtain began to morph. Functions were refined. Memory calls were streamlined. Unnecessary processes vanished. It was like watching a living organism evolve before his eyes.
In moments, a polished, complete OS filled the light curtain.
"Share the technology," Chen Mo said.
The light curtain split in two. One half shrank into a beam of light and shot into Chen Mo's mind—the optimized OS was now fully memorized. The other half condensed into a glowing book and disappeared into the depths of the library.
"No reward?" Chen Mo muttered, then quickly understood.
The core of this OS came from the Marching Ant mobile system—something he'd originally extracted from the library. That meant it didn't count as a completely new discovery. Even if shared, the reward would be minor—random trainee-level scraps, which he could already access freely.
Returning to reality, Chen Mo sat back down at his desk.
"Ink Girl," he said, "begin system-wide optimization. Apply all changes I've just reviewed."
"Yes, sir."
And with that, the Marching Ant Computer OS began its final transformation.