Sunlight streamed in through the window, bringing a gentle warmth to the winter morning.
After washing up and stepping out of the bedroom, Chen Mo saw Xiao Yu preparing breakfast in the kitchen. He smiled and sat down beside her.
"Just finished—eat it while it's hot," Xiao Yu said, handing him a cup of warm milk.
Ever since Chen Mo's strange bout of vomiting, Xiao Yu had been especially attentive to his diet.
"Okay."
Chen Mo accepted the milk, smiling as he looked at her.
"Why are you staring at me? Eat your breakfast." Xiao Yu raised her eyebrows with a grin. "Not hungry after looking at me?"
"I am. I'm full just looking at you," Chen Mo teased with a nod.
"Keep going. I like hearing praise."
Laughing, Xiao Yu picked up a boiled egg, peeled it, and dropped it into Chen Mo's bowl.
To the outside world, Chen Mo appeared calm and composed. But back at the villa, or when he was with her, he sometimes seemed like a big boy still growing up.
A big boy who belonged to her alone.
They finished breakfast in that warm, lighthearted atmosphere, then headed out for work.
At the moment, the Marching Ant Company was facing waves of public pressure and controversy, but Chen Mo wasn't personally handling those matters.
Zhao Min was in charge of all the company's operations, big and small. Chen Mo simply focused on his research and didn't concern himself with corporate affairs.
As their car neared the company, Chen Mo slowed down.
Even from a distance, he could see a crowd of reporters gathered at the front gates of the Marching Ant headquarters. This was the first time such a scene had occurred during working hours.
His brow furrowed.
Xiao Yu noticed it too and immediately took out her phone. The moment she opened the news page, a flood of headlines popped up:
"Clown thanks Marching Ant Company for technical support."
"Is the Marching Ant Company secretly backing the Clown Organization?"
"Is the Clown Virus a conspiracy by Marching Ants?"
"Have the Clown Organization and Marching Ants fallen out?"
"Chen Mo," Xiao Yu said, handing him the phone.
Chen Mo glanced at the screen and quickly grasped the situation. The Clown Organization had posted a tweet thanking the Marching Ant Company for their support.
That tweet had been made late last night, and now the news had spread across the globe. With the Clown Virus at its peak, public attention was intense.
This kind of statement, at such a sensitive time, was like throwing Marching Ants into the center of a storm.
"Looks like we've got a mess on our hands," Xiao Yu said. "We've been framed by the Clown Organization."
She had access to almost all of the company's secrets. She could enter and exit Chen Mo's lab freely, and she was deeply familiar with the inner workings of the Marching Ant Company. She knew for a fact that they had never supported the Clown Organization.
"Let's get back to the company first," Chen Mo said.
Once they arrived, Xiao Yu went to her department, and Chen Mo headed to his office. Just as he entered, Zhao Min appeared.
"Clown posted a tweet at 1:00 a.m.," she said as she walked into Chen Mo's office. "It said: 'Thanks to the support of the Marching Ants.' The news has exploded. Nearly every media outlet is saying we colluded with the Clown Organization and have now had a falling out. This thing is blowing up fast."
"What do you think the Clown's motive is?" Chen Mo asked.
"I can't say for sure. We've never had any contact with them. The only logical explanation is that they're upset about our Termite System—since it lowers the threat of the virus and makes it harder for them to demand ransom. Maybe this is their way of retaliating."
Seeing Chen Mo remain silent, Zhao Min gathered her thoughts and continued.
"From the moment we launched the Termite System, we became their enemy. There were already suspicions about us before. This tweet, though it sounds like a thank-you on the surface, is really a backhanded way of framing us. It implies a public break—putting us in a very passive position."
"What's your plan?" Chen Mo asked.
"The market is starting to question our credibility. The Clown's attacks are covert; we're the ones under the spotlight. Whatever we say or do, we bear the brunt. We can't react too strongly—it'll only make us look guiltier. A simple, restrained response is our best bet."
Their situation was delicate. They hadn't released any antivirus software so far, and now that the Clown had stirred things up, doing so would only deepen suspicion. People would assume the Marching Ant Company orchestrated the whole thing.
Worse, some were spreading rumors that the Termite System had a backdoor, allowing the company to access users' private files. If handled poorly, the scandal could escalate out of control.
"Handle it however you think best," Chen Mo said.
After Zhao Min left, Mo Nu's voice suddenly rang out.
"Brother Mo, I found out who's behind this."
"Oh?" Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. "There's more to the story?"
"Someone paid the Clown Organization three million dollars to post that tweet."
"Three million? That's pretty generous," Chen Mo said, mildly surprised. "Who's the sugar daddy?"
"The IP traces back to Seattle. Here's the person responsible." A moment later, Mo Nu pulled up a profile: Wei Zhe.
"The data says he's a computer expert. Unemployed. But he receives monthly payments from Microsoft—like a salary. Strangely, he's not listed in Microsoft's employee records."
"Microsoft?" Chen Mo's eyes narrowed in understanding.
He wasn't surprised that Mo Nu had tracked it back so cleanly.
The Termite System directly threatened Microsoft's core business: the operating system market. Marching Ants had barged into that space and were snatching up territory. Naturally, Microsoft felt the pressure.
Paying three million dollars for a tweet—clearly a desperate counterattack.
"Should we make this public?" Mo Nu asked.
"No. We don't have solid evidence. The media's already against us. They wouldn't believe it—and it would just sound like an excuse."
"Mm. It's complicated," Mo Nu said quietly.
Still, this move by Microsoft showed they were feeling the heat. In a way, it was a good sign.
As for Microsoft recruiting the Clown Organization to cause trouble—Chen Mo made a note of it. He'd settle that score later.
Right now, he had more important matters to handle.
"Mo Nu, give me a full report on all known members of the Clown Organization."
Originally, the Clown Virus had inadvertently boosted sales of the Termite System. Chen Mo hadn't intervened, nor had he asked Mo Nu to investigate them.
But now that the Clown Organization had turned hostile, it was time to treat them as enemies.
In warfare, intelligence was everything.
Mo Nu was a goddess in cyberspace. As long as the information existed online, she could find it.
In this game, the Clown Organization stood no chance of winning. Chen Mo wasn't planning to destroy them just yet—there was still value in letting them run loose, much like during the Jiangnan virus incident.
The more chaos the Clown caused, the more people would adopt the Termite System.
"Alright," Mo Nu replied.
Soon, several files popped up on Chen Mo's screen. He leaned in, studying the data with a sharp gaze.
When he reached the last page, a flicker of interest sparked in his eyes.
After a moment's thought, he said, "Mo Nu, give me the detailed profile on this one—Wei Zhe."