After clearing the game, I became the villain BOSS

(Happy New Year everyone, I believe you have heard a lot about Happy New Year 2024, so let me wish you all a Happy New Year 2025 in advance)

The clouds above the night sprinkled fine raindrops from time to time, shrouding the city streets in haze, pushing the roses in the hands of the steel creation to the ultimate poignancy.

Just when Su Mo was looking at the card with [Goodbye, my love] written on it, he suddenly heard a call from behind: "Boss!"

Su Mo looked back. When he saw the future standing there intact, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Boss, let me tell you something." In the future, he came over and leaned into Su Mo's ear and whispered something.

After hearing this, Su Mo's face was full of surprise and he asked in disbelief: "All the data is back?!"

The future couldn't bear the joy and kept nodding: "I'm back, everyone is back!"

Su Mo: "Didn't it mean that our database and various backups were all destroyed by the virus?"

Future explained: "It was destroyed, but before this virus destroyed various systems in our building, it first executed another instruction-to save a backup of all data and put it on a virtual cloud server."

"An anonymous email was sent to me just now, with the server address written in it. I went in and took a look, and all the data was there!"

Su Mo: "Not lost at all?"

Mirai: “Not lost at all!”

Su Mo was silent and looked at the bouquet of roses in Overlord Titan's hand, thoughtfully.

The future probe asked: "Hey, wasn't there a war outside just now? Boss, how can you still get a bouquet of flowers while fighting?"

"Well" Su Mo didn't know how to explain himself, so he could only shake his head and said, "It's a long story, so don't dwell on it for now. You call Dongdong, KK, and Xiao Chu to my room, and I'll explain I’ll synchronize the information I received with you.”

"Okay, right away." Future ran back to the Edge Building.

Su Mo was about to follow him, but stopped there again and couldn't help but look back.

The rose lay quietly in the hands of the silent Titan, looming in the rain.

Finally, he slowly stretched out his hand to take the bouquet of roses and held it gently in his arms.

In the conference room of the Edge Building, several core members met. Su Mo briefly described Daystar Eden, the Intelligent Brain Project, Xiaoqi and Zero, and all related matters.

"Wait a minute, let me sum it up." After listening to the narration, Chu Nanyi felt a little confused, rubbing his temples and pacing back and forth, "Captain, let me try to summarize it, see if it's right."

Su Mo: "Well, you tell me."

Chu Nanyi: "First of all, the girl named Qi Ling is the number zero who was treated as a monster when she was a child, not Xiao Qi."

Su Mo: "Yes."

Chu Nanyi: "Qi Ling has two purposes for approaching you. The first is to make you relax your vigilance, and then implant a virus into our building through your equipment, paralyze the defense system and locate and hunt Luo Mingsheng."

Su Mo: "Yes."

Chu Nanyi: "The second purpose is that she wants to fulfill the unfulfilled wish of her childhood friend Xiaoqi - to date and fall in love with a good and reliable boy."

Su Mo: "That's right."

Chu Nanyi: "So when she comes to date you, whether she hugs you, holds hands with you, or kisses you, she is pretending to be Xiaoqi. It has nothing to do with her own wishes. It is a fictitious substitute behavior."

Su Mo: "That's what it means."

Chu Nanyi was stunned: "I'll go, what kind of reverse substitute literature? You have more fun than me!"

Dongdong also opened his eyes wide and asked: "Boss, did you give your first kiss to No. 0 or Xiaoqi?"

KK poked her waist with his elbow and shouted in a low voice: "I don't want to pick up the pot."

Dongdong covered his mouth and looked at Su Mo cautiously.

Su Mo sighed softly: "I won't mention that trouble in advance. I just don't understand at all. What does this bouquet of roses mean?"

He looked at the bouquet of roses on the table that he had just taken back from Titan and murmured, "Qi Ling also gave me roses on the morning of our previous date."

"But according to my understanding, the flower delivery was her role as 'Xiao Qi', and it had nothing to do with Qi Ling's own wishes. As I said just now, it was just a substitute behavior she imagined."

"But now, Qi Ling has begun to take revenge. In other words, she is no longer playing the role of Xiao Qi, but has become her true self - Zero."

"Then the question is, since I am number zero, what does she mean by sending me this bouquet of roses?"

Chu Nanyi almost lost his composure when he heard this: "Captain, are you just pretending to be stupid?"

Su Mo was stunned for a moment: "Ah, why are you pretending to be stupid? I really don't understand. Can you explain it to me?"

Chu Nanyi said angrily: "You said it yourself, Qi Ling is herself now, no longer pretending to be anyone, but her true self."

"Then, when she was carrying out the most important revenge in her life, she still remembered you in her heart. Even if you scolded her and hit her, she still wanted to send you a tender bouquet of roses. You actually asked what this meant? ??”

Su Mo scratched his head and said with a confused expression, "I don't understand."

Chu Nanyi rolled her eyes almost to the back of her head, waved her hands and said: "As expected of a single mother, I have nothing to say, you can figure it out for yourself."

Su Mo looked at Dongdong in confusion: "Dongdong, do you understand?"

Dongdong: "I understand."

Su Mo: "What do you mean?"

Dongdong: "Figure it out for yourself, wood."

"???" Su Mo felt confused, "What's going on with each of you? You're all starting to talk about the Riddler. KK, do you understand?"

KK: "I understand."

Su Mo: "So what do you mean? Don't think about it yourself!"

KK: "Then I have nothing to say."

Su Mo: ".?"

Chu Nanyi said meaningfully: "Captain, although I didn't see you dating with my own eyes, I want to ask, was she really 'Xiaoqi' that day?"

Su Mo: "What do you mean?"

Chu Nanyi: "People can make fun of things when there are no troubles, but if there is throbbing in the heart, then it is impossible to hide the true self."

"You can think back to the day you were dating. Was there a few moments when she was no longer 'Xiaoqi', but 'Number Zero'?"

Seeing Su Mo's confused look, Chu Nanyi knew that it would be difficult for him, with a head whose emotional experience was whiter than a piece of paper, to understand his own words.

Chu Nanyi was completely helpless. He waved his hands and said, "Forget it, let's think about it later. Let's talk about the current situation first. What should Luo Mingsheng do?"

As soon as he mentioned this guy, Dongdong's face was full of displeasure: "What does that guy named Luo do? He is a scumbag and has killed so many children. Wouldn't it be better if he was kidnapped by Qi Ling? I wish he would be tortured severely."

Su Mo shook his head: "That's true, but no matter what, Luo Mingsheng is still nominally a member of our fringe."

"Even if I hate him, even if I made a mistake in letting him in, from an objective level, he is still a fringe mercenary and our companion."

"My companion has been kidnapped. If I don't care about him, this incident will create hidden dangers for team management, and if word spreads, it will become a basis for others to attack us."