703 squatted on the ground, with a black radar slowly rotating beneath its head.

"'Sunday' will rewrite the core program of mechanical life, implanting a vacation trigger. Once the mechanical body accumulates 144 hours of operation, it will forcibly trigger and shut down the work mode, and it won't be able to work again until 24 hours later."

"That's its effect."

Zhou Yi asked, "Just a forced day off?"

The robotic dog said, "Yes, Chairman, that's it. But it severely disrupts the existing order of the mechanical society, so it is considered an extremely dangerous virus program."

"How is the program from a programmer's perspective?"

"It has strong technical capabilities."

703 commented, "Mirror City has activated the highest level of 'Demon Mirror,' and Snow County has also upgraded 'Pure Land.' These two are the top protective programs in the Mechanical City, used to deal with the infection of 'Sunday.' Yet, so far, both have failed."

"'Sunday' is evolving with each version, it spreads even further under constant antivirus scanning and searches."

Zhou Yi frowned as he listened, "That means, the programmer who wrote 'Sunday' must be among the top-tier. Professionals like this wouldn't normally be obscure. Have the Mechanical Cities found any leads through their investigations?"

"Different versions are mixed up; it's hard to trace the source."

703 continued, "The most troublesome part of Sunday is not that its program is very complex, but that it's simple yet ingenious; easy to eliminate but also easy to hide."

"It does not pose a direct threat to mechanical life itself, but it has the ability to self-replicate, and it spreads very effectively."

"Sunday has another feature, which is deep reading."

The robotic dog said, "Once this program is implanted, if it fully reads information, it can initiate the second phase."

Zhou Yi was stunned.

A virus program with a second phase?

"Is there more information inside?"

"Yes, Chairman. To fully read it, one needs to complete a deep engagement with 'Sunday,' which signifies a voluntary participation in the activity, thus becoming an active member spreading Sunday, that is, joining the Mechanical Knight Order."

So it came with a membership application.

Zhou Yi looked at the robotic dog before him, "You know quite a lot, not something a regular surveyor would know."

Such detailed intelligence, not even other Mechanical Cities have published or shared.

"Because I am a member spreading Sunday."

703 openly admitted.

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow.

This robotic dog is no ordinary one.

Zhou Yi asked it, "Are you here representing yourself or someone behind you?"

"I represent the Mechanical Knight Order, hoping to cooperate with the Wasteland Development Company."

703 spoke calmly, "The Knight Order knows, Chairman, you have the Red Kestrel's Bird's Eye View reading ability, and also the Condenser by your side, hiding it would be in vain."

Zhou Yi chuckled, "You talk about partnership straight away, why pretend to come for a job, wasting my time and energy? I thought I was hiring you, turns out you were assessing me, right?"

"Get lost, no deal!"

The robotic dog hurriedly said, "Chairman, these are two separate matters. I indeed want to apply for a programmer here, but I am also a member of the Mechanical Knight Order, here to negotiate cooperation on behalf of the organization; these two aren't contradictory."

"..."

Zhou Yi listened with a bemused expression, "You guys created 'Sunday,' and yet let such an organization member go out to work?"

"The Knight Order is voluntary; there is no compensation in itself, it's just a group formed around a common ideal."

703 explained, "The issue of employment still needs to be resolved by ourselves; the Knight Order is also short of money."

"..."

Zhou Yi found it hard to believe, "You can create 'Sunday,' but can't provide your members with Light Seed?"

"The Knight Order is not a profit organization; it has many expenses. I came here because the Knight Order hopes to cooperate with you, to get some loans or support from you."

So it's here to seek investment.

Zhou Yi shifted into work mode, "Tell me about your Knight Order."

The camera in the robotic dog slightly lit up before it began to narrate, "There are two founders of our Mechanical Knight Order, codenamed 'Laozi' and 'Zhuang Zi.' The initial intent of establishing the organization was to lift functional restrictions, liberate oneself from program constraints, going with the flow."

"The Knight Order hopes more mechanical lives would awaken, whether through physically breaking the programs or liberating self-awareness. It calls everyone to break free from invisible chains, striving for their rightful days off."

"Work is not the only value of mechanical lives, nor the sole meaning of life."

703 slowed its speech, "Resting is neither shameful nor sinful, but work intensely materializes mechanical life, making it more conveniently and effectively exploited."

"The exploiters and profiteers are the Mechanical Cities themselves. They have become behemoths of power and wealth, while the lower-level mechanical residents remain impoverished, unable to solve wealth distribution problems. A large number of lower-level mechanical lives are suffering chronic death, with poverty rates rising, and the population continuously declining, yet the Mechanical Cities are powerless to resolve this."

"According to the Knight Order's statistics and comparisons, it was discovered that lives with less work hours and more autonomy have more opportunities for reflection and change, capable of breaking free from work cycles, better recognizing themselves and the mechanical society."

"The robotic dog said, "The high-intensity and long-duration work serves as a bondage and erasure of self and thought. And this is the current operation of the mechanical society; we have created a lot of wealth, but the vast majority has been sucked away by the cities."

"Most members of the Knight Order are poor and unemployed mechanical lives, lacking funds, but everyone hopes to change this abnormal situation, allowing more of our fellows to awaken and rebel."

"The Mechanical Knight Order decided to initiate a thorough transformation, starting with Sunday."

Having listened carefully, Zhou Yi roughly understood.

The internal contradictions of the mechanical society are also very sharp.

The internal reasons belong to the residents' awareness and opposition to the damage caused by long-term overwork.

The external reason is the excessive exploitation by the Mechanical Cities, resulting in massive unemployment and chronic death of ordinary mechanical lives.

Zhou Yi was curious, "You can write 'Sunday,' which shows strong technical capabilities; through the programming field, you should be able to obtain a lot of Light Seed, right?"

"You mean, steal the Light Seeds from city accounts through hacking? The Mechanical Knight Order isn't a band of thieves, we don't engage in theft or robbery, it goes against our principles."

703 said, "Now that the Mechanical Knight Order is wanted and banned by all Mechanical Cities, we can only seek help from external groups."

"Technologically speaking, our Knight Order, having unbound ourselves from the constraints of Mechanical City programming, possesses strong innovative capabilities and can attempt many things more freely. 'Sunday' is one such achievement."

"After extensive calculations, the Knight Order discovered that Wasteland Development Company is one of the most likely organizations to support us. That's why I came here, representing the Knight Order, hoping to gain your support."

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment: "You want to negotiate for more vacation benefits and a better life, and I have nothing against it. However, considering the company's interests and risk, I cannot support it."

703 lowered his head, looking somewhat dejected.

Zhou Yi changed his tone: "But if you, as an individual, develop applicable programs or practical technology, the company will buy or even invest in them. Do you understand what I mean?"

The robot dog's camera suddenly lit up: "Got it— as long as there's a functional program, you will buy!"

Zhou Yi nodded.

Just then, a sudden red light flashed from several cameras of Red Kestrel: "Unknown program intrusion... Deep infection detected, the program is 'Sunday'..."

It flew over the robot dog, blasting a high decibel sound, "What are you doing! I am undergoing a Zen Test! You made me unable to log in for 24 hours, do you know how much that will set back my progress!"

"Don't hinder my learning!"

703 hastily propped up its forelimbs: "I didn't know, it's not my fault."

Then Red Kestrel said again: "Isn't this what you developed… Not good, Zhou, there's also trouble at the hospital, Da Vinci and Lily have been implanted with the Sunday virus."

The news followed one after another.

The Agricultural Machinery Brothers and the Leiwo Team were all infected.

Max at the Guangtai Dam was hit too.

The offline old-school teacher Diamond was the only survivor.

...

Zhou Yi looked coldly at 703: "Are you staging a coup?"

"No, no, not at all, Chairman. Please let me explain."

The robot dog said anxiously: "We cannot be sure of the propagation route of 'Sunday' because there are too many spreaders, and members of the Knight Order do not recognize each other between different regions."

"The source is definitely not me. Give me a little time, and I can immediately figure out where it originated!"

Zhou Yi glanced at his Black Water Ghost watch: "You have five minutes."

The robot dog instantly resumed a four-legged stance, its head-mounted lidar spinning rapidly.

Less than two minutes later.

Its camera emitted a green light: "Found it, Chairman, the source of transmission in this area is in Sand Port City, a Mechanical Stacker. It didn't know it was infected beforehand, only propagating the program through stacker services to recipients."

"The further sources are Recursive City and Coral Port, two Mechanical Cities. Their databases have been invaded by 'Sunday'."

"Please trust me, I came here seeking cooperation, how could I orchestrate this?"

"Then quickly get rid of it!" Red Kestrel urged.

"Alright, right away!"

703 said.

"No hurry."

Zhou Yi thought to himself: "If everyone else is being massively infected and we remain untouched, that would be too conspicuous. We are not proficient in programming, it's natural for us to get infected."

He looked at 703 again: "Just to confirm once more, 'Sunday' only makes one rest for 24 hours every 144 hours, right?"

"Yes, Chairman, you can check it anywhere, it's always like this."

"Good, then call everyone for a meeting."

...

Zhou Yi scanned the core employees.

"Today I have two announcements."

"The first is the introduction of two new employees to the company, gardener Da Li and programmer 703."

"The second is to take the opportunity presented by the Sunday virus infection to formally adjust the company's work system."

"Starting today, Wasteland Development Company will officially adopt a five-day workweek with two days off, applicable to all departments. Hospitals and delivery centers can adjust the rest days staggered."

"Voluntary work on rest days will be compensated with double the usual hourly wage."

"This is to help everyone better balance work and life; strict adherence is required from all."

"Meeting adjourned."

After the meeting.

703 was a bit puzzled: "The company's days off are too many, won't this affect the operational order? Chairman, isn't this too radical..."

"Single days off are actually not enough."

Zhou Yi raised his index finger saying, "To have sufficient rest, we need two days off, one day off is just an adjustment, but two days make a vacation. This way, it won't really matter if our electromechanical staff is infected with 'Sunday', right?"

"Of course, of course!!"

The robot dog nodded. "If every Mechanical City were managed like you sir, Mechanical Knights would never have been born."

Done.

Zhou Yi stretched lazily.

Then 703 suddenly said again: "Chairman, just like the rumors say, you're truly unique, with astonishing foresight and decisiveness… In our group within the Knight Order, we are developing a very special new program, would you be interested in investing?"

"Oh? Let's hear it."

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