Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 173 - 173: 171: Ironclad Evidence!

Tricking someone who protects him day in and day out? That would be crazy!

But this was simply not something he could do. He didn’t know anything about image recognition or comparison algorithms…

It had to be Mavis’s doing, and it was her specialty.

The tapping on the phone screen just now was not an actual operation, Lincoln was merely gesturing to Mavis, asking her to stop playing around and get to work.

Lincoln remained sitting in his chair, lost in his thoughts, but the display screens came to life on their own. The nine screens automatically divided themselves into 81 smaller windows, each playing surveillance footage at 12 times the normal speed.

Seeing the screens moving, Yue Pengju secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He also intently watched the fast-forwarding 81 small windows, hoping to spot something.

However, the short-haired girl next to him was almost popping her eyes out!

She couldn’t understand!

What kind of algorithm was this? A mere two-tap operation could automatically perform such complex functions?

Had automation really developed to this level?

Were there such intelligent algorithms in the field of image recognition? Why had she never heard of them?

Even more outrageous, everyone on the screen had been marked with not just their height and body shape but also their stride, arm swing, and neck length, all being recorded while automatically eliminating the interference from hats, heels, and clothing.

Yue Pengju didn’t know much about these technologies and was just enjoying the show.

But this girl had studied computer vision and image recognition back in university, and she had been working in the field ever since. Although she might not be at the top, she undoubtedly kept up with the trends in technology.

Whenever there was a new development, she would learn about it as soon as possible. She never stagnated.

She took great pride in that.

But now, her confidence had been completely shattered!

“What kind of algorithm is this?” Her throat felt a little dry. “Why have I never heard of it?”

“Just something I came up with on my own,” Lincoln nonchalantly replied.

But seeing her eyes focused intently on the display and looking rather crushed, he couldn’t help but feel sorry. He was considering whether to ask Mavis to leave a copy for the girl to study.

Having thought it over, he realized that sharing this technology could have significant consequences and casually letting it leak would be irresponsible. In the end, he looked away and pretended he hadn’t seen anything.

Just in time, Mavis’s results were ready.

Of the 81 small windows, most were closed by Mavis, leaving only 8 enlarged screens, each occupying a separate display.

“Pay attention, we have the results,” Lincoln reminded the two.

The screen marked “1” started playing first. A man wearing a hoodie, jeans, and a blue baseball cap briefly appeared.

Next up was the screen marked “2,” with the same man walking by but showing half of his face.

Then came screen “3,” the same man again, half-face exposed, but wearing different clothes and appearing a few centimeters shorter, likely having tampered with the shoes he wore previously.

Following were screens “4,” “5,” all the way to the final screen marked “8.”

After all the footage played, both Yue Pengju and the short-haired girl from the security team had attentive and intimidating looks in their eyes.

The reason was simple: three suspects had been identified!

They had left traces in various places, wearing different clothes, and even going so far as to deliberately change their heights, body shapes, and strides.

The security team’s algorithm failed to identify them, and only experienced professionals could discern them with the naked eye, the process of which could take an unknown amount of time to yield results.

One of the suspects wearing black even brazenly carried a console through the crowded area far from the Experience Store! This was a blatant provocation!

A new window opened, and this time, Mavis directly pulled footage of the first two suspects from earlier Experience Store surveillance backups. “Start a wide-scale data search and find these people!”

“Hold on a second,” Lincoln interrupted.

“What’s wrong?” Yue Pengju asked as the two curiously looked at him. Lincoln hesitated. “The third person… I think I know him.”

“Are you sure?” Yue Pengju’s expression changed, as if the situation had suddenly become much more severe. “Where have you seen him before? Could he be targeting you? Is this a test run for security measures?”

Yue Pengju bombarded him with questions, speaking quickly and anxiously.

“Relax, it’s not that serious,” Lincoln hurriedly reassured him. “The third guy in black, I think his name is Ma Lian. When I was still living in that rental house, he once smashed my door.”

“Why did he smash your door?” Yue Pengju inquired further.

“I guess he was brainwashed by the Water Army and led astray. He thought I was going to ruin his gaming experience, so he charged over impulsively.”

Yue Pengju thought about it and figured that at the time, Lincoln was practically an internet pariah whom everyone wanted to beat up. It was unlikely anyone particularly dangerous would specifically target him, so it was probably just a coincidence. He relaxed slightly.

“In any case, we’ll know once we catch him and question him,” Yue Pengju turned and said. “Contact the police station and look for someone named Ma Lian. ”

Lincoln hesitated as he raised his right hand. “I have his phone number and ID Card number, do you need them?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lincoln realized the two were looking at him strangely.

“It’s understandable to have his phone number since he smashed your door, but why would you have his ID Card number?”

“When the police mediated, he had to apologize. I only accepted his apology and dropped the matter after getting his ID Card number.”

The two were even more puzzled. “Why would you need his ID Card? It’s not like you could have predicted that he would steal your console.”

“Of course not, I’m no fortune teller. I just wanted to blacklist him and not sell him any consoles I made.”

At this point, Yue Pengju had a deeper understanding of Lincoln’s

cautiousness.

But at the same time, he felt invigorated! The reason being – the clues had come together!

The short-haired girl from the security team clearly had the same thought, her eyes lighting up as she summed up –

“So, it was because you blacklisted him, causing Ma Lian to be unable to buy a game console, and he has harbored a grudge ever since. As a result, he recruited a group of helpers, turned an employee of the Experience Store, and staged a protest last night to distract everyone. While everyone’s attention was on the protest, he secretly stole the consoles from the store!”

“Exactly, exactly!” Yue Pengju nodded in agreement.

Lincoln felt that something didn’t seem right, but the logic was sound, and the surveillance footage as evidence was right in front of him. It appeared irrefutable!

After pondering, Lincoln couldn’t find any flaws, and the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. So, he reluctantly agreed, “Alright, it seems that’s what happened. ”

The security team members exchanged glances and nodded in confirmation.

“Call them, and arrest them!”