The First Goal

The main course of the Lawrence family's dinner was spaghetti, grilled fish fillet, and stewed chicken. There was also cream soup and vegetable salad. It was considered a pretty hearty and scrumptious meal for a middle-income family of three. It might have been a meal prepared deliberately to receive Zhou Qingfeng as their guest.

Rachel said grace before dinner to thank god for bringing food to their table. Nevertheless, Zhou Qingfeng ridiculed in his heart, 'I'm not sure if god's the one who provided the food, but I'm pretty sure that god will bestow an imminent cataclysm upon us.'

During the meal, David Lawrence casually chatted about the recent issues in the United States. As an insurance broker, he had witnessed many cases of people going bankrupt because of the financial crisis.

"New York is becoming increasingly unstable now. Brooklyn is in a terrible state and it's affecting Queens too. Illegal immigrants are constantly exerting pressure on our society, and there is more and more social unrest. I really want to help those in trouble but I can't." 

David Lawrence seemed to have a bellyful of complaints. His words made the atmosphere at dinner slightly solemn.

Zhou Qingfeng knew that the moment the cataclysm broke out, the illegal immigrants who were homeless and earned extremely low income would become the source of New York's upheaval. Once there were no longer any constraints, millions of illegal immigrants would flood into Manhattan from New York and Brooklyn, turning the United States' central business district into hell on earth.

"Don't talk about such things when we're having dinner, David." Rachel Connor frowned.

"I'm sorry, darling. I'll stop here," David Lawrence replied with a smile.

Angie threw her knife and fork to the side and announced that she was full before trotting back to her room. Zhou Qingfeng called after her immediately, saying, "Wait for me, Angie. I need your help."

"Okay, let's go to the garage in the backyard." Angie beckoned, leading Zhou Qingfeng to her secret base.

Though she called it her secret base, it was actually just a cozy nest she had decorated for herself. David Lawrence did his best to build a small loft in the garage for his daughter, so Angie was able to turn the place into her own private zone. No one was allowed to enter without her permission.

The secret base was covered with carpets, a set of small tables and chairs, a table full of electronic equipment, and lots of plush toys piled up on top of it. There was even a small refrigerator in the corner. Angie took out two cans of drinks from the refrigerator and tossed them to Zhou Qingfeng. She sat on the carpet and frowned, saying, "I don't like it when my father talks about his work during dinner time. It always sounds like bad news."

'Woohoo… American girls are so self-centered! She refuses to eat merely because of such small matters.'

Zhou Qingfeng opened the can and took a sip whilst looking unsurprised. He said, "Let's talk about something slightly more interesting. Have you heard of Dog Meat?"

"Dog Meat?" As expected, the topic caught Angie's interest. "Are you referring to the latest bionic robot dog that was developed by Columbia University for the military? I saw their protocol video, and it was truly remarkable! It's almost as if it's a real dog."

'I knew it! You are interested in the topic indeed!'

According to the film's setting, Angelina Lawrence was a genius who had an IQ of 160. Apart from sharing typical hobbies with other ordinary girls, her biggest interest was fiddling with intelligent electronic devices. She was the one who ended up reprogramming ET; the one responsible for raising its intelligence level by twenty percent.

"Yes, that's the robot dog I'm talking about. I'm planning to get my hands on it. Hence, I'm here to ask you if you'd like to work together," Zhou Qingfeng explained straight away, "I know you have always wanted to get your hands on intelligent components and advanced batteries used by the military. I have a way to help you."

"Oh, this is a really tough one." Angie laughed. Though it seemed like she was refusing his offer, judging from her facial expression, she was clearly interested and was waiting for Zhou Qingfeng to tell her the specifics.

It was important to be ambitious in order to hook up with a girl. Zhou Qingfeng was sure to be despised if he said that he intended to steal a bottle of yogurt from the supermarket. On the other hand, even if he said that he wanted to steal the robot dog from a top-level intelligent lab that was under tight scrutiny at all times, regardless of how unfeasible his plan sounded, she would still think that it was extremely cool.

"Could you help me locate the robot dog?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.

"It's in Babylonian Intelligence Lab at Columbia University." Angie tapped her fingers on the table gently and a virtual screen popped up from the surface of the desk. She entered a string of characters on the virtual screen's keyboard and the information that Zhou Qingfeng wanted appeared on the screen instantly.

"Two months ago, I visited the Babylonian Intelligence Lab and managed to meet the team that developed the robot dog. Although it was a pity that I didn't get to see the dog, I did see the biological brain that dog was eventually equipped with," Angie proudly showed Zhou Qingfeng a few photos and whispered, "I took these photos secretly."

A clean and bright laboratory could be seen on the virtual screen. In the germ-free operating room, several mechanical arms could be seen fiddling with an artificial dog brain—it was the control center of Dog Meat.

"Can you pull up the specific location and internal structure blueprint of the Babylonian Intelligence Lab?" Zhou Qingfeng continued to ask.

"You can't be serious about stealing that dog, can you? You are one of my few friends, and I really don't want to see you end up in prison. Rampant violent crimes keep appearing on the news recently. They annoy me a lot," Angie said.

"I promise that I won't resort to violence. I guess you could consider it stealing, at most. Worst comes to the worst, I'll steal the dog and then return it."

Zhou Qingfeng shrugged. He thought, 'How am I supposed to resort to violence with the strength of my tiny arms and legs? I can only seize every opportunity and sneak inside to take advantage. By the time I lay my hands on that dog, New York would be in chaos then. I guess no one would ask me to return it anymore.'

For young Americans who smoked weed for entertainment, stealing was not really a big deal. After making sure that Zhou Qingfeng would not mess around, Angie immediately clicked a few times on the virtual screen of her computer.

"The Babylonian Intelligence Lab is located in the Engineering and Applied Science Department at Columbia University. The research pertaining to the intelligent robot dog was initially a joint project with NASA. The US military became very interested in it during its later stages of development and joined in as well.

"I can point you toward the approximate location of the laboratory and even guide you on how to solve the electronic door lock and activate the robot dog. However, you'll have to deal with the security system of the laboratory yourself." Angie looked at Zhou Qingfeng with blazing eyes, expecting him to create a miracle.

At this moment, someone shouted outside the garage, "Can I come in, Angie?"

'D*mn it. Which lackey is it?' Soon after, Zhou Qingfeng was met with a hippie-looking young American. The person's hair had been dyed a fluorescent color. On the other hand, the person wore earrings and was clad in a ripped attire. He was clearly fashionable and liked to express himself by hopping and jumping as he walked.

Tony Parker, nineteen years old, was one point seventy-five meters in height. He was a quick-witted person and rumors had it that he was David Lawrence's comrade's son. During the cataclysm, he played the role of a comedian, trouble-maker, and secondary attack force. He was Angie Lawrence's pursuer. The two seemed to become lovers in the end.

F*ck… Zhou Qingfeng despised such punky-looking dudes like him a lot. Especially after seeing his hippy and cynical face, he thought that the guy deserved a good bashing.

In the film, though, he was well-known for being a troublemaker and a lucky guy. He would intensify the problems greatly each time, and David Lawrence was the one who would be left to clean up his mess. Each time, like a villain holding sway, he would escape unscathed and still ended up getting the girl he wanted.

Tony Parker climbed into the garage loft after getting permission. He greeted Zhou Qingfeng when he saw him, "Hello, Victor. How are you? What are you guys talking about? Uh-oh… It seems like you were talking about Dog Meat. What a coincidence, I'm here for that robot dog as well."

Tony Parker basically ignored Zhou Qingfeng's presence as he walked toward Angie whilst grinning and took a seat in front of her, saying, "I left a message for ET not long ago, I need your help to create a set of decoding programs. I found a chance to get my hands on that robot dog.

"Think about it. I'll overcome many hurdles, avoid all kinds of dangers, and then lay my hands on the one and only pet in the world. Don't you think it would be really awesome?"

Tony Parker was extremely expressive. He could crack girls up effortlessly with his silly demeanor. This time, however, Angie was placed in a difficult position as she said, "Uh… Victor was also asking me for my help. The two of you…" 

Only then did Tony Parker finally give Zhou Qingfeng another glance. He said in a somewhat mocking tone, "Hey, my friend. You're trying to get your hands on that robot dog too? How are you going to break through the multi-layered security system? Trust me, as soon as you appear at that lab, you'll get caught immediately. On the contrary, only I can make it."

"Don't you worry about it. I can handle the security system," Zhou Qingfeng replied indifferently. There were three main security forces that he had to face: Columbia University's campus police; military guards stationed in the laboratory; the security guard hired by the laboratory itself.

Among them, the police and military guards would disappear straight away in three days. The only one that Zhou Qingfeng would have to face was the security guard hired by the laboratory itself. Not to mention, there would not be a lot of them. 

However, Tony Parker laughed sarcastically. "You're joking. It's impossible! No outsider is allowed to enter that place, especially not with that Asian face of yours. Last week, the military security guards caught an Asian spy trying to sneak into the laboratory to steal information. They won't even let you get close."

"Since you're so confident, why don't we compete then?" Looking at the three-dimensional model of Dog Meat on Angie's computer screen, Zhou Qingfeng took several deep breaths. He turned to stare into Tony Parker's eyes and said, "Let's see which one of us will succeed!"

Zhou Qingfeng swore in his heart, 'I will get that dog for sure!'