Chapter 182
The missing person notice had been published for three consecutive days.
Ben didn’t dare to leave Anaville because he was afraid that Susan wouldn’t be able to see him when she saw the advertisement and came back.
However, after three days, there was still no news of Susan.
The secretary said cautiously, “Mr. Landor, after being published for so many days, the missing person notice should have already been seen by anyone who should have seen it. Those who haven’t seen it by now probably won’t see it at all.”
What the secretary meant was very obvious.
Ben actually understood that in his heart.
He sat alone for a long time and then said, “Stop running the missing person notice.”
“Yes.” The secretary breathed a sigh of relief.
Ben raised his eyes. “Rearrange my work schedule for the next month, I will be traveling for a long time.”
*Traveling for a long time?” The secretary was shocked. “But Mr. Landor…”
“There’s no “but,” Ben said calmly, “I have to get someone back.”
Ben was so calm that the secretary was unable to say anything to persuade him.
He agreed solemnly, “I’ll arrange it right away.”
In the Landor family’s residence.
Ben began to pack his luggage.
Since Susan was unwilling to come back, he had to go find her.
The people in the Programming Department sent him a bunch of addresses.
Susan had mentioned that she wanted to visit these places.
Perhaps Susan was just saying it casually and didn’t take it seriously.
However, the world was so big and this was the last chance.
No matter what, Ben was unwilling to give up.
‘Ben.” Charlie stood at the door, looking a little tired. “Are you going out?”
Ben pursed his lips. “I’m going to find Susan.” RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only
Charlle nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll keep an eye on the company for you. I may look old, but I’m still held in high
esteem.”
“Thank you, Grandpa,” Ben said.
Charlie smiled. He stepped forward and patted Ben Landor on the shoulder. “You must bring Susan back.”
Ben focused his attention.
He said in a vowing tone, “Of course.”
That night, Ben set off.
He followed the addresses on the list.
He searched them one by one.
The ski resort in Everdale.
The beach.
The endless flower fields.
There were many places.
Ben was seen holding a photo of Susan and asking passersby one by one.
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.
It was getting colder and colder.
Ben searched around during the day and handled all kinds of documents all night at night.
He had lived like this for four months.
It was almost the end of the year.
Charlie knew Ben’s feelings, so he called Ben specifically and told him that if Ben didn’t want to go home, he didn’t have to go home. Charlie got someone to accompany him.
It was unclear whether Penelope or Isabella was the lucky one. As Charlie’s seven–day deadline approached,
Penelope actually woke up.
Leo and Isabella chatted with Penelope alone for the whole night.
The next day, when Charlie went to ask Penelope, who looked depressed, she said that she had forgiven Isabella.
Despite Charlie’s repeated inquiries, Penelope remained adamant in her response.
Charlie had no choice but to believe in Penelope.
However, after forgiving Isabella, Penelope knew that Leo had been expelled from the Landor family, and she also wanted to break off her relationship with Leo.
After that, Penelope remained in the Landor family and kept Charlie company.
Charlie had asked Ben for his opinion on this matter.
Ben nodded in agreement.
Ben had been away from home a lot lately. With Penelope accompanying Charlie, Charlie would feel a little better.
“Make sure to get some nice treats for yourself this Christmas, don’t just eat anything, Charlie reminded Ben.
Charlie knew that there were too many memories in the Landor family.
If Ben kept away from home, he could relieve some of the longing in his heart.
If Charlie forced Ben to go home, Ben would probably go crazy.
As an elder, Charlie could only try his best to persuade Ben to take good care of himself.
“Got it.” Ben nodded.
He turned off the video call.
$
He stood by the window and looked out expressionlessly at the flying snowflakes.
This was a small town in the north of Coraland.
He flipped through Susan’s diary frantically and found that when she was young, she had read an advertorial that said that this small town was isolated from the world, and the people there were simple and honest. It was a paradise.
Since then, Susan had yearned for this small town. She also solemnly wrote in her diary that, if given the chance, she would come to this place and live a solitary life for a few months.
When Ben saw this, his heart trembled.
A solitary life?
Therefore, could it be that Susan’s isolation from the world prevented her from seeing the missing person notice that lasted for three days?
Might Susan’s isolation from the world have prevented Ben from discovering any clues to her whereabouts?
After confirming this, Ben immediately set off for this town.
This small town was indeed very remote.
On his way to the town, he first took a plane and then a car. It took him a long time to reach his destination.
This small town, spanning a large area, was home to no more than 10,000 people. From a distance, the area was covered by mountains and lakes.
Tonight was his first night here.
It was snowing outside. It was very cold, but somehow it created a sense of hopefulness.
“Susan, will you be here?” Ben muttered.
No one answered him.
But Ben was used to it.
Of course, it would be ideal if he could find Susan here. If not, he would continue to search every place until he
found her.
The snow was falling harder and harder.
Ben’s computer suddenly emitted a ringing sound.
Ben sat in front of the computer and took a look. His pupils suddenly contracted.
It was an email.
The source of the email turned out to be Susan.
Ben clicked on the email with his trembling hand.
There was nothing on the email. There was only a program attached to it.
Ben opened the attachment.
It was none other than the latest progress of the Al project.
Surprisingly, Susan had been continuously working on this project over the past few months.
She had made rapid progress and now had reached the third problem.
Once this problem was solved, the success of this project would only be a matter of time.
Ben greedily looked at the code that Susan had sent him.
This was the first time in months that he received anything related to Susan.
Ben began to think again.
Therefore, there was actually such a possibility.
Susan was not isolated from the world at all.
However, she had been immersed in working on the Al project and cut off from the outside world during this time.
In this way, she surely wouldn’t be able to see the missing person notice.
But now, one thing was certain.
Susan had been working on the Al project and had made some progress.
Ben stared at the codes.
Perhaps… there was another way to find Susan.
Ben had a strange light in his eyes as he placed his hand on the keyboard.
Didn’t Susan want to work this project out?
Then he would work it out.
Susan put a lot of effort into this project. What if it was about to be released?
She would definitely be willing to come back.
In this quiet snow–covered town, Ben secluded himself and tried his best to solve the last problem.
After an
unknown period of time.
Maybe it was a
Ben didn’t know.
day, maybe three days, he a week, or maybe a month.
He only knew that except for necessary food and rest, when he stopped, the last problem should have been solved unconsciously.
The new Al project was a success.
The completely free game mode that he had joked about became a reality.
His and Susan’s painstaking efforts had finally come to fruition.
Ben was overjoyed at this moment.
He was not happy for the success of the project.
It was because he could finally find Susan.
Based on Susan’s pace, she was certainly stuck on the third problem for a long time without being able to break through.
For a person in this situation, nothing else was important.
The most important thing for her was the key to breaking through.
Right now, he was trying his best to deliver the key to Susan. He believed that she would take it.
Ben pulled out a few lines of code from the critical process.
Ordinary people would not be able to tell what these codes were if they looked at them alone.
However, Susan, who had been involved in the project all along, understood immediately when she looked at it.
Moreover, Ben only gave her half of the solution to the problem.
If Susan saw this, she would definitely want to see the other half.
He… would be able to find her.
Ben printed these lines of code on a piece of paper and then created multiple copies. He then got people to distribute them throughout the town.
He wanted to ensure that everyone in the town could see it.
So Ben also set up a place in each residence.
Anyone who came over to get this piece of paper and post it on a visible spot in his house for 3 days would immediately get a reward of 20 dollars in cash.
If you recommended someone else to collect this piece of paper, he could get an additional 10–dollar bonus.
Ben sent photos of Susan to everyone who was stationed at the spot.
As soon as they saw someone who was suspected to be Susan, Ben would rush over as soon as possible.
Collected a piece of paper and posted it for three days, and you would get a cash reward. Additionally, recommended someone else and received a bonus of 10 dollars.
At first, everyone thought it was a scam.
However, when someone really got the money so easily, the whole town was abuzz.
The residents began to line up to get the strange piece of paper.
Some well–connected people even made a small sum of money by recommending it to others.
In this way, less than a day passed.
Almost all the residents of the town got this piece of paper and hung it in the visible area of their homes.
However, there was no sign of Susan among the people who came to collect the piece of paper.
Ben wasn’t in a hurry.
Susan was most likely in seclusion right now.
Even if she was in the small town, she would definitely not go out.
However, Ben was trying to create an atmosphere now.
An atmosphere where everyone in the small town was discussing this matter.
As an outsider, Susan had to rent a house if she wanted to stay here for a long time. It‘ didn’t matter if Susan went out or not. Her landlord would put the paper in the most eye–catching spot in the house.
As long as she was here, she would definitely see it.
Ben also sent people to investigate young female tenants who had rented a house here in the past few months.
If he used both methods and still could not find Susan, then it was likely that she was indeed not here.
But no matter what, Ben still hoped that Susan was somewhere in this small town.
He hadn’t seen her for three months.
He missed her so much that he was about to go crazy.