Chapter 20
"..."
Ellis's words drew speechless looks from his colleagues.
"Ellis, what kind of pointless nonsense is that? We're all thousand-year-old fox spirits here, so why pretend otherwise?"
"Exactly. Qin Su definitely knows."
They could all guess what the others were going to do. It came down to who had the better skills.
The dormitory.
Qin Su saw the string of greetings they had sent, each evidently carefully considered. He merely glanced at them without responding right away.
A sudden flash of inspiration had given him a brilliant idea.
Rather than let them find nothing, why not... let them trace it back to themselves?
Qin Su said to 777, "System, however many links I redeem later, the packaged data must appear on the other party's Optical Brain interface the first time they open each link. After that, whenever they open it again, the link should appear to have been sent from their own server, but only after they've gone to great lengths to crack it."
"Make sure they go through the whole process of cracking it 'with great difficulty,' and that they won't discover the target of their attack is their own server until they've completely 'cracked' it."
This would also protect him and the people behind the scenes whom he appeared to have connected with the Federation under his 'guarantee' from the Federation's attempts to trace them, as well as serving as a 'warning' to the 'Federation.'
In a sense, it would further highlight his extraordinary 'strength and reliability.'
It would make the people of the 'Federation' think that anyone who had done business with him would receive his powerful protection.
777 didn't understand what difference it made, but it would obey: [Don't worry, leave it to me!]
Having settled things with the system, Qin Su finally responded using his 'brain waves':
Qin Su: .
After a 'long' wait, Ellis finally received Qin Su's response. Tormented by all sorts of guesses, such as 'Does Qin Su want to call off the deal because he isn't responding?' and 'Did we say something wrong?', he cried out excitedly, "He replied! He replied!"
The others were carefully examining what might have been wrong with the message they had sent. Hearing Ellis, one of them had a lapse in judgment and instinctively asked him:
"What did he say?"
Ellis stared at the '.', questioning his life. "Can't you look for yourself?"
His Optical Brain's screen was already enlarged in front of his colleagues.
At Ellis's puzzled words, everyone stared fixedly at Qin Su's 'response' on the screen, unable to believe their eyes.
"...?"
The room fell into an eerie silence.
The good news was that Qin Su had responded.
The bad news was that his response was a single '.'
Everyone: "..."
Some response that was.
Even through the screen, they could feel Qin Su's cold indifference, keeping them at arm's length from the other end of the Optical Brain.
After a moment of silence, they looked at one another and offered their opinions one after another.
"Haha... Come to think of it, it's pretty normal."
"Qin Su has a vast network of contacts, and he got someone who might be prejudiced against our Federation to sell us data. Of course he'd act like this!"
If he had been overly attentive, they would have suspected they were being scammed.
Qin Su's 'icy' treatment reassured them that things felt 'right.'
"Exactly. So here's the question: what does Qin Su mean by this '.'? How should we respond?"
When they had met to discuss the 'deal' with Qin Su as the middleman, it had never occurred to them that he would reply with a '.'
They quickly began discussing an emergency response strategy.
Meanwhile, Qin Su watched notifications keep popping up in the upper right corner:
[Congratulations, native favorability +300, life points +60 minutes, total life points...]
[Congratulations, native favorability +100, life points +20 minutes, total life points...]
[Congratulations...]
Seeing the increase in native favorability, 777 silently added another note to its little notebook: when the host communicates with someone through an Optical Brain, no matter how long their message is, remember to reply with only a '.' = the secret to increasing native favorability (!)
"...!"
Qin Su remembered clearly that the previous exchange ratio between native favorability and minutes of life points had been ten to one, but now it had doubled.
The exchange ratio was unusual, so Qin Su promptly asked the system: [Which natives are the current favorability gains coming from? Give me the details for each individual native.]
777: [Native favorability +300 came from the head of the StarNet Information Engineering Department of the Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs...]
Once the system had finished reporting each one, Qin Su understood.
The higher a native's status, the more life points their increased favorability could be exchanged for.
Having realized this, Qin Su turned his gaze to the screen in front of him.
A full 15 seconds had passed since he sent the '.'
Qin Su wasn't at all worried that they would resent him for his overly blunt reply.
Their admiration for strength meant they wouldn't come to dislike him because of it.
On the contrary, because they 'needed to rely on his connections to obtain information,' his 'icy response' created the impression that 'the Federation meant nothing in his eyes,' and they would only treat him more cautiously.
Their silence now was probably because they were trying to guess what he meant by the '.' he had sent.
After some discussion, Ellis and the others agreed that Qin Su's '.' meant he had no time to discuss anything else and wanted them to stop wasting words and get straight to the transaction.
They didn't know exactly how many sources Qin Su had. From Zhou Kaiyu's account, they knew only that he possessed data on many bugs, but they couldn't determine how many 'many' meant.
Besides, the budget approved for them wasn't large...
Ellis sent over a compiled list of some bugs the Federation had never been able to obtain data on. Because they lacked specific data, the bugs were listed under the various names people had given them, which they had gathered together.
Seeing the names and descriptions of the bugs they sent, Qin Su compared them with the Zerg database compiled by the system and organized the price list he had marked out beforehand. After spending life points to have the system generate 'purchase' links according to the quantity they wanted, he said to the system:
"How many life points would it cost to generate an interstellar account exclusive to me, with a bank and account holder no one else can trace, that can be freely used for normal transactions?"
On the surface, he was acting as a middleman for a transaction between the Federation and a seller behind the scenes. In reality, there was no one behind the scenes.
The Star Coins had to reach him, and no one could know it.
777: [One interstellar account costs 7,200 minutes of life points.]
Qin Su: "..."
Five days, one-twelfth of the sixty days of life points he currently had.
But once generated, it could be used permanently. Looked at that way, it was still a good deal.
Qin Su made an immediate decision. "Redeem it, and after each link is sent to their Optical Brain, make the Star Coin account sent afterward a virtual account that can only be used once."
Even if they learned he had detailed data on countless bugs and suspected he was the seller behind the scenes, so what? They wouldn't find anything by tracing the links, and the accounts receiving the Star Coins would all be different thanks to the system's virtual account feature. They would have even less chance of finding his own account. They had no concrete evidence that it was him.
Besides, in their eyes, a big shot damaging his image among his contacts for money and indirectly affecting future 'cooperation' simply wasn't worth the loss.
Who would have thought his 'contacts behind the scenes' were his 'Optical Brain' system?
So what if his 'interior' was unfinished? It didn't affect his 'fully furnished' exterior in the slightest.
777: [Okay.]
Not long after Ellis sent the message, he received a purchase and payment link.
"As expected of us, lifelong enthusiasts of reading comprehension! We understood Qin Su correctly! Qin Su really did repl—"
Before Ellis could finish his excited declaration, countless purchase and payment links popped up one after another, cutting him off.
The others saw them too.
But this was Ellis's Optical Brain, and they couldn't operate it for him, so they could only urge him to open them quickly.
"Stop talking and open them! Let's see what's going on." Only after seeing what was inside could they feel reassured.
Urged on by his colleagues, Ellis opened the first link.
Ellis wasn't the only one surprised by the purchase price.
"I can hardly believe my eyes. Or did I undercook the green beans I made this afternoon and poison myself into hallucinating?"
"Quick, open the other links and look... Wait, Zeng Hong, you've been secretly eating food other than nutrient solution again? Aren't you afraid you'll poison yourself to death?"
"Enough! The point isn't that I was sneaking food, it's the links!"
Amid the clamor of urging voices, Ellis quickly opened the other purchase links.
After seeing them all, the group was astonished.
"This... isn't much different from the bounty prices on the Black Market."
"It's astonishing. This is data no one could buy even with a bounty. They could have charged more, but instead they're so... 'merciful'?"
"I get it," Ellis said, suddenly enlightened. "It's obvious the seller might want to curry favor with Qin Su or get access to his contacts. Out of consideration for Qin Su personally arranging the deal, they didn't demand an exorbitant price from us."
The vast majority of them agreed with Ellis.
"Qin Su really is... so touching!"
"I'm happy right now. Extremely happy!"
And their secret plan to trace every link back to its source was so embarrassing in light of Qin Su's generosity that they would wake from dreams in the middle of the night and secretly slap themselves over it.
In particular, they had previously harbored the dark, absurd suspicion that Qin Su might never have contacted anyone behind the scenes at all, and had instead turned around and sold them the data he already had for a massive profit.
Now they were ashamed, extremely ashamed.
There was no way Qin Su would do that. No secret stayed hidden forever; rumors of the Federation trading for bug data would get out sooner or later, and the people behind the scenes who had sold Qin Su the data would eventually find out.
Given everything Qin Su had shown since appearing at the Fourth Military Academy, what would the people behind the scenes who had previously sold him the data think if he did that? How could Qin Su possibly damage his image among his contacts for a mere sum of Star Coins?
Even so, they would still go through with it. They had never represented themselves, but the 'Federation' behind them, and the Federation's interests came first.
Ellis and the others' guilt toward Qin Su manifested on his end as a steady increase in the life points in the upper right corner, driven by their rising favorability.
The Star Coins had long been ready, but because they hadn't received the 'data,' Ellis cautiously refrained from paying for everything at once and opened the first link to make a purchase.
While Ellis made the purchase and payment, his colleague checked the remittance account information.
Almost a second after Ellis completed the purchase, a new link was sent to his Optical Brain.
Under his colleagues' burning, expectant gazes, Ellis opened the link and discovered a new folder on his Optical Brain's screen.
Ellis opened the folder. Inside were detailed data and images of the bug purchased through the first link.
"!"
The Star Coins hadn't gone to waste. With Qin Su acting as guarantor and middleman, the seller had proven trustworthy.
After a brief moment of delight, Ellis immediately said to his colleague, "Quick, trace the source of this link!"
"I'm checking, I'm checking!" The pages on Ellis's colleague's Optical Brain jumped nonstop with his active thoughts.
Ellis continued purchasing through the remaining links. Each time he made a purchase, data on the successfully purchased bug appeared on his Optical Brain, while his other colleagues traced the link back to its source.
Everyone in the quiet room had a clearly assigned task and was busy at work. No one spoke for a long time.
Their orders were to trace the source at all costs, using every means at their disposal.
During the transactions, they easily discovered that the remittance account was different for each one.
But—
After the 'transactions,' which hadn't taken very long, those responsible for tracing the links exchanged glances. In one another's eyes, they saw a familiar mix of bewilderment, shock, helplessness, disbelief, and other complicated emotions.
Ellis asked, "Why are you all making those faces?"
After completing the Zerg data transactions, Ellis packaged and sent the data to designated personnel for sorting, authentication, and other work. He also politely said goodbye to Qin Su as they had agreed beforehand. Of course, in response to his lengthy words of thanks, Qin Su replied with a cool but polite "Goodbye."
In any case, having finished his work, Ellis suddenly saw his colleagues stop what they were doing in unison and look at one another with complicated expressions, and he didn't quite understand.
Someone swallowed before speaking. "Everyone, I'll go first. After I'm done, check whether your situation is the same as mine. Sorry for the trouble, but if yours is the same, could you raise your hand afterward? Let me know I'm not alone."
He suspected he had encountered a StarNet 'ghost wall.'
"Okay."
"Go ahead."
After her colleagues nodded and voiced their agreement, Margaret Corian truthfully reported her results. "The good news is that, after my tireless efforts, I did trace it to the source... Unfortunately, the trail ended at our Federation's own server."
"!!!"
The others responsible for tracing the links became agitated as soon as they heard this and raised their hands one after another.
"You might not believe it, everyone, but mine was the same as Margaret's."
"Mine too..."
"Me as well."
"+1."
Before long, as those not responsible for the task watched, every single person responsible for tracing had raised a hand. 'Not one was spared.'
They had been 'completely wiped out,' and a suffocating silence filled the room.
After an unknown amount of time, a faint voice sounded.
"So... after all that fierce maneuvering, our results were... zero???"
The truth was too painful to hear!
Everyone was so ashamed that, as if by agreement, no one said a word.
Who would believe it if they told anyone? They had enthusiastically prepared to go all out and 'slaughter their way through,' only to open their eyes and find they had 'slaughtered' their way to their own doorstep.
This was most likely Qin Su, as the middleman, protecting the 'safety' of his contacts behind the scenes on one hand and, on the other, probably warning them. He was telling them plainly in this way that he knew what they were thinking, that he wasn't afraid of their investigation in the slightest, and that he could effortlessly turn it back on them as a warning.
After an unknown amount of time, Ellis spoke resentfully. "I can't imagine what kind of faces they'll make when they trace it back to us later."
"...Now that it's come to this, everyone, when we're held accountable later, can we deny it?"
"We've been colleagues for decades. Who doesn't know how the others operate? Rather than sitting here praying we'll get away with it, let's think about how to accept our punishment with a little dignity."
"First of all, there's no dignity to be had when this gets reported throughout the Federation. Better think about how we'll explain to people why we suddenly went crazy during our careers and drew our blades on our 'employer.'"
"...Well said, but don't say it again. I have a fragile heart."
"My heart's gone cold. This is awful."
"We really shouldn't have opened the champagne at halftime. Well, look at us now. I'm dying of happiness."
They traded remarks, each of them giving off the faint air of a living person who was a little dead inside.
Who could have imagined that they, so utterly loyal to the Federation, would one day be forced to become traitors?
The price was just a tiny billion too high.
"Everyone, look on the bright side," Ellis reassured them. "We successfully completed the transaction and obtained valuable data, didn't we?"
"Oh, right!"
Their hearts, which had turned to dead ashes, suddenly blazed with hope again. "Looks like we can still salvage this a little!"
Not long ago, the Federation Cybersecurity Department had suddenly come under a series of attacks.
Who's got the guts to attack the Federation's servers?
Once we find them, we'll make sure they know they can eat whatever they want, but they can't just go online wherever they please!
I xxx, they'd better fucking hope I don't find out who they are!
Please, Pera, keep your voice down. Is this something to be proud of?
The work left them irritable and resentful, and remarks like these filled the ears of every staff member battling back and forth with the intruders.
After a difficult struggle, they realized that the other side's "attack patterns" were remarkably familiar.
"Wait... something's not right. Why does this look so much like Fiona's style?"
"This IP... why is it so familiar? What the hell, isn't this... Ellis and his group?!"
One after another, they realized something was wrong, and their lips twitched.
Less than five minutes later, the people involved sat facing one another across the same conference room. After hearing the explanation, they were left speechless.
"..."
That was how it went when they fought against their colleagues.
The lesson in "combining kindness with force" gave them a new understanding of Qin Su from that moment on.
They had been deeply shaken before, but now they didn't "dare move" at all.
The fact that "Qin Su was not to be underestimated" sank deep into their hearts. The next time their budget was approved and they needed to invite Qin Su to act as an intermediary to purchase information again, they would not make the same mistake.
Admiration was also an expression of "favor."
At the dormitory.
[Congratulations, native favorability +800, life points +160 minutes, total life points...] [Congratulations..., current total life points: minutes and 08 seconds.]
Sixty-five days.
After tallying the numbers, Qin Su found that the minutes of life points he had gained so far completely covered—and exceeded—the minutes he had lost generating the link.
They even fully covered the life points he had spent exchanging for a Star Coin account.
The Star Coins came from the Federation, and in a sense, so did the life points he had lost generating the transaction link.
Did that mean he was fleecing the same "sheep"?
Qin Su: "..."
He really was bad.
Favorability was still rising, and his life points should reach seventy days.
There were no secrets that stayed hidden forever. Although Ikelios Planet, where the Fourth Military School was located, was some distance from Kaedetal Planet, where the Federation was located, distance posed no obstacle to gossip between planets connected by the interstellar network.
Once this piece of "gossip" reached the Fourth Military School and the ears of the Protagonist Group, and then became known to the audience outside the comic, who had learned that "the Federation contacted him" from He Muzhi's perspective, his actions would once again meet the audience's expectations, and his life points would surge anew.
By then, he should have enough life to sustain himself for three months, which meant that from that point on, he could spend fifteen days of life points to exchange for a specific landing location.
When he went onto the battlefield... there was a strong possibility he would have to appear in the comic before the Comic World.
He needed not only a specific landing location, but also...
"System, if I need to appear in the Comic World during a time when I should be in the real world, how many life points will that cost?"
[Each forced crossing of spacetime requires minutes of life points to exchange.]
A full thirty days.
Hearing the terrible news, Qin Su drew a sharp breath inwardly and wanted to call himself an ambulance.
But...
Didn't this indirectly prove that he could actually wake the system while in the real world? Otherwise, how could it let him "force a crossing of spacetime" to get here?
Come to think of it, the system really was... like an innocent elementary school student. Every time he probed indirectly, the system remained completely oblivious.
Qin Su grew curious. How exactly had its previous hosts used a system so innocent, well-behaved, and powerful?
There was no need for Qin Su to put on an act in front of the system, which knew everything about him. Curious, he simply asked, "777, may I know what your relationships with your previous hosts were like?"
[...]
777 had been happily reviewing its little strategies for winning him over, but hearing that put an end to its good mood.
Five seconds passed, far longer than the system usually took to respond.
Qin Su keenly sensed something and spoke apologetically. "I'm very..."
[They cursed at me...]
777 spoke softly, its tone clearly less than cheerful.
Qin Su: "..."
He really deserved to die.
[I often suspect they all attended the same training course in the real world. After cursing at me, they often wouldn't curse at anyone else. Even that unfairness was exactly the same...]
It didn't even have a companion to sigh with.
[Unlike you. You've never cursed at me.]
A textbook case of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
Qin "once fooled the system" Su: "..."
He really was awful.
But... even getting cursed at had to be fair? As expected of 777, its unusual way of thinking could rival the Protagonist Group's.
"I'm sorry." Qin Su apologized for bringing up the system's sad memories and for having fooled it before. Then, to pull the system out of its sorrow, he redirected its attention. "777, I need a 'price list' of everything I can exchange life points for."
It was too troublesome to ask every time he needed something. To avoid exchanging too much and trading himself to death, an exchange "price list" was essential.
[One moment.]
Sure enough, 777's attention was diverted, but it was the first time anyone had asked for something like this, so it still had to compile the list.
Soon, a new document appeared on Qin Su's skin.
Qin Su opened it. At the top of the list were instructions for storing items in "space." The countless prices made his head spin, so he decisively searched for "potted plant."
According to what he had heard his classmates say during the Zerg Research Course, soil was ordinary in the real world, but here it was a luxury that the "nobility" showed off, a display of taste.
Naturally, he had to have some too.
Plain soil... would be a little too monotonous. A potted plant would both highlight how unusual he was through his "casual" attitude toward using precious soil to cultivate cheap flowers and plants, and serve as "a precious gift he could give without raising questions."
But—
Qin Su's gaze fell on the exchange "price" that followed, and he took a deep breath.
A potted plant thirty centimeters in diameter and one hundred centimeters tall actually required 1,440 minutes of life points to bring over.
He deleted "potted plant" and entered other words. Looking at the search results, Qin Su made up his mind on the spot: he could still have that potted plant another way.
As for the X-G Type he had seen at the entrance ceremony and never forgotten, it cost a full year of life points to exchange.
Qin Su: "..."
When one was truly disheartened, there really was no shouting or fussing.
Don't bully a young man for being poor!
After cheering himself up, Qin Su closed the life-point price list. With a few hours still to go before he returned to the real world, he continued browsing all the data about the bugs, searching it for ways to "exterminate" them.
When Qin Su opened his eyes again in the real world, he found himself sitting in his apartment.
Thinking of the "potted plant," Qin Su pulled out his phone and silently sent Jiang Cheng a message.
Jiang Cheng opened the message from Qin Su as a matter of habit. The next second, when he saw what it said, he pulled his head back and made the classic "old man looking at his phone on the subway" face.
Good night!