Network War Escalation

Chu Feng's words left Lin Lin beside him somewhat speechless.

He was such a grown man, yet he still played these tricks. Still, from the bottom of her heart, she admired the skills Chu Feng possessed.

Was he toying with the entire world?

Meanwhile, hackers from the United States, the Empire of Japan, India, the European Union, and other countries were all cursing.

Hadn't they agreed not to retaliate? How could he go back on his word? The Chinese were truly too despicable.

However, the cybersecurity departments of several countries noticed something strange. Why was this data traffic coming from another country, or even several other countries? China's data transmission was actually the lowest?

Before long, hacker forces from many countries received the news. The countries that had formed an offensive and defensive alliance contacted one another, and all of them had encountered the same situation. No matter how foolish they were, they knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, once everyone exercised restraint, the intensity of the attacks and the data traffic immediately dropped.

The leaders who had been cheering just moments ago now looked as though they were constipated.

"Fuck! This is what you swore you could do—take down Origin Company? You've been fighting Japan for so long and didn't even notice? Trash! You're all trash! You were played for so long before realizing it?..."

The American network technicians were scolded bloody, and even now they were still completely confused. How had attacking Origin Company turned into fighting the Empire of Japan?

Over in Japan, Mr. Nakata's face was red with fury as well. The call from the Minister of Cybersecurity had scolded him into doubting his life. They had clearly been on the verge of winning, so how had he ended up attacking the United States, their master, in the blink of an eye?

Watching his hopes of promotion and glory grow dim, he wished he could devour the clueless Kōshirō before him alive.

"Baka! Useless trash..."

"Yes!"

"Find the problem. Don't let anything else go wrong."

Mr. Nakata was holding back a breath of anger and nearly coughed up blood, but considering that he still needed their support, he did not continue blaming them.

Similar scenes were playing out elsewhere. Everyone understood the situation now and no longer dared to underestimate Lightyear Company in China as they had before.

"Hehe, looks like they figured it out."

Seeing the simulated attack directions change, Chu Feng smiled, but he did not take it to heart.

"You can still laugh? They've already discovered your plan." Lin Lin was frustrated at his lack of urgency. She was worried sick, yet he acted as though nothing mattered. It was infuriating. If Origin Company failed, it would be China that lost face. Lin Lin could already foresee the overwhelming mockery that would follow if Origin Company failed, and China's image would suffer as well.

"Should I contact the higher-ups and ask them to provide support?"

Lin Lin said this cautiously.

Chu Feng looked at Lin Lin teasingly. Seeing that she was even more nervous than he was, he could not help laughing.

"This is only the beginning. There's still plenty of fun ahead..."

Seeing the meaningful smile on Chu Feng's face, Lin Lin grew even more annoyed. The emperor was not worried, but the... beauty beside him was worried to death...

"Hmph, I can't be bothered with you. When you lose, don't come crying."

Lin Lin curled her lips and spoke in a huff.

Seeing Lin Lin reveal such a girlish expression, Chu Feng was instead somewhat pleased. They were both young people, after all. How could they have the profound foresight of those old schemers? A little provocation, and she showed her true colors. No matter how much training she had received, she was still only a twenty-year-old girl.

Chu Feng's eyes shifted, and a plan came to him. "How about we make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?" Lin Lin asked in confusion.

"On this cyber war."

"How?"

Lin Lin was puzzled. Chu Feng was far too confident in himself. As the old Chinese saying went, there was always a higher heaven beyond heaven, and a greater person beyond any person. So many famous hackers had ultimately met their downfall, either captured and put to use or fading into obscurity.

What Chu Feng possessed was indeed formidable. So far, no one had been able to crack this Basic Artificial Intelligence. But it had only been one day out of a week. Wasn't it too early to say anything now?

No matter how she thought about it, she had nothing to lose, so Lin Lin readily agreed.

"Go on, how are we betting?" Lin Lin said confidently.

"If I lose, you can do whatever you want with me. I'll release the source code, and I'll urge the overseas research team to come over as soon as possible."

"I agree."

Before Chu Feng could finish, Lin Lin eagerly agreed. She had come here prepared to "sacrifice herself for the country." Now that she could achieve her objective, what could she not agree to? Besides, Chu Feng had the heart of a thief but not the courage...

If Chu Feng knew what Lin Lin was thinking right now, he would probably have her "dealt with on the spot" and let her experience his formidable "combat power."

Unfortunately, no matter how capable Chu Feng was, he could not read minds. Seeing Lin Lin agree to his terms so eagerly, he was even more delighted. She had fallen into the trap so easily that it gave him no sense of accomplishment at all, though the feeling was pretty good...

"I won't bully you. If you lose, you only need to agree to three requests from me!"

Chu Feng held up three fingers and spoke casually.

"Forget three, even thirty would be no problem!" Lin Lin snorted disdainfully.

"Fine, then thirty it is. You said it yourself, so don't blame me." Chu Feng went along with it.

"You... Hmph, you can't win anyway!" Lin Lin glared at Chu Feng through gritted teeth.

While one flower bloomed on each branch, let us speak of the other.

As Chu Feng and Lin Lin bickered here, the battle on the network of the Second World continued in full swing.

Having put aside their contempt, everyone now shared a sense of common purpose. Understanding the situation they were in, every country called upon its top hackers to lend a hand.

In the United States, Kevin Mitnick, hailed as the world's number one hacker, was the first hacker wanted by the FBI. Some called him the world's "top computer hacker," and his legendary hacking experiences had been enough to shock the entire world. He now worked as a cybersecurity consultant and had published The Art of Deception, The Art of Intrusion, and Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker. Everyone called him the Hell Hacker.

Because his parents divorced when he was young, Mitnick developed a solitary and stubborn personality. While still in elementary school, he became obsessed with radio technology and quickly became an expert in the field.

Later, he infiltrated the United States air defense command system and the Pacific Company's systems, causing enormous losses. He was eventually imprisoned for this, becoming the first person in the world jailed for cybercrime. After his release, he remained unchanged, consecutively breaking into the networks of five major American companies and causing massive losses.

It took great effort to finally capture Mitnick. This time, he was sentenced to four years in prison. During Mitnick's imprisonment, hackers around the world united and unanimously demanded his release, expressing their demands by continuously attacking major government websites. These hackers even created a website called "Free Kevin." In 1999, Mitnick was finally allowed to leave prison.

He seemed to play with computers and infiltrate networks merely to gain a powerful sense of control. He was obsessed with all things secret and with decrypting and infiltrating computer systems, willing to give up everything for them.

Therefore, when the person who invited him described Origin Company's formidable capabilities, a passion he had not felt in a long time was reignited, and he agreed to join.

Linus Benedict Torvalds, forty-seven years old, was a renowned computer programmer. He was the inventor of the Linux kernel and a collaborator on the project. Using his own time and equipment, Torvalds created one of the world's most popular operating system kernels. He had also accepted the European Union's invitation.

DigitalMafia, India's most famous hacker organization; Kōshirō, Japan's strongest hacker organization and the second strongest in Asia; and a whole series of other hacker organizations and individuals had all had their competitive spirits stirred by Origin Company.

This was no longer about those ten billion. It was about respect for an opponent who was their equal, or perhaps even superior to them.