The Truth of Electronic Ascension

The scorpion was stunned.

She couldn't understand how the core of the Mechanical Brain Project, Dou's super neural network, and that giant Buddha head could be suddenly cracked.

She had even forgotten that she had just narrowly escaped death.

From the center of her collapsed brow, a terrifying firebird soared into the air. The complexity and mystery of the coded flames filled her with awe.

Perhaps noticing her gaze, the woman in the flames nodded slightly. The intense firelight made it impossible for her to see her face clearly, but she could vaguely make out the distinctive scar on the woman's cheek.

Bird of Paradise!

The number one female hacker on the Mother City leaderboard!

She recognized the other person in the previous personality's information!

With a loud bang, the mountain-like golden nose in front of her was split in two, and two giant arms rose from the depression. Amidst the mountain of data, a data giant supported its upper body, with thick braids hanging from it, displaying countless communication and control software.

Giant Spirit God!

The world's second-ranked hacker!

It is also the only one that can use viruses to model big data and is a terrifying entity that can overwhelm enterprise-level servers with just computing power.

With a whoosh, a colorful vortex appeared between the Buddha's eyebrows, sucking up a large number of images, windows, and process lists like a whale drinking water.

Even that consciousness package was deciphered and absorbed.

In reality, data processing centers are frantically processing data.

Meanwhile, in a luxurious private room on the other side of freedom, a flamboyant man in a suit, holding a wine glass, shook his head, pushed away the android beauty in his arms, and muttered to himself.

"The vast electronic network enveloping cyberspace is expanding wildly in the industrial world, and we don't have many options."

Phantom—the world's third-ranked hacker!

The super-rich in artificial intelligence, the top hacker among the super-rich.

With one hundred data processing centers, it is famous in the underworld for its complex and ever-changing algorithms and a constant stream of cracked software.

Then, from within each of the consciousness packets, a human face suddenly bulged out, looking curiously at the scorpion.

"Isn't this Sister Number 11? How did your software library get so broken?"

"Personality Simulator!"

Personality Simulator, the world's 12th ranked hacker, is an entity that sells electronic personalities and is skilled at persona impersonation. It is neither like a human hacker nor like an AI.

Some suspect it was a line of virus code that leaked from cyberspace.

Some say that his true form is a bio-engineered human who was sent to a mental hospital.

Dead memories suddenly began to attack the scorpion.

A firewall engulfed in flames, Electronic Barrier as thick as a city wall, and a corporate treasure trove that makes one's mouth water.

And... the betraying teammates.

The faces twisted and deformed in the flames, until finally, a young face was revealed.

The same face.

It's you!

A look of hatred suddenly flashed in the scorpion's eyes; she remembered!

The 11th and 12th ranked super hackers recruit teammates for a hacking operation in order to obtain a legendary corporate secret.

Setbacks, scheming, betrayal, assassination.

Finally, it was the "Personality Simulator" that made its move, devouring one hacker account after another and using a soul virus to infiltrate its own intelligent clone.

As a last resort, she could only hide in the Puppet City, replace her first personality with her second personality, and completely sever the other party's soul worm.

The "Personality Simulator" quickly waved its hand:

"Good sister, you really misunderstood me. Back then, you spread viruses everywhere, causing a bunch of perverted corporate executives to become impotent, the kind that couldn't be cured no matter what. This group of people set up a scheme to get back at you, and I was just a tool in their scheme."

"If you need it, I'll give you the list later. You can either implant a mental virus in them or just kill them, it's up to you. Let's not fight amongst ourselves."

The "Personality Simulator" chuckled again.

"And you have to think of it this way: they have a grudge against you, but I've done them a favor. Without the dormancy of the first personality, where would the second personality come from, right, Scorpion? No, I mean Ms. Du!"

Du Mei is the name of the personality "Poisonous Scorpion".

She is Du Mei, not Poisonous Scorpion.

As expected, Du Mei's angry expression gradually disappeared. After a long silence, he said:

"What's the situation now?"

The "Personality Simulator" light up, and a mask with threads attached floated directly to her side.

"I knew it! These super hackers are all menacing, only we are on their side."

"Most of the world's top 20 hackers have arrived. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were going to attack the mother city."

"That's not all. Even the dozen or so of the strongest tigers and wolves can only eat so much," the 'Personality Simulator' chuckled.

"Take a look down there; see how many hacker groups are supporting this operation."

Du Mei glanced down and gasped. The number of hacked software programs, resembling plankton on the seabed, was so vast that it made her scalp tingle.

"Are you guys starting a hacker war?!"

"We had no choice."

The "Personality Simulator" raised its chin.

"Moreover, it's not just us who came; those old guys who ascended to electrons also came."

Du Mei looked up at the end of the Buddha's head, where three ordinary-looking old men sat.

Although they look ordinary, they share the same essence as the destroyed Buddha head.

Du Mei gasped.

Neither the memories of her first personality nor the information she had been searching for in the underworld had yielded a single clue about the three old men.

"Who are they?"

"The so-called ranking of the hacker world is actually just the order on the wanted list of the mother city."

But Sister Du, you should also know that this wanted list has been changed several times in the 60 years since the cyber era began.

The older generation of hackers either died or changed their phone numbers; those who didn't die or change their numbers, well, they successfully achieved electronic ascension.

"There really is such a thing as electron ascension in this world!?" Du Mei couldn't help but exclaim.

"I didn't believe it at first either," the 'Personality Simulator' said with a fanatical expression.

"But when the real person appears, you have no choice but to believe it."

What is electron ascent?

"Hey, one of the older colleagues actually told us that."

It made a few horizontal cuts with its fingers.

"Code layer - Network layer - Transport layer - Software layer".

"We can't do anything about it, because the source code of the planet's mainframe is not open source, and no hacker has the ability to get their hands on the source code of the mother city."

"But there are still ways to move up in the ranks."

The "Personality Simulator" said, word by word:

"City-level user management privileges!"

Du Mei was stunned, and after a long while, she blurted out:

"So the truth behind 'electronic ascension' is that it's about defecting to the mother city?"

"Ahem, don't put it so harshly," the 'Personality Simulator' rolled its eyes. "Murder and arson bring wealth and power. Murder and arson are easy, but is wearing the gold belt easy? Don't you know how enviable that is?"

Du Mei understood, of course.

Second only to the emperor, above all others.

A mother city-level authority is enough to make anyone on this planet submit.

No matter if you're a cyber assassin, a cyborg mobile unit, or the electronic network division of some super corporation, if the Ascended wants to control you, he can!

If a hacker has reached this level, then they truly are the ancestor of all thieves.

Du Mei suddenly realized. "No wonder hackers have had it harder and harder these past few years. It turns out it wasn't that someone was targeting us, but rather that professionals were doing professional work?"

"Ahem, keep it low-key, keep it low-key."

The Buddha's head collapsed completely, and suddenly a black light swept in from reality. The three old men were enveloped in the black light, and a doorway appeared in the black light. The three men walked into it without saying a word.

From that black light, Du Mei sensed changes in ancient data.

Another remnant of the old regime?

A thought flashed through Du Mei's mind, and she asked another question that she was very interested in.

Why bet on Dugo Technologies?

In her view, Dugo Technologies is just a newly emerging military organization; what reason would it have to attract so many hackers to its side?

This time, the expression on the 'Personality Simulator' was no longer quirky and mischievous, but rather slightly wistful.

"We had no choice."

Du Mei pondered for a moment, then understood. She let out a breath and said:

"That's right, we had no choice."