Old Lei? Little Lei?

After the senior engineer suppressed the Cybertronian mechanical lifeform with two moves, a special machine from Ghost in the Shell Mobile Division quickly flew over. Two figures fell directly from the sky and switched to flight mode in mid-air. The energy nozzles burned the mechanical shell red. Such high-powered jets are not something that ordinary cyborgs can use unless they are high-level mechanical lifeforms, unless they want to self-destruct on the spot.

"Minister!"

"Minister."

Two familiar faces arrived: the collider and its ex-girlfriend, model TX.

"Minister, you're amazing! You took down a Cybertronian in just two moves. If the Cybertron General knew, he'd probably faint from anger!" The collider immediately started flattering him.

"What, is it you two who are on this mission?" The senior engineer glanced at the two of them and asked.

"Yeah, I don't know what Captain Motoko has been busy with lately. She hasn't been leading the team and has sent us out to carry out missions separately," the collider said cheerfully.

"Maybe she's worried you're flirting with other women again," Model TX sneered. This cyborg woman, who looked a lot like the female villain from Terminator, couldn't stand the guy next to her.

The collider, thick-skinned and unperturbed by the provocation, simply laughed and said:

"Boss, shall I take this thing back with me?"

"Don't worry, we'll bring it back to you after we've finished our research."

The collider immediately looked distressed. If it were someone from another company, even a high-ranking executive of a super corporation, it wouldn't give them a second glance. The Ghost in the Shell Mobile Division deals with these super corporations.

However, Dugo Technologies was from the minister's family.

This is really frustrating.

"Come on, let's go to my house for a visit. It seems like this is your first time visiting our headquarters."

"I've heard for a long time that Dugo Technologies's headquarters is mobile, so let's pay them a visit this time."

The collider could only agree.

The next moment, the seawater suddenly exploded, and three thick mechanical octopus tentacles enveloped the three of them, preventing any water vapor from escaping. Then, they were suddenly dragged downwards and pulled into the seabed.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Database 0, Ah Hong, Xiu Yue, and Paradise Bird reunited once again.

The iron gate in front of them was emitting huge data fluctuations, and it took the three of them a lot of effort to find this hidden virus database.

Looking at the huge iron gate in front of him, Ah Hong clicked his tongue in amazement, "I thought this thing would disappear after the virtual space disappeared, but I didn't expect it to still exist."

"How could the mother city allow this virus database to be opened? It contains hundreds of thousands of electronic viruses."

The bird of paradise paused, then said:

"Even without the virus, the fusion of virtual and reality has caused so much trouble. If these things were released, the harm could even spread globally."

"From a hacker's perspective, it's a bit inappropriate to regard electronic viruses as a scourge," Xiu Yue said with a smile.

"Hmph, now that Mr. G has secured his position as minister, he's shamelessly come over again?"

"I risked my life to go in with you, senior sister, for the sake of our mentor. Don't slander an innocent person."

"You think you're a good person?" Bird of Paradise sneered.

"Hey senior sister and senior brother, let's stop arguing at this crucial moment," Ah Hong rubbed his head. These two were like a flame and a bomb; getting together would surely cause an explosion.

"There's something I still need to ask," Xiu Yue suddenly said, but instead of looking at the Bird of Paradise, she looked at A Hong.

Ah Hong was taken aback and said:

"Second Brother, what's wrong?"

"I've received information that the hackers who are currently ranked high on the wanted list have suddenly disappeared. They've vanished completely, both in the virtual world and the underworld," Xiu Yue said meaningfully. "What's even more interesting is that these hackers all collaborated with Mr. G on the Electronic Brain Project."

The second senior brother's information was really spot on.

Ah Hong recalled the scene of Gaokesi's rampage and subconsciously swallowed. He dared not reveal Mr. G's plan, so he forced a smile and said:

"Second Brother, you're joking. Let me put it this way: how many of the top-ranked hackers on the wanted list haven't collaborated with Mr. G? If the virtual helmet project fails, all hackers will be wiped out."

Xiu Yue's feminine face was unreadable, but she still managed to slip into her signature fake smile at the end.

"What you said makes sense. I was just giving you a heads-up to be careful."

"Stop talking nonsense, are you coming in or not?" Bird of Paradise said impatiently.

"Of course we have to go in."

All three were using "clone aliases" at the moment, a signature technique of Cyber Hacker. Even if the "aliases" malfunctioned, as long as the signal was cut off, they would not be traced back.

The next moment, the three vests collapsed to the ground and entered "standby mode," shutting down most of their bodily functions, with only their brainwaves becoming more active than in their normal state.

"Why is it so much quieter than I expected?"

In Database 0, Ah Hong looked around with some surprise, constantly switching between the visual systems of the data layer and the virtual layer.

But no matter which level you're on, it's completely empty, with only the most basic user agreement and not even a single data stream.

The three had prepared for the virus outbreak and had made many backup plans, but now, none of them were of any use.

"Your Humanity Experimentation Department has imprisoned all these electronic viruses?" Bird of Paradise asked.

"No," even someone as quick-witted as Xiu Yue couldn't help but show a hint of doubt on her face.

"At least to my knowledge, there has been no such large-scale operation."

"Perhaps it's another department?"

"It's hard to say."

Xiu Yue was also a bit confused. Although he had a wide network of connections, he was at a loss when it came to the high-ranking officials of the six ministries.

"If there's any action planned, Mr. G should have notified us in advance, right?"

Ahong raised a question: it's hard to say about other high-ranking officials, but the head of the Ghost in the Shell Mobile Division is high enough that he's qualified to review documents from other departments, in addition to his own.

If such an action were to take place, there's no reason why Mr. G wouldn't inform him in advance.

The three exchanged glances, all sensing something was amiss.

"Regardless, let's investigate using hacking techniques first."

In an instant, a large amount of code overflowed from the bodies of the three people, and all kinds of hacker plugins, electronic viruses, and virtual skills appeared. Among them, the data fluctuations on Paradise Bird were the strongest, and Xiu Yue had the most virtual plugins. Compared with these two, Ah Hong was clearly a level lower.

Unfortunately, no matter how they investigated, the final result was always the same—

"There really is nothing there, not even a virus code!"

"Where was that conversion ceremony held?"

"There's nothing there."

"Should we go and take a look ourselves?"

"Perhaps we should wait a little longer."

"There's nothing to wait for, unless you're scared."

"What do I have to be afraid of? That's just pointless provocation."

"How about we team up and restart this database server?"

"I must remind you that this database server is protected by the mother city's firewall. To modify the underlying layer, you would need to bypass the firewall."

As the group was arguing, Bird of Paradise suddenly raised an eyebrow, shut its beak, and took out an object—a small black box. The black box was trembling rapidly, like a Rubik's Cube constantly searching for the optimal path.

"The old man has come back to life!" Ah Hong's eyes widened.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Bird of Paradise scolded the other party, but inwardly she wondered, why would the old man's ashes cause such a disturbance at this time? Could it really be...?

Finally, the Rubik's Cube seemed to have found the optimal solution. The next moment, it disintegrated into a large number of data fragments. From within these fragments, a data entity of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy appeared, looking around in confusion, and asked curiously:

"Are you here for conversion as well?"

"Master!"

"Old man!"

"..."

Although his face was very young, the three of them recognized him at a glance as the old man who had taught them, an old hacker from the civilized era.

"What old man? I'm still young, not even bald yet. As for 'master,' that's too polite. We're all members of the punk family, we're all gay. Aren't you here to convert?" The boy looked at the three of them with a confused expression and asked warily.

The bird of paradise, its mind racing, said:

"Of course, but we are members of the 'Information Liberation Front.' May I ask which branch you are from?"

The boy's eyes lit up. "The Information Liberation Front, we're all on the same side! I knew you guys knew each other so well!"

"Let's go, let's hurry up and grab a good spot, or those 'Avalanche' guys will take it all."

The old man is definitely in a bad state right now.

The three exchanged glances, all understanding each other's meaning.

"Since we're all family, may I ask your name, young man?" Xiu Yue said with a kind smile.

"Me? My name is Leo, you can just call me Little Leo."

"Xiao Lei—" Ah Hong couldn't hold back any longer and made a strange expression.

Back then, I almost got beaten to death with a slipper by the other guy just for calling him "Old Lei," but now he calls me "Little Lei."

"How should I address my older brother and sister?"

"My name is Ahong."

"Oh, it's Brother Hong," Leo said matter-of-factly.

"Um, can you call me again?" Ah Hong suddenly said, stroking his chin.

At this moment, in Database 0, a location inaccessible by ordinary means, countless viruses appeared outside an altar, surrounded by a river flowing like golden lava.

As if driven by some force, a large number of electronic viruses burrowed into the magma.

Then, from within the golden lava, one figure after another emerged from the riverbed, several of whom looked very familiar.

Crypto killer, edge wanderer, neurowalker

These are all members of the punk family.