Digital Offensive and Defensive Battle (Part 2)

Warehouse 7 at Pier 3 in Tokyo Bay stood in the night like a tomb of steel. Tang Yu crouched in the shadow of a shipping container, rainwater dripping from his waterproof jacket. Less than two hours remained before Tsukishiro had to return to the Hive for synchronization.

Karuizawa's face was pale: "I... I'm afraid of heights..."

Trust me. Tang Yu looked at her firmly, I will protect you.

The shouting from the floor below grew closer, and someone began slamming against the bathroom door. Karuizawa gritted her teeth and nodded, grabbing the shower curtain cord to begin her descent. Tang Yu followed close behind, simultaneously using his system to scan the environment below:

[Personnel detected on ground level]

[Quantity: 6]

[Armament: Non-lethal stun weapons]

[Recommendation: Divert to the bushes on the left]

When the two reached the height of the second floor, the shower curtain suddenly tore! Karuizawa screamed as she fell, but Tang Yu leaped, catching her in mid-air while activating:

[Redeem Instant Buffer Force Field]

[Cost: 5,000 points]

[Remaining Emotion Points: 2,400]

An invisible air cushion formed instantly before they hit the ground, absorbing most of the impact. The two rolled into the bushes, and Tang Yu immediately covered Karuizawa's mouth, signaling for silence.

Six security guards ran past less than five meters away with stun batons, their high-powered flashlights sweeping over the bushes, nearly catching them. Only when the footsteps faded did Tang Yu release his hand.

What do we do now? Karuizawa whispered, soaked to the bone, her blonde hair plastered against her pale cheeks, they must have locked down the school gates...

Tang Yu pondered for a moment, recalling Ayanokoji's text message. Tsukishiro relies on a central node... if we can find and destroy it...

"We'll leave the campus first. Tang Yu decided, I know a place Tsukishiro won't be able to find."

They used the heavy rain as cover, moving along the blind spots of the surveillance cameras. Tang Yu used his remaining emotion points to redeem a brief environmental perspective ability, avoiding all patrol personnel. By the time they finally climbed over the school wall, the horizon was already turning a pale, fish-belly white.

Where... is this? Karuizawa looked at the dilapidated apartment building before her.

"Ayanokoji's safe house. Tang Yu entered the access code—715229, he told me before he left."

The interior of the apartment was unexpectedly tidy, with all daily necessities fully stocked. The most striking feature was the old but clearly modified computer in the center of the living room, along with the dense array of sticky notes and photos on the wall—all data regarding the White Room.

Karuizawa slumped onto the sofa, finally breaking down in tears: "Why me? I didn't do anything! I just... I just wanted a fresh start..."

Tang Yu knelt before her, gently wiping away her tears: "It's precisely because your change is so pure, so real. Tsukishiro wants to analyze this transformation, replicate it, and then..." He recalled Tsukishiro's words at the hearing, 'harvest' it.

What should we do? Karuizawa looked up with teary eyes.

Tang Yu looked at the materials on the wall, his gaze falling on a blurry photo—the basement of a certain building, lined with dozens of devices resembling incubation pods. There was a logo in the corner of the photo: WR-Hive-7.

"Find the Hive. Tang Yu said softly, and destroy Tsukishiro's central node."

He helped Karuizawa to the bedroom to rest, then returned to the living room to study the materials Ayanokoji had left behind. Beside the computer lay a USB drive labeled "For Tang Yu."

Inserting it into the computer, a video played automatically. Ayanokoji's face appeared on the screen:

"If you are seeing this, it means Tsukishiro has already made his move. The White Room's seventh Hive is located within the abandoned underground flood control facility in Tokyo Bay; the entrance is at Warehouse 7, Pier 3, Minato Ward. Tsukishiro's main server is there, but it is heavily guarded."

The video switched to a blurry surveillance clip showing Tsukishiro walking into a basement, taking off his coat, and... revealing a clear interface on the back of his neck, connected to his spinal nerves.

"As you can see, Tsukishiro Shuhei is a biological AI carrier; he must return to the Hive every 72 hours to synchronize his memory and energy. The next synchronization time is..." The screen displayed a string of numbers: 72:00:00, counting down.

Tang Yu checked the current time—31 hours remained until the next synchronization.

"The Hive's defense system includes 12 armed guards, motion sensors, and an electromagnetic pulse barrier. A frontal assault is impossible. But there is a flaw in Tsukishiro's design..."

The video suddenly switched to a complex technical diagram.

"...His biological neural network relies on the principle of quantum entanglement, which means any attack on him will immediately feed back to the main server.

The reverse is also true—if you can hack the server, you can directly influence all connected Tsukishiro units."

At the end of the video, Ayanokoji's expression was uncharacteristically grave: "The choice is yours. Attacking the Hive is extremely dangerous, but it is the only way to stop Tsukishiro. I have already set up all the necessary hacking tools on the computer. Good luck."

The screen went dark, and Tang Yu fell into deep thought. Within 31 hours, he needed to plan an infiltration of a high-security facility while protecting Karuizawa, all while his emotion points were nearly exhausted.

The bedroom door opened softly, and Karuizawa walked out, having changed into clean spare clothes: "I heard some of it... are you going to that Hive?"

Tang Yu nodded: "It's the only chance we have to end all of this."

"We. Karuizawa emphasized, I won't let you take the risk alone."

"It's too dangerous!"

"More dangerous than tonight?" Karuizawa gave a bitter smile, "Listen, I know I don't have your special abilities, but I can help. Tsukishiro wants me, which means I can act as bait..."

"Absolutely not!" Tang Yu interrupted sharply, "You don't know how dangerous Tsukishiro is!"

"That's exactly why I must participate! Karuizawa's eyes flashed with a rare determination, "This isn't just your fight, Tang Yu. My life, my memories, my future... I want to take them back with my own hands."

The two stared at each other for a long time, and Tang Yu finally sighed: "Fine. But we must have a plan, and you must strictly follow my instructions."

Karuizawa nodded, her expression relaxing slightly. She walked over to Tang Yu and looked at the computer screen: "So, Mr. Genius Hacker, how are we going to hack into the lair of a super AI?"

Tang Yu couldn't help but smile, beginning to browse the toolkit on the computer. His top-tier hacking skills allowed him to immediately recognize that these were no ordinary programs—quantum decrypters, neural network simulators, and even AI consciousness interference algorithms. Ayanokoji had prepared quite thoroughly.

"First," Tang Yu opened a map of Tokyo Bay, "we need to figure out the exact layout of the Hive and the guard rotations..."

Outside the window, the heavy rain began to subside, and the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds. Over the next 31 hours, they would plan an almost impossible raid.

And somewhere, Tsukishiro Shuhei was searching for their trail through countless cameras and surveillance devices.