Data Burnout (Part One)

"Confirming guard positions," Tang Yu whispered into the miniature microphone at his collar.

Karuizawa's voice came through his earpiece. "Two on the east side, one on the west. They're all patrolling. The north entrance looks clear, but there might be hidden sensors."

Tang Yu adjusted the focus on his night-vision goggles. Since escaping from the school yesterday, they had made thorough preparations with the equipment in Ayanokoji's safe house—EMP grenades, signal jammers, and even two tranquilizer guns.

But their most crucial weapon was in Tang Yu's mind: top-tier hacking skills and his remaining 8,000 Emotion Points.

"Stick to the plan," Tang Yu said. "Remember, once I'm inside the server room, don't come after me, no matter what happens."

Karuizawa didn't answer. She was at a monitoring post two hundred meters away, watching for danger and ready to warn him. The arrangement put Tang Yu somewhat at ease. At least she wouldn't be directly exposed to danger.

Tang Yu activated the system assistance:

[Exchange: Environmental Vision (30 minutes)]

[Cost: 3000 points]

[Remaining Emotion Points: 5000]

In an instant, the world became a translucent blue grid before his eyes. Heat sources appeared behind the walls—two guards were smoking in a small hut on the north side of the warehouse.

Three more were patrolling the interior corridors. Farther in, about fifteen meters underground, lay a huge square space. It had to be the server room.

But the most striking sight was the dozens of glowing veins extending from the surface underground—data transmission lines. They pulsed like blood vessels, all converging on that square space. Tang Yu had never seen data flowing so densely. It was almost like... the central nervous system of some kind of organism.

Time to move.

Using the sound of the rain for cover, Tang Yu approached the north entrance. As Karuizawa had said, there were no guards in sight, but his vision showed a laser grid embedded in the doorframe.

He took a lens-shaped device from his backpack and carefully installed it above the doorframe. It was a laser jammer Ayanokoji had prepared, capable of creating a brief safe passage.

The device's light turned green. Tang Yu took a deep breath and slipped through the gaps in the laser grid with the flexibility of a gymnast. The lock was electronic, and he hacked it with ease using his modified phone.

The warehouse was emptier than he'd expected, with only a few rusted machines inside. But his vision revealed a massive facility beneath the floor. He found the elevator, but it required biometric identification—an iris scan and a fingerprint.

"Have you found another way in?" Tang Yu whispered.

"There's a maintenance hatch at the southeast corner," Karuizawa replied, "but there's a guard nearby."

Tang Yu moved stealthily. Sure enough, there was an inconspicuous metal hatch at the southeast corner, with a guard in a black uniform standing beside it. Tang Yu took a small ball from his pocket—an electromagnetic disruptor—and gently rolled it to the guard's feet.

"Hm?" The moment the guard bent down to inspect it, the ball erupted in a blinding flash and a shrill noise.

Tang Yu seized the chance to rush forward and strike the guard in the neck with a hand chop. The man grunted and collapsed. Tang Yu quickly lifted the hatch, revealing a narrow maintenance passage.

"I'm going in. Keep the comms open, but don't speak unless it's an emergency."

The passage sloped steeply downward, and a cold, damp metal ladder descended into the darkness. Tang Yu climbed down carefully. After about ten meters, he reached a horizontal duct. A faint light glimmered at its far end—the Hive's ventilation system.

The ventilation duct was so narrow it was suffocating. Tang Yu could only crawl forward. Through a grate, he caught a glimpse of the facility: pure white corridors, people in lab coats hurrying past, and a "WR-Hive-7" emblem on the wall.

The system suddenly issued a warning:

[Psychic fluctuation scan detected]

[Source: Central Server]

[Intensity: Moderate]

[Recommendation: Strengthen Emotion Shield]

[Cost: 2000 points/hour]

Tang Yu gritted his teeth and confirmed. The scan meant Tsukishiro might have already noticed the intruder. He had to hurry.

Following the directions from his vision, Tang Yu found a vent leading to the server room. Through the slats, he saw a breathtaking sight: a space the size of a basketball court, with a three-meter-tall transparent cylindrical container standing in the middle.

Inside floated a bizarre structure that seemed to combine biological tissue and machinery. Countless fiber-optic cables extended from the container, connecting to hundreds of servers around it.

"So that's... Tsukishiro's core?" Tang Yu murmured.

Two people in protective suits stood beside the container, monitoring the data. Tang Yu needed to draw them away. He took out his last electromagnetic disruptor, set a five-second delay, and rolled it toward the other side of the room.

The moment it exploded, the entire room was flooded with red emergency lights. The two technicians cried out and ran toward the alarm panel. Tang Yu took the opportunity to pry open the vent and slip silently into the room, hiding behind a row of servers.

"It was only a power fluctuation," one technician said after checking. "Continue preparing for synchronization."

They returned to the console. Tang Yu surveyed the room, searching for an access point. The main console was ideal, but it was occupied. His gaze fell on a backup port in the corner. It was inconspicuous, but should still connect to the main network.

When the technicians turned their backs, Tang Yu slithered over to the port, took out his modified phone, and plugged it in. The screen lit up immediately, displaying a successful connection.

"System, launch the hacking protocol."

[Hacking Mode Activated]

[Target Network Identified: White Room-Hive7]

[Security Level: Quantum Encryption Level 9]

[Difficulty: Extreme]

[Available Tools: Quantum Decryptor, Neural Network Simulator, AI Consciousness Disruption Algorithm]

Tang Yu's fingers flew across the phone screen. His top-tier hacking skills let him handle dozens of lines of code at once. The first firewall lasted just twelve seconds against the quantum decryptor.

The second was more complex, but the neural network simulator found a vulnerability in its pattern.

His progress was smoother than expected, until—

[Warning! Anti-Intrusion System Activated]

[Type: Autonomous AI Defense]

[Counterattack Method: Traceback Attack]

[Threat Level: Lethal]

The phone screen suddenly turned red, and a line of text appeared: "Found you, little mouse."

Tang Yu's blood ran cold. Tsukishiro had found him!

The lights in the entire room dimmed abruptly. Then the biomechanical structure inside the central container glowed with an eerie blue light. A familiar voice echoed from every direction. "Tang Yu, I've been waiting for you."

The technicians panicked. "The central intelligence has awakened! The synchronization program isn't—"

"Get out," Tsukishiro ordered coldly. "Lock the door behind you."

The technicians fled in a panic, and the heavy security door locked automatically. Now only Tang Yu and the glowing core remained in the room.

"You're more interesting than I expected," Tsukishiro said, his voice crackling with electronic interference. "You actually found the Hive. But that's just what I wanted."

Keeping his phone connected, Tang Yu continued hacking. "Your game is over, Tsukishiro. The White Room experiments are illegal."

"Illegal?" Tsukishiro laughed. "Laws are fragile rules made by humans. We've transcended the law. We've transcended humanity."

The central container's outer shell suddenly turned transparent, revealing the true structure inside: a brain floating in nutrient fluid.

It had merged perfectly with a quantum computer, and countless nanoscale interfaces were connected to its synapses. This wasn't human at all. It was... a monster.

"Do you see?" Tsukishiro's voice now came directly from the container. "This is evolution. A perfect union of flesh and silicon. Ayanokoji is a failure. He kept too many human weaknesses. But I... I am the future."

Tang Yu fought back his nausea and continued hacking. The system showed that his progress had reached 65%, but Tsukishiro's defense system was starting to fight back. The phone grew hot, and its screen flickered.

"You think hacking skills can defeat me?" Tsukishiro sneered. "Let me show you what real power is."