Want Some Imported Ones?

The Skynet Engineering Department is located on the fifteenth underground floor in the northern suburbs of Ming Capital.

No one can see it from the outside.

It is like a heart encased in concrete and lead plates, supplying blood to the entire Federation's soul guidance network day and night.

Ordinary people are unaware of its existence; only a few high-ranking military officers and members of parliament know what lies behind that silver-gray gate buried underground.

But at this moment, his heart is convulsing violently.

The core hall of the Skynet Engineering Department is larger than a Soul Guidance Stadium, with tens of thousands of miniature monitoring screens embedded in its curved walls, each corresponding to an information node within the Skynet coverage area.

The main screen directly in front is a giant projection screen made of a single piece of crystal. On ordinary days, it projects real-time data streams from the entire continent, resembling a slowly flowing blue star map. It is quiet, precise, and so beautiful that one almost forgets that it is the central hub of a war machine.

But now, the blue star map on the main screen is turning red in large areas, and some areas are turning black.

The nodes went out one after another, faster than the warning sounds could keep up.

"All nodes in Zone 14 are out of service!" The operator's voice pierced the hall like shards of glass.

He had barely finished speaking when someone else shouted, "The interface between the Groundnet and the Skynet has been breached! Data is flooding into the seventh layer! The seventh layer firewall... the seventh layer firewall is gone!"

"What do you mean by 'gone straight away'? Explain yourself!" The shift leader, like a trapped wild beast, leaned out from the platform, veins throbbing on his forehead.

In all his years of experience, he had never heard of the phrase "the firewall is completely gone."

The firewall won't simply disappear; it will only be destroyed.

But they didn't even see the destruction process.

"That's all, sir!"

The young operator turned around, his face as white as if he'd just been dragged out of an icebox, his eyes wide open, pupils shrinking to two black dots. "Three seconds ago, the seven firewalls were still there! Data was still flowing! Three seconds later... nothing at all!"

"It's like it's been wiped clean! The system thinks it's still running, but it's completely empty inside! It looks intact on the outside, but it collapses at the slightest touch!"

As he spoke, his fingers were still pressed on the manual control panel, but the safety switches seemed to be malfunctioning, and pressing them did nothing.

The people next to him came over to help him press the buttons, and both of their fingers turned white from pressing so hard, but the buttons remained as if they were dead.

"Don't press it, the button's wiring is fine!"

A middle-aged engineer wearing glasses suddenly spoke up from behind, his voice sounding like it was squeezed from underground, "The underlying protocol has been modified. Our manual cut-off command has been tampered with to allow continued passage."

"Anything we press right now could be opening a door for the other side."

"What should we do then?" The shift leader's voice trembled slightly for the first time.

He was in charge of the third-level interception team of the Skynet Engineering Department, and had seen at least eight hundred to a thousand attacks.

This time, they had no direction. Skynet itself became the opponent's chessboard, and they suddenly went from being the players to being captured pieces.

"The internet is down," someone whispered.

"You're insane! Skynet is down, the entire Federation..."

"If the network doesn't go down, we can't even protect this building, no matter how many floors it is!" The engineer with glasses had already smashed through the guardrail and staggered towards the control panel.

He moved quickly, as if scrambling to close the last gate.

The nodes on the main curtain wall are still going out in patches, as if being gently stroked by an invisible hand, leaving everything completely dark wherever it touches.

Panda images began to appear on the remaining screen, one by one, row by row, as if they were walking out of the wall in a procession.

There were seven or eight people gathered around the control panel, but no one dared to touch any of the buttons.

The engineer's finger rested on the physical switch with the highest authorization, the final safeguard of the Skynet Engineering Department.

Once pulled down, Skynet will physically detach from all external nodes.

He gripped the guillotine, but didn't pull it.

Because the cost of pulling it down would be too great, so great that the entire Ming Capital and the entire Federation would be plunged into darkness in an instant.

His fingers began to tremble.

"Notify...notify the council..." The duty officer's voice was almost squeezed out in a breath.

He grabbed the liaison officer and shouted, "Use the red frequency! No, use the old-fashioned wired! At top speed!"

The liaison officer practically rolled to the communications station.

The old-fashioned wired communicator was hidden behind a bulletproof glass panel, with the line leading directly to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

His fingers trembled as he pressed the call button. First came a series of piercing static, then a muffled human voice. "Council... urgent... receiving..."

"This is Skynet Engineering Department! We've been attacked..." Before he could finish speaking, a sharp whistling sound pierced through the communicator.

In front of the communication station, the red and blue indicator lights were jumping wildly.

Although the old-fashioned wired communication wasn't interrupted, each word spoken was fragmented into three or four pieces, transmitting only incoherent sentences to the other side. "Skynet... attack... layer... door... lost..."

At the Ming Capital Parliament Secretariat, the radio operator's expression changed as he listened to the fragmented sentences coming through the receiver.

He turned to look at the door leading to the Speaker's office, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Meanwhile, in the Skynet Engineering Department located 15 stories underground in the northern suburbs, the main curtain wall no longer flickers.

It turned completely black.

Everyone stopped.

There were no alarms, no keyboard clicks, and even breathing was so soft it was almost inaudible.

Only that old-fashioned wired communicator still hung in mid-air, occasionally letting out a few intermittent electrical leaks.

Then, the main screen flashed, and a giant panda appeared, holding three incense sticks.

There were three knocks on the door, very light, like knuckles tapping rapidly on the door.

Yun Jingheng didn't turn around. He simply raised his hand and typed a shortcut key on the keyboard. The panda icon and Skynet debris data on the screen instantly disappeared, replaced by a seemingly harmless desktop background image.

He casually took off the single earphone and turned off the speaker. The indicator light for the Half-Sweet Coffee" mode changed from blue to a very pale green, and it quietly huddled in the lower right corner of the computer, like a sleeping little animal.

"Come in," he said.

The door lock clicked open very softly. Tang Wulin slipped in first and closed the door behind him.

He was still wearing that drab stevedore's outfit, but the collar was clearly loosened, revealing a small patch of sweaty collarbone.

Ye Xinglan followed behind him, her headscarf removed, her long hair loosely draped over her shoulders, her face slightly reddened by the morning sun, but her eyes shone brightly.

She was still carrying the vegetable basket in her hand, with two pears squeezed together inside, their peels covered with a thin layer of dust.

Yun Jingheng slid the chair to the side, turned to face them, and leaned back lazily with his legs crossed.

Seeing him like this, Ye Xinglan paused for a moment, and her previously tense shoulder line slowly relaxed.

Tang Wulin could also see that there was no tension in the room, and there was even a faint smell of tea in the air.

"How is it?" Tang Wulin asked.

"Good."

Yun Jingheng said, his tone as relaxed as if he had just played a game of chess with Half-Sweet Coffee, "I originally thought the people who built Skynet were quite capable, but it turns out that the seven layers of firewalls were all just for show. They didn't even last fifteen minutes."

He shrugged, his expression a mix of disappointment and smugness. "Skynet is useless. The Federation's monitoring, scheduling, and tracking systems are down on a large scale. Even the mobile monitoring towers of the Spirit Pagoda are deaf and blind."

Tang Wulin let out a breath, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his chest.

He leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and his breathing became lighter.

Ye Xinglan didn't speak. She walked to the table, gently put down the vegetable basket, glanced at Yun Jingheng, and then looked at the screen in front of him that had been turned off.

"My virus has also been released."

Yun Jingheng added, his voice tinged with the smugness of someone who had pulled off a prank, "Now, the screens throughout Heaven Dou City are all displaying a panda offering incense."

"I reckon Ming Capital are in an uproar in Mingdu. By the time they realize what's happening, Skynet won't be back up for at least three months. We can start doing what we need to do now."

Upon hearing this, Tang Wulin finally chuckled.

The laughter was soft, tinged with weariness, but mostly with a sense of relief.

Just then, a hurried yet restrained shout came from outside the door, "Tang Wulin--! Tang Wulin! The president is looking for you! In his office!"

The voice came from halfway down the corridor, as if it were deliberately lowered, but the last syllable was drawn out, as if afraid he wouldn't hear it.

Upon hearing the sound, Tang Wulin straightened up, opened the door, and peeked out. He only saw a blurry figure standing at the end of the corridor, waving at him and making a "hurry up" gesture before turning and leaving.

Tang Wulin turned to look at Yun Jingheng, his eyes questioning.

Yun Jingheng picked up the cup of tea, which had long since gone cold, took a small sip, and gestured with his chin towards him. "Go ahead. Since they're looking for you, it's probably something urgent over there. I'll finish up here and clean up any remaining traces of the documents."

Tang Wulin nodded, opened the door, and then turned back to add, "I'll be back soon. Call me via earpiece if anything happens."

"Okay," Yun Jingheng said.

The door closed.

The footsteps in the corridor were quickly silenced by the heavy door, becoming barely audible echoes.

Yun Jingheng put down his teacup and turned to look at Ye Xinglan.

She took the pears out of the basket, wiped them on the hem of her clothes, and handed one over.

The pear skin was greenish-yellow, warmed by the sun.

"Try it," she said.

Yun Jingheng took it, bent down and took a bite. It was very juicy, with a sweet taste and just the right amount of sourness.

He puffed out his cheeks, chewed twice, and mumbled, "Sweet."

Ye Xinglan chuckled very softly, said nothing, and simply sat down beside him, her gaze returning to the blue light that had reappeared on the screen.

"Would you like something imported?"

"What kind of import is it?"

Yun Jingheng took another bite, then suddenly leaned in.

"Ugh...!"