Origin Chip

[As everyone expected, Punklorde's second global network war has completely broken out.]

[After a year, the inferior Aetherium Chips that originally flowed into places like the Great Wilderness and Scrap Mountain have completed a generation of optimization and upgrades, with significant improvements in both performance and operational range.]

[However, no one expected this war to break out so quickly. During a government meeting in the Oasis District, someone mentioned that even if the rebels in the Great Wilderness who obtained the Aetherium Chips wanted to pose a threat to the Oasis District, they would need at least a few years to prepare, at least until they were fully familiar with the Aetherium Chips they had acquired.]

[But now, the war has erupted faster than anyone anticipated.]

[Expanding outward from the Oasis District, the scale of the war gradually spread throughout Punklorde, with hackers from all over the world participating. Whether to defend their own interests or simply to find amusement and create chaos, they launched a global offensive and defensive battle.]

[As a high-ranking official in the Oasis District government and one of Punklorde's most outstanding hackers, you naturally participated in this global network war. Although most of the time, you played the role of the defender in this offensive and defensive battle.]

[Entering early winter, this war has lasted for a month. The entire civilization order of Punklorde has begun to collapse, but perhaps because of this war, the Dark Domain experienced fluctuations one night.]

[It was on this day that you successfully cracked the method to enter the Dark Domain and successfully obtained the information you wanted. You knew that the enemy who killed your parents was, unsurprisingly, the Owl Serpent. Surprisingly, you didn't feel a trace of emotion when you got this result.]

[What surprised you, however, was another secret: this second global network war in Punklorde was also related to him, because those inferior Aetherium Chips were personally sent by him to the Great Wilderness.]

[As for why he did this, you didn't understand at first, until he saw three words in the Dark Domain—Annihilation Gang.]

[You had heard of this organization that exists in the universe. They are a group of desperadoes who walk the path of "Destruction," and the chaos caused by this war may be what he wants to see.]

[As you hacked deeper into the Dark Domain, you indeed found the Origin Chip. You originally thought that entering the Dark Domain was just the beginning of entering a dungeon, and you would need to defeat the final boss to get this chip. But you didn't expect that there was no boss here, not even a small monster. The final treasure chest was just there quietly, looking as if it was waiting to be picked up.]

In early winter in Punklorde, snowflakes fell sparsely on the streets, were swept up by the wind, but quickly turned into snow water.

Bai Heng stepped on the wet ground. The once prosperous streets had turned into ruins, leaving only broken walls and rubble.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, he came to the entrance of a fast food restaurant.

The glass door here was completely broken, leaving only a pile of glass shards on the ground, and the store was empty.

Bai Heng went inside, wanting to turn on the lights, but found that even the light bulbs were broken.

Helplessly retracting his hand, Bai Heng groped in the dark, entered the fast food restaurant, and gently pulled open the rolling door of the basement.

He walked down the stairs until he reached the narrow basement.

The night outside the window shone through the gaps in the blinds, barely illuminating this corner.

As always, Silver Wolf had preserved the original layout of this room. When he walked to the arcade machine, the still undamaged machine lit up, and the pink light fell on the ground, like the neon lights of the city.

In a daze, Bai Heng remembered the five years he lived here. On closer thought, it should be the most stable time of his life.

But for today, Bai Heng left Silver Wolf, hoping she could live a normal life.

Because he joined the Slag Gang and the government of "Punklorde Network Corporation," his every move would be monitored by many hackers in Punklorde.

Therefore, it was impossible for him to actively look for Silver Wolf, not even a greeting online.

But he didn't expect that the future would turn out like this. Silver Wolf became an outstanding hacker, and her future achievements might even surpass his.

And before he found the murderer who killed his parents, a war that changed the entire Punklorde arrived ahead of schedule.

Thinking of these troubles, Bai Heng shook his head and turned on the arcade machines in the basement one by one.

A total of eight arcade machines, only three of which could be turned on.

However, after Bai Heng turned on these machines, he unexpectedly discovered that the astronomical records he had left behind had been broken by Silver Wolf.

He smiled as if relieved, and then started a game, until the record holders on the three arcade machines became him again.

After leaving the fast food restaurant, Bai Heng began to walk towards the headquarters of "Punklorde Network Corporation".

But on the way, he encountered two children.

They were two ragged little girls, huddled in the corner of a deep alley.

Upon seeing Bai Heng, they quickly ran towards the depths of the alley.

These were orphans left behind by this war, just like the natural disaster that year, he and Brownie became orphans.

Bai Heng knew that he had scared them, so he said:

"Don't be afraid, I'm from the government."

"Are you hungry? I have food here."

Perhaps hearing the word "food," the younger sister, who was clearly hungry for many days, stopped.

But the older sister still planned to pull her away.

But before the younger sister could be pulled, Bai Heng had already come to the two little girls, gently touching their messy long hair.

His actions made the older sister protect her younger sister behind her at the first moment, and then look at Bai Heng nervously.

Until Bai Heng spread out his right hand—there were two compressed biscuits hidden inside.

This reassured the two girls.

However, they still didn't dare to move, just staring at Bai Heng with wide eyes.

Seeing this, Bai Heng put two compressed biscuits into the hands of the two little girls respectively, and said softly:

"Eat."

The younger sister clenched the compressed biscuit, carefully glanced at her older sister, and after getting her consent, began to devour the hard-won food.

Meanwhile, the older sister was gazing tenderly at her younger sister, silently stuffing the compressed biscuit into her dirty pocket. Then, she bowed to Bai Heng and said, "Thank you, mister."

"What are you saying? Call me big brother," Bai Heng corrected, annoyed. He was only twenty years old; being called mister was too much.

"Oh... thank you, big brother," the older sister said, startled for a moment before correcting herself.

Bai Heng then pinched the younger sister's cheek and said, "You have to call me that too."

The younger sister, who looked only five or six years old, mumbled through the compressed biscuit, her voice soft and unclear, "Thank you, big bwother."

Bai Heng waved his hand and said, "Thank you... never mind, that's close enough."

After the simple greetings, Bai Heng became serious again and spoke gently, "Do you hate war?"

The younger sister didn't speak, but the older sister bit her lip and whispered, "Our parents are dead. It happened just a few days ago."

Seeing the tears welling up in the older sister's eyes, Bai Heng placed his hand on her head and said softly, "Then, let it end today."

At the top of the Punklorde Network Corporation headquarters building.

Bai Heng cursed himself a few times, calling himself a "big idiot" and a "soft touch," but then he thought, if he could come up with this kind of solution, maybe he really was a genius.

Besides, life is short. What's wrong with showing off a little today?

He pressed the button on the Origin Chip, and a virtual display appeared before him. Bai Heng chuckled and said, "This thing is much better than Punklorde Network Corporation's imitations."

He entered the commands and began editing.

[Brain Domain Expansion], [Thinking Sensitivity Enhancement], [Extreme Stress Resistance Enhancement], [Computing Power Enhancement]...

The Origin Chip, compared to ordinary Aetherium Chips' ability to edit reality, could even edit a person's physical functions.

After completing a series of edits, Bai Heng felt his mind completely empty, but his body was enduring immense strain.

But it didn't matter; it was just this once.

With all the preparations complete, Bai Heng smiled and said, "Everyone, it's time to enter the game."

[Through the Origin Chip, you have hacked into the global Aetherium Chip network, simultaneously issuing a challenge to all hackers within the Punklorde world. ]

[At this moment, everyone has been pulled into the Dark Domain network. For hackers, a forced entry is undoubtedly a provocation. At the same time, all attack commands began to converge on you, and chaotic streams of information surged towards you. Your body, edited by the Origin Chip, defended with terrifying computing power.]

[However, the price is that blood is overflowing from the corners of your mouth. You can clearly feel your life force rapidly draining away.]

[1, 2, 3... 180 seconds, which is three minutes, just as you predicted.]

[A sweet, fishy taste surged from your throat. You bit the tip of your tongue, and a mouthful of boiling blood spurted from your mouth.]

[At the same time, the Punklorde global network crashed.]