Ten thousand I am across the heavens

This burst of white light was a high-intensity data surge in a short period. While it wasn't enough to cause substantial damage, it could temporarily disable the firewall's programs. The time gained wasn't enough for him to completely infiltrate. But now that he was in disguise, the situation was different.

He and the AI ​​beside him advanced rapidly, unaffected by the flashes of white light, instantly reaching a bunker in front of the defensive position. Before the defenders could react, they had already eliminated them, breaching the electronic guards. Metallic wires extended from their bodies, connecting them to the mechanical guards. As data was rapidly transmitted, their appearances gradually changed, becoming identical to the mechanical guards stationed there.

They blended right into the defensive line. They integrated seamlessly, as if they were already part of the original guards.

The white light faded, as if nothing had happened, and there was no further alert on the position.

Mo Chengzi realized his guess was right; the program was more rigid than he had imagined. After all, this wasn't a human-controlled system. Without someone overseeing it, some anomalies wouldn't be detected by the program's own operation. The program would assume that the virus that had invaded during that flash of white light had been destroyed by their fierce data attack.

But if someone were stationed here, they would realize something was wrong. They would realize that someone might have taken this opportunity to infiltrate, greatly increasing the likelihood of being exposed during a search.

The teachers at the school clearly chose this teaching method to save time and effort. They can do other things to earn money. It's naturally much easier not to have to teach themselves.

This turned the current vulnerability into an exploitable flaw. The other students who witnessed what had just happened were completely bewildered. They couldn't detect any problems in their data because they were also caught in the flashbang and couldn't clearly see the changes. They only saw a lot of noise but little action—a seemingly aggressive attempt to break through the defenses without any real damage. Even if they had charged in alone, they could have destroyed one or two lines of defense, taken down one or two positions, and advanced a certain distance. But this guy, despite his impressive momentum and high-intensity data release, hadn't even made a ripple. The enemy's cover showed very little damage. It's easy to see how easily this attack was repelled.

"I thought they'd be so powerful after spending money to upgrade their AI. But they're still so weak, they got knocked offline. Did they suffer such heavy losses that they even lost the money they paid for internet access?" In the class's small group chat, people would occasionally send out such mocking comments. Their classmates, who used to be far ahead of them academically, had suddenly fallen to this state. This gave them a strange sense of superiority and pleasure.

But this feeling of elation was fleeting. The opponent appeared to have been brutally defeated and logged off, but what good did that do them? It merely confirmed that their opponent had an even more powerful trump card, enough to instantly destroy their current level of power.

Next, they needed to find ways to launch an attack. The flashbang had given them an idea. A similar instantaneous data burst, while perhaps not capable of causing substantial damage to the defenses, could serve as cover for their attack. It would allow them to take advantage of the opportunity to break through the defenses and infiltrate to cause sabotage.

Following this line of thought, the students began to imitate them, adjusting the way they used their equipment to achieve a similar data-driven impact.

This presented the perfect opportunity for Mo Chengzi, who was holding the line. He had temporarily taken over the position of the original line builder, becoming an integral part of the defensive system. If he moved around recklessly, he would be detected. However, if others were attacking, the situation would be different. Especially in the chaos of a battlefield with indiscriminate data attacks, it presented an excellent opportunity.

With a flash of light, normal data exchange was interrupted once again, and he took the opportunity to move to a closer cover. After quickly eliminating the mechanical guards there, he transformed into the mechanical guards and stationed himself closer to the teaching building.

His action went unnoticed not only by the guards but also by the other students who launched the attack. They had already given up on trying to break through, as school was almost over.

However, after discovering that using data breaches to paralyze the reconnaissance system was extremely efficient, they all gained confidence in breaking through, and some even joined together to spend extra money to extend the server's open time, allowing everyone to try new tactics.

Amidst flashes of light, Mo Chengzi cautiously shifted his position, conserving his strength. From the very beginning, he hadn't gone all out, consistently holding back. The harassment and attacks from the other students, in fact, allowed him to advance effortlessly.

He was now extremely close to the foot of the teaching building, yet he had consumed almost no energy. Just as the students launched another surprise attack, he used a flashbang to climb through a broken window and enter the campus.

This means that he has evaded the observation post on the rooftop, and now he only needs to avoid the surveillance cameras inside the building.

However, he doesn't know where the surveillance cameras are, and there won't be anyone else to help him. The other students are far from capable of attacking the building, let alone finding the data inside.

Mo Chengzi, having now reclaimed his rights and abandoned his pretense, summoned Noreiki to scan the surrounding area, marking anything that might be a surveillance camera. He began exploring, bypassing these cameras, and quickly mapped out a significant portion of the area.

This was crucial for the upcoming operation. Based on his assessment, to infiltrate secretly with his current equipment, he first needed to understand the patterns of these people's movements. Otherwise, if his operational logic faltered after the substitution, he could easily be killed on the spot.

This is where Knowledge's value comes in; she's an individual with independent capabilities. Releasing her allows her to conduct dangerous reconnaissance missions even without a data connection between the two entities. This way, even if discovered, her true identity won't be revealed. While an intruder appearing in the school building will indeed trigger an alert, the alert will be lifted once the intruder is killed on the spot.

As for what happens after the AI ​​clone is destroyed, it will naturally use its source code to create an identical clone.

He didn't need any data connection with his clone; he only needed to wait discreetly in a safe corner, waiting for the engagement to begin and recording the location of the engagement.

After several encounters, he had figured out the movement patterns of the surrounding mechanical guards. His first clone encountered a mechanical guard patrolling the corridor at a corner. A skirmish ensued, and he deliberately lured the guard into his line of sight, confirming that there was only one guard. In the second encounter, after roughly understanding the guard's methods, the clone chose to infiltrate the classroom. After the guard finished patrolling, it entered the corridor through the back door, bypassing the guard's surveillance and continuing forward.

They repeatedly entered the classroom using this method of evading detection, traversing multiple patrol corridors. However, at a later point in time, a firefight broke out inside a classroom in the distance. This time, Mo Chengzi couldn't deduce the cause of the firefight or why they were discovered, but this wasn't a major problem. Even without figuring it out, a similar infiltration operation would allow them to verify the data and find the cause of the problem.

During the third infiltration, the clone successfully bypassed two patrols by entering the classroom. The speed was faster, but it also led to an earlier encounter with a classroom, though this time it wasn't the same classroom.

Based on the location of the encounter and the binary information transmitted through gunfire in the previous coded messages, he roughly determined the situation on the other side.

Patrolling guard robots periodically inspect the classroom. This inspection is routine, occurring every 10 minutes. During this time, you should find hiding spots in the corridors. After evading this round of inspections, the classroom becomes a safe haven again.

Thus began the fourth infiltration attempt. This fourth infiltration proved the previous assumptions correct. The fact that they went undetected for an extended period meant that the entire building's patrol system likely followed the aforementioned pattern, employing multiple overlapping patrol methods to prevent intruders from hiding in corners and ambushing victims.

Mo Chengzi waited patiently until a loud bang was heard. It was a massive explosion, a signal he had previously agreed upon with the artificial intelligence on his body.

If the location where the data is hidden is discovered, detonate the bomb immediately. The massive data surge from the explosion will mark the location of the hidden data.

Mo Chengzi immediately wrote down the address. This time, he took matters into his own hands. Following the pre-arranged route, he quickly entered the corridor. Just as the patrolling mechanical guards were about to turn the corner, they saw him run into the classroom. Leaning against the classroom wall, listening to the footsteps passing by outside, he calmly stood up, tiptoed to another door in the classroom, gently pushed it open, and quickly returned to the corridor, evading two more patrols.

Calculating the time, it was almost time to check the classrooms, and there was less than a minute before the next wave of mechanical guards patrolling the corridor arrived. He chose to hide on the corridor ceiling, a location that wasn't easy to scan. The mechanical guards specifically responsible for patrolling the corridors would definitely find him. However, the mechanical guards responsible for searching the classrooms had blind spots in their reconnaissance of this location.

He peered from the ceiling, watching the mechanical guards below open the classroom door. They then released a scanning beam, meticulously scanning the classroom's interior. Time ticked by. In the distance, the faint footsteps of patrolling guards could be heard in the corridor.

If he doesn't come down and hide in the classroom soon, he'll be discovered very quickly.

Fortunately, just before the patrolling soldiers appeared at the end of the corridor, the scan of the classroom was completed. The mechanical guard scanning the classroom didn't look up, simply walking past him. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he landed almost silently on the ground, brushing past the mechanical guard who was right next to him. He opened the classroom door and slipped inside.

The instant he closed the classroom door, the mechanical guard patrolling the corridor had already rounded the corner. Seeing nothing amiss in the corridor, it continued scanning forward.

Anyone else would probably be drenched in cold sweat by now, but Mo Chengzi was just warming up. The mental fortitude required for such a high-difficulty operation was nothing to him. Not to mention the relatively abundant data available now, even in the face of completely unknown situations, he could remain calm and make rational choices in that critical moment.

After dodging the mechanical guards in the corridor, he successfully reached the stairs. There were mechanical arms directly guarding the stairs. They did not patrol, but were stationed here to prevent anyone from passing through.

Recalling the plan he had discussed with the AI, and putting himself in its shoes, he quickly came up with a solution to this situation.

Its form transformed into that of a mechanical guard, and finally, with stiff steps, it walked up the stairs, posing as if it were scanning and patrolling.

But he didn't set off immediately. Instead, he waited quietly, guessing that someone would patrol down the stairs and pass by the guards stationed there.

His AI, posing as a guard, successfully reached the upper levels without triggering combat. Otherwise, most methods would have resulted in firefights. The resulting data fluctuations would have detected the engagement.

His guess was correct. Hidden in the shadows, he indeed saw the guard descending the stairs. Just as the guard was about to turn and patrol in the opposite direction, he swiftly activated his equipment at full power, silently and instantly killing the opponent and transforming into his appearance. Following his calculated timing, he moved upwards at the same pace as the guard's original patrol.

As he expected, the guards stationed in the corridor did not stop him. If he had rashly gone upstairs instead of waiting for them to come down, he might have missed them due to the time difference. This could have caused the guards in the corridor to become suspicious of two guards patrolling upwards in succession, and he might have even encountered the stairwell guards who had not yet been killed, making him almost certain to be discovered.

[To be continued]

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