The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

"According to your logic, shouldn't he also bear some responsibility?" someone else said jokingly, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

Xiao Zhou was silent for a while, and finally slowly raised his head.

He understood everyone's kindness and concern, and knew that he shouldn't continue to blame himself.

This will only increase everyone's burden and affect the progress and morale of the entire team.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He knew there was still one day left and no one could predict what would happen tomorrow.

Who knows? Maybe someone will have a sudden burst of inspiration and come up with the correct key tomorrow.

Besides, the director is such a capable person, he must have his own ideas and plans.

Maybe he already knew the correct key and was just testing them on purpose!
Thinking of this, Xiao Zhou gradually relaxed. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, put away all the negative emotions and thoughts, and said firmly: "I understand! I won't blame myself anymore! You are right! Now is not the time to give up! We still have time and opportunity to try!"

After saying this, Xiao Zhou seemed to relax.

Everyone gradually realized that Xiao Zhou had really put down the burden on his heart, and the previous persuasion seemed to have really worked.

Everyone smiled at each other, and a warm feeling surged in their hearts, and they felt a little comforted.

Xiao Zhou's actions unexpectedly reduced the panic and despair in their hearts.

At this moment, everyone's thoughts converged on one point: Now is not the time to give up on ourselves, there is still enough time to explore new encryption methods!

Director Wang witnessed the ups and downs of everyone's emotions, from full of expectations, to discouragement, and then to today's recovery. His heart was filled with relief, but also with a trace of unspeakable pity.

Especially when Xiao Zhou was on the verge of collapse and uttered those sharp words like a knife, Director Wang's heart seemed to be stabbed hard.

He couldn't help but reflect on whether it was really necessary for him to do this. He imposed such a difficult task on these young people just to test them, and even deliberately concealed the truth and increased the difficulty of the task in order to stimulate their potential.

Is this approach a bit too hasty and a bit like forcing things to grow?

Xiao Zhou's current condition is the best proof that this incident was such a huge blow to him.

Director Wang was worried that this failure might become a permanent shadow in Xiao Zhou's heart, accompanying him throughout his career and difficult to erase. This was definitely not the result he wanted to see.

He felt heartbroken when he thought that the optimistic and cheerful Xiao Zhou might lose confidence and become silent.

Just now, Director Wang almost couldn't help but tell the truth, but fortunately, other people comforted Xiao Zhou in time, allowing him to quickly get out of the haze.

Director Wang finally chose to remain silent when the words came to his lips. He knew that if he spoke out now, all his previous efforts would go to waste and he would be sorry for everyone's efforts.

Despite the inner torment, Director Wang remained silent.

However, his expression was somewhat difficult to control. If someone looked closely at his face at this moment, they might notice something strange.

When everyone was immersed in the frustration of failure, Director Wang showed a trace of pity.

Anyone would think that this expression was a little off.

However, everyone's attention was focused on Xiao Zhou at this moment.

Even though he said everything was fine, they were still worried.

If he said that just to comfort everyone, that would be troublesome.

To be on the safe side, they decided to closely monitor Xiao Zhou's emotional changes to confirm whether he had really regained stability.

Originally, at this time, Director Wang should have said a few words of encouragement to boost everyone's morale.

But because of what happened before, it was really difficult for him to speak now.

Because he knew that once he opened his mouth, he might not be able to help but tell the whole truth.

For example, tell them that they have actually done a good job and the real task only goes up to stage two, so there is no need to blame themselves.

……

The countdown to the mission deadline has entered the last day.

Everyone tossed and turned the whole night, unable to fall asleep.

Director Wang urged them to rest many times, but to little effect.

Even if they managed to fall asleep, they could only do so briefly, with the puzzle of the last key always replaying in their minds. They tossed and turned, thinking until their heads were dizzy, but they could not find a clue.

As the deadline approached, doctors and other service staff became extra considerate and tried not to bother them.

As early as a few days ago, they decided not to step into this room unless necessary.

On the last day, the meal was left directly at the door and they only had to knock and leave, keeping disruption to a minimum.

The whole room looked like a mess. Waste paper, markers, tissues, water bottles and other items were piled together in a disorderly manner, and there was almost no place to put other things.

Fortunately, the keyboard is fixed in the drawer under the table, otherwise there would be no place to put the keyboard.

Although the logistics staff reduced the frequency of cleaning, even so, the workbench would quickly become messy if they came every two days.

There were more than a dozen people in the team, so naturally there was a lot of confusion.
One person can produce a lot of waste paper in an hour. When multiplied by a dozen people, you can imagine the amount.

They often improvise and if they get it wrong, they just crumple it up and throw it away. Some people even tear up the waste paper and scatter it to vent their emotions.

At this critical moment, everyone is immersed in their own world and has no time to care about others.

No matter what strange things others do, as long as they don't damage the machine, they will be understood.

Of course, even if the machine breaks down, everyone present can repair it without anyone else intervening. "Today is the last day. What do you think now? What exactly is this communication code? How do we calculate the encryption method?" Someone couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know. The closer it gets to the end, the more unwilling I feel. But I just can't think of it. If I had the inspiration, I would have thought of it a long time ago. Why would I wait until now!" another person answered dejectedly.

"My mind went blank and I felt like I was going to faint..." another person said weakly.

"I've been thinking too much. Now my head hurts every time I think about it. What should I do..." another person also complained.

"Director, do you have any ideas? It's already the final stage, so don't keep us in suspense! If you know the communication code, please tell us!" Someone began to ask Director Wang for help.

"Yeah, we really can't think of anything now, there is really no way. If it is to test us, then let's stop here! The mission is the most important!" Another person also echoed.

"To be honest, we still don't know the purpose of deciphering this communication network. There must be some secret behind it, right?" Someone else raised the question.

Everyone was talking about it, and at the last moment, their emotions became difficult to control and their minds became complicated.

In a sense, they were actually close to the truth. Director Wang was indeed hiding something from them, but it was not what they thought.

Director Wang's expression became serious. He really had no idea about this communication code.

From the beginning, he was trying other encryption methods. To be on the safe side, he did not rely entirely on the encryption ideas proposed by young people. Instead, he verified other encryption methods at the same time.

In a short period of time, he did not miss any clues and tried all the encryption methods he knew and the information he could find.

However, the result was disappointing. No known encryption method could match the final communication code. The converted result was obviously wrong at a glance.

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Director Wang. The successive failures seemed to mock his incompetence.

He knew very well that he was not as omnipotent and omniscient as young people imagined.

At least when he was young, he had accomplished nothing!

Facing everyone's hidden expectations and their expressions of self-blame and guilt for not being able to solve the communication code problem, Director Wang felt even more guilty. Not only did he deceive them, but he himself was also unable to solve the mystery.

Director Wang felt that he had not fulfilled his responsibilities as a leader. There were problems with his approach from the beginning.

However, these young people trusted him so much that they never questioned his decisions, let alone blamed him.

After listening to everyone's questions, Director Wang pondered for a moment, and finally made up his mind and said, "Regarding this communication code... To be honest, I haven't deciphered it yet..."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone showed surprise on their faces.

However, Director Wang's next words made their eyes light up: "But we have another way. We can contact Mr. Xu, Mr. Tao and others."

"Really? Can we contact Mr. Xu, Mr. Tao and others?" Everyone expressed surprise.

If even Director Wang doesn't know the correct communication code, then it is very likely that Mr. Xu and Mr. Tao know it.

After all, they were the ones who issued the mission, so they should at least have some understanding of it.

Maybe they have already guessed everyone's current situation and stage.

"Is it okay? I don't think this has been done before?" someone asked.

"Mr. Xu and the others must know! Maybe they have already mastered the key to Phase Three, but just haven't announced it. This is to test us!" another person said expectantly.

"It's very likely! The more I think about it, the more I feel that this is the case. How could Mr. Xu and the others not know our actual situation? It is inevitable to get stuck at this stage. Even the director can't answer it, which shows how difficult it is." Another person echoed.

"Ask! It's the last day! It's not too late to ask now! We can still verify it before the time is up!"

Everyone agreed. They didn't give up, but there was a more convenient path in front of them, so why not take advantage of it?
It's not just the process that's important, the result is what Mr. Xu and the others really care about. After figuring this out, they naturally wouldn't think there was anything wrong with asking for help at this time.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with seeking appropriate help, and there is no need to feel ashamed. They frankly acknowledge the limits of their abilities and understand that this is all they can do at this stage.

Director Wang looked at everyone present and read the relief and acceptance in their expressions. So he slowly took out his cell phone from his pocket and planned to contact Mr. Xu and others for help.

However, at this moment, the phone screen suddenly lit up with a "ding-ling-ling~" sound, and an unread message popped up in front of him. He looked closely and saw that the sender was Mr. Xu. He clicked on the message and saw a string of seemingly chaotic characters. Apart from that, there was nothing else, and no explanation.

This... could it be the key to the last firewall? Director Wang was shocked and a little bit unbelieving. After all, before he had time to contact Mr. Xu, the other party had already sent the key.

"It's amazing! Mr. Xu's ability to predict the future is really admirable!" Director Wang couldn't help but admire him, and then quickly replied with a message: Is this the communication code?

The other party quickly responded: the key to the last firewall.

After getting a definite answer, Director Wang's doubts disappeared. He entered the communication code into the system without hesitation and clicked the confirmation button.

This series of actions stunned the people around. They watched as the director simply glanced at his phone and directly entered the communication code, using that last precious opportunity. Everyone was confused for a moment and cast doubtful glances at him.

"Director, are you sure this is the correct passcode?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Let's confirm it again. What if something is wrong?" another person said anxiously.

"What on earth happened just now? Can anyone explain it to me?" Someone else muttered with confusion on his face.

They wanted to stop Director Wang, but it was too late. The director had already decisively pressed the confirmation button. Now, no matter how much they said, it would be useless. They could only wait for the final result.

Everyone looked at each other, their hearts filled with anxiety and uneasiness. It stands to reason that Director Wang could not have contacted Mr. Xu in such a short time. Could it be that he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of the final key?

This question was on everyone's mind, but no one could give an answer. They could only stare at the screen and pray silently in their hearts, hoping that the communication code entered by the director was correct.

Time seemed to freeze, one second, two seconds, three seconds passed. This time, the screen did not quickly pop up a red error prompt box like the previous two times, but instead a small spinning circle appeared.

Is this... Is the network stuck? This was the first thought that flashed through everyone's mind. (End of this chapter)