Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 109 Disaster
"Old Cat is a businessman who likes to make money through harmony and doesn't easily make enemies."

Zhuang Fan thought it over carefully, "The only people I've provoked recently, besides that competitor called Scarface, are Senban Networks."

"Didn't Old Cat say that he had already shifted the blame to the Jack tribe?" Xiong Er asked, holding his sniper rifle, his face showing confusion.

"That's Old Cat's idea."

Zhuang Fan shook his head. "The people in Morisaka aren't stupid; they'll definitely verify things from multiple sources."

He opened the Wasteland Traveler and connected to Jetta's encrypted communications.

"Jetta, where are you?"

"Boss, we just left the city."

"Old Cat might be in trouble. Go check his hideout and see if there's any activity. Be careful."

"Yes, boss!"

Mao Shanwang's stronghold was less than three kilometers from Linhai City; it was a fortress converted from an underground karst cave.

Jetta acted quickly; less than half an hour later, the encrypted communication rang again, but this time, his voice was unusually solemn.

"Boss, that area is blocked off. There's a squad of armored soldiers guarding it. I sent two scouts over, but they were locked onto by the enemy's sniper when they got within a hundred meters. If we hadn't retreated quickly, we probably wouldn't have made it back."

How many people?

“There were a lot of them, at least fifty armored soldiers, who blocked all the exits,” Jetta added.

Can you confirm which faction it is?

"The badges are hard to see, and their positions are very cunning, as if they are deliberately hiding their identities."

"Send over the live feed."

"Yes."

The holographic screen unfolded instantly, and after the image jittered a few times, it gradually became clear.

It was footage taken from a mountaintop, the angle was concealed, but the armored soldiers could be vaguely seen.

They were very vigilant, forming a crossfire network to block all routes of attack and retreat.

The camera slowly zoomed in, and despite the severe noise and ghosting, Zhuang Fan recognized the unique armor style and purple paint at a glance.

Mori-Saka Networks.

Zhuang Fan turned off the light screen, his voice growing colder, "As expected, it was them, still for that virtual pod."

Xiong Er frowned, somewhat puzzled:

"If they really had evidence, they could have just arrested Old Cat and taken him back. Why waste an entire day?"

Zhuang Fan pointed out a possibility: "The people from Morisaka couldn't find any evidence, but they didn't dare to openly offend the trading company, so they targeted a second-tier supplier."

Xiong Er chimed in, "That's why we're stalling, not letting the old cat leave."

"That's right, we're waiting for the old cat to reveal a weakness on its own."

Upon learning of Morisaka's intentions, Zhuang Fan did not relax for a moment; instead, he became even more vigilant.

"Morisaka started out in the virtual network business, and they have a million ways to crack Old Cat's brain."

He walked to the window and looked at the deep night outside. "The longer this drags on, the more likely Old Cat will really get into trouble."

Xiong Er slung the Gauss sniper rifle back over his shoulder, stood up, and a hint of murderous intent ignited in the raccoon's eyes.

"Then let's charge in and rescue the old cat."

"The disparity in troop strength is too great; a direct assault would be suicide." Zhuang Fan turned around, his words extinguishing any remaining thoughts.

Before he could finish speaking, Zhuang Fan felt a rapid vibration on his wrist panel.

It was Watson.

"Boss, the Apocalypse Cult is here again. They sneaked in from the west and were spotted by the drone."

Hua Sheng spoke very quickly, “There weren’t many of them, only about twenty, and we’ve already repelled them. Hua Xin even took down one of the leaders.”

After listening, Zhuang Fan understood.

"This is likely the first test, a common tactic used by the Apocalypse Cult. Have you suffered any casualties?"

"One person was grazed on the arm by a stray bullet; it's a minor injury and nothing serious."

Hua Sheng reported in detail: "In this counterattack, all members took up arms. I also sent four armored soldiers to charge out and catch them off guard. They probably didn't know our strength or weakness."

"Watson, you did a great job."

Zhuang Fan wholeheartedly affirmed, "But the Apocalypse Cult's attacks won't stop; it's most likely that the Demon General Iron Tower is behind it all."

The feud between him and the Iron Tower has long been irreconcilable.

"We will return as soon as possible. Please remain on high alert for the next few days."

"Don't worry, boss, leave it to me." Hua Sheng nodded emphatically.

Communication was cut off, and the light curtain went out.

Xiong Er's furry face didn't reveal much of his expression; he simply muttered something in a low voice.

"Fire broke out everywhere."

"Yes, when it rains, it pours."

Zhuang Fan walked to the window, feeling a little down.

Grey Goose was captured, Old Cat was trapped, the Nuclear Group's search network tightened, and the base was attacked again.

One problem after another arose, leaving them surrounded by enemies.

We must find a way to break this deadlock.

Zhuang Fan repeatedly sorted through all the clues, trying to find a clear thread in the chaos.

Only then did he realize that he lacked a strategist to plan and strategize, and had no one to discuss things with.

Watson plays the role of the butler, meticulous and loyal to execution, while Hua Xin is responsible for sniping and intelligence gathering;
Xiong Er and Ke Er are fine for charging into battle, but they are somewhat lacking when it comes to strategizing and planning.
Mao Shanwang's fat cat is indeed shrewd, but his talent lies more in business acumen;

Big Bear guards the warehouse and is skilled at cooking.
Jetta, Santana, and the old Fukang—they have some brains, but not many; they're not the kind of people who can be strategically brilliant.
Rat Advisor is a good candidate, but he is currently busy stabilizing morale within the Brown Rat Clan and cannot leave for the time being.

Moreover, Rat Master is ultimately Jetta's man, and in order to maintain Jetta's prestige, Zhuang Fan does not want to interfere too much with the personnel appointments and transfers within the Rat Clan.

Zhuang Fan sat down in front of the light screen, a jumble of clues colliding in his mind. He had to find a way out as soon as possible.

Xiong Er remained at the door, still holding his sniper rifle.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Zhuang Fan searched through a lot of information on the nuclear intranet, and an idea suddenly came to him.

He pulled up the latest medical updates for Crow, the document's contents were concise and to the point.

[Injured Person's Status: Vital signs are stable; core consciousness successfully transferred to the virtual brain pod for temporary storage and development]

[Follow-up actions: As per Minister Edward's instructions, the target's consciousness will remain in a 'dormant, cryogenically frozen' state until a new clone body is successfully developed]

Zhuang Fan's breathing paused for half a second.

He read those lines of text repeatedly, pulled up the relevant medical images, and finally checked all the connection ports of the Raven's virtual brain capsule.

External access protocol: Enabled

[Remote connection port: Enabled]

Firewall Level: B+ (Dormant)

This virtual brain capsule has its physical port always open for remote diagnosis and data extraction, and Zhuang Fan happens to have a complete access protocol, so it is essentially unprotected.

A plan to shift the blame eastward gradually took shape in Zhuang Fan's mind.

He turned to Xiong Er and asked, "Are there virtual reality pods in the safe house?"

"There is one, anonymous."

"I'll lie down inside and enter Mori-saka Networks' 'Grand Theft Auto,' and then you'll connect my access point to Raven's virtual brain pod."

Xiong Er realized something and spoke in a low voice:
"Are you going to cause trouble in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in the name of the Raven?"

"Yes, can you hack into it?"

"uncertain."

Xiong Er's expression turned serious. "I need to figure out the anti-hacking measures of the nuclear headquarters first. Their internal network is probably very complicated."

Without saying another word, he walked straight to the light screen and sat down, as lines of complex code and network topology diagrams flashed by.

Zhuang Fan did not disturb them and waited patiently.

Half an hour passed.

Xiong Er stopped what he was doing, his voice sounding slightly tired.

"Barely."

He turned to look at Zhuang Fan, "We have authorization credentials and access keys. The virtual brain capsule is in a 'hot-connected' state and has not executed the silent protocol. We can graft the data stream in."

This plan proved to be feasible.

But Zhuang Fan's brows did not relax, because the whole plan was too rough.

This approach could divert attention from the problem, but Morisaka and the nuclear industry are massive entities with numerous contingency plans.

Even if only one "crow" is causing trouble, and it becomes a big problem, it will at most be classified as an external hacking intrusion, rather than a malicious act by the Nuclear Group.

When the time comes, the intelligence ministers from both sides will greet each other, clink glasses, and the matter will be easily dropped.

What he wanted was not this kind of indifferent result.

"Xiong Er, can you hack into more devices?"

Zhuang Fan estimated, "Ideally... there should be several hundred units or more."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Er remained silent for a long while before shaking his head.

“Boss, the nuclear intranet is very powerful. Even with access passwords and secure channels, I still have to constantly avoid those ‘ghost tracking’ programs.”

He patiently explained, "Once you enter the virtual world, I will be there to protect you the whole time and cut off those 'censorship tentacles' at any time. I can't afford to be distracted."

Xiong Er paused for a moment before giving his final conclusion.

"I can only hack into one brain capsule."

Zhuang Fan knew that Xiong Er was usually concise, so the fact that he had given such a long explanation meant that the matter was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Zhuang Fan fell into deep thought.

He doesn't want lone wolf hacking harassment; that's too insignificant and won't cause any real trouble.

What he wanted was a precise and devastating blow to Grand Theft Auto, enough to cripple Morihan Networks.

This sabotage must be packaged as a long-planned cyber war by the nuclear group, dragging the two conglomerates into a quagmire, forcing them to tear each other apart and plunging them into a protracted internal conflict.

Only the nuclear mainframe can do this.

But how will he control the mainframe...?

Zhuang Fan vaguely grasped something and looked back at the data in the virtual brain capsule.

He can hack into the crow's virtual brain capsule, which theoretically means he can indirectly control the crow's brain.

But he was well aware of his own abilities.

Aside from using the mysterious fog to read the fluctuations in someone's brain and thus determine whether they are lying, he has no way to control anyone's brain.

Not to mention the nuclear brain.

Just as my thoughts were stuck, an idea flashed through my mind like lightning.

Zhuang Fan's body stiffened abruptly.

He couldn't control it himself, but there was someone... who might be able to. Zhuang Fan sat back down in the light screen.

This time, he accessed an even larger database—a list of key personnel at the headquarters of the Nuclear Group.

He quickly set the filtering criteria: brain-computer interface model, neural synchronization rate, access permission level...

He scrolled through countless profile pictures and files like a waterfall, eliminating all those that did not meet his criteria.

The light screen finally froze, showing only a few hundred people remaining, including security soldiers, doctors, senior management, and some maintenance personnel.

He then pulled up the movement data of these hundreds of people, including their daily work arrangements, job distribution, walking routes, and even the shortest distance they passed each other.

Ultimately, a list of twenty people was selected and adjusted in real time according to the timeline.

These twenty people will, at some point in the future, form a straight line in physical space, with no more than fifty meters between each other.

At the beginning and end, one side is the crow's brain, and the other side is the heavily guarded nuclear main brain.

Thus, the prototype of a crazy plan was born.

The success or failure of this crazy plan depends not on him, but on another key figure.

Sweet sugar.

This mysterious little girl drew him out of his deepest memories.

"Boss, everything is ready," Xiong Er said in a deep voice.

"it is good."

As soon as Zhuang Fan lies down in the virtual pod, Xiong Er will immediately activate the springboard and access "Grand Theft Auto" under the name "Crow".

Zhuang Fan called Cole over.

"Cole, you stay here and don't let anyone get close to the virtual pod."

Cole stood at attention. "Understood, boss."

The virtual pod's door closed silently, and the neural probe pierced the back of the neck.

Zhuang Fan's consciousness was pulled by a tremendous force and plunged into a data tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a deafening roar.

He successfully entered "Sin City".

This is a steel jungle that never sleeps, where neon lights pierce the night and billboards twist with bizarre human figures.

The streets were in complete chaos, with no order whatsoever.

Zhuang Fan kicked a nearby octopus-headed player unconscious, dodged a rocket flying overhead, and watched as a modified car roared past, crashing headlong into the road.

The chaotic scene before him held no interest for him. Without lingering, he turned and walked into a deserted alleyway.

Deep in the alley, he tried to imitate Sweet Candy, peeling away his virtual consciousness to touch the underlying rules of this world.

A slight lag appeared in the surrounding environment, the city boundaries gradually blurred, and the light and shadow were stretched out little by little.

Consciousness seemed to penetrate a thin membrane, and the whole world was reconstructed in the midst of disorder, and vision suddenly opened up.

He succeeded.

A state of detachment descends, somewhat like a manager mode, but with anonymous access, leaving no trace of his access in the system.

With a thought, his consciousness silently traversed between buildings, trying to find Sweetie's figure.

But the little girl was nowhere to be found.

Time flows extremely fast in the virtual world; the city's day and night alternated several times before his eyes.

He watched the explosions and gunfights unfold on the same street, saw players die and be resurrected, and die again, but never noticed anything unusual.

Six hours passed, and he had searched almost the entire city, but to no avail.

He hovered in mid-air, puzzled.

Was that little girl really not online?

The plan to shift the blame eastward is entirely based on Sweetie; without her, none of this would be possible.

But Zhuang Fan can't hold out forever.

In the real world, Xiong Er is still working hard to maintain the stability of the springboard, which requires a lot of effort.

Forget it...

Just as Zhuang Fan was about to log off, the virtual sky in front of him suddenly experienced a slight disturbance, rippling outwards in circles of transparent waves.

Then, a little girl in a blue dress peeked out from the ripples and looked at him curiously.

"Brother Zhuang Sheng?"

"Sweetie, it's been a long time."

Zhuang Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief, his tone tinged with a sense of accomplishment, "I've been looking for you for six hours, and I've finally found you."

"what?"

Sweetie was a little embarrassed: "Sweetie is in another game called 'Homeworld,' which is more fun."

Homeworld is a virtual reality game developed by Bionics, and it is a competitor of Morihan's Grand Theft Auto.

Zhuang Fan, having limited time, didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose.

"Sweetie, I've run into some trouble."

He explained simply, "When we left this place last time, I was targeted by the Morisaka people."

"Now I need your help to divert Morisaka's attention to the Nuclear Corporation, is that alright?"

"That sounds good, sweets can help."

Sweetie nodded readily. "The people of Morisaka are getting more and more cunning. Sweetie rarely comes here anymore."

"Sweet candy, thank you."

Zhuang Fan secretly rejoiced that he hadn't given up; if he had waited any longer, he really wouldn't have been able to find the sweet candy.

"You're welcome."

Her big eyes blinked, and she asked curiously:
"How do you make the sweets?"

"Invading the nuclear mainframe."

Zhuang Fan revealed the core of the plan: "Nuclear's human brain matrix has 600,000 heads, enough to cause enormous damage to Grand Theft Auto."

"That's so exciting! But... no way!"

Sweetie quickly shook her head: "Sweetie doesn't know the entrance to the nuclear brain, and there must be a physical barrier that Sweetie can't get in."

Fearing that Zhuang Fan hadn't understood, she patiently explained:

"Sweet can only invade the human brain matrix, it can't do anything to computers. 'Wet components' and 'hardware' are incompatible, brother, you understand?"

Zhuang Fan nodded.

He certainly knew this concept; Xu Renyi was essentially his own popular science library.

The human brain matrix, also known as "wet components".

Traditional computers, made of silicon-based chips, are referred to as "hardware".

Even a superconducting computer that is still in operation is not much different from an antique computer from seven hundred years ago.

They are all based on the von Neumann architecture and binary logic, with information encoded as a sequence of 0s and 1s and fixed logic.

But the human brain is different.

Its information processing method is not binary, not black and white 0 or 1, but is performed by 860 billion neurons in massive parallel computation, with fuzzy logic and full of uncertain probabilities.

Two completely different underlying architectures mean that:

Human brains can only hack into other human brains. Machines can only hack into other machines; they cannot cross-penetrate each other.

Sweetie's words inadvertently confirmed her true identity, just as Zhuang Fan had guessed.

Zhuang Fan tentatively asked, "So... Sweetie, are you the Human Brain Matrix?"

"no no!"

Sweetie quickly shook her head, waving her little hands vigorously as if trying to drive away something bad. "It's a secret, I can't tell you!"

Okay, I understand.

Zhuang Fan realized that the human brain matrix behind the sweet candy was probably out of control.

Based on Xu Renyi's memory analysis:

The larger the human brain matrix, the more heads are crammed into it, the easier it is for thoughts to get out of control, and this becomes unavoidable.

Ultimately, from among countless chaotic consciousnesses, a weak dominant will will emerge.

If this weak will of the Lord is not contained and allowed to grow stronger little by little, the consequences will be unimaginable.

There was once a powerful force in the private sector that assembled a human brain array, creating a self-made "god" that continuously radiated outwards, controlling the population within a radius of several kilometers.

Therefore, in order to avoid "creating gods", large companies will perform a formatted cleanup of the human brain matrix every few years, clearing out all redundant memories and thoughts.

Clearly, the human brain matrix behind the sweet candy is not being cleaned regularly.

Sweetie is playful and has a simple mind; Zhuang Fan guesses that her will has only been established for a few years.

"Sweetie, I've hacked into a brain-computer interface. I now know the location of the nuclear mainframe, as well as the maintenance personnel and access passwords..."

Zhuang Fan then laid out his detailed plan in detail.

"The first step is to control the crow's brain;"

"The second step is to share the crow's brainwaves to infect the doctors and nuclear soldiers around him."
"The third step is for you to infect the people on the list I provide to you one by one within the specified time."

"Fourth step: You infect the maintenance supervisor of the nuclear mainframe, obtain the access code, and open the physical door; "
"Finally, you can infect the nucleomaster without any hindrance and then use it to destroy Vice City."

Sweetie may not be very bright, but she has a strong reasoning ability. She understood it instantly, and her little face was full of excitement.

Then she shook her head again, "However, Sweetie's abilities are limited. She can only try to guide the main brain, and then Sweetie has to run away quickly, otherwise the main brain will grab her in the opposite direction."

Zhuang Fan was a little surprised: "If you can successfully guide the mainframe, how much time can you disrupt?"

Sweetie clutched her dress, a little embarrassed: "Sweetie will try her best to ruin it for ten seconds."

"Ten seconds is good enough."

Once the nuclear mastermind invades Vice City and causes the established destruction, it will be enough to trigger an earthquake.

This is comparable to North Korea testing a nuclear missile seven hundred years ago.

In fact, Zhuang Fan had more to say but didn't. If Sweet Candy's abilities were stronger, could she directly control the core's main brain?

However, he hadn't yet figured out the details of Sweet Candy, so he had to suppress this thought for the time being.

"what?"

Sweetie suddenly remembered something and looked at him in surprise, "Brother Zhuang Sheng, you're clearly a wet component like Sweetie, so how come you can operate the hardware?"

Zhuang Fan fell silent. The little girl's insults were truly awful. You're the one who's wet; who's your kind...?

He did not express his emotions, but spoke vaguely:

"I have internal access rights and an inside contact, but I can't go into details."

"Amazing!"

Sweetie's eyes lit up again, and with a wave of her little hand, she was full of energy.

"Let's get started!"

　My tenosynovitis is acting up, and it's really uncomfortable.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)