Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

“Networks have nothing to do with your physical strength, Vito. You’re really cut out to be a hacker; being a mercenary is a waste of your talent.”

T-bug genuinely praised Vito, saying that Vito was truly a genius.

Vito saved the simulation data, which was the result of his first online run and had some commemorative significance.

"What's the next step? Conduct a live-fire exercise?"

With a tap of his finger, T-bug quickly constructs a new data maze.

"Don't rush, let's have a confrontation. I'll teach you how to fight back when you're discovered by other hackers."

Vito nodded excitedly. This cyberspace was so much fun! You could build whatever you wanted to play with.

Wonderful!

Chapter 143 Urban Escape Plan

The data labyrinth of cyberspace continues to flow slowly under T-bug's control, with chunks of code spreading out like flowing water in the void.

Having just finished a round of attack and defense simulation, Vito's network body was suspended in mid-air. He was still basking in the novelty of the net run, his eyes filled with a lingering excitement.

"Finished the sparring practice?"

Vito moved his ethereal fingertips, the exhilarating feeling of shattering the ICE barrier still lingering. It was simple, brutal, direct, and effective, even more decisive than fighting with guns or prosthetics in real life.

T-bug retracted the data stream used to build the maze, turned his head, and the network entity wore a helpless yet approving smile.

"Your hacking style is truly unique. Normal newbies learning hacking emphasize stealth, detours, and seamless infiltration. But you, you just brute force your way through. And it took me a long time to hack you. Do you have some kind of special hacker prosthetic?"

"I don't have time to install all that stuff. I only have a very basic operating system, which I usually use for the Black Gate and occasionally for two overheating prosthetics."

Others' web crawling is like stealth assassination; Vito's web crawling is like heavy-hitting attacks.

Vito shrugged, his tone nonchalant.

"Besides, why take a ten-minute detour when a barrier can be taken down with a single punch? Efficiency is paramount in Night City."

"Too."

T-bug didn't refute; instead, he nodded slightly.

"Your network is too unique. The subtle operations of conventional hackers don't suit you. Brute force has become your best solution. Since you like to use brute force, I'll teach you a skill that's best suited to you."

As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand and waved.

A chaotic torrent of gibberish exploded in the void in an instant, with countless fragments of malicious code rolling, twisting, and colliding.

They are extremely aggressive, yet they are firmly trapped by a precise data barrier, like high explosives locked in place.

"Look carefully."

T-bug's voice rang out calmly in the cyberspace, her composure contrasting sharply with the chaotic data stream.

"This is a type of attack used by hackers: cyber blasting."

Real-world bombs destroy buildings and kill people through gunpowder explosions, shockwaves, and high-temperature fragments. The principle behind internet virus bombs is similar.

Vito dropped his playful grin and looked seriously at the chaotic jumble of characters.

"Realistic bombs: accumulating potential energy, instantaneous release, and forced destruction of physical structures."

Cyber ​​virus bombs: They accumulate redundant malicious data, compress and interfere with frequency bands, release instantaneous overload, forcibly tear apart cyberspace, attack enemy networks, and burn device data architecture.

The two are interconnected at their core; one destroys physics, and the other destroys data.

T-bug patiently demonstrated for Vito.

"Many novice hackers write viruses in a fancy way, with disguises, stealth, theft, backdoors, and a bunch of fancy features."

With a flick of his finger, T-bug unleashed a violent surge of garbled code, causing the surrounding void to tremble slightly.

"But if you want to destroy it, this thing doesn't need to be disguised; just use pure interference overload to blast it."

By using massive amounts of conflict data to create regional network disruptions, the enemy's ICE defenses are forcibly crushed, network neural ports are breached, and ultimately, the enemy's local data disks are destroyed—similar to a bomb shattering a wall.

Vito suddenly understood: learning to make this kind of virus was like making bombs in a different place.

"understood."

Vito's eyes lit up.

"To put it bluntly, it's about gathering gunpowder in cyberspace, and once you've gathered enough, you can detonate it directly, blasting the area, the structure, and the network itself."

"The summary is both easy to understand and accurate."

T-bug reached out, and immediately a dense array of underlying code templates appeared in the void, all of which were high-frequency conflict data and frequency interference programs.

"Targeted and forced interference with local area network frequency bands to create data shockwaves."

All enemy network entities within the range will directly exhibit symptoms such as neural connection disorder, visual distortion, and operation lockout. Mild cases will manifest as data burns, while severe cases will directly burn through the brain-computer interface, essentially roasting their brains.

Come on, try building one yourself.

T-bug pushes the basic template to Vitor, and the data flow slowly integrates into his network.

"I'll give you the basic framework. You fill in the conflict data, stack the interference bands, and compress the explosive threshold yourself, following the logic of building your bomb."

T-bug taught Vito step by step.

"Remember the three core elements: First, the charge, pile up malicious and redundant data, the more the better, equivalent to the amount of explosives in a bomb."

Second, the fuse, a trigger-type frequency conflict, can be set to either a fixed-point detonation, a delayed detonation, or a network trap detonation.

Third, kill radius—define the area of ​​cyberspace chaos; the area covered by the shockwave is your kill zone.

Vito focused his mind, and countless experiences in real life—modifying explosive devices, making bombs, and adjusting explosive yield—flashed through his mind.

All in all.

His fingertips slid rapidly through the air, roughly dragging, stacking, and squeezing lines of code.

He doesn't pursue neat and concise code optimization, but only seeks to maximize conflicts, overload, and interference.

Thanks for the invitation. I just got off the plane, and my buddy was making bombs in cyberspace.

He frantically piled up a large amount of repetitive, contradictory, and mutually exclusive junk data, like stuffing a C7 sandwich between two C7s, then wrapping it in a C7 outer packaging, and finally putting it into a C7 box.

The data streams collided and surged violently, rapidly coalescing into a dark, murky sphere of data stream in his palm.

Reborn, I cultivate immortality in cyberspace, able to cleave mountains and seas and destroy chaos with a wave of my hand.

The surface of the sphere was constantly flashing with chaotic red cracks, and the inside was turbulent and extremely unstable, and could explode at any time.

T-bug stared at his build process for a couple of seconds, slightly stunned.

Other newcomers create viruses by carefully debugging arguments, avoiding conflicts, and stabilizing the program.

Vito created the virus through sheer brute force.

It's exactly like a desperate criminal assembling a homemade bomb.

"Your construction method... is truly the pinnacle of unorthodox approaches!"

T-bug was both amused and exasperated, but had to admit that the effect was excellent.

"It has extremely poor stability and is very prone to self-destruction, but its lethality and interference intensity exceed those of conventional viruses of the same specifications. If you get your hands on it, you're definitely doomed."

"It's alright, just throw it out before the Western Cannon explodes."

Vito held the trembling black virus ball in his palm, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth, typical of a cultivation protagonist. At this moment, he felt as if he had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, was wearing a Taoist robe, and had flying swords beneath his feet.

"Anyway, I just throw it out and run. It's the enemy that gets bombed, not my own domain."

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked up at the blank test data area reserved by T-bug not far away.

"Can we test the explosion now?"

"Throw it away."

T-bug stepped aside, establishing a safe area for isolation and protection.

"Try your first cyber bomb."

Vito flicked his fingertip.

"Cultivating immortality is a selfless act of upholding the Dao, leaving the world in eternal darkness."

The pitch-black virus sphere shot out instantly and accurately crashed into the blank data space.

The next second it exploded!

Without a sound, but with visible shockwaves of data, it swept across the area in an instant.

The massive white data stream was instantly torn apart, crushed, disordered, and turned into scattered specks of light.

The entire test airspace trembled violently, and countless simulated ICE barriers and virtual patrol mechanical units convulsed, paralyzed, shattered, and dissolved under the instantaneous impact of the shock wave.

The regional cyberspace was completely distorted, with code turbulence and frequency band collapse.

The killing effect is extremely terrifying.

Vito looked at his victory, a smile growing wider in his eyes.

"Can you withstand this move, the Hunyuan Finger Flicking Skill?"

"The effect is good, but what are you mumbling about?"

T-bug nodded as he looked at the devastated test airspace.

"I didn't say anything, I just couldn't help but perform when I was having fun."

T-bug looked at Vito and shook his head slightly.

"It seems there's only a fine line between genius and madness. Vito, you're sure to become a hacker with a unique style in the future."

Chapter 144 Dream Return

"How have you been lately? Nothing's been wrong, has there?"

After the rehearsal, T-bug and Vito chatted leisurely.

"We got tricked. Little Cha was kidnapped by a group of people. I'm tracking down these bastards."

Vito gritted his teeth as he recounted the incident.

"Xiao Cha has been kidnapped? What happened?"

Vito explained the whole story to T-bug, who sighed after listening.

"I thought you went to another city, but I didn't expect you to run off to Dog Town. You were the one who did that Arasaka thing, weren't you?"

Vito made no attempt to hide it; he trusted T-bug.

"I did it. I didn't say anything before because I was afraid you guys would get involved in my mess."

T-bug smiled wryly.

"You're always like this. What kind of person you become depends entirely on what kind of things you repeat."

"Aristotle?"

“That’s right, I’ll help you find some clues about Cha’s matter. There are only a few companies in Night City with the power to do something like this. I’ll hack into their databases and see.”

T-bug made it sound easy, but Vito knew from his own experience that it was fraught with danger.

"No need to take any risks. I'll just enjoy my retirement. I've got people keeping an eye on things; those guys will show up sooner or later."

T-bug sent Vito some information.

"This is a compilation of virus editing methods I've put together. Some of these viruses are my own creations. Practice with them. I'll take a look at Xiao Cha's situation. Don't worry, I won't risk forcibly intruding."

I've reserved three guest rooms in this new house especially for you. Please be careful and come to Tahiti alive to enjoy the sunshine.

Vito smiled as he received the data.

"Thanks, Bug. We'll come visit you in the South Pacific once things are settled here."