Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

The modem worked frantically, its ticking sound particularly crisp in the quiet night, and the forum page gradually refreshed.

An Xiaohai immediately clicked into the section that ordinary users could not access. After the page refreshed, An Xiaohai quickly browsed the titles of the posts while continuously opening the pinned posts and those with high page views in new pages.

Once all the pages had refreshed, An Xiaohai decisively disconnected the modem.

Next, he needed to analyze the website's content. This task didn't require An Xiaohai to sit at the computer. After quickly scanning all the open content, he planned to go to bed and analyze it slowly.

As soon as An Xiaohai reached the bedside, he immediately turned around and sat back down in his seat, and then quickly found a post in the pinned thread.

This post is very simple; its only content is a program link, with the comment that it's a system maintenance tool.

An Xiaohai glanced at the program name; it had an .exe extension, but he had no recollection of it. He directly examined the webpage's source code and found the link, which led to a website in the US.

This program is suspicious!

An Xiaohai reconnected to the network, entered the program's address directly into his Internet Explorer browser, and after a short while, he was taken to the program's download page. An Xiaohai quickly clicked the download button.

Twenty minutes later, the program finished downloading. Without thinking too much, An Xiaohai immediately installed the program.

After installing the program, An Xiaohai immediately ran it. A blue and red page appeared on the screen, prompting him to enter a PIN code.

An Xiaohai frowned deeply. This program was definitely 100% faulty! A system maintenance tool couldn't possibly be made to look so mysterious.

An Xiaohai bit his lip. To figure out what this program was for, he had to crack it first. There were two ways to crack it: either use a key generator to calculate the PIN code or crack the program itself.

After thinking about it, An Xiaohai chose the latter. Although using a key generator would be safer, it would take too long. The longer the password, the longer it would take, and what he lacked right now was time.

Therefore, the only option is to crack the program itself.

Fortunately, we had prepared a bunch of cracking tools in order to crack the database of the First Prison. With the current level of computer technology, cracking this application package should not be too difficult.

An Xiaohai immediately began cracking the program; this program was far more complex than the database that Tian Qiaoguang had created. Time passed unnoticed, and by the time An Xiaohai finally cracked the program, the sun was already high in the sky.

"Hey, are you up yet? Breakfast is ready!" Mai Xiaoyu's voice came from outside the door.

"I'm not asleep, come in."

Mai Xiaoyu pushed open the door and came in carrying breakfast: "Why aren't you sleeping again? What are you doing?"

"I found a program on the Honggang Galaxy Technology Forum and I'm cracking it."

"Oh? How's the cracking going?" Seeing An Xiaohai operating the computer, Mai Xiaoyu picked up a sandwich from the plate and brought it to An Xiaohai's mouth so he could take a bite.

"Almost done!" An Xiaohai operated for a while longer and finally bypassed the PIN code to start the program. After waiting for about ten seconds, a login page appeared on the computer screen.

An Xiaohai frowned deeply.

The login account and password are not so easy to crack, as they need to be sent to the server for verification. To crack them without knowing the username and password, you would have to compromise the website server.

That's much more difficult.

"Ah!" Just as An Xiaohai was still thinking about whether to try to attack the program's server, Mai Xiaoyu next to him exclaimed in surprise.

"What's wrong?" An Xiaohai raised an eyebrow and looked at Mai Xiaoyu.

"This is the entrance to the Ghost Network! How did you get this?!" Mai Xiaoyu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"The entrance to the Ghost Network? What does that mean?"

"The Ghost Network is an underground network used by international criminal organizations to communicate. Only very famous criminals and criminal organizations can be invited to enter the Ghost Network."

There, criminals and criminal organizations exchange information, make deals, and even plan crimes together. Your program seems to be an entry point to the Ghost Network!

"You mean this is a portal to the dark web?"

"The dark web... you could say that," Mai Xiaoyu nodded.

Why are you so sure?

"Look, their logo is on here!" Mai Xiaoyu pointed to the faint pattern at the top of the page.

An Xiaohai had seen the pattern long ago, but he thought it was just a decorative pattern and didn't pay attention to it. His mind was mostly on the username and password.

"Look, this symbol that looks a lot like a trident is the symbol of the Abyss Organization..."

And this, this flower, this flower is a crystal orchid, which is the logo of Caos; and this, this mountain-shaped logo is the logo of the Volcano Society; and this, this is the All-Seeing Eye…”

Mai Xiaoyu pointed to the row of faint signs and explained them to An Xiaohai one by one.

"Xiao Hai, how did you get access to this ghost website? We got our hands on this program before, but it automatically destroyed itself when we tried to crack the PIN code. How did you manage to do it?!"

"We'll talk about this later."

Is "Ghost Web" what the dark web is called? I mean, do the Abyss Organization and other criminal organizations also refer to it that way?

"No, they don't usually call it the Ghost Network; they call it Mr. Gust, which is roughly a transliteration of Ghost."

"Okay, I understand."

An Xiaohai frowned, deep in thought, but this time Mai Xiaoyu interrupted him: "Xiaohai, President Chen! This discovery is very important, I must report it to my superiors immediately."

"Okay, go ahead and report."

Mai Xiaoyu went to her room to make a phone call to report. At this moment, a complete plan finally began to take shape in An Xiaohai's mind.

------

T-Guo Bay waters

On a medium-sized fishing boat, Xu Tianyou waved his hand and threw the RPG launcher into the sea. About 200 meters behind the fishing boat, a speedboat was burning fiercely on the sea.

"Damn it, I told you not to follow me! Ptooey!" Xu Tianyou spat into the sea. He had forgotten to shut his mouth while playing RPG, and the sea breeze blew a bunch of gunpowder pellets into his mouth, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Tianyou, should we turn around now?" Pan Zhuangzhuang ran out of the cabin and asked.

"Turn around, that's about it."

Xiao Hai is such a jerk! He made us pretend to return to Deep Sea City, clearly trying to lure all the assassins to him. This time, we're probably out of the picture again!

"Tianyou, you've killed all the people who were following us. What are we going to do if no one goes back to report?"

"Don't worry, they're not that easy to wipe out. There are definitely people watching from afar!" Xu Tianyou said, glancing around as he looked at the sea in the distance, where many ships were floating.

"Alright, turn around and head northeast through the Kunlun Islands towards Ho Chi Minh City."

"What are you going there for?"

"We'll take a plane; a boat is too slow. The faster we move, the more room Xiao Hai has to maneuver. Otherwise, he'll have to calculate the time and wait for us."

I've already arranged for someone to wait for us at the airport. They'll take the plane back home in our place, and we'll just wander around the airport for a bit before heading straight back.

"Okay, I'll find a place near the airport to go online and let Xiaohai know."

"No need to notify them. The more information we leave behind, the greater the chance of being exposed. We don't need to explain everything clearly. I think Xiaohai can sense it."

"Are you sure? I think it's safer to tell him..." Pan Zhuangzhuang looked at Xu Tianyou with a suspicious expression.

"No need to say anything, I'm sure!" Xu Tianyou closed his eyes, opened his arms, and the sea breeze made his shirt flutter wildly. "Let me tell you a secret, he and I have a telepathic connection!"

------

Haizhou International Building, Tianhai Central Business District, Haizhou City

An Zhehao sat on the sofa, habitually swirling a glass of red wine in his hand. A butler-like man stood behind him with his head down. He had changed into a business suit, and his features were much clearer. He looked like he was of mixed Chinese and foreign descent.

"You said our people in Country T sent word that the target might be returning to China?"

"Yes, I just received the news this morning."

In our pursuit of the target, we lost two more men. They hadn't expected the target to dare use an RPG before even reaching international waters.

"I understand. What's done is done. Being careless always comes at a price," An Cheol-ho said, turning his gaze to the window.

"You actually chose to come back at this time? Why? Why did you come back? Give me a reason!... And where exactly did you hide Shuifen?... "

------

Deepsea City Airport

Wearing black-rimmed glasses and standing ramrod straight, Jiro Igawa disembarked from the plane, collected his luggage, and left the international arrivals hall. Following the mission instructions he remembered, he walked on foot towards the agreed meeting point.

It is best to avoid using public transportation during the mission and try to avoid leaving any traces. Once you arrive at the meeting point, a guide will come to pick you up.

Jiro Igawa was a little excited. It was said that this mission was personally commanded by Ms. Ryoko Momotani, the legendary female assassin from the Japanese branch of Caos, and the objective was to attack a provincial public security bureau in China.

This kind of mission made Jiro Igawa's blood boil!

Twenty minutes later, Jiro Igawa arrived at the agreed location. At 11:08, his guide would arrive by car to pick him up.

Jiro Igawa glanced at his watch; it was 11:5. He had only arrived three minutes early, and he was very satisfied with his punctuality.

However, Jiro Igawa waited at the agreed location for a full twenty minutes, but the guide still did not appear!

"Baka!... How could Miss Ryoko make such a basic mistake? Has something happened?" Jiro Igawa carefully looked around but found nothing unusual.

In this situation, the wisest course of action would be to turn around and leave.

But Igawa Jiro was unwilling to give up. Just as he hesitated, a somewhat dilapidated red car sped up and stopped in front of him with a sudden stop.

Jiro Igawa was terrified and immediately went into battle mode.

The car window rolled down, and a guy who looked like a monkey, with dyed blond hair and a sly look, stuck his head out: "Hey! Buddy! Need a ride? 100 yuan, all-inclusive to the city center!"