Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Yang Bo squeezed his way out of the crowd after receiving Bai Yuhang's call. One of the buttons on his suit jacket had popped off, his glasses were askew on his nose, and he was covered in sweat as if he had just taken a sauna.

Upon seeing Bai Yuhang and Zhang Jian, he was so out of breath that he grabbed Bai Yuhang's arm and dragged him away, as if afraid of being swallowed up by the crowd behind them.

"Sixth Brother, we've really messed up this time." Yang Bo adjusted his glasses, smiling wryly. "We underestimated the fighting power of these beasts. Lan Su Shi's place was already overflowing. Just now, scalpers were selling tickets for fifty yuan each, which is more expensive than train tickets. I saw some people even spreading out newspapers at the entrance to prepare for sleeping on the floor. If they catch a cold in the middle of the night, our competition can't proceed."

Bai Yuhang raised an eyebrow as he looked at the dense crowd in the distance. This wasn't a competition; it was practically the Spring Festival travel rush.

"Internet cafes are definitely out of the question, the safety risks are too great." Bai Yuhang made a quick decision, took out his Nokia phone and tossed it to Yang Bo, "Contact the school's Youth League Committee and the Academic Affairs Office. Let's move the finals to the Harbin Institute of Technology Gymnasium."

"A stadium?" Yang Bo was taken aback. "When we play basketball, it's a place that can hold thousands of people. Just the venue fee alone..."

"Money is no problem. Shi Hongchao will definitely be happy to pay the sponsorship fee. This is a great opportunity for Blue Speed ​​to make a name for itself." Bai Yuhang patted Yang Bo on the shoulder. "If we're going to do this, let's make it the 'Super Bowl' of Harbin, and let all the city's leaders see that we're not just messing around."

Back at the temporary command post on Taikoo Street, the room was filled with smoke, mixed with the smell of braised beef noodles, so strong that it was hard to open one's eyes.

Zhang Qingheng was sitting on a cot. Zhao Jianjun had provided a computer for the company, and Yang Bo had arranged for the internet to be connected. The small office was now fully equipped.

Zhang Qingheng stared at the website's backend data, grinning foolishly. Seeing Bai Yuhang enter, he immediately turned the monitor around: "Sixth Brother, look at this curve! This isn't just rising, it's taking off! Our 'forced registration' tactic is too ruthless… oh no, too high. Want to watch the games? Register on Renren.com; want to vote for a team? Register on Renren.com. Daily active users in Harbin have surged by 300% these past few days, and the total number of registrations in the entire Northeast region has just broken the 500,000 mark."

"It's a bit of a rip-off, but it definitely works." Bai Yuhang glanced at the data, a smile playing on his lips. "That's how the traffic is generated. Seventh Brother, don't just get excited, keep an eye on the server, don't let these 500,000 people overwhelm our server."

Meanwhile, in a dark rented room in Harbin, the curtains were drawn tightly shut, and the lights were off.

Chen Yuan sat in front of the computer, the pale light from the screen making his face appear exceptionally ashen.

He repeatedly browsed the top trending posts on the school's intranet about the "Blue Speed ​​Cup" knockout stage and finals, his eyes bloodshot.

Bai Yuhang, whom he once considered a complete "country bumpkin" among the freshmen, was the one who caused him to be expelled from school and completely ruined his life. Now, he has become the focus of the entire city, and even city leaders and school leaders have nothing but praise for Bai Yuhang.

Jealousy is like a venomous snake, gnawing at his internal organs.

"Why should I..." Chen Yuan gritted his teeth, his voice cracking with anger.

He pulled out an unlabeled CD from the drawer; it was a "good stuff" he had bought at a high price from a hacker forum.

He grabbed the Ericsson phone on the table and dialed a number: "Hey, Blackie? This is Chen Yuan. Yes, it's about that thing we talked about last time. Tomorrow is their final. As soon as their website starts broadcasting, you'd better beat them to a pulp. I want to crash their network and make Bai Yuhang look like a fool in front of thousands of people. You'll get your money back."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Yuan inserted the disc into the CD player and watched the loading bar complete, a twisted look of pleasure on his face.

Evening at the old cook's house.

The moment the sweet and sour pork was served, the aroma of vinegar hit my nose.

Except for Bai Yuhang, everyone at this table looked like they had just come from a refugee camp.

Yang Bo had lost weight, and his suit hung loosely on his body; Liu Jing's voice was completely hoarse, and he could only speak by gesturing; Zhang Qingheng's eyes were as red as a rabbit's.

Shi Hongchao and Zhao Jianjun, on the other hand, were beaming with health, especially Shi Hongchao. In the past few days, the name of Lansu had resounded throughout Harbin and even the three northeastern provinces, and he walked with a swagger.

"Come on, let's not say anything more." Bai Yuhang raised his glass, skipping all the usual empty thanks. "This glass is for everyone's dark circles under their eyes, and for Lao Wu's hoarse voice. Cheers!"

"Dry!"

The wine glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound.

Zhao Jianjun downed his glass of baijiu in one gulp, exhaling a breath of alcohol-laden air: "Brother, you did a great job. Now every internet cafe owner in the area calls me Brother Zhao. Our internet cafe alliance is truly established."

While eating, Zhang Jian, who hadn't said much, suddenly put down his chopsticks.

He's obsessed now; he even has to have his laptop next to him while eating. His laptop is the latest IBM mobile workstation he bought at Hailong Building, with GSM internet access. Since he got the laptop, Zhang Jian has never let it out of his sight.

After two days of "training" by Zhang Xiaolong, Zhang Jian's technical sense is now even sharper than a dog's nose.

"Something's not right." Zhang Jian stared at the scrolling logs on the screen, his brows furrowed.

"What's wrong, third brother? Did the server crash?" Zhang Qingheng asked, his mouth full of braised pork slices, his words muffled.

"It didn't crash, there must be a rat." Zhang Jian's fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up a segment of intercepted data stream. He turned the screen to Bai Yuhang, "Sixth Brother, look, this IP has been scanning our port. The frequency isn't high, it's very stealthy, and it's using spoofing packets. If Allen hadn't taught me to modify the underlying monitoring and alarm logic, I wouldn't have noticed it either. This method... seems like a precursor to a DDoS attack, looking for vulnerabilities."

Bai Yuhang glanced at the string of characters flashing on the screen and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

It's obvious who used such despicable tactics.

"Someone's jealous and wants to sabotage us tomorrow." Bai Yuhang said calmly, picking up a piece of sweet and sour pork with his chopsticks. "Third brother, since we have guests, we can't refuse to open the door."

"Suppress him?" Zhang Jian asked.

"Blocking him is pointless. If you block one IP, he can just find ten more." Bai Yuhang sneered. "Let's open a door for him. Write a 'honeypot' program, disguise it as a vulnerability in the core server, and leave the port open for him to enter. Doesn't he want to generate traffic? Let's lure him to our Beijing office to test the backup shell server. Let him think he's succeeded, when in reality he's just outputting to thin air."

Zhang Jian's eyes lit up, and a wicked smile appeared on his face: "This is brilliant! Closing the door to beat the dog? Okay, I'll write the script right away and prepare a big gift for him."

The next morning, at the Harbin Institute of Technology gymnasium.

A huge "Blue Speed ​​Cup" banner hung beneath the dome, and dozens of sponsors' GG signs surrounded the venue. Thousands of seats were empty, and the air was thick with the tension of an impending battle.

Bai Yuhang stood in the center of the field, watching Zhang Jian test more than ten competition machines and competition servers step by step. Zhang Qingheng in front of the control panel was adjusting the huge projection screen rented by Shi Hongchao. Both of them smiled and gave him an "OK" gesture.

Just then, his phone vibrated. He looked down and saw a text message from Su Muqing with only two simple words: "Keep it up."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Chen Yuan grinned and pressed the Enter key, and the attack progress bar on the screen began to jump wildly.

He thought he had pressed the button to destroy, but little did he know that it was just a one-man show prepared for him by Bai Yuhang.

Backstage at the stadium, Zhang Jian and Yang Bo watched as the red traffic bar on the monitor screen suddenly surged, all of it being directed to the virtual server called "Trash Can," and whistled.

"Sixth Brother, the fish has taken the bait."

Bai Yuhang straightened his suit collar and strode towards the center of the stadium, the stage about to be illuminated by the spotlight: "Since you want to play, let me show you what a real dimensional reduction attack is."