Chapter 239 183: Black Extinction Virus
This time when Su Mo faced off against Ou Chenyu, he was not only standing up for KK but also taking the opportunity to test Ou Chenyu's current abilities.
Just as Su Mo expected, Ou Chenyu, being the "chosen one," had an astonishingly rapid growth rate.
The first time Su Mo encountered him, his prosthetics were primarily "Ordinary Management Level" and "Stringently Managed Level."
Now he had upgraded many components to "Military Level" and had become extremely proficient in their use, with his strength advancing by leaps and bounds.
In the early stages, the prosthetic stream was inherently stronger than the blood code stream, and now Ou Chenyu's strength might be several times greater than the Simon he had encountered before.
Considering factors like the protagonist's inherent "luck," "low health power-up," and others, his real combat strength might be even stronger.
From the beginning, Su Mo considered dealing with Ou Chenyu as his top priority, but he had never found a surefire opportunity to take him down.
Now, for various reasons, the conflict between them could no longer be hidden and was intensifying.
The decisive battle between Edge and Tiger Teeth was not far off.
The cocktail party ended just after eleven, and nothing special happened afterward.
Through socializing, Su Mo met many well-known intermediaries. They drank, chatted, exchanged contact information, and then went their separate ways home.
The next afternoon, after eating, Su Mo looked at the clock and murmured, "November 19th, she should be on the news..."
He turned on the TV and switched to the news channel.
Today's midday news program had just started; it was an interview program.
The interview was titled, "Black Domain Group's Beautiful Programmer Releases Major Technological Achievements Involving Multiple High-Precision Fields."
On the screen, a short-haired beauty in a white office dress was smiling as she talked with the host. The discussion focused on software programming.
Su Mo smiled slightly and muttered to himself, "Perfect, exactly the same, this plot line hasn't changed."
"Good afternoon, An Churan... our heroine, Miss An."
He opened the group chat on his phone and mentioned over ten of the strongest Edge Mercenaries, including Dongdong and Chu Nanyi, typing:
[Meeting in conference room 6F, time to work]
...
The night of November 19th.
In a countryside area 514 kilometers away from New Moon City.
The Black Domain Group's "Wind City Information Research Center" was located here.
At this late hour, countless people had fallen asleep, unaware that the fate of the entire Human Realm was about to be rewritten on this starless night.
In the control room of Wind City Information Research Center, the overhead lights were adjusted to match the brightness of the computer monitors, ensuring optimal comfort for human eyes.
Behind these monitors were numerous matrix machines, symbols of cutting-edge technology of this era, each a supercomputer terminal with computing power exceeding hundreds of billions of operations per second.
Dozens of software engineers from the Black Domain Group sat before the screens, fingers darting across the keyboards, eyes focused on the rapidly scrolling characters.
The lead programmer, An Churan, sat in the central position, compiling programs running on the monitor in front of her, with countless code characters intermingling.
If someone who understood programming examined closely, they would be amazed by how efficient and concise the code was, full of rational beauty.
After entering the final command symbol, An Churan asked, "Is the targeted computer firewall construction complete?"
A software engineer responded, "It's complete, and ready for testing anytime."
Everyone looked up at the large monitor connected to the targeted computer at the top.
This targeted computer had no additional data, with all storage units used to construct the firewall, showcasing the most advanced security programs in the world today.
In their evaluations, even if all known trojan viruses, worm viruses, macro viruses, etc., were implanted, it would still run unimpeded.
It's no exaggeration to say that this is an iron wall, a wall symbolizing the strongest computer defense humans have created so far.
If there is a virus capable of breaching this iron wall, it would imply that all computer firewalls in the world are ineffective against it.
An Churan and her companions exchanged glances, seeing the flame of determination in each other's eyes.
An Churan shouted loudly, " 'Black Extinction Virus' Attack Test No. 1062, commence!"
"Pa!" She pressed the Enter key.
For this virus attack test, many scenarios had been envisioned.
Such as, like in the first few hundred attempts, failing to grasp the basic logic of the "Black Extinction Virus" source code, leading to complete recompile failure with no effect once run, resulting in nothing happening.
Or errors occurring during recompile, severely weakening its power, making it even weaker than some common computer viruses, unable to shake the targeted computer's terminal firewall.
Of course, it was also possible they would be fortunate, and after more than a thousand failures, they would finally complete the recompile, allowing them to launch a swift and lethal attack on the targeted computer.
That would likely be a vast electronic war.
The Black Extinction Virus and terminal firewall would engage in a fierce battle within the electronic system, with the supercomputing core overloading and overheating, eventually reaching the one who could control it.
The researchers envisioned many scenarios, yet what happened next was beyond their imagination...
The moment An Churan pressed Enter, inputting the Black Extinction Virus into the targeted computer...
The programs on the top screen crashed consecutively, with the terminal firewall and underlying system being destroyed in an instant, and overwhelming noise points covering every inch of the screen like snowflakes.
Everything within the targeted computer's electronic construction turned into a dead world.
No security programs had time to run, no defense between firewall and virus; the dramatic change happened in a split second.
It was like a tidal wave crashing against a sand-built wall, flowing over, submerging, and everything vanished without a trace.
The software engineers present were immersed in shock, unable to recover for a long time.
No one knew how much time had passed, but as the first cheer erupted, the atmosphere in the computer room became electrified.
With tears of joy in their eyes, they hugged each other, and some even rolled on the ground like children.
An elderly researcher shook hands firmly with An Churan, overwhelmed with joy, "After so many years of being neglected by the group, of being sidelined, with leaders not optimistic about this project... thanks to you, Xiaohan, we can finally hold our heads high!"
"Once we submit this achievement, the group will surely inject a lot of funds into the team. Once we fully understand the operational model of the Black Extinction Virus one day, the group will stand at the pinnacle of this world! And you will be the chief contributor!"
An Churan's face was also full of excitement, but she expressed herself very humbly: "We can't think that far yet; we just completed the re-compilation and recreated the destructive power of the Black Extinction Virus initially.
"Right now, it's like a bloodthirsty beast, only knowing indiscriminate destruction; it can't be used flexibly yet, and there's still a long way to go."
"Besides, this isn't just my contribution; it's due to everyone's effort!"
The elder gently patted An Churan's hand and kindly said, "Xiaohan, you're too modest; you're the most remarkable software engineer I've ever seen in my life!"
"However, now the big trend is hardware application technology, such as blood codes, prostheses, spiritual brains... the software field has been neglected."
"Actually, people don't realize that software is also incredibly lethal. We code writers aren't much weaker than those extraordinary beings, and the group absolutely shouldn't overlook us!"
An Churan smiled and said, "I believe from today on, things will start to change. I'll go organize the report now!"
The joyful atmosphere continued, and everyone fetched snacks from the warehouse and opened the champagne that had been kept for years, holding an impromptu party in the lounge.
The elder came to the control room and softly said to An Churan, who was working intently, "Xiaohan, just relax today. You've endured so many years; a moment won't make a difference."
An Churan was so focused on the screen, her fingers quickly tapping the keyboard, that she didn't hear the elder at all.
The elder smiled silently, not disturbing her any further, and went to the lounge alone.
Laughter and joy filled the lounge as everyone celebrated and looked forward to a bright future, losing track of time.
Gradually, as people drank more, they began to sing arm in arm.
"Buzz—" The warning lights suddenly illuminated without warning.
Red light poured from the ceiling, saturating every inch of space, as if transforming the surroundings into a pool of blood.
A cold broadcast followed: "Warning! Unrecognized lifeforms have been detected; the core area has been breached! All computer storage units will soon be formatted. All members are advised to evacuate immediately!"
The fiery atmosphere was instantly extinguished, leaving everyone standing dazed in the red glow, unsure of what to do.
The elder froze in his seat, lips trembling, quietly muttering with a crying tone, "Why today... we've had no incidents for so many years... why today?!"
An Churan rushed into the lounge, shouting to everyone, "The alarm is sounding; there are enemies! We need to evacuate quickly!"
Someone exclaimed, "What about the Black Extinction Virus?!"
An Churan drew a sealed chip from her pocket, "Don't worry; while you were having the party earlier, I backed up its source code for insurance, and it's all on this chip."
The elder asked in panic, "Then... what about the information? If the data gets formatted by the defense system and we lose all those documents and instructions, we won't know how to continue researching the Black Extinction Virus, and years of effort will go to waste!"
An Churan flashed a sweet smile and pointed to her head, "I've been memorizing the materials every day; they're already stored right here."
Only then did everyone regain composure, looking at her with eyes full of admiration.
"There's no time left, let's go!" An Churan gestured for everyone to follow.
Everyone hurriedly fled to the evacuation passage.
As they ran, the ceiling occasionally trembled, letting down specks of dust, and faint explosions and gunfire could be heard outside.
They had just rounded a corner when suddenly, a section of the wall ahead exploded with a "boom," and a mangled guard's corpse was flung from the smoke.
The group was terrified, cries of alarm breaking out.
"Oh, what a coincidence, running into an old friend here." From the smoke, a man's cold laughter sounded, and several armed figures appeared.
An Churan was incredibly shocked upon seeing the lead person, "Ou Chenyu?!"
Ou Chenyu looked back at An Churan with a cold smile, "Haven't seen you since New Year's; I thought I'd never see you again."
An Churan questioned, "What are you doing here?!"
Ou Chenyu shrugged and answered succinctly, "Getting paid, doing the job."
An Churan's eyes filled with unwillingness, speaking in a deep tone, "Listen, I don't care who hired you to target the Black Domain Group, but my colleagues are innocent; don't hurt them."
Ou Chenyu displayed a mocking expression, leisurely teasing, "What's this, Miss An, why talking to a mercenary in such a low voice?"
"Didn't you look down on mercenaries? Didn't we break up at the start of the year because I wanted to become a mercenary?"
An Churan tried to maintain a calm tone, "I never looked down on mercenaries; I just felt you and I were not cut from the same cloth. You aspire to chase fame and fortune, to make a mark, while I only want to quietly immerse myself in technical research.
"Besides, haven't you been engaged to the Libetong family's young lady? Our breakup is in the past and shouldn't..."
Ou Chenyu waved a hand to interrupt her, coolly saying, "I'm not here to perform a soap opera. As I said, I'm here for work, and it just so happens to run into you."
He gestured behind him down the corridor, "Why don't you come back with me, and let's see what goodies you have here."
The Tiger Teeth Mercenaries destroyed surveillance along the way, led An Churan and others back to the control room under duress.
They donned rubber gloves and began inspecting various equipment.
Not long after, Xiaotian You reported to Ou Chenyu, "The system disk is empty; these bastards deleted everything."
Seeing Ou Chenyu's gaze, An Churan quickly explained, "That's because your intrusion triggered the defense system of the research center; the data deletion process is fully automatic and irreversible, and it's not related to us."
Ou Chenyu narrowed his eyes, speaking meaningfully, "Miss An, I know you're someone with a diligent work attitude, fond of preparing for unforeseen circumstances."
"You must have backed up all the important stuff in advance; let's save some time and just hand it over."