In the brightly-lit control room, the recessed lighting in the ceiling gradually dimmed. The monitor that occupied the four walls beamed with blue light as countless commands flashed by, stirring up blue waves.
But Huo Shaoheng alone performing counter-programming wasn’t nearly enough power against such a huge system. Because the central control room had such a heavy workload, it was unrealistic to halt its operations just because of a tiny incident. While he was busy counter-programming, other staff members in the central control room went into a state of high alert.
“District 1 alert complete, no abnormalities detected.”
“District 2 alert complete, no abnormalities detected.”
“Disruptive noise detected in District 3, the source has been identified.”
“District 4 alert complete, no abnormalities detected.”
…
“District 27 alert complete, no abnormalities detected.”
The Huaxia Empire was divided into 27 districts. Now and then, reports came in from the central control room.
Everyone was somber as they sat in front of their computers, focused on their respective duties. Even Gu Nianzhi was influenced by the apprehensive vibe. She dared not do anything conspicuous. She sat upright like a soldier beside Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Shaoheng was fully immersed in this formidable challenge. This was the second time since joining the army that a challenge had caused his heart to race this rapidly. Soon, the match would end, and the victor and loser would each be revealed.
Fortunately, Gu Nianzhi had already caught the “culprit” in the monitoring software. Huo Shaoheng thoroughly analyzed those four lines of commands, then began counter-programming. Counter-programming meant restoring the current execution language to a source code, much like stripping away the mask of a carefully-disguised imposter to reveal his true face.
Gu Nianzhi wasn’t sure if this was the first time Huo Shaoheng had performed counter-programming on the AI logic language Prolog, but judging from the rapidness and expertise he exhibited during the process, he must have had prior experience. She breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes followed the lines of command issued by Huo Shaoheng on the monitor.
Watching Huo Shaoheng performing highly advanced restoration step-by-step on those four lines of command and slowly killing the seeds of evil planted by the unknown enemy made Gu Nianzhi tense up again. Since those four lines of commands were AI-based programming, the enemy seemed to have anticipated this kind of counter-programming.
Every time a step was cracked and a line of source code restored, the AI program immediately reissued another command. It was almost as if it was playing hide and seek, slipping away again and again when just on the verge of capture.
Huo Shaoheng was not discouraged and remained calm. The seductive contours of his lips displayed resolve and determination flickered in his eyes. He was even more breathtaking than the blue light on the monitor.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes fell to Huo Shaoheng unconsciously. She had seen Huo Shaoheng in many different roles. She’d seen him as the war hero who forced the enemy to retreat from the battlefield while taking a bullet in the process. There was a version of him that was a valiant warrior on the battlefield. There was also the civilian version of him that was the dotting boyfriend who spoiled and indulged her with his nourishing love. Yet she had never seen this Huo Shaoheng, the computer genius!
His excellence and expertise inspired Gu Nianzhi’s ambition. She wanted to rise to his level. Only then could she feel worthy enough and assured that she wouldn’t drag him down.
True love inspires us to transform into the best version of ourselves. Regardless of whether or not the relationship is everlasting, we must be grateful for all the heartfelt and genuine relationships that we encounter in our lives.
At this moment, Gu Nianzhi was certain that her resolution wouldn’t waver, that she would not shrink back.
She merely watched Huo Shaoheng without letting any nuance in his facial expression escape her eyes. Before long, she noticed that beads of sweat had started trickling down Huo Shaoheng’s forehead. Gu Nianzhi was somewhat caught off guard.
Could it be that the counter-programming wasn’t going as well as expected?
Gu Nianzhi’s gaze shifted to the monitor. The lines of command that had been there just a moment before were now all garbled!
“What’s going on?” Gu Nianzhi felt her heart do a nervous leap inside her chest. She asked gently, “Have you encountered some trouble?”
Huo Shaoheng said “uh-huh.” He then said in a low voice, “…The enemy can do more than reprogram… This is a phishing program.”
Gu Nianzhi felt her eyes go dark. She nearly fainted!
“Phishing?! Did we fall into a trap?” Gu Nianzhi felt burdened with guilt. Had she caused this mess?
Seeming to read her mind, Huo Shaoheng said immediately, “It’s not your fault. You helped us tremendously by catching the culprit in time. If not for you, our losses would have been inestimable.” Perhaps a loss on the same scale as the one the German Federal Intelligence Agency had suffered when they encountered Gu Nianzhi…
What was different last time was that the culprit had been Gu Nianzhi, an animate and intelligent human being. This time, their opponent was merely four lines of AI-based commands, which should be easier to handle. But this did not seem to appease Gu Nianzhi, only making her even edgier.
“What on earth is happening?”
“…The enemy seems to have anticipated that I would perform counter-programming. Therefore, as soon I started counter-programming, the AI commands they implanted issued a warning to its owner.”
…
Meanwhile, inside a covert US military laboratory on the other side of the ocean, an alarm suddenly started blaring, indicating that a foreign enemy had invaded. Mayhem broke out in the base.
Dozens of military personnel put down their work and rushed to their guarding positions.
In the secret laboratory of the central base, experimenters wearing white lab coats over their military uniforms were anxiously staring at the computer. With hands and mouths busy, they began continuously issuing commands.
“Son-of-b*tch! Our cover has been blown!”
“Mayday-Mayday!”
“Quick! Initiate the offense!”
“The enemy is counter-programming! The covert program we implanted seized the opportunity to open the back door! This is our only chance!”
“Counter-programming will occupy most of the other host’s performance capacity, so this is when the security system is in its most vulnerable state!”
“F*ck! This is the chance of a lifetime! Finally, I can surf around the Huaxia Empire’s elusive intranet!”
Inside the secret laboratory, an elite group of military gear attired experimenters seemed as if they had been injected with adrenaline. They began maniacally launching attacks on the Huaxia Empire’s intranet.
The main target of their attack was the central control room within the headquarters of the Special Operation Forces, which was the endpoint of all the networks and electronic control systems in the Huaxia Empire.
…
“Report! State of emergency declared in District 1!”
“Report! State of emergency declared in District 2!”
“Report! District 3 has fallen to the enemy!”
“Report! District Four…”
…
In the central control room of the Huaxia Empire, the atmosphere changed from calm to tense, and finally to chaotic. This was the first time that they have encountered such a large-scale cyber attack.
Because they had already planted a “tour guide” within the system to lead the way, the enemy’s attack was especially fierce. The protective walls were torn open as the enemy made a beeline for the heart of the system!
“Chief! We can’t hold up any longer!”
The central control room’s staff all appeared ashen and crestfallen. Although they had vowed to fight till the very end, even if they were fighting a losing battle, seeing the areas they were responsible for being taken down one by one made them feel exasperated and desperately wish that they could end this madness once and for all!
“Do not panic!” Huo Shaoheng said in a deep voice. “Stabilize your positions and maintain your composure.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at the half-completed counter-programming that Huo Shaoheng had performed, then glanced up at the walls covered in large monitors. So many tiny blue dots saturated the monitors that it almost looked like a modern piece of art.
Gu Nianzhi knew that the blue dots represented the enemy and the red dots represented them. The blue side had nearly surrounded the red side in a position similar to a blockade, thwarting their every line of defense…
“No, I can’t let them break in like this!”
Gu Nianzhi herself had broken through the German Federal Intelligence Agency’s line of defense. She knew exactly how far-reaching and catastrophic the potential damage was.
Now that the victim of such an attack was her own country, she got a chance to feel what it was like to be on the other end. She couldn’t accept it at all. If they were successfully breached, then that would mean that their abilities were inferior!
She watched as the blue dots continued to flash across the monitor. The red dots were gradually surrounded and decimated. Blood boiled in her chest. She finally got up and asked to volunteer. “Huo Shao, let me help you stop them!”
With her fists tightly clenched, her delicate features had a sense of calmness and solemnity that had rarely appeared on them before. With her imposing countenance and emboldened, fearless demeanor, she seemed indistinguishable from the soldiers in the central control room. Huo Shaoheng had no other choice at this time.
If Zhao Liangze had still been here, Gu Nianzhi’s help wouldn’t have been needed. But with so many shocking turns of events today, he had no other choice but to turn to her for help.
“Alright, Gu Nianzhi, your code…” Huo Shaoheng hadn’t even finished before Gu Nianzhi interrupted.
“Pink Piggy. Pink Piggy will be my code.”
Even in the tense and suffocating atmosphere of the central control room, everyone went quiet for a moment and the atmosphere stiffened a little when they heard Gu Nianzhi’s words. Then a burst of warm applause and cheers exploded throughout the room!
“Pink Piggy!”
“Nianzhi is the Pink Piggy?!”
“The high and mighty Pink Piggy! Let me kneel before you!”
Someone even whistled.
The Pink Piggy!
If you worked in the computer industry, how could you not be aware of the “little pink pig” phenomenon? After single-handedly defeating the entire German Federal Intelligence Agency, she became a legend in the hacker world!
Even within the Chinese Empire, only a handful of people knew that Gu Nianzhi was the person behind Pink Piggy. Since she was a lowkey person, she knew that revealing her identity would mean glory, but also trouble accompanied by unwarranted attention.
But at the moment, Gu Nianzhi wasn’t revealing herself for the sake of attention, but to give everyone confidence! To remind the rest of the staff of their strength! They hadn’t lost yet!
The atmosphere in the central control room changed for the better. No one stared at the blue dots that were gaining momentum with terror and apprehension, but with calmness.
Looking at these blue dots with a different mindset, they looked like prey voluntarily jumping into a trap! Come on, we’re here waiting for you!
Gu Nianzhi sat in front of the console next to Huo Shaoheng. Huo Shaoheng immediately gave her the highest authority. Neither of them said anything to the other, they merely shot encouraging looks at each other.
Huo Shaoheng grasped her hands. “Fight on!”
