A day later, within the booster substation of the Eiffel Power Plant.
Chen Chen looked speechlessly at the sight before him and for once, there was an astonished look in his eyes.
Within his pitch-dark pupils, a red glint flared up now and then in an eerie, mysterious manner.
However, if one looked closely, one would see that it was a part of reality that was reflected in his eyes.
In this reality, he was staring at a USB drive.
At the moment, the USB drive was inserted into a thick copper ingot as the electricity from the entire power plant was pouring into it. Under the impact of the massive current, the copper ingot was making a “sizzling” sound.
Faint electric arcs were flickering in the air.
It was just like when one walked below a high-voltage wire, one would always hear a sizzling sound. This was an effect called an “electrical corona”, produced when the strength of the electric field exceeded the strength of the air and tore the air apart.
However, that was not the main point…
The main point was, the USB drive of mysterious origins, which stayed intact no matter how it was battered, was currently emitting a gloomy light.
This was definitely what Chen Chen saw!
The USB drive, cocooned in countless electric arcs, was drawing in endless electricity while giving off a dark red glow!
It was as if there was an unknown, luminous substance in the USB drive, which shone through the shell of the USB drive, dyeing it a dark, peculiar scarlet.
Moreover, the scarlet glow was constantly pulsing as if it was breathing or some mysterious matter was slowly squirming…
“As expected, this USB drive isn’t as simple as I thought it was…”
Chen Chen watched the USB drive from a few meters away.
Due to the corona effect produced by the copper ingot, Chen Chen did not approach it carelessly. He simply observed the USB drive silently with a pensive expression.
“This has never happened before — was it because of insufficient power?
“I know that the generation capacity of the Eiffel Power Plant at full operation is one million kilowatts, which is more than a hundred times that of my data center transformer. In other words, after today, I’d have charged the USB drive for an equivalent of 2,400 hours in the data center or 120,000 hours in the factory that I leased back then.
“I’ve never reached this stage before…
“In that case, I can determine that this occurrence is linked to the large supply of energy.”
Chen Chen stroked his chin and pondered. “Still, herein lies the question.
“What does the light from the USB drive mean? Is it just a power indicator or is there some deeper meaning to it?
“Or is it a sign of overloading because the USB drive can’t withstand such a massive influx of electricity? That shouldn’t be it… If that’s not it, what is it?
“Plus, what’s the difference between this USB drive which flashes with a red light and the USB drive in its previous, normal state? Will its function change?”
Chen Chen endlessly contemplated every clue that could be helpful but in the end, he helplessly realized that his analysis of the USB drive was meaningless.
As he thought of this, Chen Chen decisively walked off and pulled the switch!
“Pop!”
That was the sound of the current being cut off. The arcs around the USB drive faded quickly. Not only that, even the red light of the USB drive vanished as well.
Chen Chen walked forward gradually and caught a whiff of something that smelled like rotten eggs. This was caused by the electrolysis of the air, which produced ozone and other gases.
Ignoring this, Chen Chen gently touched the USB drive and found that it was the same as before. There were no changes and even its temperature remained at room temperature.
As for the copper ingot in which the USB drive was inserted, it was hot enough to be used for grilling squid.
“The USB drive did not change at all, which also means that the red light indicated that the USB drive has received sufficient power?”
With this in mind, Chen Chen took out a laptop he had previously prepared from the suitcase, then inserted the USB drive.
After a quick examination, the USB drive appeared to be normal. The seven movies inside were unchanged.
Chen Chen shook his head. After ascertaining that there was no problem with the USB drive, he plugged it out and inserted it back into the copper ingot. After that, he restarted the switch.
“Buzz!”
Instantly, there was that thunderous buzzing sound again…
In this manner, Chen Chen and Cheng Cao’s group took turns standing guard before the substation for five days and nights. The story they told the public was that these were defense forces, sent by Dlamini to guard the substation, to prevent it from being destroyed by the rebel groups.
Although the workers in the factory were very curious about the sudden appearance of Chen Chen’s group, no one dared to seek trouble after seeing their weapons.
In the urban area of Cape Town, although the transmission line of the Eiffel Power Plant and even the step-down substation had been destroyed, fortunately, there were still other small power stations. Even though Cape Town was still short on electricity, at least a few departments could restart their operations first.
Furthermore, due to power issues in the early years of the Rainbow Nation, there used to be frequent power restrictions. This power outage lasting several days was merely an extended power restriction for some people.
Other than a three hundred percent increase in crime rate, a large-scale demonstration involving tens of thousands of people, and an increase in prices by several times, it did not cause too much trouble…
It was not until five days later that another emergency substation was finally constructed. At the same time, the dozens of transmission towers that were damaged from the explosion were also repaired.
After the facilities were further refined, the electricity was soon successfully unblocked. The electricity from the Eiffel Power Plant once more flowed into thousands of households.
By this time, Chen Chen and the others had quietly left the Eiffel Power Plant, rushing along the road toward the border between the Rainbow Nation and Namibia.
The Rainbow Nation’s border that was peppered with blind spots was more ornamental than it was functional. It did not stop anyone at all.
After this, Chen Chen also rewarded Dlamini. He increased Dlamini’s authority in “God’s Forbidden Zone” by one level, from Delta to Gamma.
This level was where Cheng Cao and Qian Wenhuan were currently at.
In Chen Chen’s set up, there were five levels of authority in God’s Forbidden Zone, sorted by the Greek alphabet. From highest to lowest, they were: Sigma (∑), Alpha (Α), Beta (Β), Gamma (Γ), and Delta (Δ), which were just like the English letters: S, A, B, C, D.
Delta-level members were purely a sort of consumables. Most of them would be like a disposable product. Once they were no longer useful, they would be eliminated.
Only those who were Gamma or above could be considered official members of God’s Forbidden Zone.
As for the meaning of the levels’ names, there was no practical significance. One might as well call them levels 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, but this would not sound as elegant.
Among them, Chen Chen was undoubtedly Sigma-level. Nonetheless, if an organization wanted to appear to be fair and orderly, it was best to add a sort of council.
Therefore, Chen Chen structured it so that there would be 12 Sigmas, called the Disciple Council. This meant that the entire God’s Forbidden Zone was managed by the 12 Disciples.
Each Disciple would have a designated code name. The code name Chen Chen gave himself was Judas.
Of course, besides Chen Chen, the 11 other seats were still vacant.
In Chen Chen’s design, even if someone rose to the highest level, Sigma, and became one of the twelve Disciples, they would still be unable to control God’s Forbidden Zone.
This was because above Sigma, a supreme existence remained hidden, which was God.
God possessed absolute authority in God’s Forbidden Zone including control over everyone’s chips, Little X, and even the USB drive.
Of course, this person was no one else other than Chen Chen.
