"Not good! They're charging in!"
Within a tall building in New York, the United States, a shout was heard, "Hurry and block them! Don't let them get in!"
This was one of several temporary command centers set up by the Protheus Laboratory Company. The massive liquid crystal display screen hanging on the wall clearly projected the observer's view of a battle royale ga match. Behind the twelve rows of ten computers each, all facing the liquid crystal display, sat staff mbers, each wearing the company's uniform and a headset with a microphone. These individuals were responsible for overall command, coordination, and communication in this ga match. The characters were under Protheus's control, but this particular battle royale match was influenced by ga chanics that prohibited common cyber-attack thods, such as remote control of other people's computers or server attacks. Thus, it actually required soone to sit in front of the computers where the 160 players were located in the mortal realm at the start of the ga.
The manager in charge of the command at the scene was a middle-aged Caucasian man with a balding head. His well-tailored suit couldn't disguise his portly, out-of-shape figure, and his sparsely haired, sweaty head was unsightly. He seed out of place amidst the command center's near-futuristic decor and the hundreds of stern-faced employees in suits.
But no one on site dared to mock this ordinary manager nad Graham for his appearance. The last Lv15 player who joked about the manager's obesity was sent to the biological weapons departnt for "scientific research."
To be precise, he beca the subject of research by the scientists. Human body modifications, injections of experintal drugs with unknown dangers, chanical limb replacents for all organs except the brain—he was frequently confined in cages for lee combat with bizarre biological weapons to test their actual combat capabilities.
Ordinary Lv15 players were indeed exceptional elsewhere. But the Lv15 players grood by Protheus Laboratory Company were heavily dependent on its products, as all their enhancents ca from the company's "generous offerings." The equipnt they used was also mostly provided by the company for a fee, under a contract validated by the ga.
If a player ever left or betrayed the company, their various biological and chanical enhancents would malfunction without maintenance and quickly beco useless. The equipnt and items they used would also automatically return to Protheus Laboratory's warehouse due to contractual restrictions.
In the eyes of the company's true higher-ups, ordinary Lv15s were just slightly more advanced laborers and, to so extent, considered "consumable goods" that could be routinely expended.
"Damn it!" The infamous company executive Graham, looking at the stream of Special Affairs Bureau's Light Giants pouring in through the cracks in the earthen wall, cursed angrily. "What about the network technology team? Have they locked on to the real-world location of the other side?"
"Locked on," a middle-aged man, who seed to be the leader of the technology team, stood up, speaking with a tremble. "But the Special Affairs Bureau has already set up defenses. The network nodes used by each computer have been reinforced, and it would take at least ten minutes to half an hour to breach them."
"Fuck," Graham cursed, his expression darkening. He didn't ask the tech team if they could hack into Blue Hole's servers to change so underlying ga chanics and give the FPU a huge in-ga advantage—this was impossible. FPS (first-person shooter) gas generate a large amount of data with every shot fired. To reduce lag, developers have the data computed on the local client side, with the server only accepting the results. (This is essentially why FPS ga cheats are hard to eradicate.) The server hosting this ga had been affected by the Realms Corridor. Cheats from both sides could only manipulate data calculation on their own local clients; they couldn't work upstream to control or affect the server, let alone shut down the match.
"Then," amidst the chaotic environnt, Graham raised his head and said coldly to the leader of the network technology team, "can you cut off the electricity to the streets, or even the district, where those computers are located?"
"Ah?!" The tech team leader was stunned by his boss's wildly imaginative idea but still hesitantly spoke with a professional attitude. "That would be very, very difficult. Industrial power substations have two kinds of operating chanisms: chanical and electric. The forr is physically isolated and cannot be hacked. The latter requires internal network permissions for the substation—which is, to a certain extent, also physically isolated from the internet..."
Seemingly noticing Graham's expression, the technical team leader beca panicked and hastily added, "However, purely in theory, there is still a slight possibility. We could hack into the personal information terminals of the power plant network administrators to find the software that assigns permissions, obtain those permissions, and then access the administrative machine. Based on the player's computer IP address, we could shut down the power supply in a certain area. We could also try to hack into the power center's dispatch center or the regional dispatch center and issue forged instructions to the local operators on the front line..."
Graham said coldly, "How long would it take?"
The technical team leader's lips moved. He hesitated for a mont, then spoke with difficulty, "Without any interference, it could be thirty minutes, or it could be three hours. It might also only disrupt the power supply in a few places—the Special Affairs Bureau has definitely anticipated this and will surely protect the power system."
Hackers are not omnipotent, at least not when it cos to physically isolated internal networks; they have absolutely no way to breach them. They're not like those Whale Song people who can use Transcendent powers to connect to the internet through the void. This is a struggle between the Special Affairs Bureau and Protheus Laboratory. Whale Song already had a poor relationship with the latter; why would they possibly co to assist? It's good enough they're not kicking them while they're down.
"Do you think the FPU can hold out for another thirty minutes?" Graham glanced at the large screen showing the Light Giants streaming into the cracks in the earthen wall, his expression ominously dark.
"Forget it. Just do it." He exhaled heavily, not pressing further, but simply waved his hand.
The technical team leader, as if granted amnesty, quickly sat down and began issuing commands to his subordinates at his computer.
anwhile, Graham himself picked up a communication device resembling a walkie-talkie and spoke coldly into the channel to his subordinates distributed around the world, "Teams 1 and 2, block the breach at all costs.
Teams 3 and 4, retreat.
Everyone else, implent the optimal combat plan."
The so-called optimal combat plan was actually to allow the FPU to assimilate them. But now, the employees were controlling ga characters, so even if they died, it wouldn't be a loss. They imdiately hamred their keyboards and yanked their mice, making their characters fly into the air. So invoked the Law of Heaven and Earth, transforming into ten-ter giants, summoning vehicles, and flinging themselves, vehicles and all, toward the breach. Others flew towards the FPU, allowing its avatars to grab their ga character's neck and constantly infuse green data into their bodies.
Protheus's Law of Heaven and Earth cheat seed to have a higher technical content, actually enabling a collision volu that matched their transford size. It even allowed them to pick up vehicles like jeeps and cars to use as weapons, smashing them against the Special Affairs Bureau's Light Giants.
The latter's collision volu and physical contact effects remained the sa as when they were at normal size. When hit by a jeep, they were sent flying. The first few even suffered massive damage from being crushed by the vehicles; their health bars were wiped clean as they flew and fell to the ground, dying on the spot, their teammates unable to arrive in ti to save them.
Seeing the dire situation, the other Light Giants opened fire with their guns, aiming at the vehicles. However, the hack used by Protheus was outrageously effective: they had covered the surface of the vehicles with a layer of frying pans, blocking the Light Giants' bullets. Then, utilizing the collision volu of themselves and the vehicles, they ford a dented human wall to block the breach.
"Still need..." a floating FPU mumbled to itself, pinching the neck of a ga character model as green streams of data constantly flickered in its eyes, "...a bit more ti..."
Just as the Special Affairs Bureau had surmised, the FPU itself knew that this map was especially suitable for it to leverage its abilities. Typically, Dueling Fields strive for fairness and impartiality. This situation very likely ant the Deathmatch ga recognized that Li Rising's strength was far superior to its own and that its chances of winning a one-on-one battle were very slim. Thus, a scenario with an abundance of external factors that could be exploited by the FPU was specifically designed.
There was still a chance.
In the mortal realm or scripted worlds, it was extrely difficult for the FPU to assimilate Transcendent beings, let alone ordinary humans. But this was the ga world. Even in the most complex and massive ga, the data volu, compared to the mortal realm, was negligible.
The desperate delaying tactics of its Protheus Laboratory colleagues successfully bought the FPU a small window of ti. It grabbed the necks of twelve players rushing towards it, rapidly assimilating them into its own likeness with lightning speed.
In the end, fifty figures in black suits and sunglasses floated in the skies above Lion City. Each black-suited figure inherited a portion of the FPU's Transcendent powers. Moreover, these assimilated counterparts still counted as ga characters and could use the cheats provided by Protheus.
[Skill Na: Misaka Network·Fake]
[Type: Psychic Ability]
[Special Effect: Conformal Brainwaves. Emit brainwaves; if there are brainwaves of the sa waveform nearby, they can convert brainwaves into electronic signals and connect with each other, forming a network. Within the range of the brainwave connection, information can be transmitted at the normal cognitive speed of the brain, enhancing Computing Power.]
[Consumption: At least four points of Sanity Value per second. The more brainwave connections and the more complex the information transmission, the higher the Sanity Value consumption.]
[Cooldown Ti: three minutes]
[Usage Conditions: Intelligence Attribute of at least 14 points, Perception Attribute of at least 13 points.]
[Remark: Can our hearts feel it?]
This skill, called [Misaka Network·Fake], had a very vague description of its Special Effects. What did "emitting brainwave connections" an? To what extent could it enhance Computing Power? And how was the Sanity Value consumption calculated? If it went beyond the limit, would it instantly drop the Sanity Value below fifty, causing one to go insane?
The vague description of its Special Effects, coupled with the huge side effects, made the skill seem like a poor trade-off. But only the FPU, its user, knew how powerful this ability truly was.
Thought waves emanating from the fifty clones tangled in the air, coalescing into an invisible and intangible, dense network.
Touch, sll, taste, vision... The information collected from the senses of fifty individuals appeared simultaneously in the mind of each body. This was not a simple series or parallel connection; the FPU could feel all of each other's sensations without its brain slowing down due to information overload. On the contrary, the shared brainwaves granted the FPU an additional 2,000% in Computing Power.
With the augntation of this trendous Computing Power, the FPU's ability to manipulate data was enhanced again. The intense satisfaction of controlling itself and the surrounding environnt kept erging.
Power surged up...
BOOM!
A massive explosion sounded in the distance. The FPUs turned their heads in unison, only to see the Protheus employees who had ford the defensive wall being blasted away, spewing green blood, and turning into flat wooden boxes before they could even hit the ground.
The attacker was Li Ang. He maintained the posture of having swung his Tyrant Halberd, treading on the back of a Light Giant as he charged towards the FPUs.
The remaining Protheus operators below hastily flew up to intercept, but they were preempted by a large number of Light Giants surging from behind. The two sides beca embroiled in battle. Hacks like the tree-forming hack, the Luffy hack, the shrinking hack, the auto-aim hack, another auto-aim hack, the bullet-absorbing hack, and the airdrop-crushing hack... All kinds of cheats piled up, turning the entire battlefield into a veritable arena of the gods. Green blood flowed everywhere; casualties occurred every mont, each turning into a flat wooden box lying on the ground.
The carnage below did not stop Li Ang's charge. He stepped on the back of the Xing Hechou-brand flying sword, leaped up, then used [Cloud Ascending Ladder] to create invisible steps beneath his feet. Pushing off with a sudden burst of speed, he charged at the cluster of FPUs like lightning.
HUM—
The blade of the Tyrant Halberd cut through the air, creating a piercing scream as it slashed towards the neck of the foremost FPU.
So fast! This thought flashed through the minds of the FPUs. Witnessing a match replay is one thing, but facing this lethal strike is quite another. Dodge.
No sooner had the thought erged than their bodies responded. The targeted FPU rapidly retreated. The others raised their hands, summoning firearms from afar to shoot at Li Ang, weaving an impenetrable net of fire to cover their comrade's retreat.
"Pots, to !" Xing Hechou bellowed.
Hundreds of frying pans from the nurous flat wooden boxes on the ground flew toward him. All types of frying pans in the hands of the Immortals on the battlefield unsheathed and soared majestically into the sky.
The two torrents of frying pans, blotting out the sky, adhered to each other, miraculously building a frying pan wall in front of Li Ang, blocking all the bullets.
"Good!" Li Ang exclaid, reaching out to support the pan shield. He cast [Cloud Ascending Ladder] again to accelerate and closed in on the FPUs once more.
Another halberd strike descended! This ti, the FPU had no escape, but a hint of a smile simultaneously appeared on all their faces.
The ability to modify data activated. The bones of the targeted FPU instantly deford, becoming as soft and boneless as putty, its upper body bending backward to narrowly dodge the spear tip.
The ordinary Luffy hack, combined with the trendous Computing Power granted by the Misaka Network, allowed it to precisely control its body structure to evade physical attacks.
Hmph, although this Li Rising is mighty and his attacks are powerful and unstoppable, his biggest flaw is the lack of sustained, large-scale Energy attack capabilities. The Luffy hack is his perfect nesis!
This is what the FPU and all the Protheus operatives at the command center in New York thought—this was the unanimous conclusion they reached after watching the Sky Fighting Arena match.
However, sowhere in the mortal realm, Sunset Gold Slter, who was using Whale Song tools to spy on the match, shook his head. He had experienced the [High-dinsional Hacking] mission with Li Ang and knew Li Rising's true trump card...
CRASH—
The arm Li Ang wielded the Tyrant Halberd with suddenly elongated by half, bizarrely changing trajectory, just like the rubber-bodied Luffy hack.
The Divine Power-filled Long Spear struck the FPU's head directly, brutally bifurcating it with a downward slash, splitting the entire being in two. As the two halves were forcibly separated, strings of green data continuously flowed through the cross-section.
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