373: Chapter 17 Harder than Iron, Stronger than Steel 373: Chapter 17 Harder than Iron, Stronger than Steel “So, Miss Zhu, have you ever changed the world before?”
Facing Xiang Shan’s question, Zhu Xinyu smiled and said, “I am about to change the world.”
Xiang Shan crossed his legs and continued to ask, “Which ans you don’t have any relevant experience, right?”
“Does a lack of experience an one cannot rebel?” Zhu Xinyu stared at Xiang Shan.
“When a person faces a knife-wielding thug, they must resist.
Would you tell the victim, ‘You have no experience, so don’t resist’…?”
“I would.” Xiang Shan nodded.
“The advice from the police often includes ‘property can be recovered, but life cannot,’ ‘do not provoke the thug, protect yourself,’ right?
Rebellion is indeed justifiable, just like eating is naturally right.
But even when eating, one must pay attention to nutritional balance, not indulge in gluttony.
Du Fu died after eating roasted beef because he had been starving for too long.
Can you say the Poet Saint was wrong to eat beef?
The sa principle applies to rebelling against the world; one must pay attention to the thods employed.
Only with the right thod can one succeed.”
Zhu Xinyu closed her eyes.
“I won’t argue with you.
As soone with vested interests, you will surely find thousands of reasons to oppose rebellion.
It’s aningless.
You cannot see the blood and tears of the people at the bottom.”
“Vested interests…” Xiang Shan rubbed his neck.
If he had to admit it…
as a person from Beiping, indeed, his college entrance exam score was pathetically low.
In so sense, he couldn’t deny that fact.
But Zhu Xinyu took his reaction as an admission.
She said, “Seeing how young you are and yet able to hold a significant position in a project joined by multiple major powers.
Your family must have quite the influence, right?”
Xiang Shan said, “Probably…
a combination of the right timing, favorable conditions, and good relations, I guess.”
“Hmph, people like you…” Zhu Xinyu grit her teeth.
Xiang Shan sighed, “Alright, since you insist on saying that, then I admit it.”
A confused voice ca through Xiang Shan’s earpiece.
Colonel Lei said, “Director Xiang, be mindful of your words…
they can easily lead to…
”
But Xiang Shan boldly took off his earpiece.
Even Hartman was wide-eyed, as if he found the situation preposterous.
Yet Xiang Shan flipped his tablet face down on the table.
“Hey.”
Zhu Xinyu opened her eyes, not understanding the implication.
“Aside from talking to directly, no one else here understands Chinese,” Xiang Shan specifically said in Chinese, “so what I’m saying to you now is sothing only we know.”
If possible, he would have liked to use a dialect with an accent.
But alas, he was from Beiping.
The statent Xiang Shan made was of course a lie.
There could not possibly be only his earpiece as a listening device in the room.
Even if he took his off, it only ant he couldn’t hear what was being said outside.
But indeed, he had the authority to do so.
After all, he was the highest authority here.
Although no one would ignore what he said, if he decided not to listen to soone, he simply wouldn’t listen.
Moreover, in joint military operations with the Republic, other major powers would definitely prepare agents who understood Chinese.
However, Zhu Xinyu had not yet reacted.
“I’ve exposed my identity to you, so I might as well reveal a bit more,” Xiang Shan said, “To catch you this ti, the UN Security Council’s permanent mbers almost all took action.
The military forces of all NATO countries are gearing up because of the agreent.
To prevent the terrible leak of information, everyone is even prepared for the worst-case scenario—which is nuclear weapons.”
“And this terminal,” he continued, “is connected to the command systems of various armies.”
“Rest assured, the military command system is not as impregnable as you might think.
The vast majority of military personnel responsible for electronic warfare are human.
Being human, they may not always surpass ‘Fire God’s’ threshold.
The person next to has easily hacked into the Pentagon.
The reason why ordinary hackers cannot attack military networks is that there exists a physical separation between military and civilian networks.”
“But now, this is a terminal connected to the military networks of the five major countries, along with a legitimate account, one that carries military command authority.
If you act before those guys have ti to react and retrieve the highest permission level, you could briefly control most of the world’s military forces.”
Zhu Xinyu’s eyes widened.
“What are you…
what do you an by this?”
Xiang Shan continued, “Of course, the army will soon realize there’s a problem with the source of the commands.
But if even a small portion of the forces don’t recognize the issue and actually execute the false orders, ‘war’ will beco reality.
You might even have the opportunity to fabricate the launch command for a nuclear bomb.
If just one nuclear bomb hits its target, the history of the world will be rewritten.”
Zhu Xinyu scoffed, “How could that be possible…
Launching nuclear weapons couldn’t possibly be that casual…”
“More casual than you think.
That information has such magic power that it might cause chaos around the world,” Xiang Shan continued, “‘A preemptive military strike’—what do you think?”
Of course, that was also a lie.
The governnt of the major powers sealed off the “Argon” docunts because this information could possibly cause an unpredictable impact on the outside world, leading to social unrest.
But launching nuclear weapons is more than just social unrest.
No one would use nuclear weapons to cover up the news about “Argon,” just as nobody drinks poison to quench their thirst—though history might have had its instances, the “poison” would need to be a little more colorless and tasteless.
At least, a “poison wine” thicker than sesa paste is sothing only a fool would drink.
However, Zhu Xinyu evidently distrusted the outside world greatly and would assu the worst intentions of the major countries and consortia.
She did waver for a mont.
Of course, if she thought carefully, she would definitely find this to be too preposterous.
Therefore, Xiang Shan didn’t give her ti to react and went straight on, “Of course, you could also use this terminal to plant various Trojan horses and backdoors in the military networks of different countries.
I’ve just cut off the surveillance.
If you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, nobody will know what happened here.
As long as your backdoors are vicious enough, sophisticated enough, you could even threaten us to let you go.”
“Mmm, of course, you could also be killed by us on the spot.
After all, this is the price you must pay to change the world,” he said.
“Ah, of course, of course.
There will always be resistance.
If you gain control of the nuclear weapons, maybe you’ll have to wipe out the capitals of various major countries first, then bomb a few densely populated cities.
This way, you’ll essentially break the will to resist of most people.”
Zhu Xinyu trembled all over and said, “You’re just lying to .
I won’t be fooled.”
“Right, I am just lying to you.
This is just a test.
You can think of it that way,” Xiang Shan slowly slid the tablet computer towards Zhu Xinyu, “I’m betting that you are kind enough not to pick up this terminal.
Just imagine, what if this were real?
But if you really took it…
I’d have to hope that Mr.
Hartman here is reliable enough.”
Zhu Xinyu laid her hand on the tablet, saying, “I…
I don’t want to use this kind of…
ah…
this…”
Xiang Shan softly said, “This is the fastest and most direct way to change the world.
You can instantly rewrite this unfair state of affairs.
Since you are a top-level hacker, the mont you pick up that terminal, we’ll have to assu you’ve tampered with it.
You might be killed on the spot by us.
As long as you can survive and escape from here, you can beco the uncrowned king of the world.”
“You can instantly destroy all the powers that might resist you, you can arbitrarily redraw the maps of humanity, you can mold the world according to your own wishes…”
Zhu Xinyu shuddered, “I have never thought about such…”
“If a society can be defeated by so false information montarily, doesn’t that prove its peace is false?” Xiang Shan said with a mocking tone, “Shatter this ‘false peace,’ and the world will be reborn.
Lukewarm reforms are aningless.
While you patch up here and there, the cruel strong one continues to deprive the weak, the diocre weak one still aids in the cri.
Every minute, every second, soone is victimized, every minute, every second, soone falls into the Abyss.
Now, you have a chance to change all this completely…”
Zhu Xinyu’s breathing beca rapid.
Xiang Shan didn’t give her a chance to think through the clues, and his expression and tone were too convincing.
The girl slamd the table suddenly, “I have never thought about this sort of thing!
You…
you are simply…”
Xiang Shan glared back at her without courtesy, “Isn’t this what you wanted?
‘To forge ahead at all costs!’ This is exactly what you’re after.
You just need to destroy the capitals of a few countries, obliterate various levels of military command centers, destroy so hidden bases—the process might cause hundreds of millions of deaths.
But as long as you prove your ‘at all costs’ determination, then people will compromise with you first.
These small sacrifices, haven’t yet reached the extent of ‘everything,’ have they?”
Zhu Xinyu looked like she wanted to withdraw her hand as if shocked by electricity.
But Xiang Shan grabbed her hand and pressed it down on the tablet, “Co on, move forward!”
“Enough!” Zhu Xinyu almost cried out.
Xiang Shan then released Zhu Xinyu’s hand, took back his tablet, and just watched Zhu Xinyu.
The young girl wiped her tears, fell silent for a few seconds, and then said, “Actually, you were just lying to just now, weren’t you?”
Xiang Shan smiled, “There isn’t such an absurd terminal that can directly connect to the systems of all countries’ militaries.
But your thinking is real.
I really do hope you realize sothing.
If you wield such power to directly change the world, you’ll only make things worse.
The world is not your canvas to sar as you wish.
If you really had the power to paint all over it—I an, if you used your skills to steal that power, do you know what people usually call soone like that?”
Zhu Xinyu silently looked at Xiang Shan.
But Xiang Shan humd a song, “Unity is strength/Unity is strength/This strength is iron/This strength is steel/It’s harder than iron/Stronger than steel/Fire at the Fascisti/Let everything…”
“Enough.” The girl leaned on the table.
Xiang Shan said with a smiling gaze, “Realize what you did wrong?”
“Shut up.
I don’t want to listen to you,” she said.
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