After executing the command, Leon Chen felt unsatisfied. Manipulating the data again, he publicized the classified information. To top it off, he issued a command to run a script across the entire R Nation IP network.
Surprisingly, it worked.
The command caused a window to pop up on every computer screen in R Nation.
The title read, "The Secrets of the US Department of Defense Exposed," with a link below.
Having done all this, Leon Chen felt a sense of vindication.
The use time for the orange-level ability wasn't long, and soon the Data Manipulation ability expired.
Leon Chen logged into the US Department of Defense. The site's traffic was likely at an all-time high—over ten million hits within five minutes.
In the US, it took a while for them to realize that the data had been exposed.
Passing by other dorms, Leon Chen heard shouts from guys browsing the web.
"Damn, I've been hacked!"
"What kind of joke is this? Is it real?"
"Go check it out, it's real."
"What? The US Department of Defense's internal secrets have been leaked?"
Listening to these voices, Leon Chen felt immensely satisfied, like the relief of sudden constipation.
So this is what it feels like to manipulate the world!
No wonder the protagonists in novels enjoy wreaking havoc.
As he was feeling proud, the compulsion from the mental cost kicked in.
Oh crap, the mental cost is here…
The next day, the computer science lecture hall was unexpectedly crowded. The room was packed, with students even filling the aisles and hallways, many from other departments.
Usually, such attendance was reserved for classes taught by the school's top beauty.
Reluctantly, Leon Chen found a spot standing against the wall.
"Wow, I don't remember today being Miss Tang's class. Why are there so many people?" His roommates were equally surprised.
Leon Chen felt the same.
"Probably because of yesterday's 'US Thrill 31 Minutes'," John Wu guessed.
"What's 'Thrill 31 Minutes'?" Michael Fang, who had spent the previous night pursuing a girl and then collapsed into sleep, was clueless about this incident.
David Zhang rolled his eyes. "This is world-shaking news."
The Department of Defense took 31 minutes from the time of the hack to the complete recovery.
In those short 31 minutes, the world witnessed a sensational news event. It wasn't just that the DoD got hacked, but fifty years of internal classified information was publicly exposed.
Moreover, last night, a shocking pop-up news alert appeared on the computers of millions of R Nation netizens, an unprecedented event since the advent of the internet.
So, the next day, all the headlines read, "The Greatest Hacker in History Emerges in R Nation,"
"The Hacker Who Humiliated the World's Leading Nation."
Apart from public news, the internal political ramifications were unknown.
Nevertheless, the Secretary of Defense, Gomez, made a statement that left the world in shock.
Naturally, the students were here because of the previous day's internet commotion.
Leon Chen hadn't expected such a strong reaction.
"All the computers in the country received an automatic news pop-up? How could that be possible?" Michael Fang was stunned after hearing the news.
Everyone else started discussing their opinions.
Leon Chen pretended to be shocked, nodding along exaggeratedly.
"Quiet down! Class is starting." An icy voice silenced the hall.
It was Isabella Xiang. Her voice was light, yet carried immense authority.
Even in the face of such an event, Isabella Xiang remained calm. Sometimes, Leon Chen wondered if even an apocalypse would make her blink.
Today's lecture was by Professor Yao, a highly respected elder in the field of computer science. He was a world-renowned expert in compiler research and had won the Turing Award.
His knowledge was vast, but he was known to be strict and never smiled. However, today he entered the room beaming, looking like a different person. His first words revealed why he was so happy.
"Raise your hand if you were online at 8:40 PM last night."
All students raised their hands, more uniformly than ever before.
The professor smiled, satisfied. "Now, keep your hand up if you encountered the pop-up news at that time." No one lowered their hand.
"Excellent. Yesterday, you witnessed a historic moment in computer science!" he said excitedly. "According to calculations, every computer connected to the internet in the country received an astonishing message…"
The students were visibly excited.
"But there's one thing you don't know," Professor Yao continued. "The US Department of Defense was hacked, its classified information altered and exposed, but only one country received this message…"
The students' eyes widened.
Professor Yao cleared his throat. "It was our country!!"
The hall erupted in disbelief. This either meant the hacker was from R Nation or that the hacker could control an entire nation's network.
"Professor, we want to know exactly what happened during the hack. Can you explain how it was done?" a student asked.
"The hacker successfully created a virtual administrator with top-level access, modifying the DoD's data in a very short time. They used a deceptive program to ensure it took the H Nation 31 minutes to notice."
"I want to know how the pop-up was executed on such a scale?" asked Isabella Xiang, showing rare curiosity.
Her question captivated everyone, as it touched on the hottest topic in the cyber world—how could someone manage to pop up such a message on every networked computer in a country?
Professor Yao was prepared. "Honestly, this was the hacker's masterstroke. I can assure you, no one else in the world could pull this off."
"Isn't the US central computer capable of issuing commands to all online users nationwide?" a student asked.
"That's only within their own network. Moreover, their command program is still in development. Even now, the latest progress on Turing is top secret, and no one knows how advanced it really is. However, I can confirm that our national network monitoring is not a mere formality. Our military received this information at the same time…"
This bit of insider news excited the students even more.
No one noticed the young man in the corner muttering to himself, "No way, even the military's secret network got the pop-up… I really overdid it this time…"