Back in the dorm, Michael Fang was still buzzing with excitement.
"You guys saw how XO pulled it off, saying, 'I'm tired, I need to rest'... That was so cool. This is what a true master looks like. To him, our hacker battle was like child's play."
Daniel Zhang nodded in agreement.
Michael wasn't exaggerating. To someone like Leon Chen, who could manipulate data at will, hacking was indeed a game.
"Tonight was awesome! Thanks to the great XO, I'm going to confess my love to her tomorrow!" Michael declared with renewed determination. Heaven knows how many times he'd made such proclamations.
Ever since they met a year ago, Leon knew Michael's most frequent topic was ending his single status. In college, this was quite a common sentiment. However, Michael was an enigma to his dorm mates. He was a bit handsome, came from a seemingly well-off family, and had no shortage of girls interested in him during his confession escapades. Yet, this guy seemed to be endlessly repeating his confessions. Leon once joked, "You're just making a hobby out of confessing, aren't you?"
"Heaven knows, my heart is as pure as a pearl."
"A black pearl," Leon quipped, making everyone laugh. "You've got a sense of humor, little bro."
Michael flipped his middle finger, "Little bro here made quite a splash tonight. When the school weekly comes out next week, you'll be a celebrity at H University. Get ready for love letters to flood your desk."
The room erupted in laughter again.
…
Grace Wang, like every morning, got up, washed up, and made herself a cup of milk, walking barefoot to her desk.
She opened her laptop. This time, touching the computer gave her a peculiar feeling. Last night, Grace couldn't stop thinking about XO's actions in her dream. To be honest, she was bewildered by the hacking techniques XO used last night. The ability to instantly clear attack data, restore network operations, and gain full control of the computer – such capabilities were beyond human. Even a large organization couldn't fathom such a feat.
But all evidence pointed to XO being a single individual.
What kind of person could achieve this?
With this question in mind, Grace logged onto her computer.
A message popped up.
"XO is attacking the central brain of the fifth-generation American computer!"
Any other hacker would have spilled their milk in shock upon hearing this. The fifth-generation computer was known as the hacker terminator, a powerful system considered the graveyard of hackers.
But Grace didn't. Aside from a fleeting pause, she calmly sipped her milk, as if she had expected this.
"The background of the central brain of America's fifth-generation computer isn't that simple, XO. That's no ordinary machine," Grace thought, sipping her milk elegantly.
…
On March 23, 1983, President Reagan delivered a famous speech.
The core content of the speech was: to attack the enemy's intercontinental strategic missiles and spacecraft from space to prevent nuclear strikes from hostile nations against the US and its allies. This included deploying high-energy directed weapons or conventional strike weapons in space and on the ground to intercept incoming missiles at multiple stages.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union's nuclear capabilities far outmatched those of the US. To maintain the balance of power, the US allocated over $1 trillion to design and establish four defense lines, ensuring a 99% interception rate of incoming nuclear missiles.
In the event of a nuclear war, the plan included using anti-satellite weapons to destroy enemy military satellites, thereby weakening their surveillance, early warning, communication, and navigation capabilities.
This was the infamous "Star Wars" program, a massive deception aimed at bankrupting the Soviet Union.
However, as revealed by the CIA, it was indeed a strategic ploy to cripple the Soviet Union economically. Yet, they didn't know that the strategy to develop a "strategic defense system" to counter nuclear attacks remained part of the US budget.
The US aimed to establish a "strategic defense system" to defend against over 90% of nuclear attacks, necessitating an unprecedented ultimate computer to operate this defense system.
This computer needed to have three features:
Ultra-fast information transmission.Self-judgment logic in its operations.Immunity to any hacker intrusion.
This was the backdrop for the creation of the fifth-generation computer, Turing!
American scientists boasted that Turing would be the ultimate hacker terminator, a trendsetter in future computing. This computer would have unparalleled data self-computation and anti-intrusion capabilities, making it impregnable to all hackers. The US would then become the most secure place for data in the world.
Indeed, when the US announced significant breakthroughs in the development of the fifth-generation computer, they invited hackers worldwide to attempt an intrusion.
But the reality was that only the top hackers could hold out against its firewall for more than ten minutes; the rest were instantly defeated.
The fifth-generation computer became known as the hacker's tombstone.
So, when news broke of a massive DDoS attack on the fifth-generation computer network, Dr. Freeman, the main designer of Turing, dismissed it lightly, stating that not even God could bring down Turing.
…
Leon Chen stared intently at the screen, watching as the terrifying firewall filtered the data he manipulated through the global network.
The computational power was astounding. Vast data streams were filtered out in less than a second, while the firewall began identifying potential attack information to counterattack.
Leon wasn't worried. Using his data manipulation commands, he had already issued invasion orders to the global network. This meant that internet users worldwide were unknowingly turning their computers into bots, merely noticing a slowdown in their internet speed.
Leon could have bypassed the matrix firewall entirely, but he was aware that the fifth-generation computer was nearly perfect, according to AI intelligence.
The machine's logic evolved with increasing data, akin to the scenario in the movie Terminator.
Of course, such a scenario might only happen centuries later.
For now, Leon had decided to use conventional hacking techniques to completely take over the mainframe. By implanting a logic virus within the computer program data, he aimed to halt the machine's evolution.
Who knows if the US had acquired extraterrestrial technology to develop such advanced tech, but Leon couldn't allow Uncle Sam to grow too powerful. Otherwise, the world's policeman might turn into the world's tyrant.
Even the matrix firewall couldn't withstand the global network's combined data assault. Once Leon breached Turing's core server, the real challenge began.
Countless information seemed to flood in from all directions, overwhelming Leon.
Leon could easily clear the data with his superpowers, but he refrained. After watching their hacker showdown last night, Leon had developed a genuine interest in pure intrusion.
This time, Leon didn't immediately create an admin program. He realized Turing's internal data lacked any administrator commands. Establishing one would immediately flag an anomaly and get him kicked out.
So, Leon continued the data flood attack. Turing's ultra-fast transmission filtered the immense data instantly. For an ordinary hacker, this would be a nightmare.
Leon wasn't concerned. He had already unleashed a global network attack on AI. Unless the global network was shut down, it was a battle of attrition. His only worry was that the US might become alert and force a physical disconnection, ruining his efforts.
Leon had the computer scan AI for vulnerabilities while carefully hiding his identity to avoid being expelled.
A renowned hacker once said: "No matter how powerful, a program is written by humans. Machines can never surpass human intelligence."
The fifth-generation computer was still in its infancy and far from invincible.
Leon began capturing AI's internal code, aiming to grasp the data patterns, akin to peeling off AI's last layer of defense.
Finally, after continuous analysis, AI's last layer was stripped away.
Leon smirked and issued the final command.
"Convert all data entering AI into intelligent data. Integrate all these data… and issue a new program command: Establish highest authority!"
AI's intelligent counterattacks targeted data characteristics. Anomalies were expelled. However, with Leon's full understanding of AI, the attack data became unrecognizable, leaving only one outcome. The fifth-generation computer would ultimately bow, and Leon's superior data flow would control and transform AI, achieving complete domination over the intelligent computer!
…
Network security experts, master computer programmers, and top hackers worldwide focused on this unprecedented battle against the fifth-generation computer.
When the matrix firewall was breached, the entire network was in an uproar.
Dr. Freeman's face turned grim. Despite his confidence in the fifth-generation computer, he didn't disconnect the core network. He didn't believe one person could penetrate the mainframe.
Even ten thousand top hackers couldn't achieve that.
Events spiraled beyond his expectations. When the computer's final control was seized, Dr. Freeman screamed, "Initiate physical disconnection immediately, shut down all frequencies, the network!!!!"
Panicked scientists immediately pressed the ultimate emergency button.
Due to the unique nature of the fifth-generation computer, physical disconnection required a transition period.
"Turing initiating full shutdown, countdown starting at ten seconds, 10, 9…"
Freeman watched as Turing was manipulated by a hacker, his face etched with despair and disbelief.
Someone in the world had actually done it!