34: The Devil's Response

Welcome to... Hell.

Chen Mo's voice, broadcast through speakers across the entire city.

Like a cold current from Siberia, it swept over every soul burning with fanaticism.

The city quieted down in an instant.

The heartbeat sound, which had been urging people towards madness like a war drum, vanished.

That voice, as cold as a scalpel dissecting the evil of human nature, also disappeared.

On the streets.

The rioters who were frantically rushing toward the Financial Center suddenly stopped.

They raised their heads blankly, and for the first time, a trace of... hesitation appeared in their fanaticism.

They looked at each other, seeing a similar unease and... confusion in each other's bloodshot eyes.

That's right.

So what if they killed him?

Inside the Financial Building.

The rioters who were charging upward floor by floor also stopped.

They gasped for breath, looking at the office supplies they had smashed to pieces around them, and listening to the faint wails of the man on the rooftop.

The flame, incited and named "justice," seemed to be slowly cooling down.

In the command center, everyone held their breath.

They watched the black torrent on the screen miraculously come to a standstill.

The Chief and Zhao Dahai both wore expressions of disbelief.

This young man... he actually managed to hold the pulse of this soon-to-explode city with just a few words!

Just when everyone thought this crisis was about to be resolved.

Zzzzt... that cold, emotionless electronic synthesized voice echoed throughout Jiangcheng once again!

"A brilliant speech."

It was the voice of "The Emperor"!

"My dear 'Judge,' you always manage to surprise me."

"You used fear to extinguish the flames in their hearts."

"Too bad..."

A hint of devilish mockery entered his voice.

"You forgot that the most primitive driving force in human nature is never justice."

"It is... greed."

The moment he finished speaking.

The black push notification on everyone's phone screen changed again!

Zhou Guofu's photo was replaced by a screenshot of a... bank account!

The long string of numbers on it, enough to drive anyone mad, burned everyone's eyes like a pile of blazing gold!

[Zhou Guofu's Secret Swiss Bank Account: 3.7 Billion USD.]

Below the account details was a line of blood-red text, even more seductive.

[The first person to throw his head down from the Financial Center.]

[This money belongs to you.]

[The transfer key will be automatically sent to your phone.]

BOOM—!!!

If Chen Mo's words just now had been a bucket of ice water.

Then "The Emperor's" current statement was a barrel of 99% pure, highly concentrated gasoline!

Viciously splashed onto the nearly extinguished fire of human nature!

"Awooo—!!!"

The silence lasted less than three seconds!

The next second, a madness ten, or even a hundred times stronger than before, exploded violently!

On the streets.

Everyone's eyes instantly turned the color of money!

They no longer roared or cursed!

They were like a horde of zombies smelling blood, silently and frantically crashing their bodies against the police line that had just been established!

Inside the Financial Building.

The rioters who had just been hesitating now completely ripped off their disguises!

They were no longer "judges"; they had become... hunters!

And that fat figure on the top floor was their only prey on the path to financial freedom!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

More violent pounding sounds came from the entrance of the CEO's office on the top floor!

"Damn it!"

In the command center, Zhao Dahai smashed his fist onto the table in front of him!

"This maniac! This bastard!"

Chen Mo's expression also turned extremely grim for the first time.

He had calculated everything, but he had failed to calculate that "The Emperor," this lunatic, would be so utterly devoid of boundaries!

He didn't care about plans or ideology!

He just wanted to watch a... grand spectacle!

"Team Leader Chen! The defense line is about to break!"

"Report! The rioters inside the building have already rushed up to the fiftieth floor!"

"Report! Captain Gao Fan's helicopter encountered strong winds! It cannot land!"

Bad news flew in like snowflakes, dragging the entire command center into the abyss of despair!

"Li Ke!"

Chen Mo suddenly spun around, his eyes bloodshot!

"The virus core! Have you found it yet!"

"No, Team Leader Chen!"

Li Ke's voice was tearful; his ten fingers were practically sparking on the keyboard!

"This virus is too cunning! It's like a Hydra! Every time I cut off one of its sub-servers, it immediately regenerates somewhere else! I can't find its core at all!"

"Unless... unless we can find the... source that released the virus!"

The source?

Chen Mo's heart suddenly sank.

He knew that "The Emperor," that maniac, would never come to Jiangcheng himself.

The person who released the virus must be one of his... proxies.

But where is this person now?

He could be in any corner of Jiangcheng, any internet café, or even any mobile base station vehicle!

Trying to find such a ghost in a city of millions was simply a pipe dream!

Just then!

A flash of lightning seemed to strike Chen Mo's mind!

He suddenly remembered "The Emperor's" earlier words.

[Guess, next time will it be a bus, a cruise ship, or an... airliner?]

He suddenly remembered the law code that was publicly smashed in the museum!

He suddenly remembered the rioter who disguised himself as The Tourist!

A crazy yet incredibly reasonable idea exploded in his mind!

He wasn't threatening!

He was... giving a hint!

That arrogant lunatic, "The Emperor," had already told him the source of the virus in the most brazen and impossible way!

"Li Ke!"

Chen Mo suddenly turned and grabbed Li Ke's shoulder!

"Abandon all servers! Immediately! Right now! Hack into Jiangcheng International Airport's... tower system!"

"What?!" Li Ke was stunned. "The airport? What does this have to do with the airport!"

"Don't ask! Hurry!"

Chen Mo's roar was like a cornered beast!

"Check! Check the UA370 flight departing from Jiangcheng to New York at 10:30 this morning!"

"Check its... passenger manifest!"

Although Li Ke was utterly confused, he quickly hammered away at the keyboard!

A few seconds later, a densely packed passenger manifest appeared on the screen!

"What next, Team Leader Chen?"

"There is no 'next'."

Chen Mo looked at the manifest, but his gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, piercing through time and space.

He saw the devil, sitting in first class tens of thousands of feet in the air, holding a glass of champagne, and using an encrypted laptop to admire the doomsday carnival he had personally directed!

"Because he is on it."

Chen Mo's voice was quiet, but it detonated like a heavy bomb throughout the command center!

"He... he is The Tourist who smashed the law code in the museum!"

"He smashed the law code, initiating the plan."

"Then, he boarded the plane that had been prepared long ago and, from tens of thousands of meters up, used a satellite network to remotely control everything!"

"He thought he had escaped our world and stood in God's perspective."

"He thought he had... won."

You could hear a pin drop in the command center.

Everyone looked at this young man as if he were a monster.

Watching him use an unfathomable method to connect all the seemingly unrelated clues into a... chain leading to the truth!

Gao Fan's body swayed violently.

He looked at Chen Mo's back and felt his soul trembling.

This... this was the true detective!

"But... but even if we know he's on the plane, we can't do anything!" Li Ke's voice was tearful. "The plane took off over an hour ago! We..."

"Who says we can't?"

Chen Mo slowly turned around.

He walked up to Su Qingxue and, under everyone's bewildered gaze, took the police phone that was vibrating on her waist.

"Chen Mo, you..."

Chen Mo did not explain.

He simply used his fingertip to gently touch the cold screen, which was also infected by the virus.

[Ding!]

[Strong malicious intent detected, thought synchronization initiated!]

Buzz—!!!

Chen Mo's brain roared!

The world before his eyes was instantly submerged by a flood of data composed of countless 0s and 1s!

He "saw" it!

He saw the... soul of the virus!

It was like a giant, gnarled black tree, rooted in every corner of Jiangcheng!

And all its branches pointed in the same direction!

A constantly moving... light spot above the clouds!

The illusion receded like a tide.

Chen Mo suddenly opened his eyes, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He looked at the giant screen in the command center displaying the map of Jiangcheng.

He slowly raised his arm.

"Li Ke."

His voice was hoarse but filled with unquestionable determination!

"Focus all our computing power on this coordinate!"

He drew a line on the map with his finger.

An international route extending eastward from Jiangcheng International Airport!

"I want you to use our own virus to hack that plane!"

"What?!" Li Ke's eyes were practically popping out!

"I want you to cut off all his external connections!"

"Project his face onto every screen in Jiangcheng!"

"And I also want you to..."

The corners of Chen Mo's mouth curled into a cold, devilish arc.

"Play a funeral march for him."

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