96: Uncovering the "Deep Shadow" and Turning the Tide

The unexpected exposure of the mirror plunder plan was like a boulder thrown into the calm waters of the Zhulong base, instantly creating a thousand ripples.

Wang Jianguo, beyond his fury, quickly displayed his iron-fisted resolve as a commander.

He ordered the initiation of a top-secret internal purge operation codenamed Scavenger.

This operation did not involve grand investigations or public interrogations; instead, it unfolded quietly in absolute secrecy, with surgical precision and thunderous speed.

The air inside the base suddenly froze, and an invisible pressure permeated every corner, especially in the technical support department.

Evelyn Li became the key technical consultant for this operation.

She locked herself in a highly shielded analysis room, working hunched over day and night, her eyes bloodshot from excessive focus.

Relying on her deep understanding of The Foundation's virtual attack technology, especially her keen insight into the algorithmic characteristics, data packet structures, and timing synchronization mechanisms that the mirror plunder plan might employ, she provided the technical team with crucial analytical directions and screening criteria.

She was like an agent familiar with the enemy's codebook, helping to crack the clues hidden in the vast sea of system logs.

Within the key scope defined by Evelyn, the base's top network forensics experts and data analysts, like the sharpest hounds, began a carpet-style deep scan and correlation analysis of the internal network system.

They quickly locked onto the specific timestamp when the mirror sandbox was created, along with a series of meticulously disguised operation logs associated with it.

By cross-referencing permission records, physical access control data, and abnormal data traffic patterns during specific time periods, the range of suspects was quickly narrowed down to an extremely limited circle—only a few people had the authority to access and operate the relevant systems at that precise time, and their network behavior contained inexplicable, minor anomalies.

However, as the perfect infiltrator carefully crafted by The Foundation, Deep Shadow's counter-reconnaissance capabilities were no small matter.

It was extremely cunning; after completing the task, it had cleared almost all direct operation traces that could point to its personal identity.

Its methods were seasoned, like an experienced assassin, hiding in the shadows after a single strike without leaving a trace.

But as the saying goes, if you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet.

During a sudden, high-priority emergency maintenance task on the core system, due to the tight schedule, Deep Shadow, in order to efficiently process and upload a large number of diagnostic log files, subconsciously used a data compression algorithm it was extremely familiar with and which was highly efficient.

This algorithm itself was nothing special, but its underlying implementation contained an extremely tiny, almost imperceptible coding habit—a redundant step that performed non-standard verification and calculations on data packet headers under specific conditions.

This habit highly matched the technical fingerprint produced by the default optimization options of a deprecated but once widely used development toolchain within The Foundation.

This minuscule technical fingerprint, like a nearly invisible speck of dust left at a crime scene, was miraculously captured by an elderly expert nearing retirement age—Engineer Chen—who had dedicated his life to studying The Foundation's various technical systems and was intimately familiar with its coding style and history, when he was performing routine reviews of log archive formats, relying on his almost intuitive keenness and experience!

Engineer Chen immediately reported this major discovery.

All suspicions, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, instantly focused on a deputy director of the Technical Support Department—Zhang Ming (pseudonym).

Zhang Ming, male, 38 years old, had a background as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

His file showed that he graduated from a top engineering university in the country, passed strict political vetting and professional skill assessments to enter the base, worked diligently and steadily, was taciturn, never participated in any gossip, and was a well-known old workhorse and tech geek in the department, with interpersonal relationships so simple they were almost transparent.

Who would have thought that such a harmless, even somewhat dull honest man was the nail buried deepest and most dangerously by Morpheus Li?

After listening to the report, Wang Jianguo fell into a brief contemplation.

Arresting Zhang Ming directly would certainly eliminate the immediate threat, but doing so would be tantamount to alerting the enemy, causing Morpheus to immediately realize that Deep Shadow had been exposed, thereby cutting off all contact and causing the base to lose a precious opportunity to potentially exploit this to obtain internal intelligence from The Foundation.

The Art of War says: If you want to take, you must first give.

A bold turning the tables strategy quickly took shape in Wang Jianguo's mind.

He ordered 24-hour uninterrupted, absolutely secret surveillance to be implemented on Zhang Ming.

The surveillance team was composed of the most capable special agents, utilizing all available technical means—nanoscale bugs, remote laser vibration analyzers, comprehensive infiltration monitoring of his personal electronic devices, and even micro-cameras disguised as daily necessities placed in areas he frequented.

An invisible net was silently cast over Zhang Ming, ensuring that his every move, and even the slightest change in his expression, was under tight control.

At the same time, Wang Jianguo instructed the technical team to carefully plan an inducing trap for Deep Shadow.

They forged a series of internal research progress briefings and Excellence's latest physiological data analysis reports that appeared highly confidential but were actually full of holes (for an insider).

These reports were given a very high security classification and, through carefully designed accidental channels (such as an apparently accidental server permission configuration error, or an encrypted USB drive carelessly left in a public lounge), allowed Zhang Ming, who had the corresponding authority, to logically come into contact with them.

The content of the reports was highly misleading: they implied that under continuous virtual attacks, Excellence's consciousness state showed extremely unstable fluctuations, sometimes exhibiting amazing potential outbursts (such as solving fragments of ultra-high-difficulty mathematical conjectures), and sometimes falling to the brink of collapse.

The report concluded alarmingly that this state was unsustainable and urgently required external intervention, namely a special biological pheromone preparation codenamed consciousness anchoring agent, to stabilize his consciousness structure and prevent him from completely disintegrating or undergoing uncontrollable mutations.

The formula and delivery method for this so-called anchoring agent were, naturally, the fatal bait thrown out by Wang Jianguo's team, waiting for the fish to take the hook.

On the other hand, Evelyn fully utilized her technical advantages to assist in designing a set of extremely complex emotional counter-code programs.

This code was cleverly disguised as an emergency security patch to fix underlying system vulnerabilities.

Wang Jianguo's team again, through carefully arranged negligence, made this patch appear in a vulnerability transmission channel that Zhang Ming might use and which had not yet been fully blocked.

The stated function of this counter-code was that it could analyze in real-time and neutralize the negative impact of virtual attack data packets on Excellence's consciousness model, acting as a digital sedative.

However, its core contained a hidden mystery: not only was it embedded with a powerful, covert reverse link tracking module that could precisely locate the physical location and network characteristics of the attack source, but it also concealed a fatal logic bomb—once the code was activated and used to attack Excellence's virtual model, it could not only effectively defend against the attack, but also, under specific conditions, inject a large number of designed invalid computing tasks or malicious instructions into the attacker's computing cluster, causing its system resources to be heavily occupied or even paralyzed.

Sure enough, Zhang Ming, who was under close surveillance, after coming into contact with this tempting confidential information, although outwardly calm and continuing his honest man daily work, his surveillance data exposed the waves in his heart.

His heart rate showed abnormal fluctuations when browsing those fake reports, his sleep quality in the dormitory at night dropped significantly, and once, while dining alone, his fingers unconsciously tapped out a complex rhythm similar to Morse code on the table (later deciphered and found to have no actual meaning, possibly due to nervousness).

Eventually, his absolute loyalty to Morpheus and his eagerness to claim credit overcame his necessary caution.

He used a late-night duty opportunity to encrypt and transmit the fake intelligence and that deadly counter-code back to The Foundation through an extremely covert independent data channel established using a hardware backdoor.

Free Confederacy, The Foundation headquarters.

After receiving the encrypted intelligence transmitted back by Deep Shadow, Morpheus Li, after rapid verification by the core think tank (the verification focused on the reliability of the intelligence source, not the complete authenticity of the technical details, because they believed in Deep Shadow's ability), was overjoyed!

He thought his mirror plunder plan had finally made a breakthrough, and that the stubborn rock of Excellence was about to be pried open.

He immediately issued two orders: First, increase the intensity and frequency of virtual attacks, strike while the iron is hot, and strive to break through its defenses in one fell swoop at the moment when Excellence's consciousness was most unstable; Second, activate the physical intervention contingency plan, ordering subordinates to immediately begin preparing corresponding supplies and infiltration delivery plans based on the consciousness anchoring agent requirement information provided by Deep Shadow, attempting to deliver a fatal blow at the critical moment.

At the same time, he performed a preliminary, relatively simple security check on the counter-code (no obvious malicious code characteristics were found) and couldn't wait to deploy it to the main attack cluster currently executing the mirror plunder plan, hoping it would help him more efficiently neutralize any consciousness resistance Excellence might produce and accelerate the plundering process.

However, everything that followed was nothing short of a disaster for Morpheus.

When The Foundation's attack cluster confidently activated the counter-code and launched a new round of fierce attacks on the virtual Excellence model, the hidden trap in the code instantly exploded!

The reverse tracking module precisely locked onto the real IP address and core network topology of The Foundation's attack servers, providing valuable target information for Zhulong base's subsequent network counterattack.

Even more fatal was that the meticulously designed logic bomb was triggered.

It did not directly destroy the system, but cleverly utilized the resource allocation mechanism of The Foundation's computing cluster, crazily submitting a large number of seemingly reasonable but actually infinitely looping or extremely resource-consuming deformed computing tasks to it.

In an instant, the CPU and memory usage of the top computing cluster used by The Foundation for the mirror plunder plan soared to 100%!

The system logs reported errors crazily, the cooling fans emitted desperate roars, the processing efficiency of the entire cluster plummeted to freezing point, the transmission of virtual attack data packets became intermittent and error-ridden, losing almost all threat.

A fierce attack that was supposed to be a sure win turned into a farce of self-consumption, causing incalculable direct economic losses and project delays!

Morpheus, watching the blood-red screen (representing system overload alarms) and the constantly popping up failure reports in the command center, was first stunned, then furious!

He slammed his expensive ceramic coffee cup onto the floor, shards and dark brown liquid splattering everywhere!

Trash! You're all a bunch of trash! he roared, his face livid, veins bulging on his forehead.

He instantly understood that not only had his plan been completely exposed, but he had also been outmaneuvered by the other side, suffering unprecedented humiliation and substantial, major losses!

Just as The Foundation was in chaos, over at Zhulong base, the surveillance team captured all of Zhang Ming's (Deep Shadow) abnormal reactions after successfully sending the intelligence.

Combined with the confirmation of his communication channel, the chain of evidence was completely closed.

Wang Jianguo decisively issued the order to close the net.

In the early hours of the morning, Zhang Ming was quietly controlled in his dormitory without alerting anyone.

Faced with the ironclad evidence presented by the interrogation experts—including the encrypted records of him transmitting intelligence, surveillance footage, and the compression algorithm log that exposed his technical fingerprint—his psychological defense collapsed rapidly, and he confessed to all his crimes: from how he was scouted and lured by The Foundation in his early years, to accepting cruel biological modification and consciousness coding training, to how he used a forged perfect identity to infiltrate Zhulong base, and the specific details of executing the mirror plunder plan.

Wang Jianguo looked at the detailed interrogation report, a cold, slightly mocking smile appearing on his face.

Morpheus has lost more than he gained this time, losing a top general and precious computing power, and he's also lost face. He said to Xiao Zhang beside him, though his tone was not very relaxed, However, based on my understanding of him, this crushing defeat will only enrage him more.

He will never let this go; the next counterattack might be even more unscrupulous and even crazier.

Inside the base, news of the victory in unearthing Deep Shadow was communicated within a small scope under strict control, greatly boosting morale and eliminating a huge internal threat.

However, whether it was Wang Jianguo, Evelyn, or Su Mu, they all clearly knew that this contest with the Prophet Foundation was far from over; it could even be said that a more dangerous, larger-scale decisive battle had just begun.

The short-lived victory was merely that brief, unsettling calm before the storm.

The base's defense level was raised to an unprecedented height, and everyone stood ready, waiting for Morpheus Li's next move.