876: Chapter 871 An Insult to Science

Sublevel Two, Core Data Center.

The heavy lead door slid slowly to both sides, and an air mixed with ozone, coffee, and a burnt smell rushed out.

The massive server array emitted a humming drone, and the blue indicator lights flashed wildly, like tens of millions of fireflies bumping around inside a glass enclosure.

Franz was squatting on top of a server cabinet, holding a modified temperature gun. His hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and his white lab coat was stained with grease and unknown chemical reagents.

"Scheiße! (Damn it!)"

Franz's roar, thick with a German accent, echoed in the empty machine room.

"The data is overflowing! These damned copper cables simply cannot handle this level of concurrency! I’m trying to pour the Yangtze River through a straw!"

He didn't even notice someone had entered until Shen Yan stood beneath the cabinet, lightly tapping the metal support with the sole of his leather shoe.

"Then change the straw."

Shen Yan's voice wasn't loud, but it easily drowned out the server noise.

Franz suddenly looked down. His bloodshot eyes stared intensely at Shen Yan through his thick lenses, like a vulture disturbed while feeding.

Seeing that it was Shen Yan, he jumped down from the cabinet. He staggered slightly upon landing, nearly knocking over the adjacent liquid nitrogen tank.

"Boss, even if you invited God here, it would be useless."

Franz ran his hands through his hair, pointing at the rows of servers with bright red lights, his emotions teetering on the brink of collapse.

"After 'asking heaven' evolved into the 'deep blue heart,' the computing power surged exponentially. The current TCP/IP protocol is a joke! We need a completely new architecture, we need..."

"You need this."

Shen Yan didn't wait for him to finish spewing technical jargon. He directly tossed the Zippo lighter over.

The metal body traced a parabola through the air.

Franz fumbled to catch it, looking blankly at the lighter in his hand.

"What is this? Do you want to burn this place down? Although that’s a good way to relieve stress, I suggest backing up first."

"Open it."

Shen Yan walked to the main control console. His long fingers tapped a few times on the virtual keyboard, waking up the central large screen from its dormant state.

Franz suspiciously flipped open the lighter lid and saw the exquisitely disguised interface.

His expression froze for a second, then he abruptly rushed toward a nearby independent terminal.

Pei Jue stood in the corner, watching the German technical genius, who had been so arrogant in front of him earlier, now trembling like a child who had just received a new toy.

Three minutes later.

"Oh God..."

Franz let out a groan, practically sticking himself to the screen.

"This is Hans, that fat bastard's neural network compression algorithm? Did you really rob him? This can compress the data flow by 8%! It’s simply a genius concept!"

The originally red alert bars on the screen began turning green across large areas. The suffocating data congestion was being rapidly cleared.

Pei Jue subconsciously touched his nose, silently correcting himself: Not robbery, it was a zero-dollar purchase.

"Don't celebrate too early."

Shen Yan showed no reaction to Franz's ecstasy. He pulled a black USB drive from his pocket and inserted it into the core slot of the main console.

Inside it was the "Quantum Encrypted Communication Primary Authorization" just issued by the system.

"Compression is just a temporary fix. Hans's stuff can only solve efficiency problems, not security problems."

Shen Yan's voice became low. His finger hovered over the confirmation key for half a second before pressing down heavily.

"I want to show you some real 'local specialty.'"

Instantly, all the lights in the machine room went out.

Only a burst of ethereal blue mist on the central large screen remained.

That wasn't code; it looked more like a living nebula.

Countless dizzyingly complex geometric shapes grew, collapsed, and reorganized frantically on the screen.

The firewall, originally based on traditional algorithms, was instantly disintegrated, replaced by a bizarre barrier existing between 'being' and 'non-being.'

The ecstasy vanished from Franz's face.

It was replaced by a tremor originating from the depths of his soul.

He was an expert, one of the small group of hackers standing at the apex of this planet's pyramid, so he understood what the scene before him meant better than anyone else.

"Is this... a dynamic key in a quantum entangled state?"

Franz's voice trembled. He stretched out his hand in disbelief, wanting to touch the screen, yet afraid it was just an illusion.

"This is impossible... Current quantum computers are at least the size of a shipping container. How could you possibly encapsulate the protocol in such a small carrier?"

"In this world, nothing is impossible."

Shen Yan leaned against the control console, the blue light reflecting on his sharply defined profile, making him look like a deity from the future.

"I named this protocol 'Phantom.'"

"At this frequency, any eavesdropping will cause wave function collapse. In other words, unless I permit it, no one can hear the beating sound of the 'deep blue heart.'"

Pei Jue couldn't understand the technical terms, but he understood Franz's expression.

The German madman was now kneeling on the ground, clutching his head, muttering incomprehensible German words, with tears and snot streaming down his face.

It was the frenzy of faith being shattered, followed by witnessing the descent of a miracle.

Pei Jue suddenly felt a chill.

He looked at Shen Yan's back, and the fear in his heart grew wildly like weeds.

How much era-transcending black technology did this man still possess?

He had originally thought Shen Yan was just a ruthless business tycoon, but now it seemed he was a monster disguised in the clothing of a businessman.

If Pei Jue had felt a sliver of reluctance when he was forced to trick Hans in Singapore before, that small bit of reluctance was now completely swallowed by this blue mist.

Following a person like this, perhaps one could truly see scenery never before witnessed.

Even if it was just being a dog.

"Franz."

Shen Yan's voice interrupted the German's moment of reverence.

The German looked up sharply. His eyes no longer held the arrogance of a technical genius, only fervent worship remained.

"Boss, I await your command."

"This communication protocol is just a prototype. I have already delegated the authority to you."

Shen Yan pointed to the large screen that was still evolving.

"I want you to switch all data transmission channels for the 'deep blue heart' to the 'Phantom' protocol within three days."

"I want to make this entire building completely invisible on this world's network map."

"Can you do it?"

Franz scrambled up from the floor, his movements as fast as a startled monkey.

He sloppily wiped a smear of snot with his sleeve, not even bothering to adjust his glasses which were askew on his nose.

"Three days? No! Give me twenty-four hours! If I have this level of underlying architecture, needing three days would be an insult to science!"