18: Chapter 18 Preparing for a "Disguise"
Watson, Viktor's clinic, a place that was gradually becoming familiar.
The scent of herbs and incense barely managed to mask the smell of burnt flesh and the metallic tang of synthetic blood in the air.
Jackie grimaced as he sprawled on the old sofa, while Viktor's precise surgical cyberarm held a pair of tweezers, picking out fragments of tissue scorched by energy weapons from his shoulder.
"Hiss—take it easy, Viktor! Are those hands meant for saving lives or stripping parts?" Jackie hissed, sucking in cold air as a layer of sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Quiet, Jackie." Viktor didn't even look up, his tone steady, though his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as his peripheral vision swept over the nearly totaled galena parked at the door. "Just coming back alive is a sign that the Goddess of Luck is smiling upon you."
Lin Yi stood leaning against the wall, his face as pale as a sheet. His temples throbbed, and dull, persistent pains radiated from deep within his skull—the aftereffects of mental overexertion were more agonizing than taking a bullet. The shadow of that Kang Tao "Cleaner" squad felt like a block of ice, sitting heavy on his chest and making it hard to breathe.
"The identity issue must be resolved completely," Lin Yi said. Exhausted, his voice sounded as raspy as sandpaper rubbing against sheet metal. "The name 'Lin Wei' is a ticking time bomb. I need a brand new identity, one that can pass for real in corporate databases—everything from genetic information to digital records, completely rewritten."
Jackie spat on the floor, the movement too sharp and pulling at his wounds, making him wince in pain. "Damn it, these 'ghost identities' are expensive as hell. Nine out of ten on the black market are scams!"
Viktor finished the final bandage, took off his gloves, and wiped his hands. He remained silent for a long while before speaking. "...There's someone who might be able to help. In this day and age, he's probably the only person I know who can create an identity that even corporate security departments can't see through."
Both of them looked at him simultaneously.
"His name is Nix," Viktor said, his tone carrying both respect and a hint of caution. "An old-school netrunner, one of the truly elite. They say he's retired and hiding out in the Pacific Region, but really, he's just done chasing thrills on the front lines of the Net. He's in the Afterlife. He owes me his life; if I contact him, he should give you a chance. But his price is unique—he doesn't want cash, only hard currency or things that interest him. Rare data, lost code, or classified intel about the depths of the Old Net—specifically near the Blackwall."
"Nix..." Lin Yi rolled the two words on his tongue, silently noting the lead in the Pacific Region. He had some guesses, but now was not the time to verify them.
A short while later, using the feedback info provided by Viktor, Lin Yi met the netrunner Viktor had spoken of in a highly encrypted virtual space. The entire space was disguised as the core of a data storm, with fragmented code surging all around like roaring waves. Nix stood in the eye of the storm—an old man with graying hair and a face etched with the wear of time, yet his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.
"An acquaintance of Viktor's?" Nix's voice sounded like ice hitting glass, cold and crisp. "Get straight to the point. Time is more expensive than gold here."
Lin Yi didn't beat around the bush and stated plainly that he wanted a perfect identity.
After listening, Nix scoffed. "Fooling a comprehensive corporate audit? Do you really think that's child's play? This job requires backdoors with nearly the highest privileges, blank social security serial numbers, massive amounts of data to simulate a complete life trajectory, and it has to bypass Arasaka's 'Soulkiller' algorithm cross-verification..." He quoted a price, a number that would make an ordinary mercenary give up immediately—it was clear he wanted Lin Yi to back down.
"...Or, trade it for something I deem equivalent. As it happens, I've been very interested in the 'rumors' from the Old Net near the Blackwall, especially fragmented intel about a certain 'consciousness' trying to break free. Do you have anything on that?"
Old Net. Blackwall. A consciousness trying to break free. When these words collided, it was like an electric shock to Lin Yi's brain—that bizarre distress signal he had fished out from the depths of the Old Net!
He suppressed his racing heart and remained silent for a moment before speaking. "I don't have enough money. But regarding that business beyond the wall, I do have some unverified intel. However—" he pivoted, "I need to confirm you have the capability first."
Nix's eyes lit up; this time, he was genuinely interested. "Interesting. I won't ruin my own reputation, so prove it to me. Whatever method you use, get me an encrypted data block from a core module of Zetatech's latest 'Sandevistan' prototype. If you get it, you'll have the qualifications to talk to me, and this item can cover most of the cost as a deposit. If you can't get it, don't waste my time."
The communication was cut off cleanly and abruptly.
Exiting the virtual space, Lin Yi didn't feel despair; on the contrary, he became surprisingly calm. Zetatech's defenses were certainly formidable, but he had tools in his hands that they couldn't even dream of.
He didn't leave the clinic. He got up and swayed over to the side near the door, found a random spot to sit, and said to Jackie and Viktor, "Give me a moment of absolute silence. Don't let anything disturb me." Then he found a corner, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into the boundless sea of data.
[Command confirmed: Deep Dive protocol initiated. Target: Zetatech internal R&D network — "Thunder" server cluster.]
[Dynamic camouflage signature generating... Simulation: Militech internal periodic security audit signal... Generation complete.] [Multi-layer proxy chain activated... Node randomization... Traceability difficulty assessment: Extreme... Activation complete.] ["Bai Ze" computing power allocation: Stealth and cracking 80%, basic physiological function maintenance 20%.]
The "red core" at the back of his neck burned silently. Given Lin Yi's current adaptation level, he could only peak at 19PB per second, but that was terrifying enough. This computing power transformed into invisible tentacles, sliding silently along the carefully constructed digital tunnel toward Zetatech's firewall.
It wasn't about brute force, but extreme camouflage and infiltration. [Insight] operated at full power, analyzing the millions of rule changes per second in the opponent's firewall and the tsunami-like data flow in real-time, searching for that theoretically existing but fleeting gap.
Time ground on, second by second. Fine beads of sweat broke out on Lin Yi's forehead; maintaining this level of computation was a huge burden on his current mental and physical state.
And then—
[Notification: Temporary maintenance port detected in target firewall. Security lift duration: 3 seconds.]
This was the moment!
In that instant, Lin Yi's entire network persona compressed into the thinnest silver thread, attaching itself to the latter half of a legitimate data request. Before that 3-second window closed, he slid silently into Zetatech's internal network.
The internal network was also heavily fortified, but once he obtained the identity of an internal node, [Insight] truly let loose. Like the most efficient live navigation system, it guided Lin Yi around patrolling sentry AIs and defensive traps, heading straight for the core R&D zone.
[Target located: Sandevistan 3.7 prototype design library... Encrypted data block found. Identifier: ZTD-Sandevistan-P37-CoreModule-Encrypted.] [Cracking in progress... Warning: Level 2 internal alarm triggered...]
Lin Yi didn't even think.
[Partial Overclock · Lockdown execution — Power consumption: 12%. Target: Alarm-triggering process and three surrounding monitoring AIs. Duration: 0.05 seconds!]
A needle-thin instant. The alarm and the AIs seemed to have their throats choked simultaneously, falling into absolute silence.
[Cracking complete. Data downloading... Download complete. Starting evacuation... Clearing access traces... Overwriting logs...]
His consciousness retreated rapidly along the path it came, like receding seawater, fading away without a sound.
A few minutes later, Lin Yi opened his eyes abruptly. His already exhausted body couldn't withstand this final exertion; he coughed violently twice, felt a warmth in his nasal cavity, and a streak of blood ran down his philtrum. But he had already transferred the data into the blank storage unit in his hand—inside was exactly what Nix wanted.
Without catching his breath, he re-connected to Nix's virtual channel and sent over the verification key for the data chip.
There was a long silence in the virtual space. Nix's image almost froze. After a full minute, his voice rang out again, carrying for the first time a hint of genuine surprise and gravity:
"...Verification passed. It is indeed Zetatech's prototype core data." He paused, as if re-evaluating the young man in front of him. "You're more capable than I thought."
"The thing beyond the wall... take it." Lin Yi didn't exchange pleasantries; he directly sent a small fragment of that bizarre message from the "Bai Ze" log—an abstract rendering of a "palm made of data streams, struggling to break free," and a coordinate signal so distorted it was almost unrecognizable. The information volume was minimal, enough to prove he had indeed touched the threshold of something that shouldn't exist, without exposing all of "Bai Ze's" cards.
Nix fell silent again. He was analyzing, chewing on the full meaning contained in that tiny bit of information. After a while, he spoke, his voice more serious than at any time before:
"Enough. This is sufficient proof that you have indeed touched the edge of things you shouldn't have touched. I'll take this deal. Get your remaining funds ready, and I'll start laying out your new identity. It will take time; I'll notify you when it's done."
The communication ended.
Lin Yi let out a long, heavy breath, his tightly wound nerves finally relaxing just a little. He raised his head and squeezed out a smile at Jackie and Viktor, exhausted but genuine:
"Phew—done. Step one."