58: Chapter 57 Operation Begins

Here in Pacifica.

The air was perpetually filled with an unpleasant mixture of briny sea salt, the sour stench of fermenting trash, and the smell of some kind of over-burned synthetic fuel.

Inside the temporary base at the West Wind Apartments, this odor was barely kept at bay, but the tension permeating the room was thicker than the air outside.

This was their first day arriving in Pacifica.

After a brief rest, the three of them gathered in the suite's living room. All the joking and laughter had been put aside, replaced by the calm and focus that precedes an operation.

"V," Lin Yi began, his voice steady, breaking the silence of the room. "The specific operational plan is as I communicated with you earlier. Now that Jackie is here, I will reiterate it in full—to ensure that each of us knows what we are supposed to do, and why we are doing it, so that we can quickly extricate ourselves and coordinate in case of an emergency."

His gaze swept over V and Jackie, both of whom nodded.

"The core objective is the total elimination of the Voodoo Boys, that gang of lunatics trying to pry open the Blackwall and drag all of humanity down with them. Our bait," he pointed to the nondescript metal case in the corner of the room, "is the Relic chip in our hands."

"V, your mission is to 'chum the water'." Lin Yi looked at V, his eyes sharp. "You are responsible for carrying the news of the Relic chip and taking the initiative to contact the Voodoo Boys to propose a 'negotiation'. Remember, the negotiation is fake; getting them to take the bait is the real goal."

He pulled up his personal terminal, and a holographic projection unfolded in the air, displaying the image of a tall, muscular, and fierce-looking Black man, with data streams scrolling beside him—Placide.

"According to my analysis of log information intercepted from the 'Poseidon' LAN, their core hacker members, including Maman Brigitte, were 'frozen' by Netwatch not long ago and are unable to break free. Therefore, the person you are most likely to encounter first when you go to find the Voodoo Boys will be this guy—Placide, the Voodoo Boys' enforcer leader, who is in charge of peripheral 'physical' matters."

Lin Yi's tone carried a hint of imperceptible disdain: "This guy is all brawn and relatively simple-minded. Coupled with the Voodoo Boys' extreme exclusionary dogma, his attitude toward outsiders will absolutely not be friendly."

"So, at the initial contact, V, you'll have to suck it up and endure his stupid remarks and arrogance." He paused, his tone taking on a bit of cold humor.

V crossed her legs and lifted the corner of her mouth: "I'll just treat it as listening to the dying ramblings of a half-dead man."

"That's exactly the idea." Lin Yi nodded. "During the operation, he's already on our elimination list anyway, so bear with him and let him lower his guard—just treat it as the time it takes to hold in a piss. It doesn't matter."

His expression turned serious again: "Your focus is not to argue with him, but to take this," he transmitted a data packet to V, which was a daemon program with an exceptionally complex structure disguised by stealth algorithms, "and during the negotiation, find a suitable opportunity to unknowingly implant it into the Voodoo Boys' equipment, or into the terminals their members frequently use. This contains the keys for the network locator, signal trigger, and other related subroutines, and it is also the key to our subsequent actions."

"Feel free to use it. Even if they try to use subnet isolation, the tracking algorithm I added inside can pierce directly into the core of their 'Poseidon'."

V carefully examined the structure of the daemon program, her brows lifting slightly: "If the people at Netwatch saw this thing of yours, they'd probably want to invite you for coffee."

"They are already in Pacifica." Lin Yi turned his head, his gaze shifting to Jackie.

"Jackie, your stage is outside. Use this gear we brought along," he pointed to the open equipment cases by the wall, where the long, cold Nekomata tech sniper rifle, the rugged-looking DB-2 Satara shotgun, and the ajax assault rifle lay, "to establish a sniper position at a high vantage point outside, while maneuvering for support, providing V with long-range fire cover, resolving any unexpected situations that may arise, and ensuring her retreat path remains clear. There is plenty of ammunition, so feel free to go all out—it doesn't matter if you make a big scene; Pacifica is a lawless place to begin with."

Jackie walked over, affectionately stroking the cold barrel of the Nekomata, and gave a low laugh: "Don't worry, mano. Make a big scene? I've been pent up for these few days, and that's exactly what I'm hoping for."

"As for me," Lin Yi said finally, "I will immediately begin attempting to locate and contact the Netwatch agents who have infiltrated Pacifica. The enemy of an enemy can be our friend for the time being. On the matter of targeting the Voodoo Boys, Netwatch's stance is consistent with ours. We need their intelligence, and we also need to use them to divert external attention—to deliver a fatal surgical strike to the Voodoo Boys' core network at a critical moment, reducing the burden of the operation. Although we could handle it ourselves, saving some effort is always more cost-effective."

The division of labor was explained.

Lin Yi walked up to V, his expression becoming exceptionally serious.

"V, there is one last insurance policy." He took out a data connection cable. "I need to implant a program into you."

V did not ask any more questions, trusting him as she turned to the side, exposing the neural slot on the back of her neck.

Lin Yi carefully inserted the connection cable, and a faint data stream with specific encoding silently injected itself into the depths of V's system.

"This is a passive monitoring program. There are two trigger conditions: first, your vital signs show violent fluctuations, such as suffering critical injury or being in life-threatening danger; second, the detection of a strong, stable Blackwall signal, which means you may have been brought into a dangerous netrun by them, or have approached the vicinity of the Blackwall. Once triggered, it will immediately send a high-priority alert and your precise location to me."

This was the preparation Lin Yi had made for the worst-case scenario.

He could not fully predict the behavior of those cyber-maniacs in the Voodoo Boys, so he could only add an extra layer of protection for V as much as possible.

The program implantation was complete.

Lin Yi pulled out the connection cable and patted her shoulder gently.

"There."

The three of them exchanged glances.

All plans were clear, and all preparations were ready.

"Let's rest for now," Lin Yi finally said, his voice softening. "Rest up and recharge. Tomorrow—is when we go 'fishing'."

The two of them went off to adjust their states.

Lin Yi turned and walked toward the simple work desk by the window, sat down, and connected to the Baize terminal.

His consciousness sank, and the points of light in Cyberspace surged in like a tide.

His perception rapidly filtered through the public network nodes of Pacifica—surveillance cameras, abandoned routers, and an old access point that was still pulsing.

He squinted and muttered to himself: "Alright. Let me see which rabbit hole our Netwatch friends are hiding in now."