9: Chapter 9: A Mysterious Attack!

Su Chen sat on the stone steps for three minutes, replaying the entire performance from start to finish in his mind.

Overall assessment: 70 points, above passing, but far from perfect.

Without further thought, Su Chen patted his knees and whispered in his heart: "System, panel."

A pale blue light screen unfolded before his eyes.

"Current Points: 400"

"Current Authenticity: 60"

"System Level: 0. Authenticity required to reach Level 1: 100"

Su Chen stared at these numbers and tapped his fingers on the stone steps twice.

Four hundred points.

Before going all-in, he had seven hundred; after building this stage, this was all he had left.

Authenticity: 60.

Liu Yuyan alone had contributed nearly sixty points from start to finish.

This number showed she wasn't just half-believing—she believed with all her heart.

As an S-rank believer, every time she mentioned "Kindling" to the outside world, it would trigger a chain reaction.

But he was still forty short of Level 1.

What could be unlocked at Level 1?

The basic function to bestow Extraordinary Sequences upon members.

Improved precision for small-scale physical manifestations.

And templates for fabricating ruins.

Su Chen's fingers stopped.

This was the real trump card.

Once unlocked, he could create "Ancient Kindling Ruins" in the real world.

Stone tablets, murals, underground caves.

The archaeological team would dig them up, experts would verify them as genuine, the news would broadcast it...

By then, Authenticity wouldn't depend on the faith of one or two people.

It would be the faith of the whole world.

Exponential growth.

"Liu Yuyan's test cannot be delayed."

Su Chen began to calculate.

She believed now, but faith was like a fire in a furnace; it would go cold without more fuel.

He had to complete the test and bestow the Extraordinary Sequence while her passion was at its peak, letting her witness her own acquisition of extraordinary power.

From "belief" to "personal experience."

Bestowing an Extraordinary Sequence required the system to be Level 1.

System Level 1 required 100 Authenticity.

Forty short.

Liu Yuyan alone wasn't enough; her trust value was already maxed out.

He needed new believers.

The second chess piece.

Su Chen opened his notebook and found the shortlist he had made earlier.

Liu Yuyan was first, with a few other names following.

One of them was circled.

No name.

It wasn't that the "name was unknown," it was that no one knew what this person was called, how old they were, where they were, or what they looked like.

When mentioned in the hacker community, they only used references: that person, the individual, the one from back then.

It happened three years ago.

An overseas hacker organization launched a targeted attack on the core databases of six top domestic universities.

On-campus research data, national defense preliminary projects, and classified personnel information were all in critical danger.

The National Cybersecurity Emergency Response Center launched the highest level of response overnight.

The Honker Union assembled over 130 top-tier white-hats to intercept.

They fought for seventy-two hours.

They couldn't stop it.

The opponent's attack methods far exceeded known frameworks; every firewall was breached three times faster than it could be built.

By the early morning of the fourth day, the outer databases of four universities had fallen, and the last authentication barrier of the core layer had less than forty minutes of life left.

Then, that person appeared.

An anonymous instruction stream suddenly appeared in the Honker Union's combat channel, precisely taking over the low-level permissions of the entire defense system.

All the white-hats present watched as the torrent of data on their screens was reversed within three minutes.

It wasn't a defense.

It was a counter-attack.

The attacker's proxy server clusters were pierced one by one, and the data links were reverse-locked.

Finally, even the real IP hidden behind a three-layer onion network was dragged out, packed up, and dumped into Interpol's reporting mailbox.

Three minutes.

From total collapse to a counter-kill clear-out, three minutes.

After that, the person disappeared.

Anonymous entry, anonymous exit, leaving no traceable traces.

The Honker Union used every means to investigate; they searched for half a year and didn't even catch a shadow.

This event was deified in the cybersecurity circle.

But the public knew nothing because the entire event was classified at the highest level from start to finish.

Su Chen had stumbled upon an old post on a deep dark web forum while researching for his second book.

Someone had mentioned it in the comments using extremely cryptic language.

He didn't pay attention at the time.

Now, he cared.

Liu Yuyan was the money bag.

This person was the eyes.

Kindling needed a pair of eyes that could penetrate the dark web and monitor global anomaly movements.

An existence capable of counter-killing in three minutes an attack that 130 top white-hats couldn't stop, if this capability were used to monitor intelligence on anomalies, Kindling would essentially have installed a satellite on the global information network.

But how to find them?

How could he, a web novel writer who had flopped on three books, find someone that even the Honker Union couldn't track down with the power of the whole nation?

Su Chen wrote a line in his notebook:

"Recruitment target: Hacker. Budget: Unknown. Clues: None."

He drew a question mark below.

After thinking for two seconds, he added three more words to the side:

"Need more money."

He closed the notebook.

He was just about to leave the base and return to his rented apartment to solve the problem of food—

A piercing alarm exploded in his mind.

"——Warning——"

"Spatial fluctuation detected. Coordinates: Jingzhou Chengdong Industrial Zone. Fluctuation Level: E-rank (lowest)."

"Preliminary assessment: Residual energy leakage caused by the natural decay of a micro-rift from beyond the domain, accompanied by the infiltration of a low-level anomalous entity."

"The host is advised to head there immediately to handle it. If the anomalous entity contacts ordinary humans, it will cause uncontrollable consequences."

Su Chen's hand stopped in mid-air.

The notebook almost fell to the ground.

"Invasion?"

His voice rose half a pitch.

"Now? There are still three years until the apocalypse, and it's starting now?"

"The countdown to large-scale invasion is still three years. The current fluctuation belongs to the pre-symptomatic micro-leakage phase, analogous to small aftershocks before an earthquake. Low-level anomalous entities have extremely weak combat power, but pose a fatal threat to ordinary humans."

Su Chen stood up.

"Can I beat it?"

"Based on the host's current physical condition, the probability of survival when directly confronting an E-rank anomalous entity is approximately 12%."

"Twelve percent."

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"The host is advised to use points to manifest basic combat abilities. Minimum configuration required for killing an E-rank anomalous entity—"

"How much?"

"Basic Melee Enhancement: 50 points. Includes physical enhancement to the Extraordinary Apprentice level and injection of basic combat instincts."

Fifty points; he'd have three hundred and fifty left after.

But the problem wasn't whether he could beat it.

It was that he had to go.

If an anomaly contacted ordinary people, the consequences would be uncontrollable.

The narrative power of "Kindling" could not be lost.

He had to deal with this cleanly before anyone else realized what was happening.

Moreover—

Su Chen's gaze shifted.

If handled well, this was a natural source of Authenticity.

Killing monsters! Killing monsters in front of key figures was more effective than burying a hundred ruins.

Su Chen gritted his back teeth.

"Confirm. 50 points, Basic Melee Enhancement."

"Confirmed. Points deducted: 50. Balance: 350."

Power surged in.

It wasn't the rush of hot blood, but more like every muscle and bone in his body being tightened by a notch simultaneously.

Reaction speed, strength, and coordination all jumped up a level.

Su Chen clenched his fist, and his knuckles cracked.

His body was stronger.

But—

"System, can I kill an E-rank anomaly with pure melee?"

"Yes, but the margin for error is extremely low. E-rank anomalous entities usually possess unconventional physical resistance; close-quarters combat requires precise strikes on weak points. The longer the battle lasts, the higher the probability of the host being injured. It is recommended to pair this with long-range attack methods."

Su Chen frowned.

"Long-range attack methods, what do you have? Give me the prices."

The system displayed a row of options:

"Basic Wind Blade Manipulation: 280 points."

"Basic Lightning Arc Release: 320 points."

"Basic Flame Manipulation: 300 points. Includes flame condensation, throwing, and short-range detonation."

"Basic Ice Condensation: 290 points."

Su Chen's gaze stopped on the third one.

Flame.

Chengdong Industrial Zone, abandoned steel mill.

Steel, high temperature, furnace.

Fire wouldn't seem out of place in such a place.

The traces of the battle could even be disguised as a fire caused by equipment failure; killing two birds with one stone.

And—

Kindling.

Flame Keeper, killing enemies with fire.

If anyone witnessed this battle, the scene they would see would be "the last descendant of an ancient organization using flame to extinguish an anomaly."

The narrative would naturally be closed-loop; he wouldn't need to fabricate another word.

"Basic Flame Manipulation, 300."

The second he said it, his heart skipped a beat.

300 points.

After spending it, only 50 remained.

What could 50 points do? He couldn't even afford the cheapest item in the system store.

But going into close combat with an extraordinary creature with nothing but raw strength meant a 12% survival rate.

With an extra flame card, at least he wasn't going in empty-handed.

"Confirm."

"Confirmed. Points deducted: 300. Balance: 50."

"Basic Flame Manipulation injected. Maximum temperature of flame that can be mastered: 1350°C. Note: Continuous use will consume a large amount of the host's stamina."

His palms were burning.

Su Chen opened his hand, and a cluster of orange-red flames emerged from his fingertips.

It was only the size of a thumb, and it extinguished after flickering for two seconds.

But in those two seconds, he felt it—a mass curled beneath his palm, ready to be awakened at any time.

Heat, very real heat.

It was different from the lingering warmth on the murals; the murals were something he had fabricated.

This was real.

He clenched his fist to retract the flame, not continuing to test it.

Su Chen put his mask back on and buttoned his trench coat.

The system panel hung in the corner of his field of vision.

Points balance: 50.

Authenticity: 60.

50 points.

He only had three cards left in his hand—one hour of melee enhancement, basic flame manipulation, and a 100-meter teleportation.

He didn't know if it was enough to defeat an E-rank anomaly.

But he had to go.

Su Chen pushed open the old wooden door.

The pale golden light behind him was narrowed into a line by the door crack and then disappeared.

Inside the main room, the light of the late autumn dusk shone through the broken window lattice onto the mask.

He took out his phone.

No signal.

The old house was in the deep outskirts of the western suburbs, and there wasn't even an electric pole within a two-kilometer radius.

The phone's signal bar was as empty as his points balance.

Su Chen walked out of the courtyard gate and stood on the dirt road to determine the direction.

Chengdong Industrial Zone, abandoned steel mill.

From here to there, crossing the entire Jingzhou urban area, it was at least forty kilometers.

He had teleportation, 100 meters per jump, but each jump consumed stamina.

Flashing for forty kilometers straight, he would collapse before arriving.

Moreover, he had to fight when he got there; stamina had to be saved for the crucial moments.

Teleportation was a trump card for survival, not a means of transportation.

Su Chen strode out, rushing along the dirt road.

Melee enhancement had brought his physical fitness to the Extraordinary Apprentice level.

The force of his strides kicked up dirt from the road, and his speed was more than a grade faster than an ordinary person's.

The hem of his trench coat snapped in the wind.

The thousand-year Flame Keeper of Kindling was running for his life on the ridges of the fields in the suburbs of Jingzhou.

After system enhancement, his speed skyrocketed.

Six minutes later.

The dirt road connected to a cement village road, and the first electric pole appeared on the side of the road.

One bar of signal appeared on his phone.

Su Chen slowed down, took out his phone, and the system simultaneously popped up real-time positioning.

Chengdong Industrial Zone, abandoned steel mill, the red coordinate point flickering on the map.

Distance from current location: 43 kilometers.

Su Chen took off his mask, stuffed it into his trench coat's inner pocket, opened the ride-hailing app, and entered the destination.

Estimated cost: 89 yuan.

He glanced at his banking app.

Balance: 190.35 yuan.

After paying for this ride, the hole in next month's rent would be impossible to fill.