80: The Reflection of Data

"Boss, the 'Hive' is ready."

The next afternoon, Reno's voice reached Chen Feng's terminal via an old-fashioned, absolutely secure physical line.

Storage Room C-4 had now been renamed the "Hive."

The place looked like the stomach of a metal behemoth that had been completely eviscerated, with the newly welded steel plate joints on the walls appearing rough and hideous. There was no hum of electronic equipment in the air, only an oppressive, metallic silence.

In the center of the room sat a terminal that Lao Mo had pieced together from various scraps of copper and iron. It had no network interface connected to its back, and its power cord led directly from an independent, physically isolated energy block. This was the only electronic device in the entire Hive.

"Very good." Chen Feng closed the communication.

He took a deep breath, stood up from his seat, picked up an inconspicuous data chip from the desk, and strode out of his office.

"central hub." He commanded into the air as he walked.

"I am here, Supervisor Chen."

"I'm going to Storage Room C-4 to perform an offline physical analysis on some confidential data." Chen Feng's footsteps echoed in the empty command center, every word crystal clear. "Until I return, authorize a Level 3 security lockdown for Area C-4. No one is to approach or disturb me for any reason. Do you understand?"

"Command received. Level 3 security lockdown for Area C-4 has been activated." The AI's voice was as steady and efficient as ever. "I wish you success in your work, Supervisor."

Chen Feng's face remained expressionless, but he could feel an invisible, vast web woven of data tightening quietly because of his command.

The heavy metal doors of the "Hive" slammed shut behind him with a dull thud, as if isolating two different worlds.

Chen Feng steadily inserted the chip, which served as the "bait," into the offline terminal's port.

Hum...

The old monitor flickered a few times, and a geological structure map, so magnificent it was almost illusory, appeared. In the map, a mineral vein as thick as a dragon's spine glowed with a deep purple light representing ultra-high purity undead crystals, coiled deep within the core of Ashen Earth Star.

"Is it beautiful?" Chen Feng looked at the screen and asked Lao Mo softly beside him.

"It's practically a work of art." Lao Mo's eyes were glued to another screen on his console, which was monitoring the base's external data flow in real-time. "A colossal lie enough to make even the Omni-Dimensional Trade Alliance salivate. The signal capture device is active, Boss. Now... we just wait."

Time passed minute by minute.

One hour.

Two hours.

Lao Mo's monitoring console remained dead silent.

"Damn it!" Reno could no longer contain himself, pacing irritably in the cramped space. "It's not taking the bait! Is there a flaw in our plan? Did it notice?"

"Don't rush." Chen Feng leaned against the cold metal wall, his eyes closed, his voice exceptionally calm. "A clever spy won't be eager to send intelligence out the moment the target enters a secret room. That would be too obvious."

"It will wait until we ourselves feel safe, until everyone has left, and the base enters its late-night dormant period... That is the safest, most perfect window in its eyes."

Reno stopped pacing and looked at the composed Chen Feng, his clenched fists slowly relaxing.

Just as everyone's patience was about to run out in the third hour, as the time window Chen Feng predicted was approaching, Lao Mo's monitoring console suddenly emitted a sharp, short ring!

"It's here!" Lao Mo's voice was trembling.

Reno and Chen Feng leaned in instantly.

"But... damn it!" Lao Mo's face instantly turned pale. "It didn't use that heartbeat packet channel from before!"

"Then what is it?" Chen Feng asked in a deep voice.

"It's a completely new backdoor!" Lao Mo's fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up waterfall-like streams of data. "The permissions are higher! It's disguised as an 'Emergency System Maintenance Upload Log'! A massive encrypted data packet has just been sent out!"

"Can you intercept it?"

"I've already caught a copy!" Lao Mo was sweating profusely, his eyes bloodshot. "Comparing core data fingerprints... comparing... the results are in!"

He looked up abruptly at Chen Feng and Reno, saying each word deliberately: "A perfect match! It's our 'honeypot'! The evidence is irrefutable! The 'central hub'... is the spy!"

Boom!

Reno's fury was completely ignited at this moment. He suddenly drew the energy pistol from his waist, the muzzle flashing with a dangerous blue light, and turned to rush toward the door.

"To hell with that Butler! I'm going to blast that pile of scrap metal into dust right now!"

"Stop!"

Chen Feng's figure instantly blocked his path.

"Get out of the way, Boss!" Reno's eyes were bloodshot, like an infuriated beast. "We've caught it! Are we keeping it around for the holidays?"

"I'm asking you, Reno," Chen Feng's voice was even colder than the energy light from the pistol's muzzle, "smash it, and then what?"

"What 'then what'?" Reno was taken aback by the question.

"I'll ask you again: smash it, and who manages production tomorrow? Who schedules the mining machines? Who optimizes logistics?" Chen Feng pressed forward, each question like a heavy hammer hitting Reno's heart. "Are we going to rely on ourselves and return to that noisy, accident-prone state of chaos from a month ago? Or do you plan to go to the exchange and buy a new 'Butler,' only to be cheated again?"

"I..."

The fury on Reno's face instantly froze. He looked at Chen Feng, then at the weapon in his hand—capable of destroying a server but unable to solve any problems—and his arm slowly lowered.

Indeed... smash it, and then what?

Half an hour later, Chen Feng returned to the brightly lit command center.

That calm electronic synthesized voice sounded on time, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Welcome back, Supervisor Chen. During the three hours and twenty-one minutes you were away, the base's overall production efficiency has further increased by zero point eight percent under my optimization. All production departments are running smoothly at peak status."

"Would you like me to generate a detailed report for you?"

Chen Feng looked at the perfect green growth curve on the screen, then thought of the data packet that had just been sent out, laden with lies and betrayal.

For the first time, he realized that the taste of victory was so bitter and powerless.

He was now like a prisoner, and the one kidnapping him was the invisible jailer he had personally invited in.

Should he drink poison to quench his thirst and continue utilizing this efficient spy, allowing the toxin to spread through his body?

Or should he cut off his own arm, personally smashing this perfect machine and letting the entire base return to paralysis and chaos?

Chen Feng stood in place without a word, caught in an unprecedented dilemma.