192: Chapter 192 The Old Forces' Counterattack: Struggles Beyond the Digital Great Wall
Inside the "Kunlun" world, virtual fireworks from the cultural festival still bloomed in the sky, and the data streams of collaborative innovation remained brilliant. However, in the physical reality that formed the foundation of this virtual paradise, a silent yet fierce offensive and defensive battle had reached a fever pitch beyond the quantum network boundaries of the GDA, known as the "digital great wall."
Location: Somewhere in the Atlantic, deep in international waters.
A gray vessel disguised as an old research ship drifted slowly with the ocean currents under the cover of night and thick fog. Inside the cabin, in stark contrast to the dilapidated exterior, it was packed with flashing server racks and complex signal processing equipment. This was one of the "Black Nodes" jointly established by the remnants of the Pretty Country's intelligence agency "Prism" and technical experts from certain "former allies" who wished to remain anonymous—the Blind Spot Outpost.
The person in charge, Harris, a former top NSA hacker with heavy dark circles under his eyes and fingers slightly deformed from long-term typing, was currently staring intently at a waterfall of data streams refreshing across eight screens. His teeth were clenched around an e-cigarette that had long since gone out.
“Thirty-seventh attempt, 'Side Door' protocol injection failed,” a young technician reported in a hoarse voice. “The quantum key rotation frequency of the GDA's 'Mozi' network has increased again; our pseudo-random algorithm can't keep up. At a penetration depth of 0.7%, it was identified as abnormal traffic by the 'system's' edge-sensing AI, and the path was instantly severed.”
“News from 'Mole' No. 4,” another female technician responsible for internal intelligence liaison whispered. “He just tried to access a secondary physical isolation interface at his maintenance post in a GDA data center in Eastern Europe when he triggered a biometric anomaly alarm. He has been detained, and the line has been safely cut. The 'Nail' is compromised.”
Harris slammed his fist onto the console, the dull thud echoing in the crowded cabin. “Useless! All of you are useless!” he growled. “We used to be able to monitor the whole world! Now we can't even climb over a single digital wall!”
“Boss, it’s not that our technology has regressed,” a gray-haired senior technician sighed. “It’s a generational gap. Quantum encryption, real-time AI defense, identity verification tied to biometrics and neural signals... They’ve built a system we don’t understand at all and can't brute-force. Our tools are still stuck in the era of dealing with the classic internet and traditional encryption. It’s like trying to poke an energy shield with a flint spear.”
An oppressive silence filled the cabin. There was only the hum of equipment fans and the sound of distant waves hitting the hull. These people, who were once the emperors in the shadows of the cyber world, were now like flies trapped outside a transparent glass jar. They could see the radiant, vibrant new world inside but could not fly in, nor even touch it. This sense of powerlessness was more despairing than any direct failure.
“Are we just supposed to stare blankly while they use that damned technology to win over people's hearts and consolidate their rule?” Harris’s eyes were bloodshot.
“Perhaps... we don’t necessarily have to go 'in'.” The old technician hesitated, pointing to another monitoring window on the screen. It showed the traffic monitoring of the GDA’s external public information platforms, mainly news feeds, technical bulletins (simplified versions), and the non-immersive promotional entrance to the “Kunlun” world. “The 'digital great wall' is indestructible, but information always has to flow out, and there are always people who want to get in. We can’t tamper with the content inside the wall, but the 'right of interpretation' outside the wall... and the emotions of those 'refugees' who fail to scale the wall, might be something we can exploit.”
Harris narrowed his eyes. “Go on.”
“We can establish fake but extremely 'professional' and 'objective' analysis websites and social media accounts. Using sophisticated rendering techniques and half-true data, we can 'deconstruct' every technical achievement released by the GDA,” the old technician spoke faster. “For example, depict the 'palm fusion battery' as an unstable miniature nuclear bomb, emphasizing the 'radioactivity' of its fuel (despite being safely encapsulated), and amplifying any possible, unconfirmed rumors of 'leaks.' Forcibly link the 'anti-gravity platform' to health risks like nerve damage and spatial perception disorders, citing some plausible-sounding 'vestibular neurology research.' Describe the 'Kunlun' world as a mind-control tool, painting a terrifying picture of the 'system' AI monitoring everyone's subconscious and shaping collective thinking...”
“Smearing? That’s old school.” Harris frowned. “The GDA has tangible results; the people aren't blind.”
“It’s not just smearing; it’s creating 'uncertainty' and 'cognitive confusion',” the old technician emphasized. “For the people outside the wall who can't experience it firsthand and must rely on second-hand information, especially the marginalized populations of allied countries and internal waverers who have complex feelings about the GDA, continuous information bombardment and 'professional questioning' are enough to plant seeds of doubt in their hearts. When information is overloaded and contradictory, ordinary people often choose the simplest cognition—'this is too deep, I can't trust it all.' We don’t need them to completely oppose the GDA; we just need them to hesitate, wait and see, and not support it with all their might.”
“At the same time,” the young technician added, “we can use the traditional internet and the underground dark web that still exist outside the wall to gather and amplify the resentment of 'digital refugees' who have been blocked from the GDA for various reasons (technical, qualifications, political vetting). Frame them as 'victims abandoned by the new era' and incite hatred against the GDA’s 'technological monopoly' and 'digital privilege.' This hatred is a power we can use.”
Harris pondered, a dangerous fire reigniting in his eyes. “Yes... if the wall can't be pushed down, pour corrosive agents at its base. Let suspicion and misunderstanding fester inside and outside the wall. Even if we can't damage the foundation, we can make them uncomfortable.” He immediately ordered, “Launch Project 'Mist'! Mobilize all remaining resources and execute according to this plan! I want to see 'expert analysis,' 'victim testimonies,' and 'insider leaks' in various languages spreading like a virus on the periphery of the GDA's sphere of influence!”
“Yes!”
Just as the "Mist" project of the "Black Node" began to quietly spread, another more secretive and insidious line of attack was attempting to bypass the front of the "digital great wall" to find any possible, theoretical "backdoor."
In a neutral country in Europa, in a highly shielded underground laboratory.
Several "independent researchers" who belonged to no official agency but possessed staggering resources and technical prowess were busy in front of a device connected to a special interface. One end of the device was connected to a "palm fusion battery" that had been intricately modified, its casing opened to reveal the fine internal structure (purchased at a high price on the black market); the other end was connected to an extremely complex field generator and analyzer that was constantly attempting to inject abnormal spectral signals.
“490th attempt, injecting reverse harmonic disturbance... failed. The stability of the containment field was not significantly affected; self-check system alarm triggered, safety lock activated.” The lead researcher, a man with a sinister face, recorded the data, his tone filled with frustration.
“Their redundancy design and fault-tolerance mechanisms are too strong.” The assistant beside him shook his head. “Direct physical interference is almost impossible to trigger a chain reaction failure. Unless we can precisely simulate their core control quantum signals... but that would require cracking their quantum algorithms, which...”
“Then change the approach.” The lead researcher put down his clipboard, a cold glint in his eyes. “If we can't make it lose control and explode from the outside, then... what if the 'defective products' we create could sneak into their production lines?”
The assistant was stunned. “This... this requires infiltrating their production system, the difficulty is...”
“It’s not us infiltrating.” The lead researcher walked to another terminal and pulled up a top-secret file with a code name: “Weaver.” “There is news that the GDA is not a monolith. Certain remnants of old vested interest groups who suffered losses in the industrial transformation, or 'technocrats' dissatisfied with Lin Mo and his team's monopoly on technical decisions, might provide us with a little... 'convenience.' For example, a factory that originally belonged to a traditional energy giant and was later forced to transform into producing 'keystone-1 type' material derivatives—what if the calibration parameters of a quality control sensor on its production line were 'accidentally' adjusted by just one-thousandth...”
He looked at the "palm battery" lying quietly on the workbench as if looking at a piece of art. “It doesn't need to fail immediately. It just needs to show probabilistic, slight containment field decay or fuel efficiency drops after long-term use, say several months or a year or two. The failure rate doesn't need to be high—one in ten thousand or even one in a hundred thousand is enough. But the distribution must be wide, appearing to be random, natural technical flaws.”
“What is the purpose of doing this?” the assistant asked, confused.
“To shake trust,” the lead researcher said slowly. “When the perfect 'divine tool' begins to show unpredictable, tiny but real 'flaws,' that blind technological worship will crack. People will start to doubt other technologies—will nanorobots have unknown side effects? Will the anti-gravity platform suddenly fail? Will the 'system's' decisions have hidden errors? Once trust is cracked, it’s hard to repair. Furthermore, tracing the source of these 'random' flaws will cost the GDA enormous investigation and quality inspection costs, distracting them.”
A cruel smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “What we need to do is quietly dot their shiny technological totem with a few 'rust spots' that are hard to see with the naked eye but are very real.”
The public opinion mist of the "Black Node" and the "Rust Spot" plan of the secret laboratory were like two venomous snakes slithering in the shadow of the digital great wall, flicking their silent tongues toward the GDA's radiant civilization cornerstone.
Meanwhile, at the Bright Dawn base, in the core logs of the "system," several warning messages marked as "low-probability anomaly correlations" quietly emerged, pointing to subtle fluctuations in the external information environment and statistical deviations in the quality data of a few supply chains.
Lin Mo’s gaze swept over these warnings, his face showing no surprise. He had already expected that as the sunlight grew more intense, the struggles in the shadows would become more desperate.
“Strengthen the 'Mozi' boundary perception, especially the tracking and marking of fake information sources. Initiate the supply chain deep traceability verification protocol, set priority to Class A.” He instructed Su Xiaowan, his tone calm. “Also, notify the GDA Propaganda and Public Cognitive Security Department to prepare for the launch of Project 'Pure Fire'—it’s time to use brighter, more irrefutable facts to dispel the 'mist' festering in those dark corners.”
The struggle never stopped, and the counterattack was imminent.
Inside and outside the digital great wall, a war centered on hearts and trust, one without smoke but even more dangerous, had fully begun.