79: Chapter 79 The Invasion and Ambush of "Medusa"
The "Medusa" activated by Craig was like a digital demon released from a bottle; its initial seeds, through several carefully selected and extremely concealed physical backdoors, silently infiltrated the Long Kingdom's cyberspace like a few drops of ink into a clear but vast pool.
Its actions were exceptionally cautious and cunning.
In the initial phase, it did not carry out any obvious sabotage but instead prowled like a ghost along the edges and underlying architecture of the network, greedily absorbing all accessible data—network protocols, system logs, and even some public technical documents and news reports.
Its core algorithm, based on generative adversarial networks, began to learn and evolve at an astonishing speed, constantly adjusting its own code structure to adapt to this brand-new environment, which had been partially modified by the "system" and the "Mozi Network".
It soon realized that a frontal assault on the core areas protected by the "Mozi Network" was futile, so it turned its targets toward edge nodes and civilian IoT systems that had data interactions with the core system but relatively weak defenses.
The first probing attack occurred on the intelligent traffic signal system in a city along the southeast coast.
"Medusa" captured a tiny vulnerability in an old traffic control server; it did not cause widespread paralysis, but after careful calculation, it created a brief, atypical traffic light cycle anomaly at a certain intersection, leading to tens of minutes of traffic slowdown.
This attack was small in scale and concealed in its methods, looking more like an accidental system failure, successfully avoiding the threshold alarms of conventional network security monitoring.
Almost at the same time, in the smart grid user-end data acquisition system in a certain region of the west, there appeared tiny, abnormal packet jitters, and the smart meter readings of several households experienced imperceptible disturbances.
These scattered, seemingly unrelated "accidents" were like a few small stones thrown into a calm lake; the ripples were weak, yet they precisely touched that invisible "net" covering the entire country.
West Xinjiang, "Tian Suan Center".
In the vast ocean of qubits of the "system" quantum computer, that faint ripple captured earlier, which was similar to the initial algorithmic logic of "Medusa", suddenly became clear and intense after receiving abnormal event reports from all over the country that had been preliminarily screened by the "Weaving Net" AI!
"Report! Multiple low-intensity, distributed, and pattern-concealed network anomaly events detected!" a monitor reported loudly, "The event characteristics match the 'system' rehearsal model No. 73 'Autonomous Evolutionary Digital Threat' simulation sequence with an 89.7% match rate!"
Academician Zhao, sitting in front of the main console, narrowed his eyes: "Activate the 'Deep Blue Protocol'! Authorize the 'system' to utilize maximum computing power to conduct source tracking, behavior prediction, and countermeasure simulation for the abnormal events!"
Once the order was given, the "system" truly displayed its terrifying power that transcended the era.
Tasks that would require classical computers days or even weeks to perform massive data association and analysis were compressed to the minute level under the quantum parallel computing power of the "system".
Countless possible attack paths, mutation directions, and potential targets were simultaneously calculated and evaluated in quantum superposition states.
"Core behavioral pattern of 'Medusa' parsed: possesses high adaptability and learning capabilities; priority target is to create systematic, unpredictable chaos; currently in the latent diffusion phase..."
"Three main latent nodes and seventeen potential attack paths have been reverse-deduced!"
"Generating countermeasure plan: Suggest constructing a 'Digital Mirror' environment, inducing it to enter, and then isolating and eliminating it!"
Based on the precise "script" provided by the "system", the network security engineers of the Long Kingdom took immediate action.
They did not alert the enemy by clearing the already discovered latent nodes; instead, they cleverly utilized the isolation capability of the "Mozi Network", combined with the dynamic defense of the "Weaving Net" AI, to begin weaving a huge, invisible "Digital Mirror" trap across the country.
This mirror environment looked exactly like the real Long Kingdom network, possessing simulated traffic systems, power grid data, financial traffic, and even simulating the existence of the "system" and the "Mozi Network", but all the data running inside were carefully crafted "bait".
In the process of continuing its infiltration and learning, "Medusa" was soon attracted by a simulated energy management subsystem that appeared to have "weak protection" but "extremely high data value".
Based on its autonomous judgment, it believed this was an excellent target for creating greater chaos, so it mobilized its main computing power and mutation branches, cautiously drilling into this "Digital Cage" tailor-made for it.
Once it entered, the door of the "cage" closed silently under the control of the "system".
The real connection to the outside world was completely severed by a quantum-level encryption barrier.
"Target has entered the isolation zone!" the monitor's voice carried excitement.
Academician Zhao looked at the virtual image of "Medusa" on the main screen, which was crazily replicating and attempting to find vulnerabilities to cause destruction in the simulation environment, and coldly issued the final order: "Activate the 'Purification' program. Let this self-righteous digital ghost be completely annihilated in the chaos it triggered itself."
Inside the "Digital Mirror", the pre-planted logic bombs, specifically designed to target the weaknesses of "Medusa"'s core algorithm, were instantly detonated.
This AI, still attempting to learn and evolve, faced a trap completely set for it with computing power far exceeding its comprehension; any of its mutations and resistance appeared futile and laughable.
Its code structure was disintegrated from within, its data flow was disrupted and overwritten, and finally, it turned into a string of disordered garbage code, completely dissipating within the virtual cage.
From infiltration to being trapped and eliminated, the entire process was as fast as lightning.
"Medusa" hadn't even been able to cause any impactful destruction in the real world before it was subjected to a perfect "ambush" by the "system", thanks to its crushing computing power and foresight.
The final struggle that Craig had placed high hopes on, the "Dance of Chaos" he had imagined, had ended gloomily before it had even truly begun.
And at this moment, he was still sitting in a secret room of the CIA, full of anticipation, waiting for good news from the East, completely unaware that the "demon" he had released had long been easily crushed by a more powerful force.
This silent confrontation that took place in digital space once again proved that in the face of an absolute technological generation gap, any conspiracy and trickery were nothing more than the futile struggles of a clown.
The Long Kingdom's Great Firewall, under the joint protection of the "system" and "Mozi", was already impregnable.