Chapter 509 - 350: Dark Web Access, 2D Butterfly

Chapter 509: Chapter 350: Dark Web Access, 2D Butterfly

"Theoretically, you can access over ninety-five percent of the Alliance’s ’public’ and ’non-public’ data. Of course, that’s assuming you can find it, and... that you can bear the price of digging up the truth."

"The deep web is not a safe place. Even with my authority as a ’key,’ prying into forbidden things could attract the attention of the ’watchdogs.’ You’re on your own."

With that said, Old K paid Wu Liangchen no further mind. The data streams in his electronic eye returned to a steady flow as he seemed to immerse himself once more in his own world.

Wu Liangchen wasted no time and immediately got to work.

He didn’t search with keywords like an ordinary person. Instead, he directly invoked his permissions and began searching through the vast, sea-like data structures for the underlying framework of the Alliance’s history.

On the screen, countless lines of code, encrypted files, and fragmented information streams cascaded by like a waterfall. Most of the information was chaotic, contradictory, or had even been tampered with. Beneath the glorious history of official propaganda lay countless dark corners that had been deliberately erased.

Wu Liangchen’s consciousness was highly focused, like an experienced hunter swiftly filtering, identifying, and tracking his prey through a jungle of information.

He focused his attention on information related to the "Sea of Fog."

Soon, a few fragmented clues surfaced.

"...Deep-ocean exploration fleet, Designation 73, lost contact at 178°E, 35°N, border of the fog..."

"...Abnormal high-energy reaction detected, suspected to be technological fluctuations from the ’Old Era’..."

"...’Purification Protocol’ initiated. Information blockade level for the relevant area elevated to maximum..."

"...A fragmented research report mentions the fog may possess some sort of ’filtering’ or ’devouring’ property; not a natural phenomenon..."

"...Fragment of an encrypted communication from a high-ranking official: ’...must stop anyone from getting near there... once Pandora’s Box is opened...’"

The information was sporadic, with many key parts erased or encrypted, but what it revealed was shocking enough. This fog was by no means natural. It seemed to hide a colossal secret the Alliance was desperately trying to cover up, one possibly related to the fall of the so-called "Old Era."

Then, Wu Liangchen took a deep breath and typed a name into the search bar.

Yan Shu.

He pressed Enter.

The entire data interface seemed to freeze for a moment.

Immediately after, a piercing alarm blared.

The data stream on the screen instantly became violent, and countless red warning codes spread like a virus!

[WARNING: ILLEGAL ACCESS DETECTED!]

[WARNING: HIGHEST-LEVEL SECURITY PROTOCOL TRIGGERED!]

[WARNING: TRACING ACCESS SOURCE...]

At the same time, Wu Liangchen felt a cold, immense will—like a leviathan from the abyss—probing toward his consciousness through the data connection!

"A watchdog?" Old K suddenly snorted and forcibly severed Wu Liangchen’s connection.

Almost at the exact moment the connection was severed, the screen of the portable terminal in Wu Liangchen’s hand went black, let out a wisp of smoke, and died completely.

Silence returned to the room.

Old K’s electronic eye turned to Wu Liangchen, his data stream becoming chaotic again. "What did you search for? To attract a watchdog so quickly, and one of the highest level, by the looks of it."

Wu Liangchen didn’t answer, merely staring at the fried terminal in his hand, his brow tightly furrowed.

’Just typing the name "Yan Shu" had triggered such a violent reaction, even drawing the pursuit of what seemed to be the top guardian of the cyber world.’

’Yan Shu... what exactly did the founding emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty do after arriving in this world? And where is he now?’

’It seemed that information about him was even more taboo than the secrets of the Sea of Fog!’

Wu Liangchen felt that he had just grazed the edge of this world’s deepest, most dangerous secret.

In Zhongjing, somewhere underground, was a data center even larger and more chaotic than Old K’s room.

Countless cables, like tangled pythons, connected to humming server arrays. The air was thick with the heavy smell of ozone and overheated metal. A man, just as heavily modified, shot up from a chair bristling with interfaces. The muscles on the remaining half of his face twitched, his electronic eye flashing with a furious red light.

"Fuck! He got away!"

The man slammed his fist on the nearby console, sending sparks flying. A large dent instantly appeared in the console’s metal casing.

"Clean! Too fucking clean!"

He growled, his fingers flying across a virtual keyboard in a frenzy as he tried to catch any trace the intruder might have left behind.

However, the screen returned only a void. All access logs and routing nodes had been wiped with an almost artistic technique, as if the brief, violent alarm had never happened.

"Dammit, what tough bastard crawled out of which rat hole? This clean-up technique..." The red light in the man’s electronic eye flickered erratically. He recognized this style, or rather, he knew there were a few people capable of this level of work.

But what made his heart pound was the search term that had triggered the highest-level alarm.

"Yan Shu..."

The name echoed in the silence of the data center like a cursed syllable. How many years had it been? How many years since someone had dared to touch this taboo so blatantly in the deep web of the Alliance?

"A madman! Definitely a madman! Or... does he know something?"

The man’s breathing was heavy, his remaining human lung seemingly working overtime. He knew full well that merely attempting to search that name was enough to invite the most terrifying kind of purge. But this person had not only searched for it, they had escaped completely unscathed after triggering the alarm. The implication of that sent a chill down his spine.