Chapter 247 - 228: The Hackers Are All Dumbfounded! Why Would This Happen?

Chapter 247: Chapter 228: The Hackers Are All Dumbfounded! Why Would This Happen?

The reward offered by Xuanfeng International Bank sent shockwaves across the globe.

The allure of 10 billion USD was immense.

Countless hackers began to eye the 10 billion USD prize.

After all, the Xuanfeng Alliance was practically inviting them to attack.

「The Beautiful Country.」

Inside a luxurious estate.

A white man stood, savoring a glass of red wine.

Anyone who saw him would have recognized him immediately. He was Thomas, a famous tycoon from the Beautiful Country.

Thomas owned numerous businesses, and his company was well-known.

He, however, was a terrible manager. His decisions were often flawed, causing the company to consistently lose money.

Miraculously, his company never went bankrupt. In fact, it consistently held a spot in the Beautiful Country’s market capitalization rankings.

Just when everyone thought he was finished, his company would invariably receive a new injection of capital.

What was baffling was that no one knew who was funding him. Any attempt to trace the money would lead to a dead end, with all trails vanishing online.

A figure rushed into the villa. Upon seeing Thomas, he said, "Thomas, your company’s short on funds again, isn’t it? Well, 10 billion USD just landed on our doorstep."

"What 10 billion USD?" Thomas asked, confused.

The man immediately showed Thomas a news report. "Look, it’s about that Xuanfeng Bank. They’re arrogantly challenging all the computer experts in the world to hack their banking system. They’re even offering a 10 billion USD reward. This is basically a free gift for you!"

After reading the report, a joyful expression spread across Thomas’s face. "I’ll be taking that 10 billion USD. I really must thank them."

His face was filled with confidence, for he was the world’s number one hacker: Black Thorn.

He was often called the God of Hackers.

Despite being a wanted man in the Beautiful Country, no one had ever discovered his true identity.

The reason his company could survive—despite his terrible decisions and constant losses—was precisely because this secret identity allowed him to acquire funds at will.

Truth be told, he had nearly breached Rui Shi Bank. If they hadn’t paid him off to settle the matter...

Xuanfeng Bank’s network system couldn’t possibly be stronger than Rui Shi Bank’s. It was a classic case of ignorance begetting fearlessness.

Without hesitation, Thomas entered a secret room in his estate and began his preparations. Inside, one could see rows of computers, each clearly worth a fortune.

Across the globe, countless hackers and computer experts were likewise making their own preparations.

After all, it was 10 billion USD.

「Inside Qingfeng Network Company.」

Wang Kai stared at his older brother, Wang Xin, in astonishment. "Bro, are you really going to try? That Xuanfeng Bank might belong to President Lu."

Wang Xin nodded. "I know it might be President Lu’s. If it is, I definitely won’t be able to get in. But I have to give it a shot. Several highly skilled guys in our group are already planning to try."

Wang Kai nodded.

’If my brother wants to challenge himself, I should just let him. The outcome is a foregone conclusion anyway.’

Amidst all this, Xuanfeng Bank did something even more audacious. They launched a public-facing page on their official website, accessible internationally, with only this content:

Attacks Sustained: 0

Intruders Captured: 0

It was clearly a statistics page.

Even a complete fool could see that Xuanfeng Bank intended to count the number of attacks, and even planned on capturing the intruders.

It seemed like wishful thinking. Once the best hackers in the world attacked in unison, the statistic should probably be changed to "Time Endured."

Just as everyone was watching, the "Attacks Sustained" number began to climb. It quickly surpassed 10... then 20... 300... 1,000... 20,000...

The number grew almost exponentially, indicating that people had begun their assault on Xuanfeng Bank’s network system. More and more people were joining in; in the blink of an eye, the count was in the tens of thousands.

「Xuanfeng Alliance.」

Inside a conference room.

Lu Feng was also watching the statistics. He turned to Xiaozhi and asked, "Xiaozhi, are you sure everything is okay?"

Xiaozhi immediately replied, "Master, rest assured. The banking network system I wrote is absolutely impossible for these so-called hackers to breach. And don’t worry, I’m already monitoring the global network. Not a single one of them will escape."

In a short period, the number of attacks surpassed 100,000. And soon after, it shot past 200,000.

If Xuanfeng Bank wasn’t faking the numbers, that meant 200,000 people were attempting to hack it simultaneously.

This just went to show how tempting that 10 billion USD really was.

But it was also a terrifying number.

After all, what happens when over 200,000 people attack a single network system at once? The sheer traffic alone could crash it.

This was, without a doubt, a historic event in the world of computing.

Everyone doubted that Xuanfeng Bank’s network system could withstand the assault for even five minutes.

「Rui Shi Bank.」

President Richards arrived in a spacious conference hall.

Several video calls were already active inside.

The environments on the other end of the calls were dim. All that was visible were computer screens and the obscured figures sitting before them.

These were the expert hackers Richards had contacted. They were Rui Shi Bank’s secret weapon, a sharp blade that had helped the bank in the shadows countless times.

"Gentlemen, are you confident?" Richards asked.

One of them immediately replied, "Mr. Richards, you don’t even have to ask. What kind of powerful network system could a piddling little Xuanfeng Bank possibly have?"

Another chimed in, "Exactly. Even if their system is decent, it can’t possibly be stronger than Rui Shi Bank’s. There’s no way they can withstand our combined assault."

Richards said with a smug smile, "Then by all means, please begin!"

’Since Xuanfeng Bank has such a big appetite, thinking it can replace Rui Shi Bank, then this time I’ll make sure they’re utterly destroyed.’

The hackers immediately got to work.

"Alright everyone, let’s move!"

"Yes, let’s use the same coordinated approach as last time."

A moment later, the video feeds showed the hackers furiously typing on their keyboards. Lines of code scrolled wildly across their screens.

They were all top-tier hackers. Although they didn’t know each other’s true identities, they had collaborated on more than one occasion and were familiar with working together.

After some time, the hackers began to report in:

"I’ve found Xuanfeng Bank’s network IP!"

"I’ve found their perimeter defenses. Beginning breach!"

"Roger, all together!"

Their fingers flew across the keyboards even faster as they launched a coordinated assault on Xuanfeng Bank’s network system.

But the moment they breached the network, they found something was wrong. Their own computers became sluggish and unresponsive. Then came streams of garbled code, followed by a blue screen.

And on that blue screen, a single line of text appeared: You have been captured.

Seeing this, the hackers were dumbfounded.

"What’s going on?"

"Damn it, why is this happening?"

"What the hell?"

Confused, they tried to regain control of their computers, but it was no use. A few moments later, there was a sudden knock on one of the hacker’s doors.

The man didn’t understand what was happening. Suddenly, his door was kicked open, and several uniformed police officers stormed in. "Star Bull, you’re under arrest!"

This sudden turn of events left the hacker stunned.

Richards and the other hackers were also shocked. They couldn’t understand why the police had suddenly shown up at their comrade’s door.

This was their greatest fear. None of them had clean records. If their identities were exposed, they would be done for.

Now, their comrade had clearly been exposed. More importantly, this comrade was Star Bull, a legendary super-hacker.

"Quick, look at the official Xuanfeng Bank website!" one of them shouted, his face pale with panic.

Richards and the others immediately checked the bank’s website and gasped. The "Intruders Captured" counter was climbing rapidly; in a short time, it had already reached 10,000.

Did that mean 10,000 people had been captured?

Furthermore, below the counter, lists of names and information began to appear. Seeing this, they understood.

Behind each name was a full profile: their real identity, address, real name, hacker alias, and even their photograph.

This...

Then, their eyes widened as they saw the names pinned to the top of the list.

The aliases next to those pinned names belonged to some of the most famous hackers in the world.

And the very first person captured was Star Bull. He lived on Rui Shi Ruisseau Street, was ostensibly an engineer at a network company, and his photo showed he was bald.

Then, they saw their own names. Seeing the perfectly accurate information, they broke out in a cold sweat.

’How did they do this?’

’We just tried to hack a system. How did they get our locations and investigate us so thoroughly in such a short amount of time?!’

’This is impossible.’

Now they understood what "captured" really meant.

The next moment, the color drained from their faces. They were exposed.

’I have to get out of here, now.’

But just then, police sirens echoed from another one of the video feeds. Someone else was being caught.

Richards was dumbfounded. He watched on one of the screens as another top-tier hacker was led away.

He had never imagined this outcome. It looked like the others would be finished soon, too.

’But these people are Rui Shi Bank’s secret weapon!’

’We were supposed to teach Xuanfeng Bank a lesson! Why did it turn out like this?’

By now, everyone watching Xuanfeng Bank’s official website also understood what "captured" meant.

As more and more personal information was exposed on the list, a sense of disbelief washed over the onlookers.

So many hackers, all attacking Xuanfeng Bank’s network at once—how could they not only fail but be captured and have all their information exposed?

It was as if Xuanfeng Bank had been fishing all along.

Just then, everyone stared in horror at the newest entry pinned to the top of Xuanfeng Bank’s official page:

Thomas... Los Angeles... 34 Meirui Street Manor... Black Thorn!

The moment the two words "Black Thorn" appeared, the international web community erupted.

Everyone knew who Black Thorn was. He was the world’s number one hacker.

And now, the world’s number one hacker had tried to hack Xuanfeng Bank and had been captured?

How is this possible?

Is Xuanfeng Bank that powerful?

「The Beautiful Country.」

Thomas, the world’s number one hacker, stared at the blue screen before him, his face a mask of disbelief. On the screen were the words: You have been captured.

’What kind of international joke is this?’

’I’m the world’s number one hacker! I had just gotten in, how could I have been discovered? There were so many others attacking at the same time, and I used them all as cover!’

’And why, once I was locked on, was I not even given a chance to make a quiet exit before they took control of my computer?’

’Who’s the real number one hacker here?’

The man from before rushed in again. "Thomas, bad news! Xuanfeng Bank has exposed your identity and location!"

Thomas’s eyes widened at his words. He knew he was a wanted man. He had done many illegal things to acquire his funds, and a certain government department hated his guts.

"Damn it!" Thomas cursed and rushed to leave. But just as he reached the main hall, he heard the thrumming of rotor blades from outside.

Thomas looked outside and was completely stunned. A squadron of helicopters was surrounding his estate. Armed soldiers were rappelling down, encircling the property.

’How did they get here so fast?’