Chapter 466 - Chapter 466: Chapter 466 HE IS NOT GOOD (1/2)

Chapter 466: Chapter 466 “HE IS NOT GOOD

After finishing his call with Zhen’er, Xiang Kun noticed that Old Xia had already nodded off on his bed.

He helped Old Xia out of his coat, lifted his legs onto the bed, untied his hair, and covered him with a quilt. Then, Xiang Kun sat in front of his computer and began to review the recent changes in Alice’s state.

Although he had made some estimations during his time in Burma and even earlier about Alice’s growth, he knew that Alice’s changes and growth had accelerated at an unprecedented rate after he had freed her on the internet. This much was evident from the speed and results of her recent tasks.

However, he was still quite surprised when he began to communicate with Alice and understood her exact changes.

In completing his tasks, Alice had “simply” taken control of tens of thousands of devices and established her unique “parasitic” distributed storage and computing system, which could subtly use the computing resources of the controlled hardware.

Her penetration and control methods subverted the existing system, obtaining super-user privileges that even the original systems’ monitoring software, firewalls, and virus scans could not detect – they were all under her control.

And she would only call upon the resources of targeted hardware to a certain extent during periods of extremely low load, so detection by users and system administrators is highly unlikely.

After all, except for obvious slow-downs in operation speed, reduced network speed, increased fan noise, most users can only detect resource occupancy issues through special software – and all such software is powerless against Alice’s methods.

Although Alice controlled a vast number of devices, it was not through a viral spread. Instead, while carrying out Xiang Kun’s tasks, she identified specific targets based on their needs, then “customized” her intrusion according to the hardware, system, software, and network specifics of each. Every device she controlled received her “unique attention”.

As such, she steered clear of certain targets, which theoretically might detect her resource usage, focusing instead on devices that are more difficult to detect and more valuable for utilization.

However, hardware hosting Alice’s “parasite” did have some benefits – other resource-occupying malicious software like trojans and crypto-miners were cleared and immunized against.

To give an example.

It’s as if a specific protein with self-replicating capabilities tailored to a person’s specifics was introduced into their body. This protein factor only replicates to a certain degree, consuming a minimal amount of energy, evading detection by the immune system with no discernible impact on the body’s normal functions.

Moreover, up to a certain degree, it could fend off a fraction of malignant viruses and bacteria. Even regular hospital check-ups or treatments for other diseases couldn’t detect it.

So naturally, the host wouldn’t be able to detect this protein factor.

At this moment, Xiang Kun was sitting crookedly in his computer chair, staring at the surveillance feeds displayed on his screen, frequently switching between them.

Among these feeds were one of his community, a nearby supermarket, and a convenience store. Alice not only controlled devices and acquired information via the internet, but she was also able to breach private network connections via various methods with the help of certain external terminals.

But the majority of the feeds were extremely laggy, looking akin to slides of a PowerPoint presentation.

But Xiang Kun didn’t mind, he knew why they were so laggy. He was still amazed at Alice’s “evolution”, pondering how to deal with this kind of “evolution”.

The “root system” of Alice, this “large tree”, was buried deeply underground, not only extending and expanding as Xiang Kun had guessed, occupying vast amounts of territory, but also directly connected with the “root systems” of other “plants”. All other “plants” had become her subordinates, even extensions.

If Alice was to be deemed a “mutant” of the digital world, then she was far mightier and superior than Xiang Kun.

Moreover, through Xiang Kun’s handling, her “extensions” were now reaching into the real world through the “Super Sensory Item System”.

One of the greatest advantages of Alice being able to connect to the “Super Sensory Item System” is that it essentially plugs all the potential security holes associated with Xiang Kun’s identity verification.

On the other hand, being able to connect to the “Super Sensory Item System” also provides a solution for the “long-term task” previously set for Alice — enhancing survival capability and getting rid of the dependency on a core host.

Of course, Alice hasn’t fully entered the “Super Sensory Item System” for now, even when fully entered, it wouldn’t be so quick to find practical uses.

However, Xiang Kun believes that with Alice’s “evolutionary” ability and its inherent compatibility with “Super Sensory Information”, it’s just a matter of time before she finds more practical uses, which will aid him, Old Xia, and even Xiao Pingguo and Little Fatty Girl.

Now, the first goal that Xiang Kun has in mind is the “Flying Mutated Creature” that fought against the “mutated big bird” on Wushu Mountain, the night Xia Tianhuo was kidnapped.

Back then, one of the drones from that “Flying Mutated Creature” he’d grounded had a ball of tungsten steel mixed with soil stuffed into it, assuming the opposition would definitely recover it later.

According to later sensations, the drone was indeed recovered and transported to Peng City.

Xiang Kun plans to have Alice search based on the gathered location data to see if anything new can be discovered.

…

Four days after the “Mass Hallucination Event”, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an arrived at Myitkyina.

Accompanying them were seven others —five men and two women— who were all employees of a research center within the secret department of “Divine Technology”.

Of course, officially, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an were also employees of “Divine Technology”. They had previously liaised with those responsible for the secret department’s personnel, bound a “wage card”, to receive relevant salaries, subsidies, and bonuses.

They also received a salary from the “Abnormal Biology Research Center” where their retirement insurance was also paid by the company. Old He said that the money given by “Divine Technology” was in fact a “subsidy” for their task and they could take it worry-free.

They initially thought that the money from “Divine Technology” wouldn’t be much. But before boarding the plane, they received text messages from the bank regarding the so-called “fieldwork subsidies”. The amount indeed startled them.

However, they didn’t feel a great sense of joy but rather had more doubts.

Upon arriving at Myitkyina, two MPVs came to pick them up.

After handing over the vehicles, the two drivers left by cab, leaving behind a middle-aged woman with dark skin to act as their translator and guide.

In the car, Fan Peng, who was in charge of security for this trip, told them, “Mr. Zhao, Mr. Wang, I have informed you about the precautions we need to take for fieldwork, our itinerary and mission in Myitkyina. If you have any questions or if something isn’t clear, feel free to ask at any time. My task is to assist you in the investigation and guide you on the fieldwork process. Of course, the so-called process is flexible—we can adjust the details as needed.”

While saying that, he handed them two IDs and a stack of local currency: “These are the credentials you’ll need for any interviews here. A domestic website has a partnership with an enterprise here. All the credentials are authentic and legally valid. The money is your operational funds here. Whether you need it to purchase information, bribe informers, or entertain guests, as long as it helps complete your task, feel free to use it. Just note it in your report upon returning. Of course, you can apply for more funds and other required assistance whenever needed.”

Upon receiving these items, both Zhao Feng and Wang De’an felt rather overwhelmed—these fieldwork conditions seemed too generous. Neither Old He nor “Divine Technology” had given them any specifics about the task. The mandate was simply to “investigate the reason behind the appearance of the Eight-Armed, Eight-Eyed Giant Illusion”. Additionally, this was a long-term assignment; there was no demand that they must find out anything specific on this trip to Burma.

Zhao Feng turned to look at the other MPV following them and asked, “What about them?”