Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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After hearing the news, Le Zhengming hurried into the director’s room with his staff.
Everyone’s expressions were solemn, anxious, and helpless. It was not only the live broadcast platform that was hacked, but also their campaign network. Moreover, this data flow was directed by someone and had a clear target of attack. In other words, no matter which live broadcast platform they switched to, the data tsunami would follow them.
They had been surrounded by violent waves and become an isolated island.
To use a more vivid metaphor, if Le Zhengming’s private network was a building, then all the entrances and exits of this building were blocked by cement. People inside couldn’t get out, and people outside couldn’t get in. This was the dilemma they were currently facing.
Le Zhengming’s first campaign speech seemed to be blocked before it even started.
Only Zhuang Li had his head lowered and looking at the computer screen, his fingers dancing rapidly on the keyboard without being disturbed in the slightest.
“Don’t worry, the live broadcast will not be affected.” He explained without looking back: “It’s a botnet. Hackers drop Trojan horse programs all over the world and use these programs to install malware in smart devices. Those who have malware installed smart devices will not behave abnormally during normal operation, but as long as hackers send instructions to wake up these devices, they will automatically send data to attack designated websites.”
“The infected devices may only be a few thousand, or they may be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions. And they can be computers, digital video recorders, routers, closed-circuit televisions, or even smart door locks and smart water heaters. As long as it is a smart device, it may be infected by malicious programs and radiate out at an extremely fast speed and over a large area like a zombie virus. Therefore, this kind of controlled network is also called a botnet.”
“It’s Zhu Jianrui.” Zhuang Li said firmly: “I have just measured that the attack flow has always remained at 540gbps, and the highest peak has reached 940gbps. Such a high value can only be achieved by controlling two hundred thousand smart devices at the same time. Apart from me, there is only one Zhu Jianrui who has this ability.”
“The military installed a monitoring chip on him, so he shouldn’t have access to the computer.” A staff member said in disbelief.
“I will search for his signal and see where he is.” Zhuang Li typed on the keyboard quickly.
“What to do now?” Another staff member asked anxiously.
“You go outside and memorize the manuscript. The speech will start at eight o’clock. I won’t let you be late.” Zhuang Li took the time to look at Le Zhengming, with a comforting tone in his voice.
“Okay.” Le Zhengming wanted to rub his furry head, but he could only hold back in front of everyone.
He also comforted: “Don’t be pressured. If it can’t be solved, I will hold a press conference to apologize to the public. This is not your problem.”
Both of them placed heavy responsibilities on themselves and were afraid that the other would not be able to bear the pressure.
They looked at each other, hooked their lips in tacit understanding, and then went about their business, leaving their backs completely to each other. This trust seemed to be rooted in their bones.
Le Zhengming returned to the studio to memorize the manuscript, and occasionally picked up a pen to carefully revise certain sentences.
However, his staff could not sit still and walked into the director’s room one after another to watch Zhuang Li’s counterattack.
How to find 200,000 compromised smart devices? They may be computers, cameras, routers, any other device, and they may not even have an IP address! They may be distributed in China, or they may be distributed in any place such as the United States, Country Y, Country R, Country H, etc.!
They would be scattered around the world, but Zhuang Li had to find them all and close them one by one in just twenty minutes.
The difficulty of this work made these self-proclaimed ingenious staff feel numb just by conceiving it in their brains.
“It’s impossible! It can’t be done! Master, you will definitely lose this time, alas~” 7480 sighed in Zhuang Li’s mind.
It dragged out the ending sound very long and far away, as if it was regretting the host’s first failure.
Zhuang Li asked casually: “How do you know it’s impossible?”
“It’s twenty minutes to find 200,000 devices. Just do a simple multiplication and division. That means Master, you have to find 10,000 devices every minute. This is simply impossible! What’s even more frightening is that when you find them, at the same time, they must be turned off. Divide one minute into sixty seconds, and then divide sixty seconds into sixty thousand milliseconds. You can’t even type a letter in one millisecond, let alone write a long string of code to attack those zombie devices.”
7480 became more and more excited as he spoke, and asserted: “Master, you are finished! Give up in front of the Son of Destiny!”
“The child of destiny?” Zhuang Li grasped an important point keenly.
The proud 7480 wanted to slap himself.
Zhuang Li said clearly: “So, Zhu Jianrui was selected by the Lord God to plunder Le Zhengming’s luck and replace him as the pillar of the world?”
7480 raised his short, fat hand and slapped himself in the mouth.
Zhuang Li curled his lips with interest: “Okay, I understand. Next, I will take good care of this son of fate, so please rest assured, you and your Lord.”
7480 knelt down holding his chest. It couldn’t be reassured at all, okay? It had a heart attack!
Sure enough, Zhuang Li was typing on the keyboard while whispering like a devil: “Who said I have to find these devices one by one and turn them off? I just need to catch the hacker behind it and destroy his computer, and I can do it in the shortest time. Then I will resolve this crisis within the time required.”
7480 stared nervously at the host’s computer, fearing that he would defeat the Child of Destiny, but soon after he exaggeratedly breathed a sigh of relief: “Aha! You found Zhu Jianrui! But he stayed in the studio and didn’t touch the computer at all.! What should you do now, Master?
“Out of 200,000 devices, only one is a controller. How do you identify it? There are only twenty-nine minutes left, master. Come on, master!” 7480 jumped up and down in the small dark room, incredibly cheerful and arrogant.
Zhuang Li stared at Zhu Jianrui who was concentrating in the small window with his eyes closed, smiled strangely, then switched to another tracking program and continued the search.
Two minutes later, he chuckled and said: “System, you seem to have forgotten the black and white ghost card that I hid last time? If Zhu Jianrui needs help, who do you think he will ask?”
7480: “…”
My heart, my heart suddenly feels so painful! The person in the small window is mima! He is launching the data tsunami! The six computers placed in front of him were falling into black screens one after another, and his hands quickly danced on the keyboard to create afterimages, but there was no way to turn the tide!
He was found, crushed, and defeated by the host!
The last time, it was not that the host forgot about him, but that he deliberately left a way for him to survive and also installed a secret door next to Zhu Jianrui. As long as necessary, the host could pass through this secret door and insert the knife into Zhu Jianrui’s back. The host had understood everything so long ago, his mind was really terrible!
7480 fell into despair again.
Zhuang Li lightly tapped the Enter key and murmured: “It’s done.”
He easily ended this data tsunami. On his computer screen, the only remaining black and white ghost card was turned over. A man with half-length hair and heavy makeup was frantically smashing the keyboard and mouse. His originally handsome face was now so hideous that it was beyond human shape.
At the same time, Le Zhengming’s staff were shouting one after another: “I can log in to my computer!”
“Me too!”
“It’s normal, it’s normal! Everyone in your place! The live broadcast is about to start!”
The ecstatic crowd looked up at the time board, only to find that there were still twenty-seven minutes left before leaving the field. In other words, Mr. Zhuang solved such a huge data tsunami in just a few minutes!
“Mr. Zhuang, I’m glad that you have joined our team. Thank you, thank you!” The staff members surrounding him stepped forward to shake hands with Zhuang Li, all feeling a sense of fear in their hearts. What would have happened if they had insisted on rejecting Mr. Zhuang’s joining?
Thinking of those powerful viruses and Trojans; thinking of those espionage devices that were difficult to prevent; and thinking of this network attack, everyone couldn’t help but shudder.
Without Mr. Zhuang, they would definitely lose!
Zhuang Li waved his hand and said, “You go down and get ready. I still have something to do.”
“Okay, okay, you’re busy, you’re busy.” The staff members wiped their cold sweat and exited the studio.
Zhuang Li opened a control software in the background of his computer and slowly awakened the zombie network he had arranged around Zhu Jianrui. Yes, he also made the same arrangement, and the time was much earlier than the other party.
….
At the same moment, Zhu Jianrui, who was sitting in the director’s room, suddenly received a phone call. He put down the puppy in his arms, looked at the caller ID, and then walked towards a corner where there were few people. His expression was originally very expectant but became extremely stiff after the call was answered.
The puppy walked around him and rubbed his calves with its small body, but it failed to attract his attention at all.
Gong Xuanqi, who was sitting aside and revising his speech, asked casually, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Zhu Jianrui gritted his teeth secretly, not daring to show any trace of panic. However, in fact, he was already panicking, and his eyelids were twitching nervously.
Gong Xuanqi looked up at his nephew, his eyes full of suspicion and scrutiny. He still noticed such a small expression.
Zhu Jianrui began to inhale and exhale forcefully, his chest rising and falling as if there was a bomb about to explode. He held it in for a long time before he uttered a sentence filled with strong resentment: “Zhuang Li cut off my botnet.”
“So fast?” Gong Xuanqi showed a surprised expression, and then ordered: “Then ask your assistant to launch another attack.”
“It is impossible to launch another attack. He cut off all my data streams. I completely lost contact with those devices. It will take a month to rebuild another botnet, and it is too late.” Zhu Jianrui held the phone tightly and admitted his failure again with a bitter tone.
Gong Xuanqi silently commented on “Zhuang Li”, a name that once seemed insignificant to him, and felt hard to describe in his heart. If he had known that the other party was the world’s top hacker, he would never have allowed his younger brother to destroy his family, thus creating the current situation of irreconcilability.
He looked at Zhu Jianrui, whose face was gloomy and distorted, and not able to bear the blow of failure, and secretly sighed in his heart: It was really a big loss to pick sesame seeds and lose the watermelon.
“Forget it, if it doesn’t work this time, there will be another time. Let’s prepare for the live broadcast.” Gong Xuanqi rubbed his nephew’s head with a kind tone and gentle expression, as if he didn’t mind at all.
“Okay, let me look at the manuscript for you.” Zhu Jianrui picked up the puppy and forced a smile, but there was overwhelming pain hidden in his pupils.
I lost to Zhuang Li again! Why? Why? He repeatedly asked himself in his mind, and gradually became obsessed.
The time board counted down to one minute and one second.
With the last minute left, Gong Xuanqi placed the manuscript on the podium and looked at the camera directly in front of him with loving eyes.
The chief director raised his hand and waited silently. When eight o’clock arrived, he would put down his hands and turn on the live broadcast footage to the whole country to watch, so his eyes could not leave the timing board for a second.
Everyone was looking at him, including Zhu Jianrui.
“The live broadcast begins!” The chief director lowered his hand, and the images captured by the camera were transmitted to the Internet at high speed with a delay of 1 millisecond.
Gong Xuanqi’s elegant and handsome face appeared in the live broadcast room, and as soon as he opened his heart-warming smile, he completely disappeared from the dark screen. He was offline!
Damn it, he actually dropped the line during such an important speech? Does his team eat shit? Am I mistaken, this is a presidential campaign, not a celebrity draft! Even in a celebrity draft, such a low-level live broadcast accident would not happen! It’s so unprofessional!
All netizens had this idea. They kept logging in and failing, and the black screen hung in front of them like death. Some people give up after trying to log in once or twice, while others persisted for a few minutes and finally had to give up.
They instead poured into Le Zhengming’s live broadcast room to watch the presidential candidate’s speech, and then they were surprised to find – Huh? He seems pretty good too! He looks so majestic in military uniform!
No one knew what kind of chaos Gong Xuanqi’s team was in.
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