Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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The live broadcast platform had collapsed, the personal website had been paralyzed, the internal mobile phone had been scrapped, and even the radio station was attacked. Gong Xuanqi had no other way out except giving Zhu Jianrui another chance.
What if he rushed to the hospital now, lay on the bed, and took photos and medical records of his serious illness? If the people could not see it, all the clarifications he would make would be in vain.
“Just go ahead and do it. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Whether you succeed or not, I won’t blame you.” So in the shortest possible time, Gong Xuanqi adjusted his emotions that were close to collapse.
Now he had become the amiable, steady and wise uncle again, as if the harsh words, disgust and contempt from before were all an illusion.
Zhu Jianrui looked up at his hypocritical face, and Zhuang Li’s gentle and doting smile flashed in his mind. He often praised him to others in a proud tone: “My son is the best! My son is so smart, like me!”
Zhu Jianrui’s nose turned slightly sour, and he almost shed tears. Only when he was in this kind of embarrassment would he show his childlike vulnerability.
But it was too late to say anything now. Once you have done it, you have done it, and there was no way to deny it. Zhuang Li was such a powerful hacker. He could even dig out all the hacker legions hidden in the dark web. How could he not know what his son was doing behind his back?
He knew exactly how Zhu Jianrui arranged the reunion of Zhu Miaomiao and Gong Xuanlin after a long separation, and how he planned their return to the Gong family cleanly. So he sorted out the account books, signed the divorce papers, and made a complete break. He would never forgive his once dearest wife and son.
Now he just wanted to destroy everyone who betrayed him, including Zhu Jianrui, Zhu Miaomiao, Gong Xuanlin, and even the aloof Gong Xuanqi.
And he was almost there. He, a powerless little man, actually caused a high-ranking politician like Gong Xuanqi to fall hard at the most critical moment. He was downright scary when he became serious!
With timidity and fear, Zhu Jianrui began to track all the smart devices controlled by the botnet. He couldn’t break into Zhuang Li’s computer, so he could only adopt the stupidest method.
Mima also joined the pursuit after his crazy venting.
They were the top hackers in the world, with few rivals except Zhuang Li. But they soon discovered that the situation set by Zhuang Li was unsolvable.
Zhu Jianrui almost bit the tip of his tongue after finding tens of thousands of zombie devices in just ten minutes.
He reluctantly raised his arms, but his fingers were stiff and unable to type on the keyboard, because he gradually realized that even if all the zombie devices were found, the crisis would not be solved, but would instead cause greater trouble.
Gong Xuanqi immediately noticed his abnormality and asked in a lowered voice: “What’s wrong?”
“I found the zombie devices controlled by Zhuang Li.” Zhu Jianrui said hoarsely.
“Then why don’t you close them quickly?” Gong Xuanqi urged impatiently.
“These devices are all mobile phones,” Zhu Jianrui listed a list in a low voice: “They all come from the people around us, you, me, dad, mom, as well as our colleagues, relatives, and friends.”
Gong Xuanqi looked at this outrageous list and couldn’t react for a long time. This was really ridiculous. When he monitored others, he never thought that he would also be monitored by others; when he invaded others, he never thought that he would also be invaded by others. All the methods he used to deal with Le Zhengming were returned to him exactly as they were by Zhuang Li.
Zhuang Li was not an ant, but a poisonous snake that could not be touched!
Gong Xuanqi took out his two mobile phones with trembling hands, pressed the power off button hard, and ordered loudly: “You all turn off your mobile phones! Quick!”
Everyone hurriedly turned off their mobile phones, and the expressions on their faces were one more horrified than the other.
Zhu Jianrui covered his eyes and shook his head dejectedly: “It’s useless. My botnet is composed of randomly selected smart devices, but Zhuang Li’s is not. He has already implanted Trojans in our mobile phones that can automatically replicate and spread. And then radiate out the zombie virus.”
“You all know the theory of six degrees of separation, right?” He opened his eyes, and his pupils were stained with blood.
Everyone showed a horrified expression.
The so-called six degrees of separation theory was also called the small world theory, which meant that there would be no more than six people between you and any stranger. In other words, you could get to know any stranger through at most six people.
If this theory was applied to the spread of viruses, the consequences would be quite dire. If a person was infected with a virus, he or she would infect everyone around him within a short period of time.
And mobile phone viruses were a hundred times more infectious than real viruses, because it was the most frequently used communication tool among them. On average, a person sent dozens of messages a day, and the person who received the message further sent and received dozens or even hundreds of messages with others; then these people contacted more people…
You could imagine what a wide net they would spread.
The number of infected zombie devices would increase exponentially. And just now, when Gong Xuanqi’s live broadcast was cut off, his team members took advantage of their mobile phones to make many calls for help, digging out the most infrequently contacted contacts and using them.
As a result, the large network built by Zhuang Li expanded several times in just a few minutes.
What was even more frightening was that most of the people who could have contact with Gong Xuanqi were high-ranking political figures. Not everyone could hack into their mobile phones, and not everyone could remotely turn off their phones without asking.
If Zhu Jianrui really did that, hackers serving these political figures would also follow the clues and launch a counterattack against Zhu Jianrui.
By then, Gong Xuanqi would be in a worse situation.
In other words, Zhuang Li not only created a botnet, but also a hornet’s nest. Zhu Jianrui didn’t even dare to touch it, let alone remove it. He kept pulling down the list so that Gong Xuanqi could clearly see those prominent names that represented power.
“If I want to stop this data tsunami, I have to remotely turn off their mobile phones. If the mobile phones shut down for no reason, their security officers will immediately investigate. Uncle, what do you think I should do? Turn it off or not?” Zhu Jianrui threw the hot potato into his uncle’s hands.
Gong Xuanqi’s face turned completely dark, and his eyes, which were always filled with loving kindness, revealed a rare look of shock and anger.
This list was terrible! Each and every one of them was someone he couldn’t afford to offend. If he really asked his nephew to hack these people’s mobile phones, he would have offended the public, and he didn’t know what kind of suspicion he would be subjected to in the future.
“Can you find evidence that Zhuang Li hacked into their mobile phones?” Gong Xuanqi asked with the last glimmer of hope. If he could find evidence, he would tell the big bosses about the situation and ask them to be more vigilant about Le Zhengming.
Zhu Jianrui fell into a long silence.
Gong Xuanqi looked down at him and said in a cold tone: “You can’t find it?”
Zhu Jianrui shook his head and continued to be silent. In fact, it was not that he couldn’t find it, but he didn’t dare to say that he had found it. He had discovered that his mobile phone was the central controller that had led to the building of this botnet. However, he quietly pressed the power button for a long time, but the screen of the mobile phone never went black. After removing the SIM card and battery, the data tsunami was still coming one after another.
Only then did he realize that Zhuang Li might have copied his cell phone and used his identity as a cover to start this war.
If there were to be any accountability, all the evidence would point to him. He would take all the blame for Zhuang Li! He had no choice but to admit defeat! On the Internet, they were not opponents of the same magnitude at all.
Such a ruthless method was nothing like the meek and weak-tempered loser from before. Had the silent lion been awakened? If he had known that Zhuang Li was hiding so deeply, he wouldn’t have betrayed him in the first place!
Zhu Jianrui once again fell into deep self-doubt. He kept clenching his fists, his red eyes were stained with water, as if he was about to cry, but the tip of his tongue bit out blood and he held it back. He couldn’t let himself collapse, because the Gong family was not a comfortable home, but a jungle full of dangers.
If he showed weakness, he would be devoured by the beasts lurking around him. But he was originally carefully protected under the wings of another more powerful beast.
He regretted it and was afraid, but it was too late.
As expected, Gong Xuanqi looked at his nephew with cold and ruthless eyes, as if he was assessing whether this person was worth further use.
When all the muscles in Zhu Jianrui’s body were about to freeze, Gong Xuanqi rubbed his eyebrows and sighed: “Forget it, let’s end it. Everyone should go home and wait until the network returns to normal.”
On the surface, he was calm and composed, as if he could maintain calm and wise judgment no matter how big the crisis was, but in fact, he was extremely frustrated inside.
He took Zhu Jianrui away from the headquarters of a live broadcast platform, not daring to say a word along the way for fear of being overheard by Zhuang Li. He simply couldn’t imagine that such a desperate situation with no way in or out would befall him.
Just in case, he destroyed all his smart devices, including mobile phones, tablets, computers… He couldn’t even trust the car’s smart control panel and would always remind the driver to be careful and drive slowly. Because he knew that Zhu Jianrui could control a car or airplane through sound waves. What Zhu Jianrui could do, there was no doubt that Zhuang Li could do it too.
Gong Xuanqi kept rubbing his temples, giving himself a splitting headache. It was really scary to provoke such an enemy who one didn’t know how to guard against.
Zhu Jianrui sat in the back row, holding the puppy tightly in his arms, his neck and shoulders curled up stiffly, like a child who dared not say anything after making a big mistake. Of course, this childlike weakness would only show up after being severely beaten by Zhuang Li.
Dad will always be your dad – this Internet buzzword perfectly explained the relationship between him and Zhuang Li.
The car slowly stopped in front of the Gong family’s old house. A slim woman was standing on tiptoes and shouting into the video intercom: “Gong Xuanlin, come out! You said you wanted to marry me! I even gave birth to a son for you, how can you not admit it?”
Gong Xuanlin, who was dismissed from all positions in the company, suppressed his anger: “Can you stop making trouble? Something happened to my elder brother, and I am trying to find a solution for him. You go back first, I don’t have time to talk to you about such trivial matters.”
“You actually said that getting married is a trivial matter? That is a major event in my life! Because of you, I have suffered so much over the years! Woo hoo hoo…”
Zhu Miaomiao cried bitterly while holding on to the wall, but the sharp voice made Gong Xuanlin feel unbearable. So, he sarcastically and mercilessly said: “You spent several millions for others in a few years. Where did you suffer? Let me tell you, our Gong family will not accept a money-worshiping girl like you, and it will be useless even if you have a son!”
Zhu Miaomiao’s hope was shattered and she couldn’t help crying. While crying, she scolded Gong Xuanlin for having no conscience. When she married Zhuang Li, she was a delicate and carefree wife; but when she returned to the powerful Gong Xuanlin, she turned into a dog’s tail grass on the roadside, disgustingly cheap.
Seeing such a humble mother, Zhu Jianrui quickly covered his face and refused to face this embarrassing scene. His dignity seemed to be destroyed by Zhu Miaomiao’s self-contemptuous behavior. He could abandon his adoptive father who was so kind to him, so naturally he could also abandon his mother who only regarded him as a tool to marry into a wealthy family.
Gong Xuanqi’s anger, which he had been holding back all along, finally broke out at this moment. He opened the window and shouted at the bodyguard: “Keep this woman under your watch. Don’t let her run around outside.”
A group of people immediately dragged Zhu Miaomiao into a car and took her to a remote place for detention.
The car gradually drove away, but Zhu Miaomiao’s screams could still be vaguely heard. At first, she kept calling Xuanlin to save her, but in the end, she called her son. When her son didn’t respond, she shouted over and over again: “Zhuang Li, Zhuang Li, Zhuang Li…”
It was a pity that the man who always appeared when she encountered difficulties had disappeared forever.
He was once her superman…
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