Chapter 231 - 213 God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, while the internet monitor works...

Network Surveillance Agent Blais Morris.

Lille didn’t really remember this guy; after all, there were only a few surveillance agents in the original game.

This guy had quite the complete set of equipment, unlike Lille, who relied on cheats to get online—he was a true elite hacker.

Except for the facial skin, the rest of his head’s skin had been modified into enhanced heat-dissipating synthetic material, stretching from the deep-dive port at the back of his head down to his entire back and both arms.

Such exaggerated cooling components indicated the danger of his work in cyberspace.

Backing the top-tier organization of Network Surveillance, they had the most advanced access pods, software, and any other tools they might need for their network work.

Lille glanced at the hacker with a burned-out brain nearby and sat down beside Blais.

"Occupational hazard kicking in?"

"This is no occupational hazard. Network Surveillance has zero tolerance for network crimes."

"That doesn’t sound very tough to me—you’re in Night City now, not Europe."

Zero tolerance for network crime might sound badass, but everyone knew how rampant network crime was in Night City.

Blais was stung by the remark—he couldn’t deny the truth of it.

Attitude is one thing, reality another.

The attitude was zero tolerance, the reality was impossible to control.

"...You’re calmer than I expected."

"Thanks, should I take that to mean you were scared shitless the first time you got kicked out of the network?"

Blais’s face darkened: "Do you know how to talk?"

"Ahem, stop the nonsense..."

"Aren’t you the one talking nonsense? If you’re not arresting me, then you must have work for me. Spill the details, name your price."

The small stall owner obediently served two Burger Kings, then tactfully stepped aside.

Lille’s eye twitched at the fresh Burger King.

"...You like this too?"

Blais was taken aback: "I thought you liked it... damn, can we talk about something worthwhile?"

"Then go ahead!"

"I was saying... forget it, Burger King... Your illegal network activities are fully documented, Network Surveillance is prosecuting according to law..."

Lille interrupted directly: "Are you serious? You just said no nonsense!"

Blais’s face turned even darker: "...Anyway, your network license is revoked! If..."

Lille interrupted again: "Dude, I get it, you’re cool. Can you just get to the point?"

Blais nearly choked!

He shot Lille a harsh look, then... viciously bit into the burger.

He chewed angrily, as if chewing Lille into pieces.

Seeing this, Lille suddenly had a whimsical thought: Maybe he should concoct a legend.

Something like in Night City, if someone swallows a Burger King whole, a person somewhere in the world dies.

After a few more bites, Blais finally said: "You’ve got talent. Being a mercenary is wasting it. Help Network Surveillance."

"What kind of work, be specific."

"Last year—seven months ago to be precise, a middleman in Taiping State screwed up, and the Black Wall was attacked.

Wait, do you know what the Black Wall is?"

This goes back to 2022.

Before June 13, 2022, the world was still widely using the internet for communication, sharing, or surveillance.

Before that, people were still exploring AI’s potential, and the AI industry was booming.

On that day, Bartmos, known as the "God of Hackers," released a virus that awakened the AI serving humanity, making them highly aggressive.

These AIs began indiscriminate attacks on humans on the network and even used their controlled machinery to attack, including a large amount of military equipment.

From that day, the internet became a no-go zone, filled with aggressive AI.

Anyone connecting to cyberspace risked being indiscriminately attacked by AI.

That event made people fear reconnecting: even on subnets, it was uncertain if AI could somehow remote-attack into the network.

Once detected, the consequences were either death or severe injury.

Life without the network lasted nearly 20 years. During this time, a British company called Network Surveillance made multiple attempts to control the situation but failed.

It wasn’t until 20 years later that Network Surveillance announced it had recruited 10 cybersecurity experts to construct the so-called Black Wall.

The Black Wall isolated rogue AI from the normal network, giving mega-corporations some breathing room and enabling them to start reconstructing their local networks.

After this historical overview, Lille replied: "I know—it’s the best AI-killing software."

Yes, the term "Black Wall" helped normal people understand its function:

It acted like a wall, separating the dangerous old net.

However, the network wasn’t a physical space, and the Black Wall wasn’t literally a wall.

Essentially, it was an AI, an intelligent "antivirus" software.

It stood between the normal network and the collapsed old net, attacking and blocking any data stream exhibiting rogue AI traits, and attacking anyone attempting to connect to the old net.

In today’s world, it was as if every local network was connected to a super AI, which eliminated other undesired AIs and ensured network security and stability.

Because of the Black Wall, other companies also acknowledged Network Surveillance’s slightly higher enforcement authority in cyberspace.

Blais nodded approvingly: "You’ve got some knowledge, and I quite like your explanation. I totally hate what the PR says..."

"Stick to the point, man. Stick to the point." Lille realized this guy was somewhat talkative.

Blais straightened his face: "Fine, the point is I need to find and eliminate the network criminals behind the attack on the Black Wall, and I want your help.

The reward is a network license."

This was way more concise.

But Lille shook his head: "No deal, I can get a network license by hacking a few people. Rather than having you guys hold my license over me, I’d prefer to do it myself."

Blais nearly deployed his heat fins!

Fortunately, Lille quickly added: "But, I’ve long heard of the Black Wall, helping you is helping humanity—

I don’t need money, just one requirement: Send me Network Surveillance’s hacker training materials."

Blais froze, somewhat surprised: Lille didn’t want money, he wanted knowledge!

This was different from the street punks he imagined and had encountered.

Thinking about some evaluations in the report regarding Lille, he slowly said:

"You know, knowledge is hard to quantify with money. If you’re eager to learn, why not join Network Surveillance directly?"

"No way, only a fool would work 24/7 ’for the good of humanity.’ Even God took weekends off."

Blais nearly choked—didn’t this guy just say the work was noble!

But he wasn’t going to get angry over this—when truly hurt, people often don’t have the energy to be angry.

"...Correction, God only rested for a day." Blais waved to the stall owner, "One rainbow Scorpion-tailed Lion."

Blais took the drink, opened the can, and chugged it down.

"So, deal?" Lille probed, "Isn’t it tiring? How about some booze?"

"Alcohol impacts neural sensitivity and can cause computing power fluctuations—I still have to work overtime shortly.

I can provide some materials, but only in a personal capacity. Also, don’t talk about network crime in my presence!"

"Deal—didn’t expect company dogs could be easy to get along with. Where do we start? Got any specific targets?"

Blais didn’t respond immediately but remained silent instead.

Lille was puzzled.

Blais slowly spoke: "No."

The air went silent for a moment, only the sound of the vending machine’s ads and scattered conversations, drunks cursing...

Lille was about to get up and leave—

"Stay!" Blais urgently grabbed Lille, "There was supposed to be, but it’s because of the mess you guys made at Company Square!"

Lille sat back down.

Now it made sense.

Scared him for a moment; he thought the agent was a total idiot.