Chapter 454 - 426 The Second Siege of Eren Street

[Memory retrieval in process...]

[Cyber Modulator operation log retrieval...]

[Hardware damage...]

[Data stream interception, restoration underway.]

[Little Octopus: Big brother, it’s indeed a cracked version of the software and hardware, very powerful; but once there’s a problem, the person is instantly kaput.]

Ellen Street was a slum area composed of dozens of irregular, decades-old low-rise apartments. The illegally constructed parts twisted above the street, obstructing the view so much that even the lights of Night City were hard to see, let alone the night sky.

Before the whole operation began, Lille was still inspecting and scanning the memory of the vendor.

Because the Brain Demon Gang is a group that excels in using conspiracy and trickery.

Considering the vendor’s behavior before and after, it was very likely that this location was exposed by the Brain Demon Gang through remote control of the vendor; they just wanted people to come knocking.

Lille exited the database and returned to reality.

The Phoenix Nightclub on Ellen Street, which had been demolished, was still under reconstruction, surrounded by scaffolding. Next to it, one could see workers with special prosthetics laboring away, and after finishing their work, they might as well visit the nearby sex doll shop to relieve some pressure...

On the surface, Ellen Street seemed unchanged.

No one from the Brain Demon Gang was seen.

People then asked: Why, even though Lille now had both the advanced training from the Arasaka Academy and an advanced course on network monitoring, did he seem to come up empty-handed regarding information every time?

Firstly, information technology is not magic; it’s not as if information adheres to magic power elements floating in the air, where a magician strives to practice, and a Seventh Order Great Mage consistently overpowers a Sixth Order Great Mage.

Information warfare is a multi-dimensional job. Computing power is a very vague concept; even if an attacker has only 1 CCU of computing power, once they gain system privileges, this 1 CCU could bring an entire enterprise to its knees.

Conversely, complex encryption transformations, endpoint protection engineering, encrypted communication across various frequencies... using brute force cracking without knowing the keys would result in a geometric increase in required computing power.

The simplest dynamic grid encryption transformation algorithms can change the keys 16 times per minute, with the keys consisting of 729 digits and designated characters, making brute force cracking virtually impossible.

More complex transmission and reception devices can even directly recognize complicated communication radio waves, using specific mathematics and varying algorithms for all possible frequencies from extremely low to extremely high, covering frequencies from 3HZ to 3GHZ. They intercept content in designated frequencies based on the varying algorithms every unit time and then translate it into specific data through transformations.

The complexity of mathematics, cryptography, and the advancement of electronic technology determine that in this era, where the internet has collapsed and localized networks are widespread, relying purely on brute force to crack a custom local network online is impossible.

To attempt brute force cracking, the probability of coincidentally connecting would have a denominator so large that it could easily exceed the total number of particles in the universe—even as an exponential multiple of this number.

If you are in Evil Land, the radio frequencies might still be relatively quiet, so brute force cracking could be somewhat feasible; but in Night City, too many invisible pieces of information maintain continuous transmission, and to try to rampage through thousands of networks with brute force...

That’s impossible, even for Bartmos; after all, the internet no longer exists now.

Knowledge is not a "power" that can be easily manifested; otherwise, Night City wouldn’t have so many drop-out thugs—

After all, watching Super Dream is truly more pleasurable than studying, and most people can only see a tangible enemy:

Today they’re upset with the neighbor across the door, tomorrow with a classmate, the day after with someone who takes the bus on the same route, or perhaps someone on television, or someone in an online community who uses a certain ID and has a disagreement with them...

Strong prosthetics can directly resolve such conflicts, and a gun even more so.

A hacker needs to solve "problems," which is why they need to learn.

If, after learning, the numbers are still too big, then they use social engineering to solve the problem.

In most cases, a hacker needs to obtain an interface in the real world before they can move on to the next step.

Secondly, although the Brain Demon Gang is also part of the modding crowd, they differ from Vortex Gang in that they prefer to master knowledge rather than just modding drastically.

They are very cunning.

Lille might find some traces of communication in this vendor’s system, some frequencies used for communication, ports and keys; but who could guarantee that the server the Brain Demon Gang used to communicate with the outside world is not a honey pot ready to explode at any moment?

True network intrusion points can only be attained through actual contact, repeated probing, eliminating incorrect options, and piecing together real clues.

And with contact comes the potential to fall into traps...

So in the world of network attack and defense, whether it’s the defending side that has successfully sprung a trap, or the attacking side that possesses some piece of real information, whoever moves first has a huge advantage.

If there’s no advantage...

Then why bother fighting it out on the net?

Ellen Street was completely surrounded.

NCPD detectives at the outermost perimeter, Mox slowly forming a siege ring, a total of 262 fully armed combatants were advancing.

Mox, as a gang, lacked organization, but when they gathered in groups on the streets, civilians would run away at the sight of them, making it easy to spot anomalies.

Even though NCPD curses them as useless every day, at least they use a corporate-castrated version of training programs, so their collective combat is more orderly.

The plainclothes detectives quickly occupied strategic points in the alleys and corridors, suitable for fighting, and systematically checked for possible ambushes.

Leading the way was Mackinaw—his car perched at the very front of the encirclement.

The Brain Demon Gang, a faction adept at schemes and tricks, just steamrolls with an overwhelming approach when information is asymmetric.

However...

Lille glanced at the NCPD police, rapidly advancing through the shadows, and felt that these officers were much more efficient than usual, clearly above the NCPD average standard.

And very young.

[Comm Operator: Reaver]

[Lille: New recruits?]

[Reaver: A good part of the station’s personnel was caught and some others resigned, so there have been recruitments recently—perfect timing, this is a good opportunity for the rookies to learn, especially with you leading the way.]

[Reaver: Don’t underestimate these youngsters, the ones who just graduated are the best.]

The NCPD usually seem useless, but that’s due to many external factors at play.

The young people just out of school still have their heads filled with the tactics they learned, their prosthetics and muscles remember those moves, and their beliefs haven’t been changed by the complexities of Night City, nor defeated by a sense of powerlessness...

They are quick, fit, and most importantly, they are determined.

[Lille: They must not be too happy about cooperating with the gangs, right?]

[Reaver: Heh, because you’re leading the way... sorry, I may have let slip a little hint to them.]

[Reaver: Since you, a legend, are leading the way, they don’t think there’s any issue.]

[Reaver: Some of them even think you’re an undercover agent.]

V, in the driver’s seat, laughed hearing this: "Hear that, Jack? Even the cops look up to us as examples."

Jack grinned stupidly, the light from a welding torch flickering.

Lille was preparing to test a new set of equipment on Jack.

"Scorching Knuckles" is a set of gauntlets, essentially weapons.

Whether it’s for Atlas or the Cyberpunk side, Lille needed frontline units with thicker armor.

On the trunk of Mackinaw’s car, Jack was gearing up for final armament.

[Reaver: But your gear... it’s a bit over the top, you better register it.]