Chapter 644 - 615: External Factors

Sports had become drastically more brutal since the advent of cyber prosthetics. The Paralympics were the first to show this trend:

At the beginning of prosthetics, ordinary people would scoff at the idea of amputating a hand to replace it with a prosthetic. This idea is not uncommon today. After all, cheap prosthetics were indeed less stable than well-trained physical bodies, and could even be stronger.

However, for the disabled, this was an opportunity, a chance for the world to change its view of them, a chance to reach the peak of physical ability.

Since then, there were often athletes among the disabled who were excellent compared to able-bodied individuals, even world-class, some sports athletes would even use unstable prosthetics for this chance, making them seem absolutely insane...

[Fiona: You wanted a chance. Now the chance is here. You did well in the first half, those two idiots have gone offline, I guess they’ll replace them with more defensive players...]

Matt listened and digested the first half of the game and the shift in mindset:

Soccer indeed was about scoring by getting the ball into the opponent’s goal, but modern soccer, unless it was intense to a certain degree, no one would care——

[Fiona: You did well. It seems the street journeys did add quite a boost to your mental attributes. Your counterattack was accurate and clean, lethal in one strike. Remember this feeling, you’ve done well in your first lesson. I give you an A+...]

Eliminating others was the best way to showcase oneself. He had just ruined the soccer dreams of two players, one of whom might now be paraplegic or have cerebral palsy.

The classical fans would definitely say it was foul play, but modern adherents felt it wasn’t just fair, it was a beautiful covert attack, sly and brutal, precisely what a modern athlete ought to embody...

[Fiona: Second lesson: Learn to strike first. That big guy who bumped into you was a bit reckless, but it proved quite useful, at most it was a yellow card.]

[Fiona: Now, you need to learn from him. Their number 31 has a sharp mind, he’s been handling the ball in the last few minutes to avoid interaction with you, which isn’t good for showing off your abilities...]

The spirit of sports is to win, to get the audience’s blood boiling, to receive applause and cheers, to win... bloodily.

[Fiona: Matt! Did you hear that!]

[Matt: I heard it!]

[Fiona: Good. I’ll give you two options: First, follow that big guy’s lead and take out number 31 cleanly, it might get you a yellow card at most, then we can slowly win the game. This is the more conventional route.]

[Fiona: The second choice, I’ve noticed you’re just warmed up. If you want to try pushing the limits, then get involved in the backfield replay, play as a libero—free to destroy each opponent you can.]

An offensive player must display aggressiveness, otherwise, they’re useless. If you choose this path, I’ll get the team to coordinate with you, provoke them to attack, and then you strike.

If they decide to hold back, it means they’re somewhat smart. But a team that’s completely crushed from start to finish has no hope, while on the other hand, we could gain significant attention. It’s your choice.]

"The halftime break is about to end..."

Matt heard the announcer’s voice as he ripped the IV out in the virtual space, watching it disappear before his eyes. The real IV in the immersion pod detached from his body as well.

Clearing his mind, he instinctively thought of his elder brother. After some consideration, he got up and said:

[Matt: Dean, I choose the second option. I can still run.]

[Fiona: Good...hisss.]

A sharp noise cut through the communication channel, Matt paused, as all communications stopped, yet he saw no error messages.

"Matt! It’s time to play!"

Goalkeeper Tommy patted his shoulder. The kid looked quite excited, clearly inspired by Mike’s Iron Elbow.

Matt shook his head, thinking that the noise earlier was probably just Fiona disconnecting for some reason; optimistically, maybe it was a scout calling her.

With that thought, he raised his hand to his teammates, picturing his brother:

"Next game, we’re going to come out strong!"

...

"Why did the communication cut off!"

Fiona was ejected from the communication.

The loud and brief noise in Matt’s head was in her head like a sharp, high-frequency noise assaulting her senses, completely disorienting her!

Struggling against nausea, she removed her helmet, letting her head droop onto the desk, beckoning to the technician with one hand—

No response, then she raised her head to see a horrifying scene:

The technician’s head was emitting black smoke, and there were red holographic flashes flickering on the equipment!

Red holographic flashes?!

Fiona slapped her hand toward the emergency alert button...

Bang!

An intense pain blacked out her vision, nearly making her faint; the current was strong enough to repel her hand!

Looking closely, her hand wasn’t just repelled; the intense current had instantly charred her prosthetic arm...

—

The control room’s large screen was filled with mosaics.

[—]

[Strong defense...]

[Worthy of a biotechnology network firewall...]

[But not strong enough...]

[It seems that person isn’t here...]

[However, there’s an external link, let me see who is watching this...]

Blood-like code flashed frantically across the screen along with the mosaic, Fiona watched the flickering content on the screen, barely daring to breathe—

There were hackers, and not just any hackers, but very skilled ones.

The network ICE at Luxor Manor used equipment that met biotechnology secrecy standards; a ground-penetrating bomb could easily physically shut down the equipment, but that didn’t mean it could easily breakthrough online!

Or rather, it was almost an impossible task without an interface...

Yet to say someone had breached the defenses of the Animal Gang from the outside?

That would have been a huge battle, but Fiona hadn’t heard any gunfire!

[——— ——ah—]

The high-frequency sounds were intermittent; the electronic devices seemed to become alive under the hacker’s attack, emitting pitiful screams. The entire underground space reverberated with this sound, and Fiona’s prosthetics also began to malfunction in the echoing electromagnetic signals...

A vague fear completely enveloped her!

The black and red virtual shadows kept advancing through the circuits, and Fiona shakily looked towards the server units through the wall—

Pop!

An ICE server was scrapped.

The opponent could directly hack the ICE, directly breaking through the biotechnology ICE.

How was that possible?!

The progress of the hacking clearly displayed on Fiona’s prosthetic eye, electromagnetic signals and data that couldn’t be demodulated by the Cyber Modulator spread like relentless parasites from the outside...

All doors and devices had stopped operating, Fiona felt like she was locked inside a coffin.

Once the ICE was completely breached, this coffin would be burned by the opponents, and the failure of this match...

Would become the final straw that broke Luxor Academy:

Forced to betray biotechnology, also lost the match, what use would it be to run a Sports Academy or conduct neuro-motor research?

They were finished.

Bang!

All of a sudden, all servers overclocked and started emitting black smoke, the black and red virtual shadows erupted violently, followed by all the lights shattering!

"Ahh!!!"

—

Fiona screamed miserably, the surroundings plunged into darkness, as if her life had also sunk completely into darkness, and she stumbled to the ground.

[—]

[Number 9, Matt, a consecutive elbow strike!]

[But his opponent seems to be cooperating better, can he still stand up?]

The spirited commentary resumed, though the sound quality was poor, but it undoubtedly symbolized that her career was not yet over.

[Back to the match.]

A clear line of red and black text appeared on the screen, the arrow pointing to the sparking interface—

Fiona felt it was a trap, but she knew, even if it was a trap, she had to enter it.

[Fiona: Adjust strategy!]