Chapter 647 - 618 He is in pain?

Poof—

The tremendous shock in cyberspace almost caused all hackers to suffer cognitive damage and be forced to log out on the spot. This virtual space never dissociated from reality.

The Munemasa, a dangerous critical point expert of this kind, easily triggered a massive fire:

Hackers caught in the attack were burnt through on the spot, and those using servers for protection were even worse off. The servers exploded, spraying high-temperature sparks and debris, with flames instantly spreading throughout the studio!

The attack spread along wired and wireless connections, destroying devices in its path. Countless devices scattered throughout Dog Town burned out on the spot; the flames and debris caused secondary fires and explosions. A fire was sweeping through Dog Town—

Faint black and red lightning continued to spread through the cables. Some drones near wireless signal antennas malfunctioned instantly, their indicator lights flashing twice before they crashed to the ground. Unmanned mechas triggered safety mode and logged out, entering a low-stance defensive mode.

The Netherworld Dog technicians, in their confusion, watched the mosaic and unstable signals on their visual systems. All they had to do was look up slightly to see black smoke and flames rising continuously in Dog Town.

What the hell happened?

...

At the Long Beach scrapyard, the attackers were struggling violently!

"Ugh...ah!"

Bang!

The exploding cables burst into fierce sparks. Susan Frist, who had directly confronted Lille before, decisively yanked out one of the cables!

In front of her, a strong Black man was caught off guard. It wasn’t until the cable was cut that he spoke up:

"Cutting the power cable of a hacker in deep immersion, you’ll kill her!"

"Normal hackers would be in trouble, but not Lark. New America used the most advanced hacker prosthetics on her. She is no longer the person you knew, Agent Riddle."

"I know more than you..."

The man called Riddle looked at their ace hacker, the woman known as Lark—

She continuously made disordered metallic sounds, like a malfunctioning old record player. Her body shook violently in the access pod, coolant rapidly flowing through the pipes and back into the pod...

Susan was right: at least she wasn’t dead, and the sparks had stopped.

"We need to get her out..."

Slap!

"No need!" Lark’s prosthetic arm slammed into the pod, creating a huge noise. "I can handle it!"

Susan calmly watched and said to Riddle, "She can handle it."

"Then we should prepare for an assault. The enemy hackers are attacking; we can attack offline to share the pressure for her."

"No." Susan shook her head. "The mission’s goal isn’t a full-on attack; it’s just data collection."

"Data collection?"

Riddle repeated the goal, finding it unbelievable.

Risking lives in a network attack, just for data collection?

Seeing his confusion, Susan added, "The target is too dangerous. The mission has been very successful so far."

...

Ever since she got these prosthetics, Lark had never experienced such intense external pressure!

As New America’s top intelligence analyst and most powerful hacker, she had a custom full-body prosthetic with enhanced computing power!

Her body, limbs, brain... especially her spine had been completely replaced by prosthetics during long missions. Her spinal prosthetics housed an AI close to a dangerous critical point...

Or rather, she was that dangerous critical point.

During the long-term excavations of the old net, she interacted with data and dangerous critical points per the mission’s requirements. She tried to learn and even control them...

Her highly prosthetic body and brain provided enough computing power to host a self-aware but unclear dangerous critical point.

But the cost was, her brain and nerves were producing massive hallucinations and a second consciousness...

She had become schizophrenic:

One personality reluctantly accepted the pain of prosthetics and their physical issues, while the other enjoyed the powerful network capabilities given by the AI, seemingly seeking a chance to set itself free...

Free from her fragile body, discarding the weak flesh and all its pains, to embrace a fully and permanently networked life.

This split personality was like a ghoul that constantly devoured her original self, a self-awareness that would eventually manifest in the dangerous critical point residing in her.

Power came with a price—but at least she could dominate the network with her formidable presence, maybe even find a way to solve her issues.

But this time, her strength was shattered!

The offensive capabilities she relied on, supported by AI and other intelligence, were cut off midway. The opponent’s high-stance counterattack appeared to be widespread but was, in fact, a highly precise retaliatory tactic, locking onto each of her attack lines and countering them...

She felt her brain burning!

She was no match for Lille!

Countless hellhounds gnawed at her in cyberspace. In agony, she organized her computing power to send a message:

"Lark: I’m not your enemy... I know how painful it is to be entangled by an AI. I understand you, and I can help you!"

Lille, who was attacking, paused seeing this unencrypted message—

Even Munemasa, the AI, paused:

Am I causing him pain by being around?

"Lark: Listen, messing with the Black Wall can lead to a breakdown. The dangerous critical point will take over your prosthetics, and finally your brain. I can help you, just cooperate with me... uh—"

The giant samurai sword of cyberspace pierced through another firewall made of chains, almost a step away from the bird’s head:

This mechanical lark had no bird’s head, just an exposed human brain. Now, the brain started to collapse, and the chains it clung to disintegrated, scattering into black and red data blocks.

The pain made her consciousness start to fade—

"Lark: Fuck you, don’t you want to know how to be saved! I know..."

"Burger King: Know my ass! Once I burn through your prosthetics and leave just a brain, I can slowly find out—"

Buzz—

The harsh cyberspace noise blurred Lark’s mind. When she regained consciousness, she didn’t know how much time had passed, but the hellhounds were close, about to sever all chains and launch the final attack!

Madman!

Lark immediately abandoned all contact thoughts and executed the plan’s final step—

"Pull it... pull it!"

Her horrific scream emerged. Susan and Riddle acted simultaneously, dismantling all connections on the spot!

The violent power cut caused an electrical anomaly, burning through the cables in the entire basement, shattering the lights. Only the smell of insulation material and a faint firelight flickered—

Poof—

Fire extinguishing smoke sprayed.

Click.

Susan turned on a tactical flashlight, shining it on Lark.

The latter’s body was completely contorted, tense and trembling, mouth wide open, face distorted. The cracks on her prosthetic eye and artificial skin glowed red...

Seeing this, Riddle felt a mix of emotions and immediately administered a sedative to her.

Power came with a price.

But the truly powerful one wasn’t Lark; it was New America, whom she served—Lark was merely the price.

"She..."

"She’ll be fine. Don’t forget the... weapon in her."

"But that’s prohibited by international law..."

"International law prohibits the private use of AI weapons, but not using the Black Wall. She was just backlashed by the Black Wall."

"The Black Wall?" Riddle was stunned. "Network surveillance equipment can’t be deployed here. How did they..."

As he spoke, he suddenly realized.

The Dog Town explosion was indeed caused by network surveillance, not by some Burger King.