Chapter 3103: The Benefits of a Real-Name System on the Network

"Charles!"

"Lord Consultant!"

Hearing Xia Duo's voice, Charles, who was currently persuading the researchers of the Operations and Maintenance Group, immediately turned his head back. With a hint of surprise, he reported the latest progress to Xia Duo once again—

"The Operations and Maintenance Group just received data transmitted back from the Special Gateway; someone is actually attacking the Computing Power Pool!"

"Is it a massive, highly fragmented information stream?"

"Yes. Currently, what the Special Gateway is monitoring is basically Meta-Thinking Level information streams, and it has been ongoing for nearly six minutes now."

"Hmm, let me look at the transmitted statistical data first."

As he spoke, Xia Duo sat down in an empty seat, then, while pulling up the visualization interface used here in the hall to monitor the status of the Computing Pool Gateway, he put on his own Computing Pool Connector.

Records in the Gateway Control Hall showed that the abnormal information stream indeed began six minutes ago and still persisted, though the traffic was decreasing.

This was also the main reason why the researchers of the Operations and Maintenance Group had wanted to attempt tracking just moments ago; after all, if they didn't track it now, they might not even be able to catch the opponent's tail later.

Missing that time window would mean only obtaining traffic records, with no way to record the specific information.

But the current situation had not yet deteriorated to that point; once that precedent was set, it could slide into an even more unbearable Abyss in the future.

Xia Duo understood Keman's behavior and let him leave, while he himself began attempting to parse the Meta-Thinking Level information stream injected by the attacker within the Computing Power Pool network.

This was easy to achieve; supplier subsidies were directly related to the actual connection of the connectors, so even if some were falsely reported, the connection data on Xia Duo's side would not be faked.

The "offline" control of the Gateway Magic Tool was on Xia Duo's side, but the physical entities were under the control of various countries; only by balancing both sides could the privacy and safety of users utilizing the Computing Power Pool be guaranteed.

According to the Computing Power Pool revenue distribution agreement signed between the Psionic Network Research Center and various countries, as long as one accesses the Computing Power Pool through a domestic supplier's connector, they are considered a domestic user.

The Collaborative Computing of the Computing Power Pool is processed in real-time; correspondingly, the Meta-Thinking Level information stream used by the attacker must also be parsed while the opponent is attacking.

Of course, this was not because it was technically impossible to record, but because various countries did not allow the recording of such information.

Therefore, Xia Duo immediately issued an order, "Keman, you go contact the connector supplier on Charles's side immediately and ask them for all past shipment records, accurate to every single piece!"

Of course, Xia Duo's relationship with the various countries was also relatively weak; first, it was the countries that formed the Alliance, which was Xia Duo's superior, and in reality, if the countries truly wanted to ban the Computing Power Pool, the Computing Power Pool could not continue to operate.

A major reason why the Gateway Magic Tool had to be controlled by the various countries was that the Gateway Magic Tool could actually be used as a recorder, as the Spirit Material used within it was a natural storage medium for conscious information.

Xia Duo would rather the Computing Power Pool be breached by a Psionic Mage than open that door.

Which is to say—

These were all solid, tangible benefits, and this was also an important reason why the number of Computing Power Pool users could grow so rapidly.

Therefore, there would also be some private agreements between the connector suppliers of various countries and the countries where they were located; for example, the countries would concede a portion of their interests to drive the suppliers to expand into foreign markets.

If one were to say that the relationship between the countries and the Computing Power Pool connector suppliers was one of needing the other, then the relationship between the connector suppliers and the Psionic Network Research Center was even more dominant.

While Xia Duo sighed, Keman had already taken the order and left. There was no need for him to personally run to Charles, but his attitude when contacting the supplier was ultimately different from when facing Xia Duo; avoiding Xia Duo to make contact was an assistant's instinct.

As for the suppliers, the breach of contract penalty was only a fixed, one-time income, but becoming a supplier meant they could receive long-term subsidies from the Psionic Network Research Center.

The three-way balance of power had brought about the current situation of rapid development for the Computing Power Pool; overall, as the actual operator and subsequent developer of the Computing Power Pool, the Psionic Network Research Center held slightly more weight.

It is evident how tempting the benefits within this were.

In a telecommunications network, any information leaves a trace, but in a Mind Network, information only leaves an instantaneous presence and cannot be saved, or rather, it cannot be saved for the time being.

This was also one of the fundamental differences between a Mind Network and a telecommunications network—

At the same time, Xia Duo also noticed that the Gateway Magic Tool where the incident occurred was located within Keman's territory. Although this did not mean the attacker was also located within Keman's territory, the Computing Power Pool connector they used must have been obtained from within Keman's territory through some means.

Of course, it was also possible that they were in Zhamu Dasi to the south, or perhaps hiding right next to the Psionic Network Research Center, or even at the Alliance Headquarters.

This also meant that in order to increase the number of their own domestic users, various countries would almost never place any substantive restrictions on the outflow of connectors; they might even wish their domestic connector suppliers would desperately expand into foreign markets.

The only regret was that there was no way to push for a real-name system in the current era; otherwise, it would be much more convenient to investigate, and there would not even be a need to go to the suppliers to get any shipment records—one could simply look up the corresponding identity information directly on the front end on Xia Duo's side.

No matter which country's Computing Power Pool Sub-network the attacker connected to, their own location could be anywhere in the Main Plane: the South Pole, the Arctic, or at extremely high altitudes.

And the distance for a Mind Link is unlimited; of course, that is on the premise that it is not cross-Plane.

Perhaps there might be some underground Computing Power Pools, but without the endorsement of the Alliance, who would dare use things of unknown origin for key items involving the Psionic Domain?

The suppliers were all determined by Xia Duo's side; although agreements had already been signed and could not be changed at will, the Computing Power Pool's revenue was so high that even if they were forcibly replaced, they could afford the breach of contract penalties.

In this way, the domestic user base increased, and the share obtained from the Psionic Network Research Center also increased; as for how other countries fared, that was none of their business.

Therefore, one could not locate the attacker based solely on the Sub-network the connector belonged to. The Computing Power Pool had a huge difference from the telecommunications network on Earth, and the most critical point was that the essence of the Computing Power Pool was a Psychic Link Network.

If one were to be bossy toward the suppliers first and then adopt a subservient attitude when facing Xia Duo, then no matter who it was, they would feel awkward. The actual situation might not be that extreme, but there were ultimately differences.

But now, this convenient way of obtaining connectors had facilitated the attacker. Never mind within Charles's own country, even Ilfaran, which was at odds with Charles, could easily obtain connectors for the Charles Sub-network.

The reason Xia Duo had set such rules in the beginning was mainly to prevent various countries from restricting their own citizens from obtaining connectors; according to the rules, if they restricted them, other countries would come to seize the users.

Only if Xia Duo colluded with the various countries that controlled the Gateway entities could detailed usage records of Computing Power Pool users be left behind.