Chapter 3107: Online and Offline, Simultaneous Strike

Very quickly, the two squads sent word that they were in position; the Gale Squad had already entered Cormanthor, while the Arrow Rain Squad remained in the Teleportation Hall of Evereska.

Next, Xia Duo prepared to take real action—not through any other method, but by directly following the "network cable" to hunt them down!

The Spirit Thought Network already possessed a positioning function, but this function required one party to be willing to share their location; if the party being located was unwilling, a forced positioning would inevitably alert them.

But Xia Duo intended to alert the opponent at this moment; of course, this was also a concrete action. If he could directly locate the opponent through the Spirit Thought Network, then the Gale Arrow Rain Squad would not be necessary.

If he could not locate them, he could at least pin down the attacker so that the Gale Arrow Rain Squad could pursue them separately—though the pursuit might alert the attacker.

Within the Computing Power Pool network, Xia Duo first activated the standby gateways. Although these gateways were usually in a linked state with the Computing Power Pool, they existed primarily as backups.

When a Gateway Magic Tool in use suddenly broke down, several of these would be activated to divert the users from the local area network where the broken gateway was located.

But now, Xia Duo activated all the standby gateways, while simultaneously beginning to adjust the computing power starting from the gateway furthest away in the entire Computing Power Pool network architecture from the local area network where the attacker was located.

Of course, all of this required the cooperation of other Mages at the Gateway Control Center; it would be very difficult for Xia Duo to operate it alone.

During this process, he did not forget to monitor the status of the Meta-thought Information in the local area network where the attacker was located. Although it was still passive surveillance, judging whether the information flow status was consistent with before was not a problem.

Soon, everything was ready, and Xia Duo also switched to a specialized Computing Pool Connector. This connector supported him in adjusting his Perception depth to a level higher than Level 4, almost equivalent to immersing his Soul into the Computing Power Pool.

The reason for this was that what he truly wanted to mobilize was not just computing power, but the nearly infinite stream of Meta-thought Information surging within the Computing Power Pool network.

Compared to the information flow inherent in the Computing Power Pool, the amount injected by the attacker was only a very small portion.

However, manipulating such vast conscious information required maintaining a deep Perception depth with the Computing Power Pool to obtain a higher input-to-manipulation ratio, but doing so meant that a slight carelessness could lead to a backlash.

Unlike ordinary connectors, even at the highest Level 4, it was difficult to cause direct harm.

But Xia Duo had his own confidence; he had designed the Computing Power Pool himself, and the attacker he faced, even if they were a Psionic Mage and had begun to pry into the foundations of the Computing Power Pool, could not possibly figure everything out in a short time.

It was nothing more than a head-on collision; he had even defeated a Mental Image World, so why fear more challenges?

Psychological preparation was also a sharp weapon for dealing with Psionic Mages, because most of their most bizarre and difficult attacks were aimed at the mental domain; if they aimed at reality, Arcane Magic would teach them a lesson.

……

"Sha'er, take your team to Alaigaya City!"

Xia Duo first issued instructions to the Gale Squad, and the Alaigaya City mentioned in the instructions was the location where the connector supplier in Cormanthor had shipped goods in the last two days!

With an Entry Action Permit, Sha'er's Gale Squad could fully utilize the teleportation network within Cormanthor; it would not take long to get from the capital to Alaigaya.

Therefore, Xia Duo immediately issued instructions to the Mages at the Gateway Control Center: "Issue a notice to all Computing Power Pool users outside the target local area network.

"Tell them that the Research Center is conducting an important experiment aimed at improving the collaborative computing efficiency of the Computing Power Pool; users willing to support it can keep their connection status to enjoy one month of advanced features for free."

In reality, from the moment Xia Duo ordered the mobilization of computing power, the actual experience of some Computing Power Pool users began to be affected, not to mention that more computing power and even real Meta-thought Information streams would need to be mobilized next.

It would cause a relatively serious impact on the actual experience of all users, so it had to be explained in advance, otherwise, it would also cause a serious impact on the reputation of the Computing Power Pool.

Moreover, Xia Duo saying that they were going to conduct an important experiment to improve the collaborative computing efficiency of the Computing Power Pool was not actually a lie.

As long as he could catch this attacker, he would nine times out of ten be able to obtain some Knowledge or experience regarding Yuansiyi Bianyi.

And this was indeed beneficial to a project the Research Center was currently conducting to improve the collaborative computing efficiency of the Computing Power Pool—the Pre-calculation Library!

Even for a purely tracking and arrest operation, Xia Duo could completely design some experiments related to collaborative computing on the fly, although the experimental part would account for a very small proportion of the entire operation.

But the current situation was that the experiment and the action largely overlapped, and the key lay in this attacker who had mastered advanced Yuansiyi Bianyi technology.

……

With the transmission of the instructions, the Computing Power Pool announcement was also issued simultaneously. Almost at the same time, a considerable number of users chose to pause their connection—not because they were unwilling to support the development of the Computing Power Pool, but more likely out of a Mage's instinct to maintain a cautious attitude toward the unknown.

But more Mages, out of trust in Xia Duo and the Alliance, chose to support the important experiment mentioned in the announcement and remained connected.

And these users were the solid backing for the attack Xia Duo was about to launch.

"Attention! The local area network where Specialized Gateway No. 6 is located, prepare for network integration!"

To maximize the attack effect, Xia Duo chose to integrate the network, which was actually to cancel the Protection function of the gateway, so that all users within its local area network and even users in other local area networks were in a direct connection state.

This was actually the initial form of the Spirit Thought Network, where everyone maintained a direct connection with others; the collaborative computing effect in this state was the best, but it was also the most dangerous.

One person getting hit and the whole network being finished was not just imagination.

And now, Xia Duo had chosen such a dangerous approach, and that was while there was a suspected Psionic Mage attacker in the network.

Although making such a decision was very difficult, in order to catch an attacker who might pose a greater threat in the future, necessary sacrifices were permissible.

This was just like how governments on Earth did not negotiate with terrorists; compromising once would only lead to more similar incidents because the bad guys profited from it.

Therefore, one must not compromise, even if it meant paying a considerable price in the short term; but in the long run, it extinguished the arrogance of the bad guys. In the real world, everything must be based on economic costs—who would do something that yielded no benefits?

The attacker before him was, to Xia Duo, a complete terrorist. If they wanted to study the Computing Power Pool, the doors of the Psionic Network Research Center were always open; even if they were a Psionic Mage, there were some here too.

Even if they were from outside the Northland, as long as they joined sincerely, Xia Duo could fully accept them.

Why be sneaky?

The security of the Computing Power Pool concerned the minds of most Mages in the Northland, and the attacker before him had undoubtedly touched Xia Duo's red line, so no matter what, he would find a way to catch the other party, dead or alive.

This was not only to solve the current problem of the Computing Power Pool being attacked, but also to deter potential future attacks.

With the precedent that reaching out would surely lead to being caught, those who wanted to attempt an attack later would have to carefully consider whether doing so was worth it.