Chapter 28: Only My Unique Method Chapter 28: Personally Taking the Field

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Chen Yi sat down in the seat next to his younger sister, a spot another girl had yielded.

His thoughts were particularly chaotic; the Skill Copying Scroll had brought too much information, making him feel as if he were in an illusion, yet on the other hand it was as though he were treading on clouds, soft and insubstantial with no firm footing.

Chen Rongxi glanced at Chen Yi, then continued busying herself at the keyboard, too occupied to speak. That boy called Xiao Yu was the same; several boys had all joined the competition, each wanting to get ahead of the others and wipe their own tracks clean.

If no one made trouble, it was a simple job, doable cleanly in a minute or two. However, on the last jump server, everyone's scramble was so fierce that the boys with administrator privileges could not erase all the data, while the other side temporarily could not seize this server either — merely temporarily.

Chen Yi placed his palm on the keyboard; he first opened a scanning software, then, just as Chen Rongxi often did, expanded its source code, and proceeded to modify the frontend.

His speed started out relatively slow, the mechanical keyboard emitting intermittent "pop-pop" sounds; after a while it turned into a continuous "tap-tap," then shifted again into "clack-clack"...

At this point his speed had already approached an ordinary person's maximum. Yet Chen Yi felt it was still not enough; the Level 3 Agility Scroll increased speed by 90%, so if he were playing a game right now his hand speed would have to be near 300.

Besides that, the Skill Copying Scroll brought an increase equivalent to 160% of Chen Rongxi; the latter's speed was originally very fast, and the two stacked together equaled a full threefold increase — three times Chen Rongxi's speed.

Therefore, as Chen Yi gradually entered the zone, the only keyboard sound in the whole room had already merged into a continuous stream, just like in the most crowded Dance Dance Revolution internet cafe.

Lin Xiuli looked at Chen Yi in shock; upon discovering he was not just typing randomly, the astonishment on her face was like that of a Magellan Monkey — the first monkey in history to encounter an orangutan.

Chen Yi's speed increased again. His head seemed blank, probably because he was moving too fast, to the point of becoming somewhat dazed.

Such was indeed the case; copying 160% of Chen Rongxi's skill was not as simple as it sounded. It amounted to further improving in someone's most proficient field. No wonder Timothy and the others dared not rashly use that scroll. Even across the entire Continent, there were only a few Mages who could produce a Skill Copying Scroll; otherwise how could it be called "precious"?

At this very moment, Chen Yi's keystroke frequency was three to five times per second. In everyone's eyes, that deeply abused keyboard seemed like it might disintegrate at any moment, might smoke from intense friction at any moment.

Chen Yi paid no heed to those magical and strange gazes. Once he used the Skill Copying Scroll, his entire spirit concentrated on that skill, basically unable to attend to anything else.

Moreover, aside from the instant of releasing the skill, he had nothing he needed to conceal.

Under the watch of four or five students, Chen Yi infiltrated all of Chen Rongxi's remaining zombie computers in a mere moment. His movements were swift, almost without hesitation targeting their vulnerabilities, altering software strategy, and obtaining a guest account.

Only now did Han Jie manage to say: "If you need it, you can have Chen Rongxi open an account for you."

Chen Yi continued modifying the program in a targeted manner.

His speed grew faster and faster; the mechanical keyboard's sound was hard and crisp, with no intervals discernible, like a sewing machine at work.

"I'll attack their servers; you defend." At some unknown point, Chen Yi began directing the battle.

Chen Rongxi and Xiao Yu snapped out of it as if just awakened from a dream, and scrambled to operate their own computers.

Chen Yi had not the slightest intention of observing his surroundings; on one hand scanning the enemy server, on the other leaving a small window to constantly monitor the state of the last zombie computer.

Chen Rongxi tilted her head and couldn't help asking: "Second Brother, when did you learn computers?"

"Just now, I guess." Chen Yi shrugged, telling the plain truth.

Seeing him type out line after line of code so effortlessly, who could believe he had just learned it? The several boys took it as sarcasm toward themselves, faces red, not daring to look at his screen; everyone had the feeling of "brandishing a broadsword before Guan Yu."

Chen Yi's targets were several hosts at the University of Wisconsin, including not only the Business Development Research Institute but also their most important research department's supercomputer. He was employing a "Surround Wei to Save Zhao" strategy, not truly intending to conquer the other side again.

However, most things in the world do not shift according to human will. Sometimes they insist on developing in a bad direction; sometimes they insist on developing in a good direction.

At this moment, for Chen Yi things were developing in a good direction. For Professor Hack, it was exactly the opposite.

Because the professor trusted his new defense system too much, he had not notified the other colleges' hosts to enter a state of alert. Meanwhile, the skill Chen Yi copied from his younger sister happened to possess very strong software analysis capability.

Professor Hack's system, tested against currently available hacker software, was indeed very formidable. But no matter how good a system, it cannot withstand careful analysis and deduction — especially a Chen Rongxi at 160% power, whose combat power far exceeds that of ten Chen Rongxis.

Three minutes later, the host subordinate to the College of Engineering was breached.

Still using the same memory overflow approach, yet Chen Yi relied on his far-beyond-ordinary speed to seize highest privileges and modify the administrator password before the administrator could take measures.

Now this mainframe would be under his control, at least until the other side severed the connection.

The students behind Chen Yi couldn't help letting out cries of "ah ya ai o ka" in amazement.

Indeed, to them the scene before their eyes was simply too swift, like hungry diners attempting to sweep the table clean before the wind sweeps fallen clouds, only to blankly discover the dishes had already been devoured by another master.

The people originally standing beside Xiao Yu and Chen Rongxi now all crowded behind Chen Yi. Just watching his keystroke speed was enough to make one feel the trip was worthwhile.

Far away on the other side of the Earth, inside the University of Wisconsin campus, it was utterly quiet.

Professor Hack looked on in disbelief as the host defense he had painstakingly researched for three years was rendered null, a wave of stifling pain rising in his chest.

His deputy couldn't help urging: "Professor, we didn't notify the various college network administrators in advance to prepare; as long as we prepare sufficiently now, they absolutely cannot succeed again, and the College of Engineering's host didn't employ the best defensive measures..."

His voice grew fewer and fewer; the best defensive measures are usually never implemented, for they often render one's own computer useless.

Hack said in a low voice: "Has the notification gone out?"

"Yes."

The professor gave an "mm." One cannot blame him for only notifying the other colleges now. The University of Wisconsin is famously enormous. Unlike China's isolated universities, Wisconsin's subordinate colleges are themselves massive branch campuses; the University of Wisconsin System composed of multiple public universities has a dedicated name and organizational structure. Precisely because of this, merely putting the Madison Campus — covering 40,000-plus people and over a hundred majors — on alert requires several hours of preparation time, let alone those departments sharing servers with other branch campuses.

In a hacker attack-and-defense battle, several hours are like a century in length. The confident Hack originally did not want to make this superfluous move.

"Notify the important departments first. You take over defense of the 'Siren'." Hack patted his forehead and himself sat down at a computer. His reputation owes a large part to this supercomputer Siren; its security system configuration all came from Hack's design several years ago.

Just then, on the big screen before everyone, a red flashing light lit up again.

"The College of Astronomy has been breached; their reflecting telescope has lost control."

"Damn it." Hack stood up with a whoosh, his cheeks puffing out as he forcibly swallowed the words "how is this possible." The room was full of his students and subordinates; how could he say that.

Still, he pondered inwardly. The newly equipped host defense, though not perfect, had just been installed recently; this was its first time under attack. Without experience, unless the other side could write several hundred lines of code per minute, modify a software in a few minutes, how could they possibly win in one strike?

Then, most likely there's a traitor? Professor Hack's gaze slowly swept from left to right.

He would never imagine that someone really could write several hundred lines of code per minute.

This kind of miracle is now unfolding before five boys and five girls.

Over 5,000 keystrokes per minute, flawless...

One attack every two minutes, every shot on target...

One host breached every three minutes, victorious in every battle...

Gradually, Chen Rongxi and Xiao Yu both stood up; they no longer had anything that needed operating.

Professor Hack and his team had long since been too busy to care for themselves, watching helplessly as red flashing lights on the big screen lit up one by one — each light representing a server lost, each flash causing the professor heartache.

……