Chapter 403: Invasion and Counterattack, Important Intelligence

At the same time, Lin Xuan also began to redesign the core structure of the Urban Great Array. Unlike traditional arrays, the Five Elements Resonance Array requires five Practitioners to guide energy at the Array Eyes simultaneously to form an energy resonance in order to exert its maximum effect. This means they need to prepare more personnel and conduct specialized training.

The next morning, Lin Xuan gathered all the team members: "Our plan has changed. Based on newly discovered ancient array techniques, I have decided to adopt the 'Five Elements Resonance' method to activate the Urban Great Array. This requires at least three Practitioners to operate each Array Eye simultaneously, so we need to expand the team."

Xiao Yuan asked worriedly: "But it is almost impossible to find so many Practitioners with equivalent abilities on such short notice."

Lin Xuan nodded: "Yes, so we need to utilize the resources of the Five Elements Academy, even those students who have just awakened their Awakening Ability. Time is running out; we must race against the clock."

With the implementation of the new plan, the Five Elements City Guardian Network entered an unprecedented state of tension. Throughout the city, secret array work was being carried out day and night. Lin Xuan and the core members barely slept or rested, organizing the array layout while training the newly recruited Practitioners.

Meanwhile, ominous news arrived from all over the world—sales of Star Brain devices continued to climb, having already exceeded 120 million units. More ordinary people began to exhibit slight sensitivity to Void Energy, and the global concentration of Void Energy had risen by nearly 30% compared to a month ago.

Xu Feng's office had been lit for three days and three nights in a row. The blue light from the computer screen reflected off his weary face, and the desk was piled with coffee cups and instant food packaging. The entire technical team was in a state of extreme work; this was a race against time.

"Found it!" Xu Feng suddenly straightened up, his eyes shining with excitement, "I finally found this damn loophole!"

The team members immediately gathered around. The screen displayed a complex piece of program code, with certain parts specially marked.

"Look here," Xu Feng pointed at the screen, "there is a hidden backdoor function in the Star Brain device's control program, designed to receive remote updates. We can use this loophole to plant our counter-code, but the problem is—"

"It requires direct access to their core server," Lin Xuan walked in from the doorway, having clearly heard part of the conversation, "Remote operation cannot break through their firewall?"

Xu Feng nodded: "The firewall is only a surface problem. What's more troublesome is that every Star Brain device has a unique encryption key, and only Star Technology's main server holds the complete key database. Without these keys, we can at most affect a small portion of the devices."

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment: "Continue developing your counter-program, and at the same time, prepare a simplified version that can be pushed via the network. Even if the coverage is limited, it can buy us time."

Over the next three days, the technical team split up. One part continued to refine the counter-code, while the other developed the network push scheme. Finally, they created an "Energy Protection Program" that could be pushed to Star Brain users through specific channels.

"This program can form a protective barrier before the Star Brain device activates Void Energy," Xu Feng explained to Lin Xuan, "but due to limited distribution channels and user acceptance issues, the most optimistic estimate is that it can only cover 20% of the devices."

Lin Xuan frowned: "That is far from enough." He turned to look out the window; the city lights were still brilliant, and the people on the streets were completely unaware of the coming crisis.

Just then, a team member hurried in: "Teacher Lin, Wang Kai has woken up, and he says he has important intelligence."

Wang Kai was a student at the Five Elements Academy who had been accidentally controlled by a high-energy version of the Star Brain while investigating a week ago, falling into a state similar to mental control. After Lin Xuan's Wood Element Purification treatment, he finally regained consciousness.

Inside the ward, although Wang Kai's face was pale, his eyes had regained clarity. Seeing Lin Xuan enter, he struggled to sit up.

"Don't move," Lin Xuan pressed his shoulder, "tell me slowly."

"Teacher Lin, while I was being controlled, I was taken to a place," Wang Kai's voice was weak but firm, "Star Technology has a secret Data Center in the suburbs, disguised as an ordinary agricultural technology park. All activation commands for the Star Brain devices will be issued from there."

Lin Xuan pressed: "Can you confirm the location?"

Wang Kai nodded: "Eastern suburbs, about 40 kilometers from the city center, the technology park next to Zijin Lake. On the surface, it is an Agricultural Intelligent Research Center, but in reality, the third basement level is the true Data Center."

This piece of intelligence was like a ray of light in the darkness. Lin Xuan immediately gathered the core members to formulate an action plan.

"We need a precise, secret operation," Lin Xuan explained in front of the sand table, "The goal is to infiltrate the Data Center and plant the counter-code developed by Xu Feng. The action team will consist of me, Xiao Yuan, and three Practitioners proficient in technology."

Xiao Yuan raised a question: "How do we infiltrate? The security system there must be very tight."

"Disguise," Lin Xuan pointed to the park blueprints, "The information provided by Wang Kai shows that there is a routine equipment maintenance every Wednesday, and external technical personnel are allowed to enter. The next maintenance happens to be the day after tomorrow; we will disguise ourselves as maintenance personnel."

Xu Feng added: "I will provide technical support remotely. Once you connect to the system, I can guide the upload of the counter-code. But you must find the main server and maintain the connection for at least 15 minutes."

On the morning of the operation, Lin Xuan's team arrived at the Zijin Lake technology park in a van marked with the "Star Technology Service" logo. They were dressed in standard technician uniforms and carried routine maintenance equipment and specially modified tools.

"Target in sight," Xiao Yuan reported through the micro-communicator, her voice so calm it didn't sound like she was about to carry out a dangerous mission, "Perimeter security, two guards, standard configuration."

Lin Xuan observed the surroundings: "Stay natural, remember our identities—routine equipment inspection, authorization code JX-7089."

The security check at the entrance was simpler than expected; clearly, Star Technology was very confident in its own security work. The team passed the first checkpoint smoothly and entered the main building of the technology park.

"Split up," Lin Xuan said in a low voice, "Xiao Yuan and I will look for the entrance to the basement, and the others will disperse to various monitoring points as planned, ready to create a distraction if necessary."

The interior of the park was spacious and bright, full of a futuristic technological feel. Staff members came and went, and most of them were wearing the latest Star Brain devices. Lin Xuan noticed that some people already had subtle purple patterns around their eyes—the initial signs of Void Energy.