Chapter 254 Sterling's Fury
At this point, the 168 hackers summoned by the Victoria authorities had been completely wiped out!
Meanwhile, in the streets and alleys of Victoria, many citizens were still engrossed in their phones, admiring Caesar's image on their screens.
What they didn't know was that they were facing a super-nest virus. Unless its creator decided to retract it, they would lose all means of daily communication.
They were about to be plunged back into an era where shouting was the only way to communicate!
As soon as they logged onto websites, they'd find that Victoria's official pages—power, transportation, and more—had all crashed!
The code "The Rock Johnson" had stamped a "punish the offender" mark on them!
This mark had also spread across all of Victoria's hacker forums.
Countless Victoria hackers stared at the glaring message, helpless and defeated!
Of course, the most terrifying aspect of the situation was beyond the grasp of the ordinary citizens!
Victoria's weapons security network and weapon systems linked to the network had been completely seized!
At a single command from Paul Four, Victoria's mass destruction weapons would turn against the country itself!
While civilians were still somewhat amused by the hacker invasion, a different scene unfolded for a select few.
In the highest echelons of Victoria's government, within a grand office, the atmosphere was heavy with dread.
At the desk sat a middle-aged man, broad-shouldered and wise-eyed.
His hands were clasped beneath his chin; his brow furrowed deeply in concentration.
Beside him, a middle-aged man in a suit with gold-rimmed glasses was visibly anxious, yet he dared not make a sound!The sky rumbled with a deep, resonant roar.
Four FV-19 fighter jets streaked across the sky.
"Calling ground command! Our Air Force team has received orders that terrorists have occupied the government building. Confirming the first ground strike!"
Hearing the transmission, the imposing figure behind the desk furrowed his brow even more deeply, rubbing his temples.
The man beside him, growing even paler, shouted into the communicator, "This is Theron Ellsworth, Chief Secretary of the Government Office! Cancel the orders; cancel them now! FV-19 fighter squadron, return immediately!"
Two minutes later, the thunderous roar of the jets faded into the distance.
Theron turned to the man at the desk, unable to hold back any longer. "Mr. Prescott, this is the fifth false alarm we've had. Our national security systems are still down! Ships and fighter jets are continually being directed toward us as targets. While we can handle those with a simple cancellation order… But many of the weapon systems controlled entirely via network have been seized, and I can't retract those orders!"
The Chief Secretary, his lips trembling, stared at the man in front of him and whispered urgently, "Mr. Prescott, I recommend we activate Pluto. With it, the government building will be secure!"
But Sterling raised a hand to silence Theron.
"Pluto? In a situation like this, bringing out Pluto? We're nowhere near that point!"
Sterling slowly rose from his seat, his eyes fixed on the fighter jets retreating from view. He sneered, "If he really intended to destroy the government building, intercontinental missiles would have turned it to rubble by now!
"He doesn't have the guts to launch an attack; it's all just bluster!
"At the moment, it's just a bunch of hacked websites and some malfunctioning phones.
"And our pathetic cybersecurity team is completely powerless!
"But we must stay calm!
"It's just hackers, after all, seeking personal gain!
"We'll wait; he's bound to make demands.
"Once we regain control of the network, he will pay a heavy price!"
"But!" Theron hesitated, his voice faltering, "Our hard drives have also been compromised. He's currently rummaging through our national secrets!"
Sterling's lips twitched slightly. "Let him. We'll wait!"
Meanwhile, at the VeridianiaWavehaven Security Bureau, the situation in Victoria was under tight surveillance.
Three senior officials were in disarray.
"Sstop this now!"
"You're on the brink of triggering an international war!"
"You said your program couldn't crack Victoria's firewall. What's going on?"
Elbert shrugged nonchalantly. "The code's power exceeded my expectations!"
The three officials exchanged glances, quickly realizing the truth behind Elbert's defiant demeanor.
"You little rascal, you weren't honest!"
"Looks like this was your plan all along!"
"Don't think I don't get it. With your coding skills, you were more than capable of taking them down!"
"Your attack speed is..."
Elbert waved a hand dismissively. "Gentlemen, enough. I admit it!"
The three officials were momentarily stunned.
Elbert suddenly leaned over his keyboard and typed a line of code.
General Percival, his eyes wide with alarm, demanded, "You admit it and still won't stop?"
"Rest assured," Elbert said without looking up, "All the technical attacks on Victoria are signed with my name!
"If anything goes wrong, blame it on me. I guarantee it's unrelated to Veridiania!
"And, as you've witnessed my coding skills, no one in the world can track me down!
"Of course, I have no intention of actually attacking their government building.
"But this time, I need Victoria to face a hard truth!"
With that, Elbert hit the Enter key decisively.
There was no time for anyone to intervene.
At that moment, inside the government building office, a computer infected with a virus displayed a new message on the screen.
"You have 10 minutes to announce to the world that Veridiania deserves an apology!"
Sterling frowned.
He thought, 'No money involved?
'A hacker with a sense of national pride?
'Who is this guy, anyway?
'He wants me to apologize? And he's threatening me?
'What a joke!'
Sterling pondered for a moment before turning and shouting, "Where's Hoover, the Director of Cyber Defense?"
"Mr. Prescott, he's on his way!"
Three minutes later, Director Hoover was wheeled in on a stretcher.
He was still in the position of reading his texts, too frightened to move!
"My pacemaker's been hacked by that damn hacker..." Hoover managed a stiff smile.
"Bastard!"
"What a farce!"
Sterling's rage was thunderous!
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