Chapter 24 The Last Hour
Chen Xu and the others are now sitting in Wu Yuan's hospital room, happily eating fruit.
After learning that Wu Yuan was hospitalized, some of the guys from the neighboring dorm spontaneously came to visit him. Since they were all freshmen, there was still some politeness between them, so most of them brought some fruit or other gifts when they came.
So these things satisfied Chen Xu and his group.
"Could you please not always send apples next time?!" Chen Xu complained while munching on a bright red apple. "Damn it, I'm so tired of them! Give me some lychees or bananas, or even oranges if you really can't!"
Lying in his hospital bed, Wu Yuan exclaimed, "Damn it! You didn't like it, yet you ate so much? This whole trash can of apple cores is from you!"
Chen Xu chuckled twice, showing no embarrassment whatsoever, quickly finished the remaining apple in his hand, and threw it into the trash can.
Wu Yuan held up one finger to him, the middle finger, and went back to playing the game.
Actually, Wu Yuan is quite lewd. When he first got a fever, several people carried him to the hospital. After he was put on an IV drip, he needed to take medicine. But no matter what they said, he refused to take it. They tried to coerce, bribe, and even torture him, but he wouldn't take it. He was as stubborn as a child!
Besides the three roommates, Wang Xiaohu, the class monitor and captain of the basketball team, who is 1.93 meters tall, was also with Wu Yuan to take him to the hospital. In the end, Xiaohu had no choice but to call Wu Yuan's mother and tell her that Wu Yuan was sick and refused to take his medicine.
Then Wu Yuan's mother got anxious and kept urging him to take his medicine over the phone, but he just wouldn't. In the end, his mother had no choice but to give in: "What will it take for you to take your medicine?"
Then Wu Yuan quickly said, "If you buy me another new laptop, I'll take my medicine!"
Upon hearing this, the people around him nearly banged their heads against a wall. So that's what this guy was all about all that hesitation?!
Sharing a dorm room, and knowing Wu Yuan was a blabbermouth, the others naturally knew he'd been unhappy with his laptop for a long time. It was supposedly a mainstream model from 2003; while not completely outdated now, he was still dissatisfied… well, his family was rich!
Finally, after much pleading, his mother agreed, and Wu Yuan started swallowing the medicine with a loud groan, like he was eating candy. Everyone present, including the doctor, cursed inwardly, "You bastard!"
Chen Xu glanced at his watch; it was six o'clock. He leisurely strolled to the next ward, where Wu Zhong was currently lying. He casually grabbed a few apples to offer as a token of his appreciation.
He wasn't worried at all, but little did he know that the internet was already in an uproar.
Hackers from various countries joined forces and launched the final attack.
Waves of people surged forward, driving Snake away several times, but they were soon driven back by the opposing team.
"This is so damn unfair!" Guan Ping slammed his fist on the table and cursed. Snake relied on this firewall, which was as sturdy as a space fortress. They wasted a lot of time on it every time. The first layer of the firewall was okay, but the second and third layers were especially difficult. It took a lot of effort to break through them every time. But once they broke through and drove the Snake people away, they would just sneak back in through the back door.
This kind of battle is utterly pointless!
However, while venting its anger, this unknown firewall also earned the respect of hackers worldwide. Although it's unclear why Snake would expose this potentially game-changing device, it's evident that with such a firewall in place, Snake quickly gained a decisive advantage.
There's no inherent fairness or unfairness in hacker battles; technological disparities are inherently unequal. Furthermore, Snake is practically fighting against all the world's hackers single-handedly, which is inherently unfair to them.
Meanwhile, the world's major intelligence organizations were also in a state of panic. These organizations almost simultaneously launched a "snake-catching plan," because it was certain that Snake's members would have to engage in online combat that night, making this the best opportunity to capture them. By obtaining their IP addresses through direct confrontation, they could then apprehend these individuals in the real world and bring them to work for them.
People with ulterior motives launched wave after wave of attacks, but Snake's vitality was as strong as a cockroach that had taken aphrodisiacs, and it stood firm.
While everyone was racking their brains over this damned snake, Chen Xu was also swallowing hard, staring at the snake on the table. Hmm, snake soup. And Wu Zhong's father next to him was enthusiastically saying, "Oh dear, don't be shy, eat up! The snake soup is delicious. It's rare to find a shop that sells snake soup!"
The reason was this: Chen Xu went to Wu Zhong's hospital room to visit him and found the guy flirting with a nurse. He went in and asked what was going on, only to find out that the scoundrel had unexpectedly become a lucky charm, having actually hooked up with a nurse. After a few more exchanges, Wu Zhong's parents happened to walk in. Upon seeing Chen Xu, they were immediately overwhelmed with gratitude, grabbing Chen Xu and insisting on treating him to a meal.
Chen Xu was a little embarrassed, but he couldn't refuse the other party's hospitality, so he was half-dragged and half-pulled out.
Chen Xu originally thought he could just find a restaurant nearby to eat at, but he didn't expect the taxi to take half an hour to arrive at a restaurant that looked rather upscale. Wu Zhong's father then ordered a whole table of dishes without hesitation, including snake soup.
You could tell from their accents that Wu Zhong and his family were from Guangdong. They were very particular about food and dared to eat anything. They had been to this restaurant before when they dropped Wu Zhong off at school, and they were surprised to find that it had snake soup, and it tasted pretty good, so they brought Chen Xu along.
To be honest, Chen Xu is actually quite afraid of snakes.
This has nothing to do with courage; it's just that some people are naturally averse to these slippery, cold-blooded animals... Chen Xu doesn't even dare to eat loach!
When Chen Xu watched The Legend of the White Snake as a child, he admired Xu Xian. Although Bai Suzhen's act of repaying a debt of gratitude was indeed a blessing in the human world, he found it hard to accept the thought of sleeping with a snake next to him.
Chen Xu ate this meal with trepidation.
Actually, snake soup is an excellent delicacy and is especially nourishing. The problem is that Chen Xu has a psychological trauma, but Wu Zhong's father is so enthusiastic, which is really making him suffer.
After finishing my meal and taking the car back to the hospital, the hands of my watch were already pointing to 10:30.
After finally saying goodbye to the overly enthusiastic Mr. Wu, Chen Xu returned to Wu Yuan's ward and was surprised to find it crowded with people! Hearing the door open, everyone turned around, and wow... all seven or eight people, including Wu Yuan, were wearing glasses!
Wu Yuan quickly introduced them as senior students from the computer interest group. Chen Xu thought, "Wow, impressive!" In the past, he probably would have rushed up to ask for autographs and photos, but the question was, would a sage like Chen Xu need autographs from other computer science students? Especially not just a group of students. So Chen Xu simply nodded politely and sat down.
However, this group didn't seem to take him seriously. After exchanging greetings, they continued their previous discussion. Chen Xu listened intently, yawning, because all he heard was about Snake, firewalls, the Red Hacker Alliance, and hackers, with a few instances of "SMMH" mixed in. He wondered what these guys were bragging about this time.
It's not that Chen Xu lacks sensitivity, but the problem is, what kind of topics can a group of computer enthusiasts discuss when they get together? Frankly, it's all about hacking news and such. It's like a group of sports fans gathering to discuss the world's top superstars and top football teams... Imagine Beckham walking past a bar and overhearing fans talking about him on TV—how would he react?
Just then, someone sighed, "I wonder if SMMH will show up tonight? If he doesn't, this battle is probably impossible to fight."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu's ears perked up, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong? What happened to SMMH again?"
Wu Yuan quickly explained that this person was a computer novice and probably didn't know about Snake. So the group of people then explained the situation in detail.
"You mean... if SMMH doesn't show up and take over that website server before midnight tonight, we're doomed?"
"Yeah!" A group of animals shook their heads and sighed, "Mom's Snake is too arrogant, do you think the SMMH god will appear?"
Several people said, "Nonsense, how would I know? We'll know the result in a little over an hour, right?" You have no idea, we're all feeling incredibly stressed sitting in front of our computers watching the battle, so we all came out to get some fresh air. We need to return it immediately; we need to know the final result as soon as possible.
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu immediately turned and ran towards the door, with Wu Yuan shouting after him, "Third brother, why are you running?!"
"Damn it, I'm going to save the world!"
After leaving those words, Chen Xu vanished without a trace, leaving behind a group of bespectacled men in the room looking at each other in bewilderment: "Shouldn't your roommate go upstairs to the neurology department for a checkup?"
After leaving the hospital, Chen Xu originally wanted to rush back to his dormitory as soon as possible, but he suddenly remembered that there were too many people and too much noise in the dormitory. More importantly, the dormitory would lose internet and electricity at 11:30, so going back at that time was definitely not an option.
Upon looking up and seeing the sign for "24-hour internet" on the sign next door, Chen Xu rushed in, booked a room, and instructed the staff not to disturb him no matter what happened.
After the waiter left, Chen Xu locked the door tightly, even pulling a cabinet to block the entrance, and then transformed his watch into the shape of a laptop.
This hotel is quite upscale. I don't know its star rating, but the 300+ yuan per night fee isn't cheap. Besides the luxurious decor, the entire hotel has Wi-Fi coverage, and the speed is quite fast.
Chen Xu first logged onto the Red Hacker Alliance website. As soon as he got to the homepage, he saw the announcement in red, which was about finding the SMMH master. This made Chen Xu feel very proud.
Upon seeing the name "Snake," Chen Xu immediately thought of the snake soup he had eaten at dinner and cursed, "You damn little snakes, you're looking for me? Fine, I'm coming right now!"
Looking at the time, it's just past 11 o'clock, there's only one hour left.
In the final moments of Chapter 25, SMMH makes its appearance!
Watching the live broadcast of the battle on the forum, Chen Xu felt a surge of excitement. He then clicked on the address www.SMMH.com and saw a long list on the homepage... in English, which he couldn't understand.
"Uh, Xiaomin, translate this."
This list wouldn't be a shock to a newbie like Chen Xu, but to hackers around the world, it's a complete bragging post... It's like a serial killer on the run who writes on his blog every day about who he killed at what time.
This is blatant boasting!
However, Chen Xu wasn't interested in the list. He looked at it from left to right, up to down, and had no idea what he should do.
"Ugh!" Chen Xu grabbed his hair, realizing how incredibly clueless he was! So he had no choice but to order Xiao Min, "Hack down this website's server!"
Chen Xu actually felt pretty unlucky. He had this powerful computer, but he himself was a complete novice. It was like a little kid carrying a divine weapon, but the problem was that this divine weapon was too overpowered, so overpowered that no one could resist it, and his own abilities became irrelevant.
Chen Xu originally thought that after saying that, he could light a cigarette and watch Xiao Min unleash her power and charge in like a whirlwind. But Xiao Min's reply left Chen Xu speechless.
She said, "I'm sorry, but because of my highest privileges, this assistant cannot launch malicious attacks on other people's computers and networks."
Just then, Chen Xu lit a cigarette and took a puff. Upon hearing this, he immediately began coughing violently. "No way... this is the result?!"
"What do you mean by 'highest privileges'?" Chen Xu practically yelled at Xiao Min, "I'm using this computer, don't I already have the highest privileges?!"
"Sorry, no, the root privileges are set when this machine was manufactured. Of course, if you have the root privilege password, you can change it. Would you like to enter the password?"
"What the hell am I supposed to type?!" Chen Xu grabbed his hair in frustration. How could this happen? How could this happen?
He felt utterly cowardly, utterly sorry to the Party, the people, and all the hackers and red-hat hackers in China who were eagerly anticipating his services, and even more sorry for the 39 yuan he had spent on the overnight stay... If he had known he couldn't help at all, why would he have wasted that money?!
Chen Xu wanted nothing more than to bury himself inside the computer. He grabbed his hair and cried out, "Why can't I attack?!"
"Because attacking other people's computers and networks is illegal, according to Article 3 of the Computer Use Regulations, it is strictly prohibited for intelligent systems to attack other people's computers. Moreover..."
Xiaomin suddenly said something strange: "This computer had special requirements before it left the factory, but it did not have the permission to attack other people's computers. Because according to the information, Chen Xu, you are the greatest programmer and hacker of this century. Among programmers and hackers of the same era, your status is supreme. You have even made outstanding contributions to the development and manufacturing of this Magic Box computer and its corresponding operating system. Therefore, there is absolutely no need for this computer to have the attack system enabled."
"I... Chen Xu, am the greatest programmer and hacker of this century?" Chen Xu pointed to his own nose. "Did I hear you wrong, or did you mishear me? Or is it just a coincidence of names?"
"It's not a coincidence of names. According to the database, you are indeed the grandfather of our current president, Chen Fei."
"Hiss..." Chen Xu gasped. How could a computer novice like him possess such powerful energy? Could it be...?
An uncontrollable thought surfaced. Chen Xu knew his own abilities; to say he could become a world-class hacker on his own was harder than the Chinese national team winning the World Cup. The only way was to use this computer from the future. Uh, but the question was, could he become a world-class programmer using the computer? And then have his grandson send it back to him to continue using it?
This is even more complicated than the chicken-or-egg question!
"Are there any other files of mine on the computer?!"
"Sorry, unable to read."
"Is the database corrupted?"
"No, it's because of the highest level of access restrictions. If you want to know what's behind the permissions, please enter the password."
"What kind of password do I have?!" Chen Xu cursed, deciding to put aside this philosophically complex question for now. Regardless of what Xiaomin said, he was undeniably a newbie. And facing this newbie was a very important and daunting task… how would the SMMH master save the world?!
So Chen Xu asked with a pained expression, "You really have no way to crack this website?"
"It's not that there's no way, it's that it's impossible."
"I can't even give an order?!"
"No, this is a command that violates the highest level of authority. I have the right to refuse to execute it."
"Do you believe I'll smash you up?!"
"I'm sorry, please do not do anything to damage this machine. Although it is highly shock-resistant, damage cannot be guaranteed. If the computer malfunctions, you can take it to the following locations for warranty repair..."
"Big sister, I beg you, all the livestock in the world are waiting for us to show our strength!"
"I'm sorry, your request violates the highest level of authority..."
"How about we make an exception just this once? Look, the readers are all waiting. If you don't help me, I can't unleash my power. If I don't unleash my power, the readers will go crazy, and if they go crazy, they'll take the book down, and then Xiao Bing will suffer a terrible fate!"
"sorry……"
Chen Xu was desperate. He gave up. The world seemed bleak. He could only look at the Red Hacker Alliance forum homepage and apologize to SMMH, saying, "Brother, I chickened out."
It's 11:17 now, with 43 minutes left.
Chen Xu originally wanted to turn off the computer and go to sleep, but then he thought it would be too unfair of him to just leave like that. Even if he couldn't eat spinach and transform into Popeye to unleash a burst of power, he should at least stay with the brothers on the forum for the last twenty-odd minutes.
So Chen Xu opened the forum and watched the live battle updates: