Chapter 410 of the main text
Although we cannot approach that mysterious region at present, based on various indications, there is a high probability that the area where the disaster occurred is the former location of the legendary civilization "Mu". However, no one knows yet what exactly is happening in that region.
The continent of Mu sank 12,000 years ago, which was the time when the previous civilization was wiped out. If the continent of Mu is not well-known, then the sunken Atlantis is known to almost everyone. The sinking of Atlantis Island also occurred 12,000 BC.
What exactly happened 12,000 years ago that caused the complete annihilation of the previous civilization, leaving only a few fragments that became legends, and legends that eventually became myths...?
Ultimately, the U.S. military made the decision to send a carrier strike group to the vicinity of the area for patrol and inspection, maintaining constant communication and not venturing too far in.
However, to everyone's surprise, the very next day after the aircraft carrier group arrived, this navy, which was known as the invincible navy in the world, fled back in a sorry state with its tail between its legs.
They suffered a terrible attack!
And it was a very bizarre attack!
The attack on US troops wasn't carried out by any modern weapons, but by an overwhelming swarm of animals!
Seabirds, fish, and... bats!
How could there be bats in the middle of the ocean? But there are indeed bats, and they are mutated bats, each one enormous, more like small flying piglets than bats! According to intelligence from the US military, each of these bats is as big as a newborn human baby! Weighing over seven pounds! These bats are everywhere, numbering at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions!
Their attack methods are very simple, but their sheer numbers are overwhelming! Faced with so many bats swarming the sky, the weapons carried by ordinary aircraft carriers are ineffective. Moreover, these bats also emit infrasound waves—it is well known that bats use infrasound waves to navigate instinctively, but with so many bats, the infrasound waves they emit almost form a huge electromagnetic network in the local area, rendering all communication equipment unusable.
Not only bats, but also many terrifying mutated sea fish, each the size of a shark, launched a frenzied attack on the fleet. Some of these mutated fish even grew four legs, allowing them to leap onto the deck. Although their sharp teeth couldn't penetrate steel plates, their strength was terrifying. Under their powerful impact, ordinary iron doors were simply no match for them.
Caught completely off guard, the US military suffered heavy losses. Fortunately, the island forces promised to provide cover from the perimeter, deploying two mech squadrons to follow the US fleet nearby and arrive in time.
What made the US military envious was that they had no way to deal with these mutated creatures. Ordinary ammunition was not very effective against these densely packed creatures, and only a small number of flamethrowers could be of some use. However, the mech squadrons of Tongchi Island demonstrated their powerful mobility and flexibility, as well as their ability to control these densely packed creatures.
Back when Tongchi Island discovered Medusa's reproductive capabilities, they had been implementing targeted defenses for the past two years. Infrasound weapons, flamethrowers, and other area-of-effect weapons had already been equipped on these mechs. Although they hadn't encountered Medusa yet, they could still target similar mutated creatures.
The fuel carried by the mechs far exceeded that of ordinary individual flamethrowers. When countless monsters densely covered the deck of the aircraft carrier, the US military collapsed. Ordinary weapons were completely ineffective against them, and you couldn't exactly sink an aircraft carrier with missiles, could you? But the mechs of Tongchi Island had no such concerns.
They landed on the deck, and flamethrowers and freezers were used simultaneously. Under the contrast of fire and ice, a clearing was quickly created. These mutated monsters were, after all, still flesh and blood creatures. They were afraid of fire and ice. Faced with such area-of-effect weapons, these monsters were no longer as ferocious as before... The smell of roasted meat wafted across the aircraft carrier.
After clearing a space and allowing more mechs to land, the situation began to reverse.
The American soldiers stared in disbelief at the performance of the mecha unit on Tongchi Island...
Four mechs formed a unit. They erected mobile high-voltage electric fences, and then, like catching birds, dozens of these fences covered the entire sky. Although the flying bats launched a frenzied attack, they all crashed into the electric fences and instantly turned into charred remains.
The mutated creatures in the sea also did not escape the slaughter of the mech forces. The same net was used, but it was a laser net interwoven with lasers laid in the water, which easily wiped out these invading monsters. If it weren't for the orders from Tongchi Island that prevented them from going deeper, these two teams of hundreds of mechs could have chased these monsters all the way to their lair.
Looking at these powerful mechs, the US military commander in charge of the operation had tears in his eyes. He felt he had to write a report when he got back—those idiots at the Pentagon had been negotiating for years but hadn't been able to buy the technology for these mechs because they felt that the value of these mechs was far less than the high-tech military technology that the United States had painstakingly accumulated over decades, especially in the naval and air domains.
It's common knowledge worldwide that the army has never been a strong suit of the US military. Despite being equipped with high-tech weaponry, the US Army's disastrous defeats in Korea and Vietnam throughout the 20th century demonstrate this. However, when it comes to the navy and air force, the US is undoubtedly number one. Even though Tongchi Island now possesses mechs, while these new combat tools are formidable, their technological level and actual combat effectiveness in real warfare are far inferior to those of the US military.
Therefore, in recent years, although European and American countries have coveted the mechs of Tongchi Island, they have been very dismissive of China's exorbitant demands—China requires the European and American sides to use the latest aviation, navigation, and even space technologies in exchange. Moreover, it not only wants technology but also production lines—a point that European and American countries cannot accept, so the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement.
However, US military commanders have now realized that while the US military's war technology is absolutely invincible in large-scale wars around the world, it is far inferior to Tongchi Island in local wars!
Another question is, what is the likelihood of a large-scale global war breaking out now? Meanwhile, these localized wars are happening all the time and everywhere! Not just among humanity, but also between humanity and these unprecedented monsters!
These mechs on Tongchi Island are practically invincible in localized warfare!
The US military retreated in disgrace, suffering heavy losses... because the attack by these monsters was extremely sudden. Many planes parked on the aircraft carrier were "pushed" into the sea by the overwhelming horde of these monsters. The few planes that took off were also pitifully hit in mid-air by these densely packed monsters and were directly destroyed—everyone knows the predicament that planes face when flying at high speeds... let alone missiles, even a small bird, if it hits a high-speed plane, will result in mutual destruction.
The US military's humiliating return will undoubtedly cause a major uproar between the Congress and the Pentagon. However, Chen Xu can't concern himself with the US military's affairs. His focus, however, is on the DNA analysis of the mutated creatures brought back by the mech squadron—some corpses, some alive—and confirms one thing: these freakish beings, whether enormous bats, four-legged fish, or even seabirds… all contain genetic toxins!
A genetic toxin inherited from the blood of unicorns!
In other words, the birth of these monsters is directly related to the blood curse of the unicorns! And looking at the entire world, besides All-Eat Island, the only other unicorns are the two previously kidnapped by the X Organization and given to the United States. Therefore, it's basically certain now—the legendary location of the Mu Continent is where the X Organization is hiding!
Their lair must be in that vast ocean area covered by a special radio wave! No wonder, no wonder, no wonder the X organization disappeared without a trace after their retreat, as if they had been evaporated from the face of the earth. No one knew their whereabouts. It turns out they were hiding in such a place. If it weren't for the recent unusual earthquake, we really wouldn't have been able to find their hideout.
As for the X organization, Chen Xu felt there was really nothing more to say. Although their relationship had previously been ambiguous, Chen Xu hadn't intended to do anything to them. However, these people had betrayed him; they had colluded with Tarot, attempting to force him into submission through violence. Such betrayal was unacceptable to Chen Xu.
The members of Organization X seemed to know Chen Xu's thoughts as well. After their defeat, they made no attempt to seek peace and instead went into hiding. Perhaps they also felt that Organization X and Tongchi Island were destined to be unable to coexist.
Chen Xu is the kind of person who will do whatever he's told to do. These past few years of training have transformed him from a naive young man into a true leader. Now that they know the enemy's location, they absolutely cannot let them go.
However, Chen Xu did not intend to take action himself.
The US military's defeat this time has really angered the country. A mighty aircraft carrier fleet was defeated by a bunch of animals. What's the use of taxpayers' money?
Under pressure from public opinion, the White House was forced to hold an emergency discussion. With the push from the island of Easter, the White House finally announced that a large number of mutated creatures had appeared in the central Pacific Ocean, south of Easter Island, for unknown reasons—possibly man-made.
The film *Medusa* revealed the horror of this ancient creature, or rather, this mutated creature, to humanity. Following this, under public pressure, countries outwardly halted plans to resurrect potentially harmful ancient beings. Furthermore, the United Nations passed a resolution prohibiting the resurrection of or creation of creatures that could threaten humanity.
Regarding the criterion of "potentially threatening humans," two obvious points are: First, this creature has an extremely high reproductive rate and no natural predators to control its reproduction—in which case, even if this creature is a harmless rabbit, an overwhelming swarm of rabbits would be absolutely unbearable. Second, this creature possesses a terrifyingly aggressive nature.
The mutated creatures encountered by the US fleet perfectly fit the above two criteria. Therefore, according to the law, any organization attempting to revive and reproduce such creatures will be convicted of crimes against humanity and will not be protected by any conventions. Based on this, the US military can launch a military strike against the region.
The US carrier strike group has once again deployed in a grand manner, this time with the help of the mech squadron from Tongchi Island for protection. The magnetic field in this area is unusually peculiar, whether due to the mutated creatures or some other reason is unknown. Therefore, relying on air force bombing is impractical, as aircraft entering the area would lose their compasses and communication equipment. Long-range missile bombing is the only option.
Perhaps because of the humiliation they suffered last time, the Americans went all out this time, unleashing a barrage of missiles and artillery fire at the designated area ahead, seemingly without regard to cost.
Amidst the barrage of artillery fire, the militaries of various countries monitoring the area via satellite suddenly discovered that this place, which had previously appeared as a stagnant pool on satellite, was gradually revealing its true nature amidst the artillery fire!
A huge island appeared just 50 kilometers ahead of the US fleet!
Only a small part of the island was visible, but satellite images showed countless mutated creatures swarming into the sea along the island's edge. The sight was so terrifying that commanders from various countries were horrified and had to immediately notify the island's authorities, requesting their mech squadrons to intercept and protect them.
Why would Tongchi Island need their reminders? The mech squadrons rushed forward immediately, forming a massive net. The Pentagon was furious and ordered the US military to continue expanding its attack range. They wanted to see what secrets this island held!
Are these mutated creatures born that way, or are they being manipulated by someone behind the scenes?
In fact, everyone had already figured it out: these mutated creatures were unlikely to have mutated on their own, because their attack methods were not those of ordinary animals, but rather resembled those of soldiers under command.
At that moment, the US military's communication network suddenly went down, and a series of inexplicable orders were issued. Some of these orders even instructed US soldiers to attack the mech formation that was leading the way on Tongchi Island!
After a moment of stunned silence, everyone immediately realized that the US military network had been hacked!
Being able to instantly infiltrate the supposedly impenetrable US military network, and even forge orders with the highest authority... there are only two people in the world who can do that!
SMMH, the world's number one hacker, once personally accomplished this feat, instantly taking over the entire US military network!
There's another one...
Originally, the world's top organization in the computer field was Organization X, even surpassing Tarot's PRO. However, with the emergence of SMMH, X was no longer number one. Later, Tarot gained a new ally, and its technological prowess in computers advanced by leaps and bounds, quickly surpassing X! Therefore, the former leader can now only be ranked third at best.
And the only one second to SMMH is that soul that accidentally entered the network due to divine punishment—Miward!
This guy disappeared for several years along with the Tarot, and then he finally reappeared!
Within seconds, Chen Xu made this judgment... Wow, he originally thought the island was occupied by the X organization, but he didn't expect Tarot to be mixed in with them too?! Could it be that the two of them had been in cahoots all along?
Mivad, an entity similar to artificial intelligence, is what Chen Xu cares about most, even more than dealing with Tarot and the X organization!
Because Chen Xu originated from the internet, the internet is his foundation, and Miwad is the only guy who can pose a threat to him online!
In recent years, with the construction of Tongchi Island, Chen Xu's two pseudo-artificial intelligences, Xiao Min and Chen Fei, have been working on it. Xiao Min is responsible for the data processing of the entire Tongchi Island, including the track of the maglev car, the hub of the entire island, all the resource architecture, and even the military network. Just think about how much computing power the server of the virtual reality system needs. In this world and this era, apart from Xiao Min's supercomputer, which supercomputer has such powerful computing capabilities, what other supercomputer can complete such calculations?
After Chen Fei completely controlled Jimmy, Chen Xu also found him a place to stay—the large data center built on Tongchi Island, which contained three "Galaxy" supercomputers with the latest technology!
Although the combined computing power of these three supercomputers cannot compare to that of Xiaomin, they are sufficient for Chen Fei, this pseudo-AI, to perform other tasks.
Chen Fei's mission has been to monitor global network data day and night for the past few years, to find the whereabouts of the artificial intelligence Mivad, and to find a way to take down this guy!
However, Miwad has never appeared since he disappeared with Tarot. Even when Company S released the virtual operating system, he didn't bother to come in and take a look. The brainwaves of each user in the virtual operating system are bound to their real-world identity and fed back to the main control room on Tongchi Island. Those who are not bound by their brainwaves cannot enjoy the services of the virtual illusion. And everyone in the world has a different brainwave. There is only a one in a billion chance that they are exactly the same.
Therefore, there are only two possibilities for Mivad's continued absence: either he has never shown himself and has been hiding in some hard drive, or he has already cracked the brainwave recognition system of the virtual reality system!
If there is only one person in the world who can crack the brainwave recognition system, that person is none other than Miwad!
Because he is just a human, he entered the network through a special means and became the soul of the network! However, even if this guy can crack the surface recognition system, he probably can't crack the real virtual reality system—because this system is far ahead of the technology of this era! It's like even if Mivad traveled back to ancient times with all the blueprints for building a nuclear submarine, he would never be able to build a nuclear submarine just by looking at a bunch of data—his technological strength is far from meeting the requirements!
The moment Chen Xu determined that the US military's network had been compromised, Tongchi Island began its operation.
On Tongchi Island, the Red Hacker Alliance had already been incorporated into the island's dedicated cyber force. In the last conflict with the world, the Americans unleashed their ultimate cyber weapon, severing all network connections in one fell swoop. Such a massive undertaking truly posed a significant threat to Chen Xu. Therefore, he subsequently incorporated the Red Hacker Alliance, forming Tongchi Island's cyber force, precisely to prepare for potential future cyberwarfares.
These "red hackers," led by the original founders and veterans of the Red Hacker Alliance, including giants like LION and Blue Baby, are equipped with the latest and most comprehensive computer knowledge provided by Tongchi Island. They possess the world's most powerful attack hardware and defense systems. Over the years of learning and growth, these individuals are no longer the original 108 stars of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends. Their numbers have expanded nearly tenfold, and almost every one of them, after learning the complete Chinese language, has become a top hacker and programming expert in the world!
In addition, there is the pseudo-artificial intelligence that Chen Fei has been searching for on the internet for the past few years—a terrifying killer who controls three supercomputers and possesses incredibly terrifying computing power!
Almost instantly, Chen Fei broke into the US military's network and quickly locked onto the IP address that controlled the highest level of access.
Yes, it's a broiler chicken.
Chen Fei immediately charged in, and then the hackers also stormed into the battlefield, all their attacks targeting that IP address!
This terrified Mivad, who had been so smug!
He never expected that the speed of the All-Eating Island side would be so fast! His imagined enemy had always been SMMH, who existed beyond the entire network, and her disciple Chen Xu, but he didn't expect that the data that crashed into him first would be so powerful, almost no less than his own! Moreover, countless data streams locked onto his IP, and some data even preempted him by following the IP, attempting to cut off his escape route!
How did Miwad manage not to be terrified?
If it were just an ordinary hacker, it wouldn't be so bad, but if their real IP address is discovered, it's equivalent to their real internet address being exposed. If they are well prepared in advance, even if they can't disconnect immediately, they can still escape before the police arrive!
But he's artificial intelligence! What real IP address does he have? To him, the internet is both a place of reality and a springboard for botnets. But he knows he's not invincible!
If he were surrounded by a group of experts who blocked all possible ports and cut off all possible escape routes, he would be trapped inside that hard drive!
This is a network, not a real fishing net with stripes and connections like in the real world.
Every server and every home computer is a terminal. Miwad is essentially a super hacker, jumping between these terminals without any gaps. However, once he's trapped inside a hard drive, he's truly helpless. If the network connection to that hard drive is cut off, and those tracking him discover its address, they can trace it back to him and permanently imprison him there… or they can smash it with a hammer, destroying all the data on the hard drive… and then he's completely finished!
No, he doesn't want to die!
Miva let out a roar, though ordinary people couldn't hear it—he started to run for his life!
For the past few years, Miwa has never dared to show his face on the public internet, for fear of the powerful computer technology of the island of Tongchi... There lies his nemesis, SMMH!
With the help of Mivad, a half-human, half-intelligent being, Tarot was able to make such rapid progress in cyborg development, because only Mivad could make targeted modifications based on the human body's requirements.
Just now, under the emperor's orders, he had no choice but to act. His original plan was to disrupt the American command in an instant and then take advantage of the chaos. But he didn't expect the enemy's pursuit to be so fast! In the very instant he gave the order, a powerful force, no less than his own, had already rushed in front of him and entangled with him.
Soon, several data streams began blocking the ports around them!
Is this powerful data stream SMMH?
Was my guess right? The girl announced by Tongchi Island wasn't actually SMMH at all, and this data stream that looked so similar to me was SMMH itself?!
The reason Tarot initially suspected that SMMH was just an artificial intelligence and thus joined forces with the X organization to launch a war against Chen Xu was because of Miwad's conclusion: an artificial intelligence is not scary. Even if it has the ability to destroy the entire network, it is not scary. Humans have only had computers for a few decades, and the internet has been widespread for even less time. At worst, everything can be scrapped and started over. As long as this major threat can be eliminated and its data obtained, everything destroyed can be recovered!
However, Taro and the others never expected that Chen Xu actually possessed real-world power—those suddenly appearing mechs and those terrifying weather weapons caused them to fail... From then on, Mivad lost the Emperor's trust and went from being an ally to a henchman.
He wanted to escape, but he knew that although he could move freely online, what good would it do to escape the emperor's grasp? He could never escape Chen Xu's control. There was no possibility of reconciliation between him and Chen Xu.
After the first wave of engagements, Miwad had no choice but to retreat immediately, relinquishing command of the US military network and finding a way to escape into the external network—he believed that once inside the external network, no one could catch up with him at his speed!
The Pentagon, having regained control of the military network, was both embarrassed and furious. Embarrassed because its supposedly impenetrable military network was completely powerless against that mysterious hacker, and even against the island of Tongchi, who could come and go as he pleased, like using a public toilet. Furious because the mysterious hacker had taken over the entire network in an instant and issued orders in a flash!
He not only ordered the carrier fleet on its mission to turn its guns around and attack the All-Eat Island mechs that were holding off the mutated creatures in front of them, but he also issued orders to various missile bases... and even nuclear missile bases! If he could obtain the nuclear attack codes in a short time, hundreds of nuclear missiles would probably have been launched in an instant!
Even so, some intercontinental ballistic missiles have entered automatic launch mode after receiving orders, and all targets have been locked on Tongchi Island!