King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 68

"Okay, please tell me." I nodded, wondering why she suddenly became interested in telling a story.

Suren cleared her throat: "The story takes place in a small town near the snow-capped mountains in Switzerland, in Northern Europe. There is a small family: the husband is a doctor, the wife is a nurse, and together they run a clinic, which is doing fairly well..."

She only got to the beginning, but I already knew what she was trying to say, so I immediately interrupted, "Suren, I know what you mean! You're saying—Tengjia was sleepwalking? Tengjia is a sleepwalker, and she accidentally killed Tano while sleepwalking?"

The north wind whipped Su Lun's hair wildly. She tightened her collar and looked at me with a half-smile: "I'm just... guessing, or... assuming... Brother Wind, you can make countless assumptions about anything, right? There are many ways to Rome. Since we've encountered a problem in front of the camera, why not try a different approach?"

Her doubts about James began to waver, which is why she used the excuse of "sleepwalking" to exonerate Fujika.

The bizarre murder story that shocked Sweden went like this—

That family had no children; it was just the two of them. One morning, the doctor woke up to find his wife splattered with blood on the bedside table; her neck had been severed with a sharp ice axe. He immediately reported it to the police, who arrived but, after months of investigation, were unable to find the killer.

At the time of the murder, all doors and windows were tightly closed from the inside, and only the husband and wife were inside. If one had to pinpoint the perpetrator, it could only be the husband, a doctor. However, all the townspeople testified that the husband loved his wife deeply and that his love was genuine and heartfelt; they could never have murdered his beloved. Ultimately, the jury deliberated and decided that the husband was not guilty.

A year later, when the aftermath of the murder had completely subsided, the doctor married another woman, whom he loved just as deeply. But the murder happened again—the same tragedy occurred five times in total, to the point that the doctor was so grief-stricken that he cried blood and fainted while holding his dead wife.

Who was the killer? It wasn't until a clever detective secretly planted a camera in the doctor's house that the footage surfaced showing the doctor sleepwalking every night, putting on gloves to conceal fingerprints and snow boots, then grabbing an ice axe and frantically hacking at the pillow his wife used to sleep on. After doing all this, the doctor would tidy up, return to bed, mimicking a hugging gesture towards his wife before peacefully falling asleep.

The truth of the case is that a deeply hidden, severely sleepwalking patient accidentally committed murder.

Suren's purpose in mentioning this real case was actually to say that "Tengjia was sleepwalking and unintentionally killed someone." As for why she wanted to imitate the "reborn" and kill someone to devour their soul, it might just be the result of some subconscious action during a dream.

Part Six: The Divine Appearance Revealed

— Chapter 8 - The Hacker Master —

Here, Suren and I were deliberately avoiding one thing—"Whether Tenga has devoured hearts or not, we can find out everything by using the ray detector. With just one phone call from Tina, there's nothing the Rainbow Warriors can't do."

I kept thinking, "What if the X-ray results prove that there really is something in Fujika's stomach..." Once I got to this point, I didn't dare to think any further. My throat and stomach were all convulsing with tension.

Suddenly, Su Lun snapped her fingers and smiled, "Brother Feng, let me see your handprint, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed my left hand and stared at it intently.

I let her do whatever she wanted, my gaze fixed on the distant Pyramid of Tulku. I thought about how, with the help of the super drill and Tina's government permission, we could soon carve holes in the pyramid at will—unafraid of poisonous snakes or changing mechanisms. This time, by destroying and advancing layer by layer, we could surely achieve our goal step by step.

As Egypt's historical heritage, the pyramids are something the government can dispose of at will without needing to apply to or beg any organization. If the government agrees, there would be no obstacle whatsoever, even if the Great Pyramid of Giza were to be excavated along with it.

Actually, I was really looking forward to finding even bigger gold ingots in the upper chamber of the snake pit, where the golden light emanated. For some reason, I had a feeling that what we were entering was actually the "basement" of the pyramid, the dark part where the pharaoh rested, which is why so many venomous snakes could have been kept there.

The area emitting golden light must have been the formal living room. According to the customs of ancient Egypt, the most exquisite and luxurious ornaments, furniture, and treasures would be displayed where guests could see them, to flaunt their wealth and power. Therefore, I have reason to believe that the revelation of that tomb chamber before us would have brought immense and overwhelming joy.

“Brother Feng, the lines on your palm indicate that you will have a constant stream of romantic encounters throughout your life, always intertwined with your strong and vibrant life line, career line, and marriage line. In that case, you will have to let down many girls' affections in this lifetime…” Su Lun’s jealousy surged up again without any attempt to hide it. She let go of my hand and looked northward.

Dust rose again on the northern highway, but this time it wasn't an armored personnel carrier or a large force from the desert legion; it was just a dark green taxi.

When the taxi was one kilometer from the camp, it was stopped by a checkpoint set up by Tina.

A thin man jumped out of the vehicle, carrying a huge backpack on his back. After paying the fare and undergoing a few minutes of questioning by the sentry, he was finally allowed to pass and slowly walked towards the camp.

The man's appearance and attire closely resembled those of the most common backpackers in Egypt, namely young people who travel on foot to save money.

"Brother Feng, let me test you. Who is the most famous computer hacker in the world right now?" Suren asked me with a smile, watching the person struggling to walk. Our hands remained clasped together, warming each other.

"It's...two people, right?" I like the occasional playfulness that Suren reveals, especially during this rare period of free time after the recent series of dramatic changes. Her laughter and childlike mischief can help relax and relieve my depressed mood.

I'm sure I'm not mistaken, there are two people, one whose online name is "Arabian Fury" and the other is "BLACK".

DOOR (Black Gate)

For the past three years, these two individuals have been using the Pentagon's classified database as their cyber haven, and occasionally, when they feel like it, they will turn all four thousand-plus computers at the Pentagon into "super botnets" to launch frivolous attacks on the military electronic defense networks of European and Asian countries.

This extreme contempt for the Pentagon had given US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld a major headache. He repeatedly mobilized top hackers from across the country to try and eliminate the two men, but he was never able to eradicate them completely, and they didn't even know their true identities.

"There used to be two people, 'Rage' and 'Blackgate.' However, four months ago, these two supreme assassins of the hacker world were defeated by another expert and imprisoned. It is said that they have been taken by the Americans to a black jail on a Pacific island. Therefore, your answer can only get fifty points."

Suren kept staring at the person who was slowly walking towards them with great interest, and casually denied my answer.

The computer world is full of experts, emerging one after another. In just four months, the online landscape has been updated three times over.

"Who could possibly handle these two masters?" I genuinely didn't know; I was humbly seeking guidance from Su Lun. For the past six months, I'd been racking my brains over my elder brother Yang Tian's mysterious notebook, becoming increasingly indifferent to the happenings around me.

Suren squeezed my hand tightly, deliberately changing the subject: "Brother Feng, from your palmistry, I can see that the Mount of Mars is soft and the Mount of Saturn is hard, proving that you appear strong and cold on the outside but are actually incredibly gentle on the inside... So, many times, don't readily agree to girls' requests, don't... make promises lightly, otherwise you'll only hurt others..."

Her words seemed to be a veiled reference to Tina, and I could only smile wryly: "Alright! But you know, in the world of martial arts, one is often not in control of one's own destiny. In many situations, one has to endure and bear a lot in order to achieve one's goals."

Suren brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled gently: "Yes, Brother Feng, I understand."

I suddenly realized that her already slender, oval face, after a night of exhaustion, appeared even paler and more delicate. Her slightly thin body seemed unable to support her long hair. Compared to Tina or Tengjia, Sulun possessed a gentle, submissive quality unique to Chinese girls. Only in her presence could I completely relax and not be wary.

Most of the time, Suren is absolutely strong and capable of handling things on her own. For example, when suppressing a mutiny, she decisively drew her gun and crushed Robert's rebellion in one fell swoop, demonstrating the sharp and fierce nature of a chivalrous female knight-errant. Only in front of me would she occasionally show the childlike playfulness of a young girl.

"On the latest hacker leaderboard, the number one spot is held by someone called 'Red Flag'." She reluctantly let go of my hand and waved to the person who was getting closer.

The man had a gray handkerchief covering his eyes, probably to shield him from the ubiquitous sandstorms of the desert. Above the handkerchief, he wore a pair of thick, bottle-bottom-like glasses, conspicuous and strange, like a Martian photograph published in a UFO exploration magazine. He was thin and small, dressed in gray clothes and a gray hat, looking as if he had just emerged from the dust.

Suren said he had hired a hacker expert to crack the drilling rig's code. Could this strange-looking, unassuming guy be the one in front of him?

I followed Suren to meet him. The man glared at Suren, then suddenly flipped over and threw his huge backpack to the ground, letting out a loud "woof woof woof." After listening for half a minute, I realized that the guy was actually wailing, but his "thunderous but no rain" way of crying seemed incredibly stupid.

After he finished crying, Suren rubbed her hands together and explained to me apologetically, "Xiao Yan has always stayed in the laboratory and rarely encounters this kind of dusty environment, so she's not used to it. Please don't laugh at her..."

The woman nicknamed "Little Swallow" took off her large glasses, ripped off the handkerchief covering her face, and glared at me fiercely: "Who are you? Are you a scalpel?"

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself: "I wonder if this guy came from Mars. He's only heard of the famous scalpel, but doesn't even know who it is?"

“No, I am Suren’s friend, Feng.”

Xiao Yan waved her arms impatiently: "I don't care if you're the wind, a scalpel, or some random person, take me to decode it now! Hurry up! Once it's done, I'm going home immediately. I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for another minute!"

This guy was completely clueless about small talk and etiquette, not even knowing basic greetings, but Suren remained courteous to him and invited him into our tent. I carried the huge backpack the whole time, and it kept making strange "chirping and crackling" noises.

Suren pulled a black cardboard box from under the bed, unsealed it, and found a neatly packed case of Chinese baijiu (white liquor). I really had no idea when she had hidden this stuff; this liquor, called "Red Star Erguotou," is a favorite among men in northern China.

Xiao Yan's severely nearsighted eyes suddenly lit up, and she jumped up excitedly, leaping onto my bed and shouting incoherently, "Long live Sister Su Lun! Long live Sister Su Lun! Long live Sister Su Lun..." Of course, her dirty footprints were immediately left on the bed, and I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

"As long as there's alcohol, I'll have inspiration, haha... No matter what the password is, I'll definitely be able to crack it..." Xiao Yan grinned foolishly, her thick lips parted. I really didn't know what this weirdo could possibly do. Judging from his age, he was probably around sixteen, still a middle school student. He didn't look like a hacker genius at all.

Ten minutes later, Tang's assistant slowly pushed the drill in and placed it horizontally in the center of the tent.

Xiao Yan had just opened a bottle of liquor and was chugging it down, filling the tent with the pungent smell of strong baijiu. He had been standing on my bed the whole time, one foot on the table, while my laptop had long since been pushed into a corner. The alcohol made him glow, even the freckles on his cheekbones and the pimples on his forehead seemed to be shining.

At such a young age, the way he drinks already makes him look like an old drunkard—in fact, more than 90% of countries in the world do not allow the sale of tobacco and alcohol to young people under the age of 18. I really don't understand whether what Suren did was right or wrong.

"What are you doing here? Get out of here!" Xiao Yan yelled at Tang's assistants, her breath reeking of alcohol.

The men stood with their arms crossed, looking down on the drilling rig with disdain, completely ignoring Xiao Yan. Their reason for staying in the tent was to prevent him from accidentally burning out the rig. In their eyes, among all Earthlings, only Dr. Tang was worthy of their respect and admiration; everyone else was an idiot.

Su Lun had a smile playing on his lips, as if he knew Xiao Yan's ways perfectly.

Xiao Yan jumped out of bed, grabbed the wine bottle, walked to the drill, tapped a few times on the touchscreen controlling it, and then slammed the bottle down on the green start button. To everyone's surprise, the drill suddenly started, emitting a low rumble, and the drill bit began to slowly rotate.

"Wow—" The people surrounding the drilling rig were startled and scattered in all directions in a panic.

"Why bother with such a high-level password protection for this piece of junk..." Xiao Yan fluently spat out a string of swear words, looking completely at ease, as if swearing was a matter of course.

Suren pulled my arm and took a few steps outside, explaining in a low voice, "Brother Feng, Xiao Yan is my friend's younger brother. He's always acted this way, but his code-breaking skills are truly superb. Even if you tied all the Pentagon's code experts together, they would definitely not be a match for him."

I smiled wryly: "Sulen, how many more secrets are you hiding from me?"

Suren blinked, then asked helplessly, "Everyone has the right to keep secrets, doesn't they?"

"So, who is your friend? Can you tell me their name?" I trust Suren, but I might not trust Suren's friend, especially since he's his friend's brother, which adds another layer of relationship.

Suren took a step back, shrugged, and gave a wry smile: "Can I not say?"

Just then, Xiao Yan suddenly shouted, grabbed an assistant by the collar, and with a flick of his wrist, hurled the man out of the tent with a thud, sending him flying through the air and kicking up a cloud of dust. It was truly unbelievable that at such a young age, his martial arts had already reached such a high level of skill, demonstrating the ability to "deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces of force."

I checked the backgrounds of those people, and almost everyone was a high-ranking martial artist who had reached the highest level in free fighting. They were Tang's assistants and also served as his bodyguards.

"You bunch of jerks, if anyone dares to touch this again, I won't be polite!" Xiao Yan banged the bottle on the drilling rig, spilling wine onto the touchscreen. The others exchanged glances, none daring to approach. The man who had been thrown earlier reacted the fastest, leaping to the rig before being tossed aside by Xiao Yan.

“What do you know? Behind the twelve layers of password is an automatic destruction device. I just casually opened the skin password, and you stupidly ran over and started touching me. If you cause any more trouble, I’ll give each of you a red flag…” Xiao Yan muttered, drinking from a bottle while her other hand rapidly pointed and tapped on the LCD screen.

Both of his hands had six fingers. In ordinary people with six fingers, the extra finger would grow in the middle of the thumb, like a useless and innocent ugly twig. But his extra finger was the same length as his little finger and could make various movements flexibly.

A beep came from the drill rig's monotone speaker, and one of the assistants exclaimed, "The third layer is solved too! You... you really are a genius decoder, my god! Red Flag, Red Flag... you can't be the expert 'Red Flag' who cracked 'Fire Net' and 'Hell Gate' in one night, can you?"

Everyone noticed that on Xiao Yan's two "six fingers," a bright five-star red flag was tattooed. This is the national flag of China, and the greatest pride in the hearts of Chinese people all over the world.

Xiao Yan tossed aside the empty wine bottle, braced his hands on the drilling rig, his face flushed with drunkenness, and laughed loudly: "Yes, yes, I am 'Red Flag,' the 'Red Flag' who takes down 'Arabian Fury' and 'BD' in 24 hours... A great Chinese, a Chinese from great China, hahaha, ha..." He let out a heavy burp, rolled over and leaned against the drilling rig, then slid down and lay on the ground.

I could have predicted this result; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to explain why Suren mentioned the "Hacker Supreme List."

What I'm more concerned about is whose brother Xiaoyan is.

After a while, Xiao Yan's snoring filled the tent. The men, their faces filled with utmost reverence, walked to Xiao Yan's side, almost simultaneously letting out sighs of envy and jealousy, before filing out one after another. People in the tech industry rely on genius and inspiration; often, a lifetime of experience as a senior engineer, decades of honing their skills, cannot match the level of a fresh-faced college graduate.

These people watched as Xiao Yan effortlessly cracked the code, and they were filled with nothing but admiration and respect.

I approached Xiao Yan, staring at his bulbous nose, messy eyebrows, and tightly closed single eyelids—frankly, his appearance was far from flattering, and his addiction to alcohol gave me a terrible first impression. His complexion was poor, a sallow and withered look from chronic sleep deprivation, definitely the result of spending all day in front of a computer screen.

"What did you see?" He suddenly opened his eyes, exhaling a breath reeking of alcohol.

I smiled and ignored him.

The touchscreen on the drilling rig was still lit up, and a short, uneasily flashing light bar appeared in the dialog box where a password should be entered.

Xiao Yan stretched and shrugged: "It will take at least five hours. Lockheed Martin's products, the people in the code-building department are top-notch, there are at least thirty different coding methods... Sigh, it's pointless to tell you, I brought you something good, you'll definitely be interested—" He stretched out his toes, hooked the backpack strap by the bed, pulled it to his side, and ripped open the zipper with a hiss.

On the top layer of the backpack were at least five laptops, their silver exteriors gleaming, all made of high-strength magnesium-aluminum alloy with no brand markings. He reached under the backpack, rummaging around like a fish, and finally found a thick stack of printer paper.

"Hehe, a 30-megapixel satellite fax image. Aside from the original in the Pentagon's Superb Electronic Documents Room, this is the only copy. You should recognize the person in it—no need for thanks, although these things could fetch two million pounds or three and a half million US dollars..."

He tossed me the printed paper, took out a laptop, and dragged out four or five tangled cables, using magnetic pads to secure them to the surface of the drill rig's touchscreen. Then, he pulled out a dirty stethoscope and hung it around his neck, attaching the probe end to the green button on the side of the touchscreen.

Using a stethoscope and hearing to unlock passwords is a common technique used by skilled thieves who steal from safes, but cases of using touchscreens in this way have not been reported before.

I unfolded the wide sheets of printing paper, and suddenly my arm jerked: "Is...is it my elder brother Yang Tian?" Instantly, my ten fingers involuntarily tightened, each gripping one side of the paper, trembling like withered autumn leaves, making a rustling sound.

Suren reached out from behind me and gently snatched the printed paper from my hand, asking in a low voice, "What? What's wrong?"

That wasn't an ordinary image; it was a scene of Yang Tian, the eldest brother, wrestling hand-to-hand with a stone statue, exactly the same as the satellite image provided by Gu Ye, only clearer and more direct.

The eldest brother clenched his teeth, the muscles in his jaw bulging deeply from the tension. His eyebrows were raised high, his clear black and white eyes were glaring, his mouth was half-open, and his mustache was thick and black, but it was rather excessive, making him look like a wild man who hadn't shaved for months.

He twisted the statue's right arm with both hands, while his left elbow braced against the statue's waist, assuming a standard preparatory stance for an over-the-shoulder throw. The muscles, veins, blood vessels, and hair on the back of his hands were captured with unparalleled clarity, making them more credible and convincing than Gu Ye's photos.

The one being held by the eldest brother was clearly a strange-looking stone statue, because the person wore a square helmet-like object on his head, with only round, peanut-sized eyes showing on the front side. He was half a head taller than the eldest brother, and his clothes were very tight, appearing as an indistinct grayish-white color.

The background they were in was very clean, like an extremely desolate empty house, with gray and white walls, floor and roof, lifeless and devoid of any human warmth.

The thirty printed sheets, taken from different angles, almost perfectly captured all of the elder brother's movements and expressions. In the upper right corner of each page was a prominent circular "51" icon. The icon was red, one-cent in size, with no fancy illustrations—just a solid circle with the number in the center.

This symbol undoubtedly represents Area 51, a secret department under the U.S. Air Force, a special department dedicated to handling all information related to extraterrestrial life and spacecraft. Any incident involving Area 51's secret personnel immediately becomes shrouded in an ethereal extraterrestrial mystery.

I took five deep breaths in a row to calm myself down.

Xiao Yan opened another bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor), his brows furrowed, his gaze fixed on the touchscreen. He had already dragged the box of liquor next to the drilling rig, using it as his work chair. One hand held the bottle, while the other tapped incessantly on the hidden keyboard of the touchscreen. Almost every five minutes, the drilling rig's monotone horn would beep.