Chapter 381: Chapter 46 Facing Me, Mortals_3 Chapter 381: Chapter 46 Facing Me, Mortals_3 Lin Xian walked up to the bar and glanced at the microwave oven that popped open the glass door:
“Isn’t it all the same electricity whether it’s hydro, wind, nuclear, or thermal?
What difference does it make to you?”
The microwave oven VV snorted haughtily:
“Thermal power feels stronger, makes my body warmer; hydro makes it cooler, but my analytical power improves, with Gezhou Dam’s hydro being the purest; wind power lacks definition, it’s rather hazy; compared to these, nuclear is the clearest, refreshing and transformative.
What rubbish, not even a dog would use it!”
Lin Xian took a deep breath to suppress the urge to punch the microwave.
He had figured it out.
He had once again fallen into one of VV’s ‘gag traps.’
This was clearly a joke from the domestic headphone industry; VV was just rehashing old material:
“I’m trying to discuss serious matters with you; can we stop with the gags?
Didn’t you say you were able to prioritize things properly?”
“Besides, I know you’re still developing and evolving, and you’re still an adolescent.
I’m not complaining about you; I’m just stating facts.
Aren’t you, a super AI, being a bit too petty?
Surely stating facts shouldn’t be off-limits?
We need to bravely acknowledge our current weaknesses, recognize the enemy’s temporary strength, and then we can calmly strive to surpass and win.”
“And I said it’s a failure, not about now.
At this moment in 2023, we actually still have a significant advantage, not to mention you’ll only get stronger, evolving at a much faster pace than Kevin Walker.”
it doesn’t matter if we can’t find any information or photos of Kevin Walker…”
Lin Xian walked back to the suite’s living room.
He looked at the laptop screen, which displayed the “2023 World Hacker Competition” team member introduction for Team Mi Country.
The first four members all had names, origins, and photos.
However, the fifth member’s information, aside from the name Kevin Walker, was just a black silhouette with a hoodie, a mere outline with no details visible.
“If we can’t find him on the net, why don’t we just go and find him in person?”
Lin Xian smiled slightly.
He pointed his index finger at the laptop screen, tapping on the hoodie of the black silhouette:
“[We’ll take off his hood ourselves and see his face.
Let’s see who this Kevin Walker really is!]”
Kevin Walker was very likely the mysterious old man from the Fourth Dreamland, which was why there was no information or photos of either of them.
Because they were the same person.
If one was not found, naturally both would be missing.
But on the other hand.
It would mean both had been found.
The answers to these two mysteries might just be simultaneously unveiled at the “2023 World Hacker Competition” tomorrow night…
Mi Country time, 8 PM.
The atmosphere at the New Jersey Open-Air Stadium in New York was electrifying!
This colossal stadium, originally named MetLife Stadium, usually served as the home for the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets and had hosted concerts by Taylor Swift.
Moreover, the World Cup final was set to be held here in 2026.
At that moment, the stadium with a seating capacity of over 80,000 was filled to the brim.
Typically, the “World Hacker Competition” wouldn’t rent such an expensive and vast venue since it wasn’t a highly followed event, and the organizers didn’t have that much sponsorship—usually just a few hundred thousand US dollars from companies like Google, Apple, Tesla, IBM, Microsoft, and that was it.
But this year was different.
Different in every sense.
Therefore, the event organizers, Mi Country’s Pentagon cybersecurity service providers, rented this stadium, worth over 1.6 billion US dollars, and a place of significant meaning, as the competition venue.
The intentions of Sima Zhao are known to everyone.
He just wanted to use Kevin Walker’s “feat” of conquering the Dragon Nation Skynet System as an excuse to shake his fist at the world and strut around boastfully.
Amid the spotlights and the announcer’s shouts, cyber security teams from various countries and companies took the stage in succession.
I have to say, the audience from Mi Country was quite unfriendly, possibly due to the fact that the online war of words had been particularly intense lately.
When Team China made their entrance, the venue with 80,000 people not only lacked applause but was also filled with boos, which truly felt petty.
When the representative team from Mi Country finally took the stage.
In an instant, cheers erupted thunderously!
Thankfully, the stadium was open-air, otherwise, the dome might have been flipped by these unscientific cheers.
With enthusiastic applause and howls, the over 80,000 Mi Country audience members excitedly welcomed their god of hackers onto the stage.
The five members of the Mi Country team made their appearance in turn; the first four looked like typical IT professionals, all wearing glasses, some shy and some with social anxiety.
After quickly bending their backs and waving their hands, they hurried with short quick steps to their seats at the competition area.
Following behind the four adults was…
A boy who was noticeably shorter.
He was wearing oversized Nike shoes and shorts, resembling a street boy; yet his upper body, silhouetted in black, was covered by a clearly too-large hoodie that even draped over his butt, and the sleeves sagged down from his shoulders.
A large hood completely obscured his face and hair.
You couldn’t see anything.
Looks, countenance, hair color, decorations…
nothing could be seen.
Was Mi Country’s ace for today,
The 16-year-old prodigy,
The strongest hacker on the planet—
At that moment, Walker was walking slowly at the end of the line, bending over, hands in pockets, seemingly staring at the ground a mere few inches in front of his shoes.
It was a perfect match for the stereotypical hacker portrayed in movies.
Normally, he would have just needed to follow the team to their seats in the competition area.
When he saw his close-up image being enlarged on the huge screens around the stadium,
Bowing his head, he faced the camera directly.
“Damn,” came VV’s concerned voice in Lin Xian’s Bluetooth earpiece.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Xian asked.
“Can’t you see?” VV retorted in the earpiece:
“He’s about to start posing and showing off!
I learned this kind of camera movement in Hollywood yesterday.
The next step is definitely the camera zooming in continuously, the image enlarging, culminating in a focus on the upper body…”
Everything happened just as VV said.
On the huge display screens at the edge of the stadium, the camera zoomed in closer and closer, focusing on the upper body of this genius hacker boy at an extreme angle that ensured his face under the hood wasn’t captured.
The boy’s right hand slowly emerged from the pocket of his hoodie.
He clenched his fist.
Raised his index finger.
Pointing straight to the sky!
Amid the roar of the 80,000 people in the stadium, his youthful yet imperious voice echoed throughout New Jersey through the stadium’s speakers—