This individual had no name, no identity, merely a person born with a disability. Yet, in the virtual world, especially within 'Deep Sea,' his name was widely known. Ittran was a top-tier hacker ranked among the world's top ten.
At this moment, Ittran's phone rang. He received a text message from a sender named Mark, a friend Ittran had met online.
The two had a rather eventful history. Ittran, out of boredom, was roaming the internet when he encountered another hacker of his caliber, nicknamed Big Orchid. They engaged in an electronic confrontation, with Mark's company chosen as their battleground.
In a surprising turn of events during that hacker war, Mark actually helped Ittran. Regardless of what Ittran's opponent intended, Mark abandoned his company's critical programs and files, smashing every computer in sight. This forced Big Orchid to withdraw from the battle in frustration.
Because of Mark's reckless intervention, Ittran won a hacker war for the ages. From then on, Ittran and Mark became good friends, albeit only online. Ittran knew everything about Mark, but Mark didn't even know if Ittran was male or female.
Ittran replied with a message, containing only five words: "Five minutes, done."
Five minutes later, Ittran slowly closed his laptop, tilted his neck, and with a dismissive expression, muttered to himself, "The opponent is strong, but they met me, so they were destined to lose."
Just as Ittran reached his bed to rest for a moment.
The room door was kicked open.
"Who's there?"
Ittran turned sharply, seeing a man and a woman entering from outside. Both were foreigners, dressed in black trench coats and wearing black sunglasses.
"I didn't expect the legendary Ittran to be a cripple."
The woman in black closed the door behind her, looking at Ittran, who was in a wheelchair. A mischievous smile played on her lips, sending a chill down his spine.
Ittran was shocked. Impossible. In this world, no one knew his identity as Ittran. He had never met these two before. How could they know this name?
Sensing they meant trouble, Ittran decided to strike first. He pulled a palm-sized gun from his sleeve and, before they could make a move, pulled the trigger, firing shots at the man and woman.
*Whoosh...*
Ittran was confident in his marksmanship, but he never expected these two to show no fear in the face of bullets. With a slight shift of their feet, the man and woman moved to his sides.
Two guns were pressed against his temples. The man sneered, "The world's top hacker, Ittran, is not only a cripple but also skilled. This is truly surprising!"
Ittran glanced at the two individuals. "How do you know my identity? And who sent you to kill me?"
"Ittran, you have only yourself to blame for your arrogance, offending anyone and everyone."
The man in black moved his feet. A black blur flashed before Ittran's eyes, and the man was suddenly behind him.
Ittran felt a gust of blade wind from behind him, then his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
Xiao Xun looked at the message on his phone and said to Big Orchid with a smile, "Your nemesis is about to arrive."
Big Orchid looked at Xiao Xun curiously. "Hei Da Shuai, why are you gathering so many colleagues?"
Xiao Xun stood up and stretched his limbs. "Come, I'll show you, and you'll understand."
Big Orchid changed into the base's specialized dust-free work uniform and followed Xiao Xun to Yuan Ren's modification site.
Upon entering the cabin, he pinched his nose and gagged, "Such a strong smell of blood."
Xiao Xun pointed at Yuan Ren. "That's the smell you're catching from him."
Big Orchid gagged twice and rushed out.
Xiao Xun shook his head and followed him out.
When the smell of blood had lessened, Big Orchid took a deep breath. "What exactly are you guys doing here?"
"Creating a god."
Big Orchid frowned. "A god?"
Xiao Xun pointed at the floor-to-ceiling glass. "Look, that's the god we're creating. Impressive, isn't it!"
The on-site staff were currently welding armor onto Yuan Ren, making him appear less terrifying.
"Such a massive robot, are you trying to be like Ultraman fighting monsters?"
"This isn't an alien, but a genuine Blue Star person, more real than us. We're just putting some clothes on him now."
Big Orchid indicated he didn't understand. Xiao Xun patted his shoulder. "You'll understand when the time comes."
"What should I do now?"
"Help me research a combat-style intelligent artificial system."
"You're joking. How could I possibly develop it alone?"
"That's why I've invited our colleagues."
"I see. No wonder you've gone to such lengths."
"Yes, your primary task is to get our artificial intelligence system to pass the Turing test."
Big Orchid's expression grew excited. "The Turing test! That's incredibly challenging. I love it. Can I borrow your stellar-class supercomputer?"
"Of course."
With the last Saber-toothed Dragon still unfound, Xiao Xun decided not to search for it. With these individuals present, any problem related to computers could be overcome.
As for Lei, the reason he was specifically invited was that he was the most likely suspect in his assassination attempt, so he had to be brought in for clarification.
Lei was too difficult to apprehend. Neither a direct assault nor luring him out would work. Most importantly, Lei was a famous public figure and the inventor of the Star Map operating system. Any misstep could lead to international complications.
In the end, Su Xiang had no choice but to tie up Lei's "soft spot" before bringing the influential business magnate and greatest hacker into custody.
It was only because Lei still had a shred of familial affection. If not, there would have been truly no way.
Currently, nine out of the world's top ten hackers were within the base in Zone Eight.
Xiao Xun intended to interrogate Lei alone. To his surprise, upon entering the room, Lei recognized him immediately.
"Xiao Xun, I didn't expect you to be the one who captured me."
Hearing this, Xiao Xun was convinced that his assassination attempts were directly linked to him.
He sat down in front of Lei. "The past two years haven't been easy for me. I've been targeted for assassination almost every other day. The latest attempt wasn't even an assassination; they directly tried to run me over with a car. More than a dozen people got out of the car; it was a terrifying scene."
Lei looked at him expressionlessly. "But you still didn't die, which means you are quite capable."
"It's not about capability; it's just that I'm lucky to be alive. Tell me, why did you want to kill me?"
Lei snorted. "We do have some minor past grievances, but those are old matters. Besides, you're a talented person. Even if I wanted revenge, I wouldn't resort to such extreme measures!"
"So, what you're saying is, it wasn't you who tried to kill me?"