Chapter 315: Eyes Everywhere in Mechanical Civilization
As Yuan Yaoyao was checking the information on the official website of Mars Building, Su Muyu's expression suddenly turned dull and she said,
"There are people in the building, their Perceiver must have noticed us."
Lu Heng looked back at her and knew she was engaged in a Perception battle with the opponent.
The battle between Perceivers is a war without smoke, where the victorious side gains reconnaissance rights.
However, such Perception battles rarely result in a crushing victory, as it's more common for both sides to maintain control over a certain area of reconnaissance and prevent the opponent from scouting.
The occurrence of a Perception battle means that the opposition has become aware of their presence.
Lu Heng was slightly surprised because Jian Qing had mentioned that they encountered the raiding team of the Creator Organization here three days ago; initially, he thought they would have left, but unexpectedly they encountered them here.
"Have you identified the opposition yet?"
"Not yet, but the opponent's Perception Ability and resistance are strong, their level is no lower than mine." Su Muyu was still engaging in Perception battle, merely detecting the presence of a highly proficient Perceiver in the building without confirming their identity.
Normally, this level of Perception battle wouldn't involve Sikes's Mechanical Warriors.
The reconnaissance methods of the Sikes Civilization are different and do not operate on the same system as human Perceivers.
Thus, it can be almost confirmed that the opponent is human.
So, there's a high chance that the opponent is part of the raiding team from the Creator Organization, as usually, other human teams initiate contact by exchanging information.
Lu Heng looked towards Yuan Yaoyao and asked, "Yaoyao, could you communicate with the Professor to see if there's a way to access the building's surveillance?"
Yuan Yaoyao nodded, made an OK gesture, and said with a smile, "No problem."
She had just finished answering, and half a second later, she continued, "The Professor agreed to help, he's looking into the building's network now..."
"We've got something, the Professor says the building's security system shows signs of being hacked, the intruder has controlled the system and shut down surveillance devices in one area."
Lu Heng heard this information and figured out what was going on.
Three days ago, the raiding team of the Creator Organization had come here.
They likely sent their assassin-type Superpower User known as Dark Star into the building, attempting to extract information from the Clarence Organic Life Research Institute.
However, the building's security system was of a high level, preventing Dark Star from acquiring the desired information without being noticed.
Even though they were a raiding team, it doesn't mean they would plunder from start to end.
An experienced raiding team knows exactly when to start raiding and when not to.
There were still eight days left until the draft, so starting to raid now would mean enduring eight days of being wanted by the Sikes Civilization.
A real raiding team would spend more time casing the joint, identifying the exact target to raid, and then act on the last day to take everything they needed.
Thus, they would not easily expose their identity until the day before the deadline.
Unable to quietly secure the information, they spent three extra days finding a way to hack into the security system of Mars Building.
So, here they were again, three days later, unfortunately running into Lu Heng and his group.
Lu Heng then asked, "Yaoyao, could you ask the Professor if it's possible to obtain the surveillance information from the building's security system?"
Yuan Yaoyao pursed her lips with a smile, nodding delightedly, "Yes, the Professor said the intruder's skills are quite average, he can take over the security system without the intruder realizing."
"That's good, bring up the surveillance footage." Lu Heng sat in the anti-gravity car, pointing to the glass window of the car.
Then, images appeared on the window glass, displaying surveillance footage of Mars Building.
However, the surveillance footage was only of corridors and hallways.
Lu Heng said, "The focus is on the Organic Life Research Institute."
At that moment, the image of the Ze Wei'er Matrix appeared on the glass of the other side of the car and explained, "The surveillance system of the Clarence Organic Life Research Institute has suffered physical damage and cannot be repaired."
The technology of Ze Wei'er Matrix was indeed top-tier in the Sikes Civilization, capable of remotely controlling the security system of a building on Queen Star from Second Gaia Star.
However, this network-level technological power could not fix physical damages.
It must be that the raiding team of the Creator Organization entered the Clarence Organic Life Research Institute and damaged the surveillance equipment.
Without the surveillance devices, even if the security system was hacked, the inside of the Clarence Organic Life Research Institute could not be seen.
Yuan Yaoyao pleaded with a pout, "Professor, think of something, you're so capable."
Lu Heng also quickly asked, "Is there a way?"
Ze Wei'er Matrix laughed heartily and boasted, "There's definitely a way, any connected electronic device can become a network terminal that can be used to gather information.
"However, the information you obtain might not necessarily be the imaging footage you want to see."
"Any information will do."
Lu Heng just wanted to know exactly what had happened inside the Clarence Research Institute, whether it was the raiding team of the Creator Organization that had entered.
The Xavier Matrix was highly efficient. No more than two seconds after Lu Heng finished speaking, an audio interface appeared on the car window glass.
Soon after, a deep and hoarse voice said, "I need all your research materials before I blow up your mechanical core. Hand them over to me."
Hearing this, Lu Heng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, guessing who might have spoken those words.
The Xavier Matrix explained, "It's connected to a fire terminal detector; it has intelligent audio components, and the voice is now linked."
Lu Heng understood immediately how the voice had been transmitted.
This is characteristic of Mechanical Civilization; although the raiding team had sabotaged the monitoring equipment in the research institute, they couldn't possibly destroy all the electronic devices inside.
Any terminal device with internet access could obtain information from within the institute, albeit differently.
Following that,
A mechanical voice replied, "According to the Sikes Alien Biological Management Regulations, you have violated sections seven, thirteen, and one hundred thirty-one, seriously infringing on our side. The mechanical guard is permitted to open fire and can kill you on the spot."
Bang!
Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded.
The same deep, hoarse voice threatened, "Hand over the data to me. I'm counting down from three."
The mechanical voice crisply answered, "No need to count; the data is in the internal network's light computer system. I'll take you there."
As a mechanical unit, issuing warnings was a directive from the computer system.
In the event of danger, the citizens of Sikes could use emergency escape protocols to agree to all the criminal's demands.
Thus the mechanical voice agreed very readily.
Soon after, there were creaking noises of rolling wheels, it seemed that part of the unlucky fellow's mechanical limbs had been damaged.
The noise of the rolling wheels grew fainter, obviously moving into another room, becoming inaudible.
Lu Heng asked anxiously, "They're copying the data; can you track what data they're copying?"
The Xavier Matrix answered, "This kind of research organization keeps its technical information in a standalone system which isn't usually connected to the internet, so system information can't be obtained online. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless the researcher being held hostage connects the system to the network. I can communicate with this Sikes citizen, who naturally has the capability to connect to the network."
However, within moments the Xavier Matrix said, "His network module appears to have been damaged; he can't connect. It must have been the first thing the infiltrators destroyed to prevent him from sounding an alarm."
Just as Lu Heng was considering other strategies, the Xavier Matrix continued,
"This researcher from the Clarence Organic Life Research Institute has considerable computational power. He found a way to connect to the network and has activated the networking function of the database system. The system interface has appeared."
As he spoke, an interface appeared on the car window glass.
This interface was a light computer operation interface of Sikes Civilization.
Since the mechanical citizens of Sikes could directly connect with computer systems and operate through data, this interface's method of interaction was not familiar to humans.
Lu Heng couldn't quite understand it at a glance.
Yuan Yaoyao quickly pointed at the system interface and explained, "They are copying the data into a kind of quantum storage device."
Lu Heng asked urgently, "Can you tell what content they are copying? Is there any way to leak false information?"
The Xavier Matrix answered, "If they compare the two sets of data, there is a possibility they'll discover the secret of the false data.
"However, I can modify the data they are copying. Should I do that?"
Lu Heng immediately widened his eyes, "Of course!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Xavier Matrix said, "Modification complete. The data they've obtained matches the false data you previously took from me."
A few seconds later, Yuan Yaoyao pointed at the interface and said, "The copying is complete."
"That was quick?" Lin Zeyu, witnessing the Sikes Civilization copying data for the first time, thought the process would take some time. But from start to finish, it was only a matter of a few spoken sentences.
Lu Heng scrutinized the interface for a while and asked, "Are there other terminals in the institute that can be connected?"
"There are, the laboratory has a considerable number of terminal devices, but they are not in the lab…"
Before finishing the sentence, the Xavier Matrix suddenly changed its tone, "Okay, they've entered the lab now. They've connected to an infrared scanning terminal that can project images."
An infrared scanning image immediately appeared on the car window glass. Initially, it was a bit blurry, but after adjustment, the image gradually became sharp.
In the image, three figures wearing V for Revenge Kill masks appeared. One was the gold-mask-wearing Pharaoh, one a blue-totem-mask-wearing Blue Blood, and one whose mask bore scars known as Fate Carver.
The Pharaoh placed a vial on the laboratory bench and commanded, "Analyze the components of this potion and give me a plan to iterate the effects of the potion."