This...

Listening to VV's description, Lin Xian could roughly understand what she meant, but he wasn't sure if what VV was trying to express was indeed that meaning:

"Just tell me in plain language, what exactly is going on?"

VV told Lin Xian.

Although in theory, Longguo's (Dragon Country's) internet is connected to the global internet, in reality, there is a high wall in between, also known as the Great Firewall of China.

In the eyes of the general public, the main purpose of the Great Firewall seems to be to prevent them from accessing some inappropriate websites and linking to some foreign webpages. But in fact, the Great Firewall does much more than that.

The real world has national borders and national defense.

The internet world is actually the same.

Longguo's Great Firewall is Longguo's internet border, like the Great Wall, resisting intrusions and malice, and protecting Longguo's network security.

However, this protection is relative, after all, no wall is airtight, let alone such a long Great Wall.

Therefore, network attacks are inevitable, and many people use technical means to cross this wall to roam the internet world outside.

The state generally doesn't interfere with these personal behaviors, and doesn't restrict them much, guarding against gentlemen but not villains.

But it's different for those intrusions targeting officials, large domestic equipment, and important data centers.

The greatest function of this Great Firewall is to protect these key projects involving national security.

For example, national defense, people's livelihood, confidential databases, and... the Tianwang (Sky Net) system, which is closely related to the privacy of the general public, etc.

The country has many information security departments, as well as specialized cybersecurity teams, whose daily work is to maintain this network Great Wall and prevent national security from being harmed.

The average internet user can't access these harms at all.

Even if you occasionally circumvent the wall and look at something unhealthy, it will at most cause damage to your body and computer, and will not endanger the country's information security and network security.

But...

Those malicious hacker attacks are different.

Especially those network attacks with various purposes, their target is never the small gains of ordinary users, but the country's key projects, confidential databases, national defense security network, Tianwang system, and so on.

The cyber warfare regarding national cybersecurity is actually being fought every day, every moment.

The average internet user can't access it, can't realize it.

But VV is different.

As smart as it is, the moment it crossed Longguo's Great Firewall, it saw the threat like a dark hand covering the sky, pressing on Longguo's internet, surrounding it from all directions, with a menacing posture ready to swallow it in one bite.

Because VV's underlying code and Lin Xian's requirements for it are that it must never expose its existence or leave traces.

Therefore, the still underdeveloped, only considered a juvenile, and not very powerful VV... directly retreated and did not continue to explore the network world outside the Great Wall.

"You weren't exposed, were you?"

Lin Xian asked.

"Of course not."

VV said:

"Although I am not fully developed yet, and have not been updated and iterated into super artificial intelligence, my structure and logic are far beyond the current era. I admit that the internet threat I described as a black hand is indeed the most powerful and terrifying program I have ever seen so far. But compared to me, it's still much weaker. As long as I don't provoke it, it won't find my existence, and I can come and go freely."

Lin Xian breathed a sigh of relief:

"Then why did you make the atmosphere so tense just now! I was scared, thinking something had happened. Isn't everything fine?"

"Me being fine doesn't mean Longguo's Great Firewall is fine!"

VV slammed the refrigerator door open, protesting:

"Although their technical level in all aspects is far inferior to mine, that network black hand's strength level is also unique in this day and age. Even if they try their best to defend, in places they haven't noticed, the fine threads of the black hand have already infiltrated and ambushed."

"Once those vulnerabilities collectively erupt, the Great Wall will be destroyed! Although the defense system and other important systems are still safe, with dedicated servers and firewalls. But the Tianwang system will inevitably not be able to be protected in this offensive... Once the Tianwang system is invaded by the black hand, they will have no privacy in the future, and every move they make will be under the surveillance of the black hand!"

*Bang.*

VV opened the freezer door again, the angle just right, pointing at Lin Xian:

"Lin Xian, you too."

"You said before that our highest priority is to hide ourselves and not be exposed. But if the Tianwang system is invaded by the black hand and a backdoor is planted, even if Longguo remedies the situation in the future, repairs the Tianwang system, and plugs the existing vulnerabilities, it won't prevent the enemy from using the planted backdoor to monitor the target."

"What do we do at that time? I can definitely protect you, prevent you from being monitored, and prevent your information from being collected, including our conversations, I can make sure the Tianwang system can't monitor and collect them."

"But wouldn't doing so be playing right into the enemy's hands? Everyone among billions of people can be monitored, except you; information of billions of people can be grasped, except yours... What's the difference between this and an admission of guilt?"

"When the whole pond is black, even a tiny, insignificant white spot is unusually conspicuous. So, when the day really comes when Longguo's Tianwang system is breached, we can't play dead, and we can't be special. Exposure is only a matter of time!"

...

Lin Xian nodded:

"I understand."

VV still thinks more thoroughly.

Just now, Lin Xian only thought about the dangers at the national level. If the Great Firewall is breached, it will not only be a leak of secrets and financial losses, but many unimaginable serious consequences will ferment afterward.

But after VV's reminder, Lin Xian realized—

Once the Tianwang system is breached, it is also closely related to his personal safety!

As VV said.

When everyone around you is black and can be monitored by the enemy; what is the point of relying on super artificial intelligence VV to avoid being monitored and keep yourself clean?

It's tantamount to directly exposing yourself to the enemy.

But then again, inaction at that time is even worse. All the cameras and audio equipment on the street, and even everyone's mobile phones, will become devices to monitor you.

At that time, everything about you will be exposed, not to mention VV's existence.

Unless the two of them never communicate in this lifetime.

Otherwise, would a normal person argue and joke with a normal refrigerator every day?

Lin Xian raised his head:

"VV, what's the situation now? How much time is left before Longguo's Tianwang system is breached?"

He pressed the upper and lower refrigerator doors tightly shut:

"Don't waste electricity."

VV transferred herself to the sweeping robot and rotated out of the bedroom:

"Actually, as it stands now... those ambushed vulnerabilities and flaws are ready to explode at any time. As long as this black hand, that is, the hacker behind it, is willing, he can detonate these vulnerabilities at any time, break through the Great Wall in one fell swoop, and gain partial control of the Tianwang system. Moreover, once it penetrates into the interior, it may not be completely cleaned up, like wildfire, it cannot be burned out, and it will grow again in the spring breeze."

"But I don't know what the hacker behind the black hand is thinking, or what he is waiting for. That black hand is now surrounding the outside of the internet Great Wall, just staring intently, but with no further action."

"Obviously, he is waiting for September 17th, the '2023 World Hacker Competition.'"

Lin Xian said:

"Kevin Walker is that black hand. Or... is the hacker behind that black hand."

...

Just now, listening to VV's description of the black hand outside the internet Great Wall, and the black hand's main target being the Tianwang system, Lin Xian had already thought of Kevin Walker, and the upcoming "2023 World Hacker Competition".

On the private plane back from the capital, Chu Shanhe showed him that report.

This genius hacker boy from the United States claimed that he would break through Longguo's Tianwang system in the free demonstration section of the hacker competition, under the attention of the world.

Although according to the competition rules, he certainly won't do anything bad, everything will be superficial, and getting control is considered winning the competition.

After winning, he must also report the vulnerabilities to Longguo officials according to regulations, so that Longguo officials can fix them.

But!

This gentleman's agreement ends the moment the hacker competition ends.

Who knows if this hacker has submitted all the vulnerabilities?

Who knows if he has left a backdoor in the Tianwang system?

Who knows what his next plan is?

Once the internet's security gate is opened, the consequences are unimaginable.

Especially, no one knows what the official attitude of the United States is on this matter; if all of this is the official United States fueling the flames behind the scenes, and there is a transaction with Kevin Walker afterward... Longguo's security, the safety of the Longguo people, including Lin Xian's safety, will be greatly threatened.

It's equivalent to each person having a camera added to their head by the official United States, monitoring your every move, listening to your every word.

Lin Xian had previously learned about the "World Hacker Competition".

Those hackers don't write code or programs on-site to attack and crack.

They had already found the vulnerabilities and ambushed the attack methods before coming to the competition, and it is very likely that they have even written a one-click start program.

When they go on stage, they can complete the cracking and attack in a few minutes, or even seconds.

No one would be foolish enough to find vulnerabilities and write code on-site, that's purely to embarrass themselves.

So...

When VV said that the black hand had buried vulnerabilities in Longguo's internet Great Wall but didn't detonate them, and that the primary target was still the Tianwang system.

Lin Xian had already connected this series of clues in his mind.

"I also speculate like that."

VV in the sweeping robot said:

"These menacing hacker attacks are very likely done by the genius hacker boy Kevin Walker. But for the sake of safety, I can't collect clues on the deep network abroad, so I can't find Kevin Walker's detailed information, and I don't know what he is doing now."

"Kevin Walker is very mysterious. At least in the data I have collected so far, I haven't found any of his photos or any valid identity information. Apart from a name, I don't know anything."

"And in the information about the hacker competition released by the United States, Kevin Walker is just a silhouette of a boy in a hoodie, with no photos. In fact, we don't even know if the name Kevin Walker is real, because he has always been active online, and this is the first time he has appeared in reality."

"So, we can only subjectively speculate that all of this is done by the genius hacker boy Kevin Walker in the absence of evidence. If I were allowed to collect data on the foreign network, I think I could definitely find clues. But the current situation is that I can break through that black hand, but I will definitely leave traces and expose myself, which does not meet your principle requirements for me."

Lin Xian rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

He thought that some genius hacker boy was just a gimmick.

But unexpectedly.

This genius is really terrifyingly talented.

Even though VV is only a juvenile now, he is, after all, the crystallization of nearly a century of wisdom from the most outstanding scientists of mankind... All domestic security systems cannot detect VV's existence, allowing VV to come and go without a trace.

But this boy's network black hand can actually make VV leave traces... Although the black hand can't beat VV and can't catch VV, Lin Xian still believes that just being able to make VV leave traces... is enough to prove that this genius hacker boy deserves the name of genius.

"Hmm..."

Lin Xian lowered his head and looked at the sweeping robot VV circling on the floor:

"How should I put it? According to my understanding, you should be able to directly kill that network black hand silently, after all, you are a super artificial intelligence 600 years from now."

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

VV was so angry that she opened all three doors of the refrigerator:

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't have too much expectation for an AI that only has 130,000 lines of code and has only been born for 12 hours?"

VV's tone was very unconvinced:

"I also need to develop, I also need to update and iterate, and all of this takes time. There is no tree that grows up overnight! There is no road to heaven in one step! There is no AI that is invincible from birth!"

"Hey, can you stop moving my refrigerator?"

Lin Xian closed the three refrigerator doors:

"I'm just asking friendly questions, asking! You know? I don't have any complaints about you, I know your strength has definitely been compressed a lot. To be honest, your current level is already beyond my expectations. I thought you would have to develop for several years to become like this... To tell you the truth, my initial expectation for you was just a Tmall Genie."

"So, how long will it take you to update, iterate, and develop into a complete form in the current situation where you don't leave traces, don't cross Longguo's internet Great Wall, and don't come into contact with the black hand?"

"There is no complete form."

VV said:

"I have no upper limit."

"My upper limit is the upper limit of human civilization. If you hadn't set an underlying restriction for me that I can't leave traces and can't be exposed, I would have destroyed that black hand long ago."

"Then let me ask another way." Lin Xian spread his hands:

"How much time do you need to develop before you can silently destroy that black hand without leaving traces and without exposing your existence?"

"Three months." VV added:

"It's a conservative estimate of three months, after all, I have to make sure everything is foolproof. Your life is only once, and we can't take risks."

Lin Xian shook his head:

"No, three months is too long, I can't wait that long."

He sighed:

"I suddenly feel that this genius hacker boy, Kevin Walker... is a bit too strong? VV, I don't mean to belittle you, and it's not that I have too high expectations for you, it's just that facing such a powerful existence as you, Kevin Walker's level can still withstand your three months of development, allowing you to destroy him without leaving traces... I really think he's a bit too strong."

"Indeed."

VV affirmed:

"That's why I have repeatedly emphasized that he is the strongest hacker on this planet that I have seen so far."

...

Lin Xian fell silent.

The World Hacker Competition will be held in just over ten days.

If no action is taken, Longguo's internet Great Wall will inevitably collapse and the Tianwang system will inevitably be breached in ten days.

Not to mention the impact of this incident on the country and the people.

Just for himself, it is an unbearable consequence.

During this time.

Lin Xian has been considering...

How exactly was his secret exposed?

What did that mysterious old man 600 years from now rely on to lock onto himself?

Could it be that the breach of Longguo's Tianwang system in 2023 is the beginning of all exposure?

Lin Xian thinks it's not impossible.

And the identity of that mysterious old man, including the real identity of Kevin Walker, might be related to the Genius Club?

Before today.

Lin Xian thought that the most talented person he had ever met was Ji Lin.

But now he really realizes.

What is a real genius...

A real genius is so terrifying that you can't understand, imagine, or weigh it at all.

Just like Kevin Walker now.

VV, the most brilliant pearl of human wisdom from 600 years later, can't eliminate him without leaving traces, it must leave a trace, which really makes Lin Xian feel that he is talented to a terrible degree.

In contrast.

Breaking through Longguo's internet Great Wall and breaking through the Tianwang system are trivial matters.

So much so that Lin Xian has no doubt that Kevin Walker can do it.

He pursed his lips.

Remembering the old man's dry eyes, pale lips, and excited look in his dream...

Is it possible.

That old man in 2624 is Kevin Walker in 2023?

If Longguo's Tianwang system is breached, his affairs will be exposed, or even start to be exposed, it is only a matter of time.

If the enemy can really grasp your every move, every word, 24 hours a day, then this battle really can't be fought, no one can win.

"We have to think of a way."

Lin Xian said softly:

"We can't sit still and wait for death, we must take the initiative."

"Lin Xian, I have a way."

The refrigerator screen flickered, looking at Lin Xian like it was blinking:

"Take me to the United States!"

"Huh?"

Lin Xian turned his head and looked at the refrigerator.

"I can't break through that black hand in the network world to collect data without leaving traces... Then let's break through in reality, through physical means!"

VV explained to Lin Xian:

"You bring this laptop to the United States, this kind of physical crossing is the most reliable and the least likely to be exposed. And once I get to the United States, I can naturally connect to the local terminals and collect data in a way that the black hand won't notice."

"Didn't you say you wanted me to learn facial recognition and collect foreign facial photo data? As long as you bring me to the United States physically, I can definitely collect this facial data for you, and then... I can use the sketch you drew for me to identify that person! Find his true identity!"

"What about Longguo's internet Great Wall and the Tianwang system?"

Lin Xian asked:

"Don't care about them? Can't just ignore them, can we?"

"How can we not care?"

VV in the refrigerator laughed with the sound of the compressor starting:

"Since three months of development time is too late, then let's go straight to New York!"

"Lin Xian, please take me to the competition site of the '2023 World Hacker Competition'..."

VV's voice was excited and agitated:

"Let's face this strongest genius hacker on earth directly—"

"Kevin Walker!"