1032 Suddenly Becoming a Hot Commodity
Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Shaoheng’s search program. “Are you still looking for the original data?”
Huo Shaoheng smiled. “I can’t hide anything from you.”
“As if…” Gu Nianzhi rubbed her nose in embarra.s.sment. “I was only guessing. Data from the past six months should mainly concern the elections and voting, right?”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t make any comments. He wouldn’t tell Gu Nianzhi that tracking Hong Kangquan’s whereabouts was also one of the important reasons he was searching.
As for involving the monitoring of the elections in the process, they were merely bringing dirt up while pulling up the radish or following the vine to find the melon.
Gu Nianzhi also felt anxious because of all her mental labor. When she suddenly stopped, she felt all the energy in her body disappear. She badly wanted to find a place to sit down.
But seeing the other personnel in the Central Control Room sitting ramrod straight at their desks, she was too ashamed to sit slumped over with bad posture.
She had no choice but to force herself to bear it.
Huo Shaoheng observed her tired face from the corner of his eye, so he told her gently, “Go to bed now, it’s almost three in the morning.”
“I’m not sleepy.” Gu Nianzhi shook her head, unable to stop herself from yawning.
Huo Shaoheng curled his lips. “Sure you’re not sleepy?”
“I wanted to see how you’ll be using this program.” Gu Nianzhi was very interested in AI programming.
It looked like Huo Shaoheng was able to apply it very skillfully.
It was better to ask him for advice than to ask He Zhichu.
He Zhichu was restrained by his ident.i.ty, so it probably wouldn’t be easy for him to teach her.
Huo Shaoheng also understood that Gu Nianzhi had a strong thirst for knowledge. He didn’t usher her to go to sleep. Instead, he began searching for the data from the last six months even more quickly.
……
At 3:00 EST in the United States, the President had just concluded an economic conference and picked up his phone.
Recalling how his country had just suffered a cyber attack from another country, he suddenly felt indignant. He wanted to communicate to his citizens that they would be safe as long as he was there!
Five minutes later, a tweet appeared online.
The President of the United States: The spirit of the internet is free and shared. It’s a s.p.a.ce built on peaceful communication. However, some countries are too aggressive. One even dared to collude with the infamous hacker “Pink Piggy” and invade our country’s internet! I won’t name the country, but I will wait and see what they do! Please continue to follow my Twitter.”
…
On the other side of the world, Hong Kangquan, the Director of the Huaxia Imperial Secret Service, was awakened from his dreams by an urgent ringtone.
He groggily grabbed the phone to look at it, then instantly jolted awake.
The inactive number was calling!
He hadn’t been in contact with that phone number in several months.
Hong Kangquan took the phone and rushed into the bathroom. After closing the door tightly, he pressed the phone to his ear and asked quietly, “Is it you? May I ask what instructions you have for me?”
The person on the other end of the line paused. They were obviously using a voice changer as the spoke, so their voice sounded metallic and soft to his ears.
Although this person’s voice had been changed, their tone was unmistakable
They spoke in a proud, simple, and straightforward manner. It was obvious they were a tough-minded person who could easily persuade others.
“Hong Kangquan, I’m very displeased with you. I didn’t want to contact you again, but a very good opportunity has appeared. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to give it a try.” The person spoke very slowly, but each word carried with it a heavy meaning that affected him deeply.
“Of course I’m willing!” Hong Kangquan quickly expressed his loyalty. He also expressed that he wanted advice from this person regarding an important question.
This person was like a living saint to him. They didn’t care about fame or fortune, so Hong Kangquan had once been suspicious of their intentions. But after all their years of contact, he was able to completely trust this person.
Although he’d never met them before, they had established a relations.h.i.+p of trust.
“Okay, I’ll give you a final chance. If you still can’t take advantage of this opportunity, then you deserve to never surpa.s.s your disciple.” The person suddenly spoke harshly, taking Hong Kangquan by surprise.
He quickly composed himself. “Please tell me. As long as I can do it… I’ll create the circ.u.mstances if I have to, even if there are no circ.u.mstances in place.”
“Good.” The other person was very pleased. “I received news that there seems to be a problem with your Central Control Room. Your chief has taken complete control, so the entire incident is being covered up. They just waged cyberwarfare with the United States, so I think there is a problem with his motive.”
Hong Kangquan was shocked.
He wasn’t aware of this at all!
“There really was a cyberwar? Why didn’t I know about it?” Hong Kangquan scratched his head in confusion. “…What do you need my help with?”
“Of course there was.”
Their voices became hushed as they discussed the matter at hand. After a short time, Hong Kangquan finally ended the call.
Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was three in the morning.
If this person was telling the truth, then he really could make something out of this situation and gain some momentum…
Hong Kangquan was already in the bathroom, so he washed up and showered before changing into his work uniform of a black s.h.i.+rt and black pants.
Picking up his phone, he called his confidants one by one.
“Return to the Secret Service’s small conference room immediately, we have an important meeting to hold!”
…
At 4:00 A.M. in the Huaxia Empire, the lights were brightly lit in the Secret Service’s small conference room. A fierce meeting was taking place there.
“Director Hong, this is the authorization jointly signed by Speaker Long and Prime Minister Tan. We retrieved it overnight. Because this is related to the military, General Ji’s authorization isn’t important.” Hong Kangquan’s secretary placed the authorization before him.
Hong Kangquan looked at the authorization through squinted eyes. He stood up and said, “Bring the authorization to the Special Operations Forces!”
He appeared expressionless as he issued the command.
“All teams are to carry guns. Go sign out ammunitions before departing.”
“Five men are to be in each team. We will work collectively when the time comes.”
“We require special permits when entering the Special Operations Forces headquarters base, so you’d all better prepare them quickly. The more we get, the better.”
The Secret Service and the Special Operations Forces were agencies that were considered mutually monitored, restrained, and balanced by each other within the Huaxia Empire.
As a result, the Special Operations Forces were the ones to catch the moles in the Secret Service. Secret Operations Forces personnel violating conduct were under the charge of the Secret Service.
…
As the first team departed, Huo Shaoheng received an emergency call.
The call was from the informant Huo Shaoheng had planted in the Secret Service.
There were also such people within his Special Operations Forces, but they weren’t hidden well. Huo Shaoheng never a.s.signed important jobs to these informants from other departments.
However Special Operations Forces personnel were groomed as professionals, so they were easily hidden within other departments and would not reveal their ident.i.ty until doing so became critical.
“What is it?” Huo Shaoheng glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly four in the morning.
“I’ll keep this short. Target A is bringing personnel to the Special Operations Forces and is prepared to act unfavorably against you. They are currently investigating the true ident.i.ty of Pink Piggy.”
The person hung up after speaking. The number wouldn’t connect again.
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips as he looked at Gu Nianzhi. She was sitting beside him with both hands propped under her chin. His mind quickly considered this.
At this point, he, General Ji, Zhao Liangze, and the 27 personnel inside the room were the only ones who knew that Gu Nianzhi was Pink Piggy.
These people were all his confidants, so he trusted that they wouldn’t leak this piece of intelligence.
It would be detrimental if they clashed with the personnel from the Secret Service.
Huo Shaoheng had already increased Gu Nianzhi’s security clearance long ago. He’d also hired Gu Nianzhi as a consultant for the Special Operations Forces, so it wasn’t a problem for her to be helping out in the Central Control Room.
But this was the critical moment when the Pink Piggy had magically appeared once again. If others saw that Gu Nianzhi was also in the Central Control Room, the Pink Piggy’s secret ident.i.ty would be difficult to contain.
Many people had speculated that the Pink Piggy was a woman and a very young one at that. Gu Nianzhi was also the only woman in the Central Control Room that day.
She always used a voice changer and a civilian IP when communicating with external hackers, but such methods could only fool normal people. It wouldn’t work on the sly, experienced Secret Service personnel.
So for the sake of security and preventing endless trouble in the future, Huo Shaoheng decided to hide the Pink Piggy’s ident.i.ty. He certainly wouldn’t allow those people to see Gu Nianzhi in the Central Control Room at a moment like this.
Huo Shaoheng sternly grabbed Gu Nianzhi’s arm and rose. “Leave here immediately and go back to my official residence.”
“What is it?” Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo Shaoheng with shock. Just as she was about to ask him more, she noticed that her phone was vibrating.
Taking it out to have a glance, she saw that it was He Zhichu calling.
He was calling her four in the morning?
What had happened?
Sliding the screen to connect the call, He Zhichu’s first words to her were, “Nianzhi, the CIA is currently searching for the Pink Piggy…”