Chapter 424 Battle of the gods
When things started to get out of hand with more data being accessed by the hacker, Jin Liwei excused himself from the computer room and immediately called his baby girl. Although he didn't really want to get her involved, she was the best person he could think of who could help them right now.
So he called her and she agreed to help him.
Back to the present, Jin Liwei was back at the main computer control room. No matter how hard his team of experts tried to protect the remaining data, it seemed that the hacker had no trouble whatsoever in accessing them.
For a multinational company like Jin Corporation, this was a nightmare. The hacker might not be causing them harm right now, but just the fact that a data breach occurred was already enough to damage the clients' trust in the company. In addition to this, there was also the concern that the hacker might use the data he gathered for malicious purposes in the future.
It had already been fifteen minutes since Jin Liwei returned to the computer control room after calling his baby girl. However, there were still no signs of any activity from her.
"President…this hacker's skills are too superior for the likes of any of us here," a member of the IT department said. "It's like he's not even concerned about us and accesses all the data in his own sweet time. Since he's just checking everything out and not really causing irreparable damage, why don't we just let him do whatever he wants? It's not like we can do anything to stop him, anyway. We're just wasting our time."
His colleagues all froze after hearing his words. Many of them glared at his stupidity.
"Of course we have to do everything in our power to stop this hacker at all costs. It's our duty," one of them hurriedly said.
The others echoed this statement.
Jin Liwei's expression turned cold and extremely intimidating. The room's temperature was already low to keep all the computers and other equipment running in their optimal state, but it became even colder, especially around Jin Liwei's immediate surrounding.
"I see," he said in a tone that could freeze even hell itself. "Since you think that you're wasting your time here, why don't you leave?"The employee finally realized that he fucked up. He panicked and tried to appease Jin Liwei. "P-president…ahaha…that's not what I meant. I was just…joking…ahaha."
His colleagues were already mentally lighting a candle for him.
Jin Liwei was merciless. "You're fired."
After he said that, some of the senior employees immediately escorted the horrified employee out of the room. They didn't want to anger their President any further. What if he started firing them next?
Everyone returned to their (hopeless) battle against the hacker after that. By this time, the data breach was almost nearing the alarming 50% mark. The other companies hacked earlier reportedly had 90-100% of their total data compromised before the hacker stopped.
As much as possible, Jin Liwei didn't want Jin Corporation to suffer the same fate as these other companies. Not only would it lower the trust people had in the companies, but it would also seriously damage the overall reputation of the country's business industry.
If the countries' top companies weren't safe, how much more the smaller businesses? This would discourage both local and foreign investments in the country which would, of course, affect the economy. The potential repercussions from this seemingly harmless hacking incident were just too concerning to dismiss.
Suddenly, someone in the room exclaimed.
"What the hell?! We have another breach! Fuck me! This son of a bitch is more aggressive than the first motherfucker! He's quickly stealing the system control from us! Why is this happening?! We can barely do anything against one of them, now we have to fight against two?! Shoot me now, please!"
"Calm down, bro," his colleague told him. "We can do this...we can do this…we can—shit! The bastard stole my access rights!"Jin Liwei frowned and observed the second hacker's actions.
Before everyone descended into full-blown panic at the newly-arrived hacker who was aggressively taking the system control from them, a senior member of Jin Liwei's personal tech team noticed something weird.
"SHUT UP!!!" he yelled at everyone to catch their attention.
When everyone stopped, he pointed at several of the computer screens. "Look. The first hacker is now having trouble accessing the rest of the data. What the… Someone's rewriting the system codes!"
"Motherfucker! Those codes are worth millions! Don't you dare start rewriting them, asshole!"
Jin Liwei's frown deepened. There was uncertainty but also a glint of hope in his eyes. Although he didn't fully understand the things flashing on the computer screens, he still had enough experience to get a general understanding of the current situation. His hands tightened into fists, and he looked determined.
"No, wait! Look at that! This coding…holy shit! This second hacker is fortifying the system and securing the rest of the data! Oh oh oh! The first hacker can't access them anymore!"
"Not only that, the breached parts were also being rapidly repaired. This is amazing!"
"Who is this second hacker?! Is he helping us? He's helping us, right?"
All of them looked at Jin Liwei who now had a faint smile on his face."President, do you know this second hacker?" someone asked him.
"En." Jin Liwei confimed with a nod. "We'll be okay now. The second hacker is on our side."
Jin Liwei felt very excited inside. His baby girl had finally come!
The most senior member of his tech team looked slightly taken aback at seeing his boss' full confidence in this second hacker. However, as he continued to observe the swift fortification of the system and the repeated failures of the first hacker to access the rest of the data, he concluded that the second hacker might just be one of those legendary god-level hackers.
"Do everything to assist the second hacker. Immediately surrender your access rights to him if needed," he instructed everyone.
"Yes, sir," they obeyed.
Jin Liwei nodded in approval.
Later…
"Hahahahaha! Yes! Take that, motherfucker! Can't do anything now, huh? Did you really think that you can just prance inside our company's system like it's your own backyard?! Think again!"
"President, the data breach has stopped at exactly 48%! The first hacker can't access the rest of the data anymore, as they are now tightly sealed and protected by this new rewritten security codes!""I want to know who this second hacker is! President, tell us!"
Jin Liwei pretended that he didn't hear them. There was absolutely no way he would tell them that the second hacker was his baby girl.
The employees didn't force him to tell them either. How could they? He was their scary big boss. If they weren't careful, he might just fire them like what he did to their stupid colleague earlier. They started celebrating the second hacker's victory instead. The tense atmosphere relaxed.
However, their celebration was short-lived because the first hacker suddenly switched gears. Perhaps he felt challenged, even angered, by the second hacker's interference. He abandoned his earlier harmless modus operandi and turned malicious instead. He started destroying the rewritten security codes and even tried infecting the system with several destructive computer viruses.
However, the damaged security codes were continuously rewritten and fortified. The computer viruses were also destroyed before they could even infect anything.
Everyone inside the main computer control room felt goosebumps watching such an intense hacking battle right in front of their eyes. However, they were also scared out of their wits because the battleground was Jin Corporation's system itself. If this battle became any more intense, it might just completely obliterate the company's entire system.
"President! Th-this is too dangerous! We can't let this go on any further!"
Jin Liwei pressed his lips into a tight line. "Just wait. We'll definitely win. I'm sure of it," he said through gritted teeth.
"A-alright, President…"
"Well, even if we try interfering, what can we do? It's like ants trying to join the battle of the gods. We'll just get squashed to death," another commented."Hai. I guess we'll just have to wait until the battle is over and clean up all the mess afterwards."
Jin Liwei and his employees were on high alert as they continued to watch the battle between the two hackers. They were anxious and cheered for the second hacker to win.
"You can do it, love," Jin Liwei whispered.
"Did you say something, President?"
"No. I didn't."
Observing that battle, the experts in the room determined that the two hackers' skills were on par with each other. The first hacker was growing more and more destructive by the moment, but fortunately, the second hacker was able to counter him while protecting the system at the same time.
Of course, there were unavoidable damage to the system but the second hacker was able to keep it to a bare minimum.
Then suddenly, the battle stopped…or so it seemed.
Since the system was constantly repairing itself, everyone knew that the second hacker was still there. However, the first hacker seemed to disappear into thin air.
"I-is it…over?" one of the youngest members of the IT department asked uncertainly."It looks like it. I hope so."
When five minutes passed without any further activities from the first hacker, the employees finally started allowing themselves to release sighs of relief.
"Finally, it's over!"
But as soon as someone said this, the lights in the room suddenly started blinking. Not only that. A couple of computer monitors blacked out before displaying what looked like a logo of a bird. Some of the employees immediately recognized it and gasped.
Then a high-pitched robotic voice suddenly spoke in English. The creepy singsong tone made the employees shudder.
"Dear Drakon~ Where are you?~ Come out, come out, wherever you are~"