Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 955 - 760: Revenge Ignites Chaos

Chapter 955: Chapter 760: Revenge Ignites Chaos

Cutting the internet is like severing blood vessels, polluting the network is like injecting poison.

Massive cyber warfare has similar effects to large-scale physical wars, both being disasters that spell doom for the common people.

During this great cyber war, 25 of Nestor Corporation’s 64 network sites have been shut down, rendered inoperative or halted, with virus programs and malicious traffic invading network infrastructure, causing violent turmoil.

This led to over 10,000 incidents of vehicle delays and collisions, the leakage of countless information records, damage to multiple implants, and approximately 250,000 people’s terminals infected by viruses.

Moreover, many people dependent on navigation systems to travel in snowstorms are now misled, lost deep in the vast snowy wilderness.

Today, on the Northern Archipelago, even smart screens can’t be trusted. They were suffocated by ransomware and erroneous adverts, as unsightly as poles plastered with advertisements, inciting even more panic.

For those affected, all they could do was to throw away their phones and flee all smart machines, hoping the disaster would pass quickly.

"My newly bought computer broke..."

"All websites are down! Help, please——"

"What on earth is Nestor Corporation doing!"

"So terrifying... someone please save me..."

"Help me, please help me!"

"Believe in Nestor Corporation... we must trust that they will prevail!"

In the chaos, they felt an unprecedented terror, yet trusted Nestor Corporation to achieve the ultimate victory.

Xu Yang clearly collected all this information.

Thus, he initiated a retaliation against the West Coast with equal magnitude of terror.

The attack from "it" reached beyond the Great Ocean, targeting the famously huge metropolis "West Coast".

The so-called West Coast is the only major city in New Taixi State open to outside on a large scale.

It is, in fact, a super-metropolis composed of many satellite cities, with a total population of 45.7 million.

The West Coast is also rated as the worst city in the continent, the main reasons? The extreme levels of violence and crime, and the number of people living below the poverty line is higher than elsewhere.

Despite being unable to refuse this reality, people desperately scramble to move to the West Coast, a city that always offers a glimmer of hope to its newcomers.

And now this crucial city was under attack from malicious informational flows!

All virus programs and attack data were originally used by various network enterprises to strike at Nestor Corporation. Xu Yang rapidly recompiled them, transforming them into an onslaught later termed by posterity as the "Dark Tide".

It instantly disrupted most network access points, submerging the local Helis Sea information defense fortress as if swamped by a tidal wave breaking a bastion!

With most Digital Mind holders caught in the attack, the number of people available for defense drastically reduced.

"Go online! Prepare for defense!"

"Nestor Corporation is launching an attack!"

"Alert! Red alert!"

In the depths of the Helis Sea, Laughing Star and Maverick were also subjected to the most intense attack they had ever experienced.

"Too much——" Maverick felt an infinite operational pressure, almost tearing apart his digital consciousness.

Laughing Star chose a moment of levity, logging off the system and leaving him to cope alone, to test Maverick’s endurance.

Maverick held on for a long time until he finally collapsed.

The collapse of all information defenses was reflected above the city itself.

The first second, all major power plants were targeted, units shut down, turbines exploded, and devices fell into significant shutdown incidents, difficult to restart.

The second second, the financial transaction system of the West Coast exceeded its pressure limit, all digits began to zero out, numerous entrepreneurs’ personal accounts were destroyed, countless bonds, vouchers, and keys vanished, and multiple banks’ systems crashed.

The third second, the traffic control system was demolished, drones quickly went out of control and fled, smart driving vehicles fell into an uncontrollable state and refused manual takeover, airports shut down completely, all flights lost direction.

The fourth second, a large-scale surveillance system halted, resulting in a large number of prisons, public security services, and street automatic defense machines failing.

Consequently, the notoriously chaotic West Coast plunged into an even larger scale upheaval.

People tasted an even more severe level of panic.

Countless gang members, mercenary organizations, and black market participants sprang into action, taking advantage of this opportunity to wreak havoc on the West Coast.

Since the company defense facilities and security forces were becoming ineffective, they attacked targets they wouldn’t dare contemplate under regular circumstances.

"Aaaah!"

"—What’s happening!"

"Help!"

"Going crazy——"

"They started fighting! Someone fired a shot!"

Many well-known company headquarters on the West Coast suffered from raids, most of the blocks were instantly drowned in gunfire and bomb blasts, with jewelry stores, malls, and banks being prime targets.

The West Coast lacks everything but desperadoes; it swarms with gang members left with nothing but their lives, modified humans, mutants, cyber-psychotics, and biochemical monsters.

For them, this was nothing short of a godsend.

"Charge!"

"The company’s drones are crashing down!"

"The turrets are no longer working!"

"Bomb it! Rob it!"

The Beast Gang, Howling Wolf Gang, Biochemical Gang, Andes Gang, Street Dragon, organizations like the Batamov Club, Domination Movement, Light of Mind, Free Constitutional Policeman, and others all seized this rare opportunity to strike at their respective targets.

Black smoke billowed, gunfire blazed.

"Heard that this cyber offensive was Nestor Corporation’s retaliation!"

"That’s badass!"

"Nestor Corporation is too fierce!"

"This is our only chance! Go for a big score!"

For those enthralled by chaos, there is nothing more wondrous than the West Coast at this moment.

The well-heeled white-collar workers and entrepreneurs, stripped of their informational infrastructure and the protection of their automated forces, have nothing left but their miserable lives; the once well-policed affluent districts are now nothing more than treasure troves awaiting plunder!

"Our navigation systems are down!"

"How could this... the stations in the Helis Sea..."

"I’m the only living person left in security! It’s no use shouting at me!"

"Quick, grab the weapons to protect the company assets! Get moving!"

"Activate the backup robots!"

"They... They have so many people!"

Company folks erect barriers of violence and information between themselves and the masses. When these barriers shatter, endless hatred, murderous intent, and chaos become their new baptism.

West Coast, Night Gate Technology Company headquarters.

Night Gate Technology produces 50% of the world’s personal terminals and 70% of the operating systems; it is also one of the subsidiaries of Lighthouse Core.

Now, Rohit Menon, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, stands in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the disaster unfolding across the West Coast.

"I hear that the attack received by the East and the West is equivalent," he asks the artificial intelligence assistant in the room.

"Respected Mr. Menon, this statement is not particularly accurate: based on limited information, it is possible that both parties received an equal amount of cyber virus damage, but the response from the citizens on both sides is different; the West Coast has descended into massive chaos and disorder, while the cities within Nestor Corporation’s jurisdiction generally maintain order and stability, with citizens voluntarily staying home, urging each other to be patient until the Nestor Corporation repairs the network."

"Why?" Menon’s gaze falls on a burning district in the distance.

Rampant looting continues unabated, like a fiery hell on earth, proliferation of sin everywhere.

If Nestor Corporation was also hit with a cyberattack, their cities should be just as chaotic.

"It may be due to several reasons: Firstly, Easterners are more rule-abiding while Westerners are more independent; secondly, Nestor Corporation has rebuilt the order at the grassroots of the society, whereas the ruling groups on the West Coast have maintained chaos at the grassroots; furthermore, Nestor Corporation supports the cohesion of communities as units, which is stronger than the support of families and more flexible than society, aiding in maintaining people’s patience and stability in times of crisis," said the artificial intelligence assistant.

"...How many years has it been since New Taixi State last saw an attack reach its homeland?" he asks.

"Counting from 253 years ago when the Witch Army burned down the East Coast, this is the first time New Taixi State’s homeland has been hit by a large-scale attack, even if it is a cyber informational war, it indeed poses a threat to the homeland," said the artificial intelligence assistant.

Menon frowns.

Most New Taixi State residents do not care about anything beyond the soil beneath their feet, nor do they understand where the Northern Archipelago is located in the world.

If they find that the existence of the West Coast will affect this isolated tranquility, they will not hesitate to shut down the West Coast, dissolving the companies that are currently active.

By then, Menon will also lose his position, and his honored identity as a New Taixi State resident will be gone, forcibly returned to some dirty Mediterranean isle.

"Lighthouse Core pursues a magnificent policy of splendid isolation, never wasting time on terrestrial disputes, an astute decision we’ve upheld for over 100 years. Now convey my opinion to Rubazio: stop this cyberwar," Menon says slowly.

"Rubazio will not easily obey any order, no matter where it comes from," the artificial intelligence warns.

"..." Menon frowns.

Bang!

The sound of an explosion.

Menon suddenly sees a black cloud rising slowly from a corner of the city.

The artificial intelligence assistant speculates that a truck carrying hazardous materials has crashed on a street in the West Coast amidst the chaos.

Within hours, toxic substances will cover most streets and skies, turning the West Coast into a polluted city of even more despairing chaos.

Witnessing this, Menon no longer hesitates.

"He wants us to sacrifice like pawns? Tell him to stop! This damned ’West Coast Pact’, without the West Coast, what kind of pact is it!" Menon’s tone is definitive.

...

Meanwhile, Xu Yang has just rescued the weak Rinne from the bottom of the Helis Sea.

Her data stream hadn’t been updated in a long time, her consciousness fragmented into a multitude of filed documents at the core of the hard drive.

"You exhausted a great deal in defense of this war, now you can rest," Xu Yang helps Rinne slowly recover her informational imprint.

"...Mr. Web Monitor..." Rinne can’t quite detect or decode Xu Yang’s current state.

He’s too powerful, resembling some kind of transcendent being or information composite, not possible unless wielding a multitude of supercomputers simultaneously.

"It’s okay now, you need to surface, to recollect your consciousness data, or you’ll drown in the Helis Sea."

"Massive attack..." Rinne begins to ascend slowly.

"We have survived it."

"Did we strike back at those bastards?" Rinne asks eagerly.

"We attacked, but not a full attack, not utterly destroying the West Coast."

"Why... oh— electricity!"

"Right, I’m residing in countless terminals, and every move I make burns our power sources."

Just now, the massive data attack Xu Yang launched directly consumed one-tenth of the Northern Archipelago’s power generation!

This has brought immeasurable impact to all generators and factories, with many generator sets suffering damage from the overload.

If he launches another computation attack of the same magnitude, there might be no electricity available for a long time to come.

At this scale of action, he needs more energy.

Perhaps only the power of nuclear fusion could sustain his current form of existence.

Therefore, Xu Yang holds back, turning to repair the wounds suffered by the Northern Archipelago itself.

People trust that Nestor Corporation will survive this crisis, and Nestor Corporation will fully ensure their well-being and safety.