I am a Big Player
Chapter 547 - 541, European Hacker System (First Update)_1

Chapter 547: 541, European Hacker System (First Update)_1

Rome, the capital of Italy.

An occasional scream echoed from a factory in the suburbs, muffled by the thick walls of the building, so when the sounds reached the outside, they were no longer very distinct.

All the windows inside the factory were covered with black tape, blocking any light from outside and preventing anyone from peering in.

The interior was dark and ominous, with tarp-covered old steel equipment and dust covering the floor, suggesting it had been a long time since anyone had been here.

In the middle of the factory, a dim incandescent bulb shone, illuminating the 13 people beside it: one person was hanging from a steel beam, one stood in front of him conducting an interrogation, while the remaining 11, armed with guns exuding a metallic air, stood guard around the perimeter.

The interrogator was none other than Mark Pen, the combat team leader from the dossier Steve had provided to Ren He.

"I just want to know who the actual hacker was in the Prism Project exposure incident. I don’t intend to hurt the innocent. There are rules on the internet as there are here. You give me the information you know, and I let you go. It’s that simple," Mark Pen said coldly, looking at the prisoner in front of him, the 34th hacker they had captured for interrogation.

Now, the problem was that the organization behind the exposure of the Prism Project had vanished without a trace as soon as the incident occurred. They had infiltrated some civilian websites and left no trace behind when they departed, making them impossible to trace on the internet.

If one cannot find them in the cyber world, then the search must move to the real world. In fact, Mark Pen had thought that it should be easy to find an organization with such a clear objective against the United States, since the world’s web of interpersonal relationships was intricate and complex; the CIA just needed to find a point in the network to trace back to the organization.

After all, having executed such a significant act, they must have had some kind of interest to pursue, and interests leave traces in the real world.

Thus, Mark Pen initiated a global manhunt for top-level hackers, intent on sparing no one, guilty or otherwise. He was well aware that the hackers had unique connections, and wanted to cast a wide net to capture their information.

But in the end, the result was fruitless.

It was as if they had evaporated from the world, having appeared and then disappeared.

No demand for profit, no transactions, no contact with the outside world whatsoever. It seemed as though they had exposed the Prism Project purely out of a desire for exposure...

This baffled Mark Pen. What was their intent in exposing the Prism Project? What was their motive?

Overnight, they had hacked into hundreds of websites, and although these were civilian sites, the perpetrator’s skills were extraordinary. Why couldn’t this person be found in the hacker community?

They couldn’t know that Ren He’s purpose in exposing the Prism Project was purely for revenge, not at all for any benefit.

Even the additional data he acquired was generously given to his future father-in-law, like exchanging it for some credit for the older man, without any desire for money or fame.

As for Xu Nuo, because he was always being restrained by Ren He, he never ventured into hacking. In fact, Qinghe’s internal system maintenance and development were enough to keep Little Fatty busy, he simply didn’t have the time to engage in hacker activities...

Even if Qinghe’s business was settled, he would still need to go to nightclubs to find beautiful hostesses!

These two people pulled off a big job and then disappeared, leaving the event’s development to fate, never inquiring or disclosing anything to anyone. This led to the CIA completely losing any leads to their whereabouts.

By now, the person hung on the steel beam was barely breathing, feebly saying, "We really don’t know who did it, we want to know too... You could look for Allen; I’ve heard he got into some sort of trouble recently, but we don’t know the details."

Mark Pen knew that the interrogation had run its course by this point; no one could withstand the CIA’s interrogation techniques, especially not these homebodies.

In many films, tough guys endure interrogations, gritting their teeth in a show of glory.

But in reality, throughout the history of interrogation, the number of people who have truly withstood torture is about one in ten thousand. It is precisely because everyone knows how difficult it is to endure an interrogation that when the two American spies who were in Chinese custody resisted for 20 years, they were awarded the highest honors...

Mark Pen turned to his team member and asked, "Who is this Allen he’s talking about?"

"He is a hacker from France, now on the run in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We’ve locked down his residence," one of the team members confirmed, glancing at his laptop.

"Good, let’s go to the Netherlands to find him," Mark Pen said as he wiped the bloodstain from his hand with a tissue and led the way out of the factory. The others followed, with all their weapons packed in four black cases, which from the outside didn’t hint at the guns inside.

Behind them, the hacker suddenly went insane, roaring with the last of his strength while hung from the steel beam, "Let me down! Let me down!"

If these people just walked away, who knew when he’d be discovered? By that time, he feared he would be nothing more than a corpse!

It was only at this moment that the hackers began to fear the legendary CIA; they used to see themselves as gods of the cyber world, always believing they were incredibly safe.

But when such a big incident occurred in the United States, and the violent machinery of the CIA really started moving, only then did they understand how terrifying the other side was! Only when they were hanging from the steel beam did they realize, like lambs to the slaughter, that they would have to beware of another set of beasts as long as they couldn’t live directly on the internet.

This was the power of the CIA and the reason why Steve had warned Ren He to be careful of the CIA.

The hacker tied to the steel beam felt utterly desolate; he had barely mentioned Allen’s name, yet the other side had already locked down Allen’s location. When people said that CIA informants were everywhere, he hadn’t believed it.

Someone had advised him to flee to China or Russia to seek political asylum, but he hadn’t listened. Now, it was clear that only China and Russia were safe from the CIA.

Now, the underground hacker network throughout Europe had been nearly decimated, with the CIA combat unit led by Mark Pen setting off for the Netherlands.

At the same time, the Central Academy of Drama Team led by Chen Da also started making their way to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Airfare and the like were reimbursed by the Central Academy of Drama, which considered it an honor for the school. It was Ren He’s first time traveling abroad at public expense...