Chapter 260: Chain Reaction

Words : 1473 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

[TN:The last chapter i own see you guys next week] Cyberspace, strictly speaking, is a general term. Physically, it is composed of the most basic electrical signals, which are then processed through various methods to allow humans to perceive these signals. As an electronic lifeform, the project that gave birth to Zola initially aimed to transfer consciousness into electronic devices—a process known as "consciousness transfer." This was achieved through a device called a "Consciousness Register." Unlike the "Soulkiller" program of the cyberpunk world, Zola lacked the advantage of the "Ingalls-Bragg Protocol" to assist in achieving his vision. He completely bypassed that step. This speaks volumes about Dr. Zola's genius but also highlights a crucial flaw: in the realm of cyberspace, he was not invincible. He had rarely encountered worthy opponents in this domain! In many ways, Leo's current state is equivalent to Zola's electronic consciousness, making their confrontation on equal footing in terms of form—there's no so-called technological gap. In fact, the technology Leo uses is more suited for humans to perceive data streams! Moreover, Leo has extensive experience in cyberspace combat and the technical guidance of cybersecurity experts, which gives him a clear edge over Zola! Zola's consciousness was dragged into the data fortress of the ctOS system, where he witnessed the chaotic structure he'd caused undergo a massive transformation. In an instant, the world turned upside down. After the inversion, the corrupted data currents attached to devices—originally powerful tools for breaching the fortress—were all scrambled and disrupted. What were once invasive and corrosive entities clinging to ctOS transformed into mere specks of dust and grime on a solid wall— Yes, they were still noticeable, but what threat could they pose to a stable fortress? The next moment, the fortress began to shift! Like a living organism, its structure started morphing, constantly moving, and methodically grinding the dust and grime into oblivion! Zola tried to escape. For the first time, he encountered a data transformation on such a massive scale! He lacked the technology to counter it. To him, it seemed as if the ctOS system had revolted, effortlessly obliterating his invasion. The data streams that were functional moments ago had now turned into unreadable, chaotic electrical currents! He couldn't comprehend what was happening! But he couldn't escape! His consciousness retreated along electrical circuits, quickly abandoning the ctOS system and fleeing into the chaotic data streams of New York. But then he felt as though his consciousness had collided with something. A powerful informational barrier had locked onto his escape route, using complex transformations to sever the electrical currents that carried his consciousness. The transformed data currents and coordinates formed a peculiar image in Zola's perception—a tentacle of an octopus. No, if he followed this line of thought, it wasn't just a tentacle; it was a massive octopus! There was an octopus in the network! Zola, like a hapless investigator stumbling into a Lovecraftian nightmare, began piecing together Leo's intentions through fragmented observations of the cyber attack. It was horrifying! Leo stood atop the small octopus, commanding it to release a sonar-like data identification pulse— The octopus's tentacles moved like puppet strings, pulling at the data in this digital realm and gently tugging. The entire cyberspace rippled like a calm sea suddenly disturbed by waves! The ripple, following Leo's intent, pinpointed Hydra's surveillance codes embedded in the network. One by one, red nodes lit up in Leo's perception— Hydra's monitoring nodes scattered across the network were exposed, and during the preceding moments, Leo had already collected enough data to isolate Hydra's communication frequencies! But something unexpected happened: This ripple, which Leo and the octopus slightly modified, began to seek out similar signals across the internet. Upon finding a signal, it spread to other nodes, repeating the search and spreading further— Perhaps because Hydra had planted too many monitoring nodes worldwide, the ripple expanded across the vast domain of the internet, amplifying wave after wave. In the chaotic environment of the internet, the ripple evolved into waves, then into a tsunami! The tsunami swept through the entire internet! Standing atop the octopus, even Leo was stunned by what was happening! All he had done was follow a cybersecurity protocol and construct a sonar-like detection program inspired by dragon-hunting techniques! The sonar, originally intended as a simple detection tool, had become an uncontrollable force due to Leo's "minor tweaks" and the interference of countless programs and devices across the internet. When changes accumulate beyond a certain threshold, they become unmanageable and unpredictable—this is chaos. Chaos turned an otherwise harmless program into a highly destructive wave! At the same time, the internet across the entire United States was paralyzed and collapsing due to this chain reaction in cyberspace! The data waves caused by the chain reaction hit the only two hackers operating in cyberspace at the time, scattering them like wreckage in a storm. However, Leo had the octopus beneath him, a creature born to survive in the vast ocean— On the other hand, Zola was like a human who had merely learned to swim. While he could easily dominate non-swimmers in a calm lake, he stood no chance against the ocean waves. And this wave was designed specifically to target him! In an instant, his consciousness destabilized. Countless corrupted signals surged into electrical currents that exceeded the safety threshold, frying his circuits! In the real world, one communication line after another exploded and snapped, sparks flying everywhere—especially in the Hydra-monitored lines. This dramatic phenomenon spread from New York all the way to the other side of the continent, reaching the military bunker! "Cut the link—cut—" Boom! The bunker's servers suddenly exploded as Zola destroyed his own communication servers, severing all external connections. In the pitch-black bunker, exposed wires spat sparks, illuminating shattered screens. The bunker fell into silence. At that very moment, numerous external servers under Zola's control also burned out, erasing much of his stored memory with them. For a hacker—or rather, for a digital lifeform like him—this loss was akin to a catastrophic rupture in human cognition. And in the human consciousness, the natural protective mechanism during such an event is unconsciousness. Zola shut down. [TN: Talking all that shit led him to killing himself] His allies frantically tried to contact him, but they couldn't. Because their phones were smoking, too. The wave was now unstoppable. Leo had deployed a full 5000 CCU of computational power, unleashing the first major cyberquake in the Marvel world's network environment. He had brought direct data logic—human-readable logic—into the internet. The tsunami swept across North America and, through the internet, spread to the rest of the world. Due to geographic barriers, large-scale signal degradation occurred at the boundaries of the major continents' network domains before the wave entered localized internet spaces, creating further disruption within each domain. A profound mark was left on the internet. In some high-performance processors and systems, this date became etched into memory, a data-anchor point preserved for posterity. Leo's electrodes suddenly detached with a spark, and he climbed out of the cooling tank, steam rising around him. "So, this is what network warfare looks like in cyberspace." He wiped the cooling fluid off his face, even though it would have evaporated on its own in moments. He was simply too stunned. The cyberpunk world's network technology far outpaced this one, but there was one thing they didn't have: A globally interconnected internet. The cyberpunk world's cyberspace resembled neatly divided realms, each carefully isolated and orderly. Compared to the localized networks with clear boundaries in that world, the internet's scale and chaos here were unimaginable. In the cyberpunk world, when Ingalls and Bragg first entered cyberspace using their technology, their available computational power likely didn't even reach 1 CCU. Leo had originally just wanted to pinpoint Hydra's signals in New York, maybe extend it to North America if possible. Well, he did find them. And now, he didn't even need to act further—he had already broken the network completely. Leo had considered the differences between combat in the network environments of 2076 and those of the internet age. But the level of chaos he had triggered was entirely unpredictable and uncontrollable. He seemed to have opened a can of worms. Before he could think further, a pungent smell hit his nose— Bang! Bang! "Boss! Boss! Can I come in and put out the fire?!" The voice sounded like that of Christopher, the kid. Leo snapped his head up to see the room filled with black smoke and flaming machines! Behind him, two octopus-like robotic arms pulled fire extinguishers and began spraying foam wildly. "Come in! Don't use water!!!"

Chapter 260: Chain Reaction

Comments (0)