Chapter Twenty-Eight: This Is Merely the Prologue
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Everyone was stunned!
They stared at one another in bewilderment after watching the simulated-strike video released by the Little Sakura Institute of Technology.
What were they trying to do?
Were they declaring war on all the nations of the Eastern Continent?
At once, several delegations from Eastern Continental countries flew into a rage. They slammed their hands on the tables, rose to their feet, and began angrily berating the people from Little Sakura.
“Damn you, Little Sakura! What is the meaning of this?”
“You’d better give us a reasonable explanation!”
One delegation after another condemned Little Sakura.
Perhaps these countries were not always united under ordinary circumstances, but at this moment, they all turned against Little Sakura in perfect agreement.
Little Sakura’s actions were simply too egregious!
The academicians and representatives from the Shangxia Grand Academy of Sciences were wearing grim expressions as well.
Little Sakura’s intentions were as obvious as the proverbial Sima Zhao’s ambition—plain for all to see.
There was only one reason they would brazenly broadcast such a simulated-strike video: they wanted to show the world that their military strength had risen to an entirely new level, and that none of the Eastern Continental nations could defend against the intercontinental missiles newly developed by Little Sakura.
Put plainly, they had only one goal: to dominate the entire Eastern Continent!
They were using this opportunity to intimidate the other countries!
“Heh heh, everyone, please remain calm. Our great Little Sakura Empire has no ulterior motive. We merely wished to give everyone a more vivid demonstration of the technological advances achieved after our breakthrough. We have no intention of targeting anyone.”
“Next, we will begin announcing the data from this global collaborative project!”
Faced with the delegations’ questions, the people from the Little Sakura Institute of Technology forced themselves to wear hypocritical smiles and offered insincere explanations.
The various delegations still wanted to question them further, but Little Sakura had clearly come prepared. They gave no one the chance to continue and immediately announced that the data would now be revealed.
Hearing this, the delegates could only suppress their anger.
Little Sakura’s provocation was certainly infuriating, but the collaborative-project data was the most important matter of the summit. They could not sacrifice the greater good over a minor grievance.
Seeing this, Little Sakura’s person in charge revealed a smug smile.
Although Little Sakura had always ranked among the leading nations of the Eastern Continent, it had never before enjoyed a moment like this—pressing all the major powers beneath it and stealing the spotlight.
Now, watching the representatives of those major countries seethe with anger yet remain silent for the sake of the collaborative data filled the people of Little Sakura with immense satisfaction.
The person in charge opened his computer and prepared to announce the data.
The large screen also displayed his actions in real time.
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As the man opened the folder labeled “Collaborative Data,” the delegates from every country began taking notes in earnest.
However...
The next moment, something happened that left everyone shocked, shaken, and even terrified!
The person in charge of Little Sakura opened the collaborative-data folder to share its contents.
But where were the data files?
The entire folder contained nothing but two enormous, bold words:
“Idiot.”
“Moron.”
Shangxia script!
In an instant, the entire venue fell silent.
Yes—silent!
Everyone subconsciously held their breath.
The large screen, which had been intended to display the collaborative data, was now filled with the two huge insults. It was as though an invisible hand had seized everyone by the throat; even breathing suddenly became difficult.
The face of Little Sakura’s person in charge instantly turned black as the bottom of a pot. He stared blankly at the two words on the screen for a long moment before finally understanding what had happened. He slammed his hand on the table, his face flushed crimson, and roared:
“You fools!”
Only after his furious outburst did everyone at the scene come back to their senses.
Then, every face took on a strange expression.
The situation was unmistakable: at the critical moment, the computer belonging to Little Sakura’s representative had been hacked.
The intruder had deleted the data on the computer—and then added an insult for good measure.
Afterward, everyone present turned as one toward the Grand Academy of Sciences.
Shangxia script, and one of its most iconic insults at that—it was far too easy to recognize!
“Damn you, Shangxia! What is the meaning of this?”
After his initial fury, Little Sakura’s person in charge immediately turned his accusations toward the representatives of the Grand Academy of Sciences.
For someone to hack the network at such a crucial moment was a humiliation of the highest order!
Yet the people from the Grand Academy of Sciences were, in truth, just as bewildered.
They genuinely knew nothing. They had never imagined that their homeland possessed a hacker capable of breaking into the computer of Little Sakura’s representative at a moment like this.
It sounded like something out of a joke!
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But that bewilderment was soon followed by secret delight.
Little Sakura’s behavior earlier had been far too arrogant.
Now that its computer had been hacked, it had suffered a spectacular loss of face on the international stage!
Of course, although the Shangxia academicians were secretly enjoying themselves, they maintained innocent expressions on the surface. They stated that the incident had nothing to do with them, that they knew nothing about it, and that they regretted what had happened. Finally, they even suggested that Little Sakura strengthen its network-security defenses.
Those words infuriated the people of Little Sakura beyond measure!
Everyone knew that the network protection in place for an event like this was practically at the national-security level.
And yet someone had still managed to break through!
Calling it a supreme humiliation would hardly be an exaggeration.
It was as if every one of them had been slapped across the face in public!
Just moments earlier, they had arrogantly broadcast a simulated-strike video. In the blink of an eye, their data had been stolen and deleted.
The humiliation was impossible to describe.
The live-stream chat room erupted instantly as well!
The people of Shangxia, in particular, celebrated as if it were a festival.
“Holy crap! What am I seeing? Some master hacker actually broke through Little Sakura’s national-level network defenses at a time like this and hacked the computer of its representative? And then left behind one of our classic national insults?”
“What kind of ridiculously satisfying power fantasy is this? I’m getting such a thrill that I can barely contain myself!”
“Hahaha, don’t get carried away up there!”
“Cough, cough. It really is satisfying. They were so arrogant earlier, broadcasting a simulated-strike video in front of the whole world. And now? Their network was hacked in full view of the globe at such a critical moment. It’s absolutely hilarious!”
Many viewers from Shangxia celebrated enthusiastically, but some more rational users raised a question.
“Putting everything else aside, could this cause a diplomatic dispute between the two countries? Hacking Little Sakura’s network at a time like this certainly feels good, but I’m afraid it may create quite a bit of trouble.”
“What’s there to fear? How can they conclude from those two words that we definitely did it? Couldn’t another country have done it while pretending to be us? Besides, everything requires evidence. Do they have any?”
“Exactly. As long as there’s no evidence, all this proves is that Little Sakura is incompetent. At worst, it remains a private matter. If they’re capable, they can trace the attack and catch the hacker. Otherwise, they’ll just have to swallow their anger!”
“Heh heh, absolutely. This is unbelievably satisfying. It’s a shame we don’t know which master hacker did it. Otherwise, I’d burn incense for him at home and set up an altar in his honor. Hacking the other side’s computer at a moment like this and deleting the data is no less impressive than breaking through a country’s national-level network defenses. That guy is practically a god of the cyberworld!”
At that moment, countless Shangxia netizens felt such exhilaration that their scalps tingled.
But no one knew that this was only the prelude to what would happen that day!
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