togophonebook Chapter 154 The Strongest Network Administrator in History
Chapter 154 The Strongest Network Administrator in History
"Deal." Wang Minyu snapped his fingers, his fingertips trembling slightly from overexertion, but the light in his eyes was more intense than ever.
He took a deep breath, regulated his disordered breathing, and walked step by step to the "seed" that was still faintly glowing.
What needs to be done next is an extremely delicate "surgical operation".
However, the operating table is not in reality, but in that ethereal yet extremely dangerous spiritual realm.
"Guan Shan, Zhao Shihao, step back fifty meters. No matter if you see me, hear me, or anything happens, you are not allowed to come any closer." Wang Minyu's voice was as cold and hard as iron.
The two exchanged a glance. Although they were worried, they trusted their boss completely and retreated into the shadows in the distance as instructed.
Wang Minyu slowly extended his right hand, his palm touching the cold, slippery, seemingly still-pulsating shell of the "seed".
[System notification: Host intent to perform high-dimensional interference detected.]
[WARNING: This operation is extremely dangerous and may result in loss of consciousness.]
[Would you like to consume 10000 'Special Emotion Points' (current total balance) to initiate a one-time 'Soul Stripping' procedure?]
Looking at that alarming number, Wang Minyu's lips twitched.
After working hard for half a year, all that effort was lost in a single day.
But if this deal goes wrong, he'll have to make "Zero" work for a thousand years to break even!
"Yes," he confirmed firmly in his mind.
As the program started, the previously static value of 10000 points was instantly cleared! An invisible yet vast golden energy surged from Wang Minyu's palm, like a dream-catching net, tightly enveloping the "seed".
"Buzz—!!!"
There was no sound in reality, but in Wang Minyu's mind, it was as if a hundred nuclear bombs were detonating simultaneously.
His consciousness was instantly pulled by a domineering suction force, plunging him into a bizarre and fantastical mental abyss.
Here, there are no ups, downs, lefts, or rights, only an endless storm of information.
He saw that highly advanced ancient civilization—those radiant beings without physical bodies traversing the Milky Way, creating things out of thin air with their minds, and even altering the laws of physics.
However, he also saw the twilight of civilization, the despair that could not be resolved after consciousness, the collapse of billions of souls in their screams, and the final transformation into this "seed" filled with obsession and curse.
That was billions of years of loneliness and madness.
"Ah!!" Wang Minyu let out a muffled groan in his mental world, feeling as if his soul was being crushed on a millstone.
The consciousness of "Zero" was like a thin silver thread teetering in a storm, forcibly bound to the dark core of the "seed," forced to act as a "sacrifice" for this undead civilization.
"Found it..."
Wang Minyu gritted his teeth, transforming into a golden, incomparably sharp scalpel in his mental world.
This is not only the power of the system, but also his obsession as a doctor—to heal the sick and save lives, even if the patient is a monster with only consciousness, even if it means snatching people from the hands of death!
"Break it...!"
He exerted his strength suddenly, and the golden scalpel, with its unstoppable momentum, slashed fiercely at the causal line connecting "Zero" and "Seed".
The resistance was astonishing! It felt like trying to cut through an aircraft carrier's steel plates with a fruit knife.
"A mere bunch of ghosts who died hundreds of millions of years ago, you think you can stop me?!" Wang Minyu roared, burning with his last bit of willpower. "This is my territory! Get out of my way!"
"Zheng—!!!"
A crisp, soul-shattering sound echoed through the mental space.
The sturdy silver thread snapped instantly.
The restraints collapsed, and the storm abruptly stopped.
The consciousness of "Zero" floated up lightly, like a child who had finally broken free of a kite string, with a hint of confusion and fear.
For the first time, her face, which had been filled with pain and distortion, revealed a truly liberated expression of "being alive."
"Thank you..." A faint voice, like a candle flickering in the wind, rang in Wang Minyu's mind.
The next second, Wang Minyu's consciousness was forcibly ejected back into his body.
"puff--"
He swayed, fell to one knee, and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the sewage-filled ground. His face was as pale as paper, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his protective suit.
The mental strain was far more terrifying than running a marathon; he felt like his brain had been churned up.
"Boss!" Guan Shan rushed over as if he had teleported, and caught the swaying Wang Minyu.
"I won't die..." Wang Minyu waved his hand, forcing himself to lift his eyelids and look at the pool.
Without the crucial "Zero" port, the originally eerie "seed" seemed to instantly lose all its vitality, its light completely dimmed, and it turned into an ordinary, even somewhat ugly, black stone, which sank to the bottom of the filthy pool with a "plop".
In mid-air, a pale blue sphere of light, clustered together like fireflies, floated timidly.
"How are you feeling now?" Wang Minyu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice hoarse.
"Very...weak." The voice of "Zero" came from the sphere of light, trembling with a hint of new life, "But I can't feel those voices anymore...It's very quiet, very free."
"Very good." Wang Minyu grinned, revealing his blood-stained teeth.
He pulled an ordinary-looking black USB drive from his pocket and handed it over. "Now that you're free, sign a contract of servitude. From now on, this is your new home."
The ball of light hesitated in the air for a moment, as if examining this strange "new home," before transforming into a streak of light and resolutely entering the USB drive.
The indicator light at the end of the USB drive flashed wildly a few times before stabilizing into a faint blue light, like the frequency of a heartbeat.
"Welcome to the company, Renxin Pharmacy, Cybersecurity and Intelligence Analysis Department, CEO." Wang Minyu stuffed the USB drive into his chest pocket, a standard, greedy smile on his face, like a capitalist reaping top-notch free labor.
Zhao Shihao, who was standing to the side, was dumbfounded, his jaw almost dropping to the ground.
He felt that everything he was experiencing today was more outrageous than all the Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters he had seen in the past twenty years combined.
What kind of operation is this, boss? Is he hand-crafting a soul? Raising a ghost on a USB drive?
"Brother Wang...is that all? That female ghost...went inside?"
"That's a colleague, show some respect." Wang Minyu glanced at him, then looked at the messy underground space. "Alright, let's call it a day. But the cleanup is up to the 'professionals'."
He took out his phone and dialed Captain Zhou's number again.
"Hey, Captain Zhou? It's me. Good news, the monster's been dealt with, and the area's been pretty much smashed up. You guys can come down and clean up now."
It sounded like Captain Zhou smashing a glass on the other end of the phone.
Wang Minyu didn't seem to care and continued slowly, "Also, I just found some very historically valuable... um, ancient sewage system murals down there. I think they're definitely worthy of being declared a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit. Since we found these, remember to transfer the site usage fee and clue fee to our 'demonstration base' account at the highest rate."
Captain Zhou on the other end of the phone was silent for a full half minute before roaring in a near-collapsed, tearful voice, "Wang Minyu! How much more are you going to fleece us?! Are you the reincarnation of Zhou the Skinflint?!"
……
When we returned to the ground, the eastern sky was already turning a pale white.
The first rays of sunlight in Changxiang City pierced through the thin mist and shone on the mottled signboard of Renxin Pharmacy.
Su Qing and Pierre had been guarding the door all night, their eyes were dark circles.
Seeing that the three returned safely despite their disheveled state, everyone's worries finally subsided.
"Boss, how is it? Are you alright? You're not missing any limbs, are you?" Li Siyuan asked nervously, looking him up and down.
"It's all settled. Not only did we not lose anything, but we also gained an extra helper."
Wang Minyu walked straight into the pharmacy and plugged the USB drive containing "number zero" into the old, worn-out computer on the counter, the one that was usually only used for Liu Yixin to play cards and was still running Windows XP.
"Sizzle—"
The computer screen flickered violently, and the fans inside the computer case suddenly roared like a helicopter.
Immediately afterwards, a simple dialog box popped up on the dusty desktop.
The dialog box contained a simple yet inexplicably cute emoticon smiley face made of green code.
Hi everyone, I'm Zero, and I'm very happy to join this team.
Preliminary testing revealed 362 high-risk security vulnerabilities, 98% CPU usage, and a faulty connection on one of the memory modules. Immediate hardware replacement is recommended, or this "electronic waste" should be disposed of in the non-recyclable waste bin.
Li Siyuan and Zhao Na went over to take a look and were both stunned.
"This...this USB drive has come to life? It can even make sarcastic remarks?" Zhao Na covered her mouth.
"No, this is our new colleague, he's a bit blunt." Wang Minyu patted the old monitor. "Zero, don't mind it, just make do with it for now. Do me a favor, hack into Kangmei Pharmaceutical's internal server and give me a copy of all their financial statements, unpublished dirt, and Chairman Zhao Dezhu's private browser history."
[Received. Bypassing firewall... Intrusion successful. Task time: 0.5 seconds.]
On the screen, countless lines of green code flashed by like a waterfall, so fast it was dazzling.
It only takes the blink of an eye.
[Task complete. The encrypted file has been sent to your email address.]
[Also, a friendly reminder: according to big data analysis, Mr. Zhao Dezhu's most frequently searched keywords recently are: "How to determine if one's son has been brainwashed", "Legal consultation on inheritance rights of illegitimate children", and "A comprehensive list of effective hair growth remedies".]
"Pfft—" Zhao Shihao, who was drinking water, sprayed a mouthful of water all over Guan Shan's back.
Wang Minyu looked at the screen and smiled with satisfaction, like a fox who had stolen a chicken.
With this most powerful "network administrator" in history, harvesting profits will be like having a god's-eye view.
The "S" organization? Kangmei Pharmaceutical?
Faced with an absolute information gap, your little bit of trade secrets are practically running naked.
"Alright, stop standing there." Wang Minyu stretched, his bones cracking all over. "It's dawn, time to open for business. This night has been exhausting. Pierre, what's for breakfast today? Get me something brain-boosting."
"Boss," Pierre poked his head out from the kitchen, his French chef face bearing a strange expression, "given the considerable mental exertion we expended last night, especially you, I've prepared for you... French-style pan-fried pig brain, with black truffle sauce, and a glass of extra-strong walnut milk."
Wang Minyu: "..."
He suddenly realized that his employees seemed to be acting increasingly strangely.
Since "Zero" joined the company, Renxin Pharmacy has adopted a more cyberpunk aesthetic.
That old machine has now become the "brain" of the entire pharmacy.
Zero not only rewrote the underlying code and optimized the pharmacy's registration and queuing system, but also hacked into the city's traffic monitoring system. It can accurately predict the arrival of the next wave of patients three minutes in advance and even analyze patients' ability to pay through facial micro-expressions.
Not only that, she also used discarded parts from Pierre's laboratory to assemble a miniature drone herself.
This little creature's daily job is to fly to Old Cai's vegetable garden, monitor the growth data of each cabbage, and incidentally help Old Cai chase away birds that steal his vegetables.
Old Cai praised it highly, calling it "high-tech farming," and strongly urged Wang Minyu to equip the drone with a miniature speaker to play "The March of the Volunteers" on a loop to inspire the vegetables' "patriotism."
A week later, the sun was shining brightly in the morning.
A red Porsche 911 pulled up in front of the clinic, and a wealthy woman wearing sunglasses and adorned with jewels pushed open the door and entered.
She wasn't there for a medical checkup; she was there to "pick up" goods, looking quite eager.
"Dr. Wang, has the 'Calming Jade Egg' I ordered arrived? I haven't had it for the past few days, and I've started having insomnia and heart palpitations again. I can't stand the sight of my husband!" The wealthy woman took off her sunglasses and took out a specially made constant-temperature egg box, which was even studded with small diamonds, from her limited-edition Hermes Himalaya bag.
The so-called "Quiet Eggs" are actually the eggs laid by the "calm chickens" in the backyard that Pierre raised using molecular gastronomy.
Because special calming herbs are added to their feed, these eggs are rich in sphingomyelin, a powerful sedative and tranquilizing compound.
In the circles of wealthy women in Changxiang City, this thing has been hyped up as "edible La Mer," and even as a magic weapon for maintaining family harmony.
One egg costs 8,888 yuan, no bargaining, and you need to order one month in advance.
"Li Siyuan, go to the backyard and bring over the A-03 egg that was laid this morning. Be careful not to knock it over," Wang Minyu instructed without looking up from his book.
Each "Quiet Jade Egg" has a unique number and "identity record," which records the hen's mood, diet, and exercise level on the day it laid the egg.
This is the "quality control standard" set by Su Qing. It is said that the inspiration came from her old habit of numbering corpses. Although it sounds a bit creepy, in the eyes of a rich woman, it is a symbol of professionalism.
Wearing white gloves, Li Siyuan carefully carried the egg, which was as translucent as mutton fat jade, as if it were a bomb, and walked out.
The noblewoman's eyes lit up, as if she were seeing not an egg, but a life-saving elixir.
She carefully took the egg, placed it in her diamond egg case, and then readily scanned the QR code to pay. The string of "8888" left the patient next to her stunned.
"Master," Zhao Na said, looking at the payment notification on her phone after everyone left. She felt her worldview had been shattered. "This...this is just an egg! It costs five cents at the market, why are we selling it for so much? Isn't this fraud?"
"What do you know?" Wang Minyu closed the book, rolled his eyes at her, and looked at her with a disappointed expression.
"What they're selling isn't eggs, but 'scarcity' and 'spiritual sustenance.' These wealthy women have husbands who don't come home, children who are abroad, and their lives are so empty that all they have left is money. What they're buying isn't eggs, but the sense of superiority of 'I can buy what you can't,' and the peace of mind they feel when they eat them."
Wang Minyu pointed to his head. "In this anxious age, anything that brings 'peace' is the most expensive luxury. Learn from this; this is what it means to be a leek's self-cultivation."