Chapter 1046 - 912: Insidious
Ten days later, the large computation unit group arrived at Purple Star, transported using four large cargo starships.
The equipment itself was already quite large, and it required protection against collision and compression. Four starships were definitely not too many.
The security for the cargo was also well-handled; the insurance company arranged for armed starships to escort it.
After the equipment arrived, a dedicated convoy transported it to Ping’an Headquarters, beginning the tense process of installation and adjustment.
The estimated construction period for this alone is twenty days; there’s no way around it, as the equipment is extremely precise.
For this installation site, Duoduo personally consulted "Lord Huang Tian," asking whether it should be installed at Shanshui Small Building.
After consulting with Qu Jianlei, Flower Scorpion indicated that it’s fine to install and adjust it at your headquarters. We will transport and assemble it ourselves later.
Duoduo was not surprised by this response; a team skilled at hand-assembling Extractors certainly has no technical difficulties.
The real advantage is its ability to shield the movements of the lords; that’s truly remarkable.
In fact, Qu Jianlei had already made corresponding arrangements.
He was indeed very confident, but absolutely not blindly arrogant, and had arranged for Little Lake to monitor the entire installation and adjustment process early on.
Whenever he had time, he would have Little Lake pull up video and audio from the site to watch and learn.
Having lived through two lifetimes, this was his first time taking out a loan to buy large items, and he needed to be cautious.
Of course, he also noticed Taiping causing trouble for Ping’an again, but he simply ignored it.
Qu Jianlei clearly understood that Taiping was very likely the main mastermind behind targeting Ping’an — without a doubt.
The relevant information couldn’t be found online, but Little Lake could still infiltrate personal terminals.
However, as long as Ping’an didn’t speak up, Qu Jianlei didn’t bother; the team collected Guardian Fees to act as bodyguards, not babysitters.
This meant that from installation to adjustment, the equipment had always been under the attention of Little Lake and Qu Jianlei.
Because Ping’an’s cooperation was very effective, the construction period of twenty days was completed in just sixteen days.
The next step was operator training by the manufacturer, but Qu Jianlei and Little Lake ignored it.
— It’s sufficient to have a set of training materials and videos; there’s no need to waste time.
Big Head Butterfly expressed with some sentiment, "Wasn’t installation and adjustment too easy? During these sixteen days, I felt like time was crawling."
What it said meant that dismantling and reassembling would pose no problems.
"Know that you learn fast," Qu Jianlei answered indifferently, "The key now is to optimize the transportation plan and save space."
Given that installation and adjustment were straightforward, other things must be considered.
To Qu Jianlei, the space occupied by four large cargo starships was intolerable.
Although the team had many Storage Talismans, space shouldn’t be wasted like this!
However, to reasonably utilize space required reducing packaging, which increased the probability of component collision and compression.
Therefore, it was a systematic project requiring extensive calculations, only Little Lake could handle it.
Big Head Butterfly turned around, "I’m already calculating, and designing irregular components to effectively save space."
To say this guy was dedicated was an understatement; it was now even considering standard components on the computation unit group to be a nuisance, wanting to replace them with irregular ones.
Anyone slightly knowledgeable about modern industry would know the importance of standard components, facilitating assembly, maintenance, and component replacement.
Yet, Little Lake would rather sacrifice these conveniences to replace them with irregular components, just to save a bit of space.
Indeed, it could only save a tiny bit, not a lot — it was already racking its brains, doing everything possible.
And it dared to make such bold modifications because it had a highly skilled leader.
"Go for it," Qu Jianlei firmly supported it, "If necessary, we can replan the overall machine unit layout."
"No problem," Big Head Butterfly turned excitedly, "I also think the overall layout has issues."
"That’s reserved for expansion and backup components’ interfaces," Qu Jianlei coldly countered.
"But we don’t need it," Big Head Butterfly answered without hesitation, "Structures like these can always be altered."
Alright then, you have a point... Qu Jianlei was momentarily speechless; what Little Lake said was indeed indisputable.
Fixed layouts were convenient and practical, but for someone skilled at dismantling machines and a craftsman, it wasn’t very meaningful.
And Qu himself was such an expert.
So he could only remind it, "Be careful about the surveillance backdoor program, don’t overlook it."
"Rest assured, I have a dedicated data fragment for moni..."
The next moment, Big Head Butterfly halted abruptly in its rotation, its soft voice full of disbelief.
"What? No way! Such a bizarre data packet... Boss, are your words blessed?"
"Hmm?" Qu Jianlei was originally just making a casual remark but was taken aback, "Is there a problem with the data packet?"
"Definitely a problem, but the size of the issue is unclear," Little Lake answered crisply, "Deciphering it is a bit tricky..."
Deciphering anomalous data packets does indeed require caution.
With Little Lake’s level of intelligence and computational power, the probability of falling into a trap wasn’t high, but alarming the opponent would undoubtedly be quite detrimental.
Qu Jianlei remained calm, "Let’s first determine the source of the information."
Big Head Butterfly spun rapidly, too preoccupied to answer the question, "Such a shameful thing, some can tolerate it, others cannot!"
Currently, the computing power of Little Lake is supported by eighty million computing units.
Although compared to the newly purchased sixteen billion units, there is a difference of several hundred times in computing power, it’s still quite remarkable.
In about five minutes, it tracked down the source.
The other side used Ping’an Headquarters’ central control system as a springboard, which could be traced back to the relay signal tower on Purple Star.
In short, there’s a ninety-nine percent chance that the attack is extraterrestrial.
Although Little Lake does not have an independent personality, it has considerable preset conditions and execution settings, with strong logic judgment capabilities.
When it discovered the data packet came from outer space, its self-protection settings automatically activated, initiating a series of responses.
The first element is to play dead, ensuring the opponent doesn’t realize it’s been exposed.
Other matters can be handled slowly; the worst thing is not discovering it. As long as it’s discovered, it’s manageable.
Next, Little Lake completely abandoned the structural design of the computing units, focusing entirely on analyzing the data packet.
Previously, it had been negligent, in its own words, "the intrusion setting was too simple, somewhat formalized."
Now that it’s serious, it immediately gathered a lot of information.
First, this data packet is used to disintegrate data chains, primarily featuring a "dissolution function."
Simply put, the process is somewhat like white blood cells in the human body, first devouring the target and then self-dissipating.
This theory, based on bionics, isn’t uncommon, but in digital applications, its practical implementation is very challenging.
Secondly, the data packet’s devouring has considerable intelligence, mainly targeting blocked backdoors.
Besides backdoors, it also devours data chains related to digital barriers, showing strong specificity.
Little Lake highly appreciates this type of data packet, "It seems simple, but its recognition and triggering mechanisms are very clever."
Thankfully, Qu Jianlei understands these words, "Does it mean there’s an artificial intelligence behind them comparable to yours?"
Big Head Butterfly spun twice and answered proudly, "It’s impossible for it to be stronger than me, otherwise it would’ve discovered me long ago."
Qu Jianlei felt this guy was getting a bit full of itself and deliberately tried to dampen its spirits, "But they’re from another planet, limited by transmission pathways."
Big Head Butterfly spun twice more, "Even so, it should have strong computing power. I just... Alas, a poor child’s early independence."
Given the amount invested in you, you call me poor? Qu Jianlei felt utterly aggrieved.
"Is it possible they’ve already discovered you and are just pretending not to?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Big Head Butterfly spun frantically, shouting in its soft voice.
"When I analyzed the data packet, I was very careful; it all seemed like natural dissipation caused by peak-valley errors."
Peak-valley error values are common in analog signals, not often heard of in digital signals.
In Blue Star’s digital signals, it’s merely about "yes" or "no" or "zero" and "one," emphasizing presence or absence.
Presence of current is "1," absence is "0."
Even if the Imperial digital signal is ternary, "1," "0," and "-1," it’s the same principle.
The difference between ternary and binary mainly arises from mode and hardware generation differences.
However, in reality, digital signals also vary in strength; for instance, "exist" and "seems to exist, but might also not."
This error is not only small but also hard to capture, so generally it’s considered that digital signals aren’t related to analog ones.
Generally speaking, it indeed has no relation; triggering these errors is nothing more than sudden glitches or external interference.
However, Little Lake can stealthily devour the opponent’s data packet by feigning external interference — truly impressive.
Anyone who’s done data intrusion knows... Well, let’s not delve into it.
Anyway, an ordinary intruder first tries to conceal their origin to avoid being discovered — "My goodness, you’re intruding on me!"
Facing a direct digital confrontation would be a whole different scenario.
Thus, throwing out massive data packets to jam the opponent while stealthily messing around is the real way.
If you don’t use strategies to deceive, how could you possibly swipe large amounts of information?
It’s known that digital warfare also emphasizes "local operations" — locally it’s a wired connection, with particularly close distances.
Outsiders unable to access wired connections can only use wireless transmission; purely in terms of the medium’s transmission capabilities, how could they win?
There’s still overflows happening... Well, given the vast amount of data used by intruders, "one packet one tube" can never be realized.
At least in Blue Star’s normal network data transmission, packet loss isn’t uncommon, and it’s manageable with timely checks and replenishments.
As for why packets are lost, only God knows.
Then, as for those stealthy intruders, verifying the reason for each lost packet is even less possible.
(Update halted, summoning moon tickets, following subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)