novelraw Chapter 383 - 207: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
Chapter 383 - 207: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
Lawrence Winters saw that Kenneth Osborne was busy, so he quietly left without disturbing him.Kenneth Osborne knew she had left and waved goodbye to her, but his eyes never left the monitor.
It seemed that his program had caught someone’s attention.
Kenneth Osborne thought to himself, a mocking cold smile appearing on his face.
...
At this time, Thomas was installing a backdoor Trojan horse into Wayford Intelligence’s program.
Wayford Intelligence is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victory Wise Corporation; he has the final say on technical matters.
He installed the backdoor Trojan without knowing that Wayford Intelligence’s robot control program was a case of "a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
Kenneth Osborne recorded his every move and sent it to Francis Johnson.
Francis Johnson received the message and sent back two words: "Received."
Then Francis Johnson also began assigning tasks to himself, preparing to close the net.
A month later, in a workshop of the National Grid, there was a sudden burst of sparks.
The next second, all the robots in this workshop suddenly lost power and stopped working.
Although the backup program of the workshop was activated in time and the staff quickly extinguished the fire, the incident exposed a critical flaw in the robots: a vulnerability in the control program.
Every workshop of the National Grid is precisely calculated and controlled by artificial intelligence programs.
An error in one workshop can potentially affect others.
The control program of Wayford Intelligence was quickly examined by engineers at the National Grid, revealing not only program vulnerabilities but also installed Trojan programs!
This became a huge problem.
Outraged, the National Grid swiftly canceled its ten-year contract with Wayford Intelligence and demanded compensation for damages from them.
The CEO of Wayford Intelligence was so shocked that he almost wet himself upon receiving the formal notice from the National Grid.
Clutching the letter, he anxiously went to knock on Thomas’s office door, saying: "Thomas, what’s going on?! How did Wayford Intelligence’s robots malfunction?!"
They had just acquired Wayford Intelligence a month ago!
Thomas was also surprised, "What? How could there be a malfunction?"
The CEO placed the formal letter from the National Grid in front of him, "Look, what’s going on? Can it be salvaged?"
Thomas picked up the letter and read it, stunned by the words "software malfunction" and "Trojan."
How did they find out?!
He was very cautious; it was just photographing, how could it be discovered?!
Then he read further, discovering not only software malfunctions and Trojan detection but also the cancellation of Wayford Intelligence’s ten-year contract!
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Thomas’s forehead.
This has blown up...
He stared at the letter repeatedly, somewhat guiltily asking: "What should we do? Should we invite someone from the National Grid for a meal and ask what’s going on?"
"I’ll make some calls..." The CEO called several contacts at the National Grid, but none of them even picked up; eventually, they outright blocked his number!
The CEO of Victory Wise Corporation and Thomas ran around the Capital City for two days, trying to reach someone responsible at the National Grid, but they were completely ignored.
By the third day, letters demanding payment had arrived, with amounts their small company couldn’t possibly afford.
Thomas reminded him: "Why not check Wayford Intelligence’s accounts? They should have cash, right?"
The CEO smiled wryly: "How could there be? The cash in their accounts was emptied the day the contract was signed; we rely on funds from our head office to pay salaries."
Thomas frowned, indifferent to finance and unwilling to worry about it, said: "You figure it out, I’ll check what’s wrong with the software."
The CEO of Victory Wise Corporation had no solutions and had to report the matter to Spencer Group headquarters.
...
Justus Spencer had been having a good month; acquiring Wayford Intelligence smoothly, his support in the board was more secure.
And Spring Spencer had completely withdrawn, no longer competing with him.
Justus Spencer was currently operating to fulfill his promise to bring Summer Spencer back to the head office.
He received a call from the CEO of Victory Wise Corporation while dining out.
"...What?! The National Grid canceled Wayford Intelligence’s ten-year contract?! On what grounds?! I’m going to sue them! How can they casually cancel a contract?!" Justus Spencer was fuming, veins popping on his forehead.