novelraw Chapter 569: An Unexpected Rout
Chapter 569: An Unexpected Rout
Chapter 569: An Unexpected Rout
Several days later.
Jie Ming stood at the edge of the experimental zone, watching the bustling scene before him. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
After he had proposed the concept of a network virus, the rest of the matter had essentially nothing to do with him. After all, the research capabilities of these high-ranking wizards were outrageously exaggerated.
Relying solely on the single concept he had suggested, more than a dozen brand-new wizardry models had been completed in just a few short days.
Those high-tier wizards didn’t even bother testing them one by one; they simply produced every possible plan at once.
“Lord Jie Ming, you’ve arrived.”
A fifth-ring logistics wizard responsible for reception came forward, his face unable to hide his excitement. “The experiment is about to begin. Lord Martin invites you to the observation platform.”
Jie Ming nodded and followed him through layer after layer of security lines until they reached a high platform with an open view.
On the platform, “Ashheart” Martin and more than a dozen seventh-ring wizards were already in position. Before them floated a massive light screen, displaying in real time the situation of the black fissure in the distance.
“You’re here?” Martin glanced at Jie Ming, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Perfect timing. Come take a look.”
Jie Ming walked to the edge of the platform and gazed toward the fissure.
There, a squad of cannon-fodder units was assembling—elemental puppets, artificially bred war beasts, and several hundred specially cultivated void creatures. Their bodies were densely inscribed with runes, serving as carriers for the newly developed “virus wizardry.”
“We prepared twelve different wizardry models,” a nearby seventh-ring wizard explained. “Some specialize in consuming computational power, some in creating logical conflicts, and some can directly contaminate the information core. Which one will be effective, we’ll find out after testing.”
Another seventh-ring wizard from the Fate Department added, “Regarding how this wizardry should self-replicate, we considered many methods. In the end, we confirmed that it still needs to use the enemy’s own computational power as the foundation for self-replication…”
“We also changed our approach. Activating this wizardry doesn’t require additional elemental power or mental force; it runs purely on information and computational power…”
Jie Ming nodded, his gaze fixed intently on those cannon-fodder units.
“Deployment commencing.”
At Ashheart Martin’s command, the cannon-fodder units activated simultaneously and charged toward the fissure in the sky.
They passed through the blockade layer and plunged into the pure white radiance.
The image on the light screen instantly switched—it was the real-time visual feed transmitted via the visual-sharing wizardry carried by the cannon-fodder units.
A pure white sea of light.
Countless information beings.
It was exactly the same as the scene Jie Ming had seen before.
The moment the cannon-fodder units entered the planar barrier, the information beings detected the intruders.
Jie Ming could clearly see the outer energy layers of those information beings beginning to fluctuate.
They were reading the information of these cannon-fodder units.
This was their instinct. Any outsider entering their territory would be parsed immediately, then erased or “ordered.” Then, the virus activated.
On the light screen, the movements of those information beings suddenly froze.
Their outer surfaces began to flicker violently, the pure white light flashing on and off like a faulty bulb.
“It worked!”
Someone’s face showed excitement, but most of the wizards looked even more solemn. “Wait, we’re still not sure about the exact effect.”
Jie Ming narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the screen.
He saw the information being that had been the first to read the cannon-fodder data; its outer energy began to twist madly.
It tried to parse the wizardries, but those wizardries had been designed specifically against them, in the process of handling the information virus, the virus was using its own computational power and data to self-replicate.
Every occupied computational unit became a new virus production factory.
They split, multiplied, and spread, surging madly along the connections between that information being and the surrounding nodes.
Thus, the information being instinctively called for help from its nearby companions.
This was a characteristic of the flattened network: when encountering a problem it couldn’t handle, it would automatically request shared computational power.
But it didn’t know that this very request was the best channel for the virus to spread.
The nodes that received the request were invaded by the virus the moment they connected.
Then, the surrounding uninfected information beings also began to flicker and distort.
Immediately after, they too began requesting help from their own connected nodes, and the infection expanded once more.
Jie Ming watched the scene on the light screen and nervously licked his lips.
At this point… they could almost declare that they had already succeeded.
In the outermost region of the Information Plane facing the ship plane, the densely packed information beings were now collapsing in droves, entering a “crashed” state.
Their surfaces flickered wildly; some had their outer energy completely collapse, exposing the core information; others had their core information fall into self-contradiction, trapped in logical dead loops.
Some suffered even worse fates—the virus directly contaminated their information cores, causing them to begin attacking their own kind in confusion.
Patch after patch.
Layer after layer.
The once-impregnable defensive line was now visibly crumbling at a speed visible to the naked eye.
On the observation platform, there was dead silence.
Everyone stared at the scene on the light screen in stunned silence, unable to speak for a moment.
Jie Ming even heard someone swallow hard.
After a long while, a wizard’s voice finally broke the quiet, carrying a trace of barely detectable shock.
“If I remember correctly… weren’t we originally… just planning to probe a little?”
Ashheart Martin turned his head to look at Jie Ming, his expression complex.
Jie Ming gave an awkward smile, unsure what to say.
He had indeed only offered a concept, but he truly hadn’t expected the effect to be this exaggerated.
The flattened network, quantum entanglement connections, and perfect consensus algorithms that these information beings were so proud of had instead become their most fatal weakness in the face of the virus.
Because they were too “flat.”
No hierarchy, no isolation. Every node was directly connected to countless others.
Normally, this was an advantage, allowing instantaneous mobilization of the entire network’s computational power.
But when encountering an information virus, it was a catastrophe.
There were no firewalls, no quarantine zones. Once a single node was infected, the entire network could be contaminated in an instant.
“The outer defenses of these information beings have been breached,” a seventh-ring wizard murmured. “Just like that… breached?”
“It’s not over yet.”
Another wizard pointed at the light screen, his voice trembling slightly. “Look, the virus is still spreading!”
Jie Ming looked at the screen.
The first batch of infected information beings had already completely collapsed. Some had turned into dots of light and vanished, while others had lost all mobility and floated motionless in the pure white sea of light.
But the viruses they left behind had not disappeared.
Those virus programs were still running, still searching for new hosts.
Second batch, third batch, fourth batch…
More and more information beings began to flicker, collapse into light points, or crash.
And the speed was only increasing.
“Fuck…”
Jie Ming heard someone behind him curse.
He didn’t turn around, because he wanted to say the same thing himself.
On the light screen, the once-impregnable outer defensive line had now turned into a shining ocean of chaos.
The information beings that had not yet been infected were frantically retreating.
They tried to sever their connections with the outer region, tried to establish quarantine zones, tried to stop the spread of the virus.
But it was already too late.
The information virus had long since spread deeper along the network.
On the observation platform, everyone stared at the scene in prolonged silence.
In the end, it was Martin who broke the quiet.
He turned to look at Jie Ming, the corners of his mouth slowly curving into a smile.
“Jie Ming.”
“Present.”
“What do you think… this thing should be called?”
Jie Ming was stunned for a moment, then looked at the “plague” madly spreading across the light screen.
“Well…”
He paused.
“Let’s just call it ‘Information Plague.’”