Chapter 356: Tampering?
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"I don't know. I'm only guessing that the military academy is probably being targeted for a large-scale enemy attack right now," said Ling Lan as they walked. Very soon they had come to the door of Luo Lang's room, and without even thinking about it, Ling Lan once again whipped out a savage kick to send the door flying open. However, the door opened to an empty room.
Just then, a person suddenly leapt out from the side, striking out ferociously at Ling Lan's face. Ling Lan calmly raised her right hand and caught the attacker's powerful fist with a palm.
"Boss, it's you!" Luo Lang saw that Boss Ling Lan was the one who had seized his fist and instantly let out a sigh of relief, crying out in joy. Apparently, the ruckus from Qi Long's room had startled the sleeping Luo Lang awake. He had thought that something was wrong and so had swiftly put on his clothes and hid behind the wall right by the door. When his door had been kicked open, he had then charged out to punch the intruder.
Ling Lan let go of Luo Lang's fist, and casting down a cold glance, she said, "Luo Lang, keep up!"
Luo Lang retracted his hand. Seeing the grim look on Ling Lan's face, he knew something had happened. Silently, he followed his boss, though he surreptitiously poked Qi Long beside him. Qi Long turned his head and mouthed silently, "Enemy invasion!"
Luo Lang's gaze turned cold. For his boss to be so concerned, this enemy invasion must be noteworthy. His thoughts ran along the same line Ling Lan's had, thinking of the events that had transpired at the Swift Dragon base. Could it be that the events there had caused them to be discovered?
However, looking at his boss's frigid expression, Luo Lang did not dare to ask any questions. Coming to the second floor, Ling Lan gave a signal to Qi Long and Luo Lang, motioning for them to split up and wake up Han Jijyun, Lin Zhong-qing, and Xie Yi respectively.
Very soon, everyone was awake. Fully dressed in their uniforms, they gathered at the living room downstairs. Ling Lan was seated primly on the sofa, deep in contemplation. Xie Yi and Lin Zhong-qing reflexively glanced at one another and saw the confusion in each other's eyes. They had only been woken up by Luo Lang and Qi Long without being told what was going on.
Han Jijyun walked down the stairs with a thoughtful expression. Coming to stand before Ling Lan, he waited for his boss to give him a definite answer.
"At present, our ground control has lost all contact with all the satellites in the space above this planet. It has been as long as 5 minutes." Ling Lan swept her gaze over everyone present and told them about the present situation.
Ling Lan's words gave everyone a shock, particularly Han Jijyun and Luo Lang. Aware of the importance of intelligence, they knew very well what this represented.
"It's an enemy invasion!" concluded Han Jijyun with conviction. Luo Lang nodded in agreement; he had come to the same conclusion as Han Jijyun. In contrast to Ling Lan's uncertain speculation, Han Jijyun and Luo Lang were obviously much more certain.
"My guess is the same. And I think the invasion will be coming from outer space." Ling Lan reflexively looked out at the starry sky outside the window. Wasn't the pitch darkness of the night sky a perfect setting for an air invasion?
Ling Lan's words caused everyone's expression to change. If things were really as Boss had said, then their First Men's Military Academy was in danger. Boiling over with anxiety, Xie Yi blurted, "Boss, then what should we do?"
"I have already taken control of the ground radar as well as all of the aerial monitoring equipment of the military academy. The moment I notice anything, I will sound the alarm of the entire academy," Ling Lan told her companions of her plans.
"Why not just sound the alarm now? This will make it easier for the ground forces to have time to put up their guard," asked Han Jijyun, puzzled.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing strange in the radar or the surveillance equipment. Without proof, their first response would be to suspect that the academy mainframe has been hacked. Then, they might put in all their effort to investigate this matter. The potential loss outweighs the potential gains; I don't want to have this backfire on us to the enemy's gain," Ling Lan shared her concerns.
If the ground forces turned all their attention internally as a result, Ling Lan would surely regret it endlessly. Initially aiming to disrupt an enemy's invasion but ending up creating an even better opportunity for the invasion instead, Ling Lan would not do such a stupid thing ...
"But losing contact with the satellites is a fact. As long as they learn of this, they should become wary." Han Jijyun could not understand why his boss was worrying like this. From his perspective, the matter was simple. As long as the ground forces knew that they had lost contact with the satellites for several minutes, they would certainly think of the possibility of an air invasion.
After listening to Han Jijyun's words, a bitter smile appeared on Ling Lan's lips. "What if, the equipment displays of all the ground devices connected to the satellites still show that everything is normal?" Only a fearsome existence such as Little Four could experience first-hand the truth that they had lost contact with the satellites; meanwhile, all the equipment were showing that everything was fine, and even the top-class hackers could sense nothing wrong. This was also why Ling Lan was forced to wait for something concrete to happen.
These words of Ling Lan finally caused the complexion of the composed Han Jijyun to change. "Boss, are you saying that there is no indication on the ground equipment about the loss of connection? But the fact is that we've already lost contact with the satellites?"
Ling Lan nodded and said, "Yes. Only hackers who have reached a certain level would be able to notice the problem." If Little Four had not loved to roam and wander about so much, he might have overlooked the problem as well ...
Han Jijyun's entire face turned grim. "Who would have expected the enemy to go to such expense to accomplish such a thing? Rumour has it that only imperial level hackers and above can do something like this ... although our military academy has cultivated many hackers, it has never once produced an imperial level one. Even in the entire Federation, the number of imperial hackers can be counted on one hand. It is to be expected that the ground forces will never notice that the satellites have been tampered with."
Tampered with? Han Jijyun's words caused Ling Lan's mind to jolt, an idea appearing in her mind's eye which would resolve their current passive situation. Ling Lan excitedly called out to Little Four, "Little Four, can you fabricate an image of the satellites transmitting?"
Ling Lan's words made Little Four roll his eyes and he said with a pout, "Boss, you're underestimating me too much. This kind of thing, I can do it even with my eyes closed." Was it necessary to ask him about such a simple thing? When would his boss have a little more faith in him?
"That's good ..." Little Four's words sent a bolt of glee through Ling Lan's heart. She began instructing Little Four on what he had to do. As Ling Lan elaborated, Little Four's gaze became brighter and brighter — in the end, he patted his chest and told Ling Lan to leave it all to him.
After accepting Ling Lan's arrangements, Little Four vanished. As if letting down a great burden, Ling Lan's mood became instantly much more relaxed. She thought about it for a bit and then said to Lin Zhong-qing, "Contact Li Lanfeng, Li Shiyu, and Chang Xinyuan immediately. Let the three of them gather here at our place right away."
After that, she told the others, "You all, immediately contact all the team leaders of the New Cadet Regiment. Tell them about this news!" At this point, Ling Lan suddenly got up from the sofa and walked over to the window to stare up at the endless night sky. After several seconds of silent contemplation, she said icily, "Tell them to gather all their team members, be on standby, and be prepared to fight!"
"Yes, Boss!" Everyone sprang into motion.
********
About five minutes later, the initially still and silent school suddenly rang with the ear-splitting screech of an enemy invasion alarm.
When Ling Lan heard the alarm rip through the night air, the corners of her lips tilted up despite herself. If the enemy truly thought they could easily consume this entire school, then just let them try ...
Qi Long and the others, who had been sitting to one side quietly, leapt up at the cacophony and asked, "Boss, has the enemy been sighted?"
Ling Lan composedly sat on the sofa, shook her head and said, "No!"
"Then this alarm ..." Qi Long was confused now. They had all heard the conversation between Boss and Han Jijyun — Boss had clearly said that he would only sound the alarm once the enemy had been sighted.
"I was indeed the one who sounded the alarm," replied Ling Lan calmly.
"Didn't you say that without any proof, the ground forces will not believe it?" asked Han Jijyun, bewildered, unsure why his boss had suddenly changed his mind.
"They can tamper with the displays, but we can also tamper with the displays." Ling Lan's lips pulled into a cold curve.
Ling Lan's reply made everyone's eyes light up; all of them knew what Ling Lan meant. Indeed, if the other side could make it so the satellite displays registered everything as normal, then they too could make it so that the satellite displays indicated some problem ... most people were just trapped by fixed ideas, believing that attack methods could only be used on an enemy. Sometimes, for the greater picture, these methods could also be applied to one's own side.
Han Jijyun cast a searching glance at the composed Boss Lan before him, his heart maxed out with admiration 1 . While they were still thinking within the box, Boss Lan had already thrown the box wide open — his every action was already beyond any fixed boundaries of thinking. Whether something was good or bad, he could take and use it, as long as the final outcome was advantageous to their side.
Other than that, there was one more thing. Han Jijyun had always thought Boss Lan was just a top-class hacker, but now it looked like he should already be at the level of imperial-class hacker ... as expected of their boss, still as unfathomable even when it came to other domains.
"Enemy invasion, enemy invasion, all ground troops are commanded to enter combat mode. All anti-air cannons on the ground to be aimed towards the sky. Prepare to fire ..." The commander of the ground forces had received the images sent by the satellites and had instantly broken out into cold sweat. He immediately ordered the ground forces to begin moving. The sudden appearance of countless starships in the images as well as those golden metallic eggs spewing from the ships proved that this was a fearsome aerial invasion. Thank god for the timely images sent by the satellites, otherwise they would have been finished over here.
"Reporting to the chief. There is no sign of any unidentified flying objects in the sky on the radars. Everything is normal." Very soon, all the radar surveillance centres sent over the latest updates; they had not discovered anything wrong in the skies above. This situation bewildered the commander — what in the world was going on? Why didn't the ground radars pick up anything as indicated by the images from the satellites? Where exactly was the problem?
"Chief, do you still remember the planet Demonbeast invasion incident in that top-secret military report 6 years ago?" The adjutant by the commander's side found the situation equally puzzling, but his gaze suddenly lit up at this recollection and he quickly alerted the commander.
The commander came to a realisation and hurriedly ordered the staff officer beside him, "Quickly. Get me the information on the invasion of planet Demonbeast six years ago."