Chapter 24: An Excited Duan Yu, a Master Hacker!

Chapter 24

The audience in the live stream watched the scene unfold, their minds filled with critiques they hardly knew how to articulate.

"To be fair, he’s acting better than those pretty-boy idols!"
"Don't say it—well, actually, you really have to say it."
"If Director Guo is acting better than the idols, doesn't that mean his acting skills are superior?"
"Are you people above losing your minds or what..."
"Damn, I underestimated Su Chen again; he’s really pulled off another hardcore stunt for the boys."
"Say what you will, but Su Chen deserves at least ninety percent of the credit for the popularity of this show."
"How did he even think of kidnapping the director's daughter? No normal person would think of doing that, right?!"
"I’m not a man of culture, so I’ll just say: holy crap."
"Listen, guys, I have a few questions. First, how did Su Chen trick this girl into coming out? Second, what’s Su Chen’s WeChat ID? If anyone knows, please let me know."
"Your 'Yan State map' is a bit short, isn't it, sis!"

Just as the audience was buzzing with discussion, inside the Expert Group's office, Qin Ming and Bai Su noticed the commotion surrounding Duan Yu and walked over.

"What’s going on? Why is someone reporting a case... Director Guo?!"

Qin Ming’s eyes widened as he stared at the middle-aged man before him, nearly wondering if he was so sleep-deprived that he was hallucinating. Beside him, Duan Yu was already in a state of near-petrification. He had just been arguing that it was unlikely for a criminal to commit two crimes in one night, and yet, here it was. And the victim was the director’s own daughter!

Duan Yu quickly stepped forward to help the "heartbroken" Director Guo to his feet, asking in a low voice, "Director Guo... er, no, my apologies, but could you describe the situation to us in detail?"

Hearing this, Director Guo tremblingly pulled his phone from his pocket. He opened the WeChat interface and held it out to Duan Yu. "Officer Duan, he hacked into my phone and then used it to lure my daughter out!"

*Hacked into the director's phone...*
*Hacked into the director's phone...*
*That phone has an information firewall that I installed myself...*

Duan Yu felt completely paralyzed. The audience was equally stunned by this sudden revelation.

"Holy crap, I get it now! I finally understand why that girl had that expression when she saw Su Chen!"
"Wait, if the protection on Director Guo's phone was Duan Yu’s handiwork, does that mean Su Chen cracked Duan Yu’s security?!"
"It’s very likely. If that’s true, this wouldn't just shake up the Dragon Kingdom; the entire world’s hacking community would be in shock!"
"When did Su Chen crack it? I’ve been watching the stream the whole time, and I never saw him typing any code..."
"Eliminating the impossible, there was only one time Su Chen had access to a computer."
"You mean the time he was playing video games? You’re saying he broke through Duan Yu’s firewall while playing a game?"
"Is he even human..."

***

At the entrance to the Expert Group's office:

"Officer Duan? Officer Duan?"

After Qin Ming tapped his shoulder twice, Duan Yu finally snapped out of his daze, his expression suddenly turning intense.

"Director Guo, please, let me have your phone," Duan Yu said, his tone urgent.

"Here, take it." Director Guo handed the phone over calmly.

Duan Yu didn't say another word. He turned and practically ran to the office computer, connecting the phone to the host unit with a data cable. His fingers began to dance across the keyboard so fast they were practically a blur. On the computer screen, countless complex and dazzling pop-up windows began to appear.

After a while, the tension in Duan Yu’s shoulders finally eased. He slumped back into his chair, his voice steady. "He did indeed take control of Director Guo’s phone, and my information firewall has definitely been breached by this perpetrator."

Bai Su and Qin Ming exchanged a look.

"So that means..."
"Exactly." Duan Yu suddenly sat upright, a long-lost fighting spirit flashing in his eyes. It was the excitement of finding a worthy opponent. "It means this perpetrator is, at the very least, a world-class hacking expert!"

"Officer Duan, I know you’re excited, but hold on," Qin Ming said, raising a hand. "But looking at how the perpetrator handled the explosives earlier, he’s clearly a chemistry expert. While I’m not a chemistry major, I did take advanced courses; I know that to configure your own explosives, you need strict laboratory conditions and deep experimental knowledge."

Qin Ming’s point was clear: a normal, smart person might be good in one field, but it was impossible to be at the top of two separate, highly complex fields. If he were, would he even be human?

Duan Yu stroked his chin, casting a suspicious glance at the production crew’s staff nearby, still buzzing with excitement. "We can't rule out the possibility that there are two perpetrators." After all, the production team only said they chose the criminals; they never specified how many.

Bai Su frowned slightly. "Officer Duan, are you suggesting that the criminal arranged by the production team is actually a team composed of various specialists?"

"Just like our Expert Group." Duan Yu nodded. "It’s even possible there are others on their side who just haven't made a move yet. But for me, that’s not the most important thing right now." He pointed to the computer screen, and realizing others might not understand, he explained: "Every intruder leaves a trail. I just need to follow the breadcrumbs, trace the footprints they left behind, and I’ll be able to lock onto the IP address of the device they used!"

Once this was said, the others in the room grew excited as well. If they could identify the computer used to hack the director’s phone and trace it back to its location, the criminal would have nowhere to hide. Furthermore, writing hacking code is time-consuming; even a top-tier hacker needs to stay on a computer for a significant amount of time. There was no way he could erase that trace entirely.

For a moment, everyone’s gaze was fixed intently on Duan Yu’s operations.

However.
Five minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Twenty minutes passed.

On the screen in front of Duan Yu, the number of open windows grew, becoming increasingly chaotic. The lines of code he had written were too numerous to count.

"Officer Duan?" Bai Su asked, puzzled.

Duan Yu wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, staring fixedly at the screen, and offered a faint smile. "Interesting. Very interesting. This intruder set up an information firewall on his own tracks to prevent me from tracing him back. He’s a master."

"But, if you give me just a little more time..."

Before he could finish, a fire of pure, unadulterated combat spirit burned in the officer's eyes. He stopped talking entirely, his hands savaging the keyboard until the keycaps felt like they were sparking!

This was absolutely an opponent worth challenging!

Bai Su and Qin Ming: "..."

This time, the criminal was truly, unusually difficult to deal with.

***

Meanwhile, on the other side.
Su Chen’s rental apartment.

In the small room with plain white walls, a few simple, worn wooden pieces of furniture sat in the center. Guo Yutong sat obediently on the wooden bed, hugging her knees, her almond-shaped eyes scanning the room with curiosity.

In front of her, the white light of an energy-saving bulb cast a long, sturdy shadow of a young man, reflecting a cold, brilliant glint off the butcher's knife he held in his hand.