Chapter 74: Chapter 74: New Profession, Embark Again!

The noise of the night outside the window was still boisterous.

Occasional shrill cries of summer insects were drowned by the roaring sounds of traffic, and the evening breeze brought a slight coolness into the room.

Inside the office.

Xia Qingqing stood still, not speaking.

She was just as perplexed by Captain Yu Shan’s question.

That foreign hacker had gone to great lengths to hack into domestic users’ accounts, just to promote a novel.

The key issue was, the book wasn’t even the work of that foreign hacker; it was Lin Chuan’s work. In other words, he hacked into someone else’s network to promote Lin Chuan’s book, with no apparent benefit for himself.

“What’s the name of that novel?” Yu Shan murmured to himself, then asked.

“Hacker Kingdom,” Xia Qingqing replied truthfully.

“Is it a foreign work?”

Yu Shan asked, a bit suspicious that the author himself might have hacked into networks to promote his own novel.

It was also possible that it was purely to show off skill.

As the Cyber Security Detachment leader, he had encountered many bizarre reasons for network intrusions, and he had even heard of online writers hacking into official network security systems in search of inspiration, ending up incarcerated for years.

Reality often produced more bizarre events than novels did.

Xia Qingqing pursed her lips and shook her head, “I’ve read that novel. Hacker Kingdom isn’t a foreign work; its author is from Anling.”

“An Anling person?” Yu Shan looked momentarily startled.

“Yes.”

Xia Qingqing gave a wry smile and nodded.

With his eyebrows slightly furrowed, Captain Yu Shan picked up the silver stainless steel thermos from the desk and took a sip of the Invigorating Tea, “Qingqing, tell me your thoughts.”

After a moment of pondering, Xia Qingqing asked, “Captain, are you wondering if it’s possible for this author to disguise himself as a foreign hacker and invade domestic networks?”

Yu Shan took another sip of tea and nodded.

This was a serious case of disturbing the order of network security, and Lin Chuan, as the author of the promoted book, indeed had a motive for the crime.

The methods of investigating cybercrimes were different.

Xia Qingqing’s willow-leaf eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she thought for a while before presenting her assessment, “I don’t think he has the necessity to hack into others’ networks.”

“State your reasons.”

Yu Shan prompted.

Having some understanding of Lin Chuan’s situation, Xia Qingqing explained:

“I know this author. ‘Hacker Kingdom’ is a completed novel, so we can rule out that he hacked into domestic networks for inspiration.”

“Furthermore, he has officially registered a private studio with our Bureau of Industry and Commerce and is currently providing security services to several internet cafés. There’s no reason for him to show off his skills.”

“Additionally, colleagues from the criminal investigation team have reported that Lin Chuan has used his detective talents to help solve several challenging cases.”

“Another point,”

“The approach I used tonight for inspecting anomalies in network data was actually provided by this author.”

“Therefore, I subjectively think that it’s unlikely he committed the crime.”

Xia Qingqing expressed her personal view.

However, mere subjective speculation wasn’t enough. After a long thought, Yu Shan put down his thermos, “You do make some sense, but since this involves him, we need to investigate his network backend data to see if he has any connections to this case.”

Xia Qingqing pressed her lips together, “I will continue the investigation.”

“Qingqing, wait a moment. The workload for you alone is too great. I’ll have Feng Jun join you in the investigation. He’s experienced and highly skilled in computer technology, particularly adept with unique insights in the investigation of network data information.”

“All right.”

For some reason, Xia Qingqing still had Lin Chuan’s phone call from this morning on her mind.

The content of that call was almost identical to the current case.

Xia Qingqing took a deep breath and continued to investigate the case.

Ring, ring, ring—

After Xia Qingqing left, the office phone of the Cyber Security Detachment leader rang.

Yu Shan glanced at the caller ID and immediately picked up the phone.

From the receiver, the grave voice of Director Zhang Biao came through:

“Comrade Yu Shan, an urgent notice. The provincial cybersecurity and informatization leadership group has issued instructions, requiring all Cyber Security Detachments in the province to initiate emergency protection measures and rigorously prevent cyberattacks by foreign hackers. There must be no mistakes.”

“Yes, Director.”

Yu Shan’s heart tightened.

If it were normal times, instructions would usually come in the form of documents.

But now, had the situation become so serious that the Director himself was calling to notify?

“How is your cyber defense going?”

Director Zhang Biao asked.

“Reporting to the Director, at the moment, Jintang Network Security Company is optimizing and upgrading the firewall. We expect to complete the upgrade by tomorrow. Our detachment’s defenses are also being carried out in sync to ensure nothing goes wrong,” Yu Shan replied hastily.

“That’s good.”

Zhang Biao’s tone finally eased a bit.

Yu Shan thought for a moment and mustered the courage to ask, “Will there be a large-scale operation by overseas hackers in the coming days?”

Over the phone, Zhang Biao ‘hmmed’ and said, “Our provincial experts have captured some activities of overseas hackers. It has been detected that in the next few days, they will act in a premeditated and organized manner against Han River Network, especially our government networks.”

A shock went through Yu Shan’s heart.

The situation was severe, and he dared not take it lightly, immediately starting to arrange work and stay on guard at all times.

The internet has never been a peaceful place.

The Cyber Police’s job isn’t just to patrol the network.

…

The night deepened.

The moon shone coldly, and on the quiet streets, pedestrians and vehicles were few and far between, with the night enveloping the whole of Anling City.

A breeze brushed through the old town of Anling, wafting into the Happiness Community. Lin Chuan, looking through the window, could hear the sighs of swaying tree shadows outside his cramped rental, as if lamenting the passage of time and heralding new beginnings.

A day’s time.

The data for “Hacker Kingdom” had skyrocketed again.

System panel:

[Work: “Hacker Kingdom”.]

[Current status: Published.]

[Popularity Value (Average Subscription): 7878/6000. (Including overseas Popularity Value: 5508)]

Domestic: 2370.

International: 5508.

Although Lin Chuan had urgently halted Angelina’s promotion within the country in the morning, pushing it to fifty thousand readers had resulted in good conversion rates, and the domestic Average Subscription had increased to 2307.

It was still rising.

Without any surprises, in two days, the boutique status should be within reach.

As for the main overseas readership, it came from the Hacker circles of North Bear, with astounding growth in Average Subscription.

This morning it was still 2108, and now it had reached 5508.

A full increase of 3400 in just one day!

Reaching ten thousand subscriptions is just around the corner!

Standing at the window in his narrow rented room, Lin Chuan took deep breaths of the cool air outside and looked up at the bright moon, a radiant smile spreading across his face.

Fortunately, “Hacker Kingdom” succeeded in going international.

His professional life didn’t fall at the ‘Hacker’ hurdle.

Now.

[Popularity Value (Average Subscription): 7878/6000.]

A new professional experience begins again!