The 01 people in the SUV were still in a state of shock. Although Black Nest had sent out a sniper at the ski resort, they weren't the ones being sniped at that time. Hence, they didn't feel as strongly about it. This time, however, Iron Fist fell to the ground, and his blood splattered all over Zhang Heng's shirt. It made them realize what it felt like to have a brush with death.
Everyone, including Leah, crouched under their seats, afraid that bullets would come out of nowhere and claim their lives.
Two minutes later, Zhang Heng held the steering wheel and said, "Okay, you can look up now. We are safe for the time being."
"Uhh … are you sure?" Waldy asked. "I heard that his sniping range is very long. How far did he shoot at the ski resort?"
"We are in the city now, not the open environment of the ski resort," Zhang Heng explained patiently. "The route I chose has the buildings on the street as cover. The snipers can't lock on to us."
"That's good." Waldy was finally relieved and returned to his seat.
Although they were out of danger, Ponytail didn't look too good. "Those people are not coming for us, but for Edward. This means that Black Nest's patience has finally run out, and they don't intend to solve this matter peacefully anymore."
"Edward is in a dangerous situation now. We must find him before Black Nest does," Semiprime chimed in.
"But the only person who knows his whereabouts just died in front of us."
As soon as Little Boy said this, everyone fell silent again. Among them, Ponytail was the oldest, but he was still less than forty years old. He hadn't come into contact with death much, but ever since he got involved in the battle between Black Nest and Edward, he had witnessed two "deaths" with his own eyes.
Among them, Ponytail had miraculously survived after jumping off the bridge, but this time, Iron Fist was definitely dead.
"I've been thinking about a question along the way. How did Black Nest find this place?" Philip, who hadn't spoken before, also spoke up at this time.
"Huh?"
"No one knows Edward's ability better than us, but the guy who died a few minutes ago said that his house was raided by Black Nest two weeks ago. With Edward's character, he must have been more careful after that. At the same time, he tried to find out the reason and take defensive measures. Even so, Black Nest still found him two weeks later."
"You mean someone betrayed Edward?" Little Boy raised her eyebrows, "At a time like this, there aren't many people Edward can trust. That guy named Iron Fist is definitely out of the question. After all, he is already, uhh … like that. So, only Mr. Gilm is left. But considering what happened to his son's family, it's unlikely that he will side with Black Nest."
"I'm not saying there must be a mole, but there should be something that can lead Black Nest to Edward." Philip sighed. "Unfortunately, we don't know what it is."
"It's CTOS," Zhang Heng, who was driving, suddenly interrupted.
"Hmm?"
"Black Nest has connected CTOS to this city."
Everyone in 01 looked at each other when they heard this. "… That's impossible. CTOS hasn't been completed yet, and generally speaking, such a project needs to be approved by the Senate first."
"CTOS does have a considerable number of functions that haven't been completed, and the algorithm hasn't been adjusted to the optimal state. However, the part of the system used to collect citizen information has been set up as early as six months ago. In theory, this castrated version of the system is ready to go online. As for the issue of legality, Black Nest didn't get authorization from the Senate, but they have a lot of power in Toulouse. The city council is under their control, and they got a signed document from the mayor, allowing them to carry out some preliminary experimental work in Toulouse."
"What is the preliminary experimental work?"
"That's the problem. The document doesn't define what this part is, so Black Nest can do whatever they want on this point."
"Including quietly launching CTOS without the public's knowledge?" Leah's eyes widened.
"I'm afraid that's the case for now."
Before Zhang Heng left the parallel quest, the question he wanted to figure out the most was what Zero was in the main mission. He didn't get the answer from 01, and Leah and the others didn't manage to collect much valuable information about Edward's murder. Zhang Heng spent half a month interviewing some people who knew about the incident, but he didn't find anything useful. It wasn't until he took the risk of sneaking into Black Nest's headquarters on the last day that he found a record of CTOS's early research and development that he learned that Black Nest had secretly launched an incomplete version of CTOS to capture Edward.
The name of this system was Zero.
However, according to the document, Zero's online time was two weeks later, so Zhang Heng still had a lot of time to do something. However, he didn't know if Zero's online time had been brought forward due to the players' actions.
Two weeks ago, Black Nest's raid on Edward's room proved that Zero had started work at least a month in advance.
"Okay, so we are now facing a city that is already under Black Nest's surveillance." Philip took two deep breaths. "Let me think about what we can do at this time."
"Can you hack into CTOS's system?" Ponytail asked Waldo. "I don't know.
Edward once talked to me about CTOS. CTOS's intelligent security system was built by him and a few other very powerful guys. It can be continuously improved through learning. He bragged that even he couldn't hack into it, but you know me. I don't think there's a place in this world that I can't go. But it will take time. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. And they may even track me down. No, I should say that with CTOS's help, this is bound to happen. "
"I can hack into CTOS," Zhang Heng said. "Of course, it's just an incomplete version."
Later in the parallel quest, a group of hackers led by 01 fought a long war with Black Nest. During this period, the hackers also achieved some stage victories. However, every time they found a loophole, it was equivalent to Black Nest upgrading the system. In the end, they only made CTOS more complete, almost perfect. This was also what made the hackers despair.
But now wasn't twelve years later, and Zero was just the initial version of CTOS. It did have some loopholes.
During the two months in the town, Zhang Heng had made far more preparations than 01 saw.
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