Chapter 1390: 458. Directly into the heart_2

Noland Lee spoke in an even tone:

“The Company gathered a large number of engineers to study the A.I.’s backend data. The A.I. designated to play the role of the Angel Enterprises Alliance is numbered T18. Its anomaly originates from a space station called Angel’s Voice, belonging to the Archangel Group. We must eliminate the brain-like facility within the space station to remove the negative impact and get A.I. T18 back on track.”

“T18… The root of the anomaly is in the Angel’s Voice Space Station…”

Liam Bennett pondered and muttered, asking with confusion:

“Boss, why would the root of the A.I.’s anomaly be in the game? Can we not simply erase the aberrant data on the corresponding physical medium to eradicate the source of the anomaly?”

Noland Lee understood what Liam Bennett meant.

...

Simply put, Liam Bennett believed the root of the anomaly was a cluster of data residing on some physical medium.

For instance, a virus on a USB drive or hacking software on an external hard drive, and so on.

In such cases, directly formatting the USB drive and the external hard drive might clear out what’s referred to as the root of the anomaly.

So if it’s possible to resolve this issue from the physical layer outside of the game, why would the official game need to clear out the anomaly within the Angel’s Voice Space Station?

This was an issue.

An issue that piqued the curiosity of Liam Bennett, an experienced player.

Knowing the other party had this question, Noland Lee explained:

“It’s because when the A.I. was covering up this portion of the aberrant data, it adopted a distributed storage approach.”

“So that’s how it is.” Liam Bennett suddenly understood. noveldrama

Noland Lee continued:

“The distributed storage method accomplishes decentralization. It divides the virus into countless components that are scattered across various physical media. Indeed, we could destroy all the physical media outside of the game to eliminate the virus, but that would also affect the game’s operation, and even cause a repeat of the mass logout that happened two months ago. Am I right?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Liam Bennett replied, his tone slightly grave as he nodded.

Noland Lee said:

“Therefore, we decided to take a different approach. The virus data in distributed storage is scattered when stored, but during operation, it converges. This ‘convergence’ phenomenon of the virus data happens within the Angel’s Voice Space Station, with the brain-like facility acting as a tangible representation. I’m not a professional data security engineer, so I can only explain it to you in this way, there might be slight deviations, but that’s the general idea.”

Liam Bennett wasn’t a professional in this field either.

However, based on Noland Lee’s description, Liam Bennett basically understood the situation.

“I see. Boss, do you need me to do anything?” Liam Bennett asked.

Noland Lee didn’t hide anything and laid out the pre-prepared justification:

“The day after tomorrow, which is Friday night, the Magic Academy will launch a campaign event online. The theme of the campaign is ‘Straight to the Heart.’ At that time, the game will release a series of campaign tasks, guiding Academy Faction players to break through the defenses of the Angel Enterprises Alliance and launch an attack on the Angel’s Voice Space Station. I need you to lead the Alliance players as internal collaborators, cooperating with Academy Faction players to destroy the Angel’s Voice Space Station.”

Liam Bennett fell silent upon hearing this, then asked with some concern:

“Boss, do you mean, we, a group of players who joined the Alliance, are to collectively betray it? Won’t we become traitors to the Alliance after this event is over?”

“No, no, no, you’ve got it wrong,” Noland Lee said with a gentle smile:

“I’m not asking you to openly betray the Alliance, but to drop the ball or slack off at the crucial moment.”

“Drop the ball… slack off…” Liam Bennett rubbed his forehead, mulling it over, his eyes gradually lighting up:

“Oh, I understand your meaning now. You want us to slack in our efforts, right? And also provide inside information to the Academy Faction players to help them break through more effectively.”

Noland Lee nodded in satisfaction:

“Yes, that’s exactly it. It might not be appropriate for a Game Master like me to do these things, which might draw criticism. But it’s different for you. Additionally, I can tell you in advance that on Friday night, when the Academy Faction players attack the space station, you and other players who joined the Alliance will receive an emergent task to return to the United Bureau. You can accept this task to directly betray the Alliance, or delay accepting the task and continue serving in the Alliance. How you choose specifically, I won’t interfere.”

“Okay, okay, let me think this over…”

In the subsequent time, Noland Lee and Liam Bennett discussed the details.

Once Noland Lee was sure that Liam Bennett had committed the matter to memory, he ended the conversation.

“Next is the Assassin Angel. I need to consult with Them and make thorough preparations.”

Noland Lee set up the ritual array in the Office Room to communicate with the Inner Cosmos.

A faint energy fluctuation spread, and the atmosphere became quiet as Noland Lee immersed himself in the ritual.

…

…

Time passed swiftly like a white steed flashing past a crevice.

Dusk, two days later.

Noland Lee was conversing with the Order Plane’s Core through the game interface.

He knew he couldn’t do without the help of “Command” to rescue the true form of the Assassin Angel, so Noland Lee had made contact in advance.

“Command” agreed to help and promised to intervene at the critical moment if necessary.

Noland Lee was not surprised by this.

Two months earlier, after “Command” made indirect contact with two Angels within the Inner Cosmos through him, both parties had basically confirmed each other’s identities.

The Scroll Angel once told Noland Lee that “Command” was almost certainly Senati, who had been missing for a long time.

Although “Command” did not explicitly reveal its thoughts about the two Angels to Noland Lee, its attitude at the moment suggested it had also grasped the situation of the two Angels.

They were only waiting for the Assassin Angel to successfully break free; once it revealed its true form before “Command,” the thin veil between them would be torn, and they would officially meet.

“It’s about time,” typed “Command” in the game interface,

“This time point is the peak period for players to be online. The number of players within the Magic Academy has also reached its peak.”

Noland Lee nodded upon hearing this, raised his hand, and tapped a few times on the game interface to release the task he had prepared in advance.

Soon after, a bustling noise came from outside the Dean’s Office Room.

Players were shouting and running around the Academy, hurriedly heading to the Magic Shop to purchase Magical Items, and then they rushed to the Teleport Array leading outside the Academy to set off in their ships.

Nearly within 10 minutes after the task was released, the items in the Magic Shop were swept clean.

Elixirs that temporarily enhance magic manipulation, Magic Powder that could strengthen the firepower of Battleship Cannons, and Limited Invincible Potions that could provide a brief state of invincibility.

No matter how expensive these things were or what they did, they were all snapped up by players about to join the battle campaign.

Noland Lee immediately ordered the Academy Elves to restock the shelves, continuously supplying combat resources for the players.

The Magic Wand Shop and Magic Robe Shop next to the Magic Shop, among other durable goods stores, also saw a sales peak.

The players, who usually thought of exchanging Angel Crystals for real currency, now ungrudgingly purchased a whole set of Magic Robes and Magic Wands, not even sparing the smaller accessories like Magic Gloves and wristbands.

Some players who had been promoted to First-Rank Wizards even bought numerous vials of “Blue Medicine”—the expensive Mana Potions—to quickly replenish their Mana.

In the players’ secondary market, the Magic Scrolls capable of producing effects like “Space Walk” and “Magic Leap” skyrocketed in price and sold out instantly.

Thus began a sudden and aggressive decapitation operation.

Ship after ship entered the Star Gate, teleporting to the territories of the Angel Enterprise Alliance.

Wave after wave of fully-armed players rushed to the battlefields, their faces glowing with the excitement and joy brought by the substantial task Rewards, like fearless warriors ready to die in battle.

Furthermore, a vast number of players who heard the news offline immediately logged on and joined the forces pushing towards the Angel’s Voice Space Station.

So, what was the secret that made the players so enthusiastic and determined?

Heh.

What else could it be?

Of course, it was the Reward.

The highest standard of reward Noland Lee offered was a direct promotion to Five-Ring Wizard.

He promised that the top ten thousand players in the battle rankings would all enjoy the Academy services of a guaranteed promotion to Five Rings.

This alone was enough to make all players spare no expense in battle, not to mention the tangible rewards like items, Academic Points, and Credit Points.