The group followed the van at a distance, until Liaowu parked in the shadows of a giant tree, by a lake in a park. It was already late at night, so the park was completely empty. But even so, the data center building, and the surrounding buildings, still had most of their lights on.
“Alright, you see that?” Liaowu reached out of his van window and pointed at a fenced metal box on the other side of the lake: “That’s one of their legacy outlets, Master, can you break it open and then put this thing into the main wire?”
It was a very rough, old style wireless phone looking device covered in tapes with an extended antenna. Sticking out at the bottom of the device were three metal prongs.
“What is this?” Master Liaoran asked, he did not take the device just yet.
“Somewhat of a signal filter, wireless relay that allows me to hack into their system. These prongs should go into the cable or phone line wires. If they actually used broadband - well I’ll just have to make a few adjustments.” Liaowu pushed his glasses up: “It’s not super complicated, you’ll know what to do.”
“This monk had not dealt with complex electronics for quite a while. ” Master Liaoran sighed: “We only have one opportunity, and we should all be very cautious.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s okay, I can tell you what to do if you grab a radio - ” Liaowu shrugged: “Then I can tell you - hey, what are you doing?!”
Without pretty much any indication, Master Liaoran pulled open the driver side door, grabbed Liaowu in his arms and leapt towards the lake. The lake was at least ten or fifteen car lengths wide, yet with only one jump, Master Liaoran had already made it halfway. With a gentle tap on the surface of the water, the master and Liaowu rose again and glided towards the metal box.
Both of them landed right beside the metal box. Master Liaoran snipped the lock with his fingers and gently pried the box open. Liaowu wanted to complain, but he had to keep his mouth shut for now so that he wouldn’t be noticed by anyone unwanted.
Inside the metal box were several bunches of wires, all of which were covered in dust, some of which were green, some were red, and the rest were blue. There were no markings on any of the wires. Liaowu sighed and pulled out his phone - one that was not of any known brand but appeared to be assembled by himself, bulky and rough. After Liaowu’s clicking a few buttons, a bulb at the back of the phone was turned on, and lit up the entire box. Liaowu took around ten seconds before he found a thicker white wire buried behind a batch of green ones, and jabbed the prongs into it.
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It took another half a minute before Liaowu finished tuning everything, before Master Liaoran grabbed him again and brought him back to the van.
“Thank you very much, old monk.” Liaowu took a few deep breaths before slapping Master Liaoran on the shoulders: “But don’t you ever do that again, okay!?”
“This monk promises you, this shall never happen.” Master Liaoran bowed towards Liaowu with his hands in a prayer pose: “Is it ready for us, then?”
“Give me a second.” Liaowu grunted before pulling up a keyboard and a monitor from under the van’s dashboard. He checked a few prompt screens and typed in a few commands before turning back on everyone: “Alright, I’m in. When you’re ready to go in, tell me. I’ll try to disarm the outer perimeter defense systems.”
The group went on foot, and hid in the shades cast by the trees around. Metal fences around the building blocked their way. Surveillance cameras stood on top of the poles, turning side to side, watching almost every corner.
“Liaowu, we’re ready to go through the fence. Let us know when.” Master Liaoran spoke into the handheld radio.
“In a minute. They upgraded some of the software.” Liaowu answered after a short delay: “Still no match for my key. Though - Elvin? Lift that extra monitor up and tell me if any of the circles turn red.”
“How long?” Master Liaoran asked.
“You’re free to go in now. Though, please put everything back when you’ve passed the fences, so I don’t have to alter the surveillance image too much. The more I change, the easier it is to be noticed.”
“This monk understands.” Master Liaoran stood up and leapt towards the fence. He pointed his right hand forward and unleashed a soft palm strike. The lower half of the metal net in front of him creaked and popped off the poles on both sides. He simply lifted it up like a drape to make way for others: “Go through here then, everyone.”
After the entire team went through the fence, Master Liaoran let the lower part of the metal net down and put it back to its original position between the poles, mostly.
They made it through the empty parking area and found their way at a side door - this was all according to the crude blueprint.
“Time to go into the main building through backdoor 2A.” Master Liaoran spoke into the radio: “If everything works out, soon we’ll get to the second floor.”
“Just a second, I am looking into their internal surveillance feed.” Liaowu responded: “There are guards patrolling near the staircase, and there are guard stations on your way to the second floor. You should wait a short moment and be careful. I can blur the cameras for only a short moment, so let me know before you act. And be quick.”
“We will go in right now and see if we can dodge the patrol team.” Master Liaoran answered, then waited around ten seconds before continuing: “Going in in 3, 2 - 1.” He pushed the door, held it open and let the team in. Everyone rushed inside. What awaited them was an empty hallway, with pale white lighting above them and voices of men coming from a corner on their right.
The group waited for a brief moment before the confirmation from Liaowu came: “Alright, you can go in now. ”