Chapter 57: Stardream Has Been Replaced

Chapter 56: Star Dream Has Been Replaced

"Indeed, that is precisely the case. If my assessment is correct, this individual has completely taken over the biological research institute and even the electronic equipment of the entire academy, and is now walking around openly and brazenly," Bureau Chief Wei said with a solemn expression.

"Is the system currently functioning normally?" Wang Hou’s brow furrowed even deeper.

"We do not know," Bureau Chief Wei could not help but shake his head helplessly, saying, "Because we have no way of finding out whether the adversary is still controlling these systems."

"You don't even know if the enemy is still in control? Are you people useless?" At this moment, someone in the meeting immediately roared in anger.

Wang Hou cast a faint glance at this person and said, "This cannot be blamed on him. Since the intruder is capable of completely controlling the computer systems of the entire Star Sea Academy, naturally we have no way to detect any anomalies."

"Could this be the work of the Empire? If so, wouldn't our Federation now be like fish on a chopping board?" At this thought, someone immediately spoke up in a loud voice.

Rainer glanced at this person and said calmly, "It cannot be the work of the Empire."

"Why?" the person immediately asked.

Rainer snorted and said, "If the Empire truly possessed this technology and could completely infiltrate all of the Federation's defense systems, would they only use it to steal a set of camouflage skin instead of directly launching a surprise attack to crush the Federation?"

"Ah, that's true. Indeed, if they had that capability, they would have attacked directly. They wouldn't expose such top-secret capability just to steal a set of camouflage skin. However, if it's not the Empire, then who could it be?" The crowd immediately murmured in agreement; what Rainer said made complete sense.

"Hmph, since it is not the Empire, then it can only be an inside job." Rainer let out a cold snort, his gaze sweeping across the room like bolts of lightning.

Meeting Rainer's gaze, the vast majority of people present felt a jolt of anxiety. Everyone knew that the destruction of all members of the Rainer family must have been the result of an inside job. Therefore, when Rainer brought up an inside job, everyone could not help but tremble, terrified of falling under suspicion.

"Marshal Rainer is right. This matter is very likely the work of someone from within. Nevertheless, we must not lower our guard and must make thorough preparations. The systems of Star Sea Academy are all sub-systems controlled by the central computer, Star Dream. Now that the sub-systems have been breached, we must inspect Star Dream to see if there are any issues." At this point, President Humphrey stepped in to smooth things over.

Humphrey's words brought everyone's attention back to the core issue. Indeed, the Federation's greatest source of pride was its powerful central computer, Star Dream, known as the most powerful computer system in history, capable of processing anything.

Now, with such an incident occurring, it meant that Star Dream's system was no longer absolutely secure.

"That's right. We must immediately query Star Dream's central processing system to see if its system has also been compromised. If Star Dream has been compromised as well, then the Federation is in deep trouble," others chimed in.

"Very well, let us now open Star Dream's main system and make an inquiry." Seeing that everyone agreed, Humphrey waved his hand, signaling Fang Hu behind him to open the main system of Star Dream.

Fang Hu walked up to a small cabinet, inserted two keys simultaneously, turned them to unlock it, and then entered several layers of passwords, finally revealing a massive button inside.

Without hesitation, Fang Hu pressed the button. Instantly, a virtual female hologram appeared above the conference table, saying with a gentle and courteous demeanor, "Hello everyone, I am Star Dream. How may I assist you?"

"Star Dream, here is the situation: in the early hours of this morning, the biological research institute of Star Sea Academy was attacked, and a set of camouflage skin was stolen. The perpetrator directly controlled the facility, infiltrating your sub-systems. We would like to ask if your main system has any records of this? Have you detected who infiltrated the system?" Upon seeing Star Dream's main system boot up, Humphrey immediately asked. If Star Dream's main system was still secure, it should be able to trace some clues from the sub-systems.

"Please wait a moment," the entity calling itself "Star Dream" replied upon hearing Humphrey's question. After a brief pause, "Star Dream" answered, "I am very sorry, Mr. President. My system is unable to find any intrusion logs; everything is normal. Could there be a mistake regarding this matter?"

"What?" Upon hearing the response from "Star Dream," everyone present was struck by another wave of shock. If even Star Dream could not detect any traces of a breach, just how advanced was the intruder? This was practically defying the heavens.

"Star Dream, can you pull up and display the surveillance footage from the Star Sea Academy's biological research institute around 2:30 AM this morning?" Bureau Chief Wei suddenly asked.

Hearing Bureau Chief Wei say this, Humphrey immediately nodded and said, "Yes, show us the video surveillance from that time frame."

"Understood, please wait a moment," said "Star Dream."

About a second later, with a flash, Star Dream projected the surveillance footage of that time onto the conference table via a holographic display. Everyone watched the area around the research institute up until the point the alarm was raised by the attacked personnel. Everything looked completely normal, with not the slightest flaw visible.

Witnessing this, everyone felt a splitting headache, finding the whole affair utterly bizarre. However, at this moment, Bureau Chief Wei uttered a pale-faced statement that drained the color from everyone else's faces as well.

"This 'Star Dream' has a problem; it is not the genuine main system. Because when the real Star Dream retrieves footage from the sub-systems, there is never a one-second delay—it retrieves it instantly. Star Dream has been compromised and tampered with."

"What? How is that possible? Star Dream has been tampered with? It's no longer the original Star Dream? How can this be?" Everyone was dumbfounded by Bureau Chief Wei's words; it was simply too incredible.

Although it sounded completely unbelievable, Bureau Chief Wei's reasoning was spot on. Star Sea Academy was directly controlled by Star Dream's sub-systems, yet retrieving footage took a full second—this was unmistakably abnormal.

Among those present, the first to accept this outcome was Rainer.

A cold, angry smile played in Rainer's heart: *Hmph, this only further confirms that my family members were framed and murdered by an insider. To think the culprit had already taken control of the Federation's central computer long ago—no wonder they could time everything so precisely. Very well, if I ever find this person, I will reduce them to ashes.*

Silence descended upon the room. This outcome was far too shocking.

It was nothing short of a catastrophe. The central computer had been tampered with, which meant the Federation had already fallen into a life-or-death crisis.

The "Star Dream" present in the room showed no reaction whatsoever to their discussion, offering no clarification on whether it was the genuine Star Dream.

"Everyone, what should we do now?" President Humphrey asked, his face extremely grim, after a long silence.

Silence blanketed the room once more, and for a long time, no one answered Humphrey's question.

The central computer had been hacked, which meant the Federation had long since been controlled by outsiders. Could there possibly be any situation worse than this?

Basically, one could say that the Federation had already fallen.

"Marshal Rainer, you are a Marshal of the Empire. At a time like this, won't you state your position?" Seeing that no one spoke, Humphrey ultimately tossed the hot potato to Rainer.

After all, isn't your Rainer family a pillar of the Federation?

Hearing Humphrey's remark, Rainer let out a cold internal snort and said calmly, "As for the military, I will keep it under control. I guarantee to safeguard the Federation's security against external invasions and suppress any mutinies by other internal military factions. However, matters of internal security must rely on all of you. I am not well-versed in the management of the central computer, so I hope the rest of you can offer your opinions."

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Rainer did not utter any rhetoric about sparing no cost to root out the traitor within the Federation. Instead, he only intended to perform his own duties while remaining indifferent to everything else.

*What on earth is this old fox plotting?* the others cursed inwardly.

Hearing Rainer's response, Humphrey inwardly cursed him as well, despising the old fox for washing his hands of the matter and using the opportunity to tighten his grip on military power. Yet, on the surface, Humphrey wore an expression of profound relief. "Indeed, under the current circumstances, the security of the Federation is severely threatened. Everything will depend on Marshal Rainer. Minister Wang, what are your views on this matter?"

Humphrey passed the ball back to Wang Hou.

Wang Hou maintained his usual stern and indifferent expression. Hearing Humphrey's question, he replied coldly, "Now that the central computer has been compromised, we must shut down this computer system as soon as possible and rebuild a new central computer. Otherwise, for every day we delay, the Federation risks plunging into massive turmoil."

"That's right, I agree with Minister Wang," someone immediately chimed in from below.

"However, if we fail to discover how Star Dream was replaced, then even if we rebuild the central computer, it could still be replaced again," someone pointed out.

"That's true. The adversary could easily crush our new central computer all over again."

"We must uncover the truth behind this first. Otherwise, the Federation is truly facing a critical juncture of life and death."

"Just what kind of entity possesses such capability? To actually breach Star Dream's system and secretly usurp its control?"

Hearing these discussions, Humphrey furrowed his brows deeply. He raised a hand to signal for silence, then glanced at a mustache-wearing man who had remained silent in the corner all along. "Minister Kamans, it is time for you to say something as well. With an incident like this occurring, your Federal Security Department cannot shirk its responsibility."

Hearing Humphrey address him, everyone present turned their gaze toward Kamans. That was right—the Federal Security Department was responsible for internal security within the Federation and the gathering of various intelligence.

In a matter like this, the Federal Security Department unquestionably bore the greatest responsibility.

Kamans leaned forward slightly, swept his gaze across the room, and finally said calmly, "Everyone need not wear such sky-is-falling expressions. This matter is certainly grave, but for now, it has not yet posed an irretrievable threat to the Federation. We still have ample time to respond."

"Huh?" Hearing Kamans's words, everyone was momentarily stunned. Just what time did he think it was, for Kamans to speak so calmly? Was he merely trying to shirk his own responsibility?