Subverting The World [Cyber] - Chapter 25
“Drop… drop… drop…”
Shi Xu’s footsteps came to a halt outside the computer room, just as the fire alarm began to blare loudly.
Morgan Ruiyin had caught on to her faster than expected.
Shi Xu looked up just as the isolation door at the entrance started collapsing. If she didn’t get out now, she’d be trapped inside with no chance of escape.
Without hesitation, she raised her gun and emptied a full magazine into the closing door’s crack.
Sparks flew as Shi Xu slid through the opening without looking back. Outside, a group of bionic guards appeared, advancing from the opposite side.
Fifteen meters away.
Before, these bionic soldiers were her greatest asset, but now that they’d been taken over, Shi Xu realized just how formidable they truly were.
She vaulted out the window and landed on the platform of the next floor down. Her gun took a hit, but luckily no soft tissue was damaged.
Mentally, she counted the time. The area she’d just shot up was part of the prison’s eastern network—a self-contained internal system disconnected from the outside world. By damaging that section of the server, she cut off Morgan Ruiyin’s control over that zone.
Shi Xu glanced at the aliases she had built up over time.
Diving depth 128, accumulated reputation 1122.
The top four names on the list brought a complex feeling to her. The diving depth measured how deep into the system she could delve, expected to max out around 135.
Her power grew with the number of aliases she used—more identities meant deeper access.
Now wasn’t the time to save resources; she needed to dig deeper.
【Dive】
Taking a steady breath, Shi Xu’s vision blurred with a blue haze. She saw layers of data previously hidden on the bionic guards.
Models, release years, settings, schematics, locations, current orders…
She checked the cameras and saw they were all connected to Morgan Ruiyin’s system.
Morgan had linked all prison assets—bionic soldiers, cameras, computers, machines—integrating them into a network completely under her command.
Time ticked down rapidly, and Shi Xu observed the data flow—Morgan’s analysis and the precise commands she issued.
To prevent disguise, Morgan expanded identification methods beyond facial recognition—adding body shape, gait, voiceprints, fingerprints—all authentication layers.
Response speeds were improved, patrol areas overlapped, and updates made detection almost instant.
Now, every bionic guard sent progress reports every minute. Any suspicious activity was flagged immediately.
This level of monitoring drained their batteries quickly—what used to last 100 hours now barely held for 30 minutes before they needed recharging.
Shi Xu kept watching.
She could see patrol routes, algorithm updates, and as she dove deeper, even through walls—seeing every door and object inside the prison.
A complete, detailed map appeared in her mind’s eye, every symbol clickable with clear explanations.
But information alone wasn’t enough—how to act on it?
Suddenly, she noticed the bionic soldiers closing in, edging closer to the corner where she hid.
Text lines popped up over them:
【Footprints detected, starting investigation.】
【Target located!】
【Encirclement to begin in 30 seconds, starting at 9 o’clock.】
Not enough… not yet…
Could she get more?
Shi Xu spent more reputation points.
She noticed a red fan-shaped beam sweeping from the bionic guards’ eyes—their field of vision and scanning area, now revealed to her.
That was sufficient.
Estimating distance and time, when the first bionic guard raised his hand, she stepped back, slipping from his sight.
A dense red net spread where she’d just been.
The guards, momentarily blinded, scanned the area in confusion—eyes darting, searching.
Shi Xu bolted.
The bionic guards formed a silent net of sensors and communication signals, pressing inward.
Under this tight noose, the agile prey darted through cracks in their vision.
Shi Xu ran hard, never looking back.
Every ounce of her energy was pushed to the limit; hesitation would be fatal.
She spotted a guard’s name pop up ahead but dodged and barreled right into him.
“Target acquired—” the guard raised his weapon.
She didn’t even glance his way.
【Final countdown for regional networks No. 14, 16, and 21: repair required. Automatic repair reports sent… 3, 2…】
She slipped into a dead zone where the network cut out.
The gunshot behind her fell silent as the countdown ended.
Light rain began to fall.
Shi Xu adjusted her messy hair and turned to face the silent bionic guards behind her.
In this network-free zone, they stood like tombstones—still, tall, and quiet in the night.
She watched the prison fade behind her.
Her reputation score dictated how long she could push her abilities.
At this level, she could use light powers to see item names for half an hour, but to dig deeper would only last three minutes.
Her previous plan was scrapped; Morgan wouldn’t let her near the web server again.
Plus, she needed to retrieve the bionic units stranded in the dead zone.
Shi Xu began to think: if she were Morgan Ruiyin, what would she do now?
If she were the warden, what would be her next move?
Morgan, cloaked in data, pondered the same questions.
She tracked the warden’s escape route, calculated all possible moves, and watched as the warden slinked through blind spots, evading the vigilant bionic soldiers and cameras.
To end this, the warden must find her first.
But Morgan wouldn’t leave easily—especially without her portable gear and surrounded by high-powered systems.
So the warden would be forced to leave the prison.
What would she do?
What steps would guarantee her escape?
Analysis battled analysis, mind against mind.
Known versus unknown, unknown versus known.
Morgan bit her lip and thought about what she really knew of the warden.
A brilliant mind lacking common sense.
A dangerously talented lunatic, just a hair’s breadth from madness.
She’d start a fire.
Morgan was almost certain—there was a fifty percent chance she’d resort to arson.
Another option was to cut power to the entire prison from the southeast.
But the power room was far from the warden’s location and too risky.
As for the fire, all it took was a spark in the underground garage’s oil reserves.
Now the gamble was on which direction the warden would take.
Would she wait until the bionics drained their batteries?
No. That wasn’t the warden’s style.
If she only tried to outlast them, she would lose.
A warden unable to restore order quickly would lose her standing and credibility.
More importantly, these were choices for normal people—but the warden wasn’t normal.
In fact, Morgan’s final guess came too late.
By the time Morgan spotted Shi Xu again, the warden was already halfway to her destination.
She chose neither path.
She chose to stop being human.
After slipping out of the bionic guards’ sight, Shi Xu found No. 666.
She activated her backup instructions and approached a prisoner transport cage.
These cages were used to carry water to inmates during influenza outbreaks.
For minor colds, injections sufficed; for serious cases, hanging IVs remained the tradition.
Shi Xu climbed into the cage and asked No. 666 to push her along.
— as a polar bear.
Her human disguise was useless. Morgan Ruiyin had updated height and body data, so face recognition alone wouldn’t work.
So Shi Xu stopped pretending to be human.
She donned the artificial polar bear skin scavenged from Jenny.
The synthetic hide hugged her body; once zipped up, she could move inside effortlessly.
Noticing the slight gap separating her from the bear suit, Shi Xu came up with a new plan.
Inside the iron cage, she had No. 666 push her steadily forward.
No inspections along the way; the disconnected bionic soldiers followed default protocols.
Sometimes a bionic would glance their way.
Shi Xu acted like a relaxed passenger, occasionally snapping photos of the cage, playing her part flawlessly.
No. 666 wheeled the polar bear cage through the dead zone unnoticed.
No bionic soldier suspected a thing.
They didn’t pay much mind to a bear.
At the weapons depot, Shi Xu stuffed the bear’s mouth with EMP grenades and other ammunition.
If anyone else had been there, objections would’ve been loud—but No. 666 said nothing.
Though it looked strange—a bear munching ammo—it didn’t swallow.
Shi Xu loaded plenty of supplies.
Once the cage grew heavier, she removed some of the extra gear.
No. 666 pushed the bear and cage out of the depot.
No network here meant no surveillance footage.
After a while, they reached an area where the network resumed.
A bionic guard stood at the door, looking different—quicker, more alert.
It was Morgan, logged in as a bionic soldier!
Since Shi Xu’s route was unpredictable, Morgan controlled multiple bionic units, casting a wide net at every intersection.
Morgan hadn’t been alerted to Shi Xu’s presence yet.
She controlled six bionic soldiers simultaneously, guarding all the junctions.
Then she saw it.
A bear.
Perfectly bypassing all human detection.
Morgan never expected Shi Xu to take the route back to the area that hunted her most fiercely—and even to go through the weapons depot.
When she saw a polar bear exiting the prison, she was speechless but amused.
“Catch that bear!” she ordered.
Then the bear spat out a grenade from its mouth.