e-booksonline Chapter 50 High-level business warfare often only requires the simplest form of staged accident.
Chapter 50 High-level business warfare often only requires the simplest form of staged accident.
The Supreme Court of the Underworld, the office of the Chief Justice.
Chu Jiang slumped in the boss's chair, his feet propped up on the desk made of ancient soul-nourishing wood.
The giant water mirror in front of him froze on the moment when the massive red data stream was swallowed whole by a crudely drawn folder icon labeled "Virtual Hell".
"Done, that's a wrap." Chu Jiang yawned.
Xiao Wei stood in front of the control panel, arms crossed, looking at the dense reverse tracing code on the screen.
"Boss, they're using residual data to pinpoint our physical coordinates."
"They think they've won, and now they're eager to come and desecrate the corpse."
Li, the coder, pushed up his glasses expressionlessly, and a map marked with red dots popped up on his tablet.
"Reporting to the boss, based on energy fluctuation analysis, the enemy physical units have assembled and are tearing through space. They are expected to arrive at the Sanzu Ferry in three minutes."
Chu Jiang picked up a can of "Iron Rice Bowl Walnut Milk" flavored Meng Po soup from the table and pulled the tab.
"You've come at the perfect time. If you'd come any later, the paving stones in the square would have been repaired, making it harder for staged accidents to find an angle to stage an accident."
He took a sip and gave orders to V and Li the programmer.
"Disconnect all external networks, turn off all holographic projections, and put the server into hibernation mode."
"Bruch and the Soul Devourer, let them find a place to hide and watch the show."
"I'm going to show these people what it means to feel right at home."
Three minutes later, above the Sanzu Ferry.
The space was torn open by a brute force, creating a huge rift that spewed out a thick stench of blood and sulfur.
A war chariot forged from countless bones and vengeful spirits crashed down, shattering the void.
On the chariot, a monster three zhang tall with nine ferocious snake heads held a giant, blood-dripping axe, looking down at the desolate ferry crossing below.
He is Ash, the Hydra commander of the Western Hell Blood War Legion.
"Is this the ferry crossing that the new elite from the Eastern Underworld built?"
Ash's largest snake head in the middle emitted a thunderous laugh.
"Not even a ghost in sight. Rules? Order? Are they all dead?"
On the chariot behind him stood rows of small demons wielding steel forks and with bat wings on their backs, who let out a series of ear-piercing laughs upon hearing his words.
"The Commander is mighty! That damned Dean has been formatted by our great Blood God Virus!"
"Queuing? Lottery? And we have to download an app? These Eastern devils are all out of their minds!"
Ash took a deep breath, savoring the lingering panic and chaos in the air.
"This is what hell should taste like."
He raised his giant axe and pointed it at the huge stone tablet below that once bore the inscription "Instructions for Riding the Three Crossings Ferry".
"From today onwards, this place belongs to me!"
"I hereby declare the abolition of all those damn rules!"
"Want to cross the river? Sure! Trade your souls! The strong own everything, the weak are only fit to be devoured!"
"This is called the blood price system!"
The little demons howled excitedly, brandishing their pitchforks, as if they could already see the bright future of enslaving countless ghosts.
Ash nodded in satisfaction, his snake-like eyes scanning the empty ferry crossing.
"Go to the core data center."
"I will plant the Blood Fiend Altar on their servers, so that the entire underworld will resound with the glory of our Blood God!"
He leaped off the chariot and crashed heavily to the ground, shattering the newly laid gold bricks of merit into pieces.
A group of little devils followed closely behind, swaggering towards the upgraded "Netherworld River View Cave".
That place used to be Chu Jiang's office; now it is the physical hub of the entire underworld network.
They traveled unimpeded, without any ghostly messengers, restrictions, or even a watchdog.
It was eerily quiet.
"Commander, something's not right," a three-eyed little devil adjutant whispered to Ash.
"It went too smoothly, it was like..."
"It's like they're kneeling down to welcome our great master!" Ash slapped the adjutant on the head, making him spin around three times.
"Use your pig brain! That guy surnamed Chu is completely dead. Do you think his rabble wouldn't run away? Are you expecting us to come and give them a proper send-off?"
As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of the cave.
A bright red banner was hanging on the tightly closed, massive stone gate.
The words on it, written in crooked, ghostly script, were: "[Warmly welcome the Hell Exploration Team for guidance]".
Below the banner, there was a thoughtfully placed sign-in table with a stack of brand-new "Visitor Registration Forms" and several pens on it.
Ash and a group of little demons stared at the banner—nine heads, eighteen eyes—and simultaneously fell into a daze.
"What does this mean?" the adjutant asked, rubbing his head.
"Hmph, playing tricks!"
Ash came to his senses, a hint of annoyance flashing across his face.
He felt his intelligence had been insulted.
"It must be those defeated remnants trying to surrender and beg for mercy in this way!"
He kicked open the stone door.
"Boom!"
Inside the door, instead of the magnificent gold and silver they had imagined, was a huge space filled with cyberpunk style.
Countless wires climbed the walls like vines, emitting a faint blue light.
In the very center, a huge, transparent jellyfish-like creature is sleeping soundly, drooling, while hugging a server.
Those were soul-devouring beasts used as biological servers.
Around it, rows of server racks operated quietly, their indicator lights flashing regularly.
The entire server room was completely empty.
"See? I told you they'd all run away," Ash said smugly to his adjutant.
He strode to the center of the server room, looked around, and his eyes were filled with greed.
"Set up the Blood Fiend Altar!"
"Right here, I will make this place our Blood God's first divine kingdom in the East!"
Several lesser demons immediately carried out an evil altar made of countless wailing skulls and congealed blood and placed it next to the Soul Devouring Beast.
Ashura raised his giant axe and began chanting an ancient and evil incantation.
On the Blood Fiend Altar, red light shone from the eye sockets of the skulls, and dense blood energy began to spread to the surrounding server racks.
Meanwhile, in the Supreme Court of the Underworld, in the "empty" office of the Chief Justice.
Chu Jiang crossed his legs and looked at Ash's delirious, chuunibyou-esque appearance in the water mirror, almost spitting out the walnut juice in his mouth.
"Welcome? Xiao Wei, did you write this banner?"
"It wasn't me." V pointed to Shen Gongbao's profile picture. "It was the Chief Risk Officer's suggestion. He said it would make us seem more polite and make it easier to go through legal proceedings later."
"Professional." Chu Jiang gave a thumbs up.
On Li's tablet, the actions of Ash's team were being clearly displayed, even the few floor tiles they broke were marked with red lines.
"Reporting to the boss, all evidence of the unauthorized intrusion has been preserved and simultaneously uploaded to the cloud for encrypted backup."
"The other party is using a 'Level 3 Blood Fiend Contamination Source' in an attempt to physically format our core servers. This action has triggered Article 37 of the 'Hell Core Asset Protection Law,' which carries a maximum penalty of annihilation and eternal damnation."
V added, "Their energy fluctuations have polluted the surrounding environment, and the fines imposed according to the Underworld Environmental Protection Regulations are increasing at a rate of 10,000 Yin Virtue Credits per second."
Chu Jiang nodded in satisfaction.
"High-end business battles often only require the simplest form of staged accidents."
He looked at the screen and saw that Ash had entered the climax of his spellcasting, with all nine heads roaring to the sky, looking like he was about to succeed.
Chu Jiang stood up, walked to the control panel, and pressed a red button.
"Buzz—"
The stone door to the server room, which had been kicked open, slammed shut.
Countless golden array runes lit up on the door and walls, instantly sealing the entire server room into an airtight iron can.
Ash, who was casting a spell, was suddenly interrupted.
He stared in astonishment at the array that lit up around him, a sense of foreboding washing over him.
"What's going on? A trap?"
Just then, all the loudspeakers in the computer room simultaneously started playing cheerful, festive, and almost magical music.
"Good luck to you, may good luck bring you joy and love..."
Accompanied by music, a giant disco ball slowly descended from the top of the server room, spinning and emitting colorful lights.
The entire computer room was instantly transformed from a heavily guarded place into a rural disco from the 1980s.
Ash and a group of little devils were completely dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.
In the office, Chu Jiang snapped his fingers.
"The lighting, music, and atmosphere have all been perfectly created."
He looked at Xiao Wei and smiled.
"It's time for the main course."
"Unzip that 'Virtual Hell' folder."