Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 583 Plan C
"So what do we do now?" a young engineer asked in a low voice.

Yes, what should we do?
Further investment? That would require an even longer development cycle and greater resource input.

Can we wait that long for KFC and T3?
David felt a throbbing sensation in his temples, which annoyed him.

He waved his hand, his voice weary, and said, "Let's adjust the DPI filtering intensity back to the lowest level first, at least to prevent it from worsening the server latency. Emily, reanalyze the data and see if their perturbator has left any new features, even just a trace. Everyone else, take a rest; we've all been exhausted lately."

Dawei actually understood that if the other party could hide themselves so perfectly, how could they easily leave any flaws?

He just needs to find something to do now, otherwise he keeps feeling like a useless piece of trash.

For the first time, the other elites in the operations room also had the idea that the mission might not be completed.

A heavy atmosphere permeated the office area, making people feel somewhat suffocated.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere on the other side of the internet is completely different.

Lin Qingyin looked at the final version of the delay perturbator code submitted by the Time Magician on the screen, and quickly typed in the encrypted channel:

[Teacher, your code is so beautiful! Microsoft's delayed injection is completely ineffective now.]

The discontent of others immediately rose in the channel.

[No way? I haven't even made a move yet? Is this all Microsoft's top team can do?]

[Yeah, I thought they were going to pull off something amazing, but it turns out they were just playing around with network lag? That's so disappointing.]

[If I'd known it was this simple, I should have included my quantum random number generator idea and blown them up.]

"Come on, that thing of yours is unstable. Don't blow it up yourself."

So, what angle will they use next? Client-side memory verification? Or will they directly hook the game process?

I bet five cents they'll try to improve behavioral pattern analysis on the server side.

I bet a dollar! They're definitely going to tweak the game's communication protocol.

These eccentric geniuses from the Institute of Gods have already begun to enthusiastically predict their opponent's next move.

These people are supported by Enze Capital, and they have nothing to do all day long, yet they are terrifyingly energetic.

Having finally found a chance to showcase their talents, they were naturally eager to try, fearing they wouldn't have the opportunity to perform.

Lin Qingyin smiled slightly as she looked at the discussions popping up on the screen.

She knew very well that the Microsoft team was no mediocre team; it was just that they were operating in the shadows while the Microsoft team was in the open. The Microsoft team didn't know who their opponent was, but they knew the Microsoft team perfectly.

In addition, the people at the Institute of Gods think in a very imaginative way and never stick to conventional security attack and defense approaches. They often come up with solutions from the most unexpected angles.

And, most importantly...

"You're saying you can't find a breakthrough? David, are you kidding me?" At that moment, Johnson also received a call from David.

David is a technician who doesn't like to hide his work. They have realized that their opponent is formidable, so they want to prolong the confrontation.

However, extending the competition period means that Microsoft and Samsung will have to continuously invest in T3.

David said, "They are tough to deal with, and I can assure you they are no ordinary company."

“Even if they’re not an ordinary company, you are the world’s top technicians.” Johnson couldn’t accept this reality.

David frankly stated, "We are the builders, but they are the destroyers. Builders typically put in more than three times the effort and technology of destroyers, and their technical level should be comparable to ours, so we need time."

Johnson remained silent.

Time, that's what they lack most!

Although this Audition Elf is well hidden, Microsoft is not to be trifled with.

They have now discovered that this Audition Elf has a significant connection with the Momo Group.

But Johnson has always been unwilling to believe that Momo Group possesses the technological strength to rival Microsoft.

It's only been a year.

How could they possibly have such skilled technicians?

Their decision to send David's team to handle this matter also stemmed from their desire to ascertain the strength of the Momo Group.

David's response greatly displeased Johnson.

“In the field of technology, there has never been a global first. Our S1 team is just a small group of technicians from around the world,” David said.

As Johnson listened to David's calm reply on the other end of the phone, his anger surged.

He suppressed his anger, his fingers almost crushing the microphone.

“David, I need you to understand one thing!” Johnson said in a cold and firm voice, “The resources that headquarters allocated to your S1 team were not for you to tell me nonsense like ‘the other side is difficult to deal with,’ ‘it takes time,’ and ‘you are just ordinary technicians.’ If you are just ordinary technicians, then you are not qualified to take away so many massive resources!”

Johnson said, "KFC is throwing new bills at my face every day, Samsung's Lee Jae-young is calling me three times a day asking when I can resolve this, and the board has started to pay attention to this matter. Do you understand what this means?"

David was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone. He could imagine the pressure Johnson was under, but he had to stick to the technicians' judgment.

He said in a deep voice, “Mr. Johnson, I understand your situation, but it is precisely because I value it that I have to tell the truth. The technical strength and reaction speed of our opponents far exceed those of ordinary hacker groups. They are not like they are causing damage, but more like they are conducting a precise technical exercise. Every time we deploy a strategy, they can make highly targeted optimizations in a very short time. What is needed behind this is not only technology, but also a deep understanding of the underlying game protocol and even our Microsoft system.”

He paused, hesitated for a long time, and then said, "I suspect that they may have a purpose that we cannot know for the time being. If we take more radical actions rashly, the risk will be very high, and it may cause more serious consequences."

"I don't care what their motives are," Johnson said in a deep voice. "All I care about now is the result! We've invested too much money and energy in Audition Online. Now World of Warcraft is about to have its open beta. If Audition Online fails this time, we will completely lose our chance to enter the gaming industry. So, I ask you to put aside your academic caution and use all necessary means, even unconventional ones, to make sure that damned Audition Online sprite disappears completely from the world of Audition Online by next Monday!"

"If you can't do it, you'll take full responsibility for this Audition Online project!"

"Snap!" The phone was abruptly hung up.

David listened to the busy tone on the receiver, slowly put down the phone, and a slight look of annoyance appeared on his face.

Johnson's ultimatum hung like a knife over his head.

Taking full responsibility is a bit too much of a burden.

He might be able to solve this problem by using unconventional methods, but that would also mean high risk and could potentially lead to unpredictable chain reactions. But now, he has no other choice.

He took a deep breath and walked back to the tense operations room.

All the members looked up at his pale face, and a sense of foreboding washed over them.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” David said in a hoarse voice, “I have received a direct order that this problem must be resolved by next Monday.”

He looked around and saw the shock and worry in everyone's eyes, then continued, "Johnson said he wouldn't restrict us from using unconventional methods, so I've decided to launch Pandora C."

“Pandora C Project?” Emily exclaimed in shock. “This involves system-level technology. Will headquarters allow it?”

Project Pandora is Microsoft's killer app for operating systems.

It is divided into four levels.

These are Pandora's Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D.

This technology was developed to sanction competitors who threaten the survival of Microsoft systems, and it utilizes system-level power.

For example, the solution to WPS was to use Pandora's D program, causing WPS to continuously crash on Microsoft systems.

As for World of Warcraft, which is about to enter public beta, they are also using Project D to exert pressure. If World of Warcraft does not agree to their conditions, they will launch Pandora's Plan D, causing World of Warcraft to continuously crash on Microsoft systems until all users are lost.

Plan D only involves a superficial attack through patching.

Plan C, on the other hand, involves a deeper level of system application.

“Mr. Johnson has given his permission.” David’s eyes sharpened as he said, “We only need to use a small portion of the technology from Plan C. By leveraging the Azure network layer permissions, we can force a security update to be pushed to the Audition client on the target IP range. This update will include a lightweight monitoring module that will attempt to reside within the game process and monitor all core API calls related to keyboard input.”

Tom gasped and said, "This is a hook planted at the system's lowest level. If it's discovered, it could be considered a serious system intrusion and could easily cause a blue screen crash."

“That’s why I said to push to the designated target IP range.” David said expressionlessly, “We have no other choice now. This is the only way we can catch them by the inside of the client. Emily, you’re in charge of optimizing the stealth of the monitoring module. Tom, you’re in charge of ensuring the accuracy of the hook, targeting only the Audition Online process and minimizing the impact on other applications in the system. Everyone else, cooperate with the testing. We need to complete the development and internal testing within 48 hours.”

The atmosphere in the operations room plummeted to freezing point.

Everyone knows that once this step is taken, there is no turning back.

This is no longer a fair and square technological confrontation.

In just two days, David's S1 team completed all the preparations, including obtaining authorization for the Pandora C project from Johnson and setting up the program.

With everything ready, David's finger hovered above the Enter key, trembling slightly.

On the screen was an extremely minimalist black dialog box with only one line of cold white text:

EXECUTE_PANDORA_PROTOCOL_D?(Y/N)
Behind them, all the members of the S1 team held their breath, their eyes fixed on the screen.

Their faces showed no excitement of impending victory, only a tension and unease of about to open a forbidden door.

This is the first time their S1 team has been authorized for Plan C.

Generally speaking, Plan D is enough to force ordinary companies to submit.

The so-called Project D is similar to a system incompatibility patch.

Plan C is similar to implanting a surveillance virus into one's own system.

The last time they implemented Plan C was during the browser wars in 1995, when they finally launched Plan C, forcing Netscape to be acquired by AOL.

"For Microsoft," David muttered to himself, as if searching for a reason, before his finger fell heavily and pressed the Y key.

There were no earth-shattering sounds, no dazzling light effects.

Only a few indicator lights on the server rack flashed rapidly for a few moments before returning to normal.

A series of invisible codes, through network channels controlled by Microsoft, silently flowed toward the predetermined target.

Meanwhile, at a KFC service center in a certain city.

A blond-haired young man was smoking a cigarette and rapidly tapping the space bar with his thumb.

On the screen, his character performs dazzling dance moves and unleashes a series of Perfect combos.

He was very satisfied with the new Microsoft ergonomic keyboard that the KFC service center replaced with. It felt solid and, most importantly, was sturdy enough to withstand the test of his intense typing.

"Hmph, a few pieces of trash, dare to challenge me?" The blond-haired youth smugly hummed after winning the match, preparing to crush a few more ignorant fools in the next round.

To practice his typing speed, he even tapped the spacebar repeatedly with his thumb until he cracked open a watermelon.

When I cracked it open, the watermelon flesh was already mushy.

That's perseverance!
Because he is the Grand Duke of the Funeral Love Family, Funeral Love, Tears.

As the number one family in all servers of Audition Online, they have thousands of members spread across all servers. As the Grand Duke of the family, he holds a supreme position.

In another round of the competition, he displayed the speed of smashing watermelons, and in just one minute, he had left everyone else in the dust.

Just as the song's rhythm reached its most intense climax, requiring him to complete a super-fast series of keystrokes, he felt the keyboard feedback under his fingers change.

The incredibly precise touch feedback achieved through plugin optimization has disappeared.

Instead, there was an indescribable sense of awkwardness.

He clearly pressed the space bar, but the character on the screen reacted as if the network was lagging, taking a beat to react, and the movements were stiff and lacked any aesthetic appeal.

A glaring MISS quickly popped up!

"Damn it! What a piece of junk keyboard! It's broken again?" Zang Ai_Leihen cursed, increasing the force of his blow, almost slamming it onto the space bar.

However, something even more terrible happened.

No matter how much force or speed he used, the character on the screen seemed to be possessed, and his movements were completely out of control.

(End of this chapter)