Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 553 Decoding
“That’s interesting.” Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses upon hearing this. “But that’s probably not all… We’ll have to wait for her analysis and Zhang Jie’s detection for the rest.”

Zheng Zha, who was standing on the rooftop with him to get some fresh air, leaned against the railing and asked in confusion, "What did you hear again?"

Mu Xiang relayed the information that Liu Xi had deciphered to Zheng Zha. After a few words, Zheng Zha's expression became incredibly interesting.

"You mean, the referee committee and all that stuff are actually the masters hidden in the deep network of this world?" Zheng Zha's mind was a little slow to process this. Neither his era nor his own accumulation of science fiction knowledge allowed him to grasp this meaning quickly. After a long while, he asked, seemingly understanding, "Is this... consciousness uploading technology?"

Mu Xiang was already sighing, but when he heard Zheng Zha ask the right question, he nodded with relief.

“Of course, we’ve only confirmed so far that the Tribunal’s true location is in the Deep Network… We still need more intelligence on the rest.” Mu Xiang shrugged. “After all, in my speculation, there should be something much bigger… A Tribunal alone certainly can’t maintain the strange order of this world, nor can it threaten us.”

Zheng Zha's direct understanding of consciousness uploading technology came from Mu Xiang. According to Mu Xiang, he had explored many potentially useful methods to save Zhang Jie, and consciousness uploading was one of them. However, if consciousness uploading were actually used, Zhang Jie's original self would simply be dead; the Zhang Jie stored in the machine would likely just be a pathetic copy.

"So why would the referee committee upload their consciousness to the network?" Zheng Zha still didn't quite understand. "What benefit does it bring them? And how can they possibly rule the world with this kind of system..."

Mu Xiang shook his head: "That's why I said there's a lack of information... I can't understand how this can rule the world. You might say it's the powerful uploading their consciousness, but if the original is still alive, they can't let a backup rule them; you might say it's some kind of Celestial Dragons' cyber immortality, aren't they afraid of their servers being taken down?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zha pondered for a long while, then pushed up the bridge of his nose and said, "Do you think it's possible..."

Seeing Zheng Zha's bewildered look, Mu Xiang smiled and said, "That's right, that's what I think too."

The two men said in unison, "They are puppet troops!"

"So next... we just have to wait for them to analyze more information." Mu Xiang spread his hands. "As it turns out, the Reincarnation World isn't just for you to fight and kill and then enjoy leveling up. There are many hidden things that you need to dig out... It's obviously more beneficial to explore the contents of this world than to spend a whole horror movie in a daze."

The rooftop is the only place where they won't be monitored or eavesdropped on... After today's match, just as Mu Xiang said, surveillance devices were installed in the rooms of everyone from the Allied Nations. Although the members of the Central Continent team weren't really worried, and Mu Xiang was even happy about it, the rooftop was still the best choice for a detailed discussion.

After all, without the help of mental energy, Mu Xiang was genuinely afraid that Zheng Zha would just start thinking wildly on his own... And they couldn't just sit in front of the monitoring device and talk to each other without making a sound, could they? This wasn't a genetically modified human anymore, this was an alien, you know.

After finishing their conversation, Zheng Zha went back to his room. Before leaving, Mu Xiang repeatedly taught him some acting tips, so that Zheng Zha would appear to be fine, but would also trigger the surveillance personnel's wild imaginations... The more confused the United States became, the more anxious they would be, and the more anxious they would be, the more Mu Xiang would be able to discover.

Mu Xiang stood alone on the rooftop, overlooking the city below. After a nuclear war, aside from noticeable changes in the ecological environment, places like cities didn't seem to exude the atmosphere of a wasteland. Perhaps their productivity wasn't significantly hampered… but why do people say that the nuclear war almost destroyed humanity?
To put it simply, for the reincarnation team, this world practically screams "something's wrong" right in the title. Even if the reincarnation team lacked the ability to gather information, anyone who had seen the movie beforehand would have felt that this world was full of inconsistencies. What was incongruous? The answer lies in the audience's imagination of the world of *Mechanical Dragon*.

"There's a lot the movie didn't say... and there are still a lot of tasks left for them." Mu Xiang sighed. Delegating these tasks to others is actually a form of training... After all, no matter how strong he is, or how well he leads his teammates to gather information, the Central Continent Team will always encounter times when Mu Xiang can't play this role.

In fact, that day may not be far off.

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and coming together to form a powerful whole is certainly a good model... but a truly strong team never relies on one person.

"Is there anything unusual on your end?" It was Liu Xi's voice. In fact, Mu Xiang could hear the every move of the Zhongzhou team members scattered all over the world, but with the division of consciousness, Mu Xiang didn't need to pay attention to everyone's movements all the time (of course, he didn't want to). Only when someone called him seriously would the consciousness in charge of that part connect with the so-called main consciousness.

Mu Xiang connected his headset, a last resort, since the others didn't have his hearing. It was the most convenient alternative.

"No, what's wrong?" Zhang Jie's voice came faintly from the other end: "Sigh, even though I'm here, I still have to use a headset. It's really frustrating."

Mu Xiang chuckled: "Tell Zhang Jie this is for his own good... Right now, besides connecting your group with the eastern front, he should focus his main energy on cultivating his martial arts." Then his expression turned serious: "So, tell me, what did you discover?"

Liu Xi said, "After Zhang Jie attached his mental energy to that data stream, he discovered something in the deep network... I have been transcoding the data I found inside. The current situation is that, if you're not mistaken, your referee did indeed discover your anomaly and then reported it."

"After the report was submitted... what decision did they make?" Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses. "If they can recognize the Samsara Squad, that would be both troublesome and convenient."

“You overestimate them. They also suspect that you are a genetically modified person from Dongda University,” Liu Xi said.

Mu Xiang frowned. If she had said "genetically modified humans from the Allied countries," it wouldn't have been strange... but she said Dongda University?
"It seems they are certain that you are not a genetically modified human from the Allies." Liu Xi chuckled. "As expected of the rulers hidden beneath the deep network, I even deciphered their access to Allied data in the content transmitted by Zhang Jie."

Mu Xiang pondered for a long time. Why did the referee committee target Dongda University after confirming that he was not a genetically modified human from the Allied Powers? What is so special about Dongda University, which has half of the Allied Powers in this world?
[It can't just be because of that fabricated symbol of national restoration... unless there's some underlying connection.]

"Please take note of the information records of different factions regarding the University of Tokyo... the Allied Powers, the United States, the Tribunal, all of them are needed."

Liu Xi hummed in agreement, then smiled faintly and said, "Are you just oblivious, or do you simply not care about the methods? That wasn't my focus at the beginning."

Mu Xiang scoffed, "If I were afraid of their methods, I wouldn't need to stay in the Main God Space... Tell me, what method have they come up with to deal with me?"

"According to them, it's a standard method... controlling your consciousness through an agent."

"Agents...it seems these things are everywhere in the world. Perhaps their usual identity is that of staff members of some party? As for controlling consciousness, hehe, according to Zhang Jie, even if there are means to control consciousness in this world, it's already technology, right? There's no need to worry about that," Mu Xiang said.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind, and he immediately said, "Could you find some information about Tex Conway? His identity reversal in the movie is quite illogical, I need to confirm it."

“It will take some time… Zhang Jie’s mental energy has just been brought in, and it will take some time before it can attach all the data inside,” Liu Xi said calmly. “Only after he transmits the framework of the deep network can I systematically select information for transcoding.”

Mu Xiang smiled. This method was actually devised by several people together. Zhang Jie's mental power had reached an unreasonable level. It wasn't difficult for him to convert the data in the network into mental power detection results and send them out, but he himself wasn't a computer and couldn't interpret anything... This required Liu Xi to use her mobile phone and her own computing power to forcibly decode those things.

This creates a layer of protection, making it impossible for any means to detect it... After all, no matter how powerful the deep network's defenses are, they can't detect Zhang Jie's mental infiltration; and Liu Xi's decryption and decoding are also accomplished outside the deep network, through the transmission of mental power, making it even more impossible to be discovered.

"But I advise you to be careful... because with your allies allied nations together, they have no reason not to attack together, right? Are you sure Logandao can hold out?"

Mu Xiang nodded: "Call me again when you have news." Then, he took off his headset and prepared to go down from the rooftop.

[Mind control... technological means... no, this isn't about turning someone into a puppet, but rather planting a backdoor in their mind? So, how exactly is this achieved?]

He glanced down and saw a maintenance worker cleaning the various rooms as usual... The first door to be knocked on was that of Luo Gandao.

The next moment, Mu Xiang's eyes narrowed, and he appeared in Luo Gandao's room. The violent force field instantly disabled the surveillance devices inside, and he firmly gripped the logistics personnel's neck!
(End of this chapter)