Chapter Eight: The Digital Defense Matrix

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[First question: What type of mining area is depicted in the current scene? What are its characteristics?]

The floating holographic device erupted with swathes of dark light screens, and the surroundings dimmed instantly, as if day had turned to night.

Droplet-shaped gleams lit up in the darkness, gradually spreading as far as the eye could see. The pale blue light settled into an umbrella shape, illuminating everything.

This was an underground realm, shaped like a cave system, but thousands of times larger than anything Ji Cheng had ever seen. All the caverns and tunnels extended so deep they surpassed everyone’s line of sight, disappearing into a forest of crystalline pillars where light and shadow entwined.

It looked like a place filled with legends and monstrous absurdities.

Ji Cheng recited casually, “Nether Crystal Cavern, located underground, covered with bioluminescent fungi. Its walls are made of white crystal, the surface lacks any obvious markers, there’s a seventy-four percent chance of finding energy crystal clusters, and it’s moderately dangerous.”

A line of text appeared instantly on the screen before him, echoing his spoken answer.

—Correct. The electronic voice sounded in his ear.

Seeing the next question hadn’t appeared, he glanced around. To his surprise, many examinees’ chairs around him had already descended a notch, their faces filled with regret—they were clearly dissatisfied with their performance.

Ji Cheng couldn’t help but tense.

“It seems that for each wrong answer, the chair drops a level. If it reaches the bottom, you’re out of the exam.”

After another ten seconds, several more candidates, lips moving in hesitation, saw their seats drop straight down.

“I didn’t expect so many to get the first question wrong,” Ji Cheng shook his head, refocusing to prepare for the second question.

[Second question: In the current scene, how many mistakes have the survey team members made?]

The holographic device once again cast a substantial light, turning the surroundings a hazy grey.

This was the interior of a manmade structure, seemingly abandoned for years. Rows of concrete pillars, some still supporting the ceiling, others broken down to ruined stumps.

All around were rusted, derelict cars, and on the ground, several decomposing corpses.

Five surveyors in combat uniforms formed a line; the lead held a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, moving forward cautiously, while the others watched the flanks.

“A Grey Nest type mining area. It must have once been a large underground garage from the old era,” Ji Cheng thought to himself.

After a moment’s consideration, he began to write on the screen: “There are four mistakes.”

“First: Threats in Grey Nest mining areas can come from any direction; they shouldn’t be in single file but should use the 2-1-2 formation, advancing with alternating cover.”

“Second: In the absence of light, at least two flashlights should be used, with one held by the team leader.”

“Third: With heavily decomposed corpses on the ground, biochemical masks must be worn; mouths and noses should never be exposed to potentially toxic air.”

“Fourth: In complex environments, they failed to deploy scouting drones, making it highly likely they’ll miss energy crystal clusters hidden in corners.”

…

It was clear that this group test was far harder than in the past; after only thirteen questions, over half the candidates’ seats had dropped to the bottom, their scores wiped out.

“What’s with this exam? I even had my parents watch me on TV, and I was out after only thirteen questions.”

“You’re lucky. I was eliminated after ten—didn’t get a single one right.”

As more candidates were eliminated, the holographic plaza grew increasingly noisy.

“Just finished question fourteen—look, another dozen poor souls got dropped to zero.” A blonde candidate gloated.

The girl on his arm suddenly asked, “Do you think anyone will actually pass this test? Seems like everyone’s out.”

“There are still two with perfect scores,” someone nearby interjected.

“What?” the blond shouted in disbelief. “Where?”

The other jerked his chin upward.

Blondie looked up—sure enough, not far away, a chair was still floating high, level with the main platform—untouched, perfect score.

On the seat was a strikingly handsome young man with a hint of severity in his expression, brow furrowed in thought.

“Heavens! That guy is so handsome! He looks fierce and commanding—I’m doomed, I’m falling for him,” the blonde’s girlfriend squealed, starry-eyed.

“Why are you like this? You think he’d be interested in you?” The blond grumbled miserably, turning to look the other way.

There, another chair hung high in the air, occupied by a tall, elegant woman lounging lazily, her gauzy gown cascaded like a waterfall, revealing glimpses of snow-white legs beneath.

“It’s Miss Su…she’s stunning…” the blond candidate’s eyes widened.

The two in the sky were separated by the platform, gazing at each other from afar—both beautiful, their presence dazzling.

People on the plaza began pointing and whispering, and the journalists, ever sharp, immediately swung their cameras toward the pair, snapping away furiously.

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Such a scene was bound to draw more attention from the Southport audience than the dull quiz itself.

“Ji Cheng…I knew he was a great fighter, but I can’t even beat him at what I’m best at. What kind of person is he?”

Su Yi answered another question, glancing toward Ji Cheng with a look of both admiration and resentment.

“Why is she looking at me?” Ji Cheng had clearly noticed Su Yi’s gaze.

The man in black seated on the platform was also intrigued, casting a glance at the main control computer, where only four questions remained in the test bank. He stood up, suddenly inspired.

The commotion in the plaza below had already reached a peak.

“Amazing—these two are still perfect after sixteen questions, and both of them look incredible. How are the rest of us supposed to compete?”

“Look, the authority on the platform is standing up. What’s he planning?”

The man in black tapped rapidly at the main control computer, then inserted a disk, clearing his throat. His deep voice echoed across the holographic plaza:

“Ahem, it seems the group test is too easy for you two. How about I set the remaining four questions myself? If either of you gets them all right, I’ll give you this ship as a reward.” He gestured to the spaceship beside him.

The plaza erupted.

All the eliminated candidates stared at the dark ship with red-rimmed eyes, then looked toward Ji Cheng and Su Yi, wishing they could trade places.

“Are you for real, sir?” Ji Cheng blurted.

“I am,” the man in black nodded with a smile.

Ji Cheng suddenly realized the soundproofing around his seat had vanished at some point. He felt a bit awkward…

“I accept, sir,” Su Yi replied calmly from afar.

Ji Cheng quickly nodded, “I accept too.”

The man in black tapped out the next question:

[Question seventeen: What type of energy crystal cluster is shown?]

The hologram projected a crystal cluster, sky-blue, with shell-like patterns along its edges.

Isn’t this the shell-type crystal unique to deep-sea deposits?

No, wait—the clarity is unusual, likely affected by some mantle radiation.

After a brief thought, Ji Cheng quickly wrote on the screen:

“Secondary shell-type energy crystal, found in deposits 12,000 to 13,000 meters deep, formed after about five years of mantle radiation exposure.”

As soon as he finished, the electronic voice rang out: correct.

He sighed in relief and looked toward Su Yi, who had just finished as well. Seeing Ji Cheng had beaten her to it, a look of surprise appeared on her beautiful face—did he not even need to think?

Their success held the audience in suspense, awaiting the next question.

The man in black, unperturbed, tapped the keyboard again, and a new light screen burst forth.

“This one’s tricky…” Ji Cheng hesitated.

“Oh, I’ve got it. For this type of mine, you need to use… and after adding a specialized pressure module, you can extract it.”

Having figured it out, Ji Cheng quickly wrote his answer.

—Correct.

Hearing the familiar confirmation, he looked across at his rival.

There, the elegant woman on her suspended seat frowned, biting her lip, staring at the screen in apparent confusion.

“She can’t solve it. The ship is as good as mine!” Ji Cheng was overjoyed.

Su Yi finally wrote something, hesitant and uncertain. The moment she finished, her seat dropped sharply.

“Wrong.” She had been prepared for this.

A wave of disappointed hisses rose from the crowd.

Su Yi looked toward Ji Cheng’s seat: “Huh? Where is he? He’s… he’s still up there!”

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“How is he this strong…”

Su Yi felt a tightness in her chest—worse than the punch Ji Cheng had given her at the train station. At least then she’d had a 36D cushion; now it was straight to internal injury.

The man in black stood by the main control computer, face calm, but inwardly frantic.

“No, I can’t give away this Osprey—it took so much trouble to get it. How will I explain it?”

He suddenly brightened, pulled out a hard drive, and loaded it into the computer. In front of both candidates, the holographic device generated a digital matrix with over a hundred tiers.

“As everyone knows, many high-level mining areas are found in imperial laboratories, often equipped with firewalls and defense programs. So, hacking is also a vital skill for surveyors. Question nineteen: here’s a defense matrix. You have ten minutes to crack it.”

He let out a sigh of relief. This was the defense matrix from that place—even gathering all Southport’s top experts for half a month, no one had ever cracked it.

“What is this? This is supposed to be a mining exam, and you’re giving us this?” Su Yi was displeased, resting her chin in her hand, absentmindedly playing with her gown, and simply gave up.

“This matrix looks familiar, but I can’t quite place it,” Ji Cheng was stumped for a moment.

On the platform, Director Wang of the Education Bureau was sweating profusely as he protested, “Sir Lu, this is an energy crystal mining qualification exam. This question is way out of scope! I—I can’t explain this to the higher-ups.”

“It’s just one advanced question, you have a problem with that?” the man in black retorted coldly.

Director Wang shook his head rapidly, “No, of course not! I trust your judgment, sir. But really—no more out-of-scope questions.”

Seeing Ji Cheng and Su Yi both stumped, the man in black was delighted, “Fine, you pick the last question.”

Director Wang immediately took over, randomly selected one from the original four remaining questions, and confirmed it.

“I remember now! This is one of the basic LAN defense matrices from ‘Galaxy Grand Strategy,’ called the Dimo Operator.” Ji Cheng slapped his thigh.

“When I played the game before, you just had to select the matrix numbers in a certain order—no code needed. But in this life, I’m a real techie. Since I know the order, cracking it should be a piece of cake.”

Excited, Ji Cheng rubbed his hands together—the ship was as good as his.

He placed his hands on the light screen, took a deep breath, and his fingers began to dance deftly across the virtual keyboard, rhythmic as a performance.

Lines of code cascaded down the screen, matrix numbers lighting up one by one.

“He can hack? He knows how to break this?” Under her dress, Su Yi’s legs twined together in shock and turmoil. “And judging by the authority’s expression, this matrix must be something special.”

“This kid’s actually trying to crack it—does he know what level of defense matrix this is?” The man in black folded his arms, curious to see Ji Cheng eventually give up.

Ji Cheng typed steadily, muttering, “...infiltration protocol, R8-T9-24, reroute D5-E0-R2…”

The numbers in the matrix began to shift, swapping places in a pattern.

The plaza was silent, everyone holding their breath as they watched Ji Cheng attack the matrix.

With Su Yi eliminated, all eyes were on Ji Cheng—could he really break the matrix that even the authority was so confident in?

“Go for it!” Countless female candidates cheered him on silently, not daring to shout lest they break his concentration.

The more Ji Cheng coded, the more confident he became.

“The original’s hacking skills are truly solid—no wonder he’d become the final boss in the game. I’m amazing,” he thought.

Gradually, some numbers in the matrix turned blank.

In computer language, blank means missing data, and in a defense matrix, zeros fill the space.

More and more numbers turned to zero.

“Wait, is he really about to break it?” The man in black felt a chill—this could be trouble.

“Locked in, row fourteen, column thirty-seven.” Ji Cheng entered the final character, declaring, “Rank is zero.”

The matrix froze; from top left to bottom right, every number became zero.

Even a blind man would know—the matrix had been broken.