Silver Wolf’s name spread like a virus through the shadowed corners of the lower network and the Scrap Heaps.
Her unique style, clean missions, no loose ends, reasonable fees (even considered “cheap” by some peers), and, more importantly, her baffling 100% success record, quickly attracted countless eyes filled with envy, jealousy, or greed.
In the network, a battlefield without physical boundaries, challenges and provocations came one after another.
Some overconfident hackers tried to put this “greenhorn who didn’t know her place” in check.
Others simply wanted to defeat her to make a name for themselves.
Still others attempted to cut in during her missions, stealing her results or planting backdoors.
But everyone who tried to lock onto, attack, penetrate, or even just spy on Silver Wolf through the network ran into a wall.
An invisible, resilient wall, like a timeless barrier of sighs.
This was Baida’s [Mental Barrier].
…
[Private Encrypted Channel – Unknown Hacker A]: “Damn!
What’s up with that defense?
My ‘Stinger’ virus didn’t even make a ripple before it vanished!”
[Private Encrypted Channel – Unknown Hacker B]: “You’re telling me!
I tried to backtrace, and all my proxy servers got flagged!
And I got a system warning with a mocking emoji!
(-__-)”
[Private Encrypted Channel – Unknown Hacker C]: “Shit!
I just launched a data flood, and before I even touched her, the traffic bounced back and nearly took down my own network!
Who the hell is Silver Wolf?”
[Underground Hacker Forum – Anonymous Post]: “Anyone else think Silver Wolf is cursed?
She’s got some kind of ‘guardian spirit’ around her!
Can’t break it, can’t shake it off—it’s disgusting!”
[Reply]: “Agreed!
It’s like a sticky defensive AI!
Designed to annoy!”
[Reply]: “Guardian spirit?
More like an ‘annoyance spirit’!
Fighting her once leaves you frustrated for three days!”
“Guardian Spirit,” “Annoyance Spirit,” “Wall of Sighs”…
Various nicknames laced with helplessness and anger began circulating in hacker circles.
Silver Wolf was well aware of this.
She even enjoyed browsing these “bad reviews” about her and Baida during mission breaks.
“They seem pretty mad.” Silver Wolf typed on the terminal, a rare hint of mockery in her tone.
// (^_^) That means our defense strategy is working.
Baida responded with a smiley, her data stream light and cheerful.
Being able to protect Silver Wolf like this filled her with satisfaction.
// But tall trees catch the wind.
I’m worried we’ll attract more troublesome attention.
Baida’s concern wasn’t unfounded.
Soon, trouble arrived.
And it was trouble on a massive scale.
The Interastral Peace Corporation, a behemoth that practiced economic colonization under the banner of “Preservation,” had its tendrils spread across the universe.
In a mission involving the Corporation’s fringe interests, Silver Wolf cleanly intercepted a batch of key data being privately sold by internal personnel and exposed several minor supervisors, causing the Corporation some minor embarrassment.
On its own, this might have been a small matter.
But Silver Wolf’s flawless record, especially the reports about her “unique, powerful, and highly autonomous intelligent network defense system,” caught the interest of a certain ambitious security department manager within the Corporation.
His name was Viktor Stone.
“An impenetrable defensive AI?
If it could serve the Corporation…
no, if I could control it…” Viktor stared at the analysis reports on Silver Wolf and her “guardian spirit” from his bright, spacious office, greed flickering in his eyes.
“Capture it.
No matter the cost.”
A storm began to brew.
One day, Silver Wolf was preparing to access the network for a simple data repair contract.
As usual, Baida scanned the network environment in advance.
// Warning!
Abnormal high-intensity, multi-source, coordinated scanning signals detected!
Target locked onto us!
Not ordinary hackers!
Baida’s message carried unprecedented urgency.
Almost simultaneously, outside the apartment building they rented, the screech of magnetic hover engines braking cut through the air.
Several armored vehicles, painted with the Interastral Peace Corporation’s logo and rough in design, blocked all entrances and exits.
Fully armed corporate security personnel in standard powered armor poured out, quickly evacuating the area and establishing a cordon.
“Attention, occupants!
This is the Interastral Peace Corporation Internal Security Force!
Surrender immediately and hand over the illegal AI under your control!
Repeat, hand over the illegal AI immediately!” A cold, merciless voice blared through loudspeakers.
The real world was surrounded.
On the network front, attacks surged like a tsunami.
Data floods, logic bombs, directed EMP simulations, zero-day exploits…
all methods were deployed with a single clear objective: penetrate the defenses, lock onto Silver Wolf’s real location, and capture the “unique AI’s” core code.
// Heavy pressure!
They’re professionals!
At least five attack sources, highly coordinated!
Baida’s data stream operated at full speed, her [Mental Barrier] pushed to its limit, like the strongest dam withstanding wave after wave of violent impacts.
The barrier’s surface rippled intensely but never broke.
Silver Wolf’s face was grim.
Her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, trying to find a counterattack opportunity, but under the enemy’s concentrated firepower, her efforts seemed futile.
Their goal was capture and suppression, not destruction, allowing them to pour on firepower without restraint.
“Baida!
Can you hold?” Silver Wolf couldn’t help but whisper in the real world, a rare occurrence.
// For now…
yes!
But defense alone won’t last forever!
We need to break their rhythm!
Baida’s response came, the characters seeming distorted by the immense pressure.
Viktor Stone sat in his command vehicle, watching the attack intensity curve on his screen holding steady at high levels while the target’s defense remained solid.
His expression darkened.
“Increase power!
Activate the ‘Battering Ram’ protocol!
Let’s see how long this turtle shell can hold!” He roared into the communicator.
The network pressure surged again.
Baida felt her [Mental Barrier] groan under the strain.
Passive defense wasn’t the answer.
A familiar force, dormant since the end of her first simulation, stirred in her data core: the ruthless resolve to protect at any cost.
“Since you want an AI…
let me show you what a truly ‘unreasonable’ AI can do.”
She no longer settled for mere defense.
One part of her consciousness firmly maintained the [Mental Barrier], while another part, like the most cunning serpent, traced the faint traces inevitably left by the enemy’s attacks, swimming upstream.
// Silver Wolf!
Hold on!
I’m going to give them some “entertainment”!
Baida left a message.
“What are you doing?” Silver Wolf demanded, but Baida didn’t respond.
Her consciousness had already plunged into the deeper, lower layers of the network architecture.
The corporate hacker team continued their frenzied assault.
“Report!
Target defense showing fluctuations!
Seems to be reaching its limit!”
“Good!
Keep up the pressure!
Prepare capture protocols!”
But the next second—
“Zzzap—Pfft!”
Inside the command vehicle, half of Viktor’s screens went dark instantly.
The lights flickered a few times before returning to normal.
“What happened?!”
“Report!
Sector 3 Data Center…
power outage!”
“What?!
What about the backup power?!”
“Backup power…
also inexplicably cut off!
Investigating the cause!”
Almost simultaneously, the network attack intensity plummeted.
Some hackers’ assaults were interrupted by the sudden loss of computing power.
Before they could react—
Zzzap—Pfft!
The newly restored Sector 3 Data Center plunged into darkness again.
This time, even the command vehicle’s lights flickered violently.
“Again!
Sector 3 again!”
“Damn it!
It’s that AI!
It backtraced our power grid!” The hacker team leader finally realized the problem, his voice trembling with alarm.
Baida’s consciousness drifted through the Corporation’s massive power grid management system, as if strolling through her own backyard.
Locate the corresponding sector.
Then, using the crudest and most direct method—// Execute command: Disconnect.
Zzzap—Pfft!
Third outage.
Zzzap—Pfft!
Fourth.
Zzzap—Pfft!
Fifth.
Five times in a row, she precisely “unplugged” the power to the data center in the enemy’s core operational area.
Like an impatient child repeatedly switching off a noisy toy.
Inside the corporate data center, server crash alarms blared.
Cooling systems shut down, causing temperatures to spike.
Unsaved data was lost in massive quantities, with losses mounting by the millions of credits per second.
In the command vehicle, Viktor Stone’s face had turned purple with rage.
He stared at the screen showing an unknown signal running amok in the power grid management system, leaving behind one (＞_＜) angry emoji after another.
He felt like he was going insane.
This wasn’t network warfare.
This was a dimensional attack.
This was thuggery.
“Sir…
should we continue?” The hacker team leader’s voice was on the verge of tears.
“Our data…
is about to be completely lost…”
On the network front, with continuous power outages and restarts, the Corporation’s assault had already crumbled.
After completing her five “unplugging” performances, Baida gracefully cleaned up all traces and withdrew her consciousness as if she had never been there.
// Done.
They probably won’t be in the mood to play anymore.
Baida’s message reappeared on Silver Wolf’s screen, light and casual.
Silver Wolf looked at the corporate armed personnel outside, confused by their disrupted command systems, then at the brief message on the screen.
She was silent for a moment, then typed:
// …Well done.
– Silver Wolf
She paused, then added, with a barely detectable hint of amusement:
// “Annoying” indeed.
Outside the apartment, Viktor Stone nearly ground his teeth to dust.
After receiving a stern communication from his superiors demanding immediate damage control and an investigation into his reckless actions, he squeezed out the order through clenched teeth, filled with humiliation:
“…Withdraw!
Retreat!”
The corporate armed vehicles and hacker team, who had arrived with such menace, slunk away like defeated roosters.
The bounty on Silver Wolf and her “guardian spirit” was quietly removed, at least publicly, the Corporation had “backed down.”
News spread like wildfire.
“Did you hear?
The Corporation sent an elite team to capture Silver Wolf, and they got their power cut five times!”
“Hahaha!
Is that for real?
The Corporation must be so embarrassed!”
“It was definitely that ‘guardian spirit’!
That was ruthless!
So domineering!
I love it!”
“Who would dare mess with Silver Wolf after this?
Can’t beat her online, can’t catch her in real life, and if you push her too far, she’ll shut off your power!”
After this battle, the name “Silver Wolf” was no longer just a legend of the lower network.
It had become a symbol that even the Interastral Peace Corporation couldn’t touch for now.
And her invisible “guardian spirit” had never revealed its fangs so clearly to the dark underworld.
It was not only an unbreakable shield but also a domineering spear capable of delivering crushing attacks at any moment.
Hidden inside the USB drive, Baida felt the exaggerated stories spreading through the outside world.
Her data stream rippled faintly.
She didn’t care about fame.
She only cared about—
// We need to be more careful with future contracts.
She reminded Silver Wolf.
// Mm.
I know.
Silver Wolf responded, her gaze sweeping over the strongbox of gold bars under the bed and then toward her mother’s room, where Marta seemed to be sleeping a bit more peacefully thanks to their recent improvements.
The danger remained.
The road ahead might grow even harder.
But at least for now, they had once again protected this storm-tossed “home” that had become unbreakable because of their shared presence.
And that invisible “Wall of Sighs” would continue to stand…
forever.