Chapter Thirty-Four: The Lightning-Fast Reproduction of the Virus!

Wang Zhi pressed his lips together. “I think it’s quite good!” He quickly did some mental calculations about the required number and continued, “Each fortress should only need about a dozen of these!”
“With three fortresses now, around fifty or sixty should be enough!”
“Excellent!” Chu Xiao nodded in agreement—it was just as he’d expected.
This way, not only would each fortress gain an extra layer of security, but the workload wouldn’t increase either. It truly was a win-win solution!
“Let’s begin at once! Let’s apply ultrasonic technology to our cannons! What we’re building are water cannons, not mere water guns! We’re doing this to fight the King of the Underworld!” Chu Xiao’s words rang out, brimming with passion.
Wang Zhi looked at Chu Xiao, and for some reason, tears welled up in his eyes, rolling hot and heavy down his cheeks to the floor.
He knew these were tears of excitement—
Tears he shed for Jiuzhou.
“Alright!” everyone shouted in unison.
The water cannons were built swiftly; the ultrasonic technology was already highly developed, and the underlying principles were sound. An ultrasonic device was installed at the back of each cannon, connecting the ultrasound to the water.
The most difficult part was testing the firepower.
It was crucial to control the strength of the ultrasound: too weak, and the propulsion would be insufficient, the range too short; too strong, and it would overshoot the intended distance, wasting resources.
Ideally, experiments would determine the optimal frequency and power needed to achieve the longest possible range for the water jet.
Production went quickly; within a single day, everything was ready.
This was the power of a great nation!
The testing also took just one day.
Chu Xiao stood by, observing and noting any shortcomings of the water cannon, while two others were responsible for firing and recording results.
“Three thousand hertz, fire!”
“Report: one meter!”
“Four thousand hertz, fire!”
“Report: two meters!”
...
“Ten thousand hertz, fire!”
“Report: five meters!”
...
“Twenty thousand hertz, fire!”
“Report: nine meters!”
...
“Thirty thousand hertz, fire!”

“Report: fifteen meters!”
...
“Five hundred thousand hertz, fire!”
“Report: three thousand meters!”
With current technology, the upper limit for ultrasound was five hundred thousand hertz, which provided the maximum range.
Li Meng, who was recording, hurriedly reported to Chu Xiao after the tests.
“Sir, testing complete! Maximum firepower: ten thousand points! Maximum range: three thousand meters!”
Chu Xiao nodded. “Good! Just as we expected.”
“Alright, continue production. Once finished, distribute them to the other two cities. Remember to send more units to the Western Hills Province!”
Li Meng nodded, but he was curious—why did Chu Xiao place so much emphasis on the Western Hills Province, a place both poor and broken? He could understand the importance of Yanjing and Pearl City, but the Western Hills…
Li Meng hesitated, then finally asked, “Chief Chu, I don’t quite understand. Why do you value the Western Hills Province so much, even building an underground base there?”
Chu Xiao looked at Li Meng, his eyes calm as autumn water, betraying no emotion.
“Because it will be the last pure land of Jiuzhou—and of humanity.” With these words, Chu Xiao turned and left.
Chu Xiao needed to visit the Red Hackers’ Alliance, for he had just received a message—
The virus had been successfully developed!
The source was highly reliable, as it came from Zhang Hua.
He trusted Zhang Hua—he would not give him false hope.
When he arrived at the Red Hackers’ Alliance and pushed open the door, he found everyone immersed in joy, completely oblivious to his arrival.
“Amazing! Lu Dang, you really did it!” Zhang Hua hugged Lu Dang, so overwhelmed with emotion that he was speechless.
Everyone gathered around, exclaiming and even bursting into tears from excitement.
“Lu Dang, you’re incredible!”
“Lu Dang, you’re a true hero!”
“Lu Dang, from now on, you’re my idol!”
...
Observing this scene, Chu Xiao was deeply moved.
He understood that these hackers worked day and night, all to develop the virus and establish the anti-Underworld King firewall.
Now, with a breakthrough on the virus front, it was a moment worth celebrating.
It was January 7th, 3:10 p.m.—fifty-three days remained until the King of the Underworld would awaken.

Zhang Hua was the first to spot Chu Xiao.
“Chief Chu!” Zhang Hua released Lu Dang.
Everyone turned to look at the entrance, and upon seeing Chu Xiao, they all stood straight.
“Good day, Chief Chu!” they chorused.
Chu Xiao nodded. “Hello, everyone! I’m here today to see the fruits of all your hard work.”
Everyone glanced at one another, understanding the meaning behind his words.
Chu Xiao did not credit a single individual with the success, but rather shared it among them all.
Lu Dang felt that this was absolutely the right approach. If Chu Xiao had attributed all the glory to him alone, he would have found it hard to accept.
“Please, Chief Chu, come here!” Lu Dang led Chu Xiao over to his computer.
Zhang Hua returned to his seat, flexing his fingers and preparing for battle.
“Zhang Hua, begin!” At Lu Dang’s command, Zhang Hua launched an attack on Lu Dang’s computer.
His fingers danced rapidly over the keyboard, his gaze fixed intently on the screen, following the code as it scrolled.
Lu Dang was not to be outdone. At the height of Zhang Hua’s offensive, Lu Dang slipped the virus into Zhang Hua’s attacking code while Zhang Hua was distracted.
By the time Zhang Hua realized and tried to eliminate it, the virus had already spread throughout his entire computer, completely crippling the system.
Chu Xiao, witnessing this from the side, was stunned—the virus propagated with astonishing speed!
In just a few seconds, it had overtaken Zhang Hua’s computer.
Moreover, Zhang Hua had only come into slight contact with it, yet the effect was so dramatic!
“Lu Dang, you’re incredible!” Chu Xiao couldn’t help but exclaim.
Though this virus might not be enough to bring down the King of the Underworld, it would certainly force him to spend some time removing it!
For the first time, Chu Xiao glimpsed hope for victory in this war—
Yes, hope for victory!
“You may all take the day off and resume work tomorrow! Take the opportunity to visit your families,” Chu Xiao said, knowing that after a significant breakthrough, they all needed a brief rest.
But everyone shook their heads in unison. “No! We won’t rest!”
Zhang Hua stepped forward. “We don’t need rest. Our only concern is our families. We only hope the nation can take care of them for us.”
“What we truly fear is that, if we stop now, we’ll lose our momentum.”
Lu Dang agreed. “Zhang Hua is right. Besides, time is running out. One virus isn’t enough, and the firewall isn’t complete.”
The others echoed their sentiments. “We don’t need rest!”