Chapter 169: Kidnapping a City
Chapter 169: Kidnapping a City
Wang Zhi was reading a book. It was the Chinese Character Programming Language tutorial published by Legion Ant Company. After hackers infiltrated their system last time and stole that virus software, all trace was lost.
The internet was a complex world. The attackers used IPs from all over the globe to breach their computers, making tracking them down extremely difficult.
Several worldwide virus alerts had occurred, but the mastermind hackers behind them were never found. For their small police station, tracking them was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Even if they knew who did it, they couldn’t act directly; at most, they’d hand it over to Interpol.
Fortunately, the loss last time wasn’t big. After issuing an announcement and having personnel write self-criticism reports, the matter was considered closed.
After this incident, he became even more determined to learn the Chinese Character Programming Language.
A highly skilled hacker going through such trouble just to steal that virus program—it couldn’t be for nothing.
“Look at this news, Wang Zhi,” a female colleague beside him said. “A hacker group calling itself the ‘Joker Organization’ has issued a warning on Twitter abroad. They claim this Friday, they will carry out an unprecedented worldwide network terror attack. They want the whole world to remember this dark Friday for the digital world. Their logo icon is that same mask from last time they hacked our computers.”
Hearing this, Wang Zhi perked up immediately. He leaned over to look at her computer screen.
Sure enough, there was a news report with an accompanying video. His English was decent, so he understood all the text on Twitter.
“What do they want?”
Wang Zhi frowned deeply, leaning in to examine the video closely. He didn’t notice that the female colleague beside him had a slightly flushed face, looking at him with a touch of shyness.
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t release that virus file they stole from us, would they? That virus has a terrifying infection rate.”
“Impossible. We already published the antivirus software for that virus. The moment they release it, antihacks will be ready. They’d be wasting their effort. Hackers are among the smartest people in the world. They wouldn’t overlook something that obvious.”
“Wang Zhi… are you free tonight?”
“Huh?”
The warning from the ‘Joker Organization’ had already caught media attention, leading to widespread reporting.
This suddenly emerging hacker group had never been heard of before. Now they dared openly warn the world? Many dismissed it as a joke.
After all, a global network terror attack was unprecedented. No hacker group had ever dared issue such a warning.
Time passed slowly. The Joker Organization posted daily, as if counting down. At first, people paid attention, but later, it was ignored as a prank.
Friday in the West arrived.
On Twitter, the Joker Organization posted again.
“My heart is like this face: half pure white, half shadowed. I can choose to let you see it, or insist you do not see it. This circus performance is about to begin. First, we pay tribute to Master Chaplin.”
This half-quote from Charlie Chaplin left the media puzzled.
London, United Kingdom.
University of London – a globally renowned institution.
Alice was in her dorm, organizing research papers. She was working on an economics study about the future of internet economies. As a doctoral student in the business school, this paper would become her doctorate thesis.
In Britain, studying internet economics was challenging. She felt she needed to visit Huaxia next. Huaxia’s internet economy was the undisputed world leader.
Just after saving her data, her computer screen flickered.
A mask appeared on her computer screen.
Half white, half black, with sinister scarlet eyes peering from behind it – profoundly eerie. An evil grin was etched onto the mask, like a cruel taunt to humanity.
Her pupils contracted. She clicked the mouse frantically. Nothing happened.
“What’s going on?” Alice panicked. She tried rebooting. The screen still showed a joker’s mask face.
Almost instantly, every computer across campus displayed the same half-black, half-white mask.
Inside the London police station, officers stared at their transformed screens, a grim silence settling over the room.
The exact same scene unfolded across banks, hospitals, stock exchanges, subway stations, supermarkets, corporate offices… every corner. Within an hour, half of London saw every service-oriented screen dominated by that black-and-white mask.
Instantly, half the city of London ground to a halt.
News travelled fast, shocking the entire world.
Within an hour, a virus had consumed half of London. How many computers were affected? Nobody bothered counting. The sheer number was irrelevant; the economic cost commanded everyone’s attention.
Panic began to spread.
Unprecedented. In the history of computing, never had a virus attack on this scale brought an entire city to its knees.
London Falls! — The Times
The Age of Cyber-Terror! — The Wall Street Journal
That Annoying Joker! — The European
Total Network Collapse – The Warning from Army Ant — The Global Times
…
Only an hour after London’s network was infected, explosive news erupted. The ‘Joker Organization’ was back under the global spotlight.
What seemed like a bad joke became reality: an unprecedented act of cyber-terror striking its first target, London. Only now did people understand the tribute to Chaplin – this was his birthplace.
London’s fall sparked worldwide fear. Stock markets trembled. A major financial center brought down so easily by hackers?
Compared to this ‘Joker Crisis’, the previous Eternal Blue and Eternal Heart attacks were insignificant.
Shortly after London’s network collapse, the British Prime Minister addressed the nation from 10 Downing Street. She called for the country’s top network experts to gather at London University to tackle this cyber invasion.
Other nations scrambled, issuing emergency orders to reinforce network defenses.
It was a harsh lesson. London paralyzed for just one hour. The economic damage? Immeasurable. For the first time in the digital age, a global financial hub had completely stopped functioning. Stock and financial markets suspended trading indefinitely.
One hour. The entire world sat stunned by this cyber-terror attack.
Just two hours after the news broke, the Joker Organization posted on Twitter again:
“We claim responsibility for the London event. We have effectively kidnapped this city. Ransom: 1 billion GBP. Payment deadline: Three days, settled in Bitcoin.”
The world held its breath.
Bitcoin prices skyrocketed, doubling within that single hour.
A covert hacker group brazenly threatening a nation? Unprecedented in history. This was the first time hackers had directly held a country hostage.