Chapter 6

Behind the main gate was a dim corridor over ten meters long, with glass walls on both sides, completely different from the steel walls outside the gate.

"Stay here."

James clenched his left fist, ordering everyone to stand by while he slowly walked in, holding the teleporter.

The new recruits knew all too well that this was the laser corridor that had killed most of the STARS team members. Shang Manxue and Handsome Guy had tried to speak up a few times but were forbidden by the Overlord from revealing the plot.

James moved forward cautiously, taking every step with utmost care. Even so, when he reached the middle of the corridor, he was startled as the glass walls suddenly lit up. The sudden change was enough to make an ordinary person's limbs go weak. James crouched down, mimicking the classic American soldier's squat from Red Alert, his rifle quickly scanning the surroundings.

"Don't worry, it's the automatic lighting." Kaplan quickly glanced at the data stream and reported to James through the radio.

James carefully inspected the corridor again. He found that the tempered glass on all the walls was completely sealed, and none of the glass panels could be moved. This meant that there was no possibility of a machine gun suddenly extending from somewhere and firing, so he felt a bit relieved.

"Wait, look at this string of characters. It's a sensor activation, and there's an unknown mechanism connected to the automatic sensor." Chu Ci, standing behind Kaplan, immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Where?" Kaplan looked in the direction Chu Ci pointed, but the command string had already disappeared in the changing 0s and 1s.

"The characters indicate that it's the command execution switch from the central control room. The central computer doesn't have the authority to activate it on its own." Chu Ci, who had been watching closely, had already figured out the control method. He pointed to the computer on the left and asked tentatively, "Can you give me the secondary control?"

"Kaplan, what's going on?" James's voice came through the radio.

Kaplan relayed Chu Ci's request to take control of the central control panel. James was silent for a moment before saying, "Give it to him!"

Amid the envious and resentful gazes of the other new recruits, Chu Ci calmly sat next to Kaplan and began typing rapidly. In no time, he brought up the command string that Red Queen had deliberately hidden.

"Sir, Red Queen used your sensor to activate a defense mechanism and stole the secondary control authority of the central control panel." Kaplan looked at the characters and was shocked, "Come back quickly."

"Wait, stay where you are." Chu Ci held the opposite opinion, wanting to prevent Red Queen from directly activating the defense mechanism. He chose to let James observe the situation, and Kaplan quickly understood and instructed James to stop any actions that might trigger an accident.

Narrowing his eyes, Chu Ci's fingers flew over the keyboard. He copied the cracking program that Kaplan had written, optimized and improved it in less than a minute, and then began to steal the control authority, rewriting the execution characters, deleting Red Queen's command, and linking his own execution program.

The series of operations were smooth and fluid, earning Kaplan's admiration.

"It seems Red Queen isn't truly an artificial intelligence. Its functions are all restricted by various levels of authority, and even quantum computing is disabled. It only activates a certain degree of fuzzy computing when executing commands." Chu Ci explained to Kaplan while operating, "Now I've hijacked the authority again, deleted the network driver, and disabled the network connection, temporarily isolating the Hive to a local network. This way, Red Queen can't increase its computing power through the internet and can only operate through the fixed logic system designed by the engineers. Once we solve the administrator password of the central control panel, we can control the central computer without any obstacles."

"Sir, the teleporter can be installed now." Kaplan reported to James as soon as Chu Ci confirmed it was safe.

James carefully attached the teleporter to the access point. The strong magnetism of the teleporter made it stick to the surface. Chu Ci, who had already taken control of all the central computers from outside, immediately began cracking the code.

"The access code is 12177, done." In no time, Chu Ci cracked the access code, and with a soft click, the door at the other end of the corridor, leading to the mainframe, opened.

After resolving the access issue, Chu Ci ignored the others and began attempting to gain the administrator authority of the central computer.

James performed a few tactical movements, carefully observing the interior of the server room. After confirming it was safe, he signaled for the others to move forward.

Two unnamed STARS team members, along with the medic, picked up the packaged pulse breaker and walked toward the corridor.

The battle for control seemed tedious and boring to the amateurs. The others were getting bored, and Alice even asked Kaplan, "What is that?"

"That's to shut down Red Queen. It can release a powerful charge to disrupt the mainframe and force a reboot." Kaplan, having been sidelined by Chu Ci, was also bored and was happy to explain.

"Oh." Alice's eyebrows arched slightly, as if she understood something.

Just as the STARS team members were about to enter the corridor, the high school student finally couldn't hold back!

"Wait!"

The high school student, whose real name was Gao Yuan, was a mediocre second-year student with average grades, a love for gaming, and a passion for novels and anime. If he had followed a normal path, he would undoubtedly have become an ordinary person who "got a decent university, found a decent job, married a decent wife, and lived a decent life." But when he entered the Overlord space, he knew his fate was about to change—either he would die or live an exciting and thrilling life.

So when a scene from many infinite flow novels played out before him, Gao Yuan, no longer just a high school student, would not let this opportunity slip away. Chu Ci had gained the trust of the STARS team with his computer skills, and Gao Yuan, who was always paying attention to the plot, had picked up on some key words from Chu Ci's conversation.

The STARS team members stopped, and the other new recruits turned their attention to Gao Yuan. Everyone, except Chu Ci, understood what Gao Yuan was trying to do. Admiration, disdain, surprise, and doubt all focused on him. For a moment, Gao Yuan felt like he was standing on a stage, receiving the critical and appreciative gazes of the audience.

As a high school student who had never been noticed by so many people, Gao Yuan felt a bit dizzy.

"What's the problem?" James's voice came through the radio, his anger evident even through the machine.

Gao Yuan took a deep breath, trying to act. His mind raced through the scenes from the novels he had read, and he mustered the courage to say, "Wait... wait a moment. Don't you think something is off? This AI is too useless, just letting you restart it. I don't think it's that simple. There's probably something peculiar in this corridor."

Kaplan was about to speak, but Chu Ci grabbed his arm, his eyes filled with amusement as he looked at the high school student. Chu Ci could see that Gao Yuan had noticed a trap being dismantled and was trying to "intercept" the situation.

James also came out from the other end of the corridor and stood in front of Gao Yuan, his tall figure casting a shadow over the underdeveloped Gao Yuan, putting immense pressure on him.

"You don't seem to have been exposed to the neurotoxin. Do you know something?" James suddenly remembered Gao Yuan's identity and became suspicious.

"Uh... ah..." Gao Yuan opened his mouth, as if he wanted to speak but was at a loss for words. To the other new recruits who had tried before, this was a clear sign of the Overlord restricting his ability to speak.

Gao Yuan racked his brain but couldn't form any words that wouldn't be restricted by the Overlord. He could only stammer, "Uh... no, not yet... I'm not sure."

James looked at him meaningfully and said, "Alright, if you can't point out any problems, you, and you, come with us." He looked at Gao Yuan and was about to point to Chu Ci but, considering Chu Ci's electronic skills, chose someone else, pointing to the handsome guy who had been flirting with Shang Manxue and hadn't reacted yet.

Both of them turned pale with fear. The handsome guy waved his hands frantically, his legs trembling, and said, "No, I don't want to, I don't want to go in!" If he hadn't known that deserters would be executed on the spot, he would have run away.

Knowing about the laser corridor was one thing, knowing how to pass through it was another, and facing it required even more courage and resilience. Gao Yuan swallowed hard, clenched his fists, and with a fierce determination, nodded, "Alright!"

"Go!" James stepped aside, indicating that the two should lead the way.

Three STARS team members pointed their guns at the two, the safeties off. If they made any sudden moves, they would be riddled with bullets.

Gao Yuan and the handsome guy walked ahead, trembling with fear. The handsome guy's face was filled with resentment and hatred, wishing he could kill the high school student who had caused all this trouble.

James and the three team members followed behind. As the medic at the back stepped into the corridor, the emergency mechanism of the security door was triggered. Unlike the slow opening, it closed with a swift whoosh, giving no time for reaction, and the room filled with a tense alarm.

'How did it still activate!' Gao Yuan's heart sank, and his limbs went cold.

"Kaplan?!" James immediately retreated, gathering with the other three team members and shouting into the radio.

"It seems to be some kind of dormant defense mechanism. Opening the door triggered it." Kaplan rushed to the monitor and answered quickly.

"Then make it go back to sleep!" James shouted.

"I'm working on it." Kaplan, without consulting Chu Ci, took back the keyboard and quickly opened the toolbox, trying to stop the defense mechanism.

"Can you open the door now?" James and the team members kept retreating, almost pressing against the security door. Even Gao Yuan and the handsome guy were terrified, crawling to the door and pounding on it for help.

"Red Queen has created a virtual operating system. I'm breaking through it again!" Kaplan, sweating profusely, typed rapidly, his eyes fixed on the data stream.

A small string of data suddenly caught Kaplan's eye, and he was shocked, "No good, the defense mechanism is activating!"

The corridor instantly dimmed, and everyone's nerves were on edge. James, who had been staring at the end of the corridor, suddenly cursed, "What the hell is this?!"

Blue-white lines suddenly connected on both sides of the walls, thin and shallow but deadly!

As the lasers formed, everyone held their breath. James threw a dagger as a test, and it cleanly split into two pieces when it hit the laser.

Alice, observing through the window, urgently urged Kaplan, "Kaplan, you have to hurry! Hurry up!"

Kaplan couldn't spare the energy to answer Alice, his lips moving silently as he focused on breaking through the central computer's firewall.

"Don't worry, it won't activate." Seeing the tense atmosphere, Chu Ci stopped watching and took a keyboard, opened the command prompt, typed in a password, entered the backend mode, and input 'VK_RETURN(13)'.

The next second, the corridor lit up again, and the moving laser at the end of the corridor disappeared. The room filled with cheerful saxophone music.

Under everyone's puzzled gazes, Chu Ci remained calm and smiled lightly, "I got tired of this little trick in college." His eyes, however, were fixed on the camera in the upper right corner of the control room, "Red Queen, stay there and wait for me to take you apart."

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