My childhood friend is in her mature, sophisticated form again today. - Chapter 65

“Originium Technology?”

“Possibly. Originium isn’t just a material; it can also be used to manufacture parts. If the Northern Star Court has its own precision machining capabilities, then their supply chain is completely closed-loop, without needing to rely on external suppliers.”

Lin Jiqiu flipped through the photos in his notebook. “Closed-loop supply chains are harder to break.”

“It’s more difficult, but not impossible. Zhang Wen marked the access points of the control system. There are three, distributed across three different production lines. If these three access points are hacked, the entire production process can be controlled.”

“Is it possible to hack into it?”

“Yes, but a physical connection is required. Firewalls are hardware-based and cannot be bypassed by software protocols. The device must be plugged into the control system’s interface.”

“Then we need to go in.”

“We need to go in.”

Lin Jiqiu leaned back on the sofa and closed his notebook. “Fengyuan Agriculture’s security level is higher than before. After Polaris wrote that letter, they must have strengthened their internal and external surveillance.”

“So we need a reason to go in. For example, to inspect the equipment.”

“Zhang Wen’s identity makes it possible. But he’s under surveillance right now and can’t go.”

“Then let’s find another identity.” Cheng Ran pulled up Fengyuan Agriculture’s employee files. “Most of the workers on the production line are locally recruited, and their identities are genuine. If we could replace one of them—”

“Replacement takes time. It’s not something you can just do by changing your appearance. You also need to get to know his job duties, colleagues, and habits.”

“Then find someone you don’t need to know too many people. For example, a night shift security guard. The job of a night shift security guard is to patrol, and he doesn’t need to deal with too many people.”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “Does the blueprints Zhang Wen provided include the architecture of a security system?”

“Yes. But not in detail. He knows the location of the cameras and the patrol routes, but it’s not a core part of the security system.”

“What are the weaknesses of the night shift security guard?”

Cheng Ran flipped through a few pages and stopped at a note. “Shift change time. 4:00 AM, the night shift and day shift handover. There is about a 15-minute gap during the handover, when the new security guards haven’t arrived yet and the night shift security guards are completing the handover procedures. During those 15 minutes, security in the production line area is at its weakest.”

“Fifteen minutes. Is that enough?”

“If the equipment is prepared in advance, it’s enough.”

Lin Jiqiu stood up and walked to the window. The flower shop across the street wasn’t open yet, and the café staff were moving tables and chairs. The sunlight was bright; the autumn sun shone on the sidewalk, casting long shadows of fallen leaves. “What we need is an identity that can sneak in at four in the morning.”

“Night shift security guard. Or night shift cleaner.”

“The cleaning staff doesn’t need to hand over to colleagues; they just need to clean the designated area.” Lin Jiqiu turned around. “At four in the morning, Fengyuan Agriculture’s cleaners will come into the factory to clean. If I could replace one of the cleaners and take over in the fifteen-minute gap—”

“The risk is still very high. The cleaners’ routes are fixed, and if they deviate from the route, it will be detected by surveillance cameras.”

“Then let’s find an angle that won’t be captured by surveillance cameras.”

Cheng Ran pulled out a blueprint—the layout of the factory interior, marked with the locations and viewing angles of the cameras. “The production line control cabinet is on the east side of the factory, where there’s a blind spot, blocked by the reactor. If you approach the control cabinet from that angle, you won’t be caught on camera.”

Lin Jiqiu walked to the table and looked at the blueprint. “Is the control cabinet locked?”

“Yes. It’s a mechanical lock. Zhang Wen has marked the lock cylinder model; it’s relatively simple, and the kind of wire you used to open it last time can be used.”

Where’s the power supply?

“The control cabinet has an independent power supply. If the power is disconnected, the entire production line will stop. But restarting requires authorization, and without authorization, the downtime will be very long.”

“Then we won’t cut off the power. We’ll just connect the equipment, read the data, and not interfere with production.”

Cheng Ran looked at him. “Just reading?”

“Just read it. Once you have the data, leave. Don’t let them know anyone has touched it.”

Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds. “Zhang Wen mentioned in his notes that the control system’s logs are automatically cleared every hour. If we finish reading the logs before they are cleared, we won’t leave any traces.”

“Then let’s withdraw before cleaning up the logs.”

The two men exchanged a glance. Ayou came out of the kitchen carrying two cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table. He looked at Lin Jiqiu, then at Cheng Ran. “Boss, are you going to Fengyuan Agriculture again?”

“Okay. Go in and read some data.”

Ah You’s hand tightened its grip on his apron. “Four in the morning?”

“Four o’clock in the morning.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“I know.”

“and you–“

“Ah You,” Lin Jiqiu said calmly, but with an undeniable air of authority, “Go and look after the house. Keep an eye on Ah Hua and the others.”

Ah You opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he nodded and turned back to the kitchen.

Ahua jumped down from the windowsill and rubbed against Lin Jiqiu’s feet. He bent down and scratched Ahua’s chin, and Ahua made a gurgling sound.

“Chengran, when are we going?”

“Tomorrow morning. Rest tonight.”

“good.”

The next night, Lin Jiqiu went to bed early. His alarm was set for 2:00 AM. When he woke up, it was still dark outside, completely silent except for the occasional distant bark of a dog. He groped his way into dark clothes, packed his toolbox—a universal card, thin wire, a signal receiver, a small data reading device, and spare lighting and power supplies. He clipped the communicator to his belt and the “Yin” clipped into his wristband. After checking everything to make sure it was working properly, he went downstairs.

Ah You waited in the kitchen, a pot of hot coffee sitting on the stove. He poured Lin Jiqiu a cup. “Boss, drink it while it’s hot.”

Lin Jiqiu took the coffee. “What time did you get up?”

“I’m not asleep.”

“Ah You—”

“I know. I’ll watch the house.” Ah You didn’t look him in the eye and turned back to the kitchen.

Cheng Ran came downstairs, dressed in dark clothes and carrying a small backpack. “The car is ready. A-Zuo is already waiting.”

Lin Jiqiu finished his coffee, placed the cup on the coffee table, and turned to walk to the door. He glanced back—Ayou was standing at the kitchen doorway, Ahua was squatting on the sofa, Amo was perched on top of the bookshelf, and Aju was lying under the coffee table. He pushed open the door, and the wind chimes tinkled.

The car drove through the night. The streetlights were dim, and the streets were deserted. A-Zuo drove steadily, without sudden acceleration or braking, maintaining a constant speed towards the north of the city. After forty minutes, he arrived near Fengyuan Agriculture. A-Zuo parked the car on a side road, without turning off the engine.

Lin Jiqiu and Cheng Ran got out of the car. The night wind brushed their faces, carrying the coolness unique to autumn. The courtyard was quiet, with only the outline of the greenhouses in the distance faintly visible in the moonlight. They walked to the wall and found the spot they had climbed over earlier. Lin Jiqiu threw the rope up, hooked it onto the brick seam below the wire mesh, and then climbed over. Cheng Ran followed behind.

The sound of them landing was soft, the grass gentle. The streetlights in the yard were still on, but the light was dim, casting large shadows. They walked close to the wall, avoiding the camera’s view, and circled around to the side of the factory. The factory door was closed; it was a sheet metal door with a mechanical lock. Lin Jiqiu took out a thin wire, inserted it into the keyhole, turned it a few times, and with a click, the lock opened.

The two slipped inside and quietly closed the door. The factory was dark, with only the indicator lights on the control panel emitting a faint glow. The outlines of rows of reactors were faintly visible in the darkness, and pipes crisscrossed beneath the ceiling. The air smelled of chemicals, fainter than during the day, but still present.

“The control cabinet is on the east side,” Cheng Ran said in a low voice.

Lin Jiqiu walked eastward along the base of the wall. The reactor blocked the camera’s view, so he walked to the control cabinet and squatted down. The cabinet door was locked; he inserted a thin wire, turned it a few times, and the lock opened. He opened the cabinet door, revealing the wiring and interfaces inside. Cheng Ran took out a data reading device from his backpack and connected it to the control system’s interface.

Lines of code appeared on the screen, scrolling rapidly.

“The amount of data is huge,” Cheng Ran said in a low voice. “It might take ten minutes.”

“I’ll keep watch from outside.”

Lin Jiqiu stood up, walked to the factory door, and peered out through the crack. The yard was quiet; there were no patrols. The streetlights in the distance cast long shadows on the ground. He returned to the control cabinet and glanced at the progress bar on Cheng Ran’s screen: sixty-three percent. Time seemed to drag on. Every second felt elongated. His heart was beating faster than usual, not from tension, but from a state of intense concentration. His mind was free of distractions, focused solely on the task at hand.

Eighty-one percent. Ninety-two percent. One hundred percent. Data read complete. Cheng Ran unplugged the equipment, closed the control cabinet door, and locked it. The two quickly walked to the side door of the factory, slipped out, closed the door, climbed over the wall, and got into the car.

A-Zuo started the car, turned around, and drove towards the city center. Lin Jiqiu leaned back in her seat, looking at the night view outside the window. The streetlights receded one by one, their orange light casting streaks on the car window.

“You got it?”

“Got it.” Cheng Ran looked at the data on the screen. “All records from the control system. Production plan, equipment status, raw material consumption, finished product shipment. If there are any echo command records—”

“That way you can find the location where the echo originated.”

A-Zuo drove back to the office. The sky was beginning to lighten. A-You was dozing on the sofa, with A-Hua curled up on his lap. Hearing the door open, he jolted awake.

“Boss, you’re back?”

“Hmm.” Lin Jiqiu changed her shoes and sat down on the sofa. Cheng Ran sat opposite her, exported the data to her tablet, and began analyzing it. Ayou went to the kitchen and brought out some hot soup, placing it on the coffee table.

“Drink the soup first.”

Lin Jiqiu picked up the bowl and took a sip. The soup was very hot, but very flavorful. “Ayou, go to sleep. It’s almost dawn.”

Ah You opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just nodded, turned around and went upstairs.

Lin Jiqiu leaned back on the sofa, looking at Cheng Ran’s profile. His fingers flew across the keyboard, lines of data scrolling across the screen. After searching for a while, he stopped, his brow furrowing slightly. “Found it. The Echo’s command log didn’t come from outside.”

Lin Jiqiu sat up straight. “What do you mean?”

“The command was generated by the internal console. It wasn’t sent via external email or a remote signal. Someone entered it directly into the control panel in the factory.”

“Someone’s there? Who?”

“Zhang Wen”.

Lin Jiqiu’s breath hitched for a moment. “Zhang Wen?”

“The console logs show that every Friday at 2:50 PM, an account logs into the control system. That account’s ID is Zhang Wen’s employee number.”

“So Echo isn’t a single person, but an account. Zhang Wen has been using that account to give himself instructions?”

Cheng Ran shook his head. “Zhang Wen probably doesn’t know. He thought the instructions came from outside and he was just following them. But actually, someone used his account to preset instructions in the control system, which were then executed automatically at the designated time. The email he received every Friday was fake.”

“Someone is in disguise.”

“Possibly. It could also be generated automatically by the system.”

Lin Jiqiu remained silent for a long time. Zhang Wen had been used for twelve years. He thought he was carrying out orders from a higher level, but in reality, those orders were generated by his own account. Someone had used his identity to pre-set production plans within the system.

“Chengran, is it possible to find out who set those commands?”

“Yes, but higher privileges are required. The data reading only retrieved the control system logs, not the user management records.”

“Then we’ll need to go in again.”

“Next time, it might not be so easy.” Cheng Ran leaned back in his chair. “Zhang Wen gave you the USB drive; his situation has been exposed.”

“Let’s go again before they realize what’s happening.”

Cheng Ran looked at him. “Tomorrow?”

“tomorrow.”

The sky was beginning to brighten. Morning light streamed through the window, casting a pale golden glow on the coffee table. Lin Jiqiu leaned back on the sofa, his eyes still open, his mind racing with the data. Zhang Wen, the false command, the truth behind the echo—the Northern Star Court was more deeply hidden than he had imagined.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“I’ll go with you tomorrow night.”

“good.”