Warhammer: Rebuilding the Golden Age Starting with Farming

Chapter 32 Ghost Backdoor

A large amount of data flowed into Andy's core logic through the probe.

It turns out that the hard drive was not just a simple storage device, but a tactical terminal of the Helios Group's security intranet that was still in operation.

It was originally connected to the command center of the Upper Nest via an encrypted channel, uploading the vital signs and mission progress of the Cleaner Squad in real time.

Now, all of these people are dead, and the terminal is in a semi-offline state with no one to supervise it.

For Andy, it was like an unlocked vault with a "Welcome" sign hanging on it.

Instead of reading the encrypted files, Andy prioritized intercepting the real-time data packets that were still in the cache.

A massive amount of fragmented information flooded his retina.

First was a task briefing, with the signatory's name highlighted in red: Jessia Hel.

His title is Executive Director of the Nest Development Department of the Helios Group.

The mission objectives are clear: retrieve the body of the experimental subject codenamed "Amethyst-03", retrieve the black box data backup numbered Box-772, and conduct a "final cleanup" of all unauthorized personnel who had contact with the site.

"Final cleanup"—that's a very clever term; to put it bluntly, it means killing someone to silence them.

Andy remembered the name: Jessia Hall.

If this woman is the mastermind behind this whole mess, then she should be the primary target for future reckoning.

Following this, Andy connected to the backend of the terminal and found an edge node in the Helios Group's security network.

Although this node has low privileges and is mainly used to download maps and update patrol routes for field teams, it still contains a huge amount of information.

A blueprint titled "Outer Defense Plan of Her Spire (7th Edition)" was displayed before Andy's eyes.

Although this map only shows a portion of the area, it clearly marks the locations of all automated sentry turrets from the 12th to the 15th level of the upper nest.

Where are the blind spots? Where are the blind areas of thermal imaging monitoring? Where are the maintenance access points for ventilation ducts?

There's even a schedule for the patrol team's shift change.

Andy's processor worked at lightning speed, saving the map into its core database.

This kind of intelligence is something you can't buy no matter how much money you have, but now it's been delivered to you for free.

Just as Andy was preparing to dig deeper...

"drop--!!"

A sharp alarm rang out on his logical level.

The black hard drive in my hand started to heat up intensely.

A red warning box kept popping up on my retina.

[Warning: All authorized squad members have had their life signals reduced to zero.]

[Warning: No commander-manual cancellation command detected.]

The Dead Hand program has been activated.

[Self-destruction countdown: 29, 28, 27...]

An extremely vicious defense mechanism.

Once the holder's death is detected, in order to prevent the leakage of confidential information, the terminal will automatically overload the internal miniature fusion battery, generating a high temperature of several thousand degrees to physically melt it.

At the same time, it will also release a powerful logic virus through the data interface, specifically designed to burn the neural implants or electronic brains of those attempting to intrude.

If it were an ordinary hacker, or a mechanical priest of Gamma-9's caliber, his brain would have been boiling or he would have crashed on the spot.

But Andy is an iron man.

His logical firewall is 800 levels higher than the encryption level of this hard drive.

Even if something like that hits his firewall, it won't even make a splash.

As for the 30-second self-destruct countdown?

For humans, thirty seconds is a very short time; it may only be enough to say two last words.

But for the Iron Man, whose calculations are measured in nanoseconds, thirty seconds is enough for him to deploy a whole set of boarding tactics and write an operating system along the way.

Andy did not pull out the probe.

Instead, he directly increased the data throughput.

Now that this terminal is connected to Helios's internal network, let's leave a gift for Miss Jessia before it's blown up.

Although Andy's fingers didn't move, the data stream was relentlessly attacking the firewall of that edge node.

He wrote an extremely concise "ghost backdoor".

It will disguise itself as a discarded temperature sensor data packet and attach itself to the junk data stream on the Helios intranet.

It does not send any signals or occupy any bandwidth under normal circumstances, and is completely silent.

It will only activate and become one of Andy's eyes, which he has placed in the upper nest, when Andy sends a wake-up command at a specific frequency.

[Write progress: 45%...]

The hard drive was getting hotter and hotter, and the anti-corrosion coating on Andy's hands started to smoke.

[Write progress: 78%...]

[Self-destruction countdown: 5, 4...]

Andy remained as steady as ever.

[Write complete.]

The covert protocol has taken effect.

Just as the countdown jumped to "1".

Andy abruptly pulled the data probe off his finger.

He exerted force with his wrist, tossing the black hard drive, now glowing red, high into the air.

"boom--!!!"

The hard drive exploded violently in mid-air, twenty meters above the ground.

The energy generated by the overload of the fusion battery was released instantly, turning into a dazzling white fireball. The shockwave stirred up the dust on the ground and made the already wrecked armored vehicle wrecked loudly.

Not far away, Gamma-9 and several guards were struggling to lift the heavy crystal corpse onto the vehicle.

Upon hearing the explosion, the group was so startled that they nearly dropped the priceless specimen.

They turned around and saw Andy standing in the firelight, his back to them, pointing one finger to the sky.

Gamma-9's single eye, which had just begun to recover, widened instantly.

From his perspective, this scene was imbued with a strong religious atmosphere.

The sage pulled an unseen demon from the heretical machine.

The demons attempted to rebel, trying to corrupt the sage's soul.

But the Sage suppressed it with his supreme willpower and, at the last moment, threw it into the sky and purified it with sacred fire.

"Praise be to Om Messiah!"

Gamma-9 couldn't help but want to kneel down again.

"What a powerful exorcism ritual!"

Andy shook his slightly burning fingers and glanced back at the group of charlatans who were indulging in self-pity once again.

He couldn't be bothered to explain what the "Dead Hand System" or "Logic Virus" was.

Explaining high technology as a miracle can save a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Stop standing there daydreaming.

Andy pointed to the corpses on the ground.

"Pick up all those Hellfire Guns, they're good stuff."

"And their armor plates, although some were damaged, can still be repaired and used."

"Especially those energy battery backpacks, those are high-energy laser batteries, we can take them back and modify them to power our heavy-duty laser cutting machines."

Having lived a life of poverty for so long, Andy now sees everything as a resource.

Twelve Hellfire Guns—that's standard equipment for Stormtroopers in the Astronautical Army.

Although this gun consumes an extremely high amount of energy, it is very effective against heavily armored units.

If we take it back and equip the Gamma-9s with it, the firepower of the shelter will be upgraded to a whole new level.

And those black carapaces.

This thing is much better than the stamped steel plate plates currently used in shelters. It's lightweight and sturdy, and the ceramic composite material can withstand large-caliber live bullets.

Even if there is damage, Andy can use the repair solutions provided by STC to fix it with shape memory alloys and industrial rubber.

When Gamma-9 and the others heard that they could pick up these things, they immediately perked up.

Although they were afraid of the exploding hard drive, they had no resistance to picking up equipment.

A few minutes later, the battlefield was cleaned up completely.

Even a slightly intact screw was pried off.

Andy did one last check on the cryogenic hibernation pod containing the crystal corpse.

The indicator light on the hull is still green, indicating that the refrigeration system is still working.

The "Amethyst Man" inside still lay quietly, its bright red heart beating extremely slowly in its chest.

"I'm gone."

Andy patted the car door.

The twin engines of the bottom-dwelling happiness car roared once again.

The convoy kicked up dust as it headed toward the shelter.

Andy sat in the driver's seat and glanced through the rearview mirror at the still-smoking ruins of the Helios factory in the distance.

The ruins are like a huge scar etched into the earth of the bottom nest.

It has to be said that the Helios Group suffered a huge loss this time.

The 3 billion dollar factory is gone, the Cleaner team is wiped out, Andy steals the core data and samples, and even Andy opens a backdoor on the internal network.

But Andy knew this was just the beginning.

The executives of Helios, especially that woman named Zesia, will certainly not let this go.

The next one might not be a lightly armed assault squad, but a real heavy force, or even a private army that Helios hired at great expense.

But... so what?