manynovel Chapter 73 The Nine-Headed Hydra's Trail
Chapter 73 The Nine-Headed Hydra's Trail
"Hydra?" Tony's brow furrowed, his voice filled with disbelief. "Those persistent bastards, how could their claws possibly reach into this universe? It doesn't make sense!"
Chen Haotian didn't answer immediately. His fingers slid rapidly across the screen, retrieving more data streams that Jarvis had marked as abnormal. His brain, like a high-speed supercomputer, cross-referenced and logically deduced fragments of information with known intelligence.
"Logic?" Chen Haotian chuckled, a chilling glint in his eyes, a knowing mockery in his voice. "Tony, think about it. Since we can traverse different universes, why assume Hydra can't? Perhaps they possess some dimensional technology we don't yet know about, even if it's just a very rudimentary, unstable kind. Or..." He paused, his gaze sharpening as he looked at a string of specially encrypted communication records on the screen. "They didn't come directly from our universe, but rather, like a virus, they achieved another form of 'infiltration' by 'infecting' the native forces of this universe."
He pointed to the communication log: "Look at this, Jarvis just cracked it. The initiator's identifier was disguised in multiple layers, but the final decryption pointed to a high-ranking executive of an Umbrella Corporation branch in Europe. As for the recipient's IP, although it was also redirected and hidden after path tracing, its underlying protocol's habitual encoding method... has an 87% similarity to the 'Hydra' encryption algorithm commonly used by Hydra in our world."
"Habitual coding..." Tony stroked his chin, his expression turning serious. "Just like everyone's handwriting, even deliberate imitation will leave a unique mark. Jarvis, conduct deep pattern recognition analysis and compare it with known Hydra communication samples."
"Executing, sir," Jarvis replied calmly, as complex code comparisons and data stream analyses began scrolling rapidly across the screen. "Analysis complete. The target communication's encryption structure, key exchange protocol, and error checking mechanism have been confirmed to be highly consistent with the Hydra 'Leviathan'-level communication samples provided by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the archives, with a similarity of 91.3%. It can be determined that the technology used by this communicator is of the same origin as Hydra."
"Ninety-one hundred percent..." Tony whistled, the playfulness on his face vanishing, replaced by the seriousness characteristic of Iron Man. "That's practically irrefutable proof. These guys really are everywhere."
"It's not just the communication protocols," Chen Haotian added, pulling up several files that had been accessed abnormally. "Take a look at these access records. They showed extraordinary interest in the NE-α parasite control unit of 'The Tracker,' the skeletal enhancement technology of the Tyrant series, and even the aerosol propagation optimization data of the T-virus. If Hydra were to master and modify these technologies, they could be used to create a more powerful and controllable army of biological weapons that obeys them."
He paused, a hint of amusement in his voice: "Imagine a Hydra army enhanced by super-soldier serum, combined with tyrant-level physical abilities and absolute control by the NE-α parasite? Or, what if the easily spread T-virus was modified into a bioweapon targeting specific genes? That image is too 'beautiful' for me to even contemplate."
Tony imagined the scene, his face growing even uglier: "Shit! We can't let this technology fall into their hands! We have to do something!"
"Of course," Chen Haotian's lips curled into a calculating smile, a cunning glint in his deep eyes, "Since they like to steal, why don't we... give them some 'special' gifts?"
He turned to the virtual screen, his hands moving rapidly as if playing the piano. "Jarvis, assist me. From the 'Tracker Project' and the T-virus database, sift through the data that seems crucial but contains fatal flaws or leads in the wrong direction. Especially the part about the NE-α parasite's neural signal simulation; we need to carefully craft several 'logic traps' and 'data bombs'."
"Understood, Mr. Chen," Jarvis responded immediately. "Setting up a simulation sandbox and filtering target data packets."
Tony understood Chen Haotian's intention, and his eyes lit up: "You want to...feed them false information? Make them follow the wrong path we've set?"
"That's right," Chen Haotian explained while rapidly writing code containing hidden errors, "We 'inadvertently' leaked these carefully packaged 'poison baits' back through their data-stealing channels. For example, this data on the 'optimized' version of the NE-α parasite control protocol contains a tiny timing error that will cause the parasite to attack the host instead when it receives commands at a specific frequency. Another example is this 'T-virus stability enhancement' formula, which lacks a crucial buffer component, and its actual effect will greatly accelerate viral mutation, leading to uncontrollable consequences..."
He skillfully repackaged the tampered data, cleverly added some seemingly important tags and access permissions, and then "placed" it near the database area that had been successfully accessed by Hydra agents before, as if it were a "backup file" or "incomplete research notes" that had been accidentally overwritten by a system update.
"We've prepared a few appetizers," Chen Haotian clapped his hands, a satisfied look on his face. "Now, let's get something more exciting. Jarvis, retrieve the data from our previous research on the failed experiments regarding energy conflicts under different world rules leading to virus inactivation."
Tony immediately understood his plan, a wicked grin spreading across his face: "Oh! This is even more ruthless! We'll package a research direction destined to fail due to conflicting rules as a 'breakthrough' and throw it at them? Let them repeat the failures we've already proven under flawed world rules? Dude, you're really vicious!"
"It's a win-win situation," Chen Haotian shrugged, looking innocent. "We saved them time exploring the wrong path, and they helped us... well, by expending some resources and energy?"
He quickly packaged those failed cases, such as the "Extreme-T Virus Fusion Concept" and the "Energy Catalyst Mutation Model," which could not be stably integrated due to the rules of the Marvel Universe but seemed promising on a purely data level, into "a glimmer of initial success" and "a highly promising new direction," and labeled them "urgently awaiting verification," and mixed them into the "data package" that was about to be released.
"Tag these data packets and set trigger conditions," Chen Haotian instructed Jarvis. "Once an access and download attempt from that specific Hydra-related IP is detected, 'allow' them to successfully obtain this 'precious' data. At the same time, record their access trajectory and any subsequent possible data transmission behavior."
"The instruction has been recorded and executed, Mr. Chen," Jarvis confirmed.
After completing all this, Chen Haotian leaned back in his control chair, looking at the data packets marked as "bait" on the screen, like a hunter setting up an ingenious trap, waiting for his prey to take the bait. His eyes were calm and deep, and a faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
"Now, all we need to do is wait patiently," he said softly, "and see how much enthusiasm our 'old friend' will show for this 'gift' we've prepared so carefully."
Inside the Hive's main control room, silence fell, broken only by the faint hum of the servers. A silent intellectual contest spanning the universe had quietly begun. And Chen Haotian and Tony had just dropped the first bomb, a bomb coated in sugar.