Chapter 370: Chapter 370

Ichigo: "Do you know Ms. Endebile?"

Zhu Xinyu swiftly selected the name, pressed Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V, and opened a search engine.

Zhu Rong: "I think I’ve heard of her. But wasn’t she called Niyaguti Feigete?"

"She got divorced. Some time ago." Ichigo replied quickly, "She is an African woman who managed to establish herself in the harsh and rigid academic community, even becoming one of the world’s top biologists. She’s only in her twenties, yet she has already achieved so much. I really admire her."

Zhu Xinyu glanced over the information. It seemed that online, "Niyaguti Endebile" was considered a "new era independent woman role model." She achieved success on her own without relying on a man, and even after her divorce, it seemed effortless. Some media even emphasized that "she was more outstanding than her incompetent ex-husband." Lower-tier academic gossip sites even went as far as to colorfully describe how her white ex-husband was envious and disdainful of his wife.

But that didn’t seem very likely.

Zhu Rong: "So, this is Ms. Endebile’s information?"

Ichigo clearly hesitated for a moment. After several minutes, he said, "I can’t be sure. Because there are at least three proteins that I have never seen in Ms. Endebile’s papers."

Zhu Rong: "What do you mean?"

Ichigo: "I am still comparing them. Among the several special proteins listed, two are found in Ms. Endebile’s papers. But the other three have never appeared."

Zhu Rong: "Ms. Endebile’s unpublished data?"

Ichigo: "No. Ms. Endebile is keen on sharing her research promptly through preprints. She’s at a level where she no longer needs to care about things like the impact factor of her papers. So, she has absolutely no reason to hide her progress. Plus, she really hopes that others will venture into this field. She studies archaea that survive in extreme environments. Many scholars find it significant, but few decide to commit to researching it..."

Zhu Rong: "But didn’t you just say she’s the only one on Earth researching this?"

Zhu Rong: "Could it be that I’ve stolen data from aliens?"

Ichigo: "I’m not sure. This is too strange."

Zhu Xinyu opened the data and tried to understand it.

She didn’t notice anything wrong.

But before she closed the data, she glanced at the name of the person who recorded it.

—Yawgmoth Voigt... Voigt...

Zhu Xinyu reopened the encyclopedia and followed the entries down.

Indeed, Yawgmoth Voigt was Niyaguti Endebile’s "deadbeat ex-husband."

—Could it be that those media were right? Did he actually steal his ex-wife’s research direction?

Zhu Xinyu hurriedly shared this discovery with Ichigo.

Ichigo hadn’t paid attention to the writer’s name. He immediately caught on.

Ichigo: "Could this be... a shameless plagiarism incident?"

Zhu Rong: "I’m not sure. You’d better back up the data first and then get in touch with Ms. Niyaguti. I mean, you should have a way to contact her as a fellow academic, right?"

Ichigo: "My supervisor might have. This is the legendary academic misconduct, isn’t it?"

Zhu Rong: "However, since you feel there’s value in following up, you can be the one to expose it. Just make sure you don’t reveal my identity."

Zhu Xinyu closed the window and then refreshed the forum.

The ID named "Ramanujan" had new responses.

Seeing this, Zhu Xinyu felt a surge of energy and her temper flared a bit.

Of course, a slight smile also appeared on her face.

This "Ramanujan" was a formidable figure. He must be one of the new users registered in the "Risk" community. He uploaded some scripts and plugins he wrote himself. After Zhu Xinyu examined them, they seemed very sophisticated.

Yet, the topic "Ramanujan" discussed most was the "unanalyzable data" he previously released.

At least a third of "Ramanujan’s" time was spent posting on this topic.

Moreover, it seemed as though he possessed an unusual understanding of this data.

Although discussions on it had remained at the level of ’shooting the breeze’ without finding a way in so far.

But clearly, "Ramanujan" enjoyed the aimless beginning of brainstorms.

Zhu Xinyu had checked "Ramanujan’s" posts. He had indeed responded to a variety of topics.

She even had some doubts. Could this be someone who has already achieved the title of "Fire God"?

But some of "Ramanujan’s" answers had a flavor of "model answers." Zhu Xinyu speculated that this person might have some sort of "academic" background.

This didn’t quite fit with the known "Fire Gods."

Programmers of academic backgrounds usually preferred to be engineers rather than hackers.

Hackers are those who break the rules.

But "Rama" had one good point.

This guy had a foul mouth, was good at working a room, and knew how to rile up the atmosphere.

At least, under the topics published by Zhu Xinyu, the discussion was quite lively.

Zhu Xinyu began to browse through those ideas.

A few hours later, the chat software buzzed twice.

Ichigo: "Zhu Rong, I have some bad news."

Ichigo: "Yawgmoth Voigt is now working for the Federation government."

Ichigo: "Make sure to hide yourself well."

Zhu Xinyu thought for a moment before replying, "Don’t worry, even if the Federation is strong, they can’t possibly find my location this quickly. They might not even be able to get through the procedures. I’ll be physically leaving the place I’m currently using very soon."

Ichigo: "Be careful. I just found out that Yawgmoth Voigt actually fought alongside our comrades before. I don’t know what that means. Did he betray us? This is strange."

The Federation? Zhu Xinyu really wasn’t concerned. It was only in recent years that relations between the Federation and the Republic had warmed, but not to the extent that a bunch of Federation cops could kidnap someone on Republic soil.

With that thought, Zhu Xinyu’s stomach began to grumble.

The sky was gradually darkening.

Zhu Xinyu left the room, ready to eat some mango sticky rice.

Meanwhile, at the end of the street, inside a mobile electronic warfare platform disguised as a regular truck, Colonel Lei took out some military rations from a storage box. He handed one to another United Nations military staff officer from the Federation and then passed one to Xiang Shan, who was holding a tablet.

Xiang Shan then requested another portion for Hartman. He placed it in front of Hartman and said, "Are you sure?"

"If my judgment is correct, that hotel is her current real IP." Hartman took a deep breath, "Keep chatting with him and try to keep him engaged. I’ll try to find a breakthrough without alerting him."

He had bet correctly. Latest content published on novᴇlfire.net

These past few days, he had been busy just for this moment.

And he had actually managed to bet on the best scenario.

Hartman was indeed strong. Luckily, he was strong enough.

He found the opponent before everyone else.

During these days, Hartman had done two things. First, he analyzed the virus from Zhu Rong.

Zhu Rong’s virus itself did not damage the system and would also self-delete, making it hard to be locked on. In the past two years, this virus had never been analyzed.

But Hartman was truly strong. With preparation, he successfully analyzed the virus and concluded that it would upload stolen data to a specific cloud server. The cloud server itself was also mobile.

Hartman once again locked on to that cloud server and confirmed recent access records through multiple network operators.

All network gateways were controlled by the consortium behind the "Rama Project." Zhu Xinyu wasn’t fighting Hartman alone. She was up against all operators, all engineers, all cyber security personnel. The Hanuman Group even had emergency authority to bypass individual countries’ legal restrictions and obtain all operators’ log files.

Second, Hartman, following Xiang Shan’s suggestion, started tracking her using Zhu Rong’s posts in the "Risk" community.

Over these days, he had mobilized several technical experts, including Hartman, to use the "Ramanujan" account to answer various topics in the "Risk" community and express great interest in "Xiduo." This made it look more natural.

Xiang Shan then used words to provoke Zhu Rong’s anger and interest, continuing the conversation with her.

At this stage, Xiang Shan just "naturally" asked Hartman, "Can you trace his location based on the information Zhu Rong uploads when he posts?"

Of course, Hartman was willing to try.

But Zhu Rong was exceedingly cautious. Any data she uploaded went through multiple relays before being uploaded to the "Risk" community through a triple-random relay "Onion."

With the joint efforts of multiple countries and departments, the "Onion" had been peeled back.

Hartman only needed to deal with Zhu Rong’s own multiple relays and encryption.

By comparing the databases uploaded by the virus and the origin of uploads to the "Risk" community, Hartman narrowed his target to Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Soon after, Xiang Shan quickly wrote out an application.

Without waiting for more senior officials to react, Xiang Shan had already set out with several officers from the United Nations Military Staff Committee and a peacekeeping force.

Of course, through the Lei Chaoyang connection, he had obtained the authority to follow the team days before.

Almost simultaneously, they received assistance from the official Thai government.

The Thai government wasn’t completely clear on what was happening, but a few days prior, the Thai diplomatic corps at the United Nations had already received a notice from the Security Council. A group had been ready for action.

And now, they were entering the final stage.

Hartman had to find the last true access point without alarming "Zhu Rong" and lock onto the individual.

Xiang Shan nodded, "So, the ’Firefighting’ operation, officially begins."