In the blink of an eye, three years have passed. Su Wanwan has been living in Longyuan for three years now. When she first arrived, Su Wanwan was very curious about everything new here.
But not long after, Su Wanwan began to show her outstanding talent in the field of computer science. Even Lin Zhengguo couldn't help but sigh, "This girl really inherited Old Su's talent."
On this day, Su Wanwan successfully breached Longyuan's firewall for the first time. Everyone was amazed by her computer talent. At such a young age, she had already achieved so much in the field of computers. She would surely become a core member of Longyuan in the future.
Little did they know that Su Wanwan had a major plan in mind.
At night, Su Wanwan lay on her small bed in her dormitory, her ear pressed against the wall—the sound of footsteps changing shifts in the technical department next door would ring out precisely at 11:45 PM. Five minutes later, there would be a 15-second gap in the corridor.
"13, 14, 15..." she counted silently in her mind, sliding barefoot off the bed. In her pajama pocket was a homemade signal jammer, its palm-sized circuit board flashing a green indicator light.
The door opened a crack, and sure enough, the corridor was empty. Su Wanwan tiptoed along, silently slipping towards the server room in Block B. For three years, she had become intimately familiar with every corner of this underground base, including those security blind spots that theoretically shouldn't be known.
"Miss Wanwan?" A guard's voice suddenly came from around the corner.
Su Wanwan immediately squatted down, took a rubber mouse out of her pocket, and gently rolled it in the opposite direction.
"What was that?" The guard's footsteps faded into the distance.
She breathed a sigh of relief. This tactic had worked three times already; the people of Longyuan still treated her like a child. Little did they know that thirteen-year-old Su Wanwan was no longer the little girl who could only cry.
The access control for the server room uses both iris and fingerprint verification. Su Wanwan pulled a transparent film from her hair clip; it was a copy she had secretly made from Lin Zhengguo's coffee cup at his birthday party last week.
"Sorry, Grandpa Lin," she muttered softly as she affixed the thin film to the access control sensor.
The green light comes on.
Inside the control room, dozens of screens emitted a faint blue light. Su Wanwan sat down familiarly at the terminal in the far corner, at the only vulnerability in the entire Longyuan security system—the backup interface that she had spent eight months discovering.
Fingers flew across the keyboard, and strings of code flowed out like water. The login screen for Longyuan's internal database quickly appeared.
"Let me see..." Su Wanwan bit her lower lip and entered the administrator account she had secretly obtained.
[Privilege Level: b]
[Search scope limited]
She pursed her lips. Level B access only allowed viewing regular task records; her parents' files were definitely encrypted at a higher level. But it didn't matter; she was prepared.
A USB flash drive was inserted into the interface, and the self-written cracking program began to run. Data streamed across the screen like a waterfall, and Su Wanwan's eyes followed each line of code intently. This was a "crawler" she had specially designed based on the Longyuan Firewall vulnerability, capable of slowly eroding the system's defenses like water droplets seeping into rock.
[WARNING: Abnormal access detected]
A red pop-up window suddenly appeared. Su Wanwan's fingers paused, and she quickly typed in a few lines of termination commands. The pop-up window disappeared, but her back was already covered in a layer of cold sweat.
"Give me five more minutes..." she whispered to herself, trying to encourage herself.
Finally, the database unlocked a deeper directory. Su Wanwan quickly typed in the three characters "Su Qiming," her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest.
The search bar spun for a full ten seconds before the results appeared:
Name: Su Qiming
【Number: LY-7749】
Status: Sacrificed (five years ago)
[Related File: LY-7749-m (Top Secret)]
Beside her was a photo of her father, wearing a Longyuan uniform, his smile gentle. Su Wanwan's fingertips lightly touched the screen, as if she could feel the warmth of that now blurred memory.
"LY-7749-m......" she murmured, repeating the file number, and immediately searched for her mother's name.
Equally concise record:
Name: Lin Yan
【Item No.: LY-7750】
Status: Sacrificed (five years ago)
[Related File: LY-7749-m (Top Secret)]
The related files are the same. Su Wanwan took a deep breath and clicked on the number.
Insufficient permissions
[Higher level of authorization required]
"As expected..." She should have anticipated this. But tonight was different; she had prepared the ultimate solution—a quantum key that could simulate Lin Zhengguo's biological characteristics.
Just as the cracking program was loading to 87%, a piercing alarm suddenly rang throughout the entire server room!
[Intrusion Alert! Control Room, Sector B!]
Su Wanwan was so startled she almost fell off her chair. Impossible! Her program should be able to bypass all alarm systems!
The red warning light started spinning, and hurried footsteps approached in the distance. Su Wanwan frantically pulled out the USB drive, about to run away, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of the last line of small text loading on the screen:
[Related Mission Code: Wind Chaser]
Chasing the wind? What does that mean?
"Don't move! Put down the equipment you're holding!" Three fully armed guards rushed into the machine room, their guns pointed at her.
Su Wanwan slowly raised her hands, her mind racing as she tried to come up with an excuse. But when she saw who walked in next, all the lies she had prepared got stuck in her throat.
Lin Zhengguo stood in the doorway, wearing a bathrobe and with a livid face. Behind him were several supervisors from the technical department, all with solemn expressions.
"Wanwan." Lin Zhengguo's voice was soft, yet it seemed to drop the temperature in the entire server room. "Explain."
Su Wanwan lowered her hand, suddenly no longer wanting to pretend. The doubts, resentments, and grievances that had accumulated over the years surged forth like a burst dam.
"I want to know where my mom and dad are!" Her voice was especially shrill amidst the sirens. "Every time I ask you, you say they haven't returned from their mission! What mission? Why haven't we heard from them for five whole years! Why does the report say they've been killed in action?!"
Her voice choked, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Lin Zhengguo's expression changed. He waved for the guards to step back, slowly walked up to Su Wanwan, and squatted down to look her in the eye.
"What did you see?" he asked softly.
"Chasing the Wind." Su Wanwan wiped away her tears. "Just those two words."
The old man's pupils contracted slightly, then he sighed: "Come with me."
"I'm not going! You have to tell me today why you haven't told me the truth for so long! I was so naive to think that Mom and Dad were still on a mission, but it turns out you were lying to me!" Su Wanwan was a little hysterical.
Seeing Lin Zhengguo in such a state, he was also somewhat at a loss.
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