Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Lucy Lives in Bengbu
"It's nothing, I just casually debugged it. There were a few loopholes in their chip, which I optimized directly from the data panel," Peter said, somewhat pretending, though he didn't mean to deceive, only stating the facts.
"Lucy, would you like me to check your system?"
Although Lucy looked uneasy at Peter's words, she couldn't resist a system without any vulnerabilities. After all, no hacker wanted to be counterattacked and have their brain overloaded while hacking into a system.
"Okay, then. Help me take a look," Lucy agreed, exposing the small port near her neck.
"Uh, Lucy, I don't have a connection cable. Why don't you use your connection cable to connect with me instead?" Peter asked.
Without hesitation, Lucy pulled out the cable from her palm and connected it to Peter. However, before Lucy could reverse the input, Peter was already checking her system.
"Huh, here and here... Wow, this is amazing! There's even a back door left by network surveillance?" Peter muttered as he examined the data flashing in his eyes.
In just a few minutes, Peter refreshed Lucy's system and modified the data as he went along.
"Okay, Lucy, check your data now," Peter said after patching up all the vulnerabilities in Lucy's system.
Lucy disconnected, but her mind was reeling. During the connection, Peter had entered her system as easily as walking into his own home, effortlessly finding and fixing vulnerabilities while modifying the system. He even found a backdoor left by network surveillance that Lucy hadn't noticed at all. It was a good thing it hadn't been activated. If it had been discovered during a hacking attempt, the opponent could have overloaded her brain.
"No need, Peter," Lucy said, her voice quiet and a little hesitant.
Lucy's reluctance to check didn't mean she fully trusted Peter; it was just that, during the connection, she knew Peter hadn't inserted any vulnerabilities. He had only improved the system, working within her own program. She could tell that the system Peter created for her was not only optimized but also customized to fit her usage habits, based on her previous system debugging.
"Peter, have you really never worked on hacking systems before?" Lucy couldn't hold back her surprise anymore. If Peter had just copied her system or made a few tweaks, Lucy wouldn't have been this shocked.
But Peter hadn't simply copied her system. He had filled in the gaps while simultaneously customizing it to her preferences. This level of skill was beyond what even top mercenary hackers in Night City could do. Not to mention that even supervisor-level network surveillance tasks would be nowhere near as advanced.
"No, today was the first time I've written and modified a system," Peter said casually, as if it were no big deal. His tone was so nonchalant it almost sounded like he was talking about buying a drink.
"Peter, what kind of hacking system are you two working on? What's it even for?" Jack asked from the side, watching Peter and Lucy talk. After a few words, he connected again, but confusion soon spread across his face.
"Hey! Damn it! Why can't I stop moving my hands?"
Jack suddenly felt his palm raise uncontrollably and pinch his nose.
"That's how it's done," Peter said with a grin as Jack's hand returned to normal.
"I'll be damned! Peter's never tried his own brother before!" Jack exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief. The sensation of his limbs not responding to his commands had been terrifying.
"Come on, it was just a quick demonstration. I wasn't really messing with you. But I'm sure your brain is already in a bit of a mess after that," Peter joked.
Lucy, watching the exchange, was at a loss for words. She had never seen a hacker quite like Peter before. Usually, hackers in Night City could at most short-circuit someone's prosthetic body, but Peter's ability to directly manipulate another person's prosthetic body like that was pure fantasy.
"Peter, how did you manage to manipulate someone else's prosthetic body like that?" Lucy asked, genuinely curious.
"I'm not really sure how to explain it," Peter said, scratching his head. "I can just control the operating system all the way through."
Peter couldn't really explain the feeling, but it was as if he could break through the system's defenses with his thoughts and take control of the prosthetic body. The operation wasn't something Peter could do with multiple people simultaneously, though. The amount of calculations required was still too large for his undeveloped brain to handle at this stage.
If he spent another month soaking up the sun, Peter might be able to achieve multi-line operations and control multiple prosthetics. But right now, the energy he absorbed from the sun prioritized enhancing his physical body, and his brain could only process a small fraction of it.
Despite the impressive abilities of the hacker flow in the game, with its small armies of hackers in black, Peter still preferred the feeling of raw combat. After all, superheroes win battles through sheer power, and hacking had always been more of a whim for him than something meaningful.
Even if a network was infected, it would take time to crack the prosthetic body's program. Peter doubted that even his speed could match the time it would take to fully disable an enemy. For now, it was more about flexibility than efficiency.
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