So Hayden finally couldn't help but ask directly.
"Leaving aside the street riots, you've already said that wasn't your idea. But what exactly did you want to do by hacking into the Mitra Corporation's weather control system? Was it to burn New Seattle to ashes with a lightning storm?"
These words actually caused a hint of frustration to flash across Alastor's expression: "I'm not stupid, wizard. If you keep ignoring this, it will be difficult for us to communicate."
"You're so smart that you have no idea your men were secretly colluding with the Smoke Mirror Company to incite street riots," Hayden retorted immediately. "Speak your mind."
Alastor sighed.
"Large corporations control too many resources; it's impossible for us to shake them with our individual efforts alone, nor is it possible with the power of the masses. Times have changed. The power of the new capitalist god cannot be shaken by gathering mortals—so we must utilize forces of equal standing."
Hayden immediately had a very, very bad feeling.
However, Alastor had already said something very strange: "The hacking into the weather control system was just a pretext; I didn't actually hack into it at all."
“Huh?” Hayden frowned. “Then what are those huge dark clouds in the sky over the central area? You can’t just say it’s just an illusion…”
Then Hayden shut his mouth, feeling like a complete idiot.
"Because it really was an illusion."
Alastor smiled slightly.
"I hacked into the 3D holographic projector on the top of the branch office building, and then used that holographic device, which is usually used for celebrations on holidays, to create a fake vortex of dark clouds in the sky."
Ah... this move is indeed very Alastor-esque.
Rather, this tactic is quite similar to Hayden's in some ways. If a costly method isn't feasible, then produce a counterfeit product using a cheap one. Hayden was an expert at this.
...But then again, hacking into the real weather system might be useful for unleashing things like lightning storms, or even blasting an entire city flat. It would certainly be very useful.
But what can you do with a 3D holographic projector?
"Didn't the relevant departments of the Mitra Group discover the hacked phantom device instead of the weather system?"
Hayden simply couldn't understand it.
"Of course I found it."
Alastor's smile deepened.
"But given the Mitra Group's bureaucracy, their security department had enough time to go through the entire process of confirming that I hadn't actually hacked into the weather system, discovering that I had actually hacked into the phantom projector, and reporting to their superiors. This gave me the opportunity to sneak into their confidential data server."
"While security was distracted by both cyber and physical matters, I hijacked data on an entire product line under development within their organization."
He said he had obtained information on an entire product line under development within the Mitra Group.
So Hayden swallowed hard, trying to suppress the feeling of nausea.
Just hearing this statement, most people might find it difficult to understand just how important or serious this matter is.
But in reality, this is extremely messed up for large companies.
A new product, which hasn't even been announced yet, could very well be the company's future strategic direction. However, it was hacked beforehand. If this thing were sold to a rival company, the entire product line would be ruined.
For example, imagine you're a manager at a software development company. You're developing a new product, using one-third of the company's workforce. The project has a nine-month development cycle, and you've only been working on it for a month, planning to release a preview next month.
However, your development materials were secretly copied by a hacker at this time, and then secretly sold to your competitor. Your competitor used your materials to work overtime and add manpower to intercept them, and launched the game in just six months.
And so you're in trouble.
That's why large companies are extremely sensitive to this kind of thing.
"You, you..."
For a moment, Hayden was almost incoherent.
“The Mitra Group will hunt you down until you die. Then they will dig the identities of the data buyers out of your head and hunt them down as well.”
“Indeed,” Alastor replied cheerfully, “that is the purpose.”
what?
"Big corporations are the gods of the new era. What power in this world do you think can defeat a god?"
Alastor said,
"The answer, of course, is to fight God with God."
Without him saying another word, Hayden immediately understood Alastor's plan.
"...You plan to use Mitra Corporation's latest product line information to lure other large companies into opposing Mitra Corporation. To use the power of 'other gods' to bring down Mitra Corporation? What an idiotic plan!?" Hayden knew he should have been more tactful, but he simply couldn't. "It's too stupid! This kind of plan would never succeed in reality!"
However, Alastor was not angry.
"I don't believe this plan will definitely succeed, but it's the only plan that has a chance of succeeding."
His expression and tone were calm, yet very serious.
"If the Smoke Mirror Company were willing to provide inexpensive medical treatments... if the Mithra Group were willing to bring true sanctuary to the people... those colossi battling it out on the chessboard are the enemies of your and my parents. These are the blood debts those vampires owe you. It truly surprises me, Wizard, that at this point, you no longer want to pay with their blood? At this point, you've begun to fear the risks of battle?"
草
This person actually brought this up.
However, these words did have a certain inflammatory quality, and they did remind Hayden of his deceased mother and father. He thought of how the Mitra Corporation and the Smoke Mirror Company could have chosen to help tens of thousands, even hundreds of millions or billions of people, but instead, for profit, they chose to let those people die.
A fire did indeed secretly ignite in Hayden's heart.
He certainly wanted those big companies to pay with their own blood.
But even so...
...If we act recklessly because of this, we will only waste the strength and lives of more people.
"One yard owned by a yard."
Hayden sighed and shook his head.
"If you only intend to incite a fight among big companies, start a war in New Jersey, and use ordinary people as cannon fodder, then you are just a bigger fool."
Alastor nodded: "That's true, so I'm not that stupid."
“I know that both the Mitra Corporation and the Smoke Mirror Company are extremely evil. I am not as foolish as Yolanda to want to cooperate with them, nor do I want to sell the information I have to other large companies directly. After all, all large companies are wolves and tigers. On the huge chessboard of corporate gods fighting each other, it takes a clever and ingenious plan to guide them to fight each other with minimal effort. Yes, it is indeed an extremely difficult thing.”
“But I have no intention of using the people as cannon fodder. I have no intention of letting the corporations unleash their destructive power. Regardless of who wins or loses, getting things to this point is tantamount to failure—so I want to keep the war confined within the walls of those evil corporations and then fight for the victory we deserve.”
This sounds like a complete fantasy.
"Then again..."
However, Alastor smiled slightly as he said this.
"I can often do things that would never succeed in reality."
For example, physically infiltrating a large company's confidential server room to directly steal their important product development data?
For example, could someone be a university student while simultaneously creating a well-known anti-corporate hacker organization composed entirely of students?
At this moment, Hayden finally realized why the students of the "Bojun" organization followed Alastoma's lead and even worshipped him like an idol.
If you frequently perform incredible feats of genius and amazing legendary deeds, you will naturally attract a group of people who will help you and admire you.
However, Hayden had been a mercenary in the city for seven years and was still alive. So he knew very well that just because you've done something incredible before doesn't mean you can do it every time.
A truly legendary mercenary might be able to wipe out an entire company army with just a pistol and a pair of jeans, which is incredible—but how many times can you do that? How many times would you do it without getting killed by the company?
Where are the most legendary mercenaries?
In the cemetery!
Therefore, Hayden now only needs to consider this one question:
Is he really going to collaborate with this almost insane, but also incredibly talented and charismatic college student hacker?
Or is he going to abandon these college students and let them be torn to pieces by the evil Mitra Corporation, or even worse, the Smoke Mirror Company, and suffer a fate worse than death?
Therefore, after two minutes of serious thought, Hayden finally spoke:
"It's easy to say inspiring things, but it's hard to actually do great things. Tell me your specific plan first."
040: Exploitation Efficiency
Before even agreeing to join, Hayden demanded that the anti-supercorporate organization reveal the details of their important plans. This seemed a bit excessive.
"can."
However, Alastor had no objection to this.
"Let me explain the important parts first."
Why is he so easy to talk to?
Perhaps it's because things have come to this point; whether Hayden wants to join or not, he already knows too much. But then again, even if Hayden refuses to join [Bo Xun] after hearing Alastor's detailed plan, Alastor will always find a way to shut him up and prevent him from leaking the information, right?
Right?
Anyway, Alastor seemed very confident.
"First, I stole their next major product line from Mitra Corporation's confidential data server,"
As Alastor spoke, his expression became extremely serious.
"It is a newly developed skills education chip based on dream chip technology."
what?
……ah
Hayden froze for two seconds, then covered his forehead.
Without Alastor saying much, he had already realized a lot from those words.
Dream chips are illegal, but Hayden knew three months ago, just a few days after he created Angela, that the Mitra Group had probably been secretly researching dream chips all along. The incident with his good brother Adam explained a lot of things—Adam, in the end, was just a new project manager in the business department with no background. How could he possibly develop a personality correction chip out of thin air all by himself?
Although Hayden didn't know who was behind the personality modification chip, who was behind Adam, or what level they had reached within the Mitra Corporation, or even whether they originated from the highest levels of the company... it was clear that the Mitra Corporation was certainly not new to research "based on dream chip technology." Moreover, this type of research project was certainly not limited to just one type.
How could such an outlandish new technology be led by just a lowly manager like Adam? Nobody believes that!
“Let’s skip the complicated technical details and get straight to the point.” So Hayden sighed, “Are there any particularly troublesome issues with this kind of educational chip?”
These words immediately made Alastor frown: "Are you joking, or were you distracted while thinking? Didn't you realize it?"
what?
"If the Mitra Corporation really had such an educational chip, which could be simply stuck on anyone's forehead and instantly teach them all the skills a normal company employee needs, what do you think the world would be like?"
what
...ah this
Hayden wasn't truly stupid, so after regaining his senses, he immediately realized: "Then from now on, the Mitra Group will no longer need to hold any recruitment fairs for recent university graduates."
It's amazing he still has the energy to make jokes like that.
“That’s true.” Alastor didn’t laugh; his face darkened. “They no longer need to have any scruples about exploiting their employees. They can choose to exploit anyone with extreme efficiency.”
Although the proportion is getting lower and lower, in this day and age, children from ordinary or even poor families like Hayden, as long as they have enough talent, still have the possibility of going to university and receiving a higher education—even if their parents will have a lot of financial pressure, or they may need to apply for student loans provided by large companies and thus be in debt. But they still have the possibility of receiving higher education.
Why is that? Why would a company allow lower-class people to continue receiving higher education? Why don't they keep all knowledge and power in the hands of the upper class, ensuring that the highest level of education for all lower-class people is only elementary school?
The answer is actually quite simple: if 99.9% of the world's population only had a primary school education, it's obvious that the operation of large companies would collapse.
A company's exploitation of its employees must be based on the premise that the employees have the ability to be exploited. If the basic workforce lacks even the most basic job skills—for example, if only the educated upper class in the world knows how to write code—then where will these upper-class people go to exploit programmers?
Of course, large companies always have ways to hire employees first and then train them, but isn't that costly? Companies certainly prefer that every employee has the necessary skills from the start and can start working immediately. Rather than spending money and time training employees, it's better to let lower-level employees spend their own time and money to learn and be fully prepared before being exploited by the company.
This is why companies can't completely prevent the lower classes from receiving education. If every ordinary parent had to work themselves to death just to afford to send their child to primary school, capitalists' earning efficiency would actually decrease.
The only minor problem is that in this world where programming is magic, lower-class programmers might rise up and rebel against the company once they truly master the power... However, as long as the Mitra Corporation develops a skill learning chip that can quickly turn anyone into a programmer by simply sticking it on their forehead, the company will no longer need to worry about this problem.
If the difference between skilled and unskilled workers can be as small as the difference of a single chip, then the salary expenses that the company needs to pay will naturally be greatly reduced, right?
"By then, the Mitra Group's competitive advantage will be too great."
Alastor said calmly,
"Mitra Information Group is already the world's largest super-corporation. Although there are other equally powerful giants in the world, such as Smoke Mirror Life Construction Company, Wotan Mystery Technology Company, and Mars Industrial Group, we must all admit that Mitra Group is the strongest. Therefore, once they get the news about the educational chips that Mitra Group is currently researching, those second-ranked large companies will inevitably take action."
“I have no intention of joining any side, nor do I intend to serve any wolves or tigers. I intend to take advantage of their infighting and exhaustion to deliver a truly fatal blow to these weary prey.”
Upon hearing this, Hayden naturally couldn't help but ask, "What are the specific methods?"
Alastor smiled slightly: "I'll tell you when they start fighting each other."
The implication of his words was quite clear.