The Universe Jumper Chapter 03 Part 01
Chapter 03 Part 1/2: The Night Battle
While Jiang Liu waited in the detention room, he sang leisurely. As soon as he entered the room, he clearly saw the strip of camera lights that surrounded the top of the room, so when he sang, he deliberately blinked and posed at the camera, making the guy who was monitoring the cameras laugh out loud. Qi Fei was secretly angered by this, but he couldn't interfere.
Qi Fei was waiting for the General's reply. According to the usual protocol, the arrest of such important criminals required the General to personally arrange the interrogation strategies and procedures. However, after the report was sent tonight, there was still no news.
After waiting for about an hour, there was still no reply from the general. Qi Fei was a little anxious and he was unable to identify the cause of this anxiousness. In his memory, it has been a long time since he was this emotional when executing tasks. He tried to calm himself down with the focus method he used when playing the card game, Bridge, but he was still aware of the anxiety in his mind. He urged his subordinates to ask the general's office again, and the reply was that the general was at a meeting at the Pacific Headquarters tonight. The meeting has not ended so the General cannot be contacted. It was not clear when the meeting would end.
Qi Fei stood up and walked into Jiang Liu's detention room.
He didn't want to wait any longer.
"How do you know Yun Fan?" Qi Fei asked condescendingly while sitting down sideways on the edge of the table in front of Jiang Liu.
"It's very simple. She came to the academic conference to ask me about pulsars." Jiang Liu spread his hands and smiled slightly, "How do you know Yun Fan?"
"Jiang Ju’zi1, I hope you are aware of the circumstances right now," Qi Fei said, "I'm trying to interrogate you right now. You’re not in the position to be asking me questions. Yun Fan and I are old friends, you don't need to worry about us."
"If you two are old friends, then why were there no simple friendly greetings exchanged between you two? Do you two hold grudges against each other?"
"I only have grudges against you." Qi Fei replied coldly.
"Director Qi," Jiang Liu leaned back in his chair, wrapped his hands around the back of his head, and smiled, "Don't be so fierce. If you have something to say, then say it nicely. If you want to ask me something, then let's sit down and have a drink. I promise that I will tell you everything. If you act aggressive, I might become too frightened to talk."
"Okay, let's have a nice proper chat." Qi Fei didn't move, nor did have the intention to talk over drinks. "Let me ask you, ‘Heaven's Reward2’ was created by you, right?"
"Yes." Jiang Liu did not act secretive.
"Why is it called ‘Heaven's Reward’?"
"’Mozi3 once said’," Jiang Liu said leisurely, "Those who follow the Heavens’s will through loving each other and benefiting each other will be rewarded; those who oppose Heaven's will through mutual evilness and mutual treachery will be punished. We only do good things, love each other, benefit each other and follow Heaven's will, so we will definitely receive Heaven's reward."
" ‘Only do good things’, how wonderful." Qi Fei took advantage of his higher stance and he leaned over. "The world's largest hacker organization specializes in reselling intelligence, leaking secrets and wrecking havoc everywhere just for profit. This is what you mean by ’doing only good things’?"
"Director Qi, don't slander me." Jiang Liu said with a chuckle, "The world's largest hacker organization is not us, and we don't wreak havoc. The Heaven’s Reward’s way of conduct in society is guided by kindness. It’s just a group of hardworking civilians trying to make a living; they don’t have the capability of ruining the world. I won’t deny what I have done, but I also will not claim any accomplishments or wrong-doings that are not mine.”
Qi Fei was leaning over, but his chin was raised slightly and his eyes were peering down with a sense of contempt that wasn’t too over the top. It was obvious that he was a very experienced interrogator. "Really? Then I would like to learn more about what kind of good deeds the Heaven's Reward has done."
"No problem," Jiang Liu raised his head and smiled. His expression was still relaxed, and although he wasn’t in a favorable position, his dominating presence was not weak. "I am willing to report to Director Qi. Although the Heaven’s Reward is not as smart as Director Qi's ‘Cloud Thinker’, the kind deeds we have done are not lesser. Director Qi, do you agree?"
Qi Fei's pupils contracted slightly. "Cloud Thinker" was a confidential project of the military. It uses super AI computing power to gather every type of data and information to calculate the best control layout plan, and then coordinate and control the entire highest-level design projects. Initially, it was only used for military deployment, but it soon went beyond the scope of the military: wide range energy distribution, productivity calculations, material logistics, transportation, personnel deployment, real-time consulting intelligence and monitoring data aggregation and calculation. As the scope the project covered became broader, its computing power and controllability became more stronger, and the degree of hardware integration became deeper. The germination of the entire project began in the 1920s. After decades of continuous exploration and improvement, Qi Fei allowed the project to make greater leaps forward. Only a few people knew that Qi Fei was the one in charge of this project. Even the name of the project changed several times. A few decades ago, the name was “Cloud Network”, then it was changed to “Cloud Brain”, then “Cloud Intelligence”, and then to the current name, “Cloud Thinker”. Not only was Jiang Liu aware that the project’s newest name was “Cloud Thinker”, he also knew that Qi Fei was the new head of the project. Credit goes to the relatively well developed intelligence of his organization, which has reached the extent of being able to penetrate into the core of the Pacific Alliance.
The more Qi Fei thought about it, the more alarmed he felt. Consequently, his tone became harsher, "Jiang Liu, for the questions that I will ask you now, you should answer it truthfully, otherwise I'm not sure whether or not you will have to face more severe interrogations in the future."
"I’m delighted to comply." Jiang Liu also became serious.
Qi Fei pulled a chair over, sat down, and faced Jiang Liu, "Let me ask you, does the Heavens Reward use blockchain technology?"
"Yes."
“In the Heaven’s Reward, are there people selling information?"
"Yes."
"Who buys, who sells?"
"Anonymous buyers, anonymous sellers."
"Do you know that a lot of military intelligence cannot be bought and sold?"
"I don't know." Jiang Liu said, "I don't control any information. People buy and sell on their own accord."
"Then how do you screen the authenticity of the information?" Qi Fei asked.
"I don’t. Whoever’s information is highly authentic and highly approved by the buyer, the system will give the person heavier weighting, and their income will become higher. The more truthful the information provided by the intelligence is, the higher the seller’s income will be. They control themselves."
"Then what if someone deliberately provides false information for income?"
"If it’s fake, then so be it." Jiang Liu shrugged, "The things in the world are true and false, false and true. Who can tell exactly what is true, what is false? Sometimes, when the false is taken to be the truth, then the truth is the same as the false4."
"Don't you try to go off topic." Qi Fei was a little sullen, "You should at least know which groups of people are frequently buying information from the Heaven’s Reward, right? Who is your income provider?"
"Anyone---even you could also try." Jiang Liu also leaned forward, "It's just that Director Qi, you might want to think carefully about it. The Heaven’s Reward doesn’t have any rules, except for this one: the source of information cannot be disclosed. If any of the buyers exposes the seller with the intention of earning money, then that person will be regarded as an enemy of the Heaven’s Reward. All members will gather all the information about that person and eliminate them. If Director Qi aims to listen to our member’s secrets, then be prepared to be chased by them for the rest of your life. The people of the Heaven’s Reward never take the initiative to do evil, but if people maliciously target us, we will never tolerate it."
"”Never taking the initiative to do evil’, how wonderful." Qi Fei sneered. "Is it also a good deed to sabotage the Alliance’s plan for one's own benefits?"
Jiang Liu stared at Qi Fei coldly, "We have never sabotaged any plans. Our members never ever got in the way of your major strategies or tactical ambushes.”
"How about the recent hacking of the core technology line of the Pacific Alliance? Do you dare to say that it has nothing to do with you?"
"We buy and sell clues, but we never organized hacking operations."
"In the last Malacca operation, our warship route was leaked ahead of time and was intercepted. The captured informant confessed that the source was from the Heaven’s Reward. How do you explain that?"
"First of all, I do not arrange every single intelligence transactions." Jiang Liu said, "If someone wants to sell information, then as long as there is a buyer, it will spread. As for the result, we didn't do anything to target your warships. Secondly, we didn’t sell the news to your enemies. How could you blame the Heaven’s Reward when you were intercepted? We just send messages to the little people living in the cracks, to let them to be careful and don’t become cannon fodder. You want to know what kind of people want to buy information? Then I’ll tell you. Don’t make things so complicated. Those who buy information are ordinary people. We just tell them to hide in the basement in advance, and let the hard-working small businessmen hide their goods in advance and help students studying abroad plan a safe way home. When you made plans for grand military operations, did you ever think about these people? They just want to protect themselves and their goods. Who’s path are they blocking when they buy intelligence with their own money? You don’t give early warnings. Can’t civilians be allowed to save themselves?"
Qi Fei stayed silent for three seconds, then he narrowed his eyes, and looked at Jiang Liu, "Young Master Jiang, you really sound like a saint---bringing enlightenment to all living beings, guided by benevolence and sympathy5. Let me ask you, what have you gained from this? I don't believe that you did so many things just for randomly creating a marketplace."
Jiang Liu slowly stood up and said, "Up to you, Chief Qi. Today Yun Fan said a good line, whether you believe, or don’t believe, it's up to you, no one will force you. Follow your own judgement. Kill a person’s physical body by killing their mind. You can think however you wish to."
As he spoke, Jiang Liu walked to the door. "Where are you going?" Qi Fei stood up and chased after him.
"Where else can I go? Go back to sleep." Jiang Liu said.
"Stop there." Qi Fei reached out to block Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu turned to the right, and he suddenly dipped his left shoulder down, allowing him to dodge Qi Fei's extended arm. He then ducked and passed under Qi Fei's arm. Using his left hand, he blocked Qi Fei's grappling hand coming from behind. He stretched his right hand forward while leaping ahead quickly, and he entered the code on the door handle. Qi Fei grabbed Jiang Liu's left arm, but the door was already opened after Jiang Liu's right hand entered the correct password. He was the first one to extend out one foot towards the door, then he moved forward, blocking the door with his right shoulder. More than half of his body was already outside of the room. Qi Fei put more force on his hand to pull Jiang Liu back into the room. Jiang Liu grabbed the doorknob with his right hand, and fought Qi Fei with his left hand. He began to use Tai Chi moves, making use of soft force to counteract Qi Fei’s fierce grappling moves. In the short span of one or two minutes, the two of them have already gone through more than a dozen moves. In the end, Jiang Liu’s left wrist tattoo suddenly lit up with a blue light, and Qi Fei felt his palms go numb. He froze for just a split second, and during this moment of hesitation, Jiang Liu escaped from Qi Fei’s parry, leaping out of the room.
Qi Fei chased after him, but Jiang Liu’s fast running ability exceeded his expectations. Obviously there was a booster system in his shoe-- perhaps it was assisted by jets, or electromagnetic radiation, or elastic materials. Within a few seconds of leaping and hopping, Jiang Liu arrived at the end of the detention building’s corridor. Qi Fei quickly waved the metal rod in his hand to lock the door of the building. Qi Fei called it a baton and it was a transmission device that uses gesture recognition as a signal, making it the most direct way of communication between him and his AI, Qian Kun6. Qi Fei was convinced that as long as Qian Kun locks the door to this building, it would be impossible for someone without any kind of powered equipment to break out. This particular door was not controlled by a password. Even if Jiang Liu had an insider who disclosed the password to him, it would be impossible to control this door.
Qi Fei's movements were quite swift. Before Jiang Liu reached the door, Qi Fei heard the familiar sound of his Qian Kun's responding. In this case, he was 100% sure that it would be difficult for Jiang Liu to escape even if he had wings. However, to his surprise, Jiang Liu easily pushed open the door, and ran off. Qi Fei was stunned, not knowing what went wrong.
But Qi Fei didn't have time to think, and he ran after him. He was tall and had long legs to begin with, he had received physical training in the army for many years, and he was always the fastest in any speed test, so he was not unfamiliar with the concept of pursuit. When he arrived at the door of the building, he jumped onto his flying motorcycle and chased ahead.
Several of Qi Fei’s assistants also followed him. "Sir Qi, we will gather the team right away," the assistant shouted.
"No need." When Qi Fei spoke, he had already charged forward, "I will face him myself."
Qi Fei accelerated the speed of the small motorcycle, driving all 16 propellers to maximum horsepower. This kind of flying motorcycle was not designed to chase and attack the enemy, but only to track them in areas with poor terrain. Therefore, it was not the fastest in terms of power and speed. If the motorcycle went too fast, it was likely that the propeller balance would become unstable. But even so, chasing a person on foot with a flying motorcycle should not be hard, and he should be able to catch up in two or three steps. However, the motorcycle was accelerating for more than ten meters at full speed, and it was still a several feet away from Jiang Liu.
At this time, in the empty night, Qi Fei could see clearly that the bottom of the shoes onJiang Liu's foot was lit up with a blue halo---evidently it used electromagnetic power, but Qi Fei was too far away to determine it’s driving force. The shoes did not have propellers; it had a bouncing booster, and lift was generated by pushing against the ground. Looking from behind, Jiang Liu landed and leaped, moving gracefully and fast, like a nine-colored deer running away. As for Jiang Liu, he was flying on a motorcycle, and he felt like a hunter on horseback.
Jiang Liu was almost at the gate of the military restriction zone. Qi Fei did not wait any longer. He took out his baton and drew a few arcs in the air. The street lights in the park went out, and the road suddenly darkened, creating a faint sense of horror. In the dead silence, only the clicking and beeping of the gate of the restricted area in the distance could be heard--- this was the sound of double lock confirmation. Qi Fei had already gotten Qian Kun to lock the area. This time, he wanted to see how Jiang Liu would escape.
Jiang Liu stopped for a moment, probably to adapt to the darkness, and then, when he could clearly see the surroundings under the illumination of the moonlight, he chose to take the small trail. He leaped lightly, and took his way to the path among the trees on the side. Qi Fei couldn't help but approve of Jiang Liu's choice. Regardless, Jiang Liu's shoes were not as fast as Qi Fei's motorcycle on the road. At first, Jiang Liu insisted on taking the main road because he wanted to bet on the slightest opportunity of being able to leave the area quickly. Now that the gate of the area was closed, it was more convenient for Jiang Liu's shoes to travel on trails and in the forest compared to motorcycles. More importantly, Jiang Liu must have already seen that Qi Fei's baton can transmit the signal to all of the equipment connected to the circuit in the area. Therefore, it was safer to stay away from any equipment. He was able to make such a decisive choice in such a short time, then it must mean that he was able to see very clearly.
Qi Fei turned his motorcycle and chased after him.
The path that Jiang Liu turned into led to a flowerbed in the area. Old General Yuan had an artistic spirit, and he requested every office to change their flowers and plants frequently. Therefore, a special area was set up for planting trees and flowers. There were winding cobblestone paths for people to run early in the morning and evening. After Jiang Liu stepped into this garden, he turned to the narrow path among the trees, presumably trying to force Qi Fei to abandon his motorcycle. After a few turns, Jiang Liu's figure could no longer be seen clearly behind the winding path. Qi Fei sneered. He wanted to make a joke with Jiang Liu, so he moved his baton so that Qian Kun started the automatic program in the garden.
Water suddenly started spraying inside the forest. Qi Fei heard a low curse.
Then, Qi Fei smiled secretly when he saw Jiang Liu rushing out of the forest, his clothes and hair slightly wet. When the pesticide-spraying mini-bee drone flew out. The corners of Qi Fei’s mouth raised upward. These drones usually took care of the garden conscientiously, spraying pesticides, monitoring data, and collecting fruits. Perhaps they never thought that one day they would be able to pursue fugitives. Qi Fei didn't want Jiang Liu to be injured either. He just waved the baton to the left and right, getting the drone to spray Jiang Liu with pesticides.
Jiang Liu was forced to retreat to the small square in the middle of the garden. He stood still in the moonlight.
Qi Fei saw that Jiang Liu began to shake his hands. He was wearing a bracelet on his left hand, three hard metal bangles on his right wrist, and rings on three fingers on his right hand. When he saw him for the first time during the day, Qi Fei thought it was odd why a grown man wore so much jewelry, and that he must have been a rich playboy, but he didn't expect that they were all wearable technology. Whether it was the degree of sophistication, or the degree of concealment of the devices, they were much better than the wearable devices that can be bought on the market. At this time, the bracelet, bangle and ring glowed simultaneously, with different levels of blue light radiating under the moonlight. The most peculiar thing was that the tattoo on Jiang Liu’s forearm began to glow too. Qi Fei didn’t notice it during the day. At this moment, the blue vine-like tattoo and the clanging blue bangles were all lit up like a ghost.
Jiang Liu stood with his feet apart, in the middle of the small square, waving his hands to both sides. The group of bee drones that flew towards him slowly went to sleep, and suddenly, it changed direction and began to randomly shake and spin around like headless flies. Not only did they fly up and down, but they also collided with each other, creating a huge mess in a short moment, and several of them fell down.
Qi Fei frowned. He waved his baton again, and continued to let Qian Kun help him mobilize the deployed drones, but to his surprise, there were no responses. Not only did the drones fail to respond, he didn't even hear the familiar sounding response from the Qian Kun. Normally, Qian Kun would answer with “yes, master” after receiving any instructions, and Qi Fei could “hear” the answer in the chip connected to the back of his head.
But at this time, there was no sound.
"It's FM interference!" Qi Fei couldn't help blurting out.
In the silence of the night, any kind of sound was clear. This was especially true for Qi Fei and Jiang Liu, who were professionals with trained ears. They heard each other clearly.
"You're right!" Jiang Liu said, "Originally, I didn't want to interrupt your private chat with your AI pet, but there is no other way. You’re too naughty. If you insist on pestering me with these little bugs, I have to interrupt the lovey dovey conversation between you two for a bit."
Qi Fei knew that he finally encountered his nemesis. He used the baton to mobilize Qian Kun, allowing him to command all things that can be controlled by Qian Kun, ranging from the deployment of electricity to the opening and closing of a door. As long as the equipment was under the control of Clouder Thinker, Qian Kun could mobilize it for him. It was equivalent to laying a net covering the sky and earth---regardless of who it was, it would be impossible to escape even if the person had wings.
However, there was indeed a weak link in it. That is, all of the signal communication relied on radio waves. If the transmission of radio signals receives interference, it would indeed malfunction. In order to prevent this possibility, anti-shielding networks and anti-jamming deployments were usually deployed in military areas or across the entire high-altitude satellite network of military areas, so that the enemy had no opportunity to take advantage of this weakness. But in such a close fight, if it was a high-intensity radio interference source that could modulate the radio frequency, it would become indefensible and would make all communication signals ineffective. This was equivalent to making Qian Kun deaf, mute, and blind. Obviously, Jiang Liu's accessories were a strong source of radio interference.
Qi Fei tried to adjust the signal mode, but it still didn't work. Qian Kun did not respond, and the bee drones kept falling to the ground.
"Interference electromagnetic waves. Good defense." Qi Fei sighed.
"Yes." Jiang Liu continued to shake his hands and smiled, "I’m not that talented. I don't even have the ability to attack. This is only a little defensive trick."
"Non-offensive." Qi Fei nodded, "You haven't forgotten the teachings of Ju’zi.."
Author's Notes
Interrogation, interrogation; fighting, fighting~
The 'Heaven's Reward' that Jiang Liu has created is built on using blockchain technology to establish an intelligence organization network. It is characterized by being decentralized, loosely moderated, and distributed across the world. The "Cloud Thinker" that Qi Fei manages is an intelligence organization network based on super AI computing power. It is characterized by being centralized and highly moderated, and having centralized management. This is a game between two technological ideas.
"Non-offensive" originated from the thought duel between Mo'zi and Lu Ban. One was offense, one was defense, both were brilliant. This is described in Mister Lu Xun's "New stories"
(After observing the topic that has trending for the past two days: I have some thoughts: Today I really want to say: if "The Universe Jumper" ever gets adapted to film, I will definitely tell the producers that I have written a story about heroes, so it's an absolute requirement that the actors portraying the character has no problems with their morals, I wonder how many options I would have left in the entertainment circle.)
Ju Zi 巨子
This title appeared earlier on, but I only understood the true meaning of it until now. People in the school of Mohism refers to their leader as 钜子 or 巨子（both pronounced Ju Zi).
Previously, I used the literal translation for the phrase (tycoon) and this is incorrect, given the information disclosed in this chapter. From now on, I will just translate it as “Leader”. I will go back and change the previous chapters, sorry for the confusion!
Just so you know, Ju Zi 巨子, sounds like Ju Zi 橘子 meaning Mandarin orange (those who understand will understand!)
Heaven’s Reward/ Tian Shang/ 天赏
I went with the literal translation here. Now, if “Tian Shang” reminds you of any other organization from a certain drama… I won’t try to persuade you to think otherwise.
(The reference is quite strong: Jiang Liu as the leader of Tian Shang…)
Mozi 墨子
The one who founded the school of Mohism, and follows a philosophy of emphasizing universal love, social order, the will of heaven, sharing, and honoring the worthy. (Wiki)
When the false is taken to be the truth, then the truth is the same as the false. 假作真时真亦假
This is a quote from one of the four classical literary works of China, “The Dream of the Chamber (红楼梦 Hong Lou Meng)”
Bringing enlightenment to all living beings, guided by benevolence and sympathy普渡众生，慈悲为怀
These are teachings of Buddhism.
乾坤 Qian Kun
Qian Kun are two symbols out of the eight symbols in Taoist cosmology, Qian represents Heaven and Kun represents Earth.
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