Chapter 165: Troubles Never Come Alone |
Levi's expression remained perfectly calm, without the slightest hint of emotion.
He had known nothing good would come from Anthony looking for him, and reality proved him right.
As mentioned before, as soon as Anthony stepped off the carriage, he had gone to find someone to figure out exactly what was stored on that black punch card. What he had not told Levi was that he had not approached an ordinary person, but rather Dr. Franco Tester—a renowned scholar with considerable achievements in the field of difference engines.
The doctor had been immensely interested in the black punch card Anthony brought him, stating he needed to study it thoroughly and telling Anthony to return in a few days.
Then, two days later, when Anthony arrived at Dr. Tester's residence again, the place had already become an absolute mess.
"So, what you are saying is that when you arrived, the place was already like this?"
Levi pointed at the room in front of them. The interior was in complete disarray, with signs of drawers turned upside down and wardrobes ransacked everywhere. It looked as though a band of thugs had paid it a visit.
"Yes, and the only survivor is this young lady."
Anthony pointed to the girl standing not far away, watching them with a guarded gaze. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, with golden hair, though her clothing was quite ordinary.
"Dr. Tester's granddaughter. When I found her, she was hiding inside the fireplace."
"Which means the attack happened not too long ago?"
"Exactly. Just this morning."
Anthony nodded, then turned his gaze toward the girl.
"Miss Tester, this is Mr. Levi. I am sure you must have heard of him, the most famous detective in the entire Empire. He will definitely be able to find Dr. Tester."
"..."
Levi kept his eyes half-closed, looking at Anthony with an expression one might reserve for an idiot, though he refrained from speaking. Regardless, this was a case, and Anthony was at least a member of his team. Even if, in Levi's opinion, their group was a complete ragtag bunch where not a single person was an official member of MI7...
"Forget it, let me handle this."
Levi gestured for Anthony to step aside, then walked up to the girl and looked at her.
"Hello, young lady. I am Levi."
"I am Chia Tester."
"I know you must be very anxious right now. Could you tell us exactly what happened? If possible, the more detailed, the better."
"..."
The girl looked at Anthony, then back at Levi, before biting her lower lip.
"Grandfather has been studying that strange punch card for the past two days," she began. "Today was the same. After eating breakfast, he locked himself in the study room. I was originally reading when a group of people suddenly rushed inside. It gave me quite a fright, and I don't even know how they managed to open the door. Then Grandfather told me to hide, so I did exactly as he said and crept into the fireplace. After that, I heard Grandfather shouting angrily at them, and then those people... those people seemed to hit Grandfather. Then they turned the place upside down, looking for something... I don't know. I stayed hidden there until the noise outside stopped, and then I heard this gentleman's voice..."
As she spoke, the girl shot a fierce glare at Anthony.
"I heard his voice, and only then did I crawl out of the fireplace."
Clearly, based on her behavior, she believed all the trouble her family was facing had been brought upon them by Anthony.
And in truth, she was right.
"Were they here looking for the punch card?"
"Yes, they asked Grandfather where that punch card was, but Grandfather refused to say... though I think they probably didn't even know what that thing actually was."
"Oh? How do you know?"
Hearing this, Levi instantly became interested.
"Because when they questioned Grandfather, they called it 'that black piece of paper.' Anyone who understands difference engines and mechanical principles would never call a punch card that."
"Yes, that makes sense."
It was just like a compact disc. An elderly person unfamiliar with the technology would only call it "that round shiny disk." As for whether it was a CD, a VCD, or a DVD, they wouldn't understand the difference.
"Regarding that punch card, did your grandfather say what it actually is? What secrets are hidden inside it?"
At this point, Anthony also crowded closer in a desperate hurry, staring intently at Chia. The latter looked at Anthony with dissatisfaction, but she still puckered her lips and answered his question.
"If you want to know what secrets are inside, then you are bound for disappointment, sir. That card is nothing but a pile of junk data."
"Junk data?"
"Yes, data that cannot be processed at all. I don't know where you managed to get that thing, but its card-reading logic falls into a dead loop... simply put, its data is completely meaningless to a difference engine. Moreover, through the loop, it generates a massive collection of data that is incredibly difficult for a difference engine to process..."
Saying this, the girl lowered her head despondently.
"My own difference engine was completely ruined because of it."
"How... how is that possible?"
Hearing the girl's answer, Anthony was completely dumbfounded.
"Meaning, there are no secrets at all inside that card?"
"Yes, the data itself does not contain any top-secret information. I think it is likely a card that was discarded as waste."
"How could it turn out like this..."
Hearing the girl's reply, Anthony lowered his head in deep disappointment. On the contrary, Levi furrowed his brows, his expression growing serious.
"Miss Tester, may I understand it this way: this card will consume a massive amount of a difference engine's calculating resources?"
"Yes, the way it is punched is rather special, and the data stored inside is the same. It seems to be some kind of exceptionally complex calculation equation. As I am sure you know, difference engines also run programs through calculations. Therefore, once it reads the contents of this punch card, it will automatically begin to restore the internal program content through calculation. However, the calculation method used by that black card is extremely... tedious, forcing the difference engine to mobilize a considerable amount of resources to calculate it. What is worse, it ultimately cannot even calculate a result."
Chia spoke, letting out a helpless sigh.
"At least the difference engine I use has been completely ruined because of it. It will need to be thoroughly repaired later, with all the carrying rods and gears reset..."
Although Levi could not understand the technical jargon she was saying, it sounded like resetting an operating system back to factory defaults.
"Sigh..."
Anthony was thoroughly dejected now. Clearly, the news brought by Chia made him incredibly depressed. He had originally thought that the punch card would contain some top-secret spy intelligence.
"I don't think so."
However, at that moment, Levi spoke up.
He looked toward Chia and inquired, "Miss Tester... I would like to ask, does that card require consuming the processing power of a difference engine?"
"Yes. Don't look at a punch card as just having a few simple holes punched into it; the positions and numbers of these holes are highly deliberate..."
Speaking to this point, Chia also seemed to grow excited.
"Only with the precise number and the precise position can the correct data be read, and subsequently restored. This involves a very lengthy process, and it cannot be achieved randomly..."
"Then, I would like to ask."
Levi interrupted Chia's technical lecture. He got a headache whenever he heard this kind of stuff.
"If this punch card were to be read by those towers in Bisbalu, what would the result be? I recall those towers store all the data for the Bisbaru region?"
"Eh?"
Faced with Levi's sudden question, both of them were stunned.
"Are you referring to the Central Data Tower? Hmm..."
Chia furrowed her brows, rapidly making an estimation.
"In terms of processing power, the Central Data Tower is definitely much stronger. However, the reading of this card utilizes a tedious equation structure that requires a massive amount of processing power to unravel. Hmm, if things go on like that, the information processing speed of the Central Data Tower should slow down."
"What if it can't unravel it?"
Levi stared intently at Chia, speaking one word at a time.
"There is no equation in this world that cannot be unraveled. Numbers are..."
"Assuming it takes a hundred years to unravel, then it becomes meaningless."
Levi interrupted Chia's words once again.
"If it occupies a massive amount of the Central Data Tower's processing power, rendering it unable to function, do you have a way to resolve this problem?"
"This..."
Chia furrowed her brows once more, before beginning to mutter to herself.
"As things stand right now, this equation is extremely complex and will mobilize the entire power of the difference engine. This will cause an incalculable impact on the upper-level data. If one wishes to completely eliminate this impact, the only way would be to reset and restore every single gear and carrying axis of the entire Central Data Tower..."
As she spoke further, Chia's face turned deathly pale.
"By the Holy Lord, all the information for the Bisbaru region is inside there! Once it stops working, the entire Bisbaru region will fall into complete paralysis!"
As expected.
Hearing this, Levi nodded. He already understood exactly what was going on.
"Now we know what that black punch card is meant for."
"Boss, you figured it out?"
"Indeed."
Looking at Anthony and Chia, Levi nodded.
"Miss Tester just mentioned that this card will cause any difference engine that reads it to fall into paralysis, making it completely unusable. The only method of repair is to reset and restore it, but that will erase all the data stored inside... is that correct?"
"Yes," Chia nodded.
"That is precisely the function of this card."
"Eh?"
Hearing Levi's answer, the two of them were simultaneously stunned.
"You mean... breaking the difference engine?"
"Exactly."
Levi stared at the two of them.
"This is a type of weapon—a weapon specifically designed to destroy the databases of difference engines. A virus!"
Indeed, while listening to Chia's narration, Levi felt her description sounded very familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Later, he remembered: wasn't this the exact same thing as a computer virus from his own world?
"Anthony, do you remember?"
Levi looked toward Anthony.
"Weren't you wondering earlier why the other side insisted on having a researcher who couldn't even take care of himself and possessed absolutely zero field agent capabilities run all the way here? Now the situation is completely clear. I suspect that researcher is the creator of that black punch card, and the organization you mentioned very likely realized the power of his creation, which is why they bought him off. But difference engines are, after all, specialized machines; nobody understands them better than their creator. Therefore, they absolutely had to have that researcher come over in person!"
"Stated that way... it does make sense..."
Hearing Levi's analysis, Anthony instantly grew energized again.
"Indeed, everything aligns perfectly this way!"
What difference engines and databases were, Anthony was just as clueless as Levi. However, the moment it was explained that the black card was a weapon and that the researcher was the creator of that weapon, Anthony immediately understood the implications.
"Indeed. This is no longer the era when Luddism was on the rise; all difference engines are strictly protected. It isn't as simple as a bunch of workers breaking them apart with iron hammers and steel pipes. But this card is different. Although its color is somewhat strange, it is still just a punch card. Nobody would pay attention to it at all! They could walk right inside in broad daylight, insert this thing into a card reader or something else, and then directly leave... damn it..."
"There is more than one..."
However, at this moment, Chia's voice rang out once again. The two men turned their heads to look, only to see the girl staring blankly at them.
"When those people dragged Grandfather away, they said... they were only short of this last one. So... that punch card, there is more than one..."
"Alright, now we know where the problem lies."
Levi reined in his thoughts, beginning to ponder once more. This issue was clearly far more severe and far more urgent than the daughter of some grand duke being kidnapped.
"In any case, let us find that old doctor first before discussing anything else."