Chapter 484: You Want to Be a Dictator?
– At Xu Cheng’s villa –
Rich and his teacher sat on the sofa and looked at Xu Cheng relaxingly sitting across from them.
“How should I address you?” Xu Cheng asked Rich’s teacher.
“Caesar.”
“Good name.” Xu Cheng smiled. “Who named you that?”
“Myself.” Caesar said, “I forgot my previous name, so I gave myself a new one. I also use this for my online handle.”
“Caesar?” On the side, Stenson said, wondering, “I’ve heard that name from somewhere. It feels like a long time ago.”
Caesar smiled. “We are a group that was eliminated, it’s normal that the young hackers nowadays don’t know us. Back then when the internet just became popular, there was not much that hackers could do. After all, back then, it didn’t have much commercial value. Back then, the online world wasn’t as capable nor had too much information, and with the lack of sense in online security, there also weren’t as many skilled hackers. Back then, hackers couldn’t really do much, so it’s normal that the hackers nowadays don’t respect the older generation hackers or remember our name. They feel that only during an era like now with skilled cyber police and programming experts guarding and perfecting security measures, those hackers that can still stir sh-t up are true masters.”
Xu Cheng nodded.
Caesar looked at Xu Cheng and said, “I already said what I should say. If you think there’s something I can help you with, please let me know and save my student.”
Xu Cheng said, “Mr. Rich, I have limited resources, how about you pick one? Do you want me to recover his hands, or cure your cancer?”
Rich: “How confident are you in saving my teacher?”
Xu Cheng: “60%.”
Rich: “Please save my teacher!”
“Rich!” Caesar stopped Rich’s request with a deep voice and sighed as he said, “I’m just someone that got eliminated in this era.”
“Teacher, no one knows more than me how eager you want to have a pair of hands again to use a keyboard. I can feel that whenever you instructed me to code, you were always thinking that it wasn’t as perfectly executed as you would have done, because I didn’t learn everything from you yet! You had been dreaming for so long to be able to get your revenge, I don’t want that to be your regret for the rest of your life!”
Xu Cheng was quite interested as he smiled at Caesar and asked, “Can I hear your story?”
Rich said, “Have you heard of the organization called CARO? It’s a virus research organization, and there were five members in its first generation roster. Back then, they had a full-on war against the entire silicon valley in the online world. Then, this organization won, but they broke the law! Four of them decided to surrender, but the stubborn, rebellious and prideful leader refused to surrender himself to work for the government. So, he was betrayed by the other four members, but what was most unacceptable to him was… the people that betrayed him, in the end, was his family! They did it for the huge bounty that was on his head!”
Already numb about this whole experience, Caesar just sat there and didn’t say a word.
Rich continued to say, “Those four members later all became entrepreneurs, and now each of their companies has a market value of more than tens of billions! They became legends on Wall Street, but back then, they threw my teacher under the bus and even amputated his arms! Not allowing him to touch the keyboard for the rest of his life!”
Xu Cheng frowned. “Why amputate his arms?”
Rich: “Because in that organization, Teacher’s hacker name, Caeser, is also named: Dictator! Those four knew that if my teacher chooses to succumb, then the government would just let him go through the protocols and then treat him well so he could use his talent for the nation. They were afraid that my teacher would hold a grudge against them for their betrayal and take revenge later on, so they decided to amputate his arms!”
Xu Cheng took in a sip of cigar and asked Caesar, “Are you willing to let this go?”
“No!” Caesar directly said, “But so what? It’s already too late, I don’t stand a chance anymore. Each of their companies is worth tens of billions of dollars, any one of their bodyguards could easily kill me! Besides living like a dog, what can I do? So, just save my student.”
Xu Cheng pointed at the laptop on the table and said, “Then that will depend on yourself. Let me see your strength. I want you to hack the Swiss Bank. I heard their network security team is world-class, you can prove your worth.”
Caesar: “I think it’s pointless. With my student’s current state of focus, it’s far from enough. He wouldn’t be able to execute my commands in time to fight against their team, and they will soon be able to track your location via IP and within 10 minutes, your villa will probably be surrounded by the FBI.”
Xu Cheng faintly said, “If that’s the case, then you two can go.”
Caesar and Rich looked at each other and stood up and walked towards the door.
But before reaching the door, Caesar gritted his teeth and suddenly turned around and said to Xu Cheng, “Give me a pair of hands! I promise you I can hack the Swiss Bank for you! But… I also need you to save my student! My offer is, I will work for you! No time limit!”
Xu Cheng smiled. “Then what if you fail? Who knows if your skill has become outdated with the current level of technology?”
Rich: “Then I’m willing to take my teacher’s place and work for you for the rest of my life.”
Xu Cheng thought about it. “Alright, Mr. Caesar, come with me first.”
Caesar followed Xu Cheng, and the latter directly took him to the elevator going to the basement.
Caesar looked at the back of Xu Cheng’s head and asked curiously, “Why hack the Swiss Bank?”
“Some time ago, they disclosed my personal information to the FBI. They violated their rules, and it’s not my style to let them get away so freely.”
Caesar frowned. “You really can give me a pair of arms?”
Xu Cheng: “You should be asking what I will have you do for me in the future, because right now this question is absurd. I will show you a video first.”
Xu Cheng took out his phone and showed him the footage of how he helped the bulldog grow out a new leg.
After seeing that video, Caesar looked at Xu Cheng in a daze and slowly said, “This is true? You are not joking with me?”
“Why would I?” Xu Cheng sneered. The elevator door opened, and he walked out first. “Follow me.”
Caesar couldn’t help but ask, “Then what do you want me to do for you in the future?”
Xu Cheng didn’t even look back as he answered. “I want you to cast an intelligence network over all the national intelligence networks around the world.”
Caesar narrowed his eyes. “What do you want to do?”
Xu Cheng turned around and revealed a calm smile. Then, he slowly said, “I like your online name and the meaning behind it!”
Caesar widened his eyes and exclaimed subconsciously, “You want to be a dictator?”
“Shh.” Xu Cheng made a hush gesture. “Quiet down, don’t let others nip this future at the bud.”