Chapter 407: Chapter 281: Dark Web Manhunt
On the night of the first day of the New Year, Su Mo spent it with Sikinkov. The two found a bar to drink.
It was clear that Sikinkov valued his friend Su Mo highly, as he had declined multiple invitations from important figures, saving this significant evening for Su Mo.
With such hospitality, Su Mo naturally did not refuse and enjoyed a drink with him deep into the night.
Eventually, as expected, Su Mo passed out, and once again Dongdong played the role of the big victim, called over to carry him away.
After returning home, Su Mo immediately fell into a deep sleep due to the alcohol, with his phone staying as usual on the bedside table.
As a leader, he always needed to manage sudden situations, sometimes related to his subordinates or urgent time-sensitive commissions.
Thus, his phone remained switched on 24 hours a day, even when sleeping, to ensure he could answer any call promptly.
He did not know how long he had slept when his phone started ringing.
Su Mo suddenly opened his eyes, immediately sobering up.
This was a special ringtone he had set aside for the "Warning Department" of the Edge Mercenary Corps.
The people in the Warning Department usually liaised with mercenaries and intelligence personnel executing tasks outside and monitored online public opinion around the clock.
Should anything unfavorable to Edge Mercenary Corps occur, they would activate a corresponding response plan, with authority somewhat similar to Hegemony Company’s "Crisis Management Center".
Normally, the Warning Department had its designated personnel to handle issues, with comprehensive plans in place, allowing most situations to be solved internally.
The direct call to the leader indicated a situation they utterly could not manage, the first occurrence since the department’s establishment.
Su Mo quickly answered the phone: "What’s up?"
The head of the Warning Center asked urgently: "Leader, Nuobai is your friend, right?"
Su Mo’s expression froze.
What’s going on...
Previously, when eliminating Ou Chenyu, Nuobai helped him out, and they became friends, which was no secret within Edge, or even to the outside world.
However, Nuobai had never exposed her identity; even if others knew of her, they should only know her as "Silent Death God." How could someone directly name her real name?!
Su Mo asked: "Where did you hear this name from?"
The head of the Warning Center sounded very anxious: "Her personal information has been exposed on the dark web, someone has placed a bounty on her!"
Su Mo rushed out barefoot, hurriedly taking the elevator to the basement, barging into Qi Ling’s hacker room.
Qi Ling was analyzing the Black Extinction Virus, puzzled to see Su Mo storming in: "What’s the matter?"
Su Mo ran to the computer: "Go into the dark web, quickly!"
Without asking the reason, Qi Ling jumped into action.
She opened a pre-configured anonymous channel, hijacking a zombie computer to conceal the real IP address, encrypted the information, and finally tunneled into the deep layers of the internet through multi-hop relays.
Soon, the computer began establishing connections with the dark web, data traffic was routed through a series of encrypted nodes, ensuring Qi Ling’s real identity remained hidden.
The screen started displaying a series of seemingly random characters and numbers, eventually revealing a black-based interface.
This page featured various links, all leading to sinister and terrifying content, whether it be contraband sales, assassinations, freak shows, or any illegal trade imaginable, quietly awaiting guests.
Su Mo intended for Qi Ling to search for information regarding Nuobai, but soon realized it was unnecessary.
Every forum, every live room, and every web homepage on the dark web bore a prominently positioned link.
Its title was: "Bounty of 500 Million: Hunt Down the Death God"
Upon clicking the link, an anonymous bounty order popped up, with the bounty already paid and notarized, reading as follows:
Target of the hunt: "Silent Death God" Nuobai (former New Moon City mercenary).
Bounty: 500 million Yue coins.
Mode of bounty: Open.
Settlement requirement: Claim with the head.
Alongside the bounty order’s related content, all information related to Nuobai was posted in the annotation column.
Inside it was not just her previous mercenary information.
All her personal information as a citizen of New Moon City, including name, age, residence, work status, etc., was entirely exposed.
Su Mo’s heart turned cold upon viewing them, urgently asking Qi Ling: "Can you hack and erase these?!"
Qi Ling shook her head: "The dark web isn’t a fixed web page or device, it’s a massive network aggregation, it’s not something you can just hack into."
"Moreover, I think, given the current situation, even if I hack in, it might be too late..."
Just as Qi Ling said, this bounty order plastered all over the dark web, its visitation volume so immense; browsing numbers had already surpassed the million mark and continued to soar rapidly.
Comments refreshed incessantly under the bounty order:
[I didn’t count wrong, did I? 500 million? This is the most expensive head I’ve ever seen!]
[Are all the girls in the mercenary realm this pretty? Her last struggles would surely be even more beautiful.]
[Hehe, I really want to cut off her head and preserve it in my family’s formalin jar.]
[Got my gun ready. New Moon City, 500 million, and a beautiful corpse, here I come~]
Su Mo’s brows furrowed deeply, muttering: "How did her info leak? It’s impossible..."
Qi Ling: "Forget pondering the reason now. This bounty is 500 million, and it’s an open bounty, you know what it means?"
Su Mo knew, of course he knew...
