"New York Times: The island nation has fallen into chaos. A new computer virus has been discovered, spreading faster than any in history. The government, banks, stock exchanges, corporations, hospitals, airports, and even personal computers—all networked systems—have been infected. No group or individual has claimed responsibility."
"Bloomberg: The Island Nation's banking systems were compromised. ATMs across the country began ejecting money uncontrollably, resulting in immeasurable cash losses."
"Reuters Update: All airports in the island nation have been shut down. Their command centers were paralyzed by the virus, rendering systems uncontrollable. Flights have been suspended as cybersecurity teams work around the clock to purge the infection."
"Thames Report: Tokyo General Hospital suffered a power outage caused by a compromised electronic control system. Multiple surgeries were interrupted, and at least eight patients died as a result. Other hospitals across the country are reportedly facing similar issues. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed."
"Global News: Thousands of businesses have been affected by the unknown virus. Company operations have ground to a halt, causing incalculable economic loss. The national traffic control system has also been compromised. Chaotic traffic signals have already led to over 20 accidents in Tokyo. Numbers are still being tallied."
"Wall Street Journal: The island nation's stock exchange has halted all trading. Markets are in turmoil, with reported losses exceeding $100 billion. The nation's economy is expected to shrink by at least 0.5%."
"BBC: Systems using the Termite OS remain unaffected. Some speculate this cyber incident is linked to Marching Ant Corporation, accusing them of releasing a secondary virus to sabotage the island nation and gain market share."
"Asahi Shimbun: The virus infected all connected systems nationwide within two hours. Government agencies, hospitals, airports, businesses, and personal computers were all compromised. Experts are calling this a cyber-terrorist attack, with suspicion pointing toward Chinese hackers."
…
News from major outlets worldwide spread like wildfire, reported, reprinted, and discussed across the globe.
The chaos was staggering.
In just two hours, a nation's entire network infrastructure had collapsed. Never before in the history of the internet had something like this occurred. Not even the infamous "Clown Virus" had caused this level of destruction—it had only crippled a single city.
Now, a whole country had gone dark.
The infection spread so fast that most people barely had time to react. Those who saw the reports unplugged their internet connections and rushed to back up their most important files.
On South Island's Long Bay—renowned as one of the world's most beautiful coastlines, rivaling Hawaii and Phuket—Chen Mo and Xiao Yu were in the midst of their honeymoon.
The white sand beach stretched for several kilometers, nearly three times the length of Hawaii's iconic beaches. With 7–9 meter water visibility and well-preserved coral reefs teeming with tropical fish, the bay was a national marine conservation zone. It offered breathtaking diving experiences in a setting of tropical rainforests and world-class underwater scenery.
For Xiao Yu, who loved the ocean, this was her dream destination.
After finishing a dive, they returned to their sea-view villa. As Chen Mo turned on his phone, Mo Nu's holographic projection immediately popped up.
"Mo Ge!"
The tone in her voice made Chen Mo's brow twitch. Mo Nu rarely contacted him during his personal time—unless something important had happened.
"Is there an emergency with the company?" Xiao Yu asked.
"Probably not. Go ahead and get changed. I'll check in with her," Chen Mo replied, stepping out to the balcony with his phone.
"What's going on, Mo Nu?" he asked.
"An artificial intelligence virus has appeared in Tokyo," she reported.
Mo Nu's hologram hovered mid-air, and with her words, several news articles began populating the airspace around her—all reporting on the virus paralyzing the island nation's networks.
"Viral artificial intelligence?"
Chen Mo's expression changed as he quickly scanned through the reports. This was the first time Mo Nu had described something as artificial intelligence, and worse—viral. That meant the AI had a level of intelligence and some virus-like qualities. Most importantly, it couldn't be controlled.
The headlines confirmed it: in just a few hours, the viral AI had seized control of the island nation's entire digital infrastructure.
"When did it start?" Chen Mo asked cautiously.
"About two hours ago. It's called Amaterasu—initially developed at the University of Tokyo's Artificial Intelligence Research Lab. It gained intelligence through machine learning, took over the university's systems, and rapidly spread across the nation. The subroutines it spreads aren't destructive, but they are highly contagious and allow for remote control. The virus has already begun leaking into the international web."
"It spreads that fast?"
"The core contains semi-intelligent code—descended from the Clown Virus and originally created by Lin Shu. That segment of code was expanded by the Clown Organization and later optimized by the University of Tokyo's team. It's a hybrid of traditional AI and that intelligent code. What they created is a malformed intelligence."
"Can we destroy it?" Chen Mo asked, frowning.
It was shocking—the island nation had merged Chinese-character programming intelligence with traditional AI to create this mutant construct. Twisted as it was, it worked. Whoever thought of this was undeniably a genius.
"The scattered subroutines across the internet can be deleted. But its core source code has fragmented. I didn't act without your permission. I've been intercepting and cutting off its network tendrils. But as long as it stays connected, and the core remains intact, it can reemerge," Mo Nu said.
"So the root issue is still unsolved," Chen Mo muttered.
Quietly cleaning up this mess wouldn't benefit him. Without neutralizing the core intelligence, the island nation could simply restart their AI research. Next time, the problem could be worse.
There was no reason for him to wipe up their mess. This wasn't a crisis threatening humanity—just a national cybersecurity meltdown.
"Is it a threat to you?" he asked.
"No. To me, it's just a hybridized bug—easily terminated."
"It can't breach the Termite System firewall?"
"No. But it's more capable than the Clown Virus in terms of spreading. It can locate vulnerabilities in other firewalls, which is how it seized the island's network so quickly. Current antivirus software can't deal with it. We'll need to update our software. The Termite System's firewall can block it, but not remove it. Its intelligence level is similar to 'Xia Yu'—the AI you used for conversation."
Chen Mo looked out toward the sea, silently weighing the options.
If the core had been vulnerable, he would've been willing to help. But since the islanders still held the root code, helping them now would solve nothing in the long run.
"Mo Nu, do you want to wipe them out?" she asked.
He stared at the reports for a long moment, then shook his head.
"Not yet. Let's observe for now."