Lille proved to be overthinking it.

The time sequence gap between the two dimensions was something that the majority of hackers couldn’t bridge, so the server wasn’t attacked.

Instead, after multiple overclocking operations, it "broke the camel’s back" and burst.

Half an hour later, Lille, John, Anthony, and Skye finally extinguished the fire in the server room.

Breathlessly, Lille surveyed the room as the black smoke began to dissipate, his head still spinning—

Having just played the role of Lizard Man in another world, he was still getting used to his outdated body; fighting the fire had nearly cost him his life.

Gasping for air in his chair, Lille asked, "...So... how did the server room... catch fire? Damn..."

Skye flopped down in a chair, her face covered in soot.

"I have no idea... I was adjusting ctOS’s citywide circuits to help Aiden assassinate the Chicago Gang leader, and then the server blew up at the last minute!

Heaven help me, I always use this intensity, I don’t know why the server burned!"

As she spoke, something occurred to her, and she cast a suspicious glance at Lille: "Boss... come to think of it, you told me to wait in the machine room for firefighting yesterday... Did you secretly do something I don’t know with the server?"

"What could it be..." Lille gave a forced laugh and then asked with concern, "How did Aiden’s mission go?"

"Oh, right!" Skye hurriedly opened her personal computer.

Just before the server burned out, Aiden in the "Watch Dogs" world had completed his final and greatest lone wolf operation.

The ctOS was like tattered cloth full of holes in front of Skye, whose almost prophetic hacking attacks meant that as soon as Aiden found the server interface, control of ctOS was in their hands.

Following one hack after another, Aiden and Skye had come to know everything that was happening in Chicago with ctOS installed:

The Mayor of Chicago accidentally killed an engineer from Bloom Company, the ctOS developers, and the incident was caught on ctOS cameras.

Conveniently, this video was not only recorded but also fell into the hands of Bloom Company’s behind-the-scenes sponsor, namely the Chicago Gang leader, Lucky Quinn.

Quinn used the video to blackmail the mayor, making him expand the scope and depth of ctOS. Over time, nearly every politician in Chicago’s political arena had their hands tied.

And Quinn became the de facto controller of Chicago—

It was he who sent out the cleaner to assassinate Aiden, resulting in his niece and nephew being injured.

Aiden and his ex-partner just happened to steal the database storing this video during a hotel money heist, causing Quinn to overreact; that was the beginning.

As Skye and Aiden’s investigation deepened, Quinn grew increasingly fearful—

Bloom Company conducted multiple system upgrades but never caught or stopped a hacker lurking in the city from getting closer to the truth; in fact, they had never even seen that person!

These events had never occurred in the original story!

In a frantic attempt, Quinn used ctOS to scour for criminals on a large scale—yet it was a drop in the bucket.

So, he applied ctOS directly to organized crime activity, having his gang members take to the streets with guns, searching house by house for possible enemies.

By then, ctOS’s estimated crime probability for these criminals was still 0%!

The majority of the police turned a blind eye, and those who didn’t were dealt with...

This madness kept spreading, and Aiden had to go all out chasing Quinn to put an end to the insanity.

With several blackouts, traffic accidents, and leaks of public utilities orchestrated, the servers already on the brink in the Cyberpunk World finally collapsed under the strain.

Under the full control of ctOS, the city was alive, monitoring everyone, deciding who should go to prison, and even capable of manufacturing "coincidental accidents" like car crashes, gas explosions, and abnormal bridge risings to eliminate someone.

And the one issuing these orders, such as Lucky Quinn, was still receiving thanks from the mayor amidst the chaos—

For his contributions to charity.

This was the true face of the "City Central Operating System."

On the phone, Aiden sent a string of messages.

Aiden Pearce: Skye? Are you there?

Aiden Pearce: I’m about to meet Quinn himself, should I kill him?

Aiden Pearce: He’s an utter bastard, and many people believe that a comprehensive surveillance system like this is bound to fall into traps of corruption and centralization of power.

Aiden Pearce: But unexpectedly, he’s turned what people imagined for the future into a reality.

Aiden Pearce: He even targeted my family.

Aiden Pearce: Or maybe he just applied what he does to the city to me; it’s a frightening future.

Aiden Pearce: I should kill him, but I still have family...

Aiden Pearce: What do you think I should do?

Looking at the messages on the computer, Lille and Skye exchanged a glance—

It had been 30 minutes; whatever Aiden was going to do, it would’ve been done by now.

In the original story, Aiden’s niece was killed in the attack, and he became extreme, killing Lucky Quinn without hesitation and calmly accepting the definition others had of him:

Vigilante justice.

This extreme act had elements of revenge within it, but now both children hadn’t died and had even regained consciousness in a hospital in another city.

What would he choose?

To punish this villain himself, or... turn him over to the official judicial department?

Skye flipped a page—sure enough, Aiden had settled everything.

Aiden Pearce: I took out Lucky Quinn.

Aiden Pearce: He hid in his bulletproof glass office, thinking I couldn’t touch him.

Aiden Pearce: But he had a pacemaker installed that was even connected to the ctOS, maybe fantasizing about using that heart to control the city someday.

Aiden Pearce: Now, though, he’s dead, killed by his own pacemaker.

Aiden Pearce: You should’ve seen him then—arrogant, domineering, not a hint of regret about the dead or the chaos.

Aiden Pearce: He was pure social scum, I realized that.

Aiden Pearce: I also realized that social scum doesn’t necessarily only exist in the corners of society, like Quinn, and those politicians with dirty secrets in the videos.

Aiden Pearce: They could hold high positions, controlling the city through plots and strategies, if capable people don’t punish them, who will?

Aiden Pearce: They might even be judges, police, and prosecutors.

Aiden Pearce: I’m not a good person, I had to take him out, right here with my own hands, just like those criminals along the way.

Aiden Pearce: People need to see the bad things ctOS is capable of, I will expose everything in that dirty database.

Aiden Pearce: Those who want to control the world will surely not give up because of this, but I want them to think of me every time they aspire to do so.

Aiden Pearce: This will make me a truly notorious fugitive, but what does that matter?

Aiden Pearce: I’ve lost the right to vote, but I’ve earned the right to private justice, I guess I didn’t lose out.

Aiden Pearce: Are you still there?

[The ctOS accelerated research and development project is completed.]

[ctOS 1.0 data has been fully developed, and the trans-dimensional data channels are fully open.]

[Data exchange bandwidth can be increased by upgrading lab equipment or deploying more staff.]

Lille spoke slowly, "So... this is the end of it all, aren’t you going to say goodbye to him?"

Skye reflected on the weeks of official dealings with Aiden through the screen...

Although Lille said it was a game, Skye felt it wasn’t that simple.

At the very least to her, the image of Aiden had already come to life—

A thief who took advantage of technology for petty theft, turned over a new leaf after causing serious consequences, and ultimately decided to be a better person—

Or rather, a person to be feared.

He wasn’t someone who saw himself as maintaining fairness and justice but someone with a simplistic and stubborn view of good and evil, albeit quite lucid.

Skye thought for a moment, then started typing.

Skye: My server blew up just now, guess I have to lay low for a while.

Skye: As for your approach—considering both hackers and cleanup crews operate outside the law, what can I say?

Skye: But you’d better take a break, like maybe visit your sister’s place for a holiday, or find a wife or something.

Aiden Pearce: Not a bad idea, but I think I might not be able to settle down in this lifetime.

Skye: Anyway, it’s been great fighting alongside you—even if it’s just on the net.

Aiden Pearce: Same here.

Watching the message box on the screen no longer pop up with text, Skye remained silent for a long time.

Eventually, she turned to Lille and said, "Feels like I’ve really walked a long, long road—was he real? I feel... that was a real world."

Lille shrugged, "Whether he is real depends on you, if you can learn something from it and apply it in real life, what’s the difference between that and being real?

Just like the Crusaders wearing Iron Armor and carrying long swords, flattening the houses of heathens, forcing them to acknowledge God is real—

At that point, God is real in a sense."

Skye nodded in agreement, then suddenly, as if realizing something, spoke in alarm:

"So you want me to use ctOS to force the world to acknowledge my experiences are real! I wouldn’t do such a bad thing!"

Lille, exasperated, "Would it kill you not to act? Work overtime today and clear out the broken server, switch to a new one."

Skye pouted, "Okay, boss."