Liang Chen concluded that direct appeals or traditional corporate outreach would never be able to break through the curtain surrounding CipherTruth after days of unrelenting, unsuccessful searching. Speaking their language—the language of unmatched intelligence and intricate riddles—was necessary to get a legend's attention. He made the decision to make contact via a challenge, a nuanced gauntlet thrown down in the digital sphere, rather than a boardroom. He started to formulate a complex, multi-layered problem with Wu Tianyu's careful guidance.
It wasn't a clear "help wanted" advertisement. Rather, Liang Chen created an extremely complex digital puzzle that resembles a grand master's chess puzzle or a complex mental escape room. Layers of intricate logic problems, cryptic cryptography challenges, and obscure data patterns were all part of the test, which required not only technical proficiency but also deep intuition and a distinct way of thinking. He wanted to make something so intellectually challenging, so indisputable, that only CipherTruth could understand it completely, let alone try to solve it.
Liang Chen painstakingly created the online persona "Sentinel" for this bold move. His role as a resolute protector and guardian of Horizon Tech was reflected in the name. By taking on this alias, he was able to function in the shadowy world of CipherTruth, concealing his true identity while putting on a strong intellectual front. He purposefully posted this challenge on a secret forum that was only accessible by invitation, akin to a private club for the brightest minds in digital technology. CipherTruth was known to occasionally lurk there, attracted by the purest manifestations of intellectual curiosity.
Liang Chen and Wu Tianyu engaged in a tense waiting game after the challenge was covertly posted. The deafening silence that ensued was a test of patience as much as intelligence. But for Liang Chen, this was more than just a last-ditch effort to keep his business afloat. He experienced a rare moment of liberation as a result of this intellectual endeavor and this exciting interaction with a mind he admired. Between corporate desperation and a deep, unspoken desire, he felt he could fully express himself as Sentinel in the chaotic digital realm, playing on a field worthy of his intelligence.