Broadcast Studio
Seeing that Nie Bing hadn't insisted on remaining bound for the sake of realism, Nie Junfeng inwardly thanked his lucky stars. The earlier simulated scenario had been sheer torture for him.
Now, watching Cifera on screen, Nie Junfeng abandoned his plan to send her to Thailand.
Others might not have realized it, but he was certain that Cifera had deliberately used her black cloth trickery to shield Nie Bing from further public scrutiny in that humiliating state.
Nie Junfeng knew all too well that if Cifera had untied Nie Bing normally, the Production Team, true to form, would have relentlessly zoomed in for countless close-ups.
The ratings might have soared, but at the expense of his own daughter's dignity!
This realization deepened Nie Junfeng's gratitude for Cifera's intervention. In his eyes, the young woman was remarkably reliable and knew her boundaries.
It's just that our karmic compatibility is terrible... Why does she always have to make me look foolish?
Earlier, Nie Junfeng had predicted that Cifera was about to confront the Pursuit Team, but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
Seeing the Bullet Comments once again mocking him for his "Poison Milk" predictions, Nie Junfeng chose to ignore them—out of sight, out of mind.
"Inspector Nie," Host Qiu Qiu chimed in, "Contestant Cifera doesn't seem inclined to reveal her identity to the other experts. What do you think she needs to do next to maintain her cover?"
Qiu Qiu's timing was impeccable, striking precisely after Nie Junfeng's previous prediction had been thoroughly refuted—clearly a deliberate move.
[Has anyone else noticed that Host Qiu Qiu always asks the Poison Milk Inspector for a new analysis right after he gets his predictions debunked?]
[I noticed ages ago! This host is a die-hard Cifera fan, deliberately setting traps for our Nie Sect Leader to fall into.]
[What "trap"? She's giving him a chance to shine, but he's just not up to it. Can't blame her for that.]
[Exactly! Cifera is unstoppable. Even if they brought in someone else to analyze, they'd still get their predictions debunked.]
Though Nie Junfeng knew he was likely to be proven wrong again, he wouldn't back down.
This was his job on the show—to sit here, analyze seriously, and earn the fee he was paid. For him, maintaining a clear conscience was far more important than avoiding embarrassment.
After a moment's thought, Nie Junfeng began his analysis:
"If Contestant Cifera truly intends to maintain her cover, she absolutely cannot reveal Police Officer Nie Bing's condition.
"As we can see, Contestant Cifera printed an A4 sheet of paper and taped it to Police Officer Nie Bing's body.
"Through the camera, we can read the details written on the sheet: 'Entire body bound with rope, unable to move. In a drug-induced coma, expected to awaken naturally by noon tomorrow.'
"Exposing this note to the Pursuit Team would immediately blow Contestant Cifera's cover.
"Within the base, the Pursuers on the ground floor won't proactively come up to the second floor, meaning the risk of exposure primarily comes from the Expert Team members outside.
"Therefore, Contestant Cifera's next move must be to prevent any other Expert Team members from having video or audio communication with Police Officer Nie Bing.
"Her only recourse is to impersonate Police Officer Nie Bing through text-based communication, fabricating evidence to prove she hasn't leaked any intelligence.
"We don't know if Police Officer Nie Bing's official phone has a fingerprint lock. If it does, the task would be relatively straightforward."
"But if that's not the case, she'll need to crack the passcode. However, this shouldn't be too difficult for Contestant Cifera.
"However, that's the ideal scenario. Based on past experience, the entire Expert Team will be communicating through a voice channel. Therefore, Police Officer Nie Bing's absence would likely raise suspicion among everyone.
"Unless Contestant Cifera can come up with a convincing excuse or use a voice changer to mimic Police Officer Nie Bing's voice.
"Currently, those seem to be the only two options. The former relies on Contestant Cifera's expertise in linguistic deception, while the latter—though high-end voice changers on the market today aren't perfect—can achieve about 80-90% accuracy."
Hearing this, Host Qiu Qiu asked:
"Which method do you think Contestant Cifera will choose?"
"Honestly, I can't predict her choice. But I hope she chooses the voice changer."
"Why?"
"Because if she chooses the voice changer, she'll inevitably expose herself!" Nie Junfeng said, a confident smile spreading across his face.
"What?!" Host Qiu Qiu exclaimed in surprise. "Could you explain why?"
"Certainly. The reason is—we secretly added a voice recognition system to the Pursuit Team's voice channel, known only to Old Liu.
"The first time each Pursuit Team member logs into the voice channel, their voice is recorded by the system.
"Every person's voice is unique. With modern technology, voiceprint recognition and AI assistance have achieved near-perfect detection accuracy.
"To be honest, we hadn't planned to reveal this secret to the Production Team, and we never anticipated needing to use it.
"But now, the moment has come for it to shine. If Contestant Cifera dares to use a voice changer, her disguised voice will inevitably be detected by the system, and the entire Pursuit Team will receive an alert.
"I'm eager to see how a genius like Contestant Cifera will react to such an unexpected situation."
"I see. Now, dear viewers, what do you think Contestant Cifera will choose to do? Let's keep watching to find out."
Host Qiu Qiu, already beginning to worry about Cifera, took the opportunity to end the conversation.
On the screen:
As Nie Junfeng had predicted, Cifera indeed retrieved Nie Bing's personal phone from her.
However, she didn't even glance at it. Instead, she immediately connected the phone to her computer.
She then launched an inconspicuous program and, after a few swift keystrokes, unplugged the phone.
The entire process took less than twenty seconds.
When she lit up the screen, she bypassed all security measures and went straight to the phone's home screen.
Clearly, in less time than it would take to watch a short video, Cifera had successfully cracked Nie Bing's boot password.
Watching this unfold from the side, Nie Bing couldn't conceal her astonishment.
This was a phone specially issued by the Production Team, designed to be far more resistant to hacking than regular devices. Yet Cifera had breached it with such ease, demonstrating the sheer power of her hacking program.
Nie Bing had initially wanted to observe the specific commands Cifera entered, but she soon realized that even as a fellow computer expert, she couldn't decipher a single one.
The hacking program's commands were neither English nor any language known in this world; they appeared to be custom-defined by its creator.
No wonder Cifera dared to showcase her skills so fearlessly on the livestream—it was impossible to steal her techniques even if you tried.
Apart from Nie Bing, other hackers and computer experts watching Cifera's stream were equally bewildered.
They had all come specifically to learn her techniques, but since she was broadcasting live, hiding her methods seemed counterproductive.
In truth, it wasn't Cifera's fault. Her hacking abilities had been enhanced by the Authority of Trickery, far surpassing the technological capabilities of this world.
As a result, her techniques inevitably incorporated elements beyond the realm of conventional technology, such as the arcane command codes she had just used.
Earlier, Cifera had checked her System Panel and found that her Trust score as a Hacker had completely caught up with her score as a Magician, both now exceeding five million.
Clearly, her earlier stunts toying with the Pursuit Team had solidified her dual identities as both Hacker and Magician in the public's mind.
Moreover, her constant production of attention-grabbing stunts had drawn even more viewers to her broadcasts, further boosting her popularity.
The soaring Trust scores for both her abilities—now exceeding five million—served as proof.
Seeing that her previous efforts hadn't been in vain, Cifera felt even more determined to continue creating engaging content to further increase her popularity.
Having made up her mind, Cifera seized control of Nie Bing's phone and joined the Expert Team's voice channel without hesitation.
Moments later, Liu Shanhe's voice crackled through the speaker:
"Little Bingbing's here! How's it going? Did you make it to the base already?"
Despite their adversarial relationship on the show, Nie Bing couldn't help but feel a surge of nervousness.
"Hello, it's me, Cifera~"
"Eh? It's Cifera? So Little Bingbing's with you? Why isn't she talking?"
Just as Liu Shanhe finished speaking, a notification flashed across all the Expert Team members' phones:
[WARNING! The voice currently using the voice channel under ID "Expert Team Member Nie Bing" does not match the user's verified voice signature! Please immediately verify the user's identity to prevent espionage!]
In the broadcast studio, Nie Junfeng leaped to his feet, waving his arm triumphantly.
"Got her!"
Cifera had indeed triggered the voice recognition system's alarm, just as he'd hoped. Her identity was about to be exposed beyond doubt...
Wait, something's not right. This script doesn't seem right...
Noticing Host Qiu Qiu's strange gaze, Nie Junfeng slowly sank back into his seat, the triumphant expression fading from his face.
He realized he might have popped the champagne too soon...