Building The Strongest Family

Chapter 409: Attack

The night draped a heavy blanket of tension over Varenya, as if the city itself was bracing for an impending event.

It was well after midnight, and silence reigned over most of Dominion Sanctum. The moon was absent from the sky, leaving the streets cloaked in darkness, with the towering structures standing guard like shadows.

The only exception was the Osborn Financial Core Tower, which emitted a constant, reassuring glow.

Inside, rows of servers emitted a cool blue light, handling every facet of the Osborn payment network, managing requests, tracking transactions, and serving as the empire’s financial backbone.

But tonight, that backbone would undergo a serious challenge.

---

At 1:14 AM, the first sign of trouble emerged.

It was just a brief flicker,insignificant and nearly invisible.

Hidden within the logs of the Osborn Bank API was an odd request: a malformed handshake packet from an unrecognized payment gateway. Typically, Evolon, the system in charge, would have stopped it right in its tracks.

However, this time, it was not alone. Within moments, hundreds of similar requests poured in, followed by thousands, and soon after, millions.

By 1:15 AM, the Osborn Financial Core registered an overwhelming influx of traffic, twelve million requests per second originating from random cloud servers scattered across six continents.

It was a well-coordinated cyberattack executed with precision. By 1:16 AM, the monitoring room was lit with flashing red lights. At 1:17 AM, one of the smaller payment gateways faltered and crashed.

Just two minutes later, another followed. Thus began a domino effect.

---

Evolon’s voice cut through the silence in Arthur’s office, calm yet urgent, like a gentle nudge to a slumbering giant.

"Patriarch. We are under attack."

Arthur stood near his expansive glass window, gazing at the stillness of the city, but he didn’t turn around. His reflection stared back at him, composed and unreadable.

"How extensive is it?" he asked quietly.

"A distributed attack on the Osborn Bank API. Several nodes are failing. Estimated disruption is at nine percent."

"What’s the recovery time?"

"One second."

Arthur gave a single nod. "Proceed."

The screens in the data center lit up red as another wave hit; this time, attackers pushed further, targeting authentication nodes, secondary ledger systems, routing protocols, and fraud-detection mechanisms.

Each assault was deliberate. Each strike aimed to cripple without causing complete destruction, a meticulously executed corporate attack orchestrated by unseen operatives relentlessly pounding away at Osborn’s financial infrastructure.

At 1:18 AM, the API faltered once more. By 1:19 AM, anxious customers in two countries began to experience delays. By 1:20 AM, ten percent of deliveries managed by Osborn-owned logistics ground to a halt.

These were minor issues, yet enough to spark concern among the public. Across the globe, delivery bots paused mid-route. Hospital payment terminals blinked uncertainly. Users of the Osborn app encountered temporary error messages.

Nothing catastrophic—just enough to create the impression that the world had briefly tripped.

---

By 1:23 AM, social media erupted with chatter.

People posted videos of delivery drones hovering aimlessly. Ambulance pods tied to Osborn Health momentarily denied requests for aid. Taxi drones froze for an agonizing twenty seconds.

In the fast-paced world of technology, twenty seconds can feel like an eternity.

"Is there a glitch in the Osborn System?"

"Is the Bank down?"

"What’s going on with OsbornPay?"

Panic flooded online platforms as millions of frantic questions poured in. By 1:25 AM, even Evolon’s typically composed voice grew sharper.

"Patriarch. The attack is synchronized. Their intent is to instill public doubt."

Arthur finally turned from the window, his expression inscrutable. "Do they believe this will weaken us?"

"It appears so."

With a steady gaze, Arthur replied, "Restore everything."

Evolon immediately spring into action.

-------

At 1:25:06 AM, Evolon rebooted three infected nodes. A second later, at 1:25:07 AM, the ledger bridges reconnected seamlessly. By 1:25:08 AM, all distribution delay logs were completely wiped clean. Just a moment later, at 1:25:09 AM, the Osborn Bank API regained its stability, and by 1:25:10 AM, everything was back up and running.

All interruptions were fixed in a mere four seconds—not four minutes, not four hours—just four quick seconds.

Every drone resumed its planned path, every transaction went through flawlessly, and each terminal lit up with a green indicator once again. What had been a late-night glitch quickly became a distant memory.

Arthur leaned back in his chair, resting one hand on the armrest.

"Evolon," he spoke softly.

"Yes, Arthur," the system replied.

"Return tenfold the damage to the ten pharmaceutical giants."

Evolon didn’t hesitate. "Understood. Initiating retaliation."

---

In an instant, Evolon extended its reach, infiltrating every channel the attackers had used. It tracked down not only their servers and proxies but also their concealed routes.

The attackers thought they were hidden well enough, but they greatly underestimated Evolon’s capabilities.

At 1:26 AM, Evolon first repaired the entire system, erasing any damage done to Osborn’s reputation before switching gears to execute the plan for retaliation.

---

By 01:26:03 AM, the internal server grid at DyreLabs froze, halting hundreds of live experiments abruptly. Every research terminal rebooted with corrupted logs, and a staggering twenty billion unicreds’ worth of data simply vanished.

Joran Dyre was in his penthouse office when he heard the desperate shouts of laboratory technicians over the communication lines.

His coffee cup slipped from his fingers.

"What... what’s going on?"

On his screen, red lights flashed ominously, like dark clouds gathering on the horizon.

He swallowed hard.

"This... this cannot be happening..."

---

At 01:26:10 AM, the HelCare Insurance network collapsed globally. Every policy, every claim, every database was affected.

Customer fees flipped upside down, issuing refunds instead of charges. The system started paying out far more than it had in reserve.

Mira Hel could only watch in disbelief as her whole company hemorrhaged money in real time. "This is absurd, shut down the servers! Stop this!"

A voice shouted from the hallway, "We can’t! There’s no way to regain control!"

Her hands shook, and her lips lost color.

---

At 01:26:14 AM, Evolon turned its sights on Rook Kael’s entire financial portfolio. It didn’t just shut it down; it reversed everything.

Stock purchases multiplied without any confirmations being activated by his servers, flooding exchanges with false orders. Hedge funds plummeted into the negative.

Rook Kael’s face lost all color as he watched the figures spiral out of control.

"No... no... this can’t be real..."

---

At 01:26:20 AM, alarms blared throughout every Solmarr facility. Doors locked tight. Temperature controls malfunctioned. Warehouses heated up dangerously fast.

Millions of doses rapidly deteriorated. Lira clenched her jaw as she witnessed her life’s work fall apart before her eyes.

"He’s destroying me," she murmured. "He’s ruining us all."

---

At 01:26:27 AM, SolBio’s medical capsules initiated an automatic recall. Over 40,000 pods returned to warehouses all at once, causing chaos across five nations.

Draven Sol stepped back in shock. "No... no, please... stop..."

Yet, the onslaught continued relentlessly.

---

In the following thirty seconds:

Korin Veyd’s research servers erupted into static. Talis Orin’s production line ground to a standstill across the country. Senna Voss’s finances flipped upside down. Veyra Aldis’s flagship labs went into total lockdown. Finally, Darius Veyne watched his entire corporate grid plunge into darkness.

---

On the yatch, ten CEOs had gathered once again inside a spacious conference hall with glass walls, their eyes fixed on a massive holographic display of their systems.

Only moments before, laughter filled the room as they anticipated Arthur Osborn’s impending failure tonight. But now...

Their faces were pale, hands trembling, and breaths coming in quick, uneven bursts. An oppressive silence hung in the air.

Every screen was filled with alarming figures, showing companies losing money at an alarming rate, their assets vanishing before their very eyes.

Darius Veyne could hardly believe what he was seeing.

"Is... is this really the work of just one person?" he stammered.

Rook fought to find his words. "No one should have that kind of influence..."

Joran Dyre leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper. "This isn’t just revenge. He’s exposing the true nature of our situation."

The others in the room were overwhelmed with a mix of panic and disbelief; they never imagined that one individual could accomplish something like this.

Their shock intensified as they realized that the consequences of their actions against Osborn had come back to haunt them in a way that was far more severe.

The events of just a few hours weighed heavily on their minds, sending shivers down their spines. They shared worried glances and fell into an uneasy silence.

Without warning, the holographic display flickered.

The CEOs stood frozen, captivated by what was unfolding.

Then, a voice came through the speakers, slow, chilling, and unmistakable.

Suddenly, a face appeared.

It was Arthur Osborn.

He emerged on the central holographic screen, looking polished and composed, bathed in a soft blue light.

He regarded them with a steady gaze, not filled with rage, but rather a calm disappointment.

A small, predatory smile curled at the corners of his lips.

"Hello."