Chapter Fifty: Heated Discussions Online

Du Li.

Thirty-two years old.

Occupation: Hacker.

To be precise, a master among hackers.

He first encountered programming at fifteen.

By seventeen, he had already broken into a government website and altered a large amount of data. He was eventually caught and imprisoned, becoming the first person in China to serve time for a hacking incident.

After his release, he continued to hone his technical skills.

However, having suffered from being too notorious once, he became much more discreet in his actions. As a result, his reputation was no longer as prominent as that of several rising stars in the hacking world, but in terms of true skill, he was still unmatched.

As an accomplished hacker, making money was almost too easy for him now. He could casually develop a piece of software and collect endless royalties from intellectual property, earning more than he could count. But in these past few days, he had been nearly overwhelmed.

His beloved son, Du Xingxing, had gone missing.

He searched everywhere for his child, to no avail, nearly breaking down from the strain.

His cherished wife had died of illness; now, his only hope was for his son to grow up healthy and strong—yet, his son had disappeared.

On the internet, his abilities were boundless.

But in reality, finding human traffickers was an almost impossible task.

For days, he drove madly in search, but to no avail.

He was on the verge of losing his mind.

Then, a little after ten in the evening, he received a call from the police.

“What? My son’s been found? That’s wonderful!”

Upon hearing this, Du Li immediately drove to County N; from Yangcheng to County N was only half an hour by car. He sped to the County N Public Security Bureau and finally saw his son, little Du Xingxing, who was just four years old.

Du Li scooped his son into his arms, tears streaming down his face. He sobbed for at least ten minutes.

Only after a long while did he wipe the tears from his eyes. “Son, I’ve finally found you. Thank you, officers, thank you.”

The policemen nodded, their faces expressionless. “No need for thanks. This is what we, as people’s police, are supposed to do.”

Du Li then asked, “What about the traffickers who kidnapped my son?”

One of the officers, looking somewhat awkward, replied, “The traffickers are all dead.”

Du Li assumed that the police had shot and killed the traffickers while rescuing the children. He silently mused that, for once, the police had shown rare decisiveness.

After completing the necessary paperwork, Du Li placed his son in the back seat and drove back to Yangcheng. In under half an hour, they arrived at their spacious, two-hundred-square-meter luxury flat. He bathed his son, fed him milk and cake, and gently admonished him, “Son, you must never run off again. There are many kidnappers out there. If it weren’t for the police, you might have been sold by traffickers, never to see your father again. And those people are ruthless—they often break children’s arms and legs and force them to beg on the streets.”

“Daddy, I understand. I’ll never run off again. Traffickers are truly wicked,” answered little Du Xingxing, who, at only four, had been made wiser by these events. “But Dad, it wasn’t the police who saved us. It was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”

“You’re joking—the Great Sage Equal to Heaven? Maybe Pigsy, too?” Du Li tapped his son’s nose playfully.

“It really was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven—or rather, someone wearing his mask. I heard the officers say it was a man wearing the Great Sage’s mask who killed all five traffickers,” Du Xingxing said earnestly.

“What? There’s such a thing?” Du Li was taken aback.

“Of course! The man in the Great Sage mask is a real hero. When I grow up, I want to be a hero just like him.”

After settling his son for the night, Du Li logged onto his computer and began hacking into the Shitou City police system, pulling up the files of all the children abducted that day. His investigation led him to the County N police’s database. He enlarged photo after photo on the screen.

Seeing the gruesome deaths of the traffickers, Du Li could not help but feel a rush of satisfaction.

Well done, Chopstick Maniac!

Those traffickers deserved to die!

What the law could not accomplish, the city’s vigilante had carried out—executing justice on behalf of the heavens!

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

Moreover, when Du Li pulled up files on the other two cases involving the Chopstick Maniac and saw the deaths of Ma Guosheng and Lu Youwei, he could not help but praise them repeatedly.

“A true man should be so!”

“What a hero!”

“Such a figure shouldn’t be called Chopstick Maniac, but Chopstick Hero—a true hero of our time!”

Overcome with emotion, Du Li began composing a post.

The deeds of the hero in the Great Sage mask were simply too spectacular—these stories needed to be shared with others online!

…

In the Liangguang region, the largest forum was Seaside Forum.

At peak times, the forum could host several million users.

Very soon, a post appeared on the forum's front page.

Modern Vigilante Chopstick Hero Slays Evildoers (With Photos!)

Out of curiosity, many clicked the post. After all, everyone had heard of Iron Man and Batman, but never Chopstick Hero. Before clicking, many wondered if this was yet another domestic B-movie, given a ridiculous name by local filmmakers. Some were already imagining just how over-the-top this new show would be.

But upon entering, all who viewed the post were stunned.

The post was divided into three parts.

The first part was titled: “Chopstick Hero Kills Human Traffickers! Rescues Ten Abducted Children!”

The accompanying images showed Wang Ping, Liu San, and two others with chopsticks driven through their throats, as well as a photo of Li Jinguo’s mangled corpse.

The second part was titled: “Chopstick Hero Kills Black Syndicate Boss Lu Youwei! Lu’s Usurious Loans Destroyed Families and Forced Women into Prostitution.”

This section contained photographs of Lu Youwei and several of his dead henchmen.

The third part was titled: “Chopstick Hero Kills Black Syndicate Boss Ma Guosheng! Ma Committed Many Murders and Was Involved in Violent Evictions.”

Here, photos depicted Ma Guosheng and his subordinates, including Du Wenfeng, lying dead.

Each photograph was crystal clear.

Text accompanied the images:

“When we were young, we all dreamed of being martial heroes.”

“But as we grew up, housing prices, the cost of living, infant formula, education—all these burdens pressed down upon us, making us forget our childhood dreams of heroism.”

“We have grown up. We have matured.”

“Matured to the point where, when faced with the darkness around us, we turn a blind eye; some even merge with the shadows.”

“As for true evil, we feel powerless and indifferent.”

“But even in this age, there are still heroes.”

“‘Chopstick Hero’ may not be the most melodic of titles, but in the shadows, he is carrying out justice, performing heroic deeds.”

“Even if it means being hunted, Chopstick Hero remains unrepentant.”

“For this, we thank the Chopstick Hero.”

“Thank you! Hero of the modern city!”

Netizens, expecting to mock a cheesy show, were instead shocked by the reality in the photos—traffickers and syndicate leaders, true scum, all meeting brutal ends. Most cheered at the sight.

And the final words of the poster stirred their blood even more.

“Well done!”

“These scum deserved to die!”

“Death to traffickers! Death to the black syndicate bosses!”

“Long live Chopstick Hero!”

“Chopstick Hero is awesome!”

“Chopstick Hero, I want to have your babies!”

(The protagonist, who has always acted in the shadows, is finally being noticed and discussed online. The story is about to reach the climax of its first volume. Thanks to Bai Zhenxi, Sunny, Chifeng, Moy, Book Friend 1507062, and others for their rewards. Also, this is a crucial period for the rankings. Please continue to vote for recommendations. Thank you all.)