chapter534

Did their team of over a hundred experts really just get outplayed by one person? Seriously, who was this hacker?

Shadow was sweating, literally. "Let me try to hit her back," he said.

Manuel could barely believe it. Shadow was ranked second on the hacker leaderboard, right under the legendary L. That meant Shadow was a top-tier talent. But now, even he was at a loss.

A wild thought crossed Shadow's mind. Was it possible that the person on the other end was actually L herself? He'd heard L was a woman, but she'd basically vanished from the scene after making a name for herself. She never showed up anymore, and he'd never even had a chance to go up against her. If this really was L...

The idea made Shadow even more fired up. He had to know who he was fighting.

Meanwhile, Lydia was cruising through every defense like it was nothing. One after another, firewalls fell. The control room was a mess of flashing lights and nonstop alarms.

Then Lydia typed the last character.

The screens across the entire operations hall lit up. [DEFENSE FAILED!] beeped in huge letters. Then more letters popped up on every monitor: [You're trash!]

In the national network headquarters, nobody spoke.

Was it embarrassing? Absolutely. Completely humiliating. But honestly, that didn't matter right now. This was nothing compared to the risk of having state secrets stolen.

Manuel barked, "Why are you all just standing there? Fix those holes, right now!"

While Lydia finished tearing down their last line of defense, she caught a quick glimpse of her opponent's camera feed. The image flickered by, but she recognized those eyes, even behind the black mask and cap.

She stared, stunned. Was that Chris? No way. She was sure of it, though. She never would have guessed Chris was such a skilled hacker. With that level of ability, he had to be either the second-ranked Shadow or maybe even Moke, who was third.

She didn't have time to dwell on it. She needed to find Connor. She ran a trace. The network was blocking his location-wait, it was the national network doing it? Who had called Connor out?

She checked again. Sure enough, Connor was at the State Council Hall.

Without hesitation, Lydia slammed her laptop shut, grabbed her bag, and flew down the stairs.

This had to be a setup. Iceblade had warned her something would go down tonight, and right after, Connor was summoned. Whoever wanted Connor dead had planned this well.

She didn't know who was behind it

yet, but Connor was too important to

be treated like this. No wonder he

wonder he Was hadn't it told her who was after him.

Maybe the enemy was too powerful, and he didn't want to drag her in.

She jumped in her car and opened her phone, pulling up the map around Connor's location. Nobody would try an assassination somewhere so public. As long as Connor stayed in the State Council Hall, he was safe. No one would dare try anything there.

The real danger was on his way home. Blood Oath's people were probably lying in wait somewhere along the route. The surr had already set. By the time Connor left, it'd be dark-perfect for an ambush.

If Connor had stayed home recovering, they wouldn't have had a shot, so they'd lured him out. These people really knew how to play dirty.

Lydia scanned the map, made a few quick calls, and set things into motion. Once everything was in place, she started the car. If they wanted to play games, she'd play too.

Five minutes later, the internet exploded with breaking news.

[Breaking: A certain private club in the capital is operating illegally, using secret codes to recruit clients both men and women. Video attached.]

[Scandal: A top bureau chief abandons his family for a female subordinate, breaks the law, and takes bribes. Video attached.]

[Developing: Massive haul of drugs found at an entertainment hotspot. Video attached.]