In the dimly lit room, the smell of unattended garbage lingered in the air. In front of several computer terminals, a man in a black robe grimaced at the incessant stream of data flowing in front of him. Although he had a worried look on his face, his hands moved constantly and danced skillfully across the keyboard.
They were the most notorious hacker collective in the Enlir District and had recently taken on an important task: to dismantle the firewall of the Alt District branch of the Valtin Consortium, lured by the promise of a large reward. Driven by greed, he finally accepted the job.
Initially, they were cautious about confronting the Valtin Consortium and were on high alert, fearing any misstep that might leave them vulnerable. But the consortium's reaction was astounding.
Instead of mobilizing their network security department, Consortium headquarters seemed to abandon the Alt-District's firewall defenses altogether. After days of probing, vigilance waned as the risk of exposure seemed minimal.
But just as they were ruthlessly exploiting the Consortium's vulnerabilities, the dormant defense suddenly came back to life and announced a counterattack. At first, the allied hacker groups managed to fend off the attack, but the enemy's assault grew more ferocious by the minute.
Now that they had broken through the defenses of no less than four hacker groups, the tide was clearly turning against them.
Realizing that they had been duped, they eagerly took the bait, only to find that it was empty. The Consortium's network security department finally prevailed, rendering all the information provided by their mysterious employer obsolete. Attempts to re-establish contact were met with a blacklist of all communication channels.
At this point, there was no denying the trap they had fallen into. Their overly aggressive approach had exposed their entire vulnerability.
They were no longer focused on breaking through the Alt-District's firewall, but on covering the tracks of their previous attacks. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain.
The moment they were exposed, their fate was sealed.
—Bang!
The sound of the impact echoed through the room, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.
Dust danced in the air in the dimly lit chamber as sunlight streamed in through the newly opened door. The sudden turn of events startled everyone present. Before they could react, the tactical agents who had rushed into the room had already taken control of the situation.
The leader of the hackers found himself pinned beneath a man in Valtin Consortium tactical gear, while a group of armed individuals in similar attire entered the room. They pointed their weapons at the helpless hackers, who wisely raised their hands in surrender.
The leader, his voice muffled by his tactical mask, addressed the terrified hackers in a commanding tone:
"Tactical Division of the Valtin Consortium. You are under arrest for breach of cyber security. Any last words?"
Silence reigned as no one dared to say anything. After a tense moment, the downtrodden hacker leader managed to mumble something:
"Did the Valtin Consortium get a search warrant... from the peacekeeping force... got? If not, on what grounds...?"
Before he could finish speaking, a shot rang out, ending his last words.
—Bang!
The bullet pierced the man's skull, spraying blood and sealing his fate. In the silence that followed, the onlookers remained as still as the grave, too frightened to say anything.
When the lead agent saw that they obeyed, he pushed the lifeless body aside. His voice echoed behind the tactical mask:
"It appears no one has any objections. Take them into custody."
...
Similar scenes played out in various places. Even if some fish managed to slip through the Valtin Consortium's net, hardly anyone dared to think of tampering with the Old District's firewall again.
The Consortium's tactic of using this as a deterrent proved to be extremely effective. The relentless approach sent shockwaves through the surrounding twenty-five districts. While most admired the Consortium's restraint, a few suspected something else entirely.
How had Jonas managed to track down these hackers? With the Consortium's network security department still inactive and the remaining outsourced security firms in the twenty-five districts lacking sufficient capacity, it seemed unlikely that they could mount such a defense, let alone a counterattack.
It was speculated that Jonas was secretly cultivating his own power. Only those close to him knew the truth: the mastermind of this coup was not a shadowy group of hackers, but a girl who was not yet twenty years old.
Even when Eiffel learned of this revelation, it took her a while to process it. She would never have guessed that the shy girl Jonas had described had such extraordinary hacking talent.
As Eiffel recalled Jonas' strange behavior over the past few days, she suddenly realized something.
He was not just wasting time. These seemingly insignificant actions now seemed more like... Training exercises?
This realization sent a shiver down Eiffel's spine and she made a silent vow.
From now on, she would proceed with extreme caution when dealing with Mr. Jonas.
His methods were far more insidious than she had ever imagined.