"Are you joking? A spy tool?" Leon Chen asked, incredulous.
"No, I am not joking," Lina's tone was serious, without a hint of humor. "To prevent any exposure of items from the Heavenly Realm in the mortal world and to ensure your safety, we have implemented appropriate protective measures."
"Where is this spy tool?" Leon was puzzled. This sounded like something out of a movie.
"Hold on a moment."
After a brief pause, Lina continued, "It's a micro-spy device with eavesdropping and tracking capabilities, attached to the side of your watch. It was detected by the watch's defense monitoring system. It does not have image transmission capabilities."
Leon sighed with relief.
If it was only for eavesdropping and tracking, it was not as bad as it could be. He hadn't done anything that would be incriminating if overheard.
Still, the thought of being monitored irritated him.
"Leon, have you done something bad?" Lina asked with a teasing tone.
"Depends on the perspective," Leon replied. If you're from the American side, yes, but if you're from the Chinese side, it's a great thing.
"Leon, you should be careful. You've attracted the attention of agents. If the Z13 Power Watch is exposed, you might face trouble."
Leon took a moment to think about when the tracking device could have been placed on him. His watch had never left his wrist, and the watch's defense system would have alerted him if there was an issue. So at least yesterday, the watch had been fine.
"XO might be a student at H University…" Recalling Cynthia's words and thinking of the strange man who bumped into him, Leon pieced together the information.
"Heh, they suspect I'm XO."
"XO? Why?" Lina was confused.
"Probably because of my name," Leon shook his head, acknowledging his miscalculation of the state's determination and resources. However, he wasn't too worried; he didn't believe there was any evidence to prove he was XO.
How could someone who didn't use computers be considered a hacker?
"Lina, can you check if there are any more surveillance devices on me?" Fortunately, his communication with Lina was through subconscious thoughts, making it undetectable by the eavesdropping device.
"You can use the watch's built-in monitoring system for a full-body scan."
Following her instructions, Leon used a hidden scanner in the watch to scan his body.
His holographic image appeared, segmented into countless grids. In three seconds, the scanner completed a full-body scan. Apart from the red dot on the watch, there was another bug hidden in the middle button of his shirt.
Damn, these agents are good.
Without the watch's scanner, he would never have found it.
"Lina darling, any suggestions?" Leon asked, feeling the discomfort of having a bug on him.
"Leon, if you drop the 'darling,' I might be more inclined to help," Lina responded, her smile almost tangible, but metaphorically holding a knife behind her back.
Leon couldn't help but laugh. "Don't be so serious. It's awkward to have such a cool watch and only you know about it. Let me vent a bit, okay?"
"Humph!"
"Lina darling, please help. Isn't this part of customer service?"
"Fine. Use the NO.99 frequency control ability," Lina relented. "It allows you to control frequencies within a certain range, blocking all external signals and frequencies, thus neutralizing the tracking device."
Leon replied, "Dear Lina, but if they notice the tracker isn't working, it'll be as good as admitting I'm up to something. Might as well just remove it."
"Hehe," Lina chuckled. "Frequency control not only blocks external signals but can also simulate a virtual signal. If you want, you can make the transmitted signal deviate. This way, they won't notice the tracker is ineffective, and they won't hear anything you say."
"Sounds good," Leon nodded and activated NO.99.
"NO.99SL data loading, ability code: Frequency Control successfully applied…"
Entering the state of frequency control, Leon could perceive things that were usually invisible in everyday life. After altering the tracker's reception frequency, Leon asked, "Lina, you seem to know a lot about the watch's abilities. Can you tell me some useful ones on the watch now?" Since acquiring data manipulation, Leon hadn't explored other abilities much, given the daily three-use limit. Just copying American intelligence already consumed his time.
Leon wished the watch's amber light could instantly turn purple.
"I'm sorry, but unless the user is under surveillance, in a disaster, or facing life-threatening danger, customer service can only provide corresponding countermeasures in emergencies," Lina explained gently.
Leon understood, knowing he was merely jesting.
"Leon, it's best to eliminate the source of the surveillance," Lina advised.
"I understand," Leon replied calmly.
"Good, contact me if you need anything. If the bug hadn't been attached to your watch, the Heavenly Realm wouldn't have detected it. Be sure to use the watch's protective features just in case."
"I will."
"Have a nice day."
Ending the call, Leon sighed. Damn American agents had infiltrated H University. Bold.
After activating the monitoring protection system as Lina suggested, Leon accessed his computer.
Initially, he wanted to hack into the American side to see their plans. But on second thought, he decided against it. The Americans clearly targeted H University students. Hacking now would only confirm that XO was an H University student.
He couldn't afford to make any mistakes; he was up against the world's most advanced and secretive intelligence agencies.
Leon smirked with anticipation.
"An espionage war with America? Sounds thrilling…"
Taking a deep breath, Leon entered the European network to gather more detailed information about what Cynthia mentioned. He issued a command to collect all relevant keywords about XO from the EU, translating all foreign languages into Chinese. An information chain quickly formed before him.
As Cynthia mentioned, XO had indeed caused a storm in Europe.
Leon discovered that the initial retaliation data against the US coming from H University was revealed by a hacker organization called "Holy Alliance." This organization had been observing the US-China hacker battle and, during XO's takeover of the Chinese and American networks, noticed a data anomaly from H University.
Leon investigated this organization further.
"Holy Alliance," the largest hacker organization in Europe, comprised Europe's top hackers. The most notable members were "Napoléon," "Caesar," "Constantine," and "Victoria." In Europe, they were known as the Three Kings and a Queen, the pinnacle of hacker prowess.
The achievements of the Holy Alliance left Leon in awe.