March 25, 2003, the Holy Alliance successfully hacked the US Department of Defense's JOP management system's GPS, altering navigation parameters and nearly causing the halt of the US invasion of Iraq. This act placed them on the FBI's blacklist.
June 2004, they infiltrated the European Space Agency to retrieve data on the Galileo navigation system, leaving behind some American GPS technology data.
In 2005, they created the "God Save the Queen" malicious plugin, causing five million computers worldwide to play the British national anthem upon startup.
2006 saw them hacking over a hundred websites in Germany and Italy to protest France's loss to Italy in the World Cup, leading to mutual cyber attacks between Napoleon and Caesar of the Holy Alliance, causing hundreds of French websites to crash.
In 2007, they successfully breached Russia's KGB, though they were eventually detected, they managed to steal top agent information. This led to the infamous "Spy Gate" incident, where several government officials in the UK, France, and Germany went missing.
Every year, the Holy Alliance managed to pull off jaw-dropping feats, from controlling global positioning systems to leaking KGB agent info. They seemed like the perfect "EU hackers," safeguarding Europe's network while frequently pranking other countries, particularly the USA and Russia. The EU even shielded the Holy Alliance, refusing to cooperate with the two nations.
Leon Chen was impressed. The Holy Alliance was a Robin Hood of the hacker world.
Following the clues, Leon navigated to a website called "Hundred Days Empire." The site appeared to be an ordinary hacker forum, but after issuing a command to enter the main server, everything changed.
A hidden terminal server with a super firewall, utilizing quantum encryption, and a specific IP authentication protocol made it nearly impregnable to typical hackers.
But Leon wasn't a typical hacker. Or rather, he was beyond a hacker. To him, programming languages were malleable clay. He manipulated "Constantine's" account and effortlessly entered the terminal server.
To his surprise, the server was empty, devoid of any data. Was the earlier defense just a façade?
After browsing and confirming the server was blank, Leon was perplexed. Could it all be for show?
"Constantine?? You're online so early?"
A chat window popped up.
Leon saw an ID named Victoria enter the room.
So, it was an encrypted chat room. Leon realized the meticulous setup was for discussing sensitive matters.
"Trying to look cool, huh?" Victoria typed.
"How are things progressing?" Leon decided to send an ambiguous message. It would conceal his identity while potentially gleaning information.
"Everything's smooth. By next week, the global media will run a story: 'XO is a student at H University.'" Victoria had no suspicion.
Leon's eyebrows knit together. He hesitated before typing another vague message: "Agents have infiltrated H University." It wasn't a question nor a statement, just an implied fact, hoping to prompt more information from Victoria.
Sure enough, Victoria took the bait.
"Yes, they are currently gathering evidence to match XO's profile."
"Hurry up and finish it."
"There's one thing I didn't ask at the last meeting, and I'd like to ask you alone this time."
After a pause, Victoria continued.
"Even if we plan to paralyze China's network on the 11th, must we cooperate with the US? I detest them. They don't understand English gentlemen. XO humiliated their fifth-generation computer into oblivion. Is it worth it?"
Paralyze China's network?
Leon's face turned serious. He analyzed every word Victoria said, piecing together a vague scenario in his mind. "Why didn't we do this before?" Leon replied vaguely.
Victoria, unaware, explained further. "The Chinese Queen is formidable, but she's been quiet for years. Our technology and equipment have advanced significantly, and we've gained ENWR's resources. We're confident we can breach China's network and find the Queen."
ENWR? Some secretive EU organization.
From Victoria's words, it was clear the Holy Alliance had been eyeing China for a while, but the Chinese Queen had deterred them. Now, with EU backing and advanced tech, they felt ready. Collaborating with the US likely stemmed from America's need to catch XO, and in return, the US would help the EU attack China without interference from XO.
Leon reorganized his thoughts into a plausible-sounding message.
Victoria confirmed his suspicions.
Using his superior linguistic skills, Leon continued the back-and-forth with Victoria. He kept it shallow to avoid suspicion while gathering enough information to understand their plans.
Very elementary.
Leon concluded that when the time came, the Holy Alliance would realize XO's magic would nullify their attempts.
As the conversation ended, Leon began tracing Victoria's IP.
Victoria, true to her status, used hundreds of IP relays worldwide, making any counter-tracking effort prone to exposure. But Leon's data manipulation disregarded these barriers, and Victoria remained unaware.
Minutes later, her location was revealed.
Leon was shocked.
She was at H University!
This female hacker had also infiltrated H University. Leon smiled coldly. "Have the American agents discovered you?"
"That's not your concern. I've already given them a list of suspects," Victoria replied. "It's about time for me to go."
"Don't contact this end until the US operation is over," Leon said, avoiding suspicion.
"Understood. I just noticed something odd about the Holy Alliance today," Victoria agreed. "Didn't expect you to be here."
"Concerned about H University, wanted to check in. Coincidence."
"Indeed."
Finally, Leon casually asked, "How's H University?"
"A wonderful place. Perhaps you should join me to witness the 'Eternal' being born. It's breathtaking…"
With that, Victoria logged off.
Leon erased all chat traces and exited.
Witness the birth of Eternal?
What did she mean? An idiom? A riddle?
Leon scratched his head, realizing Victoria's cryptic words were even more complex than his own.