Chapter 87 A Small Trouble
The Wavehaven, Oceanview District.
Elbert lay on a reef, the sound of the waves crashing around him. He watched the seagulls glide effortlessly in the sky while his mind was occupied with the code on the screen before him. The reason he stayed here was simple—trouble had arrived.
At this very moment, tension was high within the Veridiania Cybersecurity Bureau.
Eric, the leader of Cybersecurity Team 1, was scowling at his monitor. A video looped before him, a stark reminder of last night's chaos.
At precisely 8:03 PM, the entire Wavehaven Oceanview District plunged into darkness. Almost immediately, dozens of connected speakers near Dawnlight Plaza began to blare, their sounds forming a dissonant symphony. Then, as if on cue, the streetlights started to flicker back to life, one by one, creating a bizarre, synchronized display.
Eric lit a cigarette and combed his hand through his greasy hair. This emergency had kept Cybersecurity Team 1 up all night. For three hours straight, Eric had been analyzing the video, searching for answers.
"Damn it!" he muttered, voice thick with frustration. "Who has the skill to hack into our Wavehaven power control system and then control the streetlights and speakers? This is a blatant provocation, a challenge to our cybersecurity team!"
Eric stubbed out his cigarette with a forceful jab. Turning to his team, he barked, "We've been at this all night! Have you found anything? Whether it's Paul or this hacker, we need to catch one of them!"
A cyber security officer, eyes red from exhaustion, looked up. "Boss, I’ve tracked down the hacker’s IP."
"Really? Great!" Eric rushed over, eyes gleaming with a mix of hope and fatigue. "Where is he? Give me the address; I'll go catch him!"
The officer's expression turned bitter. "His address is on the Egyptian pyramids..."
"What?" Eric's temper flared.
"Boss, calm down," the officer advised, pointing at the screen. "He’s using fake addresses that change constantly. Now he's in the Arctic."
"Fuck!" Eric’s face flushed with anger. "Is he mocking us?"
The officer tried to diffuse the tension. "He left a backdoor. We should be able to communicate with him."
Eric sat down at the computer, his anger barely contained. It was time to engage this hacker and lure him into revealing his location. After a long pause, Eric typed two words: [Hello.]
Before he could press send, a message popped up.
[Hello Eric.]
Eric’s heart skipped a beat.
'How did he know my name?' thought him.
The hacker: [Sorry, I just wanted to surprise my friends yesterday, so I made a bit of a scene,]
'A bit of a scene?' Eric’s frustration grew.
He typed: [You hacked the entire Oceanview District!]
The hacker: [But fortunately, no damage was done,]
Eric thought there was no damage.
However, for Eric, this kind of behavior was like a slap on his face; his boss was furious and gave him 12 hours to catch the perpetrator.
Eric typed carefully: [Indeed, nothing major. I just need you to come to the bureau to make an apology statement. Where are you?]
The hacker simply typed: [No.]
Eric’s hands shook with suppressed rage, but then a data packet appeared on the screen, opening automatically. Numbers, lines, and connections filled the display—a complex web of bank accounts and fund transfers across various countries and cities.
The hacker sent another message: [Eric, have you been ordered to investigate a major money laundering case recently?]
Stunned, Eric replied: [Yes.]
The case involved 10 billion dollars in dirty money, but every lead had vanished into the digital ether. His team had spent a month chasing shadows, recovering nothing.
The hacker: [Here is the information you need. All the accounts and transfer routes, including the final storage locations of the money. They’re now in 40 Swiss bank accounts.]
Eric and his team stared, slack-jawed.
'This was meticulously detailed and everything we needed,' they exclaimed inwardly.
They finally realized that this hacker was a master, far beyond just hacking the power grid.
The hacker asked: [Can this let me make amends?]
Eric typed: [I represent the Cybersecurity Bureau in thanking you for your help, but your former behavior is still a crime!]
The hacker: [Well, so try to catch me.]
Eric’s anger flared, but he knew the truth—This hacker was untouchable with their current resources.
The hacker: [Consider it my way of making amends. Maybe we can even become friends.]
Defeated, Eric replied: [May I ask your name?]
After a few minutes, the reply came: [Paul Four.]
Eric slapped the table and turned to his colleagues. "Got it, he’s a Veridianian, a fan of Paul!"
Eric added Paul Four's information into the database, printed his name, and stuck it to his desk with a note: [Paul Four, international top-tier hacker! Threat level: SSS!]
Sipping tea from his thermos, Eric vowed, "I will catch you, no matter how long it takes."
On the reef, Elbert stretched, finally at peace.
'Next time,' he thought, 'I’d better keep a low profile.'
With a glance over the sea, he muttered. "The only two things I need to do are deal with Rex and wait for 'Phantom' to reveal themselves. Anyway, The Brown Family's troubles will soon be over."
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