Chapter 494 Who Doesn't Have a Heroic Deed?
Aaron stared at his computer screen, his mind made up. No way was he ditching Philly, no matter what went down.
When Charles read the message, he was taken aback. Was Aaron really that fearless?
This threw Charles for a loop.
He'd planned to scare Aaron into skipping town, but Aaron wasn't budging.
Charles hesitated, then typed: [If you don't leave now, you might never get the chance. You could die in Philly. Aren't you scared?]
Aaron paused and looked at Sam. "How should I answer this?"
"Think it through. He's testing you. Be a bit more assertive."
Aaron narrowed his eyes and typed back: [Some things are more important than my life.]
Charles stopped typing, and a voice crackled through his headset. "What are you chatting with him about? Are you done? I wanna say something."
Charles sounded surprised. "What do you wanna talk to him about?"
"Earlier, the seven of us went up against him solo, and we still got our butts kicked. Who is this guy? How's he so good? Did you just have a draw with him?"
Charles replied, "No, he gave up."
"Are you sure he really gave up? We couldn't beat him even with seven of us. Maybe he stopped for some reason and didn't go all out against you?"
Charles thought about it. His subordinate had a point.
He muttered, "So what? If we kept going, I'm sure I would've taken him down."
"I believe in your skills, but I need a favor."
"What is it?"
"Can you tell me who he really is? Why's he so good? We looked into our loss earlier and found his style is a lot like a hacker I know. I really wanna know if he's that hacker."
"Which hacker are you talking about?"
Charles was puzzled. Aaron's style did seem familiar.
"You've probably heard of it. Decades ago, a bunch of terrorists caused chaos in Philly and Lindwell. Interpol couldn't touch them, couldn't find them. They claimed to be untouchable, saying no one could stop them, catch them, or find their hideout."
"Then, a mysterious group formed an anti-terrorism alliance. That alliance found the terrorists' base and exposed them, letting Interpol nab them all."
Charles nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of that. You think he's one of those alliance members?"
"Exactly, and I strongly suspect he was the founder."
"Back then, H started that group online, recruiting hackers from Philly and Lindwell. They joined anonymously, not knowing each other's real identities. But the skills of those who joined varied a lot. H used a competition to screen them. H's style has always been unique and unmatched to this day."
Charles got the info from his subordinate and checked out H's old code style. It did look a lot like Aaron's.
Charles went quiet. Could Aaron really be H?
He'd heard the stories about H and had always been inspired by them.
Charles had even looked up to H, wanting to be just like them.
But now, finding out H might be Aaron? That was wild.
Charles was torn. If Aaron was really H, what was he supposed to do?
H had always been his hero.
Charles's head was spinning. His subordinate's voice broke through the silence. "What's up? You done talking to him? What did you guys chat about?"
"Yeah, we wanna know too. If this is H, posting our fight with him on the forum would make everyone green with envy."
The chatter in the communication channel got louder.
"Hold up, you haven't even confirmed if he's H. Why are you all hyped?"
Charles was conflicted. He wanted to meet his idol but couldn't wrap his head around Aaron being H.
"Why don't we test him? I bet he's H. Let's see if we're right."
"Yeah, we're all offline now, and you're the only one still on. Help us out."
Charles stared at the screen, unsure how to ask.
Meanwhile, Aaron was feeling just as mixed up.
He noticed there was no reply for a while and thought maybe the other guy had logged off. But he didn't dare shut his computer, just in case.
They could only chat one-way now. If Charles left, that was it.
Charles awkwardly typed: [Actually, your skills are pretty impressive. Not many can go toe-to-toe with me. You're one of them.]
Aaron saw the message and perked up. "He's still online."
Sam let out a breath. "I thought he logged off. This is good. It means he's curious about you and wants to know more."
"So what's he getting at? How should I reply?"
"It's simple. He's giving you props but also wants to know about your hacking skills. Just hype yourself up a bit. You were H, after all."
Aaron frowned. "That stuff doesn't matter. We all hid our identities back then. I never planned to reveal who I really was."
He hadn't done it to be a hero, just couldn't stand those terrorists.
"This isn't about revealing your identity. It's about building a strong image. A young hacker with skills like his has probably heard of your past and might even look up to you. Revealing your identity now could boost your image."
"But what if he catches on something?"
He felt pretty uneasy about it.
